Chapter 15 Why So Obedient?

Chapter 15: Why So Well-Behaved?

A weary Xie Muchen glanced at the caller ID and the time again, letting out a frustrated laugh.

“Miss Tao, if you want to talk to someone, you can call their personal phone. That’s common sense.”

There was a brief silence on the other end. “He’s not answering.”

Then she added, “I heard you’re together. Sorry, but I need to speak to him urgently.”

Xie Muchen: “…There’s a big difference between being together and sleeping together. Never mind. Just tell me, and I’ll pass it on for you later.”

Silence again.

After a long pause, the woman’s voice sounded dejected. “I want to tell him myself.”

This was followed by a fit of heart-wrenching coughs.

Xie Muchen had a headache.

Tao Wangxi had grown up with them. While they weren’t particularly close, there was still some camaraderie between them.

She was also in poor health. When they were kids, the adults had always urged them to take extra care of their little sister, so they’d developed a habit of looking out for her.

Now, with her pitiful tone and coughing like this…

Xie Muchen threw off the covers, irritably grabbing his glasses from the nightstand. “Alright, alright, I’ll go find him for you.”

“Thank you.”

…

The two houses were next to each other, and they all knew each other’s passcodes. Xie Muchen easily made his way to the second-floor master bedroom and knocked.

He’d assumed that at this hour, the person inside would still be asleep.

But when the door opened from within, he was met with Ling Jue, whose robe was wide open, revealing red scratch and bite marks. His face was dark and stormy, clearly having just been up to no good inside.

Xie Muchen instinctively checked the time again. It was indeed seven in the morning.

“Damn! You animal!” he blurted out.

Ling Jue’s eyes narrowed, his tone menacing. “You’d better have an emergency.”

Xie Muchen waved his phone. “Don’t. I’m just the messenger.”

…

Five minutes later.

Ling Jue returned from taking the call and tossed the phone back to Xie Muchen.

“Let Zhong Mingzhou go.”

Zhong Mingzhou had been sent to the police station last night.

Xie Muchen raised an eyebrow. Had Tao Wangxi really managed to persuade Ling Jue?

He gestured with his chin toward the closed bedroom door. “Aren’t you afraid the one inside will get angry?”

Ling Jue, “Letting him go doesn’t mean letting him off.”

Xie Muchen, “…”

You really know how to play with words.

Watching the other man prepare to return to the room without a second’s delay, he clicked his tongue. “Take it easy, will you? Be careful you don’t die from exhaustion.”

Ling Jue glanced back at him. “There’s nothing to say to a man who’s unsatisfied.”

Xie Muchen, who had slept alone last night: “…”

He’d lost count of how many times he’d been left speechless this morning.

Damn it, he must have owed these people in a past life!

…

Xie Muchen left with a grim expression.

Back in the room, Qin Shuyi, who had been woken first by the phone call and then by someone’s antics, sensed his return in her drowsy state. She mumbled with her eyes closed, “Who was it?”

Ling Jue tucked her bare legs back under the covers and kissed her cheek. “Xie Muchen. He’s got nothing better to do than play messenger.”

Qin Shuyi nuzzled into the pillow. “What did he say?”

“Tao Wangxi doesn’t want Zhong Mingzhou to go to jail.”

Qin Shuyi opened her eyes.

Ling Jue smoothed the sleep-tousled hair from her cheek. “I agreed.”

She didn’t say anything.

Ling Jue, “I promised Tao Wangxi before that I’d help her with one thing. The Zhong family will double their compensation to Tang Wei and give her another major film project. Zhong Mingzhou will be sent abroad.”

Aside from not making him serve time, this punishment was already quite severe for Zhong Mingzhou.

Of course, the reason Ling Jue agreed so readily wasn’t just to settle the favor he owed Tao Wangxi. It was also because Zhong Mingzhou had hurt Tang Wei, while Qin Shuyi was the one who had stepped in and beaten him up.

Zhong Mingzhou should be grateful that last night’s alcohol hadn’t completely erased his subconscious fear of Ling Jue.

If he had hurt Qin Shuyi, things would not have ended so peacefully today.

But Ling Jue didn’t offer any further explanation.

Qin Shuyi then yawned and closed her eyes again. “Since you’ve already decided, that’s fine. Tang Wei will be very happy.”

With Ling Jue involved, her safety would be guaranteed, and she’d get more money and resources. It was a better deal for her.

Tang Wei would approve if she were here.

Venting anger couldn’t compare to tangible benefits.

Ling Jue smiled, gently tapping her nose. “Why so well-behaved.”

He’d always said Qin Shuyi was smart. She wouldn’t throw a tantrum over something trivial, unlike what Xie Muchen had suggested.

Qin Shuyi buried her face in his chest without responding and continued sleeping.

She didn’t make a fuss because she knew this was Ling Jue’s decision after weighing the pros and cons. Whether she objected or not wouldn’t change anything.

Ling Jue had already come to an agreement with Tao Wangxi. At this point, he was informing her, not discussing it.

Why trouble herself over something she wasn’t part of negotiating?

Besides, the outcome wasn’t too bad, was it?

…

After what happened with Zhong Mingzhou, the way everyone looked at Qin Shuyi had changed the next day.

Everyone knew that Master Jue’s anger wasn’t because of Tang Wei, the “old flame,” but because Qin Shuyi, the “new flame,” was involved.

After all, they had witnessed the terrifying aura around Master Jue after he received that distress call yesterday.

Some whispered bitter remarks, “He dotes on her like this, yet she still hasn’t entered the Ling family.”

Others chimed in, “Yeah, and Zhong Mingzhou was released too. I heard the Tao family used their influence. Seems the so-called ‘true love’ isn’t as valuable as Miss Tao, the childhood sweetheart who’s been abroad all this time.”

That’s how people are. If Ling Jue were to marry Tao Wangxi or some other socialite, they might not feel so resentful, knowing that was a circle beyond their reach.

But seeing Qin Shuyi, who came from an ordinary background—even less privileged than some favored children of wealthy families—latching onto Young Master Ling made them bitterly jealous.

Ji Xiuhang didn’t look for Xia Zhiyue in the morning, so she sat bored in the beach area playing on her phone, overhearing all the complaints.

She gave the speakers a sardonic look. “If you dislike Miss Qin so much, why don’t you say it to Master Jue’s face?”

Those people glanced at her warily. “Xia Zhiyue, what nonsense are you talking? How could we dislike her? We’re just stating facts.”

Another added sarcastically, “Acting all high and mighty, are you? You defend her so fiercely, but isn’t it just because she’s Master Jue’s girlfriend?”

Xia Zhiyue snorted coldly. “Still better than those who suck up to her face and gossip behind her back.”

“What are you talking about?”

Ji Xiuhang walked over from a distance and saw the tension.

The group hesitated, not daring to speak.

Ji Xiuhang wasn’t known for his good temper either. If he found out they were gossiping about Ling Jue’s girlfriend behind his back, they wouldn’t get off easy.

Ji Xiuhang glanced at these shifty-eyed people.

If not for this vacation, most of these people wouldn’t even be qualified to speak to him.

He had no intention of playing judge or getting involved in their petty squabbles.

He simply looked at Xia Zhiyue. “Jue has something tomorrow afternoon and needs to go back early today to handle work. Xie Muchen and I are returning with him. Do you want to go back or stay here and play?”

Xia Zhiyue immediately declared, “I’ll go with you.”

With her patron gone, why would she stay here to argue with them?

Watching Xia Zhiyue leave triumphantly with Young Master Ji, someone curled their lip disdainfully.

In the crowd, someone who had Tao Wangxi as a WeChat friend suddenly remembered.

“Tomorrow afternoon? Isn’t Tao Wangxi returning tomorrow afternoon?”

She had seen her flight time posted on her Moments.

So Master Jue was rushing back to prepare for picking her up at the airport?

A few exchanged glances and snickered gleefully.

Xia Zhiyue would soon realize she had backed the wrong horse.

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