Chapter 127 Don’t You Like Being With Me?

Chapter 127: Don't You Like Doing It with Me?

He was genuinely in pain, even loosening the hand that had been gripping Qin Shuyi.

He just held her in silence, trapping her between his body and the wall.

It was painful, yet he didn't want to separate.

In the darkness, Qin Shuyi couldn't see his expression clearly. Her slender, pale fingers gently touched his face, feeling cold to the touch.

"Do you feel wronged? Uncomfortable? Think I'm cruel? Cold-hearted?"

As soon as he asked that question, she knew: he had already guessed the reason behind their first time.

"But on what grounds, Ling Jue? Even if I wasn't the one who initiated it, when you wanted me, would you have let me go? Would you have refrained from tempting me, from setting every possible trap?"

If he wanted something, he would get it. Young Master Ling, who had never known what it meant to desire something and not obtain it, was exactly that kind of person.

His willfulness, his boundless tolerance for mistakes, his ease in stirring up storms with a casual hand—sometimes even she envied his sheer nerve.

"Didn't it feel good for you? Don't you like being with me? Who was it that kept coming back for more, never satisfied?" Perhaps stirred by emotion, her words became much cruder, each question pressing him.

"Since the result would have been the same anyway, what are you questioning?"

He shook his head vigorously, burying his face in her neck, holding her so tightly that her waist arched forward, her entire body enveloped firmly within his.

"No, I don't blame you. I'm just sad that I'm not the special one."

He was in pain. If he hadn't appeared at that exact moment, she might have been with someone else.

Ling Jue meant nothing to her.

Before, he had even thought it was fine if she just liked his body.

But love makes people greedy and unsatisfied.

Reason said 'this is enough,' but his heart felt hollow and empty.

"If it wasn't me, could it have been someone else? Chi Yu, Shen Yaochuan—if you wanted, would you have… with them too?"

He couldn't bring himself to say the word. He didn't want to.

He didn't even want to imagine that scene.

A kiss born of misunderstanding had nearly driven him mad.

"Even if you didn't like them, could you have done it?"

It was his own insecurity, his lack of confidence. To her, he was just a tool, so discarding or replacing him would have been effortless.

"Hypotheticals are meaningless," Qin Shuyi's voice was calm. "At that time, in that moment, it was you who appeared there, just happened to be my boyfriend, just happened that we both had desire."

When Youyou blurted out those words, the first person who flashed in her mind was Ling Jue.

She hadn't lied to him.

She had liked him.

Even if it wasn't deep love.

His body, his personality, his many strengths—they had shone in her heart too.

If it hadn't been him, would Qin Shuyi have sought out someone else?

The answer was most likely no.

Because she found it troublesome, feared it wasn't safe, and couldn't be bothered to look for someone.

She could relieve stress through sex, but it wasn't her only or necessary choice.

She had said it before: their relationship was a matter of right time, right place, and right people.

"But in the future, would you sleep with other men just to relieve your emotions?" Ling Jue's voice was muffled, his straight nose nuzzling the soft skin of her neck.

Doing such things meant little to her.

She was never coy. If she wanted something, she would say it. Her shyness only came when he sometimes went too far. She had no shackles about her own body.

"Looking back at the past is meaningless, and speculating about the future is the same." She didn't answer.

Ling Jue opened his mouth, gently grazing her fair neck with his teeth, forcing himself not to think about what her evasion meant.

He changed the subject. "You weren't in a good state back then. Why didn't you tell me?"

It tickled.

Qin Shuyi dodged slightly.

In the darkness, her eyes met his. "I called you. I heard you say, 'A girlfriend doesn't necessarily have to be about love,' and also, 'Dealing with someone else's emotions is annoying.'"

Ling Jue froze, a pang shooting through his eyes.

…

After that murder case, Qin Shuyi often had nightmares—spraying blood, dismembered limbs, terrified screams in her sleep.

She wasn't always strong, unbreakable.

There were times when she felt fragile and wanted to escape.

With Qin Yuan and Zhou Yunhe not around, she couldn't find a safe embrace. So she called Ling Jue, who was her boyfriend at the time.

Ling Jue was in Africa negotiating a mining deal. That day happened to be leisure time before his departure.

When Qin Shuyi called, he was hunting in a private game reserve.

A servant brought him the phone.

It was his private line. The servant couldn't read the Chinese name of the caller, only saying someone was looking for him.

Qin Shuyi rarely contacted him proactively. Ling Jue thought it might be Ling Mufeng or someone else discussing business. He casually checked his gun, not in a hurry to answer, continuing to aim at his prey.

The call was connected. Qin Shuyi heard someone beside him chatting about his new girlfriend.

They said she was very beautiful, very obedient. They heard they had been together for over a month, and someone asked if he loved her very much.

Ling Jue just curled his lips slightly, thinking of the woman who would forget all about him when he wasn't around, and said casually:

"A girlfriend doesn't necessarily have to be about love."

She wasn't pining for him, and he wasn't admitting he liked her either.

The man laughed and began talking about his own girlfriend—how she loved to act spoiled, always sharing everything with him and needing him to coax her day in and day out.

Ling Jue, irritated by his bragging, coldly remarked, "Dealing with someone else's moods all the time is a drag."

He was just jealous.

But the moment the gunshot rang out, Qin Shuyi, on the other side of the ocean, quietly hung up the phone.

Wrong.

There was no love between them—they were just casual flings. How could she even think of treating him like a regular boyfriend and going to him for comfort?

She had the wrong idea.

That very night, Qin Shuyi packed a bag and went to her aunt's house in the middle of the night.

Zhou Tinglan, her heart aching for her, stayed with the haggard woman all night and told the whole family to keep an eye on Qin Shuyi's mood.

After the incident with the Jiang family, she was less fearful, but her insomnia was as bad as ever.

So when Youyou suggested finding a man to sleep with, she was tempted.

If this were a normal relationship and the feelings weren't there yet, she might have hesitated.

But Ling Jue was a player himself, with a revolving door of women.

He wouldn't give it a second thought.

As long as he was clean and safe, what was the big deal about using his body for a bit of fun?

Qin Shuyi quickly shrugged off her hang-ups.

...

It was only after Ling Jue shot the red deer that he picked up his phone and realized the caller had been Qin Shuyi.

She might have gotten tired of waiting and hung up midway.

Ling Jue called back, but no one answered on the other end.

He tapped his fingers on the hunting rifle in his hand, feeling restless.

She'd called him.

She was thinking about him.

His urge to get back home hit him harder than ever.

He missed her too.

"Change the flight ticket. I'm going back now."

He put the rifle down, his usually charming, carefree eyes now full of smug satisfaction. For the first time since his business trip began, the man's lips curved into a slight smile.

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