Volume One, Chapter 12: You're Truly Perverse!

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Li Shen lowered Zhuo An’s hat brim and helped her into a nearby empty private room. The soundproofing here was excellent, blocking out all the noise from outside.

Zhuo An clung tightly to his waist, tears streaming down her face like blossoms in the rain, softly sobbing and refusing to let go.

Li Shen struggled to break free, growing more and more irritated.

He grabbed a tissue from the table, wrapped it around Zhuo An’s fingers tightly gripping his waist, and one by one pried them open firmly, leaving no room for resistance.

Then he helped her sit down and took the seat opposite her, across the table.

“Ah Shen, you’re worried about me, aren’t you?” Zhuo An looked at him, trying to catch even the slightest trace of affection in his eyes.

“I would help any woman in this situation,” Li Shen said coldly.

“I don’t believe you. You can’t forget me, so you had Shen Zhien dance the Flying Sky, right?”

Li Shen remained silent.

“How could you do that? That was our first connection. How could you let her dance it, desecrating our memories!” Zhuo An slammed her hands on the table, eyes full of unwillingness and resentment.

“You went into the storage room on the wedding day. Right?”

Li Shen lifted his eyes to look at her, his gaze icy and unreadable.

“Yes, I tore the dance costume! So what?” Zhuo An was furious and ashamed.

“She’s just an internet celebrity! She used to be my stand-in! A cheap substitute who got beaten and fell into the lake for me, earning only two hundred a day! What right does she have?”

A cold light flashed in Li Shen’s eyes.

“Who she was before doesn’t matter. Now, she’s my wife. Don’t provoke her anymore.”

“Then what am I?”

“A friend. I’ve always regarded you as a true friend. Maybe I once liked you a little,” Li Shen said cruelly and frankly.

“You bastard!” Zhuo An’s face was streaked with tears as she screamed in fury.

“Go home early.”

Li Shen left coldly after dropping these words.

Zhuo An cried over the table for a long time. When a server came in to inquire, she wiped her tears and went to the restroom.

In the mirror, her face was tear-streaked but still beautiful, like a fragile red rose breaking apart.

Sobered up more than half, she picked up her phone and dialed Yang Zhenzhen.

“Zhenzhen, I’ve made up my mind,” Zhuo An took a deep breath.

“I agree to Lily’s conditions.”

Li Shen returned to the Li residence late at night. The three elders were already asleep. He usually disliked disturbing anyone, and the servants had all disappeared.

Bored, he took the elevator and pressed the button for the third floor.

Suddenly, he thought to check what Shen Zhien was doing.

It was only half past ten, not too late, so she probably wasn’t asleep yet. Had she moved all her things into her room already? Thinking this, Li Shen smirked slightly without realizing it.

He arrived on the third floor; it was very quiet. Both bedroom doors were closed. Li Shen walked toward Shen Zhien’s room and gently turned the handle, opening a narrow gap.

Inside, it was pitch dark.

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He turned on the light and saw the room was empty and completely changed from its morning appearance.

The room was filled with cheap, gaudy junk. His gaze settled on a teddy bear placed by the pillow—the one he had given her the last time he bought her milk tea.

Li Shen couldn’t help but smile faintly, without realizing it.

He returned to his own room, also empty. Its furnishings and items were restored exactly to how they were when he was single.

Suddenly, he felt a bit down.

It had all been like this until yesterday.

There was some noise in the courtyard. Li Shen went to the window. The gate to the inner courtyard opened, and a black car drove in. Anyone allowed to drive into the inner courtyard had to be a member of the Li family.

The car stopped in front of the villa. The passenger door opened, and Shen Zhien got out. Under the porch light, she was smiling.

The driver’s door opened as well, and Li Heng stepped out.

Shen Zhien waved at him to go back, but he still got out.

Li Heng smiled and casually looked up, seeming to glimpse a fleeting figure at the window.

The front door opened, and Li Shen appeared in a white suit, tall and imposing, especially conspicuous in the night.

“Shen Zhien.”

Li Shen’s voice was cold, carried by the night wind that seemed sharper, almost gritty.

The porch light reflected off his hair, casting shadows under his eyes.

Shen Zhien stood still while Li Heng pulled her forward.

“What coincidence is this?” Li Shen stood on the steps, looking down at them like a judge, sarcastic and accusing, his words freezing the air.

“Li Heng, if I’m not mistaken, you just attended my and her wedding yesterday.”

“It really is just a coincidence,” Li Heng smiled. “I skipped work this afternoon to see a play and happened to run into Xiao En. Afterward, I noticed she was upset, so we talked for a while and then had dinner together.”

It sounded like nothing was wrong.

And indeed, it was nothing.

Shen Zhien looked up at Li Shen. The low angle made his profile sharper; his stern expression really did resemble that Abyssinian cat.

Suddenly, that big cat reached out a paw and scooped her up.

“It’s late, we’re going to sleep now. Take care.”

Scooping her up, dropping the words, and closing the door—it all happened smoothly. By the time Shen Zhien realized, she was already inside the elevator with him.

The elevator doors closed, the hand that grabbed her arm released her, and they stood apart, neither speaking.

The confined space of the elevator filled with the smell of Li Shen’s smoke and alcohol. She glanced at him and saw a conspicuous lipstick mark on his collar, and another on his side waist.

The elevator doors opened, and they stepped out.

“Married to me, and this is how unhappy you are?” Li Shen spoke. “Unhappy enough to need to go unwind, chatting and eating with your uncle until late at night?”

“Li Heng already told you, it was a coincidence.”

“Li Heng? Us?” Li Shen’s laughter slipped between his teeth.

That laugh was sharp as silver needles, piercing Shen Zhien’s pride.

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“Li Shen, don’t act like you’re jealous. You’re not any better yourself!” she yelled at him.

“I’m Li Shen, and he’s Li Heng?” he retorted.

“Then what? Are you clean? You’re always acting like you caught me cheating, talking down to me. What’s the fun in that? He and I have work connections and are relatives. We ran into each other, talked a bit, had dinner, maybe even became friends. I’m open about it—what’s wrong with that?”

“What part of me is unclean?” Li Shen countered.

Shen Zhien stepped forward and pointed sharply at his suit collar with slender fingers. Through the fabric, she pressed on his collarbone.

“Here, and here!”

Then she moved to his side waist. The sudden touch made Li Shen flinch slightly.

“Look for yourself!”

Li Shen lowered his head and saw the obvious lipstick stains on his collar and side waist. They were probably from Zhuo An clutching him.

He chuckled softly without raising his eyelids.

“What does that prove?”

“You smell of smoke and alcohol, and you have lipstick on your clothes. Who knows what kind of decadent, debauched places you’ve been!” Shen Zhien was like an angry kitten, all her fur standing on end.

“Oh, you know quite a few idioms, huh?”

“What can lipstick marks represent? You’ve left marks on me too.”

Hearing this, Shen Zhien immediately deflated, like a burst balloon. She subconsciously glanced at a certain part of Li Shen’s body, then a flush of red spread rapidly from her ears to her cheeks.

“I... I didn’t mean to that time,” Shen Zhien stammered.

“What were you looking at just now?” Li Shen caught her gaze fully, which made him uncomfortable too.

“What, can’t I look? It’s just a…”

“Just what?”

“A fool!” Shen Zhien blushed furiously, realizing the word had ambiguous meaning in this context.

Li Shen instantly caught the ambiguity and felt teased. He was at a loss for words. Both flushed, they stared at each other for a moment.

“You’re really perverted!” Shen Zhien launched the first attack, then immediately turned and went into her room, slamming the door.

Li Shen was caught off guard, standing there stunned. After a moment’s thought, he felt that her insult was utterly unjustified.

Suddenly, the door opened again. Shen Zhien came out, still fuming, walked to Li Shen’s bedroom, opened the mini fridge where the alcohol was stored, took out two familiar small boxes, and stormed out again.

“What’s that?” Li Shen asked.

Shen Zhien didn’t answer. With a brisk step, she returned to her room and kicked the door shut with a “slam.”

Li Shen stepped forward and gently opened the door. He saw Shen Zhien sitting at the table, ripping open the packaging of two small boxes with somewhat violent movements. Hearing him approach, she ignored him.

Inside the boxes were two cupcakes, one Abyssinian and one Chinchilla, and she muttered fiercely,

“You pervert, I’m not sharing. I’m eating them all myself!”