Returning - Chapter 157

Chapter 157: I'm Willing

Ling Jianwei had arranged to meet Zhao Yu at a private club. Though he hardly ever visited such places, this was undeniably far safer than a coffee shop.

The moment he saw her enter the private room, he asked urgently, "You resigned?"

Zhao Yu wasn't surprised. "Qin Yi told you?"

Her resignation had largely been within Xue Zhan's expectations. Xue Zi'ang, on the other hand, had been so shocked he nearly went berserk. If Xue Zhan hadn't held him back, he would have lost control and gone to settle scores with Xu Chengyan again.

Meanwhile, Qin Yi and the others who had been closely following the gossip about Zhao Yu and the Xue uncle-nephew pair unanimously believed that after a long struggle over her, the two men had ultimately chosen familial bonds, discarding Zhao Yu as their "prize in the fight."

No doubt Qin Yi had embellished the story considerably when telling Ling Jianwei about it. It was no wonder he was this anxious.

"Xue Zhan... isn't he good to you? He even went to my older brother for your sake."

Zhao Yu nodded. "Mm, he's very good. My resignation has nothing to do with him. I'm just tired from work and want to rest."

Seeing the seemingly deeply affectionate expression on her face as she said "he's very good," Ling Jianwei gave a self-deprecating smile. "He can help you get revenge. Of course he's very good."

Detecting the unusual emotion in his tone, Zhao Yu smiled as well. "Ling Jianwei, do you really like me this much?"

His gaze flickered away, but then, as if suddenly steeling himself with some kind of resolve, he lifted his head and looked directly into her eyes. "Yes, I like you. I've liked you from the very first moment I saw you, and I still feel the same way now. Even if you deceive me, even if you use me, I'm willing."

These words didn't seem like something that would ever come out of his mouth. Zhao Yu, who had expected to render him speechless once again, found herself momentarily tongue-tied instead.

Ling Jianwei gazed at her steadily. "After you disappeared, I kept searching for you. I even went to your hometown, Wucheng, to ask around, but I didn't know where your home was. In the end, I still couldn't find you."

Under normal circumstances, a tragedy that severe, even if handled as an accident rather than a homicide, would have been reported by the news. But with Zhuang Yiqing involved, it was naturally very difficult for either him or Zhuang Ye to get any results.

Thinking of this, Zhao Yu couldn't help but let out a soft, derisive snort.

Seeing her like this, knowing she was thinking about the past again, Ling Jianwei immediately moved over and tightly grasped her hand. "Tang Xi, what I said that day was true. From now on, I will protect you properly."

He said, "I regret it. I've been regretting it all these days. If I had just tried harder back then, maybe I could have found you sooner. If back then... if back then I hadn't been so concerned about brotherhood and had just stolen you away from Zhuang Ye, you wouldn't have suffered so much."

Meeting her gaze, he smiled self-deprecatingly again. "I know, I definitely couldn't have competed with Zhuang Ye."

Zhao Yu shook her head. "You're also very good. It's just a pity..."

Withdrawing her hand from his grasp, she stood up and walked toward the door. "I don't need your deep affection, and I don't need your protection. You should stop clinging to me from now on."

The debts she already carried were heavy enough. Perhaps she could lighten them, one less at a time.

"What if I could help you get revenge too?"

The voice that sounded behind her instantly stopped her in her tracks.

Ling Jianwei stared intently at her back. "My studio signed a contract with Lanxi. Our Ling family... I can't make decisions for them, but I can try too. Even if not as much as Xue Zhan, at least... I can help you strike against the Zhuang family."

Zhao Yu didn't hold much hope for the Ling family. After all, such a large enterprise valued profit above all. If there were benefits to be had, they would naturally take action. If there were risks, they would absolutely not contribute a single ounce of effort.

Ling Jianwei's studio, however, might indeed be of some use. She just couldn't quantify how much use that would be right now.

Seeing her hesitation, Ling Jianwei immediately opened his phone and handed it over. "This is the contract I signed with Lanxi, along with the lawyer's opinion."

It wasn't a fatal blow, but it should add fuel to the fire.

Putting down the phone, Zhao Yu couldn't help but laugh softly. "Ling Jianwei, you're helping me like this. What do you hope to gain? Don't you know there won't be any result?"

"I'm willing."

Looking at the determination in his eyes, Zhao Yu suddenly felt a moment of dazed confusion.

If the hypothetical he had just proposed were real, if she had been with him back then, would none of what happened afterward have occurred?

Whether the Xue family or the Ling family, although both prioritized interests above all else, at the very least, neither had someone like Zhuang Yiqing.

Why, of all people, did she have to fall in love with Zhuang Ye? Why did Zhuang Ye have to have an older sister like that, family like that?

She didn't hate Zhuang Ye. She had never blamed Zhuang Ye. But the source of everything was indeed because of him.

Clearly, both of them were innocent, yet in the end, they had to bear the consequences of others' sins. She had already become this terrifying version of herself. What next? What would happen to Zhuang Ye, who had been undergoing psychological treatment all this time? How would he be destroyed?

"Tang Xi." Seeing her in a daze, Ling Jianwei took her hand again, looking at her nervously. "Tang Xi?"

Zhao Yu snapped back to the present abruptly. Tilting her head up, she blinked, then smiled. "Are there rooms upstairs?"

Ling Jianwei didn't quite follow for a moment. "What?"

"Are there rooms upstairs? The kind with a bed."

"Do you want to rest—" Before he could finish, he caught the suggestive look in her eyes and suddenly understood. "You... you..."

"That's right." Zhao Yu nodded with a smile. "Find a room, let you fuck me."

Hearing those last two words, Ling Jianwei was visibly startled, his face instantly burning. "I... that's not what I want."

"Is that so?" Zhao Yu looked at him with playful interest. "You don't want to fuck me? Then why did you ask me to meet at a club?"

"That's because I was afraid... afraid of being seen, of your identity being discovered. Can't you not reveal your identity yet? This place has good privacy, so that's why... I wasn't trying to..." He truly couldn't bring himself to say the rest, so he just lowered his head and murmured, "Can you... please not say those two words?"

"Which two words? Fuck me?" Zhao Yu laughed lowly, deliberately teasing him. "Why? Are you afraid you'll get hard hearing it? So... are you hard now?"

As she spoke, she pretended to reach for his crotch. Having learned from previous experience, his reaction was quick this time. He sprang far away in an instant, looking at her with sheer terror.

That expression on his face was remarkably similar to the one he'd worn the day after his birthday years ago, when she'd caught him clutching his underwear with another physiological reaction.

Looking at this face, it hadn't really accumulated many traces of time. So why did recalling the past feel like centuries had passed?

"Ling Jianwei." She looked at him quietly, a smile breaking across her face even as tears streamed down her cheeks. "Then why didn't you pursue me back then? What if I really... really could have been won over by you?"

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