Chapter 36: Sleep, Qingqing

Jian Qing was silent for a moment, then changed her tone, calling out sweetly, “What are you doing, darling?”

On the other end of the line, another stretch of silence. She thought Xiao Yunchen might be angry, suspecting her attempt to shift the conversation.

But in truth, upon hearing the word “darling,” Xiao Yunchen’s ears flushed bright red.

Li Jingche, report in hand, holding the phone in his left, sat at his desk, scribbled his signature with a flourish, then turned his chair to face away from the door, gazing over the city from the floor-to-ceiling windows. His voice was deep and gentle: “I’m figuring out how to pay back a friend. You know, I borrowed a hundred thousand for hospital bills. What about you, what are you doing?”

After he finished, he listened closely for any noise on the other end, confirming Jian Qing was alone before finally stopping his hand, which had been fiddling with his tie.

“Conversation really is an art. Some people are thinking about me, but when they open their mouth, it becomes, ‘What are you doing?’”

Jian Qing leaned against the bed. Though her leg still throbbed faintly, hearing Number 33’s voice inexplicably brightened her mood, and she hummed a tune. “Are you at Jiaohai Bay?”

Li Jingche was at the company, but not far from Jiaohai Bay, and he planned to go there that evening. He replied casually, “Mm.”

“Come keep me company tonight. Tomorrow’s going to be busy all day, I won’t have time.”

“What are you doing tomorrow?” Li Jingche had already stood and was hurrying out with the phone.

Jian Qing lay on the bed, playing with her hair, her gaze shadowed and ambiguous. “Tomorrow, Ren Tianchuan is throwing a welcome party for Ren Yishan. Don’t you think Ren Yishan will use tomorrow to step on me and secure her position? I’ll be lucky to come out of it alive.”

Though Jian Qing exaggerated, she genuinely believed Ren Yishan was the kind who would devour her whole, leaving nothing behind.

Ren Yishan would surely stop at nothing tomorrow, and with Jian Qing’s crippled leg, it was simply another layer of misfortune.

Li Jingche got into the car, signaling to Qin Jin, who immediately understood and drove toward Jian Qing’s home.

“I’ll be with you tomorrow,” Li Jingche said suddenly—not as a request, nor a question, but an order.

Jian Qing laughed. “Forget it. If you come, you’ll only give them another target. After all, my weaknesses are you and my useless leg. Serve me well tonight, then rest tomorrow.”

Jian Qing saw things clearly. Ren Yishan wouldn’t miss any opportunity to humiliate her, and if Li Jingche, who had neither name nor status, showed up, it would only add another person to the embarrassment.

Why drag an irrelevant person down with her?

Both fell silent for a time. Jian Qing stared at the ceiling, feeling herself drifting toward sleep, when she faintly heard Ren Yishan and Xiao Yunchen playing outside her room.

The scene was the classic chase: the man pursuing, the woman fleeing, trapped with nowhere to go. Just from the sounds, it was obvious what kind of lascivious tableau was unfolding.

No doubt Ren Tianchuan was absent; otherwise, Ren Yishan would have kept up her pure and virtuous persona.

She composed herself. “Are you coming over?”

“Buying condoms. Five minutes.”

His answer was crisp.

“No, my leg’s still lame, don’t—”

At this, Jian Qing’s face flushed instantly. She sat up abruptly, shouting frantically, but the call had already been cut off.

“What are you doing, you big fool!”

Jian Qing wasn’t sure if she was speaking to Li Jingche or to herself.

After all, she knew Li Jingche well in that aspect. “Frustrated” hardly covered it; he demanded not only quantity, but quality, content, and innovation.

After every night with him, Jian Qing truly felt like a marionette, sore and aching from head to toe.

Now, with one leg crippled and just out of surgery last night, what was Number 33 planning?

She slowly moved herself onto the wheelchair, opened the door a crack, and saw Ren Yishan disheveled in the living room, wrapped around Xiao Yunchen.

Just then, Uncle Qian led Li Jingche in.

Instantly, the room fell silent.

Jian Qing, fearing Li Jingche might lose out in a verbal spar, wheeled toward the elevator to help.

Li Jingche glanced at the smudged makeup of Ren Yishan, his gaze swept over Xiao Yunchen, but he said nothing, heading straight for the stairs. The latter blocked his path with an outstretched arm.

“Why are you here again, you impostor?”

Li Jingche looked at him, uninterested in responding.

Ren Yishan stepped forward, blocking him. “What, are you a male model Jian Qing keeps on the side? Daring to impersonate Mr. He? Do you even know who Mr. He is!”

She raised her head to meet Li Jingche’s eyes.

But as their gazes met, an indescribable unease and fear wrapped around her, the temperature in the room plummeting. Ren Yishan stumbled, retreating half a step to lean against Xiao Yunchen, nervously averting her eyes.

“Your identity’s been exposed. How do you even have the face to appear in our house? What, do you really think you can get into the Jian family’s door just with your looks?”

Xiao Yunchen spoke as he reached to push Li Jingche.

But Li Jingche seized his wrist, squeezing hard enough to make Xiao Yunchen’s expression change instantly.

“Let go of me! Damn it, you’re killing me!”

Li Jingche released him with a shove, sending Xiao Yunchen stumbling back onto the sofa. He hadn’t expected that despite Li Jingche’s slim build, his grip was so strong.

Li Jingche stared silently at him, delivering the fatal blow: “We’ve slept together. Tonight, we’ll sleep again. Any problem?”

Just then, Jian Qing came out of the elevator, sweating, and heard Number 33’s words.

Her mind buzzed. For a moment, she thought she’d misheard, rubbing her ears. “What did you say?”

Those four words were uttered almost simultaneously by Jian Qing and Xiao Yunchen.

But Li Jingche had no interest in repeating himself. Seeing Jian Qing, his severe brow softened, and he pushed her wheelchair upstairs. Before entering the room, he called down to Xiao Yunchen, “Go to bed, Qingqing.”

Ren Yishan’s gaze followed them until they disappeared into the room. Then she turned, somewhat reproachfully, to Xiao Yunchen. “Yunchen, you—”

But before she could finish, Xiao Yunchen stormed back to his room, furiously clearing the table, swiping vases and porcelain onto the floor. Ren Yishan stomped her feet on the carpet—

Xiao Yunchen still had Jian Qing in his heart!

Tomorrow...

Tomorrow, Jian Qing must be taught a lesson!

Though Ren Yishan’s words were meant for Jian Qing, at that moment in Jian Qing’s bedroom, Li Jingche had the same intention.

“You didn’t answer my call because Xiao Yunchen was with you?”

When a man latches onto something, he’s even harder to shake than a woman.

Jian Qing lowered her gaze to Li Jingche’s Adam’s apple, but the man forced her chin up.

“After you were discharged, Xiao Yunchen stayed by your side?”

“No, look, I haven’t even showered since I got out of the hospital. I was waiting for Uncle Qian to find a competent maid for me tomorrow.”

She smiled seductively, twining her fingers with his on the bed.

“No need to wait. Just as well, after we’re done, I’ll give you a bath.”