Shen Keye turned his face away from the slap.
Liang Jin hadn’t held back in the slightest, putting every ounce of her strength into it. “Stay away from me,” she said.
His profile remained expressionless as he lowered his eyes. He lifted a hand and wiped the corner of his mouth with the knuckle of his thumb. A tiny black mole twitched with his sudden cold sneer. “Where’d you send the cat?”
“Stay away from me,” Liang Jin said coldly.
“Did you pay?”
She fell silent.
“I’ll reimburse you,” Shen Keye said.
Liang Jin glanced at the side of his face where she’d slapped him. It was already faintly red. She hadn’t intended to say anything, but after her gaze lingered for a moment, she told him coldly, “I paid.”
“I want to go back to my dorm,” she said.
Liang Jin started toward the door, but a voice stopped her. “Liang Jin.” Shen Keye’s tone was slow and leisurely, yet it carried an undeniable pressure. “If you walk out that door, you won’t be able to make your movie.”
Under the chandelier, the two stared at each other across a short distance. Shen Keye shrugged off his jacket and sank onto the sofa. Dark light gathered in his pitch-black eyes, like a storm brewing, mingled with an arrogant sense of detachment.
Liang Jin didn’t know how to describe the restraint and anger hibernating inside her body.
He was so calm, treating her like some hysterical lunatic making a scene for no reason.
Shen Keye sneered. “I’ve given you too much already.”
Liang Jin stood there without moving. “So? Planning to take it all back now?”
“I’m not that bored,” Shen Keye said.
A chill of despair settled over Liang Jin. “I want to go back to see my mom. I’m scared she’ll close her eyes forever any second now.”
The entire penthouse spanned 2,400 square feet, and the sofa was a wooden one that wasn’t particularly soft. The young man reached up and switched off the projector. “And if she lives for another two years, three years, or even longer? Are you never coming back for the rest of your life?”
Liang Jin went blank for an instant. Her pitch-black eyes stared at him in confusion and helplessness. “What?”
Shen Keye said nothing.
Liang Jin pressed him. “What do you mean by that?”
Shen Keye asked, “Have you learned chess?”
Liang Jin hated this feeling of total ignorance. “What do you mean my mom can live longer?”
Shen Keye’s profile was shrouded in the dim living room, his black messy hair scattered about. He offered no further explanation, merely lifting his eyes to gaze up at her. “Liang Jin, same rules as before. Beat me once, and it’s two hundred thousand.”
~~~
Liang Jin slept in the guest room after parting with Shen Keye on bad terms. After her shower, she went to the storage room and found the chessboard, hesitating over whether to go look for him.
Her phone buzzed with a new message.
It was from Jiang Manyu.
【Liang Jin, someone wants to help you with your mom and your sister’s illnesses.】
Jiang Manyu hadn’t shown up in ages, and this sudden message left Liang Jin momentarily stunned.
Jiang Manyu: 【She wants to see you.】
That “she” with the woman radical, delivered in such a roundabout way—Liang Jin suddenly knew the answer in her heart.
Jiang Manyu’s final reply: 【This Sunday, she’s inviting you to meet.】
She stepped out of the room. All the lights around were off, leaving only a bit of glow from the windowsill.
Shen Keye was sitting there. Liang Jin had given his home address at the Pet Hospital, and moments ago, the staff had delivered the Maine Coon kitten. Its fur had been washed clean—a rough, dry gray like withered weeds—and its eyes were a gorgeous purple. It huddled shyly at his side.
“Aren’t you going to sleep?” Shen Keye asked.
Liang Jin pocketed her phone. “I’m here to play chess with you.”
Shen Keye glanced back at her, appraising her. “Here to get money from me?”
Liang Jin neither confirmed nor denied it.
She walked over and sat beside the Maine Coon cat, setting up the chessboard.
The little kitten clearly remembered her. It let out a dainty meow and rubbed against her palm, as if trying to please her.
The warm, soft sensation felt just like cotton.
Liang Jin lowered her eyes to the cat, unsure how to start a conversation with Shen Keye or what he was getting at. “I just saw a photo of a cat in the guest room. Was that your old one?”
It was a black Maine Coon cat whose limbs ended in mere upper-arm stumps, making it half the height of a normal cat. It looked endearingly silly, sprawled out soft and fluffy, coquettishly begging for attention.
“Mm.”
“How did your cat die?”
“Someone tossed it outside. Creatures that can’t care for themselves always have ten thousand ways to die.”
“Was it thrown out while you were away at a competition? Your uncle did it as a warning.” The last part came out as a statement.
Shen Keye seemed caught off guard. He chuckled. “Liang Jin, are you that interested in me?”
The black-and-white chessboard was set up. Liang Jin looked up at him. Time had passed since she’d slapped him, and the side of his face was now slightly swollen.
Liang Jin said solemnly, “I’m sorry.”
The girl’s jet-black hair fell naturally around her shoulders, accentuating her pale, cold little face. Her dark pupils stared straight at him, devoid of emotion. Yet her words carried a merciful gentleness. “Does it hurt?”
Shen Keye gazed at her, then suddenly lowered his eyes and pulled something from his pocket. “Here, take it back.”
He hadn’t brought his lighter when he’d gone out that day. Shen Junbang restricted his personal freedoms, forbidding any vices, but Shen Keye was rebellious by nature.
Seeing the silver lighter, Liang Jin didn’t take it. “Shen Keye, if you like it, keep it.”
Shen Keye said, “I won’t pay you for the lighter.”
The girl blinked, seemingly amused, though she only smiled faintly.
A sense of loss washed over her. In the pre-dawn night, the view outside the window lay shrouded in utter darkness.
That message from Jiang Manyu had come on behalf of Song Youqing, who wanted to find her. Her intentions were self-evident.
Liang Jin also wondered if there was a perfect solution between love and life.
She clenched her fingers and mustered her courage. “You’ll help cover the costs for Mom and my sister’s new treatment plan, right?”
Shen Keye glanced down at the chessboard—they hadn’t even started playing. “On one condition.”
“Aside from competitions, I can’t leave the Hong Kong District. Liang Jin, you have to stay by my side.”
Her flickering eyes reflected his image. “And then?”
The boy’s expression remained cold. His deep, magnetic voice held a coercive edge, utterly devoid of lust. He countered, “Don’t you already know?”
A game of wits.
The word flashed through Liang Jin’s mind, striking her as absurd.
She tried to negotiate. “If I play mind games with you right now, will you lose to me?”
Under the night sky, faint light illuminated the girl’s cool features. Shen Keye looked at her. “For example?”
Liang Jin wanted to say something flirtatious, but with a single blink, her heart softened. “Let me treat the side of your face.”
The boy narrowed his eyes, a glint of sarcasm and teasing lurking beneath. A wicked yet nonchalant chuckle escaped him—he was about to mock her, but the words died on his lips. Instead, he turned away and said, “Come here.”
~~~
Liang Jin had lost count of how many times she’d treated Shen Keye’s wounds, but this was the first time she’d tended to marks she’d inflicted herself.
Shen Keye showed no fear of pain. In fact, he followed the path of the iodine-soaked cotton swab with his gaze, watching her every move.
His calm, emotionless demeanor held the predatory intensity of a lone wolf eyeing its prey in the heart of its den.
Liang Jin spoke up. “Stop staring at me.”
The public restroom was spacious, and the mirror above the sink was larger than average. She could barely endure Shen Keye’s gaze assaulting her from both reality and the reflection.
Shen Keye said, “Your hand bends awkwardly when you hold the cotton swab. Have you treated yourself like this before?”
She caught his gaze in the mirror and denied it. “No.”
Fleeing the intensity, she tossed the used swab into the trash bin. Her phone buzzed a few times.
It was a message from Wu Lin.
【Li Yibo says he doesn’t want to see you, Jinjin… I have no issue with you, but we just made up, so I probably can’t take the elective with you for a while.】
【You’re about to go film anyway… it should be fine, right?】
【Sorry.】
“Who’s that from?”
Liang Jin didn’t reply and dimmed the screen. “Wu Lin’s.”
“You moved in because of her.”
The blunt truth left Liang Jin silent, unwilling to respond.
She packed up the first aid kit. “You can put it back.”
The boy watched her with lowered eyes, then suddenly tugged his lips into a faint smile. “Earlier, during our fight, Liang Jin—you said there was something else you wanted?”
Liang Jin pursed her lips. She had plenty of worries, but she had no intention of repeating them to Shen Keye now.
This was the sort of thing he’d exploit without mercy.
Her delicate brows relaxed as she feigned casualness, putting some distance between them. Her jet-black hair was pinned to one side from the careful application of the swab, lending her an air that was cool yet gentle. “You want to help me solve it?” She looked up. “I can’t offer you any generous reward right now.”
Liang Jin said coolly, “I’m going to bed.”
She took a step to leave when suddenly someone grabbed her.
That evening in Mong Kok, Shen Keye had received a call. Shen Junbang had been in a car accident at The Bund.
Song Youqing was also in Shanghai. In a few days, once Shen Junbang’s condition improved, they’d bring him back to the Hong Kong District.
Shen Keye said, “Liang Jin, if anyone contacts you, tell me.”
Her eyelashes trembled in bewilderment. “What?”
Shen Keye pulled her into his arms. He suddenly lost interest in elaborating and changed the subject instead.
“I want to kiss you.”
Liang Jin stood before the mirror, feeling utterly exposed with nowhere to hide. The man in front of her had clearly seized complete control over her—she had even entwined herself with him right there in his home, in front of the bathroom mirror during the darkest hour before dawn. Yet Shen Keye still wore that faint smile as he asked her, without much politeness, “Give me a kiss?”