TCOR CH45

Chapter 45: Didn’t you say you wouldn’t stop loving me?

“So he’s the one who killed my father?” On the sofa, Philia looked up from the information in her hands and looked at the man standing at the window with reddened eyes.

“You could say that,” said Shen Wunian, who had been watching the busy traffic below. He took off his glasses, held them up to the light for a moment, and threw them on the table.

“It’s more comfortable this way,” he said, running a hand through his hair and muttering to himself.

“Your father was a true painter. When he found out that Ashmakine was using his paintings to launder drug money, he wanted to stop it immediately.” He pulled out the transparent dining chair by the table, dragged it over to Philia, sat down in front of her, and leaned forward. Unfortunately, he misjudged Ashmakine’s cruelty and vileness.

His voice was soft, sympathetic, and infectious.

“He killed him and made it look like a traffic accident. Then he casually asked about me and my mother, making us both think he was a good man.” Philia’s emerald eyes were filled with tears, which pooled in her eyes like a pool overgrown with algae. My mother even begged him to take care of me before she died, to beg a murderer to take care of me!

The tears fell like a chain.

She slammed the documents in her hand on the floor, scattering them everywhere. Philia stood up angrily and shouted, “He’s a fraud!”

She began pacing back and forth like a lioness who had been made a fool of, her mind racing as she thought of ways to rip the impostor’s throat out.

“I knew it, I should have known… When he broke up with Arthur, I should have realized that he didn’t love me at all, he just used me as a pawn…” Her chest rose and fell with increasing intensity, “I did so much for him, more loyal than you, but I just wanted to marry the man I loved, but he wouldn’t let me!

“He tempted Arthur with his future and his money, asking him to give me up, and Arthur… Arthur, who always said he loved me, actually broke up with me…”

Shen Wunian slowly straightened up, his eyes unable to bear the sight and his mouth saying with patience, “You deserve a better man.

“Of course I do, but the person who betrayed me must pay the price!” Philia stood barefoot on a pile of scattered papers, her beautiful face rising to a chilling smile, “So I broke his legs so that Arthur, who loves to dance, could never dance ballet again.”

“Well done,” Shen Wunian said with a lackluster tone of praise.

Breathing slowly, Philia wiped the tears from her face, her eyes growing cold, “I told you, Uriel, who never interferes in family matters, was unusually kind this time, acting as a peacemaker between my father and me. When my father asked you to bring me here to hide from the storm, you immediately agreed. I thought you had changed your ways, but it turns out you had another plan.”

“Don’t make me sound like I’m always plotting against others.” Shen Wunian turned around and rested his elbows on the back of the chair. He had a smile on his face, but his eyes were indifferent. I care about you, my sister.

Philia smiled wryly and said nothing in response.

She sat back down on the sofa with an elegant posture, her long legs crossed, her pale arms resting on the armrest. The anger and resentment of a few minutes ago seemed never to have appeared on her face.

“Then tell me your plan, brother.”

“With pleasure.” Shen Wunian’s smile revealed some sharp fangs.

Is this what you think about by day and dream about by night?

I slowly opened my eyes and rubbed my throbbing temples, feeling absurd at the images in my head.

Falling in love really makes you crazy.

When I got up from the bed, the phone in my chest fell down and I picked it up and looked at it. There was still no reply from Shen Wunian, and the messages I sent also disappeared without a trace.

Day 12: The original plan was to go to a silver jewelry shop to do some DIY. With the optimistic attitude that “he might just be angry and refuse to communicate, but he should still keep his promise,” I arrived at the silver jewelry store at the appointed time even though I hadn’t heard from him.

The silver jewelry store was on the top floor of a shopping mall. From the outside, it looked busy, with customers milling about. Everyone wore leather aprons and held small hammers in their hands, eagerly pounding away.

I sat on the bench in front of the store and watched people come and go all afternoon. When all the customers in the shop had been replaced several times, Shen Wunian still did not appear.

He would not come.

Sighing softly into my cell phone, I could see that it was almost time for my shift, so I had no choice but to get up and leave.

The hotel where I work at night is far from downtown, in the suburbs of Jiang City. The whole place is built in the style of a classical garden. Many of the buildings are even relocated old mansions. It is said that the highest room rate is six figures per night, which is said to be the highest in the country.

Normally, a hotel like this does not hire temporary workers, but the manager of the hotel’s catering department is the brother of a friend of Xie Yunze’s, so he forced the two of us to get the job.

“Every guest who comes today is very distinguished, so you must be careful in your service and not make any mistakes…”

During the speech, I glanced over from time to time, keeping an eye on Xie Yunze next to me. Even though he wasn’t cooking today, his face still didn’t look good. I had also tried to persuade him not to come, but he wouldn’t listen, insisting that he was strong and had long since recovered.

“Are you okay?” I asked him quietly.

“I’m fine, brother, don’t worry, I’m as strong as an ox!” Xie Yunze grinned, clenched his right hand into a fist, and patted his chest like a monkey. I don’t know if it was too hard, but after a few seconds, he coughed and choked, attracting the sideways glances of everyone around him.

I sighed inwardly and quickly patted his back, “I know, I know, take it easy…”

The dinner started at 7:00, but many guests started arriving at 6:30. Everyone was dressed in their best, with some sort of mask on their faces.

The banquet hall was surrounded by artificial hills and streams. Among the white walls, pink roofs, carved beams, and painted rafters, professional opera singers entertained the guests on a stage. The soft, melodious singing came through the lotus flowers, transporting everyone back to over a hundred years ago.

Worried about Xie Yunze’s health, I kept a close eye on him throughout the night, asking him from time to time if he was tired and wanted to take a break.

At first he was very stubborn and said he was fine. After standing for an hour, he suddenly said that his head and shoulders were in constant pain and that he needed to take some medicine.

I touched his hand but didn’t feel any heat. Still, I was concerned and suggested, “If you can’t hold on, you should go home.

“No, I have to hang on. I have to save money for Dai’s birthday present. It’s okay, brother, I’ll get some medicine and be right back.” After saying that, Xie Yunze covered his shoulders and neck and quickly walked out the door.

He was gone for less than ten minutes, and when he came back, he was filled with a familiar sweet scent, the same scent I had once smelled on Shen Wunian.

“I thought you were taking medicine. Why are you smoking if you’re sick?” I thought he was lying to me, and my eyebrows furrowed.

Xie Yunze was taken aback, but quickly recovered, “It’s not cigarettes, brother, it’s an inhaled painkiller. My mother gave it to me before and said it’s very effective for neuralgia. A lot of people with Redvein Syndrome use it, so I brought it along just in case. He took a box out of his pocket and showed it to me.

The blue-green wrapper is very similar to an ordinary cigarette pack. In the middle is a string of English words, in the corner are some Chinese characters that say “pain relief,” and on the side are reminders about the medicine.

I held it up to my nose and took a whiff. It gave off a faint sweet floral scent, just as Shen Wunian had said it would.

In the past, when Shen Wunian said he used this to treat migraines, I thought he was making things up.

I gave a slight cough and handed the pill box back to Xie Yunze, “Are you still in pain?”

“No, it’s quite effective,” Xie Yunze put the panin shu back in his pocket.

I patted his arm, told him to let me know if he needed anything, and then separated from him with the tray.

It was strange…

As I walked across the bridge, I covered my neck and looked around, meeting no one’s gaze. However, after taking a few steps forward, the feeling of being followed, the presence that fell on my skin, returned.

It was as if… someone was always staring at me.

I closed my eyes and quickly dismissed this unfounded speculation.

It must have been caused by not getting enough sleep last night. Who would stare at a waiter on such an occasion?

The host of the dinner party is a foundation dedicated to rare childhood diseases, and the main purpose of holding such a dinner party is to raise funds.

The main method of fundraising is to auction off the guests’ donations. Jewelry, calligraphy and paintings, antique vases, just hearing the host announce the bid amount is an astronomical number that I would never dream of winning in the lottery.

“See that beautiful woman? She has a great figure.”

“She’s a foreigner. What, you like her? Then go talk to her, you might get lucky tonight…”

In front of the carved window, looking at the stage in the distance, the foreign girl in the green fishtail dress attracted the attention of many people present. Two young men egged each other on, and one of them took two glasses of champagne from my tray and walked confidently toward the girl.

“Pretty lady, are you here alone?”

The girl turned her face at the sound, her emerald eyes under the false mask complementing the gorgeous dress she was wearing, so beautiful it was hard to take your eyes off her.

The man’s breath caught slightly, and so did mine, not because of the other person’s beauty, but because I recognized who she was.

In the huge city of Jiang City, with a population of tens of millions, in a five-star hotel in the suburbs, I unexpectedly ran into Philia.

“I am here with my family,” Philia answered the questioner directly in Chinese.

The man was delighted: “Your Chinese is very good. Can I buy you a drink? Maybe we can be friends.”

Family? Is that Shen Wunian? I looked around, trying to find Shen Wunian.

Meanwhile, the host on the stage began to loudly introduce the next item to be auctioned off.

“Ladies and gentlemen, the next item we are going to auction is a very special work – an original oil painting by the famous artist Shen Yao!”

“This work, entitled <Eternity>, measures 30×40 inches, and it showcases Shen Yao’s extraordinary talent for controlling color and form…”

Two gloved hostesses smile as they hold up the colorful painting. The hostess continues: “This painting has been generously donated by the artist’s only son, Mr. Shen Wunian, and the proceeds from the auction will go entirely to support our charitable causes. This is not only a great opportunity to collect a piece of contemporary art history, but also a moment to make an important contribution to a noble cause.”

“Our opening bid is $500,000. Do I hear $500,000? Thank you, sir, $500,000 was bid…do we have $600,000?

It really is Shen Wunian, he’s here too.

“What, do you want to fall in love with me? I don’t mind, but the last guy who said he loved me broke both my legs and left me a cripple because he changed his mind. You better think carefully, if you betray me, I’ll cut out your tongue so you’ll never be able to say sweet things again…”

I wanted to ask Philia about Shen Wunian, but before I knew what had happened, Philia had grabbed the man’s tie in the blink of an eye.

A sweet yet dangerous smile played around the corner of her mouth, and there was a sense of quiet madness in her eyes.

“Since the beautiful lady doesn’t want to be friends with me, then… I won’t insist.” The man looked frightened by her, took out his own tie, and hurried off with his friend.

“…not normal.” I could hear the man muttering softly as the two walked past me.

“What, you want to hit on her too?” Philia leaned against the window, holding a glass of champagne and looking at me lazily.

The waitresses had to wear masks too, but they were all the same style, very simple. I was afraid she wouldn’t recognize me, so I deliberately lifted my mask a little.

“It’s me.”

“I know it’s you.” Philia took a sip of champagne and made a small sound of surprise. “I can’t believe Uriel let you work here as a waitress. Why don’t you come work for me? I’ll support you.’

My scalp prickled as I firmly refused, ‘No, I… I like being independent.

Philia interjected with amazing linguistic talent: “You can’t eat bitterness.”

In just a dozen days, her Chinese has improved by leaps and bounds. Not only can she pronounce words correctly, she can even use trendy expressions.

I scratched my nose in confusion and returned to the topic: “Has Shen Wunian come yet?”

“Yes, but I don’t know where he is. If you want to find him, just call him.”

But he has to answer the phone first, I thought despondently.

“It’s so boring here, I might as well go to a club,” Philia said, putting the empty glass in my tray, crossing her fingers and stretching out in front of me. If you see Uriel, just say I’ve already left, don’t worry about me. With that she left the room.

Shen Yao’s painting eventually sold for 3 million US dollars, becoming the highest priced donated item of the evening.

The auction was over, but the dinner continued. The guests seemed to have endless things to talk about, and the opera teacher on stage was about to lose his voice, but they still didn’t seem to have had enough.

When it was time to go, the catering manager came over to say goodbye. He said that we could leave now, but if we didn’t, he would give us an extra 100 yuan.

Xie Yunze couldn’t wait any longer and left first. I decided to stay for the extra 100 yuan.

The dinner party ended at 2 a.m., after the last guest had left. But even at the end, I couldn’t find Shen Wunian in the crowd.

Maybe he had already left.

With a sore shoulder, I finished getting dressed and was on my way to the hotel when I suddenly stopped. I noticed that Shen Wunian had sent me a message on my cell phone an hour ago.

Since the dinner was confidential, all the waiters weren’t allowed to bring their phones into the venue, and I had kept my phone and backpack in the locker in the dressing room, so I didn’t see it until now.

[Ming 03]

What does that mean?

I stood there for a moment, hesitating, and suddenly I had a revelation. I walked over to an old house on the street and looked at the number on the top – Ming 12.

I followed the number all the way to Ming 11… Ming 09… Ming 05…

Finally, I arrived at the door of Ming 03.

The quaint, historic wooden door opened slightly, and there was no light or sound inside.

Such an old house with such dim lighting was almost a must in a horror movie.

Holding on to the strap of my backpack, I carefully stepped in with one foot, my voice trembling slightly: “Shen Wunian?”

Once inside the door, there was a small courtyard, and I had to walk a little further before I reached the actual door of the house.

It was dark inside, even more frightening than outside. I swallowed hard, turned on the flashlight on my phone, and slowly moved along the path.

“Shen Wunian, are you home?”

I knocked on the door, afraid that he had already fallen asleep. After waiting a while and seeing that there was still no answer, I had to quietly push open the delicately carved sliding door.

What hit me was the strong, intoxicating smell of alcohol that made it hard to breathe.

The cold white light of the flashlight bounced around the gray brick floor a few times, illuminating the tables and chairs in the room, as well as a nearly empty bottle of whiskey on the bar and an empty glass.

“Shen Wu…” I exclaimed as I felt a huge force pinch my neck. The other person then twisted my arms around and pinned my entire body against the wall.

My phone fell to the floor and the room returned to the darkness of the five fingers of the hand.

My cheeks brushed against the rough wall, and I frowned in pain as I tried to struggle, only increasing the pressure on my neck and wrists.

“It hurts… Shen Wunian?”

A rough breath came closer in the darkness, carrying the scent of ghosts.

“You really are… always beyond my imagination. You found a new partner so quickly.”

What? What new partner?

“Let me go first…”

“Didn’t you say I should show you my bad side as much as possible? Didn’t you say you wouldn’t stop loving me? And now, after less than half a month, you can’t stand it anymore?” He spoke to himself, his tone icy.

“No, I can’t stand you. I know I can’t reason with a drunk. I can only coax you with soft words. It’s my fault, I’m late, don’t be angry…”

“Don’t get angry? Why should I be angry with you? How could I be angry with you?” he said slowly with a sarcastic smile, his lips constantly rubbing against the auricles of my ear, making me shiver uncontrollably. “Someone like you, who loves everyone you meet, doesn’t deserve to be angry with me.”

He said this, but his actions were the exact opposite. After the words were out of his mouth, he bit down hard on my ear, grinding the sensitive cartilage with the tips of his teeth. I screamed in pain, thinking he was going to rip my ear off. Just as I was about to beg for mercy, he suddenly let go of me without warning.

“So annoying… your voice, your smile, your touch, everything about you is annoying…”

“Okay, okay, I’m annoying, I’m the most annoying, just let me go…”

Then I felt the grip on my hand loosen. I was suddenly overjoyed, thinking that Shen Wunian had finally come to his senses. But the next second, he brought his hand around to the front and unzipped me.

“No, wait!” I struggled again, grabbing his wrist to stop him from moving any further.

He stopped, leaned close to my ear and whispered in a lover’s voice, “If you move, I’ll break your neck.”

I shuddered and unconsciously let go of my fingers.