Chapter 38: Sigh! It’s infuriating & Capitalism

Lin Zhiyan sat cross-legged on the bed.

Breathe in, breathe out. Several cycles.

The terminal vibrated endlessly on the bed, hopping around without pause.

She ignored it and continued meditating.

After a long while, she opened her eyes. She had achieved no enlightenment, but her legs had gone numb.

At this point, she could only bury her head and charge forward.

Lin Zhiyan snatched up the call and immediately launched into a long series of coughs, drowning out whatever the other party had wanted to say.

Very quickly, all that remained on the other end was concern and confusion.

“What happened to you?”

Oh. Looks like she had answered Lemon’s call.

Sounding weak and exhausted, Lin Zhiyan said, “Caught a bit of a cold. Feeling dizzy.”

“Did you take medicine?” Lemon’s voice rose sharply. She heard the rustle of clothes as he suddenly sat up. Then he continued, “I’ll buy some medicine for you. No, I’ll have the family doctor come take a look. Wait a second, I’ll—”

Lin Zhiyan jolted upright.

“No need!”

“What if you have a fever?” Lemon sounded somewhat dissatisfied before sucking in a breath. “Wait. You’re not trying to tell me you caught a cold and can’t come see me tomorrow, are you?”

His voice turned aggrieved.

“You promised me. You can’t go back on your word. You need to get better quickly. I’m leaving tomorrow. Am I seriously not even going to see you before I go? I’m calling a doctor right now!”

“N-No!” Lin Zhiyan viciously slapped her troublesome mouth. Unfortunately, she couldn’t bear to use much force. It was more like a dragonfly skimming water.

Her eyes darted around so frantically her vision started blurring.

“I’m already feeling better. I took a nap just now. Much more awake now. Don’t worry.”

Lemon sounded suspicious.

“Really—?”

Lin Zhiyan nodded furiously.

“Mm.”

Lemon let out a pleased hum.

“If you don’t show up tomorrow, I won’t let you off.”

“How exactly won’t you let me off?” Lin Zhiyan’s brain fan spun at maximum speed, her forehead heating up, though her voice remained smiling. “Open the emergency hatch after boarding and stop the entire aircraft from taking off?”

Lemon laughed.

“It’s a private aircraft. Only Li Siheng and I are on it. Even if I opened it, it wouldn’t delay departure. And if it did, we’d just push the other aircraft schedules back.”

Lin Zhiyan: “…”

Okay.

Now she knew why flights were always delayed.

Trying very hard not to become resentful of the rich, she pressed her lips together and said,

“I’m just worried. Our relationship is still being hidden from Li Siheng. What if he—”

“What if he finds out?” Lemon sounded annoyed, mixed with natural arrogance. “He’s always been Zephi’s puppet anyway. He has to be told what to do. Besides, you didn’t actually do anything to him. He’ll understand us.”

“I don’t really want to say this.”

Lin Zhiyan hesitated.

Three parts gentlemanly restraint—one shouldn’t speak ill of others behind their backs.

Seven parts minister-with-important-news-to-report.

“If he doesn’t know we’re still together, then from his perspective, he’s going to District Four for your sake, because of your friendship and Zephi’s persuasion, to help you through a difficult period.”

She paused.

“But if he knows the truth, then it becomes a case of us using him to pave the road for our future.”

Then she added softly,

“He might end up hurting you.”

Lemon clicked his tongue lightly.

It was hard to tell whether he didn’t understand or understood perfectly and simply thought, So what?

Lin Zhiyan’s breathing grew heavier.

“I did all this because I hoped the two of you could support each other. Not because I wanted there to be a possibility of him hurting you.”

Lemon was silent for a long time.

Finally, he let out a long breath.

“…Honestly, I could’ve gotten by just fine on my own. Why did he have to come with me? Now I have to care about his feelings too.”

His voice was low, amused, but also faintly complaining.

“Got it. Seriously. I’m not a child.”

Even as he said that, he sounded much happier.

“But I don’t think there’s any risk of getting caught. You’re just accompanying me in the car. What’s the problem?”

The problem was that she couldn’t perform mitosis.

Lin Zhiyan replied,

“I’m just worried about the possibility.”

“What possibility?”

After a pause, the lightness in Lemon’s voice vanished.

“…You don’t just not want to come, do you?”

Lin Zhiyan choked.

“Hah.”

A cold laugh escaped his throat.

His voice rose sharply.

“Do you think I’m an idiot? I only asked you to see me off, and you’re coming up with excuse after excuse. What exactly are you afraid of?”

His voice lowered.

“Or…”

The unease in it felt like a boulder balanced on a mountain peak, ready to crash down at any moment.

“Are you hiding something from me?”

Lin Zhiyan asked,

“What do you think I’d be hiding?”

“For example, maybe you agreed to some conditions. Maybe you’ve been looking for excuses to get rid of me all along. That’s why you don’t even want to see me off.”

Lemon suddenly said.

Lin Zhiyan: “…?!”

Holy crap.

He guessed that too?

People always say being in love makes you stupid.

But Lemon seemed to have transformed into some master detective.

“Then you guessed right.”

A voice in her head tried to retaliate.

“…Maybe I’m just being overly suspicious. Forget it. I’m tired. Let’s stop talking.”

Lemon’s voice grew lower and lower, occasionally interrupted by short breaths.

“If you really can’t make time for it, then forget it.”

After saying that, he hung up immediately.

He didn’t continue arguing, nor did he wait for her response.

Lin Zhiyan: “…”

She fell backward onto the bed.

Help.

If this ended in a breakup, Lemon only needed to cry to his mother and say she was a terrible woman.

She’d immediately become cannon fodder.

Should she just refuse Li Siheng instead?

Lin Zhiyan opened her terminal again.

Li Siheng’s messages and calls were still bombarding her.

Lin Zhiyan: “…”

Forget it.

This one was even crazier.

She stared blankly at the terminal.

After a long time, she finally gritted her teeth and called Zephi.

The moment it connected—

it was hung up.

Lin Zhiyan froze for a few seconds.

Then she called again.

The next moment, a notification appeared.

[System Notice: You have been blocked.]

Lin Zhiyan: “…”

Damn it.

So her call had merely reminded Zephi to block her?

Was he even human?

Not a single ounce of room for negotiation?

The terminal buzzed again.

Inside the dim room, only the bedside lamp and wall lamps were on, creating a gentle, tranquil atmosphere.

Zephi lay on the bed, silver-gray hair spread beneath him.

His eyes suddenly opened.

Picking up his terminal, he saw messages and calls from Aiwen.

Expressionless, he blocked Aiwen too.

There was irritation on his beautiful face.

It didn’t take a genius to know Lin Zhiyan was calling in reinforcements.

What exactly was she trying to do?

It was already the middle of the night.

At this hour, he didn’t want anyone disturbing him.

Zephi took several deep breaths.

Then he removed Lin Zhiyan from the blacklist and tapped out a message.

[Zephi: Do not disturb me outside normal hours.]

[YZY: It’s important!]

The instant he sent it, a reply arrived.

Zephi couldn’t be bothered to care.

He blocked her again, turned off the terminal, and closed his eyes.

His sleep was shallow. It took him quite some time to drift into a light doze.

Just as he was about to fall asleep—

BOOM!

Zephi’s eyelashes trembled.

The noise jolted him awake.

His ice-gray eyes were still clouded with sleep.

He sat up and searched for the source.

Very quickly, he realized someone was pounding on the door.

His brows twitched.

Still half-asleep, he merely threw off the blanket.

The next moment, the door unlocked and slammed open.

A gust of wind rushed in.

“Mr. Li Siheng, you—”

“Move.”

The servant’s voice was cut off.

Li Siheng stormed into Zephi’s bedroom.

His expression was cold.

His gray-black eyes looked as dark as ink.

Walking directly to the bedside, he said,

“Why are you doing this?”

“Why are you acting insane in the middle of the night?”

Zephi laughed in disbelief.

He swept back his silver-satin hair and sat on the edge of the bed.

“Get back to your own house. Otherwise I’ll beat you up and settle all the scores from the past few days at once.”

His long legs were spread apart.

Leaning forward slightly, one hand braced on his knee, a faint hostility shadowed his features.

Li Siheng sneered.

“Then settle them.”

He said,

“I want to know why you won’t let Lin Zhiyan see me off.”

Zephi frowned.

“What are you talking about?”

Li Siheng grabbed his collar.

Hatred brewed in his dark eyes.

“You think I don’t know you were grabbing her hand that day? Or that I don’t know you were watching?”

His grip tightened.

“You think you can separate her from me? You think you can take advantage of the situation?”

Zephi froze briefly.

Mockery flickered in his gray eyes.

Without answering, he suddenly rose.

Then he threw a punch.

Fast.

So fast that his hair flew up with the motion.

The punch sent Li Siheng stumbling backward.

Excitement flashed through Li Siheng’s eyes.

A military knife slid from his sleeve into his hand.

He lunged forward and slashed toward Zephi’s face.

Zephi immediately retreated.

Then he kicked Li Siheng squarely in the abdomen.

Li Siheng crashed to the floor.

Coughing several times, he looked up at him, almost as though observing him.

“Didn’t we already play this game a few days ago? You want round two?”

Zephi looked toward the arriving servants.

“Take him back.”

Li Siheng’s expression remained equally cold.

He didn’t care about being punched.

Instead, he stared at Zephi’s face with disappointment.

Zephi sneered.

“Whether you believe everything she says, or you’re using this as an excuse to start trouble, it’s equally stupid.”

He continued,

“Whether she sees you off or not. Whether she sleeps with you or not. I couldn’t care less.”

“You expect me to believe that?”

Li Siheng’s eyes dripped with ridicule.

“You idiot.”

Zephi found the whole thing absurd.

“Do you really think she’s that extraordinary? That everyone wants to compete with you for her?”

Li Siheng sneered back.

“I only want to know one thing.”

His gaze sharpened.

“In the hospital room, what exactly did you say to her? What exactly did you do?”

A pause.

“Why was your hair on her?”

“I won’t answer you. You’re too stupid.”

Zephi looked down at him.

“The moment you started taking pride in using that face of yours to act like some shameless slut, and imagined I’d be jealous or envious of you, you were beyond saving.”

Li Siheng held his gaze.

“Then why do you keep spying on everything between me and her?”

The darkness blurred their differences.

For a moment, it was like each was looking into a mirror.

Eventually, Li Siheng was dragged away.

Zephi sat on the edge of the bed.

Filled with irritation and resentment.

He was sick of this.

Picking up his terminal, he removed Lin Zhiyan from the blacklist again and called back.

Five seconds later, the call connected.

His voice was icy.

“What kind of stunt are you pulling?”

“I didn’t have a choice.”

Her tone sounded aggrieved and theatrical.

“You kept ignoring me. It was urgent. I had to ask Li Siheng to remind you.”

“I’ve warned you many times. We do not have the kind of relationship where casual chats are acceptable.”

Zephi felt himself becoming less and less capable of maintaining his usual smile and politeness around Lin Zhiyan.

Not even Jiang Yi had managed to irritate him this much.

After steadying his breathing, he asked,

“What important matter absolutely required contacting me in the middle of the night?”

“I need your help with one tiny little thing.”

Lin Zhiyan spoke quietly.

Then she added,

“It involves both Lemon and Li Siheng.”

Zephi immediately guessed.

“Related to their departure tomorrow?”

Lin Zhiyan’s eyes lit up.

“Exactly. Could you adjust their schedules a little? It should be easy for you.”

“It has nothing to do with me.”

Zephi laughed coldly.

“After you encouraged Li Siheng to break into my house and interrupt my sleep, there is zero chance I’ll help you.”

As expected.

But she needed his help.

Rubbing her forehead, she asked,

“If I hadn’t forced you to answer me this way, and waited until tomorrow morning instead, would you have helped?”

Zephi sounded almost amused.

“No.”

He continued,

“Now that I’ve answered, this call should end.”

“Miss Lin, good luck.”

“You’ve already run out of cards. Any further deals with me are impossible.”

A pause.

“Unless you’re willing to complete that particular transaction.”

Lin Zhiyan: “…”

Her mind was a tangled mess.

Unfortunately, Zephi was right.

Academic misconduct.

Her connection with Jiang Yi.

Li Siheng’s illness.

All the leverage she’d possessed had been spent during previous confrontations.

Only one card remained—

maintaining contact with Li Siheng.

But that couldn’t be used.

The moment she played that card, she’d inevitably be forced to accept the Solent family’s favors.

That wasn’t taking advantage of someone.

That was becoming deeply bound to them.

Adjusting a schedule wasn’t enough.

She’d have to offer a sincere attitude, maybe even herself.

Lin Zhiyan remained silent, weighing the costs.

Zephi sensed her silence.

Hearing her breathing mixed with static through the terminal, he finally recovered his usual elegant, gentle, perfectly composed smile.

“So?”

“The conditions I mentioned before are still available.”

“Have you considered them?”

The moment Li Siheng stopped having episodes, you’re suddenly acting tough again, huh?”

Lin Zhiyan laughed.

Then she countered,

“How about you? Have you considered becoming my lover?”

“If your actual lovers fail to see you tomorrow, don’t you think they’ll notice something strange?”

Zephi’s tone carried amusement.

“When they discover you’ve been deceiving both of them, you won’t need to wait until finals to end those relationships.”

“They’ll end them themselves.”

A pause.

“Along with you.”

His voice cooled.

“Li Siheng might not.”

“Though that outcome may be even worse.”

The smile faded from his voice.

“Lin Zhiyan.”

“Are you still going to keep talking slickly to me?”

In her mind, Lin Zhiyan saw a blue planet.

Countless mathematical formulas, foreign-language vocabulary words, and geometric figures floated around it in layers.

She searched desperately through all that knowledge for a way out.

In the end, all she felt was heat building in her forehead.

Help.

Her pig brain had overloaded.

Zephi remained patient.

Once more he asked,

“Agree or refuse?”

Lin Zhiyan replied,

“Or.”

Zephi frowned.

“Or what?”

“The answer is ‘or.’ Or. Either works. Whatever. Just do it first, and we’ll talk later.”

She was certain she’d gone completely insane and was speaking nonsense.

But that was fine.

If she could annoy this bastard to death, all the better.

Lin Zhiyan continued,

“And what’s your answer? If you won’t be a lover, you could always be a secret lover. Nobody would know we’re having an affair—”

Beep. Beep. Beep.

Zephi hung up.

He was angry again.

Lin Zhiyan sneered.

Funny.

Just because she had no solutions for life didn’t mean she’d run out of ways to piss people off.

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