Chapter 40: Sigh! Driver & Capitalism

Zefi was on the verge of a breakdown.

His sleep had always been light, and now he had been woken up again and again throughout the night. Blocking her didn’t work. Even smashing his terminal hadn’t stopped the endless barrage of calls.

At this point, he was almost feeling murderous. He wanted to grab a pillow, pull out a gun, drive to her house personally, and shoot her several times.

Fortunately, his mind hadn’t completely broken yet.

The moment he sent the message, another call came through.

Zefi took a deep breath and gritted his teeth.

“You’d better not think you’ve won. In my eyes, this kind of despicable tactic is nothing but vulgar and childish.”

“But it’s effective, isn’t it?” Lin Zhiyan laughed as she listened to the words squeezed through his clenched teeth. “Otherwise, you could just switch terminals. Or throw your terminal somewhere far away and ignore it. But you didn’t. Which means there are people whose messages you’re willing to endure all this harassment for, right?”

His silver-white hair was slightly disheveled. A faint flush of anger had spread beneath his eyes.

Another wave of dizziness washed over him.

He knew he was getting exhausted from anger again. He had only completed a full treatment session yesterday. The aftereffects were still lingering, and his head hurt badly.

“So what if that’s true?”

He continued coldly,

“It’s very easy for me to end this. I could send someone to pick you up and bring you here right now.”

“Then… aren’t you going to sleep?” Lin Zhiyan sounded genuinely puzzled, then smiled. “Your voice is hoarse. You even have a nasal tone. You sound like you’re so tired you can barely keep your eyes open.”

Zefi closed his eyes.

“Which is why I said I’d send someone.”

His voice turned icy.

“Trying to threaten me with this is completely useless. Unlike you, I don’t resort to childish tantrums when I’ve run out of cards to play.”

“Throwing a tantrum doesn’t always work, but it is annoying.”

Lin Zhiyan’s tone was light and cheerful.

“All I wanted was a tiny schedule adjustment. You’re the one who made things difficult first. So what’s wrong with me buzzing around you like a little bee for a while?”

…

What an outrageously frivolous comparison.

Lin Zhiyan let out a long sigh.

“You think you’re the only one who’s tired? I’m exhausted too. I don’t want to waste my time tormenting you either. You want to sleep, and I want to sleep. But if you don’t agree to help me, then neither of us sleeps tonight.”

She paused.

“And tomorrow, I won’t go see Li Siheng off either. I’ll even tell him bad things about you—”

“Haven’t you already said enough bad things about me to him?”

Zefi laughed from sheer exasperation.

His headache worsened. His entire body felt drained.

After a while, he finally said,

“You want me to adjust their schedule? Fine. I can do it.”

His eyes lowered as he smiled faintly.

“But think carefully. I won’t let you benefit for free.”

The smile remained on his lips.

“What you did tonight crossed the line.”

“When have you ever let me benefit for free?” Lin Zhiyan replied. “Not even when you’re being my—”

“Shut up.”

Zefi was thoroughly sick of her shameless flirting.

“I’m not Li Siheng. Stop talking like that. Lin Zhiyan, don’t get carried away just because you’re somewhat useful.”

“When am I flirting?”

She sounded innocent.

Then she laughed again.

“Fine, fine. I won’t say anything. Just help me adjust the schedule.”

Zefi raised a hand and brushed back his long hair.

“How exactly do you want it adjusted?”

Outside the window, the darkness had begun to fade, as if the night sky had been washed clean.

Time passed minute by minute.

Soon, daylight flooded the world.

Lemont sat inside the car with one hand against his forehead.

His red hair was messy. His eyes were bloodshot, with dark circles underneath.

He stared at his terminal.

Still nothing.

Still no message.

His heart kept sinking, yet somehow remained suspended in midair.

Why?

Why wouldn’t she explain?

Lemont knew very well that he was trapped in a spiral of disappointment and suspicion.

Their separation had already been engineered by their families’ schemes.

He had worked hard to convince himself that they could overcome the uncertainty.

Yet the moment trouble appeared, his mind automatically dissected everything into thousands of details, endlessly speculating over every possibility.

The vehicle slowly drove away.

Then his terminal vibrated.

Lemont immediately checked it.

His expression fell.

It was only a reply from the servant.

The servant reported that they hadn’t been able to pick her up. They didn’t know whether she wasn’t home or simply refused to get into the car.

At that moment, his chest tightened painfully.

So she really isn’t coming.

No explanation.

No farewell.

No message.

His eyes stung.

Looking out the window, the angry words he’d spoken yesterday gradually solidified into a real thought.

Perhaps…

Perhaps she had only been deceiving him so he would leave.

There was still an hour and a half until the airport.

He still had an hour and a half to make a decision.

His hand tightened around the terminal.

The rain seemed to exist only inside his eyes.

His face remained expressionless.

After staying awake all night, he felt numb.

He couldn’t tell whether his mind was clear or muddled anymore.

But he thought—

If she really was that kind of person, then he would leave.

After one final conversation, after asking every question he needed answered, he would do what he had once wanted to do while carrying flowers to meet her.

He would make up his mind.

And erase her from his life.

Just then, the car suddenly stopped.

He looked up.

Another person was getting into the vehicle.

Li Siheng frowned and looked toward the driver.

The driver said politely,

“Young Master Zefi said he’s currently in a meeting. He wanted to see both of you off personally, so he arranged for you to share the same car.”

Lemont looked distracted.

Li Siheng found the situation odd.

The two sat in the spacious rear compartment while silence spread between them.

Li Siheng glanced at the redness around Lemont’s eyes and the dark circles beneath them before turning to look outside.

He knew how devastating the breakup had been for Lemont.

And he genuinely felt sorry for him.

But there was nothing he could do.

After all, he and Lin Zhiyan had met first.

Li Siheng spoke softly.

“It’ll pass.”

Lemont’s expression turned cold.

His voice was hoarse.

“What’s it got to do with you?”

“I’m just worried about you.”

Li Siheng smiled.

He didn’t mind Lemont’s bad mood.

“I understand how you feel. It’s okay.”

Lemont’s lips moved slightly, but he said nothing.

Li Siheng reached over and gently straightened his messy red hair.

His gray-black eyes were full of concern.

“You’ve always been someone brilliant in my eyes. Even if you’ve attacked me before, it won’t change how I see you.”

He continued,

“For people like us, grades, achievements, and power are what really matter. Love disappears. But if two families unite through marriage, the power gained from that union can soothe everything.”

…

You know nothing.

If they had merely been separated while still loving each other, Lemont wouldn’t have suffered this much.

What truly hurt was that he could no longer tell whether all the love he’d received from her had ever been real.

A sense of weariness and irritation rose in his chest.

But in the end, he said nothing.

Li Siheng had always been good to him.

And right now, he was trying to comfort him.

More importantly—

Li Siheng had been assigned to accompany him because of Lin Zhiyan.

Yet he knew nothing about that.

Thinking of this, Lemont suddenly felt there might still be some misunderstanding between himself and Lin Zhiyan.

At the same time, he felt a strange guilt toward Li Siheng.

His expression softened slightly.

Lifting his chin with his usual pride, he said,

“Of course I know that. I don’t care.”

Li Siheng nodded.

“It’s good that you’ve figured it out. She’ll become less and less important in your life.”

“What about you?”

Lemont didn’t want to discuss himself anymore.

He looked at Li Siheng.

“You’ve been staring at your terminal the whole time. Did Zefi do something again?”

“It’s hard to explain.”

Li Siheng smiled faintly, though there was a trace of coldness in it.

“A few classmates originally planned to see me off. But because of Zefi, they aren’t coming anymore.”

He bit his lip.

“I never expected there wouldn’t even be a proper goodbye. So I’ve been thinking… maybe after I arrive in District Four, I’ll come back again in a few days to see her—”

He corrected himself.

“—them.”

Lemont’s attention immediately returned to the subject.

His chest tightened again.

Looking straight ahead, fists clenched, he growled viciously,

“That just means you’re not important enough.”

“If someone truly cared about you, it wouldn’t matter if Zefi was involved. It wouldn’t matter if there was a blizzard or knives falling from the sky. They’d still come.”

He paused.

“What’s the point of thinking so much about people who don’t care about you?”

His neck twitched.

His eyes became hot again.

Li Siheng bit his lip.

After a long silence, he finally said,

“Maybe it’s just a misunderstanding.”

But his gaze had darkened.

A trace of irritation toward Lemont’s words had appeared.

Lemont sneered.

“There are no misunderstandings. If you’re important, they come. If they don’t come, you’re not important.”

After saying it, he wanted to laugh.

At himself.

The warm atmosphere that had briefly existed froze instantly.

Neither spoke again.

Li Siheng glanced at Lemont several times.

His fingers tapped lightly against his knee.

He couldn’t stop the malicious thoughts from creeping into his mind.

How pitiful Lemont looked.

How pessimistic he’d become.

How jealous he seemed of anyone else’s happiness.

Just because he’d been abandoned, he assumed everyone else would be abandoned too.

The thought almost made Li Siheng laugh.

But his face remained expressionless.

Meanwhile, his hatred toward Zefi deepened.

Logically, he knew Zefi wouldn’t do something this petty.

Emotionally, however, he couldn’t shake the feeling that Zefi viewed Lin Zhiyan differently.

And because of that, such actions felt entirely possible.

Lemont never noticed Li Siheng’s shifting emotions.

He was too busy trying to repair his shattered heart and endless suspicions.

As for Li Siheng not having anyone to see him off, a trace of mockery crossed his mind.

He barely had any friends anyway.

And the one person closest to him didn’t even remember him.

Not long afterward, the car stopped outside Zefi’s estate.

Zefi stood waiting ahead.

As always, he was dressed impeccably in formal attire.

He wore the same perfectly measured smile and gentle, sympathetic expression.

Yet every detail of his appearance remained precise and rigidly elegant.

Standing behind him was a thin figure wearing a long coat, a hat, sunglasses, and a face mask.

The driver eagerly opened the door before climbing into the front seat.

Zefi smiled.

“She’s a new secretary assistant. She needs to report some work matters.”

“I didn’t want to delay seeing you two off, so I had her come along.”

“She has some allergies, so she’s wearing a mask. It’s not contagious.”

The vehicle slowly started moving again.

Sitting in the front passenger seat, Lin Zhiyan didn’t dare lift her head.

She only looked at her terminal.

The message she sent was short.

[YZY: I’m on the way. I won’t break my promise.]

Attached was a photo of scenery outside a car window.

Both Lemont’s and Li Siheng’s terminals vibrated simultaneously.

Lemont pressed his lips together as he looked at the image.

Li Siheng’s hand tightened slightly on his knee.

A faint smile curved his lips.

[Lemon: What trick are you playing now? I’m still angry.]

[Li Siheng: …Mm. I know.]

Beside them, Zefi’s lips curled into a mocking smile.

She really is something.

The moment she got into the car, she was already reassuring both of them.

He looked away and glanced toward the front seat.

Then suddenly said,

“By the way, did you finish the meeting summary from before? Why don’t you present it now?”

Lin Zhiyan’s entire back stiffened.

Her eyes widened.

Holy crap!

Why is Zefi suddenly attacking me now?!

She had only just sent those messages!

She glanced at the rearview mirror and immediately caught the mockery in Zefi’s eyes.

Then, almost simultaneously, she felt the gazes of both Lemont and Li Siheng lock onto her.

Lin Zhiyan:

“…”

Say something!

Say literally anything!