Chapter 45: The Ex-Boyfriend

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The spacious underground garage was bathed in a harsh, cold white light. In the quiet, desolate environment, the sudden clattering against the car window was startling. The driver and black-clad bodyguard, stationed in a corner, hurried over to grab Meng Shao.

Meng Shao’s face turned cold as he shook off the bodyguard’s hand. “What do you want? Trying to start something?”

The bodyguard looked fierce and intimidating, clearly not someone to be trifled with. But seeing Meng Shao’s wary expression, he quickly put on a friendly smile.

“Sir, let’s talk this out civilly. We’re all reasonable people here. There are two people inside who want to discuss something. Why don’t you wait over here? I can go get you a coffee from Starbucks.”

“Your boss calls this civilized? Which civilized person drags a girl into a car, locks the door, and won’t let her out?”

“That’s nonsense. It’s just friends chatting, no locking anyone in.”

Meng Shao was tired of his nonsense and pounded harder on the window.

“Lu Zhixi, let her go! Or I’ll tell your family about what you did in Beijing, including your license plate number. That’ll give you something to worry about.”

As he said this, the car window slid down halfway. A cold voice came from inside:

“Don’t want your little company anymore?”

“You’ve got no other tricks? You—”

Meng Shao was about to retort when he glanced inside and immediately saw Jiang Ying looking like a resigned little victim being held by a man who resembled a walking stereotype of arrogance and cruelty. His anger flared instantly.

“Where are your hands? Take them off!”

But the window only lowered enough for him to see clearly inside, not enough to lean in and pull Jiang Ying out.

Jiang Ying knew Lu Zhixi was deliberately putting on a show for Meng Shao; he was fiercely hostile toward any man near her.

She said helplessly, “Let me go.”

“No.”

Hearing their exchange, Meng Shao sneered at Lu Zhixi, “She’s got two ex-boyfriends. Why are you acting so possessive? Isn’t that a little pathetic?”

Lu Zhixi lifted his eyelids lazily and replied coldly, “What’s that to you?”

“She’s my business. Didn’t you hear what I said on the phone on New Year’s Eve? Want me to repeat it?”

The conversation between them turned increasingly tense.

Jiang Ying could feel Lu Zhixi’s grip tighten; he seemed ready to hit Meng Shao.

At the same moment, Meng Shao looked like he wanted to punch him too.

The bodyguard sensed the escalating tension and urged Meng Shao to stay calm. Cameras were everywhere; if a fight broke out, there’d be no excuse.

He had been assigned by the Chen family to protect Lu Zhixi, effectively to keep an eye on the young master in the car and prevent any major incidents. He had noticed that this young master’s style was fearless.

But his words to ease the mood were completely ignored by the two men.

Seeing this, the bodyguard lost his warm smile and prepared to intervene at any sign of trouble.

Amid this stalemate, the usually silent Jiang Ying suddenly spoke:

“I’m hungry.”

The light, casual remark immediately diverted the attention of the two men locked in confrontation.

Meng Shao said, “I’ll take you to eat.”

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Lu Zhixi said, “Don’t eat anything without nutrition. I’ll have the chef prepare something for you.”

“Even if your food is nutritious, she won’t eat it just by looking at you.”

The atmosphere cooled again. Jiang Ying added, “I want the pepper chicken from the cafeteria. The serving window closes in fifty minutes.”

The school was a twenty-minute drive from here, though traffic could be heavy. They might be ten minutes late. To make it in time for the cafeteria’s serving hours, they needed to leave now.

Seeing how determined she was, Lu Zhixi said, “I’ll take you back to school.”

He ignored Meng Shao standing outside, rolled up the window, and the bodyguard quickly got back in.

Meng Shao chuckled at the shamelessness of this move, then briskly walked to the car he had called over, instructing the driver to follow Lu Zhixi’s car, just in case he tried anything sneaky again or attempted to take her away.

The car smoothly merged onto the highway heading toward the university. Jiang Ying finally relaxed a little.

Lu Zhixi seemed upset from earlier; silently, he rested his forehead against the side of her face, as if calming himself.

The car stopped at a red light. Due to inertia, their bodies leaned forward slightly, and his nose and lips brushed against her skin, a fleeting touch that left a faint tickle.

Jiang Ying shifted and couldn’t help but say to Lu Zhixi, “Can you stop holding me? It’s hot.”

Lu Zhixi snapped back to reality, his gaze settling on her flushed cheek.

Her fair skin had tinged pink, the blush creeping up to her ear.

He lowered the window a bit to let in fresh air, but the warmth on Jiang Ying’s face lingered.

“You have to let me go,” she said.

Instead, Lu Zhixi gently touched her cheek with a finger. “It’s not from heat.”

“It is,” she said firmly, turning her face away.

His mood suddenly lightened, and a smile appeared in his eyes. “Your body still remembers me. Actually, you like this. Just like before, you always wanted to be with me.”

Jiang Ying suddenly looked at him, meeting his gaze with a calm, steady expression.

“You think you know me well, don’t you?”

Lu Zhixi nodded seriously. “No one knows you better than I do.”

“Then why do you ignore my feelings?”

His expression darkened again.

After a few seconds, he shifted the topic back to the favor she owed him for helping Jiang Zhiwen:

“As repayment, if you don’t want to spend time sleeping with me, can you at least answer my calls from now on?”

Jiang Ying understood his intentions and turned her face toward the window, silently refusing to respond.

At that moment, the computer beside Lu Zhixi suddenly emitted an alarming warning sound, startling him into releasing her.

Jiang Ying jumped, instinctively turning to look, seeing the stock market candlestick charts and data on the screen, then quickly looking away.

Lu Zhixi didn’t hide the screen from her; the information was openly displayed. He then pulled out his phone and made a call, speaking in English about “approaching him,” “negotiating price,” “having the lawyer assess,” and “contacting someone at the securities commission privately.”

His tone was completely calm and controlled, a stark contrast to the earlier soft and gentle manner.

Early spring in Beijing, the sky was still dark.

Halfway through the drive, the sky outside had grown heavy with night, streetlights casting shifting shadows.

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Through the car window, Jiang Ying saw Lu Zhixi’s cold, focused expression as he stared at the candlestick charts, discussing prices in the billions.

To an ordinary person, such transactions would be jaw-dropping sums, but to him, they seemed like trivial number games.

With just this computer and phone, he stirred chaos outside, leaving his grandfather and father scrambling in the media spotlight.

Lu Zhixi gave off a deeply contradictory impression.

Most of the time, he was extremely calm and indifferent; yet at certain moments, he became impulsive.

Jiang Ying gazed at the faint reflection of the young man in the window, carefully tracing his handsome features.

As the car moved forward, the flickering streetlights made his reflection on the glass shift between light and shadow, obscuring a clear view.

Perhaps Lu Zhixi was incapable of facing his own or others’ true emotions.

She guessed.

If so, it likely stemmed from some point in his childhood and had solidified into a behavioral pattern as he grew up.

Given his upbringing, this was unsurprising.

This avoidance was often a protective mechanism; his apathy allowed him to ignore both insults and praise.

But if someone truly struck a nerve, he couldn’t cope or respond; he became extremely vulnerable and would do whatever it took to end that pain.

Lu Zhixi ended his call.

He closed the computer, tossed the phone aside, and once again snuggled close to her, embracing her intimately as before.

“You shouldn’t discuss confidential matters in front of me,” Jiang Ying said.

Lu Zhixi smiled. “It’s okay. I have no secrets from you. Yingying, I won’t avoid talking about these things with you anymore. Before, I just thought you didn’t need to know, but I realize you prefer honesty.”

He mentioned recent news. “My father’s been having a tough time—his hearing has him overwhelmed. See, I’m not like him.”

Jiang Ying paused briefly, belatedly realizing he was defending himself against her earlier comment on the phone—that he was like his father.

She wondered how far Lu Zhixi would go—using harsh methods to ruthlessly destroy his predecessors, yet pressuring her gently but persistently.

What path would he ultimately choose?

She looked up at him.

Thinking Jiang Ying was still listening to news about his father, Lu Zhixi said earnestly, “I’ll make him a pariah, a stray dog everyone despises, because of his betrayal and illegal actions. Does that prove I’m different from him?”

His expression was calm, eyes gentle and seemingly harmless.

But his words concealed a ruthless resolve.

After everything they’d been through, Jiang Ying finally understood.

Lu Zhixi’s ultimate goal was to settle everything on his terms, and he would not give up easily.

She needed to do something instead of wasting her breath on empty words.

The car stopped under a streetlight near the university’s south gate, the light pushing back the darkness, dust motes dancing in the glow.

Jiang Ying didn’t rush to get out. Instead, she turned to look at Lu Zhixi and said softly, “I can keep in touch with you, but you have to promise not to harass the people around me or restrict my actions.”

He was momentarily stunned, apparently surprised by how quickly she agreed, then smiled sincerely.

“I promise.”