Chapter 38 – Slight Deterrence
“I think I’ll just go upstairs to sleep.” Lin Ganzhi sniffled. He saw that Yan Shengping was standing in front of him without moving, his dark eyes like a pool of still water, showing no expression.
“Are you still angry?” Lin Ganzhi asked cautiously.
Yan Shengping blinked lightly, his long, slender eyelashes brushing against his lower eyelids. He managed to make the soft, expressive action look cold and sharp.
The two fell into a brief stalemate. Just as Lin Ganzhi was about to do something,
“When I saw you fall today, I was thinking, what if one day you never come back?” Yan Shengping said suddenly, cupping the sides of Lin Ganzhi’s neck with his hands and lifting the blanket slightly.
Lin Ganzhi was stunned by Yan Shengping’s words.
“I was confident that I could…” Lin Ganzhi’s words trailed off. Yan Shengping’s hand had quietly rested on the back of his neck. Even through the thin layer of the fleece blanket, he could feel its chill.
“You remind me of a little cat I raised in the orphanage when I was a child. I would always save half of my food for it. Even though its food problem was solved, I don’t know why, but it always wanted to run outside. One time, it came back limping, and I felt terrible for a long time. After that, after school, I would always spend a long time looking for it, and I would only feel at ease after watching it fall asleep in the little den I made for it. But one time, I couldn’t find it no matter how hard I looked. The next day, I found its body on the road.” Yan Shengping finished the story calmly, his eyes filled with a chilling cold.
Lin Ganzhi’s sleepiness was scared away, and goosebumps covered his skin. Was this the real Yan Shengping?
“I can see you’re very sad,” Lin Ganzhi tried to comfort him, his calves trembling violently.
Yan Shengping nodded. “So I was thinking, maybe if I lock you up at home, you’ll learn to cherish your life. Maybe if I eliminate all possibilities, you won’t have any accidents.”
Ahhh! Is this some kind of forced love scenario?
Lin Ganzhi’s legs gave way, and he was caught by Yan Shengping’s other hand.
“Scared?” Yan Shengping’s voice was as light as a night breeze, but it was more chilling than ever before.
Lin Ganzhi nodded very sensibly. He was really scared. Don’t scare me like this, I’ll have nightmares!
“But you’re really reckless like this, risking your life to save people time and time again.”
Lin Ganzhi had no excuse to retort. Yes, it was a little bit dangerous.
“So, I was thinking of assigning a bodyguard to you, but I’m afraid it would interfere with your freedom,” Yan Shengping said, a troubled look on his face.
“A bodyguard is great! I think it’s great, very free!” Lin Ganzhi clutched Yan Shengping’s sleeve and praised him wildly. Please don’t be so impulsive and do something so criminal!
Yan Shengping slowly removed his hand from the back of Lin Ganzhi’s neck. His right hand casually brushed past the hair at Lin Ganzhi’s temples. “Then it’s decided. Good night.”
After letting go, Yan Shengping’s expression immediately returned to its usual coldness, as if the pervert who had just threatened him wasn’t him at all.
Lin Ganzhi was stunned for a good while before he reacted. But Yan Shengping had already walked up a flight of stairs.
The little penguin chased after him at lightning speed to confront him. “You lied to me!”
“Where did I lie to you?” Yan Shengping’s hand rested on the railing as he looked down at Lin Ganzhi seriously.
The dimly lit staircase, with only one light on, felt a bit eerie. Lin Ganzhi’s voice involuntarily dropped. “The… the cat story.”
Yan Shengping gave a rare smile. He leaned over the railing, suddenly closing the distance, and looked down at Lin Ganzhi with narrowed eyes. “Why do you think that was a lie?”
Goosebumps covered Lin Ganzhi’s skin again. His aggrieved expression looked like he was really about to cry.
Seeing Lin Ganzhi’s expression, Yan Shengping’s heart finally softened. He said, “I was lying. The cat lived a good life. It was later taken home by the most popular girl in our orphanage to her adoptive parents’ house. If nothing unexpected happened, it should have died of old age by now.”
The breath Lin Ganzhi had been holding finally escaped. Once he relaxed, he was prone to getting carried away. He scurried over to Yan Shengping. “Actually, a little forced love for a short time, if you want to play~ Mmph!”
Yan Shengping unceremoniously pinched Lin Ganzhi’s cheek. “What are you flirting about all day long?” If it came to a real fight, he would be the first to back down.
He was the king of empty talk.
After all, if it came down to it, you can’t even perform, Lin Ganzhi silently grumbled to himself. Of course, he didn’t have the guts to say such a treasonous thing out loud.
The two of them had their own thoughts, each looking down on certain aspects of the other.
Before bed, a question suddenly occurred to Lin Ganzhi: If Yan Shengping liked that cat so much as a child, why would he let someone else adopt it?
In his dream, Lin Ganzhi vaguely dreamt of the orphanage again. But this orphanage was not the one from his memory, but an even more dilapidated old house.
The courtyard was filled with the sounds of children playing. Each child’s face was covered by a thick fog, making them unrecognizable. Suddenly, a cat’s meow caught his attention. A small yellow-orange kitten staggered in from outside, its left leg clearly injured.
An eight-year-old boy walked over and picked up the kitten. The kitten meowed weakly in the boy’s arms.
Suddenly, a little girl rushed out. “Ah! Everyone, come quick! The little mute broke the kitten’s leg!”
Then, a group of children ran out, surrounded the boy, and chanted in unison, “The little mute broke the kitten’s leg! How horrible!”
…
When Lin Ganzhi woke up, his memory of the dream was already fading, but his eyes were wet, a clear sign that he had cried in his dream.
After breakfast, Lin Ganzhi watered the seedlings in the yard and prepared to go out. This time, he subconsciously looked up at the second-floor window and was surprised to see Yan Shengping also looking out from his window. When their eyes met, it was hard to say who was more embarrassed.
But Lin Ganzhi reacted faster. “Yan Shengping, where’s the bodyguard you assigned me?”
He was about to leave, so why hadn’t he seen him?
Yan Shengping opened the window and looked down at the pink-haired man below. “Why does he need to appear? To have a meal with you?”
Lin Ganzhi was greatly shocked. “Is he hiding?”
Yan Shengping nodded, watching Lin Ganzhi’s wide eyes, waiting for him to say the next sentence.
“Will it be very expensive?!”
In the end, Yan Shengping successfully won the round with the line, “Not as expensive as you.” Lin Ganzhi was still pondering whether his boss thought he was too expensive and was going to cut his salary as he got into his beloved car.
No, to prove he was still valuable, Lin Ganzhi marched off in high spirits towards the old Chinese doctor’s place!
On the way, Lin Ganzhi went to a music store to pick up Wenren Yi.
Getting into the car, Wenren Yi looked around. “New car?”
“Yep!” Lin Ganzhi nodded excitedly. “Looks good, right?”
Wenren Yi, who had never sat in a car worth less than a million, nodded vigorously. “It’s alright, quite spacious inside.”
“That’s what I liked about it. We have such similar taste!” Lin Ganzhi shook his pink hair in agreement.
Forget it. Seeing how enthusiastic the kid was, Wenren Yi decided to give up on discouraging him. “By the way, I’ll navigate. We’re taking a detour. Que Jin also wants to see my grandfather for a check-up.”
“Huh? What’s wrong with Sister Que Jin?” Lin Ganzhi asked with concern.
Wenren Yi sighed. “Her agent is forcing her to lose weight. She hasn’t had her period for about four or five months!”
!!
“Is her agent still so abrasive?” Lin Ganzhi was incredulous.
Wenren Yi took out a pack of chewing gum from her bag, popped one into Lin Ganzhi’s mouth, and said, “You know Que Jin’s agent?”
“I ran into him in the elevator when I went to the company last time. He can’t say anything nice, his words are super harsh,” Lin Ganzhi summarized briefly.
The two of them started ranting about the man.
“Forget it. I’ll ask Que Jin for her opinion later. If it really doesn’t work out, with her current celebrity status, it’s not impossible for her to change agents.”
Lin Ganzhi thought about it and agreed. After all, Que Jin was already a household name and a Best Actress. Except for lacking a strong backer, she was no different from other Film Emperors and Best Actresses.
“Sigh, I’m so tired.” Wenren Yi lay back in her seat and sighed.
“You didn’t sleep well last night?”
“You bet. All of my second uncle’s former blind dates came over yesterday,” Wenren Yi said, rubbing her eyes.
Wow, that’s explosive?
“Do you have a video?” Lin Ganzhi asked seriously, his eyes gleaming with the light of gossip.
“What video? If you mean a horror video, I can send it to you on Baidu Cloud.” Wenren Yi replied lazily, then had another thought. “Ah, they weren’t there for my second uncle. My second uncle is already married. They were there for me.” Wenren Yi said with some pride.
Lin Ganzhi, deprived of his gossip, looked listless. “What were they looking for you for?”
At this, Wenren Yi suddenly perked up. She sat up straight and poked Lin Ganzhi’s cheek, her handsome features becoming somewhat wanton. “Our little Ganzhi is still a bit young~”
Lin Ganzhi randomly swatted Wenren Yi’s hand away. What was that all about?
Hmm?!!!
Lin Ganzhi frowned at a red light, finally sensing something was not right.
Wenren Yi, casually dressed in a black hoodie, leaned against the window with narrowed eyes. “They’re just interested in me. I haven’t agreed to anything. I just watched a few hours of horror movies with them. They said they felt safe watching with me.”
Lin Ganzhi looked at Wenren Yi with the eyes of someone judging a female player.
Wenren Yi ignored Lin Ganzhi’s feeble mental attack, shrugged indifferently, and continued, “Speaking of horror movies, do you know what scene I’m most afraid of?”
“There was a scene I saw last night. After the killer commits the crime, they always return to the original crime scene to patrol, to satisfy their sense of pride. I can handle other bloody scenes, but I just can’t stand the look in the killer’s eyes at that moment. It gives me the creeps just thinking about it now.”
Listening, Lin Ganzhi’s mind couldn’t help but wander to Yan Shengping. His expression and words yesterday were completely different from his usual self, but they fit him so well, as if it wouldn’t be strange for him to do those things.
Speaking of which, why did Yan Shengping agree to go to the Zhong family? Didn’t the Zhong family mean nothing to him anymore?
“Hey, Ganzhi, are you listening to me?” Wenren Yi called Lin Ganzhi’s name a few times before he finally reacted.
“Huh? I’m listening,” Lin Ganzhi came back to his senses, then suddenly asked, “If it’s not a criminal case, but just a rival having a misfortune, would someone still go over to watch the fun?”
Wenren Yi thought for a moment and replied, “That would depend on two situations. The first is that the rival was simply framed by someone else, and they go over to watch the fun. That’s normal human thinking. The other is a more advanced type, where they themselves caused the rival’s misfortune, but the rival doesn’t realize it was them. In that case, if that person goes over and acts as if nothing happened, then it proves they are a high-IQ pervert.”
Hiss—
Yan Shengping couldn’t possibly be the kind of idle person who would help him mess with Zhong Jingyi and then go over to watch the fun, right? Besides, when they were there, Yan Shengping barely paid any attention to Zhong Jingyi.
Lin Ganzhi thought for a minute and finally categorized Yan Shengping as being the same as himself, just an ordinary onlooker.
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