Chapter 128: This One's a Sure Win

Shen Ruizhang’s expression shifted abruptly as he suddenly turned to Jiang Yunzhou. “Zhouzhou?”

“Mm, I know,” Jiang Yunzhou replied without meeting his gaze. “But it’s not really any of my business.”

Only then did Shen Ruizhang’s heart finally settle. He said to Shen Tingxiao, “You heard what Zhouzhou said.”

“So what?” Shen Tingxiao, domineering as ever, slammed one hand on the table while the other circled around the back of Jiang Yunzhou’s chair, as if staking his claim. “Whether I cling or not has nothing to do with Zhouzhou. I’m more than willing.”

Shen Ruizhang hadn’t expected that after some time apart, Shen Tingxiao would even say something like that.

He glanced at Jiang Yunzhou. “Zhouzhou, come out. I have something to say to you.”

“Say it here,” Shen Tingxiao interrupted harshly. “Uncle, is there anything I shouldn’t hear?”

Shen Ruizhang felt a natural fear of him, unwilling to confront Shen Tingxiao directly, so he pressed Jiang Yunzhou, “Zhouzhou, come out.”

“Say what you have to say here.” Shen Tingxiao pressed down on Jiang Yunzhou’s shoulder with a grin. “Uncle, it’s really bad to talk behind someone’s back. If you have something to say, say it to my face.”

Seeing Shen Ruizhang cornered and helpless, Jiang Yunzhou finally stood up to mediate. “Forget it, I’ll go with you.”

“Zhouzhou,” Shen Tingxiao immediately put on a pitiful look.

Jiang Yunzhou softened at his act but didn’t want Shen Ruizhang to lose face, so she said, “I’ll be back soon.”

Shen Tingxiao clicked his tongue, displeased but let her go.

The two of them moved to the adjacent lounge.

Shen Ruizhang stood with hands on his hips, looking at Jiang Yunzhou nervously. “What are you thinking?”

“Thinking about what?” Jiang Yunzhou wasn’t ready to dwell on matters of the heart just yet.

Shen Ruizhang tugged at his collar irritably. “Shen Tingxiao and Xu Wan have ended their engagement. He came looking for you. You can’t possibly not know what that means.”

This time, Jiang Yunzhou fell into a rare silence.

Shen Ruizhang grew anxious. “Zhouzhou, you’re not thinking of getting back together with him, are you?”

“I don’t know,” Jiang Yunzhou answered honestly, turning slightly to look out the window from their high floor, the entire city sprawling beneath them. “I need some time to think.”

“The Shen family won’t agree,” Shen Ruizhang urged, stepping forward. “Zhouzhou, I can—”

“Uncle,” Jiang Yunzhou interrupted firmly. She understood exactly what he was implying.

But the youthful infatuations of her past were gone. She no longer felt anything for Shen Ruizhang.

Her feelings for him before had been a youthful mistake—confusing gratitude for parental care with affection. True feelings were not like that.

Jiang Yunzhou sensed Shen Ruizhang’s emotional shift, but it was too late.

“I like Tingxiao. I can’t let him go,” she confessed plainly. “I care—deeply—about what happened before. I’m afraid he’s deceiving me, but I’m also afraid he’s not. Love is strange—it makes people foolish.”

She glanced back at Shen Ruizhang with a bitter smile. “But no matter what, it seems to me there’s no one else but him. I just can’t adjust my heart right now.”

Shen Ruizhang’s gentlemanly façade began to crack as he looked at her unwillingly. “What about me?”

“To me, you’re just an elder,” Jiang Yunzhou said lightly. “Uncle, you don’t need to say things like that anymore.”

“But Zhouzhou, I—”

Knock, knock, knock.

The lounge door was tapped. Standing tall and graceful, Shen Tingxiao tilted his head with a slight smile. “Are you done talking? I’ve booked a restaurant; I’m taking Zhouzhou out for lunch.”

Jiang Yunzhou didn’t want to get tangled with Shen Ruizhang any longer and quickly walked over. “Let’s go.”

At the restaurant, once the dishes were all served, Shen Tingxiao began to reveal his sly side. “Although I didn’t mean to, I did overhear you bravely confessing your feelings for me to Shen Ruizhang.”

He looked as if he wanted to show off that moment every second.

Jiang Yunzhou cut a piece of steak, unwilling to let him have his way so easily. “I was just looking for an excuse to shut him up. I didn’t plan on anything with you. You can pretend you didn’t hear.”

“No way,” Shen Tingxiao said, pulling out his phone and playing a recording.

Jiang Yunzhou clearly heard her own voice coming from the phone. Her cheeks flushed deeper and deeper.

Confessing feelings felt brave in the moment.

But looking back, it was embarrassingly awkward.

Jiang Yunzhou was in that state now. She immediately exclaimed, “Shen Tingxiao! What are you doing?!”

“Of course, celebrating. Also, I want to make sure you don’t forget what you said today,” Shen Tingxiao pushed his luck even further.

Jiang Yunzhou’s face burned with embarrassment. She glared at him.

Why was he so irritating?!

She put down her fork. “If you keep this up, I won’t eat!”

“Eat first,” Shen Tingxiao said, confident he had the upper hand.

After the meal, Jiang Yunzhou needed to return to work overtime. Shen Tingxiao accompanied her.

Her workload was heavy, often keeping her until around ten at night.

He stayed with her for a whole week.

Later, Shen Tingxiao had his own business and had to go on a week-long trip.

He told Jiang Yunzhou honestly, “I’m on a business trip for a week. Call me if you miss me.”

“I won’t miss you,” Jiang Yunzhou said insincerely.

Shen Tingxiao snorted. “Then I’ll call you.”

Jiang Yunzhou awkwardly replied, “Don’t call me either. I don’t like it.”

“Fine, three times a day,” Shen Tingxiao said, as if not hearing her.

His trip was abroad, with a time difference between them.

On the first day, Jiang Yunzhou was clearly unaccustomed. When she wanted water, she opened her mouth to call out, “Water.”

Previously, when Shen Tingxiao was there, he would have taken care of everything for her.

Now, when she called out, no one responded.

When she came to her senses, she found Shen Tingxiao wasn’t there and had to get up to get water herself.

The “three calls a day” never came—only one call at bedtime.

Jiang Yunzhou calculated that the time she was going to sleep was the busiest time of day where he was, yet he still made time to soothe her.

It was not easy.

One day, listening to Shen Tingxiao recount things happening there, she yawned. “Shen Tingxiao, don’t call me at this time anymore.”

“Why?” Shen Tingxiao visibly tensed. “Who confessed to you? Shi Zhen? Or is Shen Ruizhang bothering you again?”

Jiang Yunzhou didn’t expect him to think along those lines. Her cheeks reddened slightly. “Neither. You must be very busy at this hour, right?”

Shen Tingxiao’s heart stirred, realizing she was concerned for him. He smiled softly. “Talking to you isn’t tiring. If only I could video call to watch you sleep—that would be even better.”