A Twisted Love Affair-Chapter 149 - 148 was coaxed into a blissful state by her younger uncle_1
Zhou Xiangqun suddenly put down his bowl and chopsticks and pointed out the window. "Look, he was eavesdropping."
"Who?" Shen Jing turned around and saw Zhou Luchen, freezing abruptly.
Then she lowered her head and poked at her noodles, wondering why this person moved so quietly that she couldn’t even say a single bad thing about him without being heard.
Zhou Luchen’s gaze swept coolly over Zhou Xiangqun, and he let out an indifferent snort. "An elder, yet so undignified."
Zhou Xiangqun heard it but pretended not to, a smile playing on his lips instead of anger. 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮
Zhou Luchen had no inclination to linger. He opened his umbrella and spoke to Shen Jing, "Noodles aren’t nutritious. Someone will bring you breakfast soon."
She always just gave a soft "oh" in response.
Watching Zhou Luchen leave, Zhou Xiangqun also lost his appetite for the noodles and, following suit, left with his umbrella.
Shen Jing looked out the window, figuring they must have some matters to discuss.
Each carrying an umbrella, they walked along the secluded path.
Just by looking at their retreating figures, not their faces, one could sense a certain similarity in their bearing.
Amidst the pattering of rain, Zhou Xiangqun’s voice was much lower. "You’d better come out and deal with your unresolved issues soon. Father is retiring at the end of the year. United Bank is being thrust upon you. No matter what you’ve done, take charge of United Bank cleanly."
Zhou Luchen didn’t really seem to be listening, merely extending his hand to Zhou Xiangqun. "The keys."
Zhou Xiangqun stepped back. "Where are you going?"
Through the misty rain, the two men gazed at each other, their expressions unreadable.
Zhou Luchen spoke calmly, "Mind your own business."
Zhou Xiangqun, who habitually stood with his hands behind his back, asked, "Has Buddha granted you leave?"
This meant he wasn’t planning on handing them over.
Zhou Luchen let out a very faint, disdainful snicker, not deigning to converse with him further.
Zhuang Ming also departed in silence.
On a 6:30 news broadcast, the Eldest Young Master had once appeared to be a perfectly serious and upright individual, but behind the scenes, he was thoroughly scheming.
Shen Jing came out holding a bowl. "Here you go! Just a key. Don’t make us beg you, please."
The moment her coquettish voice sounded, Zhou Luchen froze. What exactly had she overheard?
Zhou Xiangqun felt his scalp tingle and instantly quickened his pace. "What kind of place is this?"
With that, the keys were tossed into Zhuang Ming’s arms.
"Thank you, Big Brother Zhou." Shen Jing leaned against a gallery pillar, tilting her head with a satisfied smile.
"Thank me, Zhou Luchen?"
Zhou Luchen let out a stifled laugh.
She sensed Zhou Luchen had something to attend to outside. Indeed, the day he got the keys, he truly left and only returned after dark.
Shen Jing didn’t ask, content to stay in the western courtyard watching Zhuang Ming fix her window.
"If you can’t fix it, then don’t. I’ll sleep in your boss’s room tonight."
Zhuang Ming hammered at a nail. "You bully him. He doesn’t get enough sleep and wakes up with red eyes in the morning."
Shen Jing was stunned.
Who was bullying whom?
On the eighth day, the locks of the temple were finally all opened.
The scriptures hadn’t been completely copied.
The sky was a dreary grey, and the air held a trace of dampness. Such rainy days, paradoxically, felt exceptionally tranquil.
Shen Jing was in the temple hall, copying scriptures.
Out of fourteen volumes, she had only copied four; they were too thick.
Zhou Luchen leaned down from behind her, his shadow falling over her as he whispered close to her ear, "Gotten addicted to copying, have you?"
She was startled for a moment, then looked up at him. "I can’t take a million for nothing."
Zhou Luchen hadn’t realized that Shen Jing wasn’t particularly fond of spending money; rather, she was stubbornly principled, always determined to follow through on what she’d agreed to, whether right or wrong.
He took the pen from her hand. "No more copying. We’re going home."
Shen Jing rubbed her sore wrist and sighed in relief. "Can I have that piece of paper?"
Zhou Luchen listened, his eyes moving slightly. "Which one?"
She pointed to the shelf beside them. "The one on which you wrote my name."
Zhou Luchen suddenly let out a short, derisive laugh. "It’s just a piece of paper. What’s so special about it?"
Shen Jing swallowed her intended response—that the handwriting was beautiful and she wanted to keep it. She lowered her gaze and silently got up.
He had already stepped over the threshold.
She went back to her room to find her phone and followed Zhou Luchen outside.
Outside the door, the black Bentley belonging to the Zhou family’s second son was already parked at the temple gate, with a few Red Flag cars lined up behind it.
As Shen Jing settled into the passenger seat and the convoy of luxury cars departed in an orderly fashion, she looked back at the temple gate.
The Abbot and a young novice were standing at the entrance to see them off. Above them hung the golden temple plaque—Nanhuai Temple—which, legend had it, was personally inscribed by an emperor during a visit to Jiangnan.
She nodded gently towards the Abbot.
The Abbot flicked his prayer beads. "Amitabha."
The young novice also bowed slightly in respect. "Mr. Zhou hasn’t finished copying the scriptures."
As the motorcade drove further away, the Abbot turned to enter the temple. "Coercion won’t help. He doesn’t need anyone’s guidance; he always knows exactly what he wants and what he doesn’t."
「 」
Midway, Zhou Luchen answered a call and began to turn the car around, his fingers tapping the handbrake.
It was raining outside. He turned to Shen Jing, calm and composed. "Coming with me?"
Shen Jing turned off her phone. "Where to?"
He replied curtly, "Let’s just go."
The black sports car headed towards Xiangshan.
This was Shen Jing’s first time entering Xiangshan Baiqing Forest.
The road was level, straight, and long, with no other vehicles passing by. It was a private road leading to a solitary villa. Outside the car window, green shade and grass stretched on, and there truly was a hundred-mu birch forest.
The wealthy loved to cultivate good health, meticulously plan layouts, and seek favorable Feng Shui. The air here was good, not bustling. No high-rises, no exhaust fumes. This city wasn’t just about CBD buildings and astronomically priced mansions.
Shen Jing lowered the car window, leaning on the frame. "Is all this hundred-qing land yours?"
He just hummed in acknowledgment.
The lush white birch forest exuded a refreshing coolness.
"Rumor has it that outsiders need to take a helicopter to enter the Zhou family estate, otherwise they can’t find the way."
Zhou Luchen glanced at her sidelong. "Who said that?"
"No one in particular." Shen Jing was too busy admiring the scenery along the way.
Back when she was trying to attract Zhou Luchen, she had gathered these tidbits from various inquiries.
"Why does your grandfather live in Beijing? This place is comfortable too. Why doesn’t he come back?"
Zhou Luchen slowed down the car. "In the ’70s, Shanghai was the most economically developed place. His grandfather’s first wife was solely focused on her career and never went to Beijing to accompany him. His grandfather held a high position there. Considering that era, he couldn’t easily get away to see her. They lived apart and, as the saying goes, ’having different paths, they could not make plans as one,’ so they divorced amicably."
Shen Jing listened intently.
It was the first time she had learned about the Zhou family’s private matters.
"Your family atmosphere seems particularly good; there’s no fighting or vying for things among the brothers."
Zhou Luchen looked as if he’d heard a joke and was momentarily speechless. What kind of melodramatic TV dramas had she been watching to come up with such an idea?
The Zhou family owned numerous enterprises; why would they bother fighting over a mere United Bank? Even if, in the eyes of outsiders, United Bank represented resources that propped up half the sky. If Zhou Xiangqun had ever wanted anything, it would have been given to him; he simply had no interest in business.
Zhou Luchen rested his arm on the car window, his palm open to the wind, and said teasingly, "It’s not like it’s a throne. Is anyone going to die if they don’t get it?"
"For an ordinary person, it’s an unattainable family background. Your Zhou family’s enterprises are top-tier."
She even said, "You can have it all without even trying."
Zhou Luchen leaned back leisurely in his seat, offering no reply.
Shen Jing didn’t press for an answer.
Conversing with someone as excessively rational as him was different. The knowledge and perspective he’d inherited from his family upbringing were on another level. Regarding the benefits of familial harmony, he was rational to an extreme.
Shen Jing recalled something and then said, "Especially your Second Grandmother. Although she usually has an unapproachable, wealthy air, and her gaze is often indifferent and unemotional, she becomes exceptionally indulgent when she looks at you. When she calls you by your pet name, her voice is very gentle. The family is very harmonious."
"Why do you say that?" Zhou Luchen’s tone was casual. "It was just a divorce due to lack of feelings, not one that made them enemies. Naturally, they still interact as family."
Shen Jing looked at him.
Large aristocratic families placed more importance on consolidating resource advantages; they truly wouldn’t get bogged down by something like love. A divorce didn’t mean they’d sever all ties and never interact again.
"Alright," Shen Jing supplemented, "My view of your Zhou family was too simplistic."
Zhou Luchen switched hands on the steering wheel, freeing one to interlace his fingers with hers. "Why bother trying to understand the Zhou family? You’ll know what I want you to know. As for what I don’t want you to know, you’ll never find out in this lifetime."
That’s right. Why bother trying to understand the Zhou family for no reason?
The car finally stopped before a large lake. Stone steps led up to the mansion’s main gate—the rumored red roof, high surrounding walls, and a grand, six-layered entrance.
In the drizzling mist, several bodyguards stood waiting with umbrellas on either side of the steps.
Zhou Luchen unbuckled his seatbelt. "Wait for me."
Shen Jing murmured an "Oh," slipped off her shoes, hugged her knees, and curled up in the seat. "Will you be long?"
Zhou Luchen paused his movement to open the door and closed it again. "How many minutes would you like?"
Shen Jing bit her lip. "Ten minutes."
He squinted at her, a smile in his eyes. "Learned to order me around now, have you? Getting quite capable, aren’t you?"
Shen Jing tossed the plush toy in her hands into Zhou Luchen’s lap. "Tease me again, and you’ll only get nine minutes. If you’re not out by then, I’m driving off myself."
A corner of Zhou Luchen’s mouth quirked up, his voice drawing out the word, "Alright~" In an instant, he playfully pinched her nose. "Would I dare disobey my little sister’s command?"
He coaxed her with such apparent sincerity, but Shen Jing just glared at him. As if he ever actually listened!
The moment he stepped out of the car, his demeanor became all business. Zhou family members were already there to escort him in under an umbrella.
He heard a young man, evidently his junior, call out, "Uncle, you’re finally back!"
