Chapter 036: Flat Little Lin Shu, Master Tattletale

Phone calls went unanswered. Messages were left on read.

Given what Ji Xingshen knew of Lin Shu, he was certain something had gone wrong. He was annoyed that she had been out having fun with others, yet simultaneously terrified that some harm had befallen her.

He was a man himself; he knew exactly what men were like. He knew how dangerous it was for an inexperienced girl to go out partying.

Ji Xingshen asked her if she was drunk, completely ignoring Xie Buchan’s presence. He was unsteady on his own feet, yet he reached out to pull Lin Shu toward him.

After three days of high fever and a vivid, recurring dream, the boundaries between fantasy and reality had blurred; Ji Xingshen was convinced they were husband and wife. It was unacceptable for Lin Shu to be coming and going with another man, let alone letting that man carry her on his back.

Lin Shu had her arms locked around Xie Buchan’s neck. She was treating him like a horse. Xie Buchan’s Adam’s apple bobbed as he struggled to swallow, but he said nothing. He straightened his back, wrapped one arm around Lin Shu, and used his free hand to block the erratic Ji Xingshen.

"Classmate Ji, did you escape from the hospital?"

"Lin Shu, get off him," Ji Xingshen said, staring at her, enunciating every word.

"Xie Buchan, help me ring the doorbell," Lin Shu said.

The three of them were trapped in a loop of conversation, with no one paying any attention to the person speaking to them. Xie Buchan stepped around Ji Xingshen. Though Ji Xingshen looked frail, he possessed surprising strength when angry; he reached out from behind, grabbed Lin Shu’s hand, and yanked it downward.

"Ouch!" Caught off guard, Lin Shu stumbled backward.

Xie Buchan’s reaction was lightning fast. He grabbed her by the collar and hauled her upright, narrowly preventing a nasty fall. He was genuinely furious. He demanded to know if Ji Xingshen had any idea that hitting the back of one’s head could be fatal.

Upon hearing this, Lin Shu hurriedly covered the back of her head. *Wait—am I going to die again?*

Ji Xingshen pulled his hand back, his voice cold. "Better that than being tainted by someone like you."

*Excuse me?* Was that even human language? Still reeling from the alcohol, Lin Shu rolled up her sleeves, ready to beat him up.

But Xie Buchan was faster. He stepped forward and landed a single punch, sending Ji Xingshen sprawling to the ground.

Lin Shu’s sobriety returned in an instant. Ji Xingshen’s nose was gushing blood—it was so profuse that his hands couldn't even contain it, looking like something out of a low-budget movie. She stared at him in shock, then looked at Xie Buchan.

Xie Buchan reflexively hid his fist behind his back and looked away, unable to meet the eyes of either Ji Xingshen or Lin Shu. He seemed ashamed of his own uncontrollable violence.

...

Lin Shu walked over to Xie Buchan, took his hand, and gently lifted it to inspect it. "Xie Buchan, are you okay?"

...

The back of his hand was a little red, but otherwise, he was fine. Lin Shu said she had been terrified—that punch had been so heavy, she was worried he might have broken his hand.

Xie Buchan pulled his arm back. Lin Shu failed to catch it and glared at the boy. Xie Buchan’s pale face regained a hint of color as he looked at her with a complex expression. He said he was fine, adding that she should worry about Ji Xingshen; if the bleeding didn't stop, things would get ugly.

"Don't worry about him," Lin Shu said coldly. "He’s too stingy to die; he’ll find a way to handle it."

Ji Xingshen plugged his nose with a tissue, tilted his head back, and said, "Lin Shu, are you playing hard to get? Trying to make me jealous by finding some street thug?"

"Are you the national currency?" Lin Shu retorted. "Does everyone have to like you?"

Ji Xingshen sneered. A flash of embarrassment and confusion crossed his face, but it quickly settled into a look of certainty. He was certain that Lin Shu couldn't live without him. Everything from his dreams felt so real. How could Lin Shu possibly not want him?

"...I know I’ve stood you up a few times, but I’ve never stopped caring about you. Stop making a scene. Huang Pingting and I have nothing, and the other girls are just classmates."

*Damn it.* Lin Shu cursed inwardly. She must have committed some grave sin in a past life to be forced to listen to this drivel. Did men really think that a woman who liked them would believe any lie they spewed?

Lin Shu urged Xie Buchan to leave quickly and stay away from Ji Xingshen. Xie Buchan nodded, but he wouldn't budge. *I give up,* she thought. Fearing they would fight again, she steeled herself and called Ji Xiangyang. Ji Xiangyang, who had been frantic looking for his son, rushed over the moment he got the news.

Seeing Ji Xingshen being retrieved by his father, Xie Buchan finally relaxed, though he still refused to leave.

"My parents will be home soon. What will they think if they see you? Go first. I’ll let you know if anything comes up, okay?"

*Okay?* Lin Shu reached out and grabbed his arm.

Xie Buchan looked down, his gaze lingering on her for a long moment before he replied, "Okay."

Lin Shu watched him leave, her eyes filled with a reluctance she hadn't even realized was there. When she had touched Xie Buchan’s hand in front of Ji Xingshen earlier, there had been an element of performance to it. But when the two men clashed just now, her immediate concern for Xie Buchan’s injury hadn't been an act at all—it was pure, genuine emotion.

Ji Xiangyang asked Lin Shu why Ji Xingshen was bleeding. Ji Xingshen pointed toward the direction where Xie Buchan had left.

Lin Shu lowered her eyes and said calmly, "What are you looking at? Don't try to frame anyone else. I’ll take responsibility for my own actions—I was the one who hit him."

Ji Xingshen stared at her, stunned.

Ji Xiangyang was skeptical. He hesitated, "You hit him?" *With that kind of force? Is she the reincarnation of a deity?*

Lin Shu nodded. "That's right." Even if the heavens themselves came down, she would still be the one who hit him. If the school found out Xie Buchan had pummeled Ji Xingshen, he might get expelled. She didn't care—her parents would handle it. At worst, she would just transfer schools; it would be quieter anyway.

However, Ji Xiangyang—her former father-in-law—wasn't the upright type. He would only look for ways to leverage "Lin Shu hitting his son" to extort money.

That played right into her hands.

"Dad... it wasn't Lin Shu," Ji Xingshen said, grabbing his father’s arm.

"Alright, you brat. You’re the one who got hurt, and you’re still protecting her?" Ji Xiangyang pointed at his son’s blood-covered face and smiled, as if weighing his chips. "Miss Lin, hitting people is wrong. My Xiao Shen is in this state now; I’ll have to inform your parents."

Did Ji Xiangyang not know what really happened? He knew perfectly well. But what was the point of going after that kid who had just left? He probably couldn't pay a dime. Since Lin Shu was willing to take the blame, why would he be unhappy? He had been fretting over where to find money to cover his losses anyway.

"Mm-hmm, go ahead and tell them." Lin Shu glanced coldly at the father and son, then pressed the doorbell.

Auntie Zhu came to the door. Seeing the scene outside, she let out a cry of alarm and kindly reached out to help Ji Xingshen, asking what had happened. Auntie Zhu cared deeply for Lin Shu; in her previous life, even after she retired, she would often bring home-cooked meals to visit Lin Shu after she had married.

Ji Xingshen had eaten plenty of her cooking. Yet, when she asked him to help her nephew get an internship at his company, he did the opposite. He took the college graduate and threw him into the breakroom to wash mugs. Not only did the young man learn nothing, but he also lost his status as a "new graduate," missing out on recruitment opportunities at other major firms, and eventually fell into a deep depression.

Back then, Lin Shu hadn't understood. Ji Xingshen had actually been wary of her planting eyes and ears in the company, so he had secretly made life difficult for the nephew to force him out. Even after what happened, Auntie Zhu hadn't said a word; she simply cut ties with Lin Shu, and the warmth of their past relationship was gone forever.

"Auntie, I'm hungry. Could you make me a bowl of noodles?"

Lin Shu moved quickly, intercepting her and ushering her inside before kicking the door shut.

...

Just as she expected, the moment she stepped inside, her mother called to ask what had happened. Lin Shu told her everything. She left out the part where she had bitten Xie Buchan at the KTV, simply saying she hadn't felt well, that her classmate Xie Buchan had kindly carried her home, only to be blocked by Ji Xingshen at the doorstep.

"He started pulling on me without rhyme or reason. I leaned back and almost hit the back of my head."

"Xie Buchan caught me and said it could be fatal. Ji Xingshen said it would be better if I were dead than 'tainted.' Xie Buchan lost his temper and punched him."

"Mom, Xie Buchan only acted because of me. Was I right to take the blame for him?"

...

Wang Yan went on a long, furious tirade. It certainly wasn't aimed at Lin Shu. They had never spoken a harsh word to her, not even later when their family company was acquired.

Half an hour after hanging up with her mother, her father called. He sounded like he’d had a few drinks at a business dinner, and his temper was flaring. "Does the Ji family think my daughter is their property?"

"...Alright, your mother and I will handle it. You just focus on school, Shushu. Don't worry about the Xie boy. He hit him well—if he’d killed him, I, Lin Shiheng, would have handled the burial."

"They have the nerve to ask me for medical and psychological damages? Bah! Raising such an ingrate."

Her father went on a rant of his own. In reality, everyone in the Lin family, except for Lin Shu, had a hair-trigger temper. If someone provoked Lin Shu, she was usually soft-spoken. But if she ever opened her mouth to complain, the person who had crossed her was in for a rude awakening.