432 Hit Me, Scold Me, Pinch My Face
“yangyang, you’ve lost your memory, so there are a lot of things you don’t understand clearly. you don’t remember how much we were in love,” xin ziao said. “i’ve heard from your primary physician. he said you might regain your memories faster if you’re taken to places that you have a deep impression of. i can help you regain your memories.”
ruan yang felt slightly frustrated. “xin ziao, don’t push it. what right do you have to talk to my primary physician? do you think i’ll choose to be with you after i regain my memory?”
“i don’t know if you’ll choose to be with me after you regain your memory, but i know that you definitely wouldn’t choose to be with li shaobin,” xin ziao said. “he’s not right for you at all.”
“if he isn’t right for me, then who is? you?” ruan yang scoffed. “right, of course you’re the best fit for me. after all, i can’t be considered a clean or proper woman. you too. coupling ourselves up like that is pretty disgusting.”
xin ziao’s expression changed slightly. he said while pained, “don’t talk about yourself like this. in my heart, at least, you’re the best. what else does li shaobin know other than fighting? ever since he was young, he would follow song chuyi like his lackey. he knows nothing about women.”
“stop talking to me. stop following me.” ruan yang’s face was as cold as ice. “what you’re telling me now is trampling on the love i had for you. although i don’t remember the past, i understand myself. i definitely wouldn’t fall in love with a vile person. besides, you have a wife now, but you keep pestering me and that makes me think you’re a very fickle person, that you’re two-timing. you don’t even have basic ethics. please don’t think that just because i’ve stripped before, you can look down on me.”
xin ziao’s lips turned pale. “i just want to make you regain your memory. i have a way to help you regain your memory. even if i look down on myself, i wouldn’t look down on you. the ruan yang i know is very sensitive but she’s definitely not a weak person. i think you actually also want to regain your memory, even though that might cause you pain.”
ruan yang bit her lip. she had to admit that this man knew her very well.
“this place... you’ve said before that this place is the most unforgettable place.” xin ziao went up and stuffed a piece of paper into her palm gently. “you told me before that for a very long time, you weren’t able to forget this place even in your dreams. i even helped you hire a psychologist. although it might be very cruel, i think you might be able to remember everything from the past.”
ruan yang lowered her head and looked at the address. it was in hangzhou. it appeared to be an old city from the street name. just looking at the address made her heart ache. “what place is this?”
“i won’t tell you.” xin ziao lowered his gaze. “listen to me—move out of li shaobin’s place. otherwise, i really don’t know what i’ll do. i won’t bother you today, so i’ll be taking my leave first. be careful on your way home.”
after he said that, he retreated and gazed deeply at her before he turned to leave.
ruan yang watched his back and lowered her head. she slowly tightened her grip on the piece of paper.
when she returned to the apartment, she stuffed the groceries she bought into the fridge listlessly.
...
in the evening, li shaobin came over. the lights in the living room weren’t even switched on. only the kitchen was lit. he could faintly see a shadow moving inside.
he went over with a grin and happened to see ruan yang cutting a radish.
“what’s so good about radishes?” li shaobin didn’t like it. he hugged her waist from behind coquettishly.
ruan yang ignored him and continued to cut her radish strips.
li shaobin peeked out and saw her beautiful lips tightly pressed together. she was expressionless so he asked, “ruan yang, what’s wrong with you? are you in a bad mood?”
“i’m in a pretty bad mood.” ruan yang didn’t look up as she said, “i ran into xin ziao today when i went to buy groceries at the supermarket.”
li shaobin felt his heart sink. “f*ck, how did you run into him? he knows you’re staying here?”
“mm.”
li shaobin cursed xin ziao secretly and clenched his teeth. “this fellow is pretty capable. he actually managed to find out. it seems like it’s not very safe for you to stay here. why don’t you move over to my villa?”
ruan yang finally put the chopping knife down and glanced at him. “he even told me something today. he said that the person who leaked my address at rong estate wasn’t zhao zhu but you.”
li shaobin felt his heart stop. “er... yangyang, don’t listen to him sowing discord between us. he’s really a shameless person. don’t believe him. he’s just jealous of us and wants us to fight.”
“you’re also pretty fond of badmouthing him too.” ruan yang seemed cold. “instead of admitting to something that you did, you even pushed the blame onto someone else.”
“yangyang, you trust him and not me?” li shaobin said gloomily.
“then when i asked you just now, why did i see your eyes looking flustered for a few seconds? you didn’t even dare to look into my eyes.” ruan yang’s face sank. she couldn’t exactly tell which of xin ziao’s words should be trusted and which shouldn’t. but actually, she could still faintly tell them apart.
li shaobin pouted guiltily. he really didn’t think ruan yang would be so observant. however, he was only to blame for being bad at telling lies in front of her. “alright, i admit it. i did it.”
the look in ruan yang’s eyes turned completely cold. “i didn’t think that you would be so sly and scheming. to think that i even thought you were a good and honest person. i was even touched by you. it was actually all a trap you set up.”
li shaobin’s face was filled with outrage. it was all hu zhi’s fault for coming up with such a foul idea. “i didn’t want to set this trap either. i did it all for you. you didn’t know about it, but the past few days, xin ziao was waiting outside rong estate. i was afraid you would see him, but i didn’t dare to tell you either. i was afraid your love for him would rekindle when you saw him, so i thought of this plan to make you move out. after all, i had just started going out with you. i was very scared. yangyang, don’t be angry at me.”
“in any case, you shouldn’t have set me up. i hate it when people set me up,” ruan yang said angrily.
“i was wrong. i won’t ever dare to do it again.” li shaobin lowered his head. ‘hit me, scold me, pinch my face.”
“why should i hit you? i don’t have violent tendencies.” seeing him like that made ruan yang feel like laughing while being angry. “go away. i don’t want to see you today.”
“don’t do this.” li shaobin’s entire face fell. “i have to go to guangzhou on a business trip tomorrow and will only be back in three to four days. i wanted to keep you company tonight.”
“you mean you wanted to keep me company under the covers?” ruan yang said mockingly.
“yangyang, i’m not that obscene. i just wanted to stay by your side quietly.” li shaobin looked at her pitifully. “if i didn’t do that back then, you might’ve been poisoned by xin ziao again after you saw him. i was saving you.”
“save your head. get out. if you don’t, don’t even think about seeing me when you return from guangzhou,” ruan yang said.
“alright, alright, alright. i’ll leave. but xin ziao already knows you’re staying here. what are you going to do?” li shaobin said with concern. “don’t open the door casually. but don’t worry, i’ll send some men to stand guard outside. i guarantee that not even a fly would be able to fly in.”
ruan yang glanced at him and sighed. actually, she knew he did it for her own good, but the thought of him playing the good man in front of him made her mad.
...
li shaobin left with a stomach full of grievances. his grievances suddenly changed to anger as he went to make trouble with hu zhi. “this is all your fault for coming up with that foul idea and not taking care of it properly. you even allowed xin ziao to tell on me and caused me to be scolded by ruan yang.”
hu zhi was innocent. “boss, miss ruan is just in a fit of anger. when she slowly cools down, she’ll know that it was definitely all for her own good. she didn’t mention a break up either. an occasional quarrel between a couple is like adding seasoning to a dish.”
“i know that, of course. but xin ziao is pestering ruan yang again now. i’m going to guangzhou tomorrow. you stay here and keep guard over ruan yang,” li shaobin said angrily. “also, what’s wrong with you? why hasn’t xin ziao’s backyard caught fire? and you even let xin ziao find out where ruan yang lives?”
hu zhi really wanted to cry. “we’re still going to need some time for wang yuting to bite the hook.”
“if it doesn’t work on wang yuting, aim for xin zhanheng. in any case, the two of them must get a divorce,” li shaobin said. “otherwise, find a man for wang yuting. if he isn’t any good then just get him to do things the despicable way.”
hu zhi stared at him wide-eyed. alright, boss had gone all out this time.
————————————————-
the next day, ruan yang booked a flight to hangzhou.
just as she arrived at the airport with her backpack, she was stopped by hu zhi immediately. “aiyo, my dear miss ruan, where are you going? don’t tell me you’re planning to disappear while boss is away? don’t ever leave. otherwise, the lives of us little lackeys will be in danger.”
“i’m just going to hangzhou for a while. i’ll return in a couple of days. none of you follow me,” ruan yang said.
“what’s so fun about hangzhou? if you want to travel, you can go to guangzhou. boss is there.” hu zhi’s mouth had gone dry from trying to talk her out of it. “boss really treats you like his precious treasure. he was in the wrong but he really likes you a lot. i’ve been with him for several years. he’s basically not interested in women. i even thought he was gay. but ever since he fell for you, he suddenly seems to have transcended. if you’re going to break up with him, he definitely wouldn’t fall for women again.”
“i don’t want to break up. i’m just going out for a couple of days.” ruan yang walked towards the boarding gate. “just treat it like i went on a holiday.”
“but you still need someone to go with you,” hu zhi said. “why don’t i go with you or i can find a woman to go with you? we have women at li hall too.”
“i don’t want anyone to go with me. i’ll be fine.” ruan yang turned her head back to stare at him. “your boss listens to me. if you’re going to go on and on about it, i’ll get him to fire you when he returns.”
Updated from fr𝒆ewebnov𝒆l.(c)om