Shen Xizhou’s brow furrowed at the question. “Did Shi Qingyin tell you this, too?” he asked, a fresh wave of suspicion crossing his face.
Shi Ning nodded, maintaining her flawless composure, lying without a hint of a blush or a racing heart. “Yes! My father kicked her out of the Shi family and took back her diamond card. She begged me to put in a good word for her, so she spilled everything.”
This revelation infuriated Shen Xizhou, his face turning crimson, his chest heaving with indignation. “I protected her so much,” he fumed, “and she just threw all the blame on me just to save herself!”
Shi Ning observed his reaction, a cold certainty settling in her heart: her marriage was far from a simple matter. “So,” she prodded, her voice chilling, “what Shi Qingyin said was true?”
“False! It’s all false!” Shen Xizhou vehemently denied, his explanation tumbling out in a rush of anxious words. “That was Shi Qingyin’s idea!” He completely abandoned any pretense of loyalty to Shi Qingyin, spilling the entire sordid tale of three years prior.
“Shi Qingyin claimed she liked me, said she was willing to be a bad woman for me, even a mistress hidden from the light of day,” he began. “Then, three years ago, when Mr. Qin was terminally ill, Shi Qingyin cooked up this scheme. She bribed a famous master to get your exact birth date and eight characters, then went to tell Mr. Qin’s fortune, convincing him that you were the one destined for this marriage.”
“To make sure it was precisely you,” Shen Xizhou continued, his words gaining speed, “they even specified that your name had to match Qin Heye’s! That way, you were the only one in the entire country who fit the requirements!”
“And then,” he added, a desperate plea for understanding in his voice, “they told you to let Shi Qingyin get engaged to me on your behalf, as a shield. The idea was that you’d feel sorry for us, love me more, listen to me more, and love Shi Qingyin more.”
This was information the “barrage” had not revealed, and Shi Ning felt a wave of coldness wash over her learning all of this . To think they had been plotting against her like this for three years!
“You knew Qin Heye was overbearing, completely uninterested in women!” Shi Ning’s voice was sharp, cutting through Shen Xizhou’s frantic monologue. “There was a female star who deliberately spilled wine on his pants while toasting, and tried to wipe them. He broke her wrist, threw her out of the box, and blacklisted her from the internet! To this day, there’s no trace of her!”
Her voice trembled with a simmering rage. “Qin Heye is scarier than a ghost. And you, my fiancé, and she, my supposedly beloved sister, actually plotted to marry me off to him?”
Before her marriage, she had never seen Qin Heye. All she knew was the terrifying rumors, that everyone feared him, and that he was rumored to be horribly ugly. People called him “Master Qin,” leading her to believe he was an old man, at least forty or fifty! Yet, her fiancé and sister had disregarded his reputation completely, pushing her into that marriage. They truly had no heart!
The cruel irony, of course, was that fate had defied Shi Qingyin’s calculations. When Qin Heye arrived for the proposal, Shi Qingyin discovered he was a young, devastatingly handsome, and supremely wealthy overbearing CEO. Shi Qingyin immediately regretted her scheme, desperate to claim the marriage for herself, but the Qin family, unwavering, insisted on Shi Ning. For three years, Shi Qingyin had ceaselessly sown discord between Shi Ning and Qin Heye, all to usurp her position. She was utterly heartless!
“This is all Shi Qingyin’s idea! It has nothing to do with me!” Shen Xizhou desperately insisted, trying to shift all blame.
Shi Ning, a tempest of suppressed fury raging within her, kept her voice icily calm. “So, you two got together a long time ago. When exactly was that?”
“We weren’t together! I didn’t have feelings for Shi Qingyin at first, but when we were dating, you often brought her along, and we started contacting…”
Shi Ning cut him off, uninterested in the sordid details of their entanglement. “When was it? I want the exact answer!” Her voice was sharp, commanding, imbued with an unexpected authority. Coupled with Shen Xizhou’s rising panic and anger at Shi Qingyin’s perceived betrayal, and his desperate need for Shi Ning’s forgiveness and help with the land deal, he answered quickly.
“The night I proposed to you, Shi Qingyin forcefully kissed me, and that’s when it all began!”
At eighteen, Shen Xizhou had proposed to her with a humble dogtail grass, and that very night, he had kissed Shi Qingyin. Shi Ning found the whole situation utterly absurd—the ridiculousness of the original plot, and her own past naiveté. No, she was the victim; the truly ridiculous ones were Shen Xizhou and Shi Qingyin! It hardly mattered anymore; she wanted nothing to do with either of them.
Shi Ning posed her final question. “That day, you didn’t genuinely want to take me away and confront Qin Heye, did you?”
Shen Xizhou saw the cold indifference in Shi Ning’s face, and the panic of losing her intensified. He stammered, “Of course it’s true…”
Shi Ning interrupted him, her voice unwavering. “This is your last chance. You’ve confessed twice. If you lie to me again, I won’t help you.” Shi Ning’s expression exuded such confidence, such complete control, that Shen Xizhou dared not lie. “Seventy percent true, thirty percent false!” he blurted out.
He explained frantically, “This was also Shi Qingyin’s idea. She wanted you to misunderstand that Qin Heye forced you. She wanted me to ‘rescue’ you, so you wouldn’t mind losing your first time. I’d be your ‘savior,’ you’d love me more, and you’d give me everything!”
He knew the female psyche: women often valued their virginity and their ‘first time’ deeply, wishing to give it to the man they loved most. Otherwise, they’d feel guilty, even “dirty” in some cases. At such a moment, if the man they loved didn’t despise them, they’d be overcome with gratitude, convinced they hadn’t loved the wrong person, loving him even more deeply, and then giving their all. Shen Xizhou understood this psychology perfectly. His actions were calculated, designed to make Shi Ning help him secure more cooperation from the Qin family. No matter how much he claimed to like her, power and money always took precedence. She was merely a stepping stone for his ascent. Once he reached the pinnacle, he would keep her by his side, “raise” her, and that, he believed, would justify his actions and their “love.”
Shi Ning had no more questions, but a profound coldness settled in her heart and body, a sadness and anger more potent than anything the “barrage” had ever spoiled.
Shen Xizhou watched Shi Ning’s face grow colder, radiating pure disgust for him. He was desperate. “Ningning,” he stammered, “everything was Shi Qingyin’s idea. I was bewitched by her, that’s why I did this.” He launched into a familiar plea. “We grew up together as childhood sweethearts. You are my first love. I really like you, I…”
Shi Ning raised a hand, cutting him off. “Enough. Don’t say those words; they sicken me.” She had achieved her goal.
Shen Xizhou, ever the manipulator, looked at her with feigned affection. “Have you forgiven me then? I truly don’t mind that you slept with Qin Heye. Even if you get divorced, I don’t mind that you’re a divorced woman.” He pressed on, his voice a balm of false sacrifice. “As long as you continue to love me, I am willing to be your man who can’t see the light.”
A man willing to be a “third party” for love. Wasn’t that supposed to be touching? When it came to Qin Heye, it was deeply moving – true love. Qin Heye had secretly loved her for ten years, keeping himself pure, preserving his virginity for her, never dallying with anyone. But for Shen Xizhou, a two-timing scumbag, it was simply disgusting.
Shi Ning gazed at the shimmering swimming pool, then looked up at Shen Xizhou, a chilling smile gracing her lips. “Shen Xizhou, come over here.”