A Twisted Love Affair-Chapter 204: Yo, the well-dressed Second Young Master"_1

6:00 a.m.

Zhou Luchen stepped out, a fine black suit of exquisite material draped over his arm.

"Are you here to play thief, Second Master Zhou?"

Sun Qiyan was sitting by the main gate eating a frozen pear, the tiny wooden chair groaning under the weight of the thirty-year-old man. He looked up to see Second Master Zhou, impeccably dressed. His neat and dignified attire still couldn’t hide his inherently rakish charm.

Sun Qiyan chuckled softly. "So properly dressed, I almost didn’t recognize you."

Zhou Luchen glanced at him, his eyes unintentionally falling on a conspicuous red string on Sun Qiyan’s pear-holding wrist. Ordinarily, his wrist was bare—clean and unadorned.

"Ever since the tea plantation, you’ve seemed to have an issue with me," Zhou Luchen replied in a measured tone.

"I couldn’t see that you loved her, so I’ve never much cared for you," Sun Qiyan said, handing him a frozen pear. "Betraying feelings... May you sit high on your throne and enjoy a lifetime of solitude."

This man is truly sinister and malicious.

Zhou Luchen coldly brushed off the remark.

"Is she yours?"

At this question, Sun Qiyan laughed. "And why wouldn’t she be?"

Zhou Luchen switched the suit jacket to his other arm and descended the steps with unhurried grace. "So what?"

Watching Zhou Luchen’s retreating figure, Sun Qiyan smiled. "Don’t you know? She found out you were getting married and, not wanting to receive your invitation, came to the mountain to pray for her grandparents. So why can’t you stand to see others pursuing her? How do you know I can’t give her what you can? I can even offer her the marriage you can’t."

Zhou Luchen didn’t look back. "Congratulations then."

Sun Qiyan played with the frozen pear in his hand. "If you don’t love her, don’t trifle with the young lady’s feelings. Without you, she can still eat, drink, and be merry, living happily every day. Her world doesn’t revolve solely around you. Give her time, and she’ll forget you much faster than you imagine. I hope you understand that. Now that you’ve broken up, there’s really no need for you to come running here to see her."

"Boss Sun is quite adept at exploiting others’ vulnerabilities."

When a girl is at her emotional lowest, a gentle approach can win her over in time. It’s a natural progression. Zhou Luchen actually understood this kind of tactic.

"To be honest, Second Master, while you were with her, I simply didn’t want to cause her trouble. I’ve been waiting for you two to break up since the day of your blind date." Sun Qiyan enunciated the last few words, one by one.

Seeing no reaction from Zhou Luchen, Sun Qiyan asked, "Why aren’t you getting married anymore? What a waste of the wedding gift I prepared."

Zhou Luchen didn’t reply. He tossed his suit jacket to Zhuang Ming, and the two men left, one after the other.

Sun Qiyan remained seated, savoring his pear. He had known Zhou Luchen would come in ever since the Abbot started unlocking the gate, but he hadn’t stopped him.

He didn’t know on what grounds he could have intervened.

But seeing the high and mighty Second Master Zhou thwarted was rather amusing.

He shouldn’t have just locked the gate; he should have used the large water cistern in the courtyard to barricade it.

「...」

「It was past 8:00 a.m.」

Shen Jing finally woke, having missed breakfast and the morning incense burning. The moment she opened her eyes, the blanket felt thin yet incredibly warm. Why does it feel like the blanket has been changed?

She pinched the fabric; it wasn’t what she usually used. Instead, it was a light, handmade Icelandic eiderdown comforter. Icelandic eiderdown was rare, making such a comforter expensive and labor-intensive to produce. How could the temple possess something so luxurious?

She threw back the cover and realized she was naked. A cool breeze brushed against her skin, startling her.

Leaning against the headboard, she surveyed the ’crime scene’ on the floor. I definitely went to sleep with clothes on last night. Did I take them off myself? In a dream, could I be so perverse towards myself? she wondered.

Looking down, she noticed marks on her chest.

I really am...

Could I have pinched myself like this too?

Am I an idiot? Undressing myself, abusing myself? Does Zhou Luchen drive me to this?

Yet, thinking back, the sensation felt so real—the lingering scent of Bai Qinan incense and a man’s presence in the blanket.

It seemed unmistakable. It didn’t feel like a dream; it was probably real.

Something hard and cold pressed against her back.

Shen Jing reached out and felt a button.

It was a platinum button from Holland & Sherry, a custom brand she had only ever seen on Zhou Luchen’s shirts, made of PT999 platinum.

Zhou Luchen is far away in New York. It’s impossible, isn’t it?

Yet, everything she recalled felt so vivid and intimate. It was as if she had been crying, whispering ’Achen, Achen...’ into his ear...

She covered her face. Zhou Luchen, oh Zhou Luchen, what were you doing in my room?

There were already rumors of him getting married. How could he be so perverse? How could he just appear in her room and share her bed?

She hurriedly washed up, dressed, and went out to find answers.

"Awake? How’s the wound on your knee?"

Sun Qiyan sat on a stone platform in the courtyard, slowly packing breakfast for her. He found himself unsure how to voice the words that had come to his lips.

Sensing her embarrassment and panic, Sun Qiyan sighed helplessly and told her the truth. "Late last night, Zhou Luchen came. He applied medicine for you. He’s been staying in the East Pavilion next door. I found out two days ago but didn’t tell you."

Her hand, resting on the door panel, froze. Shen Jing turned. On the study table, she saw a bottle of ointment, cotton swabs, and some capsules with inscriptions she couldn’t understand.

An open notebook bore Zhou Luchen’s handwriting: ’Take two pills daily.’ Beside it lay a black card from United Bank.

Seeing her dazed, Sun Qiyan said softly, "Have breakfast first. He already went down the mountain this morning."

Shen Jing glanced at the food. "Brother Qiyan, you eat first. I need to step out for a moment."

Sun Qiyan just hummed in agreement.

Shen Jing pushed open the gate to the East Pavilion’s courtyard. Only a young novice monk was tidying the room and sweeping, an immense sense of desolation and emptiness pervading the air.

The door to the room was open, and Shen Jing went in.

A monk was organizing transcribed scriptures on the desk; a few draft pages had fallen to the floor.

Shen Jing stepped forward and helped pick them up. "Little Master, may I take a look?"

The novice monk put his palms together in a Buddhist salute. "These were transcribed by Mr. Zhou. They are discarded drafts. He has already left the mountain."

"I know," she said. "I want to understand what transgression led him to transcribe scriptures here."

The novice monk handed them to her, saying, "I do not know."

Page after page of white rice paper. The calligraphy was neat and solemn, no longer containing her name, Shen Jing.

Shen Jing returned to her room, picked up the card, quickly wrapped herself in a large diamond-patterned scarf for warmth, and hurriedly prepared to leave the temple.

Seeing what was in her hand, Sun Qiyan tossed her the car keys. "Do you think you can catch up to a car on four wheels by running?"