A Twisted Love Affair-Chapter 93: Ajing bought this for you_1

If a few million could explain the situation, the Chen Family wouldn’t have bothered with an arranged marriage. Their bride price, the start-up funding for the young couple’s future, was frighteningly high. Liang Yingning, with her unyielding pride, couldn’t accept Chen Yao’s charity, especially given his attitude.

"No need. My company has already gone bankrupt."

The last look Liang Yingning gave Chen Yao screamed, Who the hell wants your charity?

Chen Yao really didn’t want to meet her gaze. He shoved his hands into his pockets. "So it won’t be awkward when we meet in the future. After all, I was the one who didn’t listen to my family’s arrangements and wronged you."

Liang Yingning scoffed. "Who doesn’t know our twisted story? Just say your pretty words."

"Take it or leave it." Chen Yao was straightforward and started to walk away.

Liang Yingning spun around, grabbed Shen Jing’s hand, and beat him to the exit. "Let’s go. Don’t disturb their budding romance."

Just like that, out of sheer pride, Liang Yingning was determined to leave before Chen Yao.

Chen Yao sneered, stopping in his tracks.

「Leaving the teahouse」

The two wandered aimlessly through the alleys of Jiangnan. They had taken the wrong path, Shen Jing mused. She knew Liang Yingning was in a bad mood, so she didn’t say anything, silently following her friend’s lead. I remember promising that proud Mr. Zhou I’d be back in Shanghai before eleven to meet him, Shen Jing thought. Forget it. Liang Yingning is more important.

Fortunately, Mr. Zhou hadn’t flown into a rage. He was probably having a tough enough time dealing with the Zhou Family elders about the online gossip.

It wasn’t until they were driving back to Shanghai and saw the crowds at The Bund for the New Year’s Eve light show that they remembered. They had completely forgotten that midnight marked the New Year. Shen Jing and Liang Yingning only realized it then, looked at each other, and burst into laughter.

"It’s New Year’s Day!"

"New Year’s Day already!"

Time flies so fast, Shen Jing mused. She braked, pulling over to the side of the road. Looking at the Customs House clock in the distance, she tugged Liang Yingning towards her grandmother’s place.

"I’ll take you to my grandmother’s for steamed cakes."

The old woman wasn’t asleep. She was lying on the rocking chair in the attic, swaying gently, an image of peace and serenity.

Liang Yingning looked around the small house. It was quite exquisite, especially the cabinet filled with delicate dishes and teaware. No wonder Shen Jing is always thinking about her teahouse job, Liang Yingning thought. She must spend all her salary buying tableware for her grandma to display.

"Nannan, you’re back," the old woman said.

Shen Jing knelt, resting her head on her grandmother’s lap like a spoiled child. "I want to eat pastries. Can you get up and make some? You always love to fuss over me."

Her grandmother chuckled and let Shen Jing help her up and into the kitchen.

"Ningning," the grandmother had called Liang Yingning a minute ago.

The next minute, looking at Liang Yingning, she said, "Yingying."

Whether it was "Luoluo" or "Nini," the grandmother used all sorts of names for her. Every time she spoke, she’d comment on how bright and clever the young girl seemed. It didn’t matter what name she used; Liang Yingning answered cheerfully every time.

The only name the grandmother never got wrong was Shen Jing. And she remembered everything Shen Jing said.

「After the steamed cakes」

The two hid in the stairwell, secretly drinking alcohol. They had a packet of sugar and a pack of tissues, sitting side by side. After a while, the grandmother opened her door and tossed out two red cushions without a word.

Liang Yingning caught them and placed one under herself. "Thank you, Grandma."

The grandmother nodded, went back inside, and closed the door.

Liang Yingning looked at the firmly shut door. "Why don’t you send her to a nursing home? They have professionals to take care of her."

"She doesn’t like it." Shen Jing looked down, gently popping the tab on a can. She got drunk easily and didn’t dare indulge, even with low-alcohol fruit wine. "Would you like it, if it were you?" Shen Jing added.

Liang Yingning thought for a moment, then joked, "No way. Facing a bunch of old geezers in there? That’s tragic. Old men don’t have abs or biceps."

Shen Jing’s lips quirked. "Still thinking about admiring handsome men when you’re old? Aren’t you a naughty one."

Liang Yingning gulped down her drink. "Easy for you to say. You get to look and touch every day, so you don’t understand the struggle."

This made Shen Jing think of Zhou Luchen. She glanced at her phone screen; there were no messages from him. He’s probably out with friends, counting down to the New Year, she thought. Or maybe he’s already accidentally picked up someone else’s perfume scent.

"Not planning to go back to Beijing?" Liang Yingning asked.

The Shen Family in Beijing... Liang Yingning had inquired about them. There was indeed a Shen Family in Beijing, a deeply established one, but she hadn’t been able to find out anything more.

Shen Jing tilted her head, leaning against the handrail. "I’ve already forgotten where the Shen Family’s front door even is."

Knowing she was joking, Liang Yingning chuckled. "Don’t they come to Shanghai to look for you?"

Shen Jing pulled her coat tighter. "The Shen Family has plenty of children. They’re not missing one like me." She said it so casually.

Liang Yingning didn’t press further and quietly sipped her drink.

Perhaps this is why I liked Shen Jing from the start, Liang Yingning mused. That unhurried grace in her every move, a kind of purity that only comes from being coddled by wealth. She’s the type who lacks nothing material but is perhaps starved for affection—born into a prestigious family, weathered her upbringing, and now lives a calm, almost detached life. Even if you tossed her into a crowd, she’d still stand out like a precious gem.

The stairwell fell quiet again, the light from the old lamps seeming to dim further.

「Meanwhile, in the glittering heart of the city」

A group of carefree, wealthy young scions were gathered within high-walled estates, paying respects to their uncles and entertaining the elders.

Among everyone at the gathering, regardless of lineage, Zhou Luchen commanded the most respect. He dutifully played the part of a junior in deference to Madam Zhou, the family matriarch. The online scandal was, of course, not mentioned by anyone; it was treated as a trivial interlude.

Zhou Luchen said little. In the blink of an eye, he had slipped away to the backyard to tease a mynah bird.

The mansion boasted intricately carved beams and painted rafters. The front courtyard housed modern villas designed in the Liuyi Sect style, while the back courtyard featured an ancient Chinese pavilion with classic upturned eaves and an ornate gateway. After Madam Zhou divorced that man from Beijing, she alone had maintained the Zhou Family’s standing here.

The courtyard was vast. Few people were in the back, where mynah birds with shrill voices vied to capture the master’s attention.

"Achen! Achen! Achen won’t come home!"

"Achen! Where have you been spending money lately?"

"I want some too! Money, money!"

The green-feathered, prized bird looked charming and eager to please, its voice raspy yet playfully articulate.

Zhou Luchen, holding the birdcage in one hand, walked leisurely towards the pavilion. "Spent it on Jingjing."

The mynah bird, raised by Madam Zhou, was clever and professionally trained; it knew how to curry favor.

"Jingjing? Who’s Jingjing? Who?"

"Giddy-up, giddy-up! Achen spent money on Jingjing!"

"Not keeping Great-Grandmother company! Achen is bad! Must kneel in the ancestral hall!"

Zhou Luchen looked at the bird and chuckled. "You little beast."

The mynah bird had learned a new phrase today.

"Jingjing!" it squawked, calling out the name with increasing delight, its voice growing prouder and more flamboyant.

As Zhou Luchen hung the cage back in the pavilion and turned to leave, the mynah bird flapped its wings, landed on its perch, and strutted back and forth, its green-crested head held high.

"Going to find Jingjing?"

"Bye-bye, Achen! Bye-bye!"

「Later that night」

Zhou Luchen left the old mansion. He drove off and soon lost himself in the decadent revelry of the Pleasure Quarters.

「Meanwhile, on a foreign F1 track」

Chen Yao had made the wrong bets and was losing all night.

「Back at the Pleasure Quarters」

Zhou Luchen leaned against a second-floor railing, calmly watching the lively scene in the main hall below, his eyes serene.

After replying to a message, Chen Yao looked up from downstairs. "Not playing?"

Zhou Luchen merely hummed, fiddling with the brass kerosene lighter in his hand. It had a vintage brass casing, each one bearing a unique code. It was a gift from Shen Jing.

As the clock chimed midnight, Chen Yao listened to the countdown before finally opening a bottle of cherished liquor he had been saving for years.

Zhou Luchen turned and walked out onto the balcony to light a cigarette.