Volume One, Chapter 14: Where Is Shen Zhi?

Shen Zhi smiled bitterly. “How foolish of me. How could he possibly show up here?” Then, she sank into a deep sleep.

“Shen Zhi! Shen Zhi!”

...

When she opened her eyes again, beside her was the gentle Fu Nanfeng, his face etched with worry as he held her hand.

“You’re awake? How do you feel? Are you hungry? Does anything hurt?”

Seeing his anxious expression, Shen Zhi smiled blankly.

“Why are you so nervous? It’s just a stomach illness. You’re asking so many questions at once, I don’t even know which one to answer first.”

When he saw her smile, Fu Nanfeng’s tense brows finally relaxed. Being able to joke meant she had regained her clarity.

“Shen Zhi, do you know you nearly scared me to death? It’s such a serious illness. Why didn’t you tell me sooner...?”

Boom!

A sudden ringing filled Shen Zhi’s ears, and a familiar voice echoed again.

Once before, He Yunshen had asked her the same question — but not with concern, rather with reproach.

Her eyes suddenly reddened.

“Sorry, was I too harsh? Don’t cry, I didn’t mean to...” Fu Nanfeng hurriedly apologized, thinking his words might have frightened her.

“It’s nothing, Nanfeng. Thank you,” Shen Zhi said, taking a deep breath, struggling to hold back tears.

She refused to cry anymore over that man.

Married for three years, she hadn’t shed a tear even when He Yunshen wasn’t by her side. Now, this was just like before—only that his concern was nothing but lies!

“There’s no need to thank me between us. As long as you’re well, that’s all that matters!” Fu Nanfeng said softly, his emotions deep as he gently lifted her hand to his cheek, gazing at her with tender affection.

Feeling the warmth in her palm, Shen Zhi looked up—and through Fu Nanfeng’s figure, she saw He Yunshen standing at the hospital room’s door.

Instinctively, she pulled her hand back and averted her gaze.

She didn’t even know what she was hiding from. Wouldn’t it be better for him to see?

Was it that only He Yunshen was allowed to hold other women while she, Shen Zhi, wasn’t even permitted a close male friend?

Thinking this, she felt justified and met his gaze with a sharp look.

But He Yunshen’s eyes were full of disappointment as he slammed the door behind him.

This was the first time Shen Zhi saw He Yunshen angry for her sake, revealing a different emotion on his face.

For a moment, she didn’t know whether to feel joy or sorrow.

Fu Nanfeng heard the noise and turned around, catching a familiar silhouette.

From Shen Zhi’s disappointed expression, he guessed it was He Yunshen.

“Was it you who called him here?”

Shen Zhi asked softly.

Fu Nanfeng shook his head. He wouldn’t be so foolish as to summon his rival to show off.

Though he never played the role of a homewrecker, he also wouldn’t deliberately push the woman he liked toward another man.

Regarding the situation between He Yunshen and Shen Zhi, he was always a clear-headed observer.

A clear-headed one who was slowly sinking.

---

Shen Zhi understood; it no longer mattered who had informed him. After all, his presence was as good as absent.

She turned to Fu Nanfeng and forced a small smile, teasing, “You wanted to be my driver, right? Can you take me somewhere else?”

Fu Nanfeng was delighted but worried about Shen Zhi’s current health.

“The doctor said your condition requires surgery as soon as possible...”

Shen Zhi said nothing, lowering her head silently.

Seeing her downcast, Fu Nanfeng smiled gently. “I can promise you that, but you have to promise me you’ll come back obediently for the surgery.”

After a moment of hesitation, Shen Zhi nodded.

Then, she and Fu Nanfeng disappeared.

He Yunshen returned home filled with anger after witnessing their intimate gestures at the hospital.

“When did they get together?”

He asked himself that countless times but found no answer.

If it had happened during these three years, he wouldn’t have been oblivious. Knowing Shen Zhi, she was not the type to be fickle.

But how else could he explain what he had seen today?

And it was already late at night.

Shen Zhi was nowhere to be found at home. In the past, such a thing would never have happened.

If he frowned even slightly, Shen Zhi would be the first to notice, dropping everything to comfort him.

Yet today, there was no call, no message, and she didn’t come home at all.

In that moment, he seemed to have forgotten that they were still estranged, and she was on a leave from home!

He picked up his phone again and again, staring at the dark screen, pacing the room.

Ding!

Finally, the phone rang. He unlocked it to see a message.

“Yunshen, are you asleep? I can’t sleep.”

He Yunshen rolled his eyes in exasperation and slammed the phone onto the bed.

How had he never realized before how nagging Zhou Qin was?

Eight hundred messages a day—didn’t she get tired?

He was utterly speechless.

Ding! Ding!

...

“Are you done yet?”

He angrily grabbed his phone, unlocked it, and sure enough, it was another barrage of messages from Zhou Qin.

“Yunshen, baby misses you.”

“I was wrong today; I shouldn’t have said those things. Please don’t be mad.”

“Yunshen, talk to me, reply, I’m worried...”

...

He Yunshen coldly looked away, then blocked and muted her, before stepping onto the balcony to light a cigarette.

“Shen Zhi, you’ve done well!”

“Do you think I would care because of this?”

---

“Shen Zhi, you’ve crossed the line!”

Halfway through the cigarette, inhaling and exhaling, he still felt suffocated.

He didn’t know what was wrong with him.

He had never lost his composure because of Shen Zhi.

“But what is she doing now? At the hospital, or at her friend’s place, or... with someone else?”

He Yunshen felt like his head was about to explode. It was the first time he felt he had lost control over Shen Zhi.

He had to know where she was—right now!

“Hello, who’s this?”

A lazy female voice came through the phone. He Yunshen frowned, silent for a moment.

“If you don’t speak, I’m hanging up.”

“Where is Shen Zhi?”

He finally demanded, his tone harsh as if interrogating a criminal.

“Interrogating a criminal? You’re her husband, you ask me? How should I know! Boring!!”

Beep beep beep—

Who spoiled him like this?

Shen Zhi?

Shanshan rolled her eyes at the phone. “Now you’re worried? Too late! Not telling you!”

Then she turned over and went to sleep.

He Yunshen called back, but the other party had already turned off her phone.

Tonight was destined to be sleepless. After much hesitation, he dialed Shen Zhi’s number.

While waiting for her to pick up, he kept building up his courage, rehearsing how to speak confidently without letting her sense his concern.

But—

“Sorry, the number you dialed is temporarily unreachable. Please try again later...”

Unreachable?

What the hell!

He Yunshen was deeply frustrated.

It wasn’t off, nor blocked—just unreachable?

“Shen Zhi, I order you to answer the phone immediately!”

But the cold mechanical voice still came from the other end.

He finally calmed down and couldn’t help but mock himself for losing control over a single gesture from Shen Zhi.

This was so unlike himself!

Just as he settled his emotions and lay down to sleep, a notification sounded from his phone.

He instinctively thought it was Zhou Qin again, so he turned off the phone and tossed it aside, sinking into a deep slumber.