This was truly a case of fearing the worst! Although He Yan was mentally prepared to run into Fu Shenxing, when it actually happened, her body involuntarily shivered. Fu Shenxing also saw her, raised an eyebrow slightly, and asked her, "Teacher He? Are you here for entertainment as well?"
He Yan didn't believe it was just a coincidence, so she found his pretentious behavior extremely repulsive. She clenched her lips in response to his words and replied in a low voice, "I came to find someone."
"Did you find them?" Fu Shenxing asked again.
"Yes, I have to leave now. Goodbye, Mr. Fu." She answered, subconsciously tucking her hand in her coat collar, and hurriedly walked away. But after taking only a few steps, Ah Jiang stood in front of her, blocking her path tightly. He Yan had to stop, turn around, and look at Fu Shenxing.
Fu Shenxing slightly turned, glanced at her, and leisurely said, "Since you're here, don't rush to leave. Stay and play with me for a while."
He Yan took a deep breath, controlled her emotions, and tried to maintain a calm and composed attitude as she negotiated with him, "Mr. Fu, I really have urgent matters to attend to. Can you give me an hour, and I will come back to accompany you after I finish? Is that alright?"
"No, it's not." His response was arbitrary and domineering, and he had no patience to say more to her as he walked towards the entrance.
He Yan turned back and looked at Ah Jiang, who was blocking her path, clenched her teeth, and had to follow Fu Shenxing back into "Zui Jin Zhao". The manager received the news and hurriedly welcomed Fu Shenxing, leading him to the private room he usually patronized, and amiably said, "Sui has also come, and is in 'Ren Xiaoyao'. Look..."
"No need to tell him," Fu Shenxing lightly ordered.
The private room was the one He Yan had been to with him before. There were already many people inside, livelier than when she had visited last time. There was a striptease dancer performing on the small stage, and surprisingly, a mahjong table had been set up in the corner, surrounded by seven or eight men and women. Some people looked familiar, whom He Yan had seen last time, and others were new faces but seemed to have a higher status. When Fu Shenxing entered, although they all greeted him, it wasn't as respectful as the last time, but rather more intimate and casual.
A man at the mahjong table in his twenties waved to Fu Shenxing and loudly called, "Brother Xing, come and avenge me, they are bullying me together!"
The man next to him, with a cigarette in his mouth, took the cue and said, "Brother Xing, come and save Xiao Wu. If it's any later, Xiao Wu would have lost everything!"
Hearing these, everyone laughed. Fu Shenxing also slightly raised the corners of his mouth, revealing a genuine smile. He went over and sat in Xiao Wu's seat, then looked at He Yan and ordered, "Come over and help me with the game."
The people at the mahjong table followed his gaze, and several eyes fell on He Yan, some curious, some envious, and their looks varied. Xiao Wu nudged the man with the cigarette and winked, jokingly asking, "Is this the little sister that Brother Xing just found for us?"
"Don't talk nonsense." Fu Shenxing lightly smiled and said, not too lightly or too heavily, "Teacher He has a husband. Don't talk nonsense."
"She has a husband?" Xiao Wu's surprised expression was part genuine, part fake. He looked at He Yan, then at Fu Shenxing, and asked, "Wow! Who's that?"
"Why so many questions? Anyway, it's not your business," the man with a cigarette in his mouth said.
Fu Shenxing neither confirmed nor denied, glanced at He Yan, sneered, and urged her, "Come over and help me look at the cards."
Standing there listening to their vulgar language, He Yan was grinding her teeth. It was difficult for her to control her emotions, so she walked over to Fu Shenxing's seat with a blank expression and sat down. Taking advantage of the opportunity to grab the cards, he glanced at her and asked, "Aren't you hot wearing so much?"
She was still wearing a coat, which made her stand out among the people in the room, but she dared not take it off. The dress under the coat was completely different from her usual style, which would definitely arouse Fu Shenxing's suspicion. So she could only suppress her nervousness, feign calmness, and replied, "I'm not hot."
Fortunately, Fu Shenxing had finished grabbing the cards and did not pursue the matter of the coat.
The automatic mahjong table made the game progress much faster. In a short time, a round of cards was over. Fu Shenxing's luck was not good, not only did he not make a profit, but he also lost quite a bit. Someone on the table remarked, "Brother Xing is in a good mood today, coming here to distribute money to us? Back in Tianhe Yuan, Brother Xing played so well, winning nine rounds in a row. Even Hustler still praises him for it."
Xiao Wu chuckled, "It looks like Brother Xing is too confident in love."
Fu Shenxing just smiled faintly, then threw the chips and gently patted He Yan's shoulder, "You come, I'll let you look at the cards."
Not only He Yan, but everyone at the table was stunned at the way he looked at her. He Yan was about to decline, but afraid of angering Fu Shenxing, hesitated and then changed places with him. As he sat beside her, one hand rested on the edge of the table, and the other supported the back of her chair, he leaned in close to her to look at the cards and asked, "How's the game going?"
Taking the opportunity to grab the cards, she subtly moved her body forward to avoid his touch and casually replied, "It's going fine."
"Oh? Is it?" He raised his voice slightly and with an air of indifference, leaned in to whisper to her, "Okay then, play well. Once you win back the money for Xiao Wu, I'll let you go."
She hesitated, then turned to look at him.
He lightly tugged at the corner of his lips, his hand reached around and affectionately pinched her earlobe, "I keep my word."
She didn't fully believe him but couldn't help but want to give it a try. She turned back and took a look at the chips in front of everyone and started to concentrate on the game. With an excellent memory and the ability to count cards, saying "it's going fine" was simply a way to deceive.
Soon, the people at the table realized that she had skill in playing cards. By the time she had won for the seventh time, Xiao Wu couldn't contain his excitement, and the man who had been smoking a cigarette exclaimed, "This is definitely Brother Xing's scheme, first making us underestimate her, then taking us down completely!"
"That's malicious! Too malicious!" The fat man across from her muttered to himself, then looked at He Yan and then at Fu Shenxing, asking, "Brother Xing, where did you find this girl?"
Fu Shenxing didn't answer, only squinted at He Yan. He Yan remained calm, indifferent, and focused on her cards. He saw the excitement hidden in her eyes, then glanced at the cards in front of her, and was surprised to find a great hand forming.
He was initially surprised, then smiled, unable to resist teasing, "With your skill, why be a teacher?"
She remained silent, and when it was clear the person across from her had declared victory, even Fu Shenxing was interested. She continued to remain indifferent, reached for the cards in her hand, and when she saw what she had drawn, she couldn't help but slam them down on the table and calmly said, "I win."
There was an immediate gasp, but when they saw the cards she had placed down, the table fell silent.
After winning such a high-stakes game, He Yan couldn't help but be excited, but her excitement only lasted for a few seconds before fading away. Amid the stunned gazes of the people, she stood up, turned to Fu Shenxing and said, "Mr. Fu, I have something to attend to, I'll leave first, sorry."
Fu Shenxing remained silent, not trying to stop her. She briskly walked out, and as soon as she left "Drunk Today", she got into her car and realized her back was already soaked with sweat. Perhaps it was because of the recent tension and excitement, or maybe just plain fright, her heart was still pounding, but she couldn't think about it and only knew that she needed to leave quickly.
She drove away and only stopped once she entered a bustling street, where her heart rate gradually calmed down. Instead of going home directly, she first found a hotel and rented a room by the hour. After cleaning herself inside and out, changing back into her own clothes, she came out. As she passed a trash bin on the street, she hesitated for a moment then threw in the dress she had only worn once.
The next day, she found an old phone to use temporarily, switched her SIM card into it, called Hua Jie to thank her for yesterday, apologized for leaving without saying goodbye, and then gave Hua Jie an account number, asking her to pass it to Yu Jia, and said, "She knows what happened."
Hua-jean was confused and hesitated for a moment before asking her, "What exactly happened?"
He Yan didn't think about hiding it from Hua-jean, and she needed to convey the reason for her phone being damaged to Fu Shenxing through her mouth. So she replied, "It's not a big deal. I had a little argument with Yu Jia yesterday, and she smashed my phone. However, she has promised to compensate me for the phone, so I gave her the account and asked her to transfer the money directly to me."
Hua-jean agreed and quickly went to verify the incident with Yu Jia. Yu Jia openly admitted, "Yes, it was me who smashed it. She took a picture of me and threatened to send it to my family."
Hua-jean was so angry that she almost fell back, looking at Yu Jia's young and ignorant face, she really wanted to go up and slap her a few times. In the past, Hua-jean might have actually done so, but this time, it involved Fu Shenxing, and she didn't want to get involved, so she suppressed her anger and just scolded Yu Jia, "You idiot! Keep acting like a fool! Wait until you bring it upon yourself!"
Though unafraid of He Yan, Yu Jia was afraid of Hua-jean. Seeing her unnerved, she timidly asked, "What's wrong, Hua-jean? Isn't she just a teacher at a lousy university? What can she do to me?"
"You don't even think about it. Why did Mr. Fu personally handle your leave of absence? Is it for you? He knows who you are!" Seeing her foolish behavior, Hua-jean felt even more angry and decided not to say anything more. She just called Ah Jiang and reported every detail of the situation from last night to him.
It seemed that after He Yan started looking for Yu Jia, Fu Shenxing unconsciously relaxed his surveillance on her. Ah Jiang only checked the surveillance cameras once in the morning and once in the evening. So, it wasn't until this morning that Fu Shenxing learned about He Yan's missing phone location. However, he didn't have time to deal with it. He had several important meetings during the day and a business dinner in the evening, leaving no time to indulge in entertaining a woman.
Yes, He Yan's performance at the card table last night did surprise him a bit, even to the point of being a bit stunning. However, that was all there was to it, nothing more.
In the evening, as he left the reception a little tipsy, he suddenly thought of He Yan and instructed Ah Jiang, "Call He Yan and ask her to come over."
Ah Jiang dialed the number silently and relayed Fu Shenxing's request to He Yan without expression. After a moment of hesitation, he handed the phone to Fu Shenxing. Taking it, he heard her speak in a low and angry voice, "Fu Shenxing, I beg you to be kind and let me go just for today. Is that okay? Today is my birthday, and I'm having dinner at my parents' home. How am I supposed to go out? With what excuse can I stay out all night?"
He really didn't know it was her birthday today. Upon hearing this, he was momentarily taken aback, and then he chuckled softly, "Well, now that I know, I can't just ignore it. How about this, I'll come to your place to celebrate your birthday?"
"Fu Shenxing!"