Chapter 8: Why Are You Blushing?

Page (1/3)

After Shang Moting and Lin Ting left, Shen Haochen stood there for a long while without reacting.

Lin Shan also stared blankly in the direction they had gone.

She had no idea who that man was.

She had never imagined that a man like him could be by Lin Ting’s side.

His looks and bearing made it obvious at a glance that he was no ordinary person.

What right did Lin Ting have?

She had never gone to school, had disappeared for so many years, and who knew how many people had taken advantage of her.

What right did she have to find a man like that?

With these thoughts running through her mind, Lin Shan looked up at Shen Haochen.

He was still standing there in a daze.

“Haochen, Haochen.” Lin Shan shook his arm. “Haochen!”

“Hm?” Shen Haochen came back to himself, though his expression remained grim. He looked at her. “What is it?”

“Who was that man just now?” Lin Shan asked.

Shen Haochen felt his legs tremble slightly. He opened his mouth. “Which man?”

“The one beside Lin Ting... beside my sister.” Lin Shan nearly let her act slip in her agitation.

Shen Haochen glanced at her. “I don’t know him. I’ve never met him. Stay away from Lin Ting from now on.”

Lin Shan frowned. Judging by his reaction, he clearly knew that man. She was about to say something when Shen Haochen interrupted her.

“How’s your face?”

Interrupted, Lin Shan still wanted to press him, but Shen Haochen cut her off again. “I’ll take you to the hospital to have it treated first.”

As he spoke, he put an arm around her shoulders and led her toward the hotel entrance.

Lin Shan tactfully stopped asking questions.

Shen Haochen also breathed a sigh of relief.

Shang Moting was the nephew of his grandaunt by marriage.

The Shen family had enjoyed the Shang family’s protection over the years.

Shang Moting was famous, but few people had ever seen him.

Unless Shang Moting revealed his identity himself, Shen Haochen did not dare mention it publicly. He did not even dare admit to knowing him, even though Lin Shan was his girlfriend.

When all was peaceful, they were relatives.

But if Shang Moting became displeased, whether the Shen family could continue to exist would be another matter entirely.

...

Lin Ting followed Shang Moting upstairs.

Shang Moting stood at the door of his room and opened it. Lin Ting followed him inside.

He pressed a hand against her head, stopping her from entering.

Lin Ting looked up at him.

“What are you doing?” Shang Moting said. “This isn’t your room.”

Lin Ting stared at him for two seconds, seized the hand he had placed on her head, shoved him into the room, and kicked the door shut.

The key card was still in Shang Moting’s hand; he had not inserted it into the slot.

The room was pitch-black.

Page (1/3)

Page (2/3)

Lin Ting pushed Shang Moting against the wall.

She braced one hand beside his face.

Shang Moting could not see her expression, but he could catch the faint, cool fragrance clinging to her and imagine the haughty little look on her face.

“It isn’t my room, but I came in anyway. So what?” Lin Ting said.

In the darkness, Shang Moting gave a quiet laugh. Then he seized her wrist, twisted her arm behind her back, and pinned her against the wall.

Lin Ting quickly pressed her free hand against the wall, preventing her forehead from striking it. Instead, her forehead came down against her own hand.

Shang Moting held the arm twisted behind her back with one hand and pressed down on her shoulder with the other.

Lin Ting struggled, but could not break free.

“It’s too late to resist now,” Shang Moting said.

Lin Ting struggled again.

“Did I ever give you reason to be so confident that you would expose your vital points?” Shang Moting asked.

In the darkness, his voice seemed to whisper in her ear like a demon.

Lin Ting’s fingertips moved slightly. Then she suddenly felt a chill against the side of her neck.

Even at night, the weather was still hot.

The air conditioning had not been turned on.

The cool touch of metal against her neck made her body tremble involuntarily.

“Here.” Shang Moting held her butterfly knife and tapped it lightly against the side of her neck. Feeling her shiver, he arched a brow.

The butterfly knife moved down along her spine, reaching the small of her back.

The touch was fleeting, almost imperceptible.

Danger drew closer.

Lin Ting closed her eyes, her hand against the wall tightening into a fist.

“Any one of these places would be enough to take your life if I applied even the slightest pressure,” Shang Moting said.

Lin Ting drew a quiet breath.

“What exactly do I have that is worth risking your life to obtain?” Shang Moting asked.

Lin Ting said nothing.

The hand gripping her wrist tightened slightly.

“Hmm?”

Lin Ting stepped back with one leg, then abruptly bent her knee and struck Shang Moting’s leg.

She had not used much force, however, and merely made him stagger half a step forward.

Shang Moting gave a soft click of his tongue. “If you had asked me directly, perhaps I would have told you directly.”

“Why should I trust you?” Lin Ting asked.

“Looks like it’s something that could cost you your life the moment I find out about it,” Shang Moting said.

“Let me go.” Lin Ting struggled again. “You’re hurting me.”

Shang Moting looked at the side of her neck, released her, and took a step back. Then he inserted the key card into the slot.

The room lit up.

Lin Ting raised a hand to shield her eyes, then snatched the butterfly knife from Shang Moting’s hand. “Hmph, you big bad guy. You’re the biggest villain in the entire solar system. You, you, you...”

Her mind suddenly went blank, and she looked momentarily bewildered.

Shang Moting watched as her cheeks and ears turned red.

They were so red they looked ready to bleed.

Page (2/3)

Page (3/3)

It was as though blood-red flowers had blossomed across her face.

Radiant and alluring.

Shang Moting looked at her and arched a brow.

“You... just wait,” Lin Ting said. “I can’t think of anything right now. I’ll come back and scold you tomorrow, once I remember!”

With that, she turned and walked toward the door.

She even knocked her finger against it while opening it.

“Ow.” Lin Ting gave a small cry, shook her injured finger, and left the room.

To show just how furious she was, she let out one last cold snort before closing the door.

Shang Moting watched her leave.

Watched her throw her little tantrum.

After a while, he gave a quiet laugh.

...

After returning to her room, Lin Ting stood motionless in the living room for a long time.

She replayed everything Shang Moting had done.

The initiative had clearly been in his hands. This could not continue.

She could not allow herself to fall into a disadvantageous position.

She decided that she had simply failed to perform at her best just now.

After standing there for quite a while, Lin Ting began to feel warm. She turned and went to the bathroom, intending to wash her face.

But when she reached the bathroom and saw her reflection in the mirror, she was startled.

“Ah! What manner of demon are you?”

Lin Ting stared at the red-faced person in the mirror.

Unable to believe it, she raised a hand and rubbed her cheeks.

The redness came from within and spread outward.

It would not come off.

“Why are you so red?” Lin Ting whispered accusingly at her reflection. “You’re angry, fine. You’re dissatisfied, fine. But why are you red enough to look like the reincarnation of blush?”

Lin Ting hurriedly washed her face, then returned to the living room and switched on the air conditioning.

Shang Moting was far too difficult to deal with. She could never figure out what he was thinking. One moment he was like this, and the next he was like that.

His emotions shifted like a tornado.

In that brief moment, countless possibilities had flashed through her mind.

For an instant, she had genuinely thought he intended to hurt her.

Yet when she told him to let her go, he really had.

He was truly impossible to fathom.

Page (3/3)