Lu Xinyi never thought that she and Gong Yijun would cross paths again. She’d thought after meeting him that night on the bridge was the end of their story. Now, she stared down at him with confusion in her eyes. She didn’t know what to feel at the moment, knowing that Gong Yijun lost his ability to walk again because of her husband.
His face wasn’t as arrogant as before. He lost some weight and looked older as if the time had caught up with him. His useless legs were now covered with a light-blue fleece blanket, protecting him from the cold of the night.
Gong Yijun was also surprised to see Lu Feiran again. His eyes widened in disbelief upon seeing them. Of course, he knew that this was Lu Xinyi’s alter ego whenever she tried to sneak around to go out with Yuan Jin. He felt a shiver when his eyes landed on the demon king.
Even if Shen Yi was also in disguise, his threatening and suffocating aura was enough for Gong Yijun to remind who the man standing in front of him was. One wouldn’t be able to forget the person who brought him to the brink of death.
Just remembering what happened that night after meeting the demon couple was enough to make Gong Yijun tremble in fear. He realized how dumb he was for repeatedly offending Lu Xinyi and testing the demon king’s patience.
“Brother Gong, you know them?” An Liuqin was also confused at the sudden turn of the event.
“Yes,” Gong Yijun admitted in a low voice. How could he not know the identities of these two?
“Sis, what’s happening?” The young boy moved to An Liuqin’s side and clutched her skirt.
“Nothing, darling. Why don’t you go upstairs and wait for us? Sis and Mom need to talk with our guests for a while.” The young woman tried to console her brother. The young boy agreed and left the cafe.
“Gong Yijun, after all that happened, I can’t believe you have the guts to steal my father’s recipes and give it to someone else!” Lu Feiran spat out. His eyes were ablaze as he looked down at Gong Yijun’s pitiful form.
An Liuqin and her mother gasped at Lu Feiran’s accusation. So that was why his mood soured after seeing their menu!
“Brother Gong, is this the truth?” An Liuqin asked.
When she first found Gong Yijun gravely injured at the riverbank, she thought he was already dead. With great difficulty, she’d managed to bring him to the nearest hospital where he stayed for over a month. His injuries were so bad that the therapist told them, he might not be able to walk in the future.
An Liuqin was forced to take several jobs while trying to manage her family’s cafe to cover his hospital expenses until he was discharged last month. She wasn’t particularly sure what happened to him or what caused his accident before meeting him, but she never questioned him.
It was like he was afraid to talk about it and would rather choose to forget his past. As repayment for her help, Gong Yijun offered to check the accounts and sales of their cafe while giving An Liuqin some recipes he remembered from Lu Sibai’s book.
When Gong Yijun didn’t answer her question, An Liuqin was at loss. How was she supposed to protect their business if Lu Feiran decided to sue them? Her family wouldn’t be able to pay for legal expenses.
“You still haven’t learned your lessons, have you?” Shen Yi asked Gong Yijun nonchalantly. After that night on the bridge where Qiao He pushed Gong Yijun down in the river, Shen Yi never heard anything from him again. He thought that this guy had drowned to death. Who would’ve thought that he survived and seek refuge in this family?
Gong Yijun went stiff after hearing his voice. Shen Yi was still able to scare him and dearly wished he could run away. Alas, the demon king had already taken his ability to walk ever again so how could he escape now?
“How do you plan to be compensated, Xinxin?” Shen Yi asked again. ρꪖꪕᦔꪖꪕꪫꪣꫀꪶ
“The An family has nothing to do with it. It was my fault!” Gong Yijun trembled on his seat much to the An family’s surprise. He’d never reacted and said a lot of words to them until now.
“Really? You know how to care about someone now?” Shen Yi chuckled, but his eyes flashed with such coldness that could freeze an ocean. “Yet, you still neglected Xinxin. Have you forgotten that those you’ve given away were owned by her?”
“I know I was wrong. I’ll take responsibility for it, but don’t hurt An Liuqin and her family!” Gong Yijun took all his courage and stared back at Shen Yi defiantly.
“Oh? So how do you plan to take responsibility?” Shen Yi arched a slender brow at him and placed back his teacup on its saucer.
“I…” Gong Yijun couldn’t think of anything in return. He heard the news about Meng Jiao’s death over the news and believed that it wasn’t an accident. He wasn’t sure who took her life though. Was it the Sun family or the Shens?
Both families were capable to kill, especially Shen Yi. He’d already experienced it firsthand. He was sure that if An Liuqin hadn’t found him that next morning, he would’ve been dead by now.
“But what? You disappeared for weeks, and now, we found you using Xinxin’s family recipes being sold in a cafe?”
“Yi, I want to talk to him in private,” Lu Feiran said after his long silence.
An Liuqin and her mother were caught off-guard after hearing her feminine voice. It turned out that this young handsome man was a woman! She was this ‘Xinxin’ these two men were talking about!
“Xinxin!” Shen Yi wasn’t pleased with his wife’s request. What else did she need to clear up with this bastard? Wasn’t enough that they parted ways already, and she was living the life she always wanted without Gong Yijun?
“It’s fine, dear. I just need some answers I know he could give me.”
“Brother Gong…” An Liuqin called his name worriedly. She had this impression that Lu Feiran and Shen Yi weren’t normal persons. They might have offended a big shot in the city, and An Liuqin was afraid of it.
What would happen to her mother and her younger brother if the two sought revenge on Gong Yijun and their cafe? Their business would be implicated for stealing someone else’s recipe, and that would be disastrous for them!
Gong Yijun lifted his right hand and shook his head. He wasn’t sure what Lu Xinyi wanted from him, but if that was enough to save the family that helped him these past few weeks, then he wouldn’t mind paying the price.
On the other hand, Shen Yi wasn’t sure what was going on in Lu Xinyi’s mind, but seeing the gloom in her face, he knew he could never deny her.
“Fine.” Shen Yi stood up and walked towards the exit. “I’m giving you five minutes max. Take it or leave it.”
Lu Feiran flashed him a small smile and nodded. That was more than enough to clear up some things that bugging her since Meng Jiao’s death.
