Under the bar's hazy, flirtatious lights, that face looked even more roguishly handsome than usual, a side rarely seen.
His jawline was sharp and defined, the corner of his mouth tilted in a faint, almost imperceptible arc.
The nausea Xu Zhi's lewd words had stirred in her was washed away in an instant.
Her heartbeat spun completely out of control.
Even with the water gushing from the tap, she could still hear the frantic thump-thump inside her chest.
Heat crept uncontrollably across her cheeks.
Compared to Shen Shuang's panic, Jiang Cheng was the picture of calm.
He dipped his head slightly, lips near her ear, his voice low and lazily drawled.
Yet his gaze, reflected in the mirror, sliced toward Xu Zhi's livid face. "What took you so long in the restroom? Ranran thought you were lost."
Although Jiang Cheng had mentioned Jiang Churan, the murmur against her ear made Shen Shuang's heart skip again, a sour, indescribable flutter rushing through her.
Damn—if Xu had done the same thing, she'd have felt sick and violated.
But with Jiang Cheng, even though the closeness made her Not used to and goose-bumps raced across her skin, she didn't feel the least bit uncomfortable.
In fact, she couldn't stop her face from burning even hotter.
And she sensed, almost against her will, the corners of her mouth trying to lift.
That intimate tone, that possessive gesture… Jiang Cheng was clearly—clearly protecting her.
Telling Xu Zhi, in this way, that she was "his."
At the thought, her heart lurched into chaos, a hot surge shooting straight to her eyes.
Seeing her reflection redden, she quickly blinked and forced the tears back.
Mainly because she was too embarrassed to let Jiang Cheng notice.
She knew she mustn't, shouldn't, read too much into it.
After all, she'd seen with her own eyes how good Jiang Cheng was to Jiang Churan.
Yet knowledge was one thing; the safety of being held in his arms right now was real.
If Jiang Cheng were her man, she would have pointed at Xu Zhi and complained: 'This idiot just said he wanted to fuck me…'
But at the moment she really couldn't tell whether Jiang Cheng had come specifically for her or was simply passing by and lending a hand.
If she repeated Xu Zhi's threat, Jiang Cheng would definitely make trouble for him; after acting so intimate with her, if he didn't step in he'd be slapping his own face.
Shen Shuang feared Jiang Cheng would dislike her for it.
Fear he'd think she was using him to deal with Xu Zhi.
She turned off the tap to hide her emotions.
After one last glance at Xu Zhi in the mirror, Shen Shuang quickly looked away.
Following Jiang Cheng's cue, she murmured, "I'd just come out when… I ran into Young Master Xu and we exchanged a few words."
Jiang Cheng's arm, still draped across her shoulder, didn't loosen; instead it tightened slightly.
Then he turned his gaze toward Xu Zhi behind them.
Posture casual, tone laced with aloof scrutiny: "Oh? Young Master Xu is here too. What were you discussing so intently?"
The muscles in Xu Zhi's face twitched violently.
How could he fail to see that Jiang Cheng had come to back Shen Shuang up?
A surge of malicious resentment shot through Xu Zhi's heart.
Last time he'd yielded Jiang Churan; now that he'd set his sights on Shen Shuang, Jiang Cheng was here to snatch her away again?
Jiang Cheng's repeated contempt was more than he could bear.
Xu Zhi's fingers curled into fists at his sides, knuckles white, teeth grinding, barely restraining an explosion.
The fake smile slipped completely off his face, replaced by a gloomy mix of jealousy and reckless despair.
He stopped looking at Jiang Cheng and instead pinned his gaze on Shen Shuang's pale face, deliberately raising his voice in a maliciously nostalgic tone:
"Nothing much—just… bumped into an old classmate and reminisced." He paused, tugging his mouth into a warped arc, eyes flicking to Jiang Cheng's hand on Shen Shuang's shoulder.
With insinuation he continued, "Young Master Jiang might not know, but Shen Shuang and I… go way back. Back in school I pursued her hotly for a long time… didn't I, Shen Shuang? Back then you weren't so… hard to invite."
Though he couldn't do anything outright, right now Xu Zhi simply wanted to disgust Jiang Cheng.
Sure enough, the slander arrived on cue.
His words were deliberately misleading, hinting at a "past relationship" and implying Shen Shuang's "current worth" had changed.
Trying to plant a thorn in Jiang Cheng's heart.
Shen Shuang's eyes widened in shock, a chill shooting from her soles to her scalp.
She knew Xu Zhi was shameless, but never imagined he could stoop this low!
Fabricating such an ambiguous "history" in public wasn't just to nauseate Jiang Cheng—it was to ruin her reputation outright!
What would the gossip mill say tomorrow? How would Jiang Cheng see her?
Shen Shuang's body stiffened further, her face flushing scarlet—not from shyness but from towering rage and humiliation.
Frantically she tried to explain to Jiang Cheng: "No, I never—"
Before she could finish, Jiang Cheng's arm tightened silently, cutting her off.
The gesture carried unquestionable dominance, yet strangely gave the panicking Shen Shuang a shred of support.
Seeing her desperate to clarify, Xu Zhi sneered, his tone growing cruder.
"Shen Shuang, stop playing innocent. You wrote me a love letter—still have it… Though I turned you down when you threw yourself at me, the sentiment—tsk tsk."
"You liar! I never—!" Shen Shuang's last thread of reason snapped.
Towering fury, public slander, disgust at Xu Zhi's vileness, and terror that Jiang Cheng might believe it—all exploded at once.
Explain? Reason with this scoundrel? Could her single mouth out-argue his bellyful of filth?
After Shen Shuang had left, Jiang Cheng had ordered the Security Team hidden in the bar to investigate.
The 'Shadow' unit had already reported succinctly through micro-earpieces that Xu Zhi was moving on Shen Shuang.
That was why Jiang Cheng had come.
The faint smile at Jiang Cheng's lips faded.
Sit Like a Divine Bell activated instantly.
His gaze finally left the mirror and locked onto Xu Zhi, the lazy look replaced by icy, undisguised mockery.
"Oh, I never knew Young Master Xu was such a devoted simp… still licking after all these years."
"What did you say—I'm a simp? You—" Xu Zhi choked, finger stabbing toward Jiang Cheng.
Knowing he couldn't out-talk Jiang Cheng, Xu Zhi sucked in a breath, swallowed the urge to curse, and turned his spear point back at the easier target: Shen Shuang.
"Shen Shuang, well played."
He raised his voice so every passer-by could hear. "You think I'll believe this just because you dragged some random guy here to play-act?"
Shen Shuang's body stiffened. She opened her mouth to retort, but Xu Zhi didn't give her the chance.
His gaze flicked between her and Jiang Cheng, finally settling on Jiang Cheng's face, his tone dripping with poisonous "reminders" and provocation.
"Just now she ran to me saying your family's in trouble and begged me for help—then she turns around and clings to Young Master Jiang. You expect me to believe that? If he really were your boyfriend, I'll write my name, Xu Zhi, backwards."
When people coming and going from the restroom started staring, Shen Shuang bit her lower lip hard.
Under the crushing mix of humiliation, rage, and the panic of having her secret exposed, her mind went blank.
The only clear thought was—shut him up!
In the most direct way possible, smash every shred of his doubt and contempt!
Explanation? Retort? Words are useless in front of someone like Xu Zhi.
What she needed was action—an action that would slam his filthy mouth shut for good.
In a flash—
Under Jiang Cheng's slightly startled downward gaze, under Xu Zhi's malicious, disdainful stare—
Shen Shuang spun around, no longer half-turned but fully facing Jiang Cheng.
She rose on tiptoe, knuckles white from the force of her grip as she clenched the fabric at his waist.
Under Jiang Cheng's slightly startled downward gaze.
Under Xu Zhi's wide-eyed stare.
She rose on tiptoe, fingers nervously hooking a pinch of fabric at Jiang Cheng's waist.
Then, eyes closed, she pressed her trembling yet soft lips firmly, decisively, onto Jiang Cheng's.
Not the cheek—the lips.
It was an unmistakable kiss, full of declaration and dependence.
Time seemed to freeze for a second.
Shen Shuang could feel the cool touch of Jiang Cheng's lips.
The instant the kiss ended she jerked back like a startled rabbit, her face so red it looked ready to drip blood, not daring to look at Jiang Cheng's expression.
She quickly buried her burning cheek against the hollow of his shoulder, fingers still clutching his shirt, body trembling slightly—whether from fear or shame she couldn't tell.
Jiang Cheng was genuinely stunned.
What just happened?
How did she suddenly kiss him?
He looked down at the fluffy head trying to burrow into his chest, feeling the faint tremor of her body.
Though he hadn't pushed her away, a flicker of complicated emotion crossed his eyes.
Shen Shuang acted because she felt Jiang Cheng had stood up for her, yet she couldn't help in any other way.
Arguing with Xu Zhi was pointless; action was better than words.
"Well, Young Master Xu? Believe me now?"
At the sight, the fury, jealousy, and humiliation on Xu Zhi's face all solidified into disbelieving shock and utter defeat.
That initiative, sacrificial kiss from Shen Shuang was like the loudest slap imaginable, not only confirming Jiang Cheng's "sovereignty" but grinding every lie Xu Zhi had told about "old classmates" and "pursuit" into dust.
It made him look like a clown who'd staged his own disgusting one-man show.
"You mother—"
The instant Xu Zhi pointed at him, Jiang Cheng activated Sit Like a Divine Bell.
An invisible aura spilled out like mercury pouring onto the ground, like a mountain pressing down, silently spreading.
It wasn't mere pressure; it carried absolute mental calm and an overlooking stance, making everyone within range instinctively feel their own insignificance and the absurdity of their agitation.
In an instant Xu Zhi felt his breath catch.
His heart seemed clenched by an invisible hand.
Jiang Cheng merely stood there, posture barely changed, yet in Xu Zhi's eyes he suddenly loomed vast and unfathomable.
Those eyes behind the lenses were icy, penetrating, devoid of emotion, yet seemed to see through every bluff and filthy thought.
The sudden oppression made Xu Zhi's fury crash against an invisible wall of ice, bottled up with nowhere to vent, burning him even worse.
The finger he pointed at Jiang Cheng trembled; the curses stuck in his throat.
"What, still hung up after all these years? A textbook simp. I guess Company's in-house song-and-dance troupe can't satisfy Young Master Xu's 'nostalgia' anymore?"
The words "song-and-dance troupe" stabbed like a needle into one of Xu Zhi's sensitive nerves.
At the last Phoenix-Platform banquet his father had been forced by Jiang Cheng to sing opera on the spot because of those very words.
After returning home he'd already planned to take Jiang Cheng down; if his father hadn't stopped him he would have gone for the kill.
Though Company had later been investigated, so what? It was only a few billion.
A mere few billion—just drizzle to a titan like Company.
And now everything was fine again.
The Xu Family was still the richest.
His father had even received invitations to certain events in the capital—their star was rising!
The plan to short Love Book was steadily advancing; once it succeeded his capital and status would climb another level!
He'd bowed and scraped over this matter, yet Jiang Cheng hadn't given him even the hint of a kind look.
Why?
If this continued, Xu Zhi felt, Jiang Cheng would only despise him more.
Better to ride the Xu Family's current momentum and confront Jiang Cheng head-on.
Alcohol burned in his veins, mixing with long-held jealousy of Jiang Cheng, the frustration of being crushed by Sit Like a Divine Bell moments ago, and the extreme humiliation of being called a "simp" and mocked over the "song-and-dance troupe" in public—until the string called "reason" in Xu Zhi's brain snapped clean.
His father's warnings? Jiang Cheng's background? Screw them!
The Xu Family was at its zenith, backed by countless connections—how could Jiang Cheng possibly touch them?
At worst he'd pull the same petty tricks and levy some meaningless fines again!
If he kept swallowing this, how could he ever hold his head high in their circle?!
Yet the more he wanted to destroy Jiang Cheng, the faster Xu Zhi calmed down.
Two scions of powerful families were still sitting at his table; if he wanted to bring Jiang Cheng down, he had to bind them firmly to his side.
Besides, Facebook was the real priority; clashing with Jiang Cheng on impulse might alert the enemy.
Seeing Xu Zhi like this, Jiang Cheng lost interest in pressing him further.
He simply said, "I'm leaving," and walked away.