Chapter 494: Chapter 494: Chopping Him Up Would Be Letting Him Off Easy
Lin Zhiyi hung up the phone, feeling that Gong Chen’s voice was a bit unusual, as if he was in a good mood.
The surroundings sounded quite lively as well.
Lin Zhiyi thought it was late, so she didn’t ask for anything, just told him to be careful on his way back.
Then she continued with her work.
Just now Xue Man suddenly introduced her to a client, hoping she could design a piece of jewelry that matches an engagement dress in a short period.
Lin Zhiyi was looking at the design sketch of the engagement dress.
The photo sent was only of the front, so she had to go online to find the complete front and back views herself.
As she was deeply focused, a pair of hands wrapped around her shoulders from behind.
Before she could turn around, a bowl of sweet fermented rice ball soup appeared in front of her.
Seeing the logo on the packaging, she said in surprise, “How did you go so far?”
“Had some things to take care of, eat it while it’s hot.”
Gong Chen took away the laptop from her lap and put the food in her hand.
“Thank you.”
Lin Zhiyi picked up the spoon and took a bite.
Sure enough, the sweet fermented rice ball soup from Jing City was the most authentic; although Gang City had it too, the taste there was generally heavier.
Lin Zhiyi had also tried to make it herself, but the taste never quite matched.
During her pregnancy, she particularly craved it.
She specifically transferred through two buses to eat at what was rumored to be the best place for sweet fermented rice ball soup in Gang City.
But after just one bite, she inexplicably felt wronged and sat in the shop crying alone.
Seeing her stir the spoon without eating, Gong Chen sat down beside her.
“Don’t like it?”
“No, it’s just that it reminds me of the past. Actually, the sweet fermented rice ball soup made by the Gong Family’s chef was also very delicious. I never knew where they got the ingredients because I could never buy them myself afterwards.”
Lin Zhiyi sighed, looking down as she continued eating the sweet fermented rice ball soup.
Gong Chen poured a cup of the floral tea that Lin Zhiyi had just brewed, saying indifferently, “I was the one who had the recipe adjusted, exclusively for the Gong Family.”
Lin Zhiyi looked at Gong Chen in surprise, not snapping out of it for a long time.
Gong Chen took a sip of the tea: “The Gong Family never had the habit of having sweet fermented rice ball soup at banquets, it was your mother who had it added after coming, and you ate the most. But she was embarrassed to have the kitchen add it every time.”
“But later there clearly was some at every banquet…”
Lin Zhiyi fell silent halfway through her sentence.
She understood.
That was prepared for her.
No wonder hardly anyone else ate it each time.
Suddenly, she thought of something.
“Then, before when Sang Ran said you bought a lot of sweet fermented rice ball soup for her…”
“I bought it for you, but you ran off.” Gong Chen replied truthfully.
Lin Zhiyi cradled the bowl, her palm warm.
Their eyes met, the man moving slightly closer, staring intently at her.
She pursed her lips: “Do you want some? I can get a bowl to split it with you.”
“No need to bother.”
The man directly leaned in to kiss her.
The light touch deepened under the floral tea fragrance and the sweet taste of the rice balls.
With the bowl still in her hands, Lin Zhiyi couldn’t resist, allowing him to part her lips and imbue her with his presence.
After a long while, Gong Chen let her go, breathless.
“Eat up.”
Lin Zhiyi pursed her lips, her ears tinged red: “Okay.”
Sitting beside her, Gong Chen drank half a pot of floral tea before calming down.
Lin Zhiyi pretended to be calm as she ate.
Once she settled down, she detected a faint smell of smoke on Gong Chen.
But he had quit smoking.
She wondered silently for a few seconds if it was because he was too troubled by what happened with her.
Without directly asking, she said, “Where did you go?”
Gong Chen paused as he raised his cup: “Looked up Fang Jian.”
“Fang Jian?”
Lin Zhiyi found the unfamiliar name surprising, not reacting for a moment.
She repeated it several times before it dawned on her.
“Fang Lai’er’s brother. Her brother is no good!”
Lin Zhiyi blurted out.
Gong Chen’s dark eyes flickered as he said plainly: “You’ve met him? As far as I know, he only sought refuge with Fang Lai’er in the past two years.”
Lin Zhiyi felt a pang of guilt, almost biting the spoon.
She quickly explained: “Heard from Fang Lai’er that Fang Jian is the youngest in the family, even more spoiled than her eldest brother, and has been unruly since childhood. Anyway, whenever he made mistakes, it was always his sister’s fault. Never thought he would turn to Fang Lai’er for help.”
In her previous life, when Fang Lai’er graduated, she returned to her hometown, so this never happened.
But Fang Lai’er’s marriage was also tied to her brother’s marriage.
Her hometown had the custom of using a daughter’s dowry to support her brother.
So the family hastily married her off, using her bride price money to help her elder brother marry a wife.
Later, she was abused into a miscarriage and never conceived again, leading to a divorce.
At that time, her lazy brother was clamoring to start a business, so her parents found her another man to marry.
It was also a second marriage, but he treated her well.
The days passed somewhat smoothly.
But her brother, Fang Jian, squandered her bride price and incurred a lot of debt.
Her parents didn’t want to disturb their elder son’s life, so they forced her and her second husband to fork over money.
Fang Jian even shamelessly suggested to the parents that marrying her off once more could bring money.
Her parents pestered daily, leading her second husband to divorce Fang Lai’er as well.
Fang Lai’er tried to run but was captured back by her brother.
A third marriage, rumored to be with a man older than her father, who turned out to also be abusive.
By the time Lin Zhiyi found out, she was about to return the money Fang Lai’er secretly sent her, only to learn everything from Dazhu.
However, by that time, she and Fang Lai’er had lost contact.
Lin Zhiyi sighed inwardly; in this life, she had clearly helped Fang Lai’er avoid the nightmare of returning to her hometown.
How did Fang Jian get involved again?
She set down the sweet fermented rice ball soup and asked Gong Chen, “Did Fang Jian do something?”
“Gambling.” Gong Chen replied coldly.
Lin Zhiyi froze.
Calculating his age, Fang Jian is only about college aged; how did he already start gambling?
Gambling leads to inevitable losses, and this is Jing City, where gambling doesn’t involve small sums.
No wonder Gong Chen said Fang Lai’er was in need of money.
“So who is behind her?”
“We’ll soon find out.”
“What exactly did you do?” Lin Zhiyi asked suspiciously.
Gong Chen raised an eyebrow, then lifted Lin Zhiyi into his arms.
“It’s late, let’s not discuss others.”
“Then what should we talk about?”
“Let’s talk about something else that’s interesting.”
“…”
Lin Zhiyi’s cheeks flushed red again.
She understood.
…
The next morning, Lin Zhiyi didn’t go to the studio.
Because Xue Man arranged for her to meet with a client, she didn’t need to report to the studio early.
She played with Xingxing for a while before heading to the arranged location.
Unexpectedly, when she sat down, it wasn’t the client who came but Fang Lai’er.
Previously, Fang Lai’er was always wearing delicate makeup, looking every bit the urban woman.
But now, her cheeks were sunken, with bruises around her brow bone.
She looked fatigued and bitter.
“Why do you look so surprised to see me? Lin Zhiyi, I really underestimated you, you actually had someone cut off my brother’s fingers.”
“…”
Lin Zhiyi was slightly shocked, understanding what Gong Chen had done last night.
Cutting off fingers?
Looks like he was truly angry.
She remained calm: “It wasn’t me, and besides, you know better than I do what kind of person your brother is. Cutting off his fingers is already too lenient.”
“You!”
Fang Lai’er was stunned.