Sweetie, don't look at him, kiss me.

The Cayenne starts.

Several SUVs carrying bodyguards in black followed closely behind, leaving in a grand procession.

"Luckily, we've already distanced ourselves from this girl, otherwise we would have been dragged down by her too."

Zhang Yuzhu patted her chest with lingering fear: "Ji Linzhou brought so many people, he must be very angry. Lin Qingmian is probably in big trouble this time."

After saying that, she reached out and grabbed Lin Qingqing's hand again: "That's fine, once she's suffered enough, maybe she'll come to her senses and be willing to help you find Ji Xingye..."

Lin Qingqing snapped out of her daze and suppressed the slight unease in her heart: "Mm."

She must be overthinking it.

Lin Qingmian is a woman who was abandoned by Ji Xingye.

How could Ji Linzhou possibly be entangled with her?

Unless he's gone mad.

Not long after leaving the Lin family villa, the Cayenne stopped in front of a pharmacy.

Bai Cheng, sitting in the front seat, opened the car door and hurriedly went into the pharmacy.

After he left, Lin Qingmian looked up at Ji Linzhou and broke the silence in the car, asking, "How did you know I was here?"

Ji Linzhou raised an eyebrow slightly: "Didn't you send me?"

The man extended a long finger, tapped the phone screen a few times, and handed it to her: "This message wasn't sent to me?"

The latest message in their chat was one she had typed blindly in Zhang Yuzhu's car: "I've been taken back to the Lin family home. Call the police for me. You know the address."

Lin Qingmian was stunned.

She thought her latest contact was Jiang Yao, but she never expected to send it to him...

The man put his phone away, his voice indifferent: "I don't think it's necessary to bother the police with such a trivial matter."

Lin Qingmian paused for a moment, suddenly unsure of what to say.

Give me your phone.

His deep voice rang in my ears.

Lin Qingmian obediently handed over the phone.

Taking the phone, the man's long fingers flew across the screen.

About a minute later, he returned the phone to her: "I set up an emergency dialer for you."

"Press the power button five times in a row and it will automatically dial my number and send me your real-time location."

"If you encounter something like this again, just contact me directly."

"Thanks."

Lin Qingmian nodded and reached out to take the phone.

Whether intentionally or unintentionally, when he handed her the phone, the man's calloused fingers gently brushed against her palm.

That warm touch seemed to penetrate the skin of her palm, travel along the capillaries, and reach her heart.

My heart skipped a beat for no apparent reason.

At this moment, Bai Cheng returned.

He respectfully handed a bag with the pharmacy's name printed on it to Ji Linzhou: "Sir."

Ji Linzhou took the bag, lowered his eyes, and took out the ointment inside: "The suffering you endured today is because of me."

"If you hadn't been here last night, they would have found someone else to blame."

The man lowered his eyes and unwrapped the ointment: "I'll get my revenge for that slap."

"No need, I don't want to have any more dealings with the Lin family."

Lin Qingmian lowered her eyelashes and took the ointment from his hand: "I don't want you to be bothered by them anymore because of me."

Her family members were like mosquitoes in a stinking ditch; once you got involved with them, they wouldn't stop until they sucked your blood.

Ji Linzhou frowned, his gaze falling again on her face, which was swollen and red from the slap: "Doesn't it hurt?"

"I'm used to it."

Lin Qingmian gave a wry smile, rummaged through her bag for a small mirror and cotton swabs, and skillfully began to apply medicine to herself: "If I were to retaliate for every slap they gave me, I would have nothing else to do for the rest of my life."

She said it so casually, but it sounded extremely grating to Ji Linzhou.

Mingming, like Lin Qingqing, is the daughter of Lin Jianzhong and Zhang Yuzhu, and is the eldest daughter of the Lin family.

But the Lin family's attitude towards her...

After a long pause, the man withdrew his gaze from her heartbreaking face: "You used to be their daughter, but now, you are Ji Linzhou's wife."

"My people are not to be bullied by the Lin family."

Lin Qingmian paused slightly as she applied the ointment, a strange emotion rising in her heart.

The last man who said he would never let the Lin family bully her again was Ji Xingye, who was eighteen years old.

That day, she excitedly hugged him, inhaling the unique sunny and energetic scent of youth emanating from him, and felt like the luckiest and happiest person in the world.

She also eagerly anticipated the future he promised her—a future where she wouldn't be bullied by the Lin family and could control her own destiny.

But in less than half a year, he completely abandoned her, delivering the cruelest blow to her.

Soon, the car stopped downstairs at the apartment building.

Are you going up?

Lin Qingmian put down the mirror and casually asked him.

"I have other business at the company."

After putting the ointment away, the woman smiled at him and said, "Then I'll go upstairs first."

After saying that, she opened the car door, picked up her backpack, and was about to leave.

"Lin Qingmian".

I had only taken two steps when a deep, magnetic male voice sounded behind me.

The woman stopped and turned to look at him: "Is there anything else?"

The midday sun shone on her face, as if highlighting it, making her small face appear even more delicate and three-dimensional.

But the handprint on his face was really glaring.

Ji Linzhou narrowed his eyes slightly, then said calmly, "Starting tonight, I will be coming back to stay."

As soon as he finished speaking, the car window rolled up and the car started moving.

The Cayenne, followed by several bodyguard vehicles, sped away in front of her.

Watching the convoy depart in a grand procession, Lin Qingmian unconsciously frowned.

What does that mean?

He... wants to live with her?

Meanwhile, the video of Lin Qingmian being beaten spread rapidly on the forum of Rongcheng University and soon reached high society circles.

Ji Xingqing saw it in a WeChat group for an upper-class circle.

Tang He posted a video in the group chat and tagged Lin Qingqing: 【What happened?】

Lin Qingqing: [Mianmian did something she shouldn't have done. Her mother was just teaching her to be an honest and upright person.]

Tang He: [What shameless thing has your sister done this time?]

Lin Qingqing: [Don't even mention it. She's probably too heartbroken. She doesn't even care about basic morality or shame anymore.]

The two of them took turns belittling Lin Qingmian repeatedly in the group chat.

Ji Xingqing was furious and simply saved the video and forwarded it to Ji Xingye: [Are you planning to wait until she's beaten to death before coming back?]

Across the ocean, in Los Angeles.

At 3 a.m., Ji Xingye played that video three times.

Finally, he closed his eyes, picked up the phone, and dialed his agent, Sister Chen: "I want to go back to China, right now."

"Go back to China? Are you crazy?"

On the other end of the phone, Sister Chen's voice carried a hint of annoyance at being woken up: "The filming and security work here won't be finished for at least two weeks. If we leave now, we'll have to pay a huge penalty for breach of contract!"

Standing in front of the floor-to-ceiling window, Ji Xingye tightened his grip on his phone, his voice solemn: "I'll pay whatever they want, I have to go back."

"Our Ji family can afford to pay the compensation."

There was silence on the other end of the phone.

Sister Chen got out of bed, rubbed her aching temples, and said wearily, "What's wrong with you in the middle of the night? Is it because of your childhood sweetheart again?"