Border Prisoner: The Mad Boss Seduces Her Every Night

Xu Chenglin was dead; his body was already stiff when it was dragged out.

Shi Luyu learned from Xu Yuanjia that the gunshot was his suicide.

The gunshots kept replaying in Shi Luyu's mind all day long, like a needle stuck in the grooves of a record, repeatedly and mechanically grinding over the same syllable.

She couldn't take it anymore. She washed up, changed her clothes, and went out. The bus swayed and rocked, and the street scene outside the window changed from a residential area to a commercial area, and then from a commercial area to the school wall.

She clutched her phone, the screen displaying Xu Yuanjia's chat window, stuck on the most intimate message, "I love my brother the most," left all alone at the last line, with nothing below, no reply.

She didn't know what to say when she saw him.

Xu Chenglin said he was lying to her, saying that Xu Jia wasn't her real childhood sweetheart.

But she wasn't even sure if she could believe Xu Chenglin's words. How much of what someone who hated Xu Yuanjia to the point of wanting to kill him was true?

But Xu Chenglin has already given his life... Doesn't that prove anything?

As Shi Luyu walked into the teaching building, her mind was still racing. She didn't notice her footing and bumped into someone at the corner of the corridor.

"boom--"

The camera body bumped against the corner of the wall, leaving a tiny dent on the metal ring around the lens. The UV filter shattered, with cracks radiating outwards from the center like a gray spider web.

Shi Luyu stood there, stunned.

Xu Jia bent down to pick up the camera, turned it over to examine the damage to the lens, and his thumb brushed against the broken UV lens. A shard of glass pricked his fingertip, and he flinched without making a sound.

"Teaching Assistant Xu... I'm sorry, I didn't mean to."

Shi Luyu's voice was urgent and flustered. She rummaged through her bag for tissues, but then realized they weren't enough to wipe the lens. She was at a loss for what to do.

"I'll pay you back. How much is this lens?"

"No need," Xu Jia interrupted her, hanging the camera back around his neck and wiping the dust off the camera body with his sleeve.

"The UV filter is broken; you can just replace it. The lens isn't damaged."

He looked down to check the lens, slowly rotating the focus ring to make sure there was no jamming, before looking up and smiling at her.

That gentle and calm smile only made Shi Luyu feel even more guilty.

"I'll give you one instead..."

"Really, it's not necessary." Xu Jia glanced at her watch. "I don't have class for another half hour. Are you in a hurry to leave?"

Shi Luyu shook her head.

Xu Jia rummaged through his backpack and pulled out a lens cloth and a bottle of cleaning solution. He sat down in the rest area of ​​the corridor and pointed to the seat next to him.

Shi Luyu sat down and watched him disassemble the UV filter. His movements were very skilled; he pinched the edge of the frame with his fingers, turned it gently counterclockwise, and the broken lens came off along with the metal frame.

He used an air blower to remove the glass shards from the lens barrel, and then used a lens cloth dampened with cleaning solution to carefully wipe the lens surface.

"You didn't play with cameras when you were a kid?" he suddenly asked.

Shi Luyu paused for a moment: "When I was little... do Polaroid photos count?"

Xu Jia smiled, a slight curve at the corners of his mouth: "I was talking about film cameras."

"Load the film, adjust the aperture, press the shutter, and then wait for the print to come out. That feeling is different from digital." He held the cleaned lens up to his eyes, looked at it against the light to make sure there was no dust, and then started screwing on the new UV filter.

"I had a Seagull when I was a kid." He lowered his voice, as if speaking to himself, "It was a twin-lens reflex camera, with the viewfinder on top. When you looked down, the image was reversed."

He recounted in detail: "Back then, I could never get the focus right, and all the photos I took were blurry."

He tightened the UV filter, flipped the camera over, and placed his finger on the shutter button but didn't press it. "Someone told me not to rush when taking pictures, to wait until the person in the frame smiles before pressing the button. If you rush, the smile in the picture will look clumsy."

Something gently bumped into Shi Luyu's heart.

She couldn't remember where those words came from, nor did she know why they made her feel so uneasy when they came out of Xu Jia's mouth.

She stared at the shutter button under his finger, and a picture suddenly flashed through her mind—a very small hand that couldn't hold the camera, and another slightly larger small hand covered the back of her hand, helping her press the shutter.

The hand was cold, the fingers were smooth and pale, and she couldn't see the person's face...

"What happened to the camera later?" she heard herself ask.

Xu Jia put the camera into his backpack and zipped it up.

"Oh no, I lost it during the move." He stood up, and the only truth he could say was the last three words.

With his backpack strap draped over his shoulder, he looked down at her and said, "But it's okay. Some things, once lost, can be found again if fate allows."

Shi Luyu understood the implication; it wasn't about the camera.

Footsteps came from the other end of the corridor.

The leather shoes swayed slowly on the terrazzo floor.

Shi Luyu knew who it was without even looking up. Her hand unconsciously clenched the hem of her clothes, her fingertips turning white.

Xu Jia heard it too. He shifted his gaze from Shi Luyu's face to the direction behind her, his expression unchanged, but his eyes darkened slightly.

Xu Yuanjia walked over, carrying two paper bags, one containing coffee and the other bread. He glanced at Xu Jia, then at Shi Luyu's hand clenching her clothes, and a slow smile appeared on his lips.

"Honey, have you had breakfast yet?" He handed her the paper bag, his tone so casual it was as if he hadn't seen anyone.

Shi Luyu subconsciously took the paper bag, her fingers touching his fingertips, and she flinched.

She didn't look at him, but stared down at the coffee stains on the paper bag, her heart pounding in her ears.

Her defensiveness was written all over her body.

Stiff shoulders, drooping eyelashes, and white knuckles gripping the edge of the paper bag.

Xu Yuanjia actually saw it too, but didn't say anything. He reached out and ruffled her hair, his fingertips sliding from the top of her head to behind her ear, lingering there to feel her warmth, before withdrawing them.

"Good morning, Assistant Professor Xu." He turned his head to look at Xu Jia, his tone as polite as if he were greeting a stranger.

Xu Jia nodded: "Good morning."

Shi Luyu stood there, clutching the still-warm bag of coffee in her hand, her peripheral vision catching Xu Yuanjia's hand hanging by his side.

That hand had distinct knuckles and thin calluses on the fingertips.

She looked up and met his gaze.

She saw that his eyes were dark and bright, with a hint of languor from just waking up, and something else she couldn't decipher.

"What's wrong?" he asked, lowering his voice.

After taking a deep breath, Shi Luyu made up her mind and said, "Xu Yuanjia, let's talk. If you've really made a mistake, I think if we clarify things now, we still have a chance."

……

Shi Luyu, holding a coffee, walked side by side with Xu Yuanjia down the corridor, not rushing to get to the point.

Sunlight streamed in through the window, casting the shadows of the two people on the ground, one long and one short, like two trees standing very close together.

She looked up at Xu Yuanjia. His eyes were dark and bright, and his eyelashes cast a fan-shaped shadow beneath them.

"Brother," she heard herself say, "I want to go to the darkroom. Come with me, I want to learn how to use a film camera with you."

Xu Yuanjia raised an eyebrow, knowing full well that she had other ideas, but went along with her: "Why did you suddenly think of this?"

"I just want to learn." Shi Luyu shoved the coffee cup into his hand, turned and walked towards the darkroom. After taking a couple of steps, she turned back to look at him. "Are you coming or not?"

Xu Yuanjia looked at her, the corners of his mouth slowly curving up, and followed her with two cups of coffee.

The darkroom was on the basement floor of the teaching building; the door was closed and the lights were off.

Shi Luyu took out her key from her pocket; she had one as a member of the photography club.

Pushing open the door, the red safety light came on, and the whole room was bathed in a dark red glow.

The enlarger, the developer tray, the drying rack—everything was coated with a blood-like sheen.

Xu Yuanjia leaned against the door frame, watching her pull an old-fashioned twin-lens reflex camera out of the cabinet.

She held it in her hands, then turned to look at him:

"Brother, you taught me how to take pictures when we were little, right?"

Xu Yuanjia's expression remained unchanged.

He walked over, took the camera from her hand, placed his fingers on the buckle of the leather case, and gently flicked it open.

He took the camera out of its case, turned it over, looked down at the viewfinder, and spun his thumb around the focus knob.

"Yes," he said softly, "I've taught you."

Shi Luyu's heart skipped a beat: "I don't remember very clearly? What camera did you use back then?"

Xu Yuanjia held the camera up to his eyes and took a picture of a sample photo hanging on the wall of the darkroom.

His posture was perfect: the twin-lens reflex camera was pressed against his abdomen, he looked down at the image through the viewfinder, leaned slightly forward, and held his breath.

"It's also a twin-lens reflex camera. But it's not a Seagull, it's a Rolleiflex." He put down the camera, turned to look at her, "Made in Germany, secondhand, the viewfinder is a bit moldy, so the photos have a foggy look."

He spoke each word as if he were truly recalling: "You said you didn't like that fog, and I said it could be fixed. Later, I took it apart and wiped it clean. The mold was gone, but it scratched the focusing screen. You cried all afternoon."

Shi Luyu was stunned.

She had no memory of those images, but he described them in great detail.

Every detail is precise, bearing the moisture and rust of time.

"So... what did I say when we played together?" Her voice was a little tense.

Xu Yuanjia placed the camera on the table and turned to face her. The red light from the darkroom shone on his face, tinting his eyebrows and eyes a dark red color.

He reached out, placed his index finger on the tip of her nose, and gently tapped it: "Wait until the person in the picture smiles before pressing the shutter. A hasty smile will look clumsy."

He withdrew his hand, tilted his head to look at her, and asked, "Do you remember now?"

Shi Luyu stood there, her back against the wall of the darkroom, the coolness seeping into her skin through her thin T-shirt.

She wanted to say she remembered, but she didn't.

Her mind was blank, with only his words echoing within it, over and over again.

She looked at him; his expression was calm, even carrying a hint of helplessness at being questioned by her. He was just a boyfriend being dredged up by his girlfriend, patiently explaining those past events that she couldn't remember.

She suddenly didn't know why she was asking these questions.

Xu Jia's words were like a thorn, stuck in her heart, not too deep, not too shallow, just enough for her to feel its presence in every quiet moment.

She couldn't pull it out, nor did she dare push it further in. Xu Yuanjia's answer pushed the thorn in a little more, deeper still.

"I remember," she said softly. She didn't know why she was lying. But instinctively, she felt that ending the conversation for now was the wise choice.

Xu Yuanjia looked at her without saying a word.

He reached out, his thumb brushing across the area below her cheekbone, his fingertip lingering on her skin before he withdrew it.

Footsteps sounded outside the darkroom, two people, one in front of the other. The door was pushed open from the outside, and the white light from the corridor flooded in, making Shi Luyu squint.

Cheng Ye stood at the door, wearing a gray sports jacket and holding two cups of milk tea. Yu Baoying stood behind him, wearing black wide-leg pants, a white shirt, and her hair loose over her shoulders, her cold and beautiful face showing a hint of impatience. When she saw Shi Luyu, her eyes lit up.

"Lulu, what are you doing here?" She walked in, the red light from the darkroom illuminating her like an oil painting.

Cheng Ye followed behind and handed the milk tea to Xu Yuanjia, but Xu Yuanjia did not take it.

When Shi Luyu saw Yu Baoying, a sudden, inexplicable sense of relief welled up inside her. The image of Yu Baoying blocking her way in the alley and knocking those people over with a clothesline pole was still vivid in her mind.

Yu Baoying is now one of the few people she can trust in this city.

She thought for a moment, then stepped forward, took Yu Baoying's hand, and said to Xu Yuanjia, "Brother, can I borrow your sister's hand for a moment? Girls are not allowed to follow you into the restroom."

Xu Yuanjia looked at Yu Baoying, his gaze falling downwards.

The hairs on Yu Baoying's back stood on end. She had seen many kinds of threats: people drew knives, pointed guns, and used words to intimidate her.

But Xu Yuanjia, without doing anything, just by glancing at her, already exerts an invisible pressure on her head.

She looked away, a slight smile playing on her lips, then took Shi Luyu's hand and led her towards the door.

"Come on, I'll go with you."

The two walked out of the darkroom. Yu Baoying walked quickly, and Shi Luyu almost had to jog to keep up. The restroom was at the end of the corridor. Yu Baoying pushed open the door, made sure no one was inside, and then released Shi Luyu's hand.

She walked to the sink, and as if afraid of appearing awkward, quickly turned on the tap, water splashing onto the back of her hands. She looked at Shi Luyu in the mirror; Shi Luyu stood behind her, head down, fingers twisting the hem of her dress, twisting for a long time before finally speaking:

"Sister, do you know what kind of person Xu Yuanjia really is?"

Yu Baoying turned off the tap, and water droplets dripped from her fingertips onto the white ceramic table, making a very soft sound.

Yu Baoying forgot to wipe her hands, turned around, leaned against the sink, looked at Shi Luyu, and closed her lips as soon as she opened them.

Her mind was filled with Cheng Ye's words of advice: "Wife, you should mind your own business when it comes to Xu Yuanjia."

"...He's genuinely good to that girl, but he can also be incredibly ruthless to others. Don't cross his line; Shi Luyu is his bottom line. Once you do, no one can protect either of us."

She looked at Shi Luyu's red eyes, the words stuck in her throat like a stone, unable to be swallowed or spit out. She took a deep breath and reached out to ruffle Shi Luyu's hair.

"I'm not really sure either." Her voice was a little dry. "I just know he's really rich and powerful. Cheng Ye has known him for so many years, but she's never dared to raise her voice in front of him."

She paused, then added, "But there's one thing I'm sure of."

Shi Luyu raised her head and looked at her.

"He really likes you," Yu Baoying said softly. "I can tell."

Shi Luyu stood there, her fingers loosened from the hem of her clothes and hanging down at her sides.

The bathroom light bulbs hummed with electricity, and the exhaust fan overhead slowly rotated, drawing away the humid air in circles.

Yu Baoying's expression was complicated, and she seemed hesitant to speak.

Shi Luyu turned around and pushed open the door, and the light from the corridor rushed in, so white it was blinding.

Xu Yuanjia stood by the bathroom door, leaning against the wall, holding the two cups of coffee that had gone cold. Cheng Ye was standing next to him, saying something, but immediately shut up when he saw her come out.

Xu Yuanjia straightened up and handed her the coffee, his movements as natural as if nothing had happened.

Shi Luyu took the coffee but didn't drink it.

She suddenly felt that she was both very close to him and very far away. Close enough to smell his cold scent, yet so far away that she didn't know who he was.