The Shen family's ancestral residence was brightly illuminated at night.
The Old Master retired to his room early, while Yang Lan and Shen Yan sat on the sofa watching television.
Shen Chunjiang had spread out a document in his hands but kept glancing at his watch, visibly preoccupied.
Just as Shen Qian entered, he was called over.
"Dad?"
"Shen Wan went out in the morning and hasn't returned yet. Why don't you go out and look for her..."
"What's there to worry about?" Yang Lan interrupted him, "She's almost twenty years old, are you afraid she'll get lost?"
Shen Chunjiang's expression darkened, and his gaze turned stern.
He disliked being interrupted, and even more so disliked being contradicted.
Yang Lan sneered but wisely remained silent.
"Have you called her?" Shen Qian asked casually.
"I don't know her phone number." Shen Yan smirked, a gleam of mischief in her eyes.
Shen Qian glanced at his father.
Shen Chunjiang awkwardly avoided his gaze.
He didn't know either.
In the end, Shen Qian still left the house and drove to the city center.
Just then, his phone rang; an unfamiliar number. He answered it—
"Brother..."
City Center Hospital, second floor, surgery ward.
Shen Qian found room 206, lifted the doorknob, and gently pushed the door open.
On the hospital bed, a young girl with a pale face smiled at him.
A piece of gauze was affixed to her left forehead, faintly oozing red. She had abrasions on her cheekbone and the side of her neck to varying degrees.
The man's brow furrowed. "What happened?"
"A minor car accident."
"Minor?"
She stammered, "No broken bones, just some superficial injuries..."
Her implication was clear: Shouldn't this be considered minor?
Shen Qian gave her a nonchalant look. Shen Wan instinctively lowered her head, lips pressed together, resembling a child who had done something wrong.
The sound of chair legs scraping against the floor was followed by the man swiftly pulling a visitor's chair and settling into it. His eyes held a hint of fervor.
"Give me the full account of what happened."
Shen Wan raised her head, her pale face displaying a pair of clear, deep black eyes that sparkled like polished obsidian.
The contrast between black and white was stark.
The man's gaze flickered, a hint of danger briefly surfacing and quickly dissipating.
Shen Wan had carefully crafted her account. She shifted the narrative away from sacrificing herself for Zhou Chi and instead described a clash with a street racing gang that had seized her bag. The bag held a hundred thousand yuan in cash, which she had withdrawn from the bank that morning. Spotting a taxi in the vicinity, she had urged the driver to chase the gang, but his sluggishness irritated her. Growing impatient, she ejected him from the car and took the wheel herself, which ultimately resulted in the accident...
Considering her current situation, trying to pacify both the taxi driver and the truck driver was simply impossible.
Since she couldn't handle it alone, there was an easy solution: seeking "reinforcements".
And Shen Qian was undoubtedly the best choice!
What she couldn't do, he could effortlessly handle.
However, before that, she had to convince him to agree.
"... That's what happened." Shen Wan concluded and then naturally lowered her head. Her long black hair split into two parts, cascading over her shoulders, revealing a section of her snow-white neck. Delicate and fragile, it seemed like it could break with a gentle touch.
Shen Qian adjusted his sleeve, using it to hide the twitching of his fingertips, maintaining his usual expressionless demeanor.
"Is it worth risking your life for a mere hundred thousand yuan?" His voice was deep.
Shen Wan looked at him with a puzzled expression. "Isn't it worth it?" Her gaze faltered, a hint of sadness flickering in her eyes, and a trace of faint self-doubt emerged. "I... have never seen so much money before."
As she spoke, her fingertips clenched together.
A mixture of shame, embarrassment, discomfort, and unease formed a blend of emotions that felt nearly suffocating.
After a while, a soft sigh escaped the man's lips...