Chapter 96

Zhong Ning thought this way, and she said it just the same.

Zhong Lin began to look at this daughter of hers with a completely new perspective. After a moment, she said, “When you don’t have class, you can come to the company. Just look for Assistant Hua. Whatever she’s doing, follow along.”

“I want to move out of the Xie family residence,” Zhong Ning said softly.

“Hmm?” The Head of the Zhong family lifted her eyelids.

“It’s just a marriage alliance. There’s no need to pretend we’re in love,” Zhong Ning heard her own voice, sounding almost like a soulless robot, “It’s enough to maintain the relationship in name only.”

“I want to move out and live in my own place.”

“As you like,” said the Head of the Zhong family. As expected, she didn’t object, as if what Zhong Ning had said was nothing more than a casual remark. “Will you have breakfast at home?”

“Then I’ll eat at home,” Zhong Ning replied.

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Xie Shiqing left early in the morning on a private jet.

Part of it was because she was angry, but among all the emotions that drove her to leave, anger ranked last. The foremost was panic.

After a falling-out at the doorstep, she returned to her room and grabbed the octopus plushie, wanting to throw it.

What was the use? What was the use of speaking from the heart? Wasn’t she just being honest about her feelings, just wanting a kiss?

Yet she didn’t get it.

Xie Shiqing had already grasped a few of the plush octopus’s short tentacles, raising her hand as if to throw it. But her grip didn’t loosen. She just held onto it tightly, unable to bring herself to let go.

This was the first gift Zhong Ning had ever given her.

Giving a gift to Xie Shiqing was no easy task. She lacked nothing, had everything, and showed no obvious preferences—plus, she was exceptionally picky.

Zhong Ning truly wanted to give her something, and she had carefully chosen a gift. But whenever she brought her selection to ask, the answer she always received was that Xie Shiqing already had it.

So what was there left to give?

Back and forth like this, the gift kept getting delayed.

The octopus plushie was the only thing Zhong Ning had truly managed to give her all this time.

When Xie Shiqing realized that she couldn’t bear to part with it, to be honest, she was startled.

It was like a spider had crawled up her spine—an eerie, bone-chilling realization struck her like a bolt of lightning.

She was not a slow-witted person. On the contrary, Xie Shiqing’s sensitivity to human emotion had reached an extreme level.

She knew Zhong Ning liked her a lot. But when it came to her own feelings, that sensitivity became far less reliable.

Those involved are often confused, while bystanders see things clearly.

Xie Shiqing suddenly realized—she seemed to have fallen for Zhong Ning.

The moment this awareness surfaced, she panicked and murmured, “Impossible!”

How could she possibly like someone? Love was a joke, a scam, an animal instinct driven by hormones.

She couldn’t be capable of love.

And besides, why Zhong Ning of all people? Just because she was considerate, tolerant, because she soothed her emotions, treated her with sincerity and honesty—was that enough to fall for her?

Xie Shiqing opened her mouth uselessly, trying to list a few of Zhong Ning’s flaws, but she couldn’t come up with a single one.

She wanted to refute it, but couldn’t explain away her own behavior.

She had been acting spoiled with Zhong Ning—was that necessary? Not at all. Zhong Ning was a responsible person. Once the issue with the tranquilizer was resolved, she wouldn't need her anymore.

With or without her, it wouldn’t really hinder her plan against the Zhong family. At most, things would get a bit more troublesome.

But pushing a former enemy step by step into a dead end—wasn’t that a satisfying endeavor? How could such trouble even be considered trouble? It was more like an essential seasoning added to a delicious feast.

When Zhong Ning wanted to leave, she had come up with eight hundred reasons to stop her, to justify her refusal to let go, to find a pile of legitimate excuses.

It was completely a case of covering up with more lies.

None of those reasons held water—they were nothing but self-hypnosis, pretending that they made sense.

She liked Zhong Ning. She actually liked Zhong Ning…

Xie Shiqing kept retreating, like someone who had never seen fire before, suddenly witnessing a wild bolt of lightning flame dancing on a dead tree. It looked so beautiful—but all she felt was fear.

Was it harmless? Was it dangerous?

In nature, beautiful things were always tied to poison. Love was like fire—intense, moving, and beautiful. Its danger, too, just like fire.

One wrong step, and it could burn someone.

Xie Shiqing had never experienced this before—her entire system crashed.

And just admitting that she liked Zhong Ning felt like losing. There wasn’t even anyone competing with her—no one would mock her and say, “Weren’t you always proud of being rational and indifferent to love? What now, slapped yourself in the face?”

No one would dare say that to her. But Xie Shiqing felt like it. In her imagination, her own fictional rival said it to her.

It frightened her so much she fled in panic—she left before dawn.

One had to understand, ever since the car accident, she had never left Fengcheng.

She couldn’t face Zhong Ning, and even more so, she couldn’t face herself.

So, she did what humans most often did when confronted with danger and the unknown—she ran away.

She left, but her attention on Zhong Ning became even more intense than usual.

The surveillance cameras at home were still recording. Every servant, every driver who had any contact with Zhong Ning reported back to her.

What Zhong Ning ate, what she said, what she did today, whether she looked happy or sad.

She was sad.

After she left without saying goodbye, Zhong Ning was clearly very upset. The butler said she looked like she was about to cry.

The butler never used exaggerations or metaphors—only stated facts.

Xie Shiqing felt a dull pressure in her chest. She opened the chat window several times but never sent a message. She didn’t want to see Zhong Ning upset, of course. But even more than that, she didn’t want to see herself become a fool ruled by love, someone who opened her mouth and only spoke of feelings and romance.

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