Chapter 62

For the first time, Chen Jing kissed someone. The girl’s lips were small and soft, with a faint scent of candy.

He could have easily pushed her away, but instead, he found himself frozen, unable to act. As her trembling lashes brushed against her cheeks, his thoughts swirled: she must have thought of another clever trick, another way to toy with him, to start a new round of deception.

Push her away! Yell at her! Tell her to leave! Wasn’t he pathetic enough already?

But when the girl’s lips softly teased his, Chen Jing’s mind buzzed, and he instinctively cupped the back of her head, parting his lips to kiss her back.

His movements were clumsy, his technique awkward, but driven by instinct, he seized the sweetness lingering in her mouth.

Dai Ning gently braced her hands against his shoulders. Though the kiss wasn’t entirely comfortable, she found it oddly enjoyable. Her exhaustion melted away, and even the numbness in her fingertips seemed to fade.

Moved by a fleeting thought, she intertwined her fingers with his, opening her mouth to welcome him.

Chen Jing hesitated for a moment, then closed his eyes and tightened his hold on her fingers.

Inside her consciousness, the green orb quivered in excitement. Drawing on all its strength, it began to absorb Chen Jing’s luck. Yes, it works! I’m rich! The space within her mind turned warm and golden, and the orb’s tiny body grew visibly larger.

Only when she was nearly out of breath did Dai Ning finally push him away, collapsing weakly against his chest to catch her breath.

“Dai Ning, we’ve got his fortune now!” The green orb teared up with joy, clutching the golden energy like a miser clutching treasure.

Dai Ning ignored it. Tonight’s unexpected visit from Ji Tian had disrupted her plans and exposed her cover too soon.

She had anticipated Chen Jing’s anger. After all, if someone had toyed with her feelings like this, she’d probably want to kill them too. He valued family deeply, and she had deceived him about something he cherished.

But she didn’t want to sever ties with him—it wasn’t worth it.

The room was thick with an eerie silence. Chen Jing could only hear her faint, labored breathing.

Her small hand remained clasped with his. He sat stiffly, his expression shifting between emotions. As memories of their earlier kiss resurfaced, he was torn between wanting to strangle her or himself.

He had played the role of her “brother” for months, tortured by his feelings after realizing the truth. And yet, just moments ago…

Chen Jing clenched his teeth, a sense of humiliation dawning on him.

He had been so gullible, so easily deceived—and yet he had kissed her so passionately. He deserved this!

Dai Ning sprawled lazily over him, inadvertently pressing against the wound on his back. After a long moment, Chen Jing finally composed himself enough to speak, his tone cold.

“Get up.”

Her bright eyes sparkled as she sat up, feeling more energized than she had in ages. Realizing now that fortune could be absorb, Dai Ning shamelessly entertained the idea of draining Chen Jing completely.

She cupped his face, staring at his lips with a thoughtful tilt of her head, hesitating over whether to steal another kiss.

Chen Jing, sensing her intent, gritted his teeth as the tips of his ears turned crimson.

“Chen Dai Dai, get down!”

Fine, kiss and deny all accountability. And to think he had been even more eager than she was earlier.

Obediently, Dai Ning slid off and perched herself on a nearby chair, cradling her face with both hands as she pouted coquettishly.

“I already let you kiss me. Don’t be mad anymore, okay?”

Chen Jing averted his gaze. He knew she was shameless, but was this something a proper girl would do—or say?

But she didn’t stop there. As if deep in thought, she sighed.

“Brother, so you really do like me, huh?”

If his body weren’t injured, Chen Jing might have thrown her out of the room without hesitation.

His face was pale, but his lips were stained red.

In all the time Dai Ning had known Chen Jing, she had never seen him this furious. She couldn’t tell if he was angrier at her—or himself.

“My lipstick was strawberry-flavored, and you ate it all. Was it tasty?” Dai Ning, finding his reaction amusing, deliberately teased him.

Chen Jing’s face darkened further. What kind of nonsense was this girl spouting? Yet the lingering sweetness in his mouth made it impossible for him to deny her words. He clenched his jaw to keep his Adam’s apple from bobbing.

Seeing that he refused to speak and was determined to act as though nothing had happened, Dai Ning quickly grew bored.

She straightened her rumpled dress, a casualty of his earlier rough handling.

“If you won’t talk, I’ll assume you’re not mad anymore. Brother, it’s late, and I need to go home. Give me money for a ride.”

Stretching out her hand, Dai Ning’s demand made Chen Jing’s temple throb. Without a word, he pulled out a handful of cash and miscellaneous items from his pocket, shoving them all at her without looking.

Dai Ning took only enough for the fare and returned the rest.

“Goodbye, Chen Jing.”

At the door, she paused as though remembering something.

“Oh, don’t you want to know my real name?”

The man on the bed turned his dark eyes toward her, his gaze deep and unreadable.

She chuckled softly.

“My name is Ji Dai Ning.”

Now that her identity was exposed, she had no intention of returning to that little villa. Five-star hotels were far more comfortable.

Dai Ning had never been fond of school, and she wasn’t about to go back. Anyway, whenever she skipped class, the school contacted her “guardian,” Chen Jing, who would come up with some excuse on her behalf.

Qiu Gunan, her loyal attendant, returned to her side to care for her.

He wanted to say something sentimental, like, “You’ve been through so much, Miss. You’ve lost weight,” but looking at her rosy complexion, he couldn’t bring himself to lie.

When he learned that Chen Jing had saved her and was still hospitalized, Qiu Gunan glanced at Dai Ning, who was lounging on a recliner playing games.

“Aren’t you going to visit him?”

“Nope. I hate hospitals. He can hire a nurse; why does he need me?”

It was only polite to visit someone who had taken a knife and shielded her from acid. But their family’s carefree little princess had no intention of stepping out the door.

The green orb cautiously funneled fortune into her, while Dai Ning, brimming with energy, felt ready for two more all-nighters.

Having barely scraped together some fortune during their first clumsy attempt, the stolen energy lasted only three days before it ran out.

Covering its face, the green orb lamented. Ji Dai Ning was already plotting her next heist!

After taking her in, he began engaging in high-risk, high-reward activities.

Standing on that platform like a beast, he became the subject of bets.

Li Hu’s sudden appearance felt strange. His eyes were deep and dark, completely unlike the naive, love-struck demeanor of someone like Lan Lingyun. Dai Ning had never believed that Li Hu could have fallen for her at first sight.

Unlike Chen Jing, who did everything but never said a word. If Dai Ning hadn’t impulsively kissed him the other day, that brotherly affection he held would likely have remained buried in his heart forever, leaving her both frustrated and helpless.

The underground boxing matches were run by Li Hu’s uncle. As a child, Li Hu was frail and often bullied. He longed for strength but, by middle school, realized he couldn’t even take on his neighbor, Zhang Youying, a girl.

By his third year of middle school, he grew taller, and his family business flourished.

From a young age, Li Hu harbored a streak of darkness. He despised weakness. Sometimes, he would unearth an ant colony and set it ablaze, listening to the sound of them being destroyed.

As he grew older and shed his frailty, he frequently visited his uncle’s underground boxing arena, his eyes alight as he watched brutal matches unfold.

The roars, cheers, and bloodlust—all of it exhilarated him. It’s rumored he even stepped into the ring once himself, only to be beaten to a pulp, left barely alive yet still grinning with wild excitement.

He once trained with “Zero” in martial arts, but Zero died. Then Chen Jing appeared—a formidable fighter, undefeated. In Chen Jing, Li Hu saw the strength he craved.

Chen Jing was the person Li Hu aspired to become, yet when he sought to apprentice under him, Chen Jing didn’t even spare him a glance, let alone remember his face.

Li Hu both hated and admired Chen Jing. Through investigation, he discovered that Chen Jing fought underground matches to provide for his “sister.”

Li Hu was sharp; he had known the truth for a long time but chose to keep silent. Unable to surpass Chen Jing in combat, he thought, what if he could take away what Chen Jing loved most? Watching Chen Jing fall into despair would be its own kind of victory.

Qingtuan shook its little head in disapproval. From the start, Li Hu’s intentions were impure. Who knows if he feels even a shred of regret now?

For someone like Dai Ning, who couldn’t tolerate any deceit, watching others sacrifice for her would undoubtedly enrage her.

On a sunny afternoon, sunlight bathed the balcony, and Dai Ning’s legs swung idly.

Chen Jing had spent a week recovering in the hospital. During that time, Chen Lianxing visited him a few times, grudgingly offering to take care of him, but Chen Jing coldly refused.

His body healed quickly due to his robust constitution, though the scars left on his back were unavoidable and grotesque.

Standing in front of the mirror, Chen Jing glanced at his reflection, inevitably recalling that reckless little liar who hadn’t shown up since then. On the other hand, Ji Tian visited him daily to care for him, though the two barely exchanged words.

As a man, Chen Jing didn’t care much about scars. Yet, it felt like another unsightly blemish had been added to his life.

During this time, Dai Ning’s absence made him think often about that sweet kiss.

Occasionally, he’d wake up in the morning to embarrassing physiological reactions.

In the past, such occurrences were rare, and they had never been tied to anyone specific. But now, for the first time, his dreams had a face. When he whispered her name, his face turned ashen.

His mood would sour inexplicably. He couldn’t decide whether he wanted to see her again or hoped she would never show up.

Although Chen Jing didn’t understand the full extent of Ji family affairs, Ji Tian’s demeanor alone revealed that Dai Ning’s family wasn’t simple. A spoiled rich girl like her, raised with indulgence—how could someone like him be worthy?

Even if Dai Ning were truly an orphan, he still wasn’t a match for her. More so when she treated everything as a game, likely laughing at his expense somewhere right now.

There was no possibility between them.

Chen Jing had never dared to covet unattainable things. Letting go had always been straightforward for him—a survival instinct life had taught him.

He repeatedly reminded himself of this, yet he still decided to discharge himself early. Even he wasn’t sure what he was hoping for.

When he opened the door to the small villa, it was empty.

Chen Jing’s eyes darkened. Instead of relief, he felt an overwhelming sense of loss and an ache he couldn’t quite identify—whether disappointment or sorrow burned more fiercely, he couldn’t tell.