CHAPTER 3

The most humiliating thing in the world—what could it be?

A second ago, Shi Li thought it was being seen naked by a man who hated her.

But a second later, she changed her mind—

The most humiliating thing in the world was having a man who already hated you see your body, only for his hatred to spike by seven points.

Shi Li tightened her grip on the bath towel, staring at the Male Lead Hatred Value that had gone from 93% in the evening to a full 100% now. For a moment, she was speechless.

“Learned to be smarter now?” Shen Jingyan’s eyes were filled with mockery.

“What do you mean—” Halfway through her sentence, Shi Li suddenly understood. “I didn’t know you were coming.”

Did he think she had dressed like this on purpose for him?

“No wonder when I sent someone to call you earlier, you acted deaf and mute.” Shen Jingyan’s gaze darkened. “So this was your plan all along, knowing I’d come over.”

Shi Li was confused. “Someone came earlier?”

Shen Jingyan stared at her, the sight of her pale skin stinging his eyes. After a long moment, he spoke coldly, “You’re disgusting.”

Shi Li froze, and by the time she snapped out of it, he had already turned and left.

She couldn’t just let him leave like that. Quickly slipping on her slippers, she chased after him. After just two steps past the doorway, she realized something was off and hurried back to grab her sleepwear, pulling it on as she ran.

Although she had been delayed, Shen Jingyan hadn’t gone far. Shi Li soon caught up, but she didn’t dare get too close. Instead, she followed him from the side in small steps.

“I really didn’t know someone came. After dinner, I went straight to sleep and just woke up now.” Shi Li explained while tugging at her sleepwear with one hand, securing the bath towel beneath to prevent it from slipping.

She had been in such a rush that she had grabbed only a top. By the time she realized she hadn’t taken any pants, she had already caught up with Shen Jingyan. Fortunately, the top was long enough to reach her thighs, and with the bath towel covering even more, she didn’t look too indecent.

Shen Jingyan, having walked quickly, was breathing unevenly. Hearing her voice, his gaze turned even colder. “Shut up—”

“If I was really trying to seduce you, why would I bother working so hard? Look at my hands, these blisters are from today’s labor.” Shi Li jogged two steps ahead and held up her hands for him to see.

Her fair and delicate hands were covered in bloodied blisters. A few had burst, revealing raw, red flesh underneath—painfully striking to the eye.

Shen Jingyan’s pace slowed, and his Male Lead Hatred Value dropped from 100% to 99%.

Shi Li relaxed slightly, about to press her advantage, when she suddenly noticed an abnormal redness at the corners of his eyes. Her brows knitted together. “Are you feeling unwell?”

Shen Jingyan’s expression darkened. “Get lost.”

Male Lead Hatred Value: 100%

Shi Li’s tone turned serious. “Jingyan, something’s wrong with you. Stop and rest for a bit.”

Shen Jingyan acted as if he hadn’t heard her, continuing forward with a mechanical coldness. His lips grew paler, the redness at the corners of his eyes deepening. Meanwhile, his Hatred Value kept rising, point by point.

Seeing no sign of it stopping, reason told Shi Li she should stay away and let him calm down. But watching his steps grow unsteady, she clenched her teeth and ran forward to block his path. “Stop walking! You need to rest!”

The moment she spoke, Shen Jingyan’s body wavered, and the next second, he collapsed forward.

Shi Li’s heart clenched. She quickly stepped up to catch him, cushioning his fall, but in doing so, she was dragged down as well, her knees slamming into the gravel path.

Shen Jingyan was slender, but at nearly 1.9 meters tall, his weight was far from light. He fell entirely against Shi Li, pressing her down.

She wasn’t wearing pants. As her bare knees struck the stony ground, a wave of darkness momentarily clouded her vision from the pain, her expression twisting.

Before she could check her legs, Shen Jingyan’s breathing suddenly turned ragged, accompanied by bouts of coughing. His once pale face, starved of oxygen, took on a faint flush.

Shi Li held him close, one hand cupping his face. Realizing what she was about to do, Shen Jingyan instinctively turned his head away in resistance.

“Don’t move!” Shi Li snapped without thinking.

The moment she spoke, she felt his body stiffen. Immediately, she regretted it.

Before she was controlled by the “villainess script,” she had also spoken to him this harshly. Back then, though their relationship wasn’t exactly good, it wasn’t as hostile as it was now. She wondered if scolding him at this moment would make his hatred value rise even more.

…Now wasn’t the time to worry about that. The most important thing was making sure the male lead survived. If he died, she would be trapped here forever.

Shi Li firmly grasped his jaw with an irresistible force, took a deep breath, and transferred her breath to him.

When her soft lips pressed against his, Shen Jingyan clenched his teeth tightly. The redness at the corners of his eyes resembled peach blossoms—delicate yet strikingly painful to look at. Shi Li noticed his resistance, so in the next second, she forcibly pinched his cheeks and pried his mouth open with the tip of her tongue.

“Shi… Li…” Shen Jingyan’s voice trembled with anger.

Shi Li shuddered when he called her name but steeled herself and continued the breath transfer. After several attempts, his breathing finally stabilized, though he suddenly started coughing violently.

Watching him hunch over as he coughed, Shi Li finally relaxed. Taking advantage of his momentary weakness, she pulled him into her embrace, pressing him against her shoulder while gently patting his back in comfort. “Don’t panic when you cough… Breathe… Just breathe…”

Her voice, like a gentle breeze, carried a coolness that was rare in this stifling summer night. Shen Jingyan gradually calmed down. However, as soon as his coughing fit subsided, he suddenly shoved Shi Li away.

Unprepared, Shi Li stumbled backward, instinctively placing her hands on the ground to steady herself—only to have her blistered palms press directly onto the jagged stones. A sharp pain shot through her, forcing a muffled groan from her lips.

With that movement, her knees were now fully exposed. Large patches of alarming bruises mixed with small wounds from the gravel made for a shocking sight. Shen Jingyan furrowed his brows slightly, his hands clenching into fists. After a long pause, he braced himself against a decorative stone by the roadside and stood up.

Shi Li shook out her stinging hands and stood up as well. When she glanced at his hatred value, she was momentarily stunned—it had returned to 100.

“Leave,” Shen Jingyan said expressionlessly.

Shi Li had already expected his anger. After all, being saved by someone he despised, and through artificial respiration at that, was bound to infuriate him. So when he told her to go, she didn’t argue and obediently turned to leave.

“Come back.”

Shen Jingyan’s gritted voice came from behind her. Shi Li stopped, puzzled. “Didn’t you tell me to leave?”

“…I meant come with me.” His gaze turned colder.

Shi Li blinked in confusion, unable to guess what he was thinking.

Ten minutes later, she found herself sitting in the outer room of Shen Jingyan’s bedroom, awkwardly hugging a pillow in front of her chest.

Her bath towel had long since fallen off. While walking back, she hadn’t felt too exposed, but under the bright lights of this room, she suddenly realized how insufficient a single nightgown was. …She should’ve at least worn a bra before running out. Thankfully, they hadn’t run into anyone on the way here—otherwise, she wouldn’t have had the face to stay.

Shi Li hugged the pillow tighter, silently praying that no one would see her when she left later.

Shen Jingyan emerged from his bedroom carrying a small medical kit, setting it in front of her with an indifferent expression. “Take care of it yourself.”

“…For me?” Why did she feel oddly flattered by this?

“Don’t overthink it,” Shen Jingyan said coldly. “I just don’t want to owe you anything.”

So this was how he planned to repay her life-saving act—with a medical kit. A true business genius—always making deals. Shi Li didn’t argue and cheerfully accepted it. “Thanks.” With that, she picked up the kit and turned to leave.

“Where are you going?” Shen Jingyan’s tone cooled further.

Shi Li was momentarily confused. “Didn’t you give this to me?”

“I told you to use it now, not take it with you.” Shen Jingyan sounded mildly irritated. After a pause, he added reluctantly, “If you need it later, come find me.”

“…Alright then.”

For someone sitting on a hundred-billion-dollar fortune, he sure was stingy.

Shi Li grumbled internally as she sat back down. Opening the kit, she hesitated for three seconds before picking out a bottle of gentian violet.

Seeing this, Shen Jingyan frowned. “Use alcohol.”

“Gentian violet works too,” she argued—it wouldn’t sting as much.

“Use alcohol,” he repeated flatly.

Shi Li hesitated and carefully glanced at him. “Why?”

Shen Jingyan stared at her silently. After a brief standoff, she suddenly understood—he wanted her to feel pain.

He hated her so much that he seized every opportunity for revenge.

Realizing this, Shi Li struggled for a few seconds before begrudgingly picking up the alcohol. She soaked a cotton ball and hesitantly dabbed it onto her knee.

As expected, a sharp, burning pain shot straight to her skull. Her entire body tensed from the sensation.

But—her suffering wasn’t in vain.

Shen Jingyan’s hatred value dropped by two points, falling to 98.

This temptation was too great to resist. Gritting her teeth, Shi Li forced herself to continue, though her movements were painfully slow. Each time she pressed the alcohol to her wounds, she had to mentally prepare herself for the agony. After twenty minutes, she still hadn’t finished treating one knee.

Finally, Shen Jingyan lost his patience and grabbed her wrist.

Shi Li looked at him in confusion. He said nothing, simply wiped his hands clean and took out a fresh cotton ball from the kit.

Realizing what he was about to do, Shi Li straightened her back and clutched the pillow even tighter, silently watching as he began tending to her wounds.

The alcohol still burned, but strangely, it seemed easier to endure when someone else applied it.

Before long, the small wounds on her legs were all treated. Shen Jingyan’s cold gaze met hers. “Your hands.”

Shi Li immediately extended both hands toward him, revealing dirt-smudged wounds and blisters. Because she was holding the pillow with her elbows, her movements were small and slightly restrained. Shen Jingyan frowned slightly but continued cleaning her wounds.

Shi Li studied his serious expression, feeling a bit… conflicted.

…Didn’t he absolutely hate her?

Then why was he helping her so attentively?

And so carefully at that?

Don’t tell her it was just because he “didn’t want to owe her”—Shen Jingyan was notoriously aloof. No matter how much kindness others showed him, if he didn’t like them, he had no qualms about rejecting them outright.

Someone like him—why would he go against his nature just to settle a minor debt?

Shi Li recalled how his hatred value had fluctuated over the past few days and suddenly had a bold thought.

Could it be that… he didn’t only hate her?

Maybe, just maybe… there was still a little bit of love left?

After all, before she hurt him, she was the only one in his world. He had loved her as if she were his entire life. His intense hatred now—couldn’t it stem from that very love?

The more Shi Li thought about it, the more plausible it seemed. She stared at Shen Jingyan’s lowered eyelashes for a long while, then decided—verifying her theory indirectly would take too long. She might as well just ask outright.

“Jingyan,” she said cautiously. “Can I ask you something?”

“Speak.” Shen Jingyan didn’t even look up as he wrapped the bandages.

“Do you… still like me?” Shi Li asked carefully.

Shen Jingyan’s hands froze mid-motion. After a moment, he lifted his gaze. His dark, bottomless eyes locked onto hers without emotion.

“What do you think?”

“I think…”

Male Lead Hatred Value: 200%

Shi Li’s face turned pale. “…Probably not.”