Chapter 20: Jerk

“Mm, I miss you.”

These four words echoed repeatedly in Lu Beiyan’s mind. His hand, clutching his phone, showed prominent veins; he was overwhelmingly excited.

Ranran finally called me! Ranran said she missed me!

“Ranran, I miss you too.”

“When are you coming back?” Shi Ran felt it was better to discuss this in person.

Lu Beiyan mistakenly thought she missed him terribly and was wondering when they could see each other. His heart leaped with joy.

“Three days later.”

Zhou Zhu, standing behind him, was stunned. Three days? Things here are tricky; it might take a week to resolve, three days is impossible.

“Three days? But I have something I want to discuss with you.”

If the Shen family hasn’t recovered the funds in three days, they’ll truly be drowning in the business world.

The business world changes in an instant; earth-shattering changes can happen in a single day.

“Ranran, as long as you’re not leaving me, isn’t anything I’ll indulge you in?” Lu Beiyan said.

“Then I want you to let the Shen family go.”

“You called me just for this?” Lu Beiyan’s mood instantly soured. He gritted his teeth.

He thought this woman finally realized she missed him, but it turned out she had ulterior motives, and it was for that other man.

“You like that little puppy, Shen Linyang, that much?” Lu Beiyan asked again, a bitter smile playing on his lips.

Shi Ran heard the change in his voice. Only then did she understand that he wasn’t not angry; on the contrary, he was extremely angry, just not exploding in front of her. In reality, he was going to destroy the Shen family.

“I told you, I’ve broken up with him, it’s over, there won’t be anything more. Lu Beiyan, please let him go, let Shen Corporation go, okay?” Shi Ran lowered her voice, hoping Lu Beiyan wouldn’t be so ruthless and heartless. After all, Shen Corporation shouldn’t suffer such a crisis because of this.

The wind in the US was strong, puffing up Lu Beiyan’s overcoat, but it couldn’t blow away the gloom in his heart.

His lips parted slightly, his facial lines sharp. He said coldly, “If you called me just to say this, and there’s nothing else, then I’ll hang up. I have other things to do.”

Shi Ran wanted to say something more, but she heard a busy tone.

When she called again, his phone was off.

Meanwhile, in the US.

Zhou Zhu watched as the CEO smashed a new phone onto the ground, shattering it. He felt a pang of sympathy; another phone gone.

Since the CEO announced a girlfriend, he’d smashed several phones.

Money really does make you reckless!

Back at the villa, Shi Ran sat on the sofa, her face pale.

No matter how many times she called, he wouldn’t answer. She asked Afei to call, and he could get through, but as soon as he heard her voice, he hung up immediately.

This time, Lu Beiyan was determined to make Shen Corporation disappear from the business world, to deliver a fatal blow from which they could never recover.

At eight o’clock that night, the Shen family called again. This time, it was Shen’s father.

A man who once dominated the business world was now humbly begging her.

“Miss Shi Ran, I’ve locked up my rebellious son, I guarantee he won’t bother you again. What about Shen Corporation?”

A day had passed, and there was still no sign of a turnaround for Shen Corporation. They were already like ants on a hot pot, extremely anxious.

Shi Ran promised to persuade Lu Beiyan as soon as possible, but Lu Beiyan hadn’t answered her calls for three days.

He said he’d be back in three days, but he didn’t return on the fourth day either.

She asked Afei, “Why hasn’t Lu Beiyan come back?”

Afei stammered, “Things are tricky in the US. The CEO probably hasn’t finished yet.”

In the US, Zhou Zhu was equally puzzled. He stood behind Lu Beiyan, watching the CEO stare at his phone, which rang countless times, but he wouldn’t answer.

He had completed a week’s worth of work in three days, working almost non-stop, barely resting, working his life away. But every time his phone rang, he would stop working, take out his phone, but wouldn’t answer, waiting for the ringtone to end.

That unique ringtone was clearly from the villa.

The CEO clearly cared a great deal, but why wouldn’t he answer?

He clearly cared deeply for the lady at the villa, watching the villa’s surveillance cameras all day, staring at Miss Shi’s figure for hours.

Now, even the most difficult problems in the US were solved, but the CEO wasn’t rushing back home, even though his plane ticket was already booked.

Zhou Zhu was completely baffled.

On the fifth day, Lu Beiyan still hadn’t returned, and Mr. and Mrs. Shen were about to kneel before Shi Ran. There was still no progress.

It happened to be Friday, and she had no classes on Monday, giving her three days.

These few days, through Afei, she had learned Lu Beiyan’s approximate location in the US.

That day, she climbed over the school wall to meet Afei, who came to pick her up, and booked the fastest flight to the US.

She sent Afei a message saying she needed to go back to the Shi family to handle some matters.

In the days Lu Beiyan was away, Afei had been at her beck and call, so Afei believed her without a doubt.

After all, her grandmother was still under Lu Beiyan’s surveillance, he wasn’t worried about her running away!

When she landed in the US, it was already past 2 AM.

When she was about to book a hotel, Shi Ran realized she had left in such a hurry that she hadn’t brought any US cash, and WeChat Pay and Alipay weren’t widely used here.

She hadn’t even brought any clothes.

The weather here was several degrees colder than in China, it was night, and she had rushed to the airport after class without even eating. Now she was in a strange place, cold and hungry.

She called Lu Beiyan, but that jerk still didn’t answer.

Lu Beiyan!

When I find you, I’ll beat you to death to vent my anger!

She walked and walked, down unfamiliar streets with few pedestrians.

She felt like an abandoned kitten, homeless and helpless.

She called Lu Beiyan three times, still busy, and she cursed him again.

Her phone battery was also low, and at 10%, she called Afei. It was already past 3 AM, and Afei’s phone was also unreachable.

The wind howled, and it felt like wild beasts were attacking her from all sides.

So cold, so hungry, so tired.

The remaining battery drained quickly. She was about to reach 3% and her phone was about to shut down.

Lu Beiyan, you jerk.

Her legs felt like lead, her vision blurred, and the red buildings around her began to sway.

She walked to a stone bench on the street and sat down, her mind blank, unable to think clearly.

She couldn’t even use Baidu Maps here, she had no money for a taxi, and only a general area. She originally planned to stay here first, then contact Afei to let him know she was in the US.

That way, Lu Beiyan would surely know, and he would come to find her.

But she was so stupid that she hadn’t prepared anything, and now she was lost and didn’t know what to do.

She slumped onto the cold stone bench, the cold seeping into her coat, penetrating her bones, making her shiver.

She seemed to have come to a deserted street, with no one around.

The moon cast its silvery light, and as her body rapidly consumed energy, in her hazy state, she seemed to see Lu Beiyan, that dog man, running towards her anxiously.

Was it him?

Or was she starting to hallucinate?