CHAPTER 21 (PART 2)

Shi Li and Shen Jingyan were both naturally attractive, so people frequently stared when they walked around separately. Together, their presence seemed to attract even more attention. She was used to it by now, so she ignored the looks and walked forward calmly.

Once they entered the private room, the waiter left, leaving only the two of them.

“There’s a QR code on the table. You can scan it to order directly. I won’t ask what you want,” Shen Jingyan said with a smile.

Shi Li nodded and took out her phone. But just as she was about to place her order, she glanced at her hands and froze.

Only then did she realize why the hostess had looked so conflicted earlier.

“…What’s wrong?” Shen Jingyan asked when he noticed her hesitation.

Shi Li spoke awkwardly, “I, uh… want to wash my hands first.”

Shen Jingyan’s gaze flickered to her hands, and he immediately understood. “Go ahead. Just order first, then wash. It’s no problem.”

He was well-mannered and tactful enough not to say anything outright, but Shi Li still felt incredibly self-conscious. She hastily selected a few dishes before slipping away to the restroom.

Once inside, she stared at her reflection in the large mirror and finally understood just how much she had changed over the years.

So that’s what Shen Jingyan meant when he said she hadn’t changed much. What a blatant lie.

Ten years ago, she had been pretty, youthful, and full of life, her face glowing with collagen. Even the slightest compliment from Shen Jingyan would leave her blushing for half a day. Even in a simple school uniform, she had stood out.

Now?

Her hair was dry, frizzy, and tangled. Her complexion was dull and sallow—she couldn’t even tell if it was dirt or just her natural skin tone now. She was still young, so at least she didn’t have wrinkles yet, but if she kept going at this rate, it wouldn’t take long before her face was covered in them.

Bad skin and bad hair were one thing, but she was also painfully thin—her neck was as slender as someone else’s arm, and her arms looked like two matchsticks. The whole appearance screamed malnutrition.

When she first arrived in this body, she already knew her clothes were dirty, but seeing them in the mirror was another level of shock. Her T-shirt was covered in large, strange stains, the neckline was greasy and blackened, and there were several holes in the fabric.

Looking at herself, she had the urge to strip off all her clothes and spend three days scrubbing herself clean. But since Shen Jingyan was still waiting for her to eat, she had to suppress the impulse and instead focused on washing whatever she could.

As she was scrubbing her hands, two girls walked into the restroom. They froze for a second upon seeing her, then immediately covered their noses in disgust and moved as far away as possible to start touching up their makeup. Shi Li stared numbly at her own reflection in the mirror and gave herself another evaluation—she smelled bad too.

She lowered her head and kept scrubbing, trying to wash off the layers of grime while also eavesdropping on their conversation.

“It was so hard to get a reservation here today. Make sure to eat a lot later—otherwise, it won’t be worth it,” the girl in the dress reminded.

The short-haired girl beside her was curious. “Is it really that hard to book?”

“Of course! This restaurant may not be the most high-end, but the food is amazing. If you want a private dining room like ours, you have to book at least a week in advance,” the girl in the dress explained.

Shi Li’s hands suddenly stopped mid-scrub, her expression turning a bit strange. She lost interest in the rest of their conversation and frowned at her reflection in the mirror.

Restaurant reservations were usually made for a specific date and meal, which meant Shen Jingyan had booked this private room a week ago. But he had only run into her today—how could he have possibly known to reserve it in advance?

While she was deep in thought, she accidentally scrubbed too hard, making her fingertips sting. She frowned and glanced at her hands, realizing she had scraped herself. Taking a deep breath, she forced herself to calm down, wiped her hands with a tissue, and finally felt a bit more satisfied when she saw a cleaner layer of skin beneath.

…Then she noticed that while her hands were now clean, her arms were still filthy and dark. Not only did this make her hands seem less fair in contrast, but they also looked like she was wearing a pair of gloves—utterly ridiculous.

Shi Li stared at her grimy self, feeling on the verge of a breakdown. Fortunately, she was wearing a long-sleeved T-shirt. She quickly pulled the sleeves down to cover her arms, making the sight less jarring.

Just washing her hands had taken ten whole minutes. By the time she returned to the private room, the food had already been served. They had ordered four dishes and a soup, and the aroma was incredibly tempting. Shi Li hadn’t felt particularly hungry before, but the scent alone made her mouth water.

“Come sit down and eat,” Shen Jingyan reminded.

Shi Li responded with an “Mm” and quickly sat across from him, picking up an extra pair of chopsticks to use as serving utensils.

Seeing this, Shen Jingyan chuckled. “We used to share the same pair of chopsticks all the time. Why are you avoiding me now?”

“…I’m not avoiding you. I’m just too dirty,” Shi Li said awkwardly.

Shen Jingyan shook his head in amusement and moved her extra chopsticks aside. “Good timing—I don’t mind. So let’s not overcomplicate things.”

Since he put it that way, Shi Li couldn’t insist any further. She picked up her chopsticks and started eating. Shen Jingyan watched her for a moment before focusing on his own meal. The table fell into a comfortable silence.

Shi Li’s body must have been accustomed to starvation because, despite feeling like she could eat an entire cow before she started, she was full after only a few bites. Worried that eating too much at once might make her feel sick, she set her chopsticks down.

Shen Jingyan immediately noticed. “You’re done?”

“Mm, I’m already full,” Shi Li nodded.

Shen Jingyan looked surprised. “That little? No wonder you’re so skinny—you’re going to end up malnourished at this rate.”

Thanks, but I’m already malnourished. Shi Li smiled thoughtfully and said, “I’ve had a poor appetite lately. I was eating even less before. It’s only because the food here is so good that I managed to eat a little more today.”

“That’s true. The food here is great. If you ever feel like eating here again, just let me know—I’ll bring you.” Shen Jingyan offered warmly.

Shi Li smiled cooperatively, then paused before casually asking, “This place must do really good business, right?”

Shen Jingyan’s chopsticks hesitated for a second before he picked up some greens and responded, “Yeah, it’s pretty popular. For private rooms like this, you have to book in advance.”

“…But I don’t think we made a reservation today?” Shi Li blinked innocently at him.

Shen Jingyan chuckled. “I actually did book one. I originally planned to treat some colleagues to a meal today, but they all had to attend a last-minute meeting. I was going to cancel, but then I ran into you, so I figured I’d bring you along instead.”

“What a coincidence.” Shi Li echoed his words with a smile.

Shen Jingyan raised his glass of water. “It’s fate. Let’s toast with tea instead of wine.”

Shi Li glanced at him, amused, and clinked her cup against his.

Shen Jingyan continued eating, while Shi Li, no longer hungry, pretended to play on her phone while secretly observing him, thinking about how to steer the conversation.

Before she could come up with a plan, Shen Jingyan spoke first. “What kind of trouble are you facing lately? Do you need my help?”

Shi Li hesitated for a moment before sighing dramatically. “You wouldn’t be able to help me… Besides, I wouldn’t even have the face to ask you for help.”

Shen Jingyan set down his chopsticks and straightened slightly. “Tell me first—what’s going on?”

Shi Li was silent for a long time before finally lowering her head, her eyes turning red at the corners. “I… I owe a huge debt.”

“How much?” Shen Jingyan asked, as expected.

Shi Li lifted her head to glance at him. “Five million…” Come on, ask me why I owe so much. Ask me! Please!

As if the heavens had heard her plea—

“How did you end up owing that much?” Shen Jingyan frowned.

Shi Li wiped at the corner of her eye, then noticed a black smudge on her freshly washed fingers.

Her lips twitched, and it took all her willpower to keep from showing an utterly exasperated expression. Instead, she continued spinning her tragic tale.

“My parents got addicted to gambling. They lost everything and racked up massive debts. Then they… took their own lives. The debt was left to me. I couldn’t pay it off, so I’ve been running and hiding ever since. Now, I have nowhere left to go.”

Shen Jingyan’s expression wavered slightly. “When did this happen?”

“Ten years ago,” Shi Li paused deliberately before carefully adding, “Right around the time you were sent to the labor camp.”

She had deliberately tweaked the timeline, shifting the gambling incident further back. It had happened so long ago that there was no way to verify it now. But Shen Jingyan… he would likely start connecting the dots between her sudden disappearance and this tragic backstory.

As expected, Shen Jingyan paused for a moment. “So the reason you didn’t visit me back then was because…”

“At that time, the debt hadn’t reached the point of driving my parents to their deaths yet. They wanted to sell me to some old man to pay it off. I had no choice but to run away. By the time I returned, they were already dead, and the debt fell onto me.” Shi Li felt no sympathy for those two bloodsuckers. She had no psychological burden when speaking ill of them.

Shen Jingyan’s expression grew complicated. “I didn’t expect that… I thought you left me because you saw me as a burden.”

“Is that the kind of person I am in your eyes?” Shi Li countered.

Shen Jingyan let out a bitter laugh. “Sorry. I misunderstood you all along.”

Male Lead Hatred Value: 20%

Shi Li: “???” You already realized it was a misunderstanding, so why hasn’t the hatred value gone down at all?

Since she couldn’t tell whether he fully believed her or not, Shi Li didn’t dare say more and instead changed the subject. “What about you? How did you become a researcher?”

Shen Jingyan stared at her for a moment, then chuckled lightly. “It’s nothing special, really. I had nothing to do during those years in the reformatory, so I started reading. After I got out, I took the college entrance exam and chose this field.”

“That must’ve been really tough.” Shi Li looked at him sympathetically. She remembered that Shen Jingyan’s family conditions were terrible, and his parents never cared for this troublemaking son. They had stopped giving him any living expenses by the time he was in high school. For him to climb from being a useless delinquent to where he was now must have taken a tremendous amount of effort.

Hearing her words, Shen Jingyan smiled faintly, as if it were nothing. “It’s all in the past.”

Since he put it that way, Shi Li had no choice but to nod along.

The private dining room fell into silence for a moment before Shen Jingyan spoke again, carefully choosing his words. “Signing up as a volunteer carries a lot of risks. If you get assigned to a more mature project, it’s not so bad, but if it’s one that’s just starting human trials, things could go very wrong.”

Shi Li sighed. “I know. That’s why I haven’t signed the contract yet… But if I don’t sign, I really don’t know what else to do. The debt collectors have already found me. If I can’t give them money soon, I might be in danger.”

Shen Jingyan frowned slightly, clearly worried about her.

Shi Li glanced at him and put on a helpless expression. “Don’t worry about me. I’ll figure something out…”

“You’re just a girl. What can you possibly do?” Shen Jingyan interrupted her.

Right on cue, Shi Li’s eyes turned red. She turned her face away, exposing her stubborn chin in a way that made her look fragile yet beautiful… If only she hadn’t just caught sight of her own ragged reflection in the window.

Realizing she wasn’t exactly in a position to use seduction, Shi Li gave up on that plan and instead asked frankly, “Can you lend me five million? I’ll pay you back as soon as I have the money.”

Forget about the hatred value for now—dealing with the debt collectors was the priority.

Shen Jingyan chuckled. “I invested most of my money recently. The liquid funds I have in my account right now are less than one million.”

“Then… can you lend me one million first?” Shi Li tested.

Shen Jingyan sighed. “From what you said earlier, your debt has been piling up for ten years. I don’t think they’ll stop at just one million. They’ll only push you to find more.”

“Then what should I do?” Shi Li groaned, burying her face in her hands.

After thinking for a moment, Shen Jingyan said, “If you trust me, I have an idea.”

“What idea?” Shi Li immediately perked up.

Shen Jingyan studied her for a moment before saying gently, “Our company’s policies aren’t too strict. Some people, when their projects are about to succeed, will arrange for their relatives or friends to sign up as volunteers, then pull them into their own projects. It’s not exactly by the book, but there’s no real procedural violation.”

Shi Li had already heard about this when she first arrived in this world, from that heavily made-up woman. So now, hearing Shen Jingyan say it again, she wasn’t surprised at all. Instead, she quickly connected the dots. “You mean… I should sign up as a volunteer, and then you’ll bring me into your project?”