Chapter 78: Doubting Shen Chuyan for the First Time
He forced himself to look directly into the man’s penetrating eyes. Even his voice trembled slightly as he spoke:
“Right, exactly! How could my work possibly be a copy of Jian An’s! On the stage of the competition, the professionals already appraised it. It was clearly Jian An who plagiarized! As his brother, Jian Yufeng is definitely slandering me on behalf of his younger brother!”
These words were well-reasoned and well-founded, sounding flawless. But no matter how hard the other party tried to conceal his emotions, Ji Songting still took in his panicked and helpless appearance entirely.
With such sincere eyes, since he had a clear conscience, why would he show an expression that looked like a guilty conscience?
He had originally wanted to believe Shen Chuyan unconditionally, but the person’s performance right now suddenly made him less convinced.
No matter what, he was unwilling to think that Shen Chuyan would be the one plagiarizing. After all, the other party graduated from the world’s top art academy, and furthermore, he was a professor at Yao City Academy. His status and influence in the art world could not be underestimated.
So how could it be possible?!
Besides, the Venice Italy Art Competition at the time had indeed confirmed that Jian An was the one who plagiarized. The professionals’ appraisal had ninety percent credibility.
Also, the night before the competition, Jian An should have been staying in the swimming hall. It was unlikely he went to the Shen residence to steal the work. Meanwhile, Shen Chuyan happened to sleep over at the Ji house for a night, and at the time, he had clearly seen Shen Chuyan enter the bathroom, yet later saw the man come out from somewhere else…
Thinking back carefully to the scene that night, the detail he had momentarily overlooked—the direction Shen Chuyan walked out from, seemed to be Jian An’s bedroom?
Could it be…
Ji Songting’s face was cold and heavy. An unprecedented guess spontaneously arose. While unbelievable, it also seemed to align with common sense and the logic of his recent thoughts.
That is, Jian An’s work was indeed copied and plagiarized, but the true original work had been swapped!
The work Shen Chuyan presented at the competition that day… could it be?
For the first time, he found it completely unfathomable.
Standing to the side, Shen Chuyan panicked instantly seeing him suddenly fall silent. Even the gaze directed at him had lost its former gentleness, actually mingling with a bit of scrutiny and suspicion.
Ji Songting shouldn’t be looking at him with such a gaze!
He must have started doubting… What should he do?!
He lied calmly and unhurriedly in front of everyone else, but precisely when facing this man, he still lost his composure.
“A-Ting, you, why aren’t you speaking?”
Shen Chuyan grabbed his arm and gently shook it. His gaze carried a hint of acting spoiled, but looking at the other’s darkened face, he still inevitably felt a bit afraid, trying his best to explain:
“Also, promising to sleep with Jian Yufeng—there’s absolutely no such thing! It was his own wishful thinking. If he can’t have me, he wants to destroy me. This kind of person is really going too far! A-Ting, you have to believe me, I didn’t do that!”
Ji Songting stared at him deeply. Even though his eyes were tangled with endless deep affection, looking closely, they faintly flickered with a few traces of a sickly dark glint.
He had never revealed such emotions and gaze toward Shen Chuyan, yet today was precisely an exception…
Ji Songting was startled by his own sickly and twisted emotions. He then slowly pulled the youth’s hand away, withdrew his arm, and gave a soft “Mhm.”
Being tortured by the man’s half-skepticism like this, Shen Chuyan was about to go crazy. His heart was so anxious it felt as if it would jump out of his throat, but he could only keep telling himself:
Endure! Endure! Absolutely under no circumstances reveal any abnormal actions! And even more so, do not admit it!
With one hand, he once again grabbed the man’s wrist. With his other hand, he brought three fingers together and pressed them against his forehead. Biting his teeth and steeling his heart, he vowed confidently:
“A-Ting, are you not believing me?! I swear! I really haven’t had any contact with Jian Yufeng! If I have, may I… may I be struck by lightning from heaven!”
As soon as his voice fell, a flash of lightning suddenly crossed outside the window, followed by a deafening clap of thunder, accompanied by a rumbling, muffled sound.
The room suddenly fell into an abnormal, deathly silence. The atmosphere tensed to the extreme, invisibly becoming heavy and oppressive. Even the sound of breathing could be heard clearly.
Ji Songting lowered his eyes, several streaks of gloom flashing in their depths. His thoughts could not be seen, only his tightly pressed thin lips revealed the irritation in his heart at this moment.
Shen Chuyan looked embarrassed, freezing subconsciously, but then he immediately reacted. He threw himself into the man’s arms, tightly hugging his waist, refusing to let go, and cried:
“A-Ting… it’s thundering, I’m scared…”
Ji Songting’s body noticeably stiffened. He didn’t resist, but slowly raised his hand to place it on the youth’s back. He opened his dark eyes to look elsewhere, a trace of sternness flashing in the depths of his eyes, fleeting in an instant. He asked indifferently and coldly:
“Xiao Yan, can you swim?”
This sudden question seemed baffling and extremely abrupt. Shen Chuyan’s heart trembled violently, and then it felt like a clap of thunder exploding by his ear.
He raised his head and looked at the man standing in front of him. Those eyes staring directly at him were dark and deep, like two bottomless pools, making it impossible to guess what kind of emotions were hidden within, while also carrying an inexplicable deterrence.
“Of course I can. I, I can swim!”
Shen Chuyan’s voice was not loud, but it was incredibly clear. His body also unconsciously trembled slightly. A few traces of bewilderment and panic flashed in his eyes, as if he hadn’t yet recovered from the shock just now, but those eyes vaguely revealed a few hints of doubt and unease.
He didn’t dare to look directly at this man in front of him anymore. He felt his breathing start to become a bit difficult.
Ji Songting let go of him and took a step back. Hands in his pockets, his eyes veiled with a layer of coldness, he questioned:
“Since you can, when you fell into the swimming pool that night, why didn’t you look like someone who knows how to swim?”
An icy sentence was spat out from his thin lips. His tone clearly made one feel detached and peaceful, without the slightest ripple, yet his voice carried absolutely no warmth. It was like a snowflake in the dead of winter, freezing the softest depths of a person’s heart, aching with cold.
This feeling of being deceived was very bad, let alone being deceived by the person he liked. He loathed it the most. He loathed being played with in the palm of someone’s hand like a fool.
From beginning to end, he was the noble and proud Young Master of the Ji family. No one could insult and trample on his pride, and certainly, no one could manipulate him at will.
Even when going head-to-head with other companies and groups in the business world, he was always the only one scheming against others. When was it ever someone else’s turn to scheme against him?!
Even if it was Shen Chuyan, it was absolutely not allowed. No exceptions.
Seeing things getting more and more complicated, like paper unable to wrap fire, it was about to be uncontainable. Ji Songting would sooner or later know the whole truth and abandon him.
When that time came, he would get absolutely nothing.
At this thought, Shen Chuyan’s fingers continuously contracted, tightly gripping the corner of the bathrobe wrapping his knees. His fingertips turned white as he nervously pursed his lips.
But he truly loved Ji Songting very, very much. His affection went deep into his bones; he loved him so much he couldn’t extricate himself. As long as he could be with this person, he would not hesitate to use whatever means necessary.
Moreover, he knew the man’s personality clearly. Although cold and heartless, the man still had feelings for him. While his persona had not yet completely shattered in Ji Songting’s heart, as long as he got into bed with the other party, Ji Songting would definitely take responsibility for him.
Seeing his delayed response, the man’s brows slightly furrowed. His voice carried a few hints of displeasure, yet it revealed a terrifying sense of oppression:
“Hm? Why aren’t you speaking?”
Shen Chuyan immediately snapped out of those scheming calculations. Quickly brewing his emotions, when he raised his head again, his eyes were brimming with two pools of tears as he explained intermittently:
“I… I knew how to swim before I saved you. But since I jumped into the sea to save you four years ago, the waves were huge, and I almost died. So now, I’m very afraid of water.”
He almost forgot that he still had the favor of saving Ji Songting. So it was fine; no matter how much the other party doubted, he wouldn’t doubt the fact that he had saved him.
After all, only the two of them knew about this matter.
As for the true savior, Jian An, he had long rotted like a lump of mud. Ji Songting would be even less likely to believe him.
As long as he fought this psychological war well, kept his mouth shut, and did his best to cover it up, the other party wouldn’t force him without any evidence.
Hearing this, Ji Songting suddenly felt a trace of guilt for his awful attitude just now. He proactively pulled up the youth’s wrist, a gentle intent revealing itself between his brows:
“I’m sorry, Xiao Yan. I misunderstood you. I shouldn’t have doubted you. Besides, after so many years, why didn’t I know about this symptom of yours? Did the doctors overlook something when they examined you back then?”
Shen Chuyan reasonably shook his head. His expression was somewhat pleasantly surprised. Blinking his large eyes, scattered starry smiles quickly gathered at the bottom of his eyes as he said softly:
“I’m fine. It’s probably a psychological issue, which is why the doctors couldn’t see it. I didn’t care about it before when I hadn’t touched water, so I just didn’t tell you. A-Ting, don’t worry.”
“Mhm, when I have time in a few days, I’ll take you to the hospital to get it checked out. It should be curable.”
Ji Songting looked at those smiling eyes, the corners of his mouth also twitching unconsciously, but he didn’t smile out loud. He suddenly remembered something else and asked:
“Oh, right, Xiao Yan. When you saved me back then, were you wearing a four-leaf clover bracelet? Where is that bracelet now? Can I see it?”
“Sure! I’ll go get it from my bag!”
Shen Chuyan agreed immediately. He turned and ran to the sofa nearby, then grabbed the small satchel placed on it and began to search through it. But after searching for a short while, the expression on his face went from its initial excitement to anxiety.
The few items inside the satchel were all dumped out, yet he still couldn’t find the four-leaf clover bracelet.
“Hm? Where’s my bracelet…”
He squatted down and groped around the floor, but still saw nothing. Then, he walked to the table in confusion, flipped through the things in the bag, and muttered to himself:
“That’s strange, I clearly put the bracelet in the satchel. Why can’t I find it? Did I leave it at home and forget to bring it…?”
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