Love Under the Distant Stars

Chapter 37

Everyone else was sweating bullets for Shen Jie. Going to serve Ouyang Tianyu? That was like throwing a lamb to the slaughter.

Chapter Twenty-Four

"Sister Lian'er, are you really going to Lanxuan?" Xiaomin held Shen Jie's hand and looked at her worriedly. She had heard that the Third Young Master looked gentle and refined, but he was a man-eater. How terrifying!

“Yes!” Shen Jie, who was tidying up her clothes, looked up and answered with a smile.

"But……"

"Don't worry about me, the Third Young Master won't do anything to me." The one who should be worried is Xiaomin herself. Lei Shuangxue is truly despicable; she actually used Xiaomin to control her, making her monitor Tianyu's actions. Actually, that's not so bad; it's actually more beneficial for her and Tianyu. What she's worried about is that they will hurt Xiaomin. "Xiaomin, be careful while I'm gone. If they bully you, be sure to come to Lanxuan to find me, understand?"

"I understand, Sister Lian'er." Little Min was so moved that she cried.

"Silly girl, what's there to cry about?" Shen Jie affectionately patted Xiao Min's head, secretly planning to discuss with Tian Yu later and ask him to find a way to secretly protect Xiao Min. She reached out and wiped away Xiao Min's tears. "Good girl, don't cry. Sister Lian'er will come to see you often."

Xiaomin sniffed, obediently nodded, and stopped crying.

"I'm leaving." Shen Jie picked up her bag, waved goodbye to Xiao Min with a flourish, and turned to leave. It's not like it's a matter of life and death; there's no need for all this crying and wailing!

When Shen Jie arrived at Lanxuan, she found the environment to be quite pleasant, with the courtyard filled with flowers and plants. This suggested that he was a gentle person. Why couldn't anyone in the family see through his disguise? Was Tianyu too good at hiding his true nature, or were they simply too stupid to see through him?

"What are you thinking about?" A gentle voice sounded in her ear, and Ouyang Tianyu smiled as he gazed at her.

Hey! Shen Jie turned around abruptly at the sound, and a gentle smiling face came into view. Still shaken, Shen Jie glared at him fiercely, refraining from tearing apart that "cute" face. "Hey! Are you a cat? You walk without making a sound, or do people in your family like to play ghosts? Your eldest is like this, and so are you?"

"You were thinking too much, that's why you didn't notice me." Ouyang Tianyu looked completely innocent. It really wasn't his fault. Just like she was, even if a ghost were floating around her, she wouldn't have noticed.

Is that so? Forget it, she wasn't going to waste her time on this pointless question. She glanced up and saw Ouyang Tianyu also carrying a bundle, and asked jokingly, "What? Want to elope with me?"

"Huh?" Elope? Ouyang Tianyu looked at Shen Jie with a puzzled expression. He had taken a liking to her, but was it necessary to elope?

“This!” Shen Jie pointed to the bundle in his hand and said, Tian Yu’s expression was really funny.

"Oh, you mean this!" Ouyang Tianyu suddenly realized. So that's what she meant. Why didn't she just ask directly? Why go through all this trouble? "This? I stole it from home. I'm going to pawn it later," Ouyang Tianyu said mysteriously as he leaned closer to her.

"What a spendthrift." Shen Jie shook her head with feigned regret, but her eyes were filled with a smile, because she knew it was just a facade to deceive others.

Upon hearing this, Ouyang Tianyu smiled. He knew she understood. "Now that the 'spendthrift' is going to become an assistant, shouldn't you, as his maid, be by his side?" There are many eyes and ears in the manor, making it inconvenient to speak. It's different outside the manor.

"Yes, Third Young Master, this servant obeys."

The two exchanged a knowing smile and walked towards the back door. Surely no one would steal something to pawn and then dare to leave, right?

After leaving the manor, they first went to the pawnshop to pawn their belongings, and then went to the casino to have some fun. Half of the money they had pawned was gone. Now, they were sitting in the best restaurant in the entire capital, having a meal.

"Today I've finally witnessed your 'ability' to squander money. No wonder your father was trembling with anger." Shen Jie stared in astonishment at the table laden with meat and fish. Did the two of them really need to eat so much?

"There's nothing I can do, otherwise why would people believe me?" Ouyang Tianyu smiled, wondering how much longer he would have to live like this.

"Let's eat quickly. It would be such a waste of money not to eat all this food." Shen Jie rolled up her sleeves and started "working hard," but found Ouyang Tianyu still in a daze. "Hey, why aren't you eating?"

"What happened?" Ouyang Tianyu asked, staring at her arm.

"What?" Shen Jie looked up, following his gaze, and understood. "It's nothing." She pulled down her sleeve, lowered her head, and continued eating as if nothing had happened, trying to escape his question.

How could Ouyang Tianyu let her escape? He swiftly grabbed her hand, which she was trying to hide under the table, and said, "Explain yourself." His tone was gentle, but his insistence was unyielding.

With a soft sigh, Shen Jie knew that he wouldn't let the matter rest until it was made clear. "This is the price for coming to Green Jade Manor..." She told Ouyang Tianyu everything. "...However, I think Lei Shuangxue is very suspicious. Since that day, she has been sending people to monitor me. I am at most just a pawn in their hands. Otherwise, they wouldn't have used Xiaomin to control me."

"Promise me, no matter what happens in the future, you will never hurt yourself like this again, okay?" Ouyang Tianyu looked at the two long scars on her arm with heartache. Although he knew that he would do the same if he were in her shoes, he just couldn't accept her doing such a dangerous thing.

“That won’t do! We must…” Shen Jie was about to launch into a long argument to refute him when Ouyang Tianyu interrupted her.

"Promise me!" He persisted until she gave him a positive answer.

Good heavens, this guy is getting more and more stubborn, I can't stand it. "Okay, I promise you."

Hearing her assurance, Ouyang Tianyu finally let go of her hand and picked up his chopsticks to eat.

"I wonder if I was followed today?" Shen Jie looked around; if so, that would be bad.

"Yes, of course I have. But I shook him off when I left the casino." What a joke! If no one was following them, the world would be at peace.

"Oh!" That's good. Shen Jie patted her chest. She remembered something. "I don't understand why you chose this time to bring me to Lanxuan. Do you know that this is exactly what they want? They can 'legitimately' place me by your side as an informant."

"Because Lei Shuangxue was eager to arrange for you to come to my place, I was just going along with it and giving them a chance."

"Then how did you know about their plan?" Shen Jie asked curiously. Could such things really exist these days? Impossible, right?

Looking at Shen Jie's curious expression, Ouyang Tianyu chuckled. "I've had Ju'er secretly monitor Lei Jun."

"The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind." A good idea. Wait, who was he talking about again? "Ju'er? She's in the capital too?" Good, that little brat, how dare she abandon her back then? She won't let her get away with this, Shen Jie thought through gritted teeth.

“Yes…” Ouyang Tianyu replied, as if he had seen something, and the smile in his eyes deepened, “She’s here.”

Who is she?

^

Chapter Twenty-Five