La ciudad solitaria cerró

Capítulo 29

The door opened, and a middle-aged man in his fifties entered. He placed the tray on the table and then respectfully bowed to Ouyang Tianyu, saying, "Wanfu greets Master Yu!"

"No need for such formalities, Manager Wan," Ouyang Tianyu said casually. He walked to the table, took out several dishes from the plate, and gestured with his eyes that Shen Jie could come and eat. "How's the shop been lately?" he asked Wan Fu.

"Reporting to Master Yu, everything has been going smoothly at the shop lately. These are the account books for last month and this month. Please take a look!" Wan Fu took out two account books from his pocket and handed them to Ouyang Tianyu.

"There's nothing for you to do here for now, you can go down." Ouyang Tianyu took the account book, placed it on the table, and waved his hand.

"yes!"

"Is this part of Green Jade Manor's property?" Shen Jie asked, putting a bite of food in her mouth.

"no."

"No? Is it your 'private' property?"

"Yes." He answered readily. He never hid anything from her, nor could he hide anything from her. See, he had only said "no" once, and she had already guessed most of it. "I am the behind-the-scenes owner here; only Manager Wan knows."

"Aren't you afraid he'll betray you?" she asked.

“Betrayal? No way. I saved Wan Fu and his whole family from bandits three years ago. They are very grateful to me, and I believe they would never betray me,” Ouyang Tianyu explained while drinking.

"You haven't already tested it, have you?" That's for sure.

"How did you know?" How could she even guess that? Is she...human?

Shen Jie rolled her eyes at him, seeing his surprise. How could she not understand something so simple? "You are meticulous and don't easily trust others. If they hadn't passed your test, you wouldn't have been so sure."

Ouyang Tianyu remained noncommittal to her words, simply shaking his head with a faint smile as he continued drinking and eating. He had already experienced her extraordinary "eyesight" a year ago. If she could see through his carefully constructed facade at a glance, what else could she not guess?

"Thinking about it now, your two older brothers are really pitiful. They have to manage such a large family business, working like dogs every day, and they still have to find time to deal with the 'trouble' you cause, while you're running your own business outside, living a carefree life. If they saw you like this now, they would be so angry they'd vomit blood." Shen Jie recalled those days at the Ouyang family a year ago, especially Ouyang Tianyun. She rarely saw him, maybe once every three days. He was so busy!

Speaking of his two older brothers, he recalled something, "You know what? My eldest brother actually loved you very much. After you left, he was heartbroken and acted like a walking corpse every day..."

"Please! Don't talk to me like that, okay?" Shen Jie interrupted him. That Ouyang Tianyun was slapping people all the time, he was really scary. "I am Shen Jie, not Su Yuyin. Everything about Ouyang Tianyun has nothing to do with me. Besides, who knows if he's just after Su Yuyin's pretty face!"

“My brother isn’t that kind of shallow person.” Ouyang Tianyu felt indignant on behalf of her brother; she had misunderstood him too deeply.

Shen Jie remained silent in the face of his explanation. Suddenly, a gust of wind blew by, and a man in blue robes stood before them. "Ouyang, you're really not being fair. You came here without even saying hello. Instead, you were drinking and having fun, making me search for you all over the streets."

“I just arrived here recently.” Ouyang Tianyu gestured for his friend to sit down. “I was planning to come find you after this meal, but I didn’t expect you to come first.”

"Ouyang, aren't you going to introduce her?" As a good friend of Ouyang Tianyu, he naturally knew Ouyang Tianyu's personality. If it were just for show, he wouldn't have brought this woman to this restaurant.

"Her name is Shen Jie, she's my..." friend? That should be right, right? Ouyang Tianyu was pondering how to explain their relationship when Shen Jie cut him off:

“I am his master.”

"What?" The man in blue thought he had misheard.

"Why do you all like asking 'what' so much? Haven't I explained myself clearly enough?" Shen Jie looked at Ouyang Tianyu and, seeing that he also had a sour face, asked with a smile, "Do you have any other questions?"

"No!" Ouyang Tianyu replied irritably. He finally knew what a 'smiling dagger' looked like. What a terrifying woman.

"Hmm. Then let me introduce this handsome... uh, young master?" Strange, why would a man be so handsome? Shen Jie stared intently at the 'beauty' in front of her. He must be a troublemaker.

Seeing her staring intently at the man, Ouyang Tianyu was displeased, and his tone became unpleasant as well, "He is Leng Yixuan."

Leng Yixuan? "Ah, you're Leng Yixuan?" He looks quite like his father. "Oh, by the way, what happened later? Did you two fight?"

"Hit? Hit what?" Both men looked at her, completely bewildered.

Don't understand? "It's that 'three-month agreement,' remember?" She reminded them. She still remembered how Leng Hao led a "large army" into Green Jade Manor, quite impressive!

"So this was your terrible idea." Ouyang Tianyu suddenly realized. No wonder Yixuan came to fight him, saying it was on the orders of the Grand Commander. After the fight, he was punished by his father with family discipline. What bad luck! Now that the culprit has been found... it was her?!

"What? Is it not good?"

"You still have the nerve to ask? You've made me suffer terribly! Fighting him wasn't the worst part. But when I got home, my father whipped me until I was covered in bruises. Luckily, I have strong internal energy, or I would have been tortured to death long ago." Ouyang Tianyu cried out, feeling deeply wronged, taking deep breaths, trying his best to control himself from accidentally strangling this hateful "witch" in front of him...

"Hehe..." Shen Jie chuckled dryly. She had no idea he would return at this time. "Are you alright? Let me see." As she spoke, she lifted Ouyang Tianyu's sleeve and saw, sure enough, a series of red whip marks. It made her feel a little...heartbroken.

"I'm so sorry!" she apologized.

"Never mind." Ouyang Tianyu awkwardly withdrew his hand. This woman, holding hands with a man in front of others, doesn't even blush? Is she even a woman? How can she have no sense of propriety whatsoever?

Leng Yixuan looked at them in bewilderment, unable to understand a word they were saying.

"Can you tell me what's going on?"

Chapter Seventeen

Well?

Ouyang Tianyu and Shen Jie exchanged a glance, hesitating whether they should tell Leng Yixuan about this matter. It involved Shen Jie's unbelievable background, and even if they were willing to tell him, they couldn't guarantee he would believe them...

"Never mind, never mind." Leng Yixuan's eyes darted between the two of them with an ambiguous look. Judging from their flirtatious glances, it was just a normal thing, why pretend to be mysterious?

"Don't get the wrong idea, there's nothing between us." Ouyang Tianyu glared back unhappily. After being friends for so many years, how could he not know what Leng Yixuan was thinking?

Ouyang Tianyu's eagerness to clarify only confirmed Leng Yixuan's suspicions. Everyone in the capital knew that the third young master of Green Jade Manor was a dissolute playboy, involved in drinking, fighting, gambling, and harassing respectable women—not to mention frequenting brothels. But how many knew that this "veteran of love," Ouyang Tianyu, was actually quite clueless about relationships, perhaps never even having touched a woman? Even his close friend was astonished by his "purity"!

"That's strange. I didn't say anything, so how do you know what happened?" Leng Yixuan walked to the table, poured himself a glass of wine, and slowly drank it.

"Hmph!" Ouyang Tianyu glanced at his friend disdainfully, ignoring his teasing, and continued drinking his wine.