"Don't worry, he's my boyfriend's childhood friend. If anything were to happen to me, Song Han wouldn't let him off the hook."
Jiang Liuyue said this breezily, sounding as if she was just talking to Sister Li.
But the volume was pitched perfectly, just loud enough for the guy in the front seat to hear every word clearly.
Cen Yuan's expression shifted slightly at that moment.
His gaze was like a venomous snake waiting to strike, lingering on her face for three seconds with a damp, slimy intensity.
He scrutinized her inch by inch, from her brows to the corners of her mouth.
It was as if he were sizing up an amusing but rather disobedient prey.
Only then did he lazily withdraw his gaze, his tone returning to its usual cynical, carefree drawl:
"Relax, Hanzheng is my good bro. I'm not going to do anything to you."
Pausing for a moment, he added, as if afraid she wouldn't believe him,
"I'm a good guy."
Pfft—
Jiang Liuyue couldn't help but roll her eyes.
Wasn't this a classic case of protesting too much?
Then again, Li Feile had been awfully quiet lately, neither pulling any little stunts nor leaking any scandals.
It was an abnormal kind of quiet, and she had no idea what tricks that woman had up her sleeve.
A rival hidden in the dark was the most dangerous kind, because you could never guess where her next step would land.
However, Jiang Liuyue didn't mind taking this opportunity to test the waters.
Although Cen Yuan had a foul mouth, he was, after all, Li Feile's devoted lapdog. Some information just might slip from his lips.
"You're sitting in the back?"
Cen Yuan turned his head to glance at her, his eyes drifting to the empty passenger seat, his tone laced with undisguised dissatisfaction.
"Do you really take me for your chauffeur?"
Jiang Liuyue raised an eyebrow, a flash of impatience crossing her beautiful features.
Her delicate face clearly read, "Why do you talk so much nonsense?"
"Well then, Chauffeur Cen, are we leaving or not?"
"We're leaving. Where to?"
"The set of 'Linu Zhuan'."
"Alright."
Cen Yuan shot her another half-smiling glance through the rearview mirror, his fingertips tapping lightly on the steering wheel twice.
He drawled out:
"Buckle your seatbelt in the back too, I'm about to drive."
...
The car drove smoothly onto the elevated highway.
The earlier shower had only lasted a brief moment, and now the sun was slowly climbing up the sky.
Jiang Liuyue didn't even spare a glance at Cen Yuan driving; she simply closed her eyes and pretended to sleep.
Her long eyelashes cast small, fan-shaped shadows beneath her eyes.
She hadn't slept well last night, tossing and turning all night without figuring out how Song Hanzheng could be so immune to temptation.
When that man was in bed, his breathing had clearly changed its rhythm, yet he somehow managed to slam on the brakes abruptly.
He had dropped the line, "Wait until I like you..." and just turned and left. What exactly did that mean?
He really is a tough target to conquer.
In the driver's seat, Cen Yuan glanced through the rearview mirror at the woman with her eyes closed.
His gaze unconsciously lingered on her face for a few seconds.
He had to admit that Jiang Liuyue was very beautiful.
Her delicate, porcelain-white face was like fine mutton-fat jade. Her dark eyebrows, like distant mountains, rested across her forehead neither too dark nor too light. With her almond eyes closed, she exuded a gentle tranquility that she didn't usually possess.
Her pale cherry lips held a moist, glossy sheen.
Cen Yuan thought to himself, Song Hanzheng's taste isn't bad at all.
After his eyes were captivated by this face for three seconds, he quickly snapped back to reality, averting his gaze as if he had been burned by something.
The one he liked was Li Feile, but ironically, Li Feile had openly loved Song Hanzheng for so many years.
Those eyes of hers only ever followed Song Hanzheng; she had never once looked him straight in the eye.
For one, he was unwilling to accept this, and secondly, he had a very strong vindictive streak.
He really wanted to win Li Feile over and then ruthlessly dump her to her face. That would not only vent his frustration but also humiliate Song Hanzheng.
But who knew that Song Hanzheng would quietly go and find himself a little girlfriend.
It was true that Jiang Liuyue was very pretty, but she had never fit Song Hanzheng's usual type. What was so special about this woman?
As he thought about it, a ball of nameless anger flared up in Cen Yuan's heart.
The fire burned until his chest felt tight, and without realizing it, he pressed the accelerator all the way down.
The blue Porsche shot forward like an arrow released from a bow, going faster and faster.
The numbers on the dashboard soared all the way from sixty to one hundred and twenty.
The scenery outside the window blurred into streaks of color.
Jiang Liuyue abruptly opened her eyes and glanced at the still-climbing numbers on the dashboard.
Her pupils contracted sharply, and her voice carried undisguised anger:
"Cen Yuan! Are you crazy?!"
"Heh."
Cen Yuan chuckled lightly, a sound filled with utter indifference.
As if he were doing something completely trivial, he even had the mood to shrug.
"I told you to buckle up. Who's to blame?"
Jiang Liuyue furrowed her brows, glared sideways at him, and scolded without holding back:
"You really are a despicable person."
"No wonder Li Feile likes Song Hanzheng and not you."
This sentence acted like a precise switch, hitting Cen Yuan's most fragile nerve dead-on.
His expression changed in an instant.
The anger that had merely been smoldering was suddenly doused in hot oil, roaring into a monstrous inferno.
Not only did the car's speed not drop, it went faster and faster, reaching a near-insane velocity, like a deliberate mutual destruction.
"Stop it!"
Jiang Liuyue's small face turned deathly pale. Her fingers gripped the seatbelt tightly, her knuckles turning a sickly bluish-white.
Her progress in conquering Song Hanzheng wasn't complete yet; she couldn't let it be ruined at the hands of this madman.
But Cen Yuan acted as if he hadn't heard a thing. His eyes stared straight ahead, and a bizarre curve even hung at the corner of his mouth.
Jiang Liuyue took a deep breath. Without hesitation, she raised her hand and delivered a heavy slap across his face.
"Smack—!"
She didn't hold back her strength, using a full hundred percent of her power. Her palm stung with a fiery pain.
A red welt instantly appeared on Cen Yuan's face, stretching from his cheekbone all the way down to his jaw.
Who could have expected that not only would he not get angry, but he actually burst out laughing. The laughter spilled from the depths of his throat, deep and delighted, like a lunatic who had finally found a thrill to excite him.
The car's speed slowly decreased, dropping back down from one hundred and twenty to a normal range.
He even obnoxiously turned his head to glance at Jiang Liuyue, a glaring handprint plastered across his reddened face.
Yet he was smiling more happily than ever.
"Scared?"
Jiang Liuyue glared at him furiously, her chest heaving violently with anger.
Her voice carried the sound of gritted teeth.
"I don't want to be stuck with a lunatic. Pull over, I'll take a cab myself."
"Relax, I'll drive properly. As long as you say 'steady speed', I'll drive slowly."
After saying this, Cen Yuan shamelessly added a sentence, his tone as innocent as if he had been wronged.
"Really, I'm quite easy to talk to."
