He hadn’t completely lost consciousness yet; he still knew to tell everyone not to move him, let alone take him to the hospital, and he stared anxiously at Ming Yue.

Ming Yue finally couldn’t bear it any longer. She had already taken a step forward, then quickly stepped back, poured Fu Qiancheng a cup of warm water, and waited with the others in the room for him to come to his senses.

While they were waiting, Ming Yue went to the restroom.

No sooner had she come out of the bathroom than she hadn’t even made it back to that private room when someone suddenly grabbed her wrist and yanked her into another private room.

The next instant, something tight around her waist, a dark shadow descended, pinning her firmly against the wall. Two cool, thin lips quickly sealed over her own, carrying a faint scent of alcohol.

And there was also a familiar smell—of some bastard.

Ming Yue recognized it in an instant, so she didn’t scream or resist at all.

It was as if those thin lips were venting their anger, as if they were punishing her—crushing and biting her lips fiercely. The dark shadow above seemed to be sucking up her very breath, as though it didn’t care about life or death.

Before long, she nearly suffocated.

Only then did the unnamed male operative reluctantly release her. He gripped her chin with one hand, pressed his forehead against hers, and said in a hoarse voice, “Didn’t you have something important to attend to? So, is your Miss Ming’s ‘important matter’ just meeting up with an old lover?”

“Yeah, so what? You’re not happy about it?”

Ming Yue didn’t bother to explain anything; instead, she shot back at the man.

Instantly, the man pinned her even tighter, lowered his head, and bit hard on her neck, muttering, “What do you think?”

Ming Yue winced in pain, gritting her teeth. “Are you crazy? Why are you biting me again? Are you a dog?”

“I’m a fucking turtle!”

Jiang Feng growled lowly, his handsome face clouded with anger, his chest heaving but unable to release it. His long fingers gently brushed over Ming Yue’s lips. “Where have you been?”

“Just hanging out with that dog, what else could I be doing? Drinking tea, watching a play, or doing good deeds? Of course I’ve been sneaking off for a secret rendezvous and rolling around in bed!”

“Ming Yue! Get serious! Talk properly!”

“With a dog like that, there’s no way to talk properly!”

“Do you really think I won’t go kill him right now?”

“Then go ahead. And while you’re at it, tell him that you, this self-proclaimed ‘best buddy,’ personally broke into his home… many years ago!”

Ming Yue didn’t struggle, but she certainly wasn’t going to back down either. She stubbornly held the man’s gaze as he pressed her against the cold wall, questioning her.

The man moved too, and the two of them remained locked in a tense standoff.

After who knows how long, Gu Yanyun’s voice rang out from outside.

Only then did the two of them temporarily set aside their grudges, tensing up their nerves at the same time, and tacitly shutting their mouths and holding their breath until Gu Yanyun’s footsteps faded away.

Jiang Feng released the hand that had been restraining Ming Yue. “How much longer are you going to keep this ‘broken lotus root, severed threads’ relationship with him? Or do you actually think it’s fun to straddle two boats like this?”

“What do you mean ‘broken lotus root, severed threads’? What’s ‘straddling two boats’ anyway?” Ming Yue rubbed her wrist and asked coldly. “Are we boyfriend and girlfriend? Or are we married? Jiang, remember this clearly: at most, we’re just a transaction—there’s absolutely no emotion between us.”

“And what about you and him? What kind of relationship do you have with him? Or do you really think you can go back to the way things were?” Jiang Feng shot back coldly.

Ming Yue curled her lips slightly, pushed the man away, took two steps, and turned her back on the incessantly ranting, unhinged man. “This is my business—you don’t get to interfere. Anyway, I’ve said it before: during our ‘transaction,’ I’m not going to let you act like a turtle. If you don’t believe me, suit yourself.”

She said no more, walked straight to the door, opened it, and left without looking back.

Just as she was about to head toward the private room where Fu Qiancheng and Gu Yanxing were, she unfortunately ran into a man she wasn’t exactly unfamiliar with.

The man sported a growing beer belly, was in his forties, and was arm-in-arm with a young woman, chatting away triumphantly.

When he spotted Ming Yue, he was momentarily stunned, then quickly recognized her. He stared at her fixedly and said, “It’s you! You actually…”

End of Chapter 41: Fool