Chapter Twenty: Acheng, Does It Hurt?

"Chen, does it hurt?"
While applying the medicine, Pei Susu’s gaze never left Fu Zhichen for a single moment. Her delicate, cool face was taut, as though she felt his pain more acutely than he did.
Fu Zhichen looked up at her, taking her cold hand in his warm palm. "Sister, it's just a superficial wound. It'll heal soon."
Pei Susu stared at the shocking injury, her heart filled with a nameless emotion that ached and swelled. "If concentrated sulfuric acid touches you, even a minor injury can be dangerous, and a severe one could be fatal."
He, the crown prince of the capital, had no need to go to such lengths for her.
"It’s not worth it."
Fu Zhichen caught the disappointment flickering between her brows and eyes, his voice tender. "It is worth it. If I hadn’t been there, and a whole bottle of concentrated sulfuric acid ended up on you, I can’t imagine what I would have done."
Dark tides surged in his clear eyes, his obsessive and fervent love laid bare.
Pei Susu recalled Luo Yuan’s crazed, sickly rush toward her, and a shiver of fear swept over her. Her long lashes trembled, her body shook involuntarily.
After a brief struggle, the fear in her gaze was soon replaced by resolve.
"I wouldn’t take my own life. As long as there’s a glimmer of hope, I’ll survive and personally send her to prison."
Fu Zhichen couldn’t hide his admiration and affection for her.
His Susu was dazzling and fiery, a rose unafraid of any tempest.
"Mm, I’ll always be by your side."
Pei Susu pinched his cheek. "Sweet talker. If I become ugly, will you still like me?"
Suddenly, she remembered she was a few years older than Fu Zhichen. In the years ahead, who knew how long his love for her would last?
Fu Zhichen placed her hand over his heart. "I like you."
The doctor, having finished applying the medicine, glanced at the handsome couple’s tender scene—it was pleasing to the eye.
"You two have such a good relationship. To find someone who truly loves you in this life isn’t easy. You’re both young and passionate; the road ahead is still long."
Pei Susu’s cheeks flushed, her eloquent tongue stuttering, "Doctor, he and I are not..."
Married.

Fu Zhichen quickly pressed a finger to her lips, stopping her from uttering something that might make him lose control. "Of course. I chased her for a long time before she agreed to be with me."
The doctor, seeing Fu Zhichen take up the conversation, began wrapping his back in gauze, unable to resist continuing his chatter.
"Your wife is so beautiful, she must have plenty of admirers. Out of so many, she chose you. Young man, cherish her."
Pei Susu pried Fu Zhichen’s fingers away, trying to explain, "Doctor, it’s not as you think. We’re currently just..."
"Sister, it hurts."
Fu Zhichen’s breathing grew heavy, his face showing pain.
Pei Susu immediately forgot to clarify, "We’re just dating, not married," and watched his back with concern.
The doctor tied a knot in the gauze at Fu Zhichen’s chest. "Don’t worry, you came to the hospital in time. There’s no serious harm. Just be careful with the wound on his back when you get home—if you take care of it, there may not even be a scar."
Pei Susu thanked the doctor and returned to the villa with Fu Zhichen.
From the corner of his eye, Fu Zhichen noticed the faint bruises beneath Pei Susu’s eyes. He withdrew his arm from her shoulder and walked to the kitchen on his own.
"Sister, you haven’t eaten since six o’clock tonight. I’ll cook some noodles for you."
Pei Susu watched Fu Zhichen, whose face betrayed no pain, her gaze deep and quiet. "Chen, when you cried out in pain at the hospital, was it just so I wouldn’t explain our relationship to the doctor?"
Caught out, Fu Zhichen’s momentum faltered. "Sister, don’t you want to marry me?"
Pei Susu’s brows knitted at the memory of her disastrous marriage, which Fu Zhichen mistakenly took as rejection.
His lively expression faded, and he turned his back to start cooking noodles. "Sit on the sofa for a while, Sister. The noodles will be ready soon."
Fu Zhichen, for once, changed the subject on his own, not pressing her for an answer.
Pei Susu felt her heavy body lighten as if freed, only for another, indescribable emotion to fill her heart.
Meanwhile, Luo Yuan, after fleeing the Fu residence, returned home still trembling with fear, pacing back and forth in her room.
With Fu Zhichen’s vengeful nature, he would never let her off.
Assault with intent? Attempted murder? She would end up in prison.
Suddenly, driven by a sixth sense, she ran to the window and looked down.

Many unfamiliar figures had appeared in the quiet, peaceful woods. They were dressed in black, their faces hidden by black caps and masks, tall and imposing, methodically scanning their surroundings, clearly searching for someone.
"Someone?" The leader sensed her gaze, looking up.
Luo Yuan saw his bloodthirsty eyes and the scar at the corner of his eye. "Ah." She covered her mouth tightly to stifle a gasp. "It’s him."
This man worked under Fu Zhichen, specializing in handling criminal matters. She had seen him break seventeen ribs in someone during a job—the victim ended up lying on the ground like a pile of mush.
No, Fu Zhichen wasn’t going to send her to jail; he wanted her to suffer worse than death.
"Run. I absolutely can’t be caught!"
Luo Yuan hurriedly stuffed her belongings into a large backpack, covered herself completely with clothes, and, not daring to use the elevator, ran down twenty flights of stairs, panting.
Elsewhere, in the stock market, Xingye’s shares were plummeting, soon to fall below the price of five years ago.
Small investors were frantically selling their Xingye shares. Panic gripped the company.
On one side of Liang Wenru’s desk, resignation letters piled high; on the other, the company’s meager cooperation projects. Overwhelmed, he searched through his computer files, constantly messaging potential partners.
"Qingzhu, do you have any potential collaboration targets left? The projects I’ve got barely turn a profit, and the shareholders won’t wait much longer. If Xingye can’t secure partnerships, profits will drop and shrink back to our scale five years ago."
Chu Qingzhu watched the increasingly irritable Liang Wenru and the devaluing Xingye, feeling a strange unease.
"Wenru, Grandpa has plenty of old acquaintances. Some of their younger relatives do well in business. If Xingye can’t land new partnerships, our cash flow will be at risk. Let’s ask Grandpa to arrange a meal with those younger business people and discuss cooperation."
Liang Wenru fell silent.
He’d already angered Grandpa greatly over his divorce from Pei Susu for Chu Qingzhu, not to mention that Grandpa, upon learning he had blacklisted Pei Susu, was so furious he refused to let him step foot in the Liang family’s old home.
Seeing his hesitation, Chu Qingzhu urged, "Wenru, Xingye weathered five years of storms, growing from a small company to a leading enterprise in the city. It can’t just be destroyed like this."
Pressed by her, Liang Wenru grew irritable. "Destroyed? The seniors and juniors you brought in take thirty thousand a month from me, but have they brought the company equivalent profits?!"