Chapter 37: Moonlit Romance

Gu Hansheng had a luncheon engagement today with a certain partner's CEO. After the luncheon, they were supposed to go together to the hotel where they were staying, and in the afternoon, there was a round of golf.

After the luncheon, as a group, they emerged from the hotel amidst a crowd of people. A black figure broke away from the convoy midway, heading towards the hospital.

Hence, the scene just now unfolded. He sat on the sofa, even though he realized that the needle would wake her from her dreams with pain, he didn't stop it.

At this moment, Liang Shu saw him but closed her eyes, as if out of sight, out of mind.

A trace of displeasure gradually surfaced on the man's face.

He got up and casually tossed a black cellphone onto the low table.

The sound made Liang Shu reopen her eyes, and their gazes met.

The man slightly curled his lips, his expression seemingly mocking, "In the past few hours, I've shielded you from quite a few debt collection calls."

With that, the tall figure headed towards the door.

Ignoring the fact that she had just finished hanging the IV bag, Liang Shu pulled out the needle and got out of bed to follow him.

The head nurse behind her was astonished, "Hey, you're still receiving an infusion. Why are you running?"

A quiet VIP floor.

Liang Shu didn't raise her head either, reaching out to grab the man's white shirt, a faint woody fragrance lingering between them.

At that moment, Gu Hansheng shook out a cigarette from a metal box, placing it between his lips and lighting it. He took a deep drag before looking down at the hand clutching the fabric of his shirt at his waist, the color porcelain white, slender and pointed, soft as boneless.

His gaze lowered, revealing her delicate feet.

He chuckled coldly, the bluish-white smoke obscuring the man's handsome face, "I thought you chased me out here to thank me."

The soles of her feet were icy cold, the cold air from the tiles seeming to seep into the surface of her skin, creeping into her body.

Liang Shu looked at his black leather shoes, her voice low, carrying a thick hoarseness, yet every word was forceful, "You ruined my chance to make money."

The smell of smoke mixed with the air, she quietly tightened her lips, still bowing her head, yet she could feel the intense and scorching gaze from above.

This was a non-smoking area, but if Gu Hansheng wanted to smoke, no one could stop him.

He stared down at her like this, his eyes too direct and unreserved.

The strong smoke billowed onto Liang Shu's face, obscuring her vision, but she heard a voice beside her ear, "Given last night's situation, you're lucky not to be dead. Can you still make money?"

"Of course, I can."

She had already envisioned the outcome. At worst, she would be severely injured and hospitalized. Then, she could take advantage of the situation to extort a sum of money, which should alleviate her urgent needs.

But Gu Hansheng was the unexpected variable.

He came at an opportune moment, so opportune that Liang Shu now almost believed he had come specifically for her.

Yet, it was also an unfortunate timing. In another five minutes under those circumstances, she might have lost consciousness, and then she could have seized the opportunity to make a profit, unstoppable by anyone.

But she also felt fortunate that she was still alive.

She couldn't do what her sisters at Yulou Chun did, abandoning all dignity, humbling herself to dust, compromising and fawning among various patrons.

But reality had forced her into a corner, with no way out.

What could she do?

*

The cigarette between Gu Hansheng's fingertips burned a third of the way before Liang Shu intercepted it. Her sickly beautiful eyes met the man's indifferent gaze, and then, right in front of him, she pinched the damp filter of the cigarette with her index finger and thumb, then put it into her mouth and took a deep drag.

She couldn't taste anything. After not smoking for a long time, she took a deep drag and choked, tears streaming down her face.

Liang Shu reached out and grabbed his shirt button, exerting some force, her fingertips turning white.

She said, "Mr. Gu, can you lend me some money?"

Gu Hansheng was somewhat surprised, his eyes cold and sharp as he looked at her.

Her eyes were very clear, with a hint of moisture, her oval face no bigger than a palm, her skin white, and the half of her neck faintly exposed was also cold white.

A pitiable appearance of a sickly beautiful woman.

He squinted his eyes, watching as her fingertips burned the cigarette to the end, showing no expression. "Name your price."

"Twenty million."

As the cigarette burned out, she dropped it, scalding her hand. She looked down, seeing the cigarette butt fall by her feet. A wisp of smoke rose slowly, but was quickly stamped out by a black leather shoe, then crushed, extinguished.

Liang Shu was lost in thought for a moment, as if that cigarette butt were herself.

The hard texture of the shoe pressed against her toes, as if she had been burned by the cigarette butt, she moved her feet back, took two steps back, and looked up at him.

She understood the principle of no turning back after shooting the arrow, so she repeated firmly, "I want to borrow twenty million from you."

Gu Hansheng's lips curved with a cold and ruthless arc, his gaze shifting from the cigarette butt on the ground to her face. "I am a businessman, not a philanthropist. What will you use to repay?"

He must have turned her life upside down, so he naturally knew how desperate she was now.

What to repay with?

Her eyelashes flickered, a faint shadow covering Liang Shu's eyes. She hadn't rested properly for a long time.

"My blood, is that okay?"

She gambled that the person at the Yusen Villa must be important to Gu Hansheng.

But—

Gu Hansheng bent down and patted her face, his fingertips pressing down, the woman's cheeks were delicate and pale. "Silly girl, too naive."

The man turned to leave.

Liang Shu caught up with him in two steps, blocking his way, no longer as gentle as before. "With this incident, I can no longer go back to work. How should this loss be accounted for?"

"Are you trying to blame me for this?"

His expression was quite composed, emotions indiscernible in the depths of his hawk-like eyes.

"No blame, I'm just stating the facts."

A thin layer of sweat had formed on her forehead, but she still endured the physiological emotions, hiding her pain and not showing it.

But Gu Hansheng could see it clearly.

He took a step closer, closing the distance between them, his arm circling around her waist. "Your audacity matches your ability to distort truth, Miss Liang. I saved you, and now you're trying to hold me accountable?"

The hand on her waist exerted a strong pressure, the heat almost scorching her skin. In a daze, she thought of the words "romance and passion."

She looked at him, her voice suddenly clear, "I'll sell myself to you."