HC Chapter 26: I Obey You (V)
His presence was too strong and aggressive. Dong Ci felt her thin body tremble in response. Just as she wanted to explain everything, her words were silenced by Jing Rong’s finger on her lips.
“Shhh… don’t talk right now.”
Jing Rong’s fingers were cold. He closed his eyes and muttered, “I am afraid of not being able to prevent myself from hurting you.”
“Jing Rong, don’t be like this. I am scared,” Dong Ci whispered. She would have rather he was like before, and just let it all out. At least that way, she could guess what was on his mind.
Looking up into the deep eyes, Dong Ci shivered as she placed her hand on his arm, trying to make him let go. “First, release me, alright?”
“Ah—”
Just as her voice sounded out, she was pulled into Jing Rong’s arms. He fiercely spun her around and pushed her against that wall behind him. The air around the pair suddenly condensed, becoming even colder.
“Release you?” he repeated incredulously. These words seemed to have stimulated Jing Rong because he coldly continued, “Xiao Ci, I probably won’t be able to let you go in this life.
“Be with me, alright? From now on, never leave me,” Jing Rong almost begged, although his tone was light. His forehead was pressed against Dong Ci’s as he continued, “I can spoil you unconditionally, as long as you are obedient.”
“Didn’t we have an agreement for this to last only until graduation?” Dong Ci asked although she knew that this wasn’t the right time. But if she didn’t voice it out now, then when?
After all, a year ago Jing Rong clearly stated that she would have to accompany him until graduation. She didn’t know when or why, but he gradually became more possessive of her – even though she always resisted his approach.
From the very first time that Jing Rong mentioned his wish for her to stay with him forever, Dong Ci felt panic rising in her heart. She tried to use evasion to avoid this topic – she always thought that if she endured it a little longer, she would be able to escape him after graduation. But in the current situation, the matter didn’t seem to be so simple any longer.
“Jing Rong, there is no love between us. How can two people, who are not in love, be together?”
“Then who do you love? Is it Shi Ze?” Jing Rong asked with a chilling smile as a storm raged in his eyes. “Don’t think that I don’t know what’s on your mind. Besides, I think that we make a good couple.
“So, Xiao Ci, this is your last chance to pick the correct choice,” Jing Rong declared while letting her go. He stood straight, blocking the moonlight with his tall body, and asked, “Will you leave me after graduation, or will you stay with me?”
“I hope that we can go our separate ways!” Dong Ci quickly answered, with no hesitation in her voice. She hoped to finally make everything clear. “Jing Rong, I think that you should also be aware of this. If it wasn’t for me wanting to get into the ‘A’ class, I would have never wanted to be familiar with someone like you in my life. Do you understand?”
Jing Rong stared down at her, his eyes cold as his body exuded invisible pressure. Dong Ci couldn’t see his expression in the darkness of the night, but somehow she knew that he was smiling. Just like a poisonous snake that could spit out its venom at any time, it was preparing to attack.
“I understand,” came the unexpected words. A chuckle followed them as Jing Rong put his hand in a pocket and slowly took a few steps back. He raised his head and viciously asked, “Xiao Ci, do you remember what I said before?
“You will beg me.”
The relief that she felt when he said the first words disappeared after the following declaration was spat out. With a frown, Dong Ci looked at Jing Rong’s figure moving further away. She couldn’t help but think back to their mode of getting along.
Indeed, he had told her countless times that she would beg him.
What does this mean?
What does he want to do?
Dong Ci had no way of knowing the answers to these questions. In the end, she could only turn to go home, feeling disturbed by the various thoughts and guesses occupying her mind.
After her mother’s shop was maliciously destroyed, the older woman sought out Xiao Wang to discuss the restaurant several times. During this time, the owner of the premises who rented out the store also came once, carrying a folder.
Dong Ci didn’t know the details of their discussions. When she asked her mother, she still wasn’t told anything important – only that the shop would be renovated once again. The design would remain the same as before.
The new semester arrived, and Dong Ci went back to school. Her mother’s shop was also reopened, and a feedback event was held during the first week of its operation. But no matter how Dong Ci looked at it, she felt that they still suffered a loss.
Her mother said that she has her own business methods. In her words, they would recover their losses in just a few days.
Recently, she also made a new dish. Whenever a customer came to eat, this dish would be served for free. Even a membership card was created to boost the sales – whenever someone spent 20 yuan, they could get 1 point. Those points would eventually transform into a free meal.
In total, ten new dishes were researched and, after receiving a good word of mouth, formally served in the restaurant. However, just as everything was going back on tracks, the two chefs hired by the store were poached away. This led to a new learning experience for the mother and daughter pair.
The new recipes were revealed to another restaurant, and the dishes were served there. Moreover, just after this hard hit, a notice was released to the surrounding business owners – the street was going to be renovated, and this renovation will last for one year. The construction site will block the restaurant’s entrance, so there was no way for it to resume its normal operations.
“Mom, should we stop the rent?” Dong Ci hurriedly asked after hearing the news. “The store has been open for so long, and we already made a lot of money. Why don’t we find another place?”
“It’s too late,” her mother whispered with a pale face. “It’s too late. Everything is too late.”
“What’s too late?” Dong Ci asked, immediately noticing that something was wrong. She quickly walked to her mother and took her hand. “Mom, what happened?”
“Xiao Ci, why do you think the rent was so cheap even after we decorated the store however we wanted?”
For a moment, Dong Ci was taken aback by this question. She never thought about this problem.
“The owner said that if I want to renovate, I must pay the original rent first. If I have no money, I can pay a deposit of 200,000 yuan first.”
“Two hundred thousand?” Dong Ci gasped. “How come it is so much?”
Her mother shook her head and explained, “It wasn’t for monthly rent, after all. I have reached long-term cooperation with the store’s owner. However, when he signed the contract a few days ago, he played some tricks and doubled the price of the shop. He cheated. And now, not only am I unable to get a refund, but I also owe him money.”
“…”
In first-tier cities, especially in prime locations, it is normal for the store rent to reach hundreds of thousands of yuan a year. Dong Ci’s mother and the shop owner finally reached a one-year agreement, but the owed sum was more than the market price.
How could she be so stupid? How could she so easily believe that the owner of the shop would rent the place on a monthly basis at such a cheap price with no tricks involved?
All of this turned out to be a long term scam.
The incident completely crushed Dong Ci’s gentle mother. All-day long, she was depressed and unhappy, and she never left the house anymore. No matter how much Dong Ci tried to comfort her, it was useless.
Because in the last few months before the college entrance examination, Dong Ci was split between taking care of her mother and studying for the exams, she lost a lot of weight. To top it off, a month before the college entrance examination, a group of people came to their house and directly abducted her mother.
“Your mother owes me 200,000 yuan. It was promised that she would pay it back within a month, but she still owes me 10,000. Now that 10,000 has risen to 500,000 due to interest. If you don’t pay 500,000 yuan by tomorrow, you can just wait to collect your mother’s body!”
When Dong Ci received this call, the classes have just ended. She ran home in a panic, only to find that the house was empty of people. Her sight went dark, and she almost fainted on the spot.
Five hundred thousand yuan. It is so much money, how would she be able to collect it?
Just as her mind empty, with no solutions in sight, someone came to her and said they could help. Dong Ci didn’t think about anything – she directly followed the person into the car, her mind in a daze. When she reached the destination, Dong Ci realized that this was the place she has visited many times.
“Xiao Ci, didn’t I say that you will come to beg me?”
When she saw Jing Rong, he was sitting on the sofa in the lobby. Right now, he looked like a king, coldly observing her embarrassed state with a bright and vicious smile.
“You did all this?” Dong Ci demanded, trembling all over. She fiercely stared at Jing Rong until she could no longer control herself and rush directly to him, taking hold of his collar. Unable to contain her anger, she once again shouted, “Did you do all of this?!
“Did you pass my mother to a loan shark and made sure that she was cheated? What the hell have you done, answer me!”
Dong Ci’s emotions were completely out of control. She was like an angry beast – her hair was wild, and there was a rage in her eyes. No matter who touched her at that moment, she would fight all of them without hesitation.
Jing Rong watched her vent with a calm heart. He cast his eyes at the collar that was being pulled by her and slowly put his hand on top of hers. Then he sighed, his voice unusually soft, “Xiao Ci, I will be sad if you think so badly of me.”
“Think badly of you… Then how did you know that my family owes a loan shark half a million yuan?”
“Are you questioning me?” Jing Rong hooked up the corner of his mouth, showing her an arrogant smile. “Xiao Ci, you have to understand – only I can help you.”
Dong Ci’s fierce gaze was shaken. In an instant, all of the strength in her body disappeared, as though it has never been there. She let go of Jing Rong’s collar and knelt on the ground. Embarrassed, and with eyes full of tears, she asked, “Jing Rong, what do you want?”
“What I desire is very simple – I think you should know it too.”
Jing Rong bent down and pulled her into his lap, hugging her gently. Seeing the continuous falling tears, he kissed the wet tracks and pityingly coaxed, “Don’t cry.”
Then he got up and, holding her in his arms, carried the girl upstairs. Seeing Dong Ci lean into his arms so obediently, without any struggles, Jing Rong’s expression softened, and he kissed her once again, before placing her on a big bed.
“Xiao Ci, I can pay off the money that your mother owes. But from then on, you will belong to me completely,” he stated with conviction. Suddenly, Jing Rong thought of something, and his eyes lit up as he added, “This time, the agreement is permanent, with no end term.”
“So you want me to sell myself for money?” Dong Ci sarcastically laughed. After everything that happened, she was being pulled into another transaction.
The girl’s words made Jing Rong’s expression darken. For a moment, it seemed as though a storm was raging through his eyes, full of contradicting emotions, but the tranquility was quickly restored.
He directed his gaze at Dong Ci, who was still laid out on the bed, and with a faint smile expressed, “Xiao Ci, if you really think about it this way, I also don’t mind.”
Zefelina's Translations 