CHAPTER 210: CHAPTER 212: WHO WILL THE WHIP FALL UPON

The man in front of her was wearing a meticulously crafted white shirt, walking towards her step by step until he cornered her at the edge of the table, then lowered his head to meet her gaze.

Su Xingyu, still shaken, asked, "Wh-why did you scare me? When did you come back? Weren’t you supposed to be on a business trip at the Hanyu Research Center?"

"The schedule changed," Lu Shifeng said simply, lifting her chin with his hand. "Don’t like that I came back?"

"N-no." Su Xingyu’s bravado immediately diminished. This man was someone she couldn’t afford to offend.

Lu Shifeng examined her carefully, "You seem to have lost weight."

She was still trapped against the table, his faint masculine scent surrounding her, creating an invisible pressure. She uncomfortably tried to turn her face away, saying, "Lu Shifeng, could you stand a bit further away, I-I have things to do. These photos need to go out by tomorrow."

Lu Shifeng released her face but didn’t move aside. "It’s Xia Ling’s photos; a little delay won’t matter."

He had already seen what she was doing when he entered, but that wasn’t the point. The point was, "I heard you scratched Zhuang Heng’s face?"

Su Xingyu’s heart skipped a beat, looking at him in surprise. How did he know as soon as he returned? Did Zhuang Heng tattle? That was fast! She composed herself and asked, "How is Zhuang Heng now?"

Lu Shifeng looked at her impassively, "You care about her?"

Su Xingyu replied softly, "No, I hate her. It’s true I scratched her face. I just want to know if I disfigured her." Though it wasn’t her who directly scratched Zhuang Heng’s face, Xiaoling did it on her behalf, which was no different than if she had done it herself. What’s important is that Su Xingyu didn’t want this incident to implicate Xiaoling.

Lu Shifeng remained expressionless, "Since when did you become so ruthless?"

Su Xingyu’s heart was pounding, mustering the courage to look at him. "I know you like Zhuang Heng. If you want to punish me, go ahead." This incident had caused quite a stir; she didn’t expect to get away with it.

The room quieted, as if the air itself was chilly, a cold invading one’s bones.

Lu Shifeng stared at her for a long time, like a predator eyeing its prey, then suddenly asked, "Do you know what happens when you touch someone you shouldn’t have? Know what kind of punishment you’ll receive?"

She was extremely nervous, wanting nothing more than to push him away and escape, but her body was trembling slightly, unable to move. She recalled their first meeting two or three years ago when he had pinned her in the studio, humiliating her harshly, and since then, the many days and nights he had tormented her without restraint...

Her breathing unconsciously became rapid, her face turning pale, wishing she could curl into a ball.

Yet even so, she didn’t beg for mercy.

Lu Shifeng’s eyes were deep and inscrutable, his voice tightly holding back anger, "You’re very scared, why not explain yourself?"

Su Xingyu lowered her head, not daring to meet his gaze, her fingers unconsciously gripping the table edge, tightening until her knuckles turned white. She couldn’t justify herself, didn’t want the fire of his retaliation to fall on Xiaoling. This time, Xiaoling hurt Zhuang Heng, who was someone Lu Shifeng trusted and valued highly. She wasn’t sure if Xiaoling could walk away unscathed. What if Pei Ziheng wasn’t careful enough?

Above her, a voice cold as ice shards said, "Her face was disfigured. You’ll compensate her with a face."

Her heart tightened painfully, indeed, in his heart, she was nothing compared to Zhuang Heng.

She heard him call Mrs. Gui loudly, ordering her to find a horse whip, crackling through the air, a heart-stopping sound.

Su Xingyu’s body started trembling again, catching out of the corner of her eye that the whip was as thick as a baby’s arm, not sure what material it was made of, black and glossy, just looking at it was terrifying. She couldn’t imagine how painful it would be if it landed on her, let alone on her face. It would definitely be worse than the striking Zhuang Heng received, skin splitting, unbearable misery. Perhaps disfigurement for life.

"Raise your face," Lu Shifeng told her.

"Lu Shifeng..." She was truly frightened, her voice carrying a plea, "Please... don’t hit my face..."

Lu Shifeng looked at her icily, the long whip in his hand like a sinister, strange snake, "An eye for an eye; you struck Zhuang Heng, you must make it up to her unless someone else hit her."

"What if... what if it was someone else?" Su Xingyu asked in a trembling voice.

Lu Shifeng’s voice was calm, without a ripple, "Then it’s not your concern."

Su Xingyu’s body still trembled, averting her eyes from the terrifying long whip, her fingers gripping the table edge so tightly that her nails broke, bleeding.

After a long time, she closed her eyes, saying softly, "Go on, hit me."

The air in the room seemed frozen, cold, dark, accompanied by her endless fear as she awaited punishment.

But it dragged on like a century had passed, and the imagined pain of torn skin on her cheek never arrived. Su Xingyu, confused, opened her eyes to see Lu Shifeng just standing there watching her, the black, terrifying long whip still held in his hand, without the intention of striking.

She didn’t understand what he was playing at, frozen with fear, not daring to move.

"Why?" Lu Shifeng asked.

Su Xingyu’s heart was in her throat, "I, I don’t understand what you mean."

"Su Xingyu, you don’t have the guts to hurt anyone," Lu Shifeng said, looking at her coldly, "Why take the blame for Xiaoling?"

Her face turned pale, incredulous, "You-you knew?"

How could he not know? As soon as he got off the plane, he received his mother’s complaint that Su Xingyu had attacked Zhuang Heng, causing her disfigurement. His mother asked him to kick Su Xingyu out, but he knew his little wife wasn’t like that; there must have been a misunderstanding. He sent someone to investigate, and the news came back quickly—it was indeed Xiaoling who hurt someone.

Yet he was still angry, that she preferred to take the blame herself rather than tell him the truth.

He pressed her, "What did Xiaoling give you to make you willing to take the fall for such disfigurement?"

Under his intense gaze, she stammered, "I, I... she, she’s a diva, a super star, relies on her face to make a living, you can’t destroy her face."

"So it doesn’t matter what happens to you?" Lu Shifeng looked like a storm was about to break.

Su Xingyu was truly scared, but still said, "I’m just a photographer, it doesn’t matter if I’m disfigured. Besides..." She suddenly stopped talking.

"Besides what?" Lu Shifeng asked.

Still, she said nothing, her head tilted to the side, looking very frightened.

Lu Shifeng grabbed her arm with such force she thought her bones would be crushed. "Besides what?!" he growled lowly.