Chapter 37: Love Rival Jiang Tongtong

Page 1 of 3

Chapter 37: Rival Jiang Tongtong

“Before I came, I was still fantasizing that perhaps I might receive special treatment from you as Li Mengling.” Fang Xiaoling clenched the bedsheet into a tight ball in her palm. After a long while, she slowly relaxed her hands. “Forget it... Thank you for your kindness.”

“Ah... I’m sorry. We didn’t expect you to wake up so soon.” Shen Yi watched awkwardly as Fang Xiaoling opened the door and walked out. “What I mean is, we didn’t deliberately do that in this room...”

“You don’t need to explain yourself to me.” Fang Xiaoling glanced back at him, forcing a smile. “We don’t even know each other. I’m the one who caused trouble for you and your girlfriend.”

“It’s all right.” The woman slipped on her shirt and smiled warmly at Fang Xiaoling from the doorway. “You’ve only just woken up. Why don’t you rest at our place for a while? I’ll make you a glass of fresh juice.”

“Your place...” After hearing those words, Fang Xiaoling no longer wanted to stay another moment. Without saying anything more, she walked straight toward the door and left.

“I’m sorry. I just thought it would be easier for her to accept if we said we were married.” The woman left the bedroom and walked toward the sofa in the living room. “About what happened just now... let’s pretend it never happened.”

“Why?” Shen Yi followed after her. “Did I do something wrong?”

“I’m the one who did something wrong.” The woman gathered up the documents, then picked up the windbreaker from the sofa and put it on. “I truly don’t understand how I became like this. I feel so cheap. We shouldn’t see each other anymore.”

“Don’t say that. I just lost control of myself.” Shen Yi stopped her, only to discover that tears were silently running down her face. A profound sense of guilt washed over him. “I’m sorry, I...”

“Don’t say anything else.” The woman wiped away her tears. “You don’t need to be afraid. I’m not the kind of person who clings on and refuses to let go. Besides, you didn’t actually do anything. I won’t make you take responsibility.”

“I’m not afraid!” Shen Yi seized her by the shoulders and kissed her again. This time, however, she shoved him away and struck him hard across the face.

“Do you take me for a prostitute?!” The woman glared at him, then walked around him toward the door.

Page 1 of 3

“Be my girlfriend!” Shen Yi shouted. He seemed to have made up his mind. “Jiang Tongtong, I truly like you. Be my girlfriend.”

The woman rested her fingertips against the wall beside the door-control button. Hearing Shen Yi’s words, she lifted the corners of her mouth ever so slightly and pressed the button. “Calm down. A man as outstanding as you can find any kind of girlfriend he wants. Why waste your time on someone as ordinary as me?”

“You’re not ordinary! Listen to me—I’ve never felt this way about a woman before.” Shen Yi’s expression was solemn. “I’ve decided. I want you to be my girlfriend. Jiang Tongtong, I’m sincere. Believe me.”

During the silence that followed, Jiang Tongtong was not considering anything at all. She was merely counting the seconds in her mind. “One, two, three, four, five...”

Seven seconds later, she said, “All right. Contact me at this time tomorrow. If you still want me to be your girlfriend then, I’ll agree.”

“Good!” Shen Yi accepted immediately, without the slightest hesitation. He did not know that Jiang Tongtong had said this only to make him believe even more firmly that the decision had been reached after careful consideration of his own.

There had been no seduction, no impulse, no strategy. Everything had happened naturally. Everything was the arrangement of fate...

On the thirty-second floor, Fang Xiaoling knocked on the door for a long time, but no one answered. She turned toward the other end of the corridor. A fierce light spilled from one of the rooms in the distance.

She knew where it was. Memories of her kidnapping surfaced once more in her mind. What had happened in that room after the old man’s death? Had the police not investigated?

Driven by curiosity, she walked toward it step by step. When she was only one step away from the light beneath the door, she stopped, nearly able to hear the sound of her own heartbeat.

“There’s nothing to fear. The old man was already killed by Roland. Besides, didn’t Jung say so himself? Fang Xiaoling, you’re a brave warrior! Be stronger. If you’re afraid of everything that happens in this world, how will you ever become a true higher-dimensional ant? Your enemy might be watching you from somewhere right now!”

Fang Xiaoling took a deep breath, gritted her teeth, and stepped into the light ahead.

There was nothing in the room.

Fang Xiaoling entered and found herself seemingly standing in an unfinished building. All the mannequins were gone, and the old man’s body had vanished without a trace. The floor tiles had been removed, and even a layer of plaster had been stripped from the surrounding walls, exposing dark-gray reinforced concrete.

Page 2 of 3

Fang Xiaoling walked to the window and discovered that the glass panes were gone as well, replaced only by a thin sheet of plastic. She seemed to realize something. Turning around, she saw that she had failed to notice it when she entered—the main door had been removed too.

It was as if this room had never existed.

“In fact, it isn’t only this room. Everything belonging to that old bastard has ceased to exist. Neither his relatives nor his friends will remember that he ever existed.” Jiang Tongtong appeared in the doorway, watching her with an ambiguous smile. “Fang Xiaoling, it’s nice to meet you. I never expected our first meeting to take place in this world.”

“You...” Fang Xiaoling stared at the woman in astonishment. Wasn’t she the same woman who had just been at Shen Yi’s home?

“Tut, tut, tut. Don’t tell me you still haven’t figured out who I am.” Jiang Tongtong slipped both hands into the pockets of her khaki trench coat. Her glittering high heels stepped steadily across the bare floor. “How about this? Think carefully. If you didn’t exist, who would Shen Yi be most likely to end up with?”

Hearing her youthful voice, Fang Xiaoling suddenly remembered the voice message on Shen Yi’s WeChat in the real world. It had been through that message that she confirmed Shen Yi was involved with another woman.

“How could I have forgotten?” Fang Xiaoling’s heartbeat quickened. The other woman spoke as though she knew everything, making Fang Xiaoling feel that the situation was growing increasingly complicated. “You’re Jiang Tongtong... But how did you...”

“How do I know everything, you mean?” Jiang Tongtong approached with a smile. Then, without warning, she seized Fang Xiaoling by the hair. At almost the same moment, she tore away the plastic covering the window. The cool autumn wind rushed into the room, sending both women’s hair flying.

Half of Fang Xiaoling’s body was forced outside the window. She struggled, but Li Mengling’s body was far too slight, while her attacker possessed astonishing strength.

“I wanted you to understand why you were dying, but Roland never gave you the chance.” Jiang Tongtong narrowed her eyes. “How pitiful, Fang Xiaoling. I originally intended to eliminate both of you together. I gave Roland half an hour to rescue you, but she has clearly abandoned you. Now there are only five minutes left, and I have no patience to spare. Farewell forever!”

End of Chapter

Page 3 of 3