The second floor was in complete disarray, thick smoke filling the air. Rong Qian’s nose stung from the smoke. She looked around but didn’t see any sign of Shen Yi.

In a situation like this, Rong Qian couldn’t shout for him either — if she inhaled too much smoke, she’d probably collapse before she even found him.

From a distance, Rong Qian suddenly noticed someone seemingly sitting behind a fallen sofa.

The person had their back to her, wearing a black suit — it was Shen Yi!

Rong Qian quickly hurried over, but upon seeing the person’s face, realized she’d mistaken him — it wasn’t Shen Yi, but He Jicheng.

He Jicheng’s abdomen was injured and bleeding. He sat there gasping for breath, waiting for rescue — but instead of rescuers, he got this woman named Rong Qian.

“Oh, wrong person.” Realizing her mistake, Rong Qian paid him no further mind and stood up to leave.

He Jicheng grabbed her hand and, panting heavily, said weakly, “Y-you’re just going to leave like that?”

“What else would I do? Did you think I came here to save you?” Rong Qian was utterly cold about it.

He Jicheng smiled bitterly. “Miss Rong, what have I ever done to you, that you’d hold such hostility toward me?”

“Nothing.” Rong Qian’s attitude remained cold, but since she still couldn’t find any sign of Shen Yi, she had no choice but to ask him, “Have you seen Shen Yi?”

He Jicheng’s eyes dimmed. “So… you came here to save him…”

“Stop stalling and just tell me — have you seen him or not?” Rong Qian had no time to waste on him.

He Jicheng looked up at her and said, “Help me up, and I’ll tell you.”

“Why didn’t you say so earlier!”

Seeing that his wound was bleeding non-stop, Rong Qian found a few white hand towels nearby, tied them into long strips to serve as gauze, and wrapped them tightly around his waist.

He Jicheng’s eyes stayed fixed on her the whole time. She was completely focused, calm and composed — there wasn’t a trace of panic on her face.

“Alright.” Having finished the basic first aid, Rong Qian helped support him as he stood up.

He Jicheng was capable of standing on his own, but seeing Rong Qian supporting him, he deliberately pretended to be weak, leaning his whole body against her.

His hand stayed on her waist, holding her in a very intimate embrace.

“Listen, if you can’t stand, just sit here obediently and wait for a stretcher.” Rong Qian really wanted to drop him to the ground. With He Jicheng leaning on her like this, she felt as though she were dragging around a heavy corpse.

He Jicheng leaned in close to her ear and said in a low voice, “But I like… being supported by you—ugh”

“I think you’re better suited to be carried out.”

A cold, crisp male voice came from behind, cutting off his words. At the same time, He Jicheng felt someone grab his collar and roughly shove him away from Rong Qian.

Just then, Rong Qian had also let go, so without anything to steady himself, He Jicheng lost his balance and fell, accidentally pulling at his wound. He Jicheng winced in pain, baring his teeth.

“Shen Yi!”

Rong Qian had heard the voice too, and when she turned to look, she found it was Shen Yi. In her joy, she completely forgot about He Jicheng.

Seeing him fall, Rong Qian only offered a perfunctory apology, then looked Shen Yi up and down. Though she saw no wounds, she still asked anxiously, “How is it? Are you alright?”

“Don’t worry, I’m fine.” Shen Yi patted her head and smiled gently.

As though the person who’d just shoved He Jicheng away with such an icy, expressionless face hadn’t been him at all.

Rong Qian asked him, “What exactly happened just now?”

“Let’s talk about it once we’re back.” Shen Yi reassured her, his gaze making her feel very at ease.

Rong Qian also knew this wasn’t a place to linger. Just as she was about to help He Jicheng up, Shen Yi had already pulled him up first.

Though Shen Yi’s movements weren’t rough, there was something about them that seemed careless of how much force he was using, which made even Rong Qian’s heart skip nervously watching — the man was injured, after all, take it easy!

“Boss, that scared me half to death just now!”

On the drive back, Xu Mo, still shaken from the close call, thought that thankfully both the boss and Miss Rong were safe and sound — otherwise he’d have blamed himself to death with regret.

“Are you alright?”

Hearing Shen Yi’s concerned question, Xu Mo felt rather embarrassed. He scratched the back of his head and said shyly, “Boss, I’m fine. Miss Rong pushed me out to take shelter — though I did get stepped on a few times—”

Before he could finish, Xu Mo caught a glimpse through the rearview mirror of Shen Yi wetting a tissue with mineral water and wiping Rong Qian’s face. The smile vanished instantly from Xu Mo’s face.

Well, fine — he’d misjudged things after all. The boss wasn’t even concerned about him!

“It’s fine, I just inhaled a bit of smoke and got some dust on my face.”

Rong Qian’s eyes darted away, uncomfortable with this overly “intimate” tender gesture from Shen Yi. She took the tissue from him and wiped her face hastily herself.

Rong Qian’s breathing grew uneven. He probably had no idea just how deeply affectionate his own gaze toward her was at that moment.

His furrowed brows, his worried expression — that intense, burning, lingering, tender love was displayed before her with absolutely no concealment.

Such raw, brimming love, nearly overflowing — if Rong Qian couldn’t feel it, she’d have to be blind!

Noticing Rong Qian’s odd reaction, Shen Yi seemed to realize it too.

He took a deep breath, suppressing the surging emotions roiling inside him that were nearly about to burst forth. He forcibly held himself back, not allowing even the slightest “transgression” toward her to show.

“As long as you’re fine.” Shen Yi smiled faintly. Noticing there was still a bit of soot on her eyebrow that she’d missed, he instinctively reached out to wipe it for her, but his restraint and self-control kept him from even daring to touch her once.

He withdrew his hand, and instead pointed to his own brow, gesturing to indicate to her, “You missed a spot here.”

“Oh!” Rong Qian quickly wiped at it.

Rong Qian’s heart was pounding fast. After that contrast just now, she finally understood how much restraint Shen Yi normally exercised when facing her.

It’s difficult for a person to control their own desires, and this kind of self-denial had stretched his sexual tension to its very limit.

Rong Qian used to think those exaggerated lines about getting pregnant just from one look were ridiculous, but after meeting Shen Yi, she realized no comparison could fit him better!

This scene didn’t escape Xu Mo’s notice, and he found it very strange.

Wasn’t the boss in love with Miss Rong? Then why was he still being so careful, not daring to cross the line? If he liked her, he should just go after her — why hold himself back so much?

It was painful just to watch. He really wanted to push their heads together and force them to be a couple!

“Speaking of which, boss, we just left like that — who knows how the media’s going to report on you.” Xu Mo recalled that rescuers had already arrived by the time they left the casino.

Although reporters had wanted to crowd around for interviews, Shen Yi had refused, and right in front of all those journalists, had gotten into the car with a cold face — it was hard not to make people speculate about what he’d just gone through at the scene.

Hearing Xu Mo’s words, Rong Qian paused for a moment.

Could this be the source of those newspaper reports about Shen Yi being attacked, his life hanging by a thread? Just this?

Sure enough, the media would come up with any headline for the sake of attention!

“Shen Yi, can you tell me now what happened just now? And how did He Jicheng get hurt?” Rong Qian looked into his eyes as she asked, sensing intuitively that there must be some hidden truth she didn’t know about.