Chapter 10
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The door opened. Xie Qianqian was already leaning back against the sofa, still clutching the pull-tab of her zipper tightly.
Setting down the tray, Xie Qianqian glanced at the closed door behind him. She asked, "Where's the doctor?"
Shen Zhi took off his suit jacket and hung it on a dark wood coat rack to the side. His white dress shirt pulled taut, accentuating the fluid, defined lines of his back. He turned around, strode back toward her, and lowered his head to roll up his sleeves. "He's outside. I'll handle this."
"You?" Xie Qianqian narrowed her clear, pale eyes slightly.
Shen Zhi picked up a pair of medical gloves and slipped them on with effortless composure. A faint, subtle smile surfaced on his usually indifferent face. "What? Don't trust me?"
Xie Qianqian's throat bobbed slightly. She wanted nothing more than to say: I trust the doctor a whole lot more.
Shen Zhi didn't miss the guarded, vigilant look in her eyes. Dropping his eyelids imperceptibly, he realized that this exact expression appeared on her face all the time. The little girl was clearly deeply wary of everyone around her.
To dispel her concerns, Shen Zhi crouched down to meet her gaze at eye level. This was the first time in his life he had ever crouched down to accommodate someone else's height; that untouchable, imposing aura surrounding him softened, giving him a much gentler appearance.
The overhead light traced his elegant jawline. Behind his glasses, his eyes resembled pitch-black jade. His deep, magnetic voice floated through the quiet air as he said to her, "Leave it to me. Lie down."
His voice sounded so soothing it almost seemed capable of pulling a person's soul right out of them. Combined with that faint, cooling aroma clinging to him, it carried an intoxicating, spellbinding quality.
In truth, she and Shen Zhi weren't total strangers. During her very first year at the Shen estate, the Third Young Master, Shen Yu, was always bullying her. Her grades were terrible, and she barely spoke. Shen Yu kept a black Doberman that barked viciously whenever it saw her, so she always stepped around it with extreme caution.
Later on, however, Shen Yu discovered her weak spot and intentionally unleashed the Doberman to chase her. The little girl would run all over the courtyard; she never ran to the adults to complain, and the adults mostly assumed they were just playing around.
During that time, Shen Yu seemed to adore this game, constantly yelling after her: "If it catches you, you're dead meat!"
And so she ran for her life, running until her face flushed red, her breath hitched, and she struggled to catch air. If bad luck struck and the Doberman caught up to her, she would be tackled to the ground by that damned big dog. Then Shen Yu would show no mercy, shoving Xie Qianqian straight into the muddy patch in the ancestral courtyard and laughing callously at her stupidity.
Back then, Shen Ciqian would only watch the scene by the sidelines with an expressionless face, never intervening in Shen Yu's pranks—and, of course, never joining in either.
Whenever Shen Yi happened to see Shen Yu releasing the dog to chase Xie Qianqian like a monkey show, a bloodthirsty excitement would flash in his eyes. Yet every time the Doberman caught up to her, he would walk away with a sudden loss of interest, as if he only enjoyed the thrill of the chase itself.
Later, on one occasion when Shen Yu shoved Xie Qianqian into the mud, beneath her lay a patch of humulus wild hops hidden by the mud. It was the middle of summer, and young as she was, she was wearing a summer dress. The sharp prickles and serrated edges of the leaf stems stabbed deep into her flesh. She was still a child after all; tears welled up from the sheer pain, yet from start to finish, she didn't let out a single sob. She merely stared deathly hard at Shen Yu with bloodshot eyes, leaving him completely stunned.
Right then, a figure stepped up behind Shen Yu. Grabbing him by the collar, the newcomer tossed him straight into the ancestral residence's outdoor swimming pool, completely ignoring Shen Yu's screaming and thrashing. That person was the teenage Shen Zhi.
Afterward, covered in injuries and thoroughly exhausted, Xie Qianqian returned to the house. Shen Zhi's tall, slender figure was leaning against the hallway wall. His shadow fell at her feet, and his voice sounded somewhat distant, asking with an almost surreal quality: "Have you ever heard of the law of the jungle?"
The battered, messy girl shook her head. He straightened up and said to her, "You should go learn it." With that, he vanished down the far end of the hallway.
From that day on, Xie Qianqian understood the rule that the weak fell prey to the strong.
Recalling that incident, she let down her guard just a fraction.
As Shen Zhi continued preparing the supplies, Xie Qianqian slowly laid back onto the soft, dark leather sofa, her bright eyes fixed on him.
Shen Zhi glanced at her expression. The vigilance in her eyes had faded slightly, replaced instead by a touch of nervousness.
A faint, silent tug touched the corner of his lips. "Do you want me to help you take it off?"
The eyes behind his rimless glasses were flat, still, and devoid of the slightest ripple—like a calm, detached operator.
With an extremely faint zip that cut through the quiet room, Xie Qianqian pulled the zipper all the way down. Inside was a crop-top sports bra. Her everyday undergarments were always like this, wide shoulder straps that wrapped fully around her chest for ease of movement, though they didn't look particularly feminine.
Shen Zhi picked up a pair of scissors nearby. Xie Qianqian heard a soft snip as her shoulder strap was cut through. She shifted her shoulder uncomfortably, and Shen Zhi's hand paused, his tone dropping slightly: "Don't move."
Once Xie Qianqian froze, he continued cutting through the shoulder strap, saying to her, "If that had been a bullet, would you have used your body to block it, too?"
Staring at the plain white ceiling, she said with an expressionless face, "I calculated the reflection angle and 3D cross-section. Even a bullet wouldn't have killed me."
Shen Zhi raised his eyes to sweep a glance over her calm, water-clear light eyes. He had heard that Xie Qianqian had entered Tsinghua University as a top science student, but over the past few days, he was astonished to discover that she could quantify numbers so concretely, like a machine running at high speeds.
"If you hadn't blocked that strike, where would the target location have been?"
Xie Qianqian tilted her head to look at him, suddenly reaching out her index finger to tap his temple. The instant her warm finger touched his skin, the blood inside Shen Zhi's body seemed to boil in an instant. A powerful surge of rejection pressed into his chest, yet the moment his gaze met those clear, light pupils that held zero hesitation, it vanished into thin air.
Her warmth seemed to linger at his temple, pulsing steadily. Yet his emotions had already completely settled down; he had never suppressed an emerging surge of emotion in such a short span of time.
Shen Zhi swallowed with some difficulty, dropping his eyes to cut through her remaining shoulder strap. It had all unfolded in a mere fraction of a second, without a single change crossing his face, so Xie Qianqian had no way of knowing that her tiny gesture had nearly put her in grave danger.
Peeling the fabric slightly downward, Shen Zhi got a clear view of the wound. It indeed wasn't large. After inspecting it, he said, "It's a needle, not a thin one."
Yet the girl before him looked straight at him. "Is it poisonous?"
Shen Zhi arched a brow slightly. "What if it is? Suck it out?"
Xie Qianqian was taken aback. "You'd help me suck out poison?"
"No. I'm a law-abiding citizen, I don't do poison."
"..."
Shen Zhi retrieved the sterilized tweezers from the tray. "Did you see who did it?"
"No. I only know the location was the fourth window on the east side of the second floor of the venue."
"Only the two of us know about today's injury. Got it?"
Xie Qianqian nodded.
"If something like this happens again in the future, you're not allowed to use your body to block it."
"I'm here to protect your safety."
She blurted it out without a second thought. Shen Zhi's lowered eyelashes concealed the light in his eyes.
Xie Qianqian asked, "Do you know who it was?"
Yet Shen Zhi suddenly let out an exceptionally flat chuckle. "I don't know, but it's not hard to guess. If this thing had really flown into my temple, who would be the beneficiary?"
Xie Qianqian blinked slightly. Her master was right: she could conquer any martial arts challenge, but she could never learn to read the human heart. If something happened to Shen Zhi, there would be far too many beneficiaries. The entire Shen family and the group would undergo a complete reshuffle, making almost everyone a beneficiary. It was impossible for her to guess who it could be.
"This might hurt a bit. Bear with it."
Shen Zhi used a metal instrument to hold open the area around her wound. His fingers were long, pale, and clean, like smooth, warm jade. When he raised his wrist, that scent she found strangely familiar grew even clearer. Natural, rich, and elegantly subtle, it wasn't harsh or pungent like perfume, giving her an insatiable sense of comfort that made her whole body relax.
She always felt as though she had smelled this scent somewhere before—perhaps in Miss Mu Zi's room—but it was so long ago that she couldn't verify if the memory was accurate.
Beneath his thick eyelashes, Shen Zhi's thin lips were lightly pursed, his gaze entirely focused on the wound. His fingers didn't even touch her skin as he meticulously extracted the rather thick silver needle bit by bit, his movements refined and composed, like an exquisite frame from a slow-motion classic film.
As he operated, conversation between the two ceased. Xie Qianqian's senses were amplified; Shen Zhi's exceptionally steady breathing fell upon her skin inch by inch, making her feel a subtle tickle, so she simply closed her eyes to stop looking at him.
When Shen Zhi pulled the silver needle out, he knit his brows, looking at the thick needle that measured a full five or six centimeters in length. She hadn't shown a single trace of abnormality on the entire ride back with him.
From the moment he cut open her skin until now when he extracted the needle completely, she hadn't uttered a single sound, with only a light sheen of sweat breaking out on her forehead. How could it not hurt? It was simply that this girl's endurance was far too formidable, so strong it made one feel a ache in their heart for her. Or perhaps she was simply long accustomed to burying pain deep inside.
Breathing in the soothing aroma, Xie Qianqian's thoughts drifted further and further, until she drifted straight off to sleep. Thus, when Shen Zhi finished dressing the wound, he discovered that the little girl's breathing before him had already grown even and steady.
Shen Zhi swept a glance over her quiet, sleeping face. Beside her rosy lower lip sat a subtle, faintly visible mole, adding a touch of sensual charm to her delicate face that made Shen Zhi look twice involuntarily.
Throughout the entire process, Shen Zhi had relied on instruments and barely touched her. Only after applying the medication did he inadvertently cast a glance over.
With her shoulder straps cut, the soft curves beneath held a subtly alluring shape.
Neither his mind nor his senses had ever paid attention to this part of a woman's body, yet his eyes unexpectedly lingered for a brief second. A sudden, inexplicable heat rose in his throat, and he quickly averted his gaze.
Xie Qianqian's facial features were delicate and full of collagen, but her body was another story. The skin on her arms and lower abdomen was firm, without a trace of excess fat—one could even spot sleek, beautiful ab lines that showcased a perfect balance of strength and physical grace.
As Shen Zhi peeled off his gloves, he felt a strange sensation ripple from the depths of his heart, like a drop of rain falling onto a calm lake, stirring up circles of ripples that softened the once-still surface.
Cleaning up his supplies, he stepped out of the room. Dr. Jiang had been waiting outside anxiously, and seeing Shen Zhi emerge, he didn't ask how the injured girl inside was doing, but immediately asked, "Are you alright?"
Shen Zhi showed no signs of distress, looking as calm as when he had first entered, casually handing the tray over to him. "The object has been extracted. Take it back to run a test on it."
By the time Shen Zhi finished washing his hands, Dr. Jiang had packed up his kit, asking, "Where's the girl?"
"Asleep."
"..." Dr. Jiang had never seen a patient fall asleep without anesthesia! What a remarkable young woman!
TRANSLATOR'S NOTES
Glossary Additions & Adaptations
q大 (Q University): Adapted to "Tsinghua University" (or kept as a premier top-tier university setting) to align with her status as a top science student.
杜賓犬 (Doberman Pinscher): The breed of dog Shen Yu used to bully Xie Qianqian in childhood.
葎草 (Humulus scandens / Wild Hops): A vine covered in sharp, serrated prickles that scratch and cut skin easily.
Translation & Context Notes
Wordplay on "不吸毒": Preserved the dry comedic banter where Xie Qianqian asks if he will suck out poison ("吸毒") and Shen Zhi jokes that he is a law-abiding citizen who doesn't do drugs ("不吸毒", which uses the same characters in Chinese).
Sensory & Emotional Beats: Carefully preserved Shen Zhi's touch aversion dynamics and his internal shift as he manages to suppress his physiological reaction around Xie Qianqian.
TRANSLATOR'S NOTES
Glossary Additions & Adaptations
星誼傳媒 (Starry Entertainment): The major entertainment company controlled by Guan Pinyan (Guan Ming's elder sister).
關品妍 (Guan Pinyan): Eldest daughter of the Guan family, head of Starry Entertainment.
一間堂 (Yijiantang): Shen Zhi's private ancestral courtyard home in the capital.
蔣醫生 (Dr. Jiang): Shen Zhi's personal physician.
Translation & Tone Notes
Atmosphere & Humor: Preserved the heroine's dry internal monologue regarding the spooky, antique interior of Yijiantang ("If someone wanted to film an adaptation of Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio...").
Shen Zhi's Condition: Preserved the subtle hints about Shen Zhi's touch aversion / psychological discomfort around women without explicitly explaining it prematurely, staying true to the source narrative's pacing.
Tone & Dialogue: Maintained the playful, blunt nature of Xie Qianqian asking about the "calling him Mom" incident and Shen Zhi's dry, protective demeanor.
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