Taming a Wild Rose - Chapter 6 Part 1

Sheng Zhao was very satisfied with her current life.

She no longer needed to deal with piles of paperwork at work, she no longer needed to hole up in the president’s office every day staring at Yu Shiyun’s gloomy and cold face, and she no longer needed to interact…with annoying people.

The thought of this dimmed Sheng Zhao’s eyes.

The sound of keys jingling came from outside the door. Sheng Zhao assumed it was Li Ji, so she stood up ready to welcome him with a bright smile and clear voice, “Welcome back!”

But the person standing by the entrance clearly wasn’t Li Ji.

Sheng Zhao’s smile vanished instantly.

Standing before the door stood a young man with vibrant red hair and slightly tanned skin, which showed off his rebellious personality. He dressed in leather jackets, metal jewelry, and other flashy attire that made him look extremely rebellious. 

Duan Jingrui glanced at Sheng Zhao, who had opened the door, and grinned, baring sharp canines beneath his lips as his eyes gleamed with pleased delight. “Sheng jiejie, I found you.”

Before he could say anything else, Sheng Zhao suddenly stopped smiling and slammed the door shut with a loud bang.

…What a troublesome person.

“Sheng jiejie, ah, don’t close the door! I didn’t tell Sheng ge, just open up and let me see you—”

“Why won’t you open the door for me? Do you not want to see me?”

The door rattled under his knocks, but Sheng Zhao still refused to open it. His cheerful voice now contained a hint of grievance and dejection; all traces of his arrogant smile had vanished as he bit his lower lip, looking increasingly aggrieved. Just when he was wiping away his tears while begging Sheng Zhao to open the door, Sheng Zhao finally opened the door after being pestered by his pitiful whining.

At that moment, the little boy’s eyes were still slightly red, with tears threatening to spill from their rims. He stared blankly at Sheng Zhao, sniffling, then seemed embarrassed by his own loss of composure and hastily wiped his face, cleared his throat, and tried to hide his awkwardness—but his nose was still red, so he sniffled some more before entering the house.

Sheng Zhao sighed and poured him a cup of water, which the boy sniffled over as he took small sips.

The cool and confident young man from earlier vanished within a split second, leaving only the image of someone wiping his tears behind him. He bit down on the cup as he quietly said, “You’re not going back? Sheng ge is gonna be so mad.”

“I’m not, don’t mention him… Hurry up and go home after you finish drinking this water, how did you find me?”

Duan Jingrui wiped away his tears, then said, “I searched through all your properties until I found this one.”

How foolish.

She had many properties registered under her name in A City; it was truly admirable that he hadn’t grown tired of searching them all.

When she left, she grabbed the deed to a random property without thinking. She didn’t use her bank card because she feared Sheng Chehan would track her location using the transaction history.

Sheng Zhao’s tone softened slightly, sighing, “All right, you’ve found me now, so please head back to school soon. Don’t forget there’s a curfew at your school, right?”

Duan Jingrui paused, shrinking further onto the sofa, lips pressed together refusing to leave. After a long while, he finally spoke, “I missed you, so I came looking for you. Can you not chase me away?”

Sheng Zhao rubbed his messy red hair gently, then said, “You’re still young, what do you have to miss? Go back to school, but promise me you won’t tell anyone else about this, okay?”

Her voice was gentle and coaxing.

Duan Jingrui paused again. “I don’t want to go back to school, nor do I want to go home.”

Sheng Zhao’s expression grew slightly puzzled. “Why?”

He paused briefly, then cleared his throat, his ears and cheeks growing faintly flushed as he lifted his head toward Sheng Zhao, pursed his lips, and stuck out his tongue.

Upon that pink, dainty tongue sat a translucent metal tongue ring, which complemented his bashful expression and made him look inexplicably sexy.

Sheng Zhao hesitated momentarily before abruptly grabbing Duan Jingrui’s tongue, her voice deepening somewhat as she spoke calmly, “Is this why your parents won’t let you return home?”

Caught by the tug on his tongue, Duan Jingrui struggled, tears welling from the pressure on his tongue tip. “Ow… Sheng jiejie… Don’t… It hurts, it hurts!”

“… You really are quite the troublemaker.” Sighing, Sheng Zhao loosened her grip. Duan Jingrui covered his mouth, wary of her reaching for his tongue again.

The tips of Sheng Zhao’s fingers were slightly damp, she slowly wiped them with a tissue. Duan Jingrui mumbled from beside her, “But isn’t this adorable…? I only did it because I wanted to see if you would praise me.”

“Does it hurt?”

“A little…” It was more than just a little, he had been unable to eat for days, crying as he thought about Sheng Zhao.

At this thought, his eyes reddened once again, and he pressed his lips together to suppress the trembling tears threatening to spill forth. Then, unexpectedly, he said fiercely, “I’m not leaving. I’ll sleep on the streets if you want.”

Before Sheng Zhao could respond, the door slammed open, and Li Ji, who had just finished training, saw a rebellious red-haired youth clinging tearfully to Sheng Zhao’s sleeve.

Li Ji, exhausted from a full day of training, looked blankly at the scene before pursing his lips and asking, “… Who is he?”

“My cousin.”

“My fiancé.”

They spoke in unison.

Li Ji remained expressionless, but his eyebrows slowly drew together, and his gaze shifted toward the guilt-ridden Sheng Zhao, seemingly saying—you’d better give me an explanation.