Bo Jingyu stared at Shen Ximan in shock.
"What did you say? What improvement?"
"… It's nothing. You misheard."
She tucked a wisp of hair behind her ear and was about to leave.
But he grabbed her arm before she could move, his eyes bloodshot.
"Tell me the truth. What's really going on with Grandpa!"
"Why should I tell you?" Shen Ximan shook his hand off.
"What difference would it make if I told you? You'd still turn a blind eye and do nothing about it, wouldn't you!"
This matter was like a ticking time - bomb hidden deep in her heart. She was always worried that it would explode at any moment.
Bo Jingyu wished it were a poison. At least it could burn his internal organs numb. Maybe if it didn't hurt, he could just ignore it.
But he couldn't. It just kept flaring up intermittently.
It tortured him. He constantly regretted his own powerlessness, that he had pushed her away when she needed him most.
"Man'er, I'll accept all your hatred and resentment towards me," Bo Jingyu's eyes pleaded, "but please don't involve Grandpa, okay?"
"He's old and can't take any more turmoil. I'm sure you don't want to see my father take him abroad for treatment either."
There was some truth in what he said.
Shen Ximan had been sneaking into the hospital to give acupuncture treatments to Bo Yanhai for days on end. Her goal was to wake him up so that he could personally testify against Bo Siming and free her from the shackles of injustice.
If Bo Jingming took him abroad, she would be limited.
Not to mention that she had to handle all the company's affairs on her own, just having An Ruo in Yancheng was a danger.
The Shen family hadn't exacted their revenge yet, and Bo Siming was still at large. These unstable factors had always been a heart - ache for Shen Ximan.
"Grandpa's finger moved during the acupuncture. There are signs that he might wake up."
Bo Jingyu's eyes instantly turned red.
This news was like a warm ray of dawn after such a long time, completely dispelling the gloom in his heart.
He held her shoulders with both hands, his eyes misty.
"Is what you said true?"
This was the first time Shen Ximan had seen Bo Jingyu so vulnerable when he was sober. Before, it was always when his headache flared up and he was lying in bed unconscious, looking as if he would shatter with just a touch.
But now, he showed his weakness to her without any hesitation, without any tricks or reservations.
"It's true." Shen Ximan was touched.
She had thought that after going through such painful transformation, she was invincible and would never be soft - hearted again.
But their deep - seated feelings still tugged at her heart.
It made her let go at a critical moment.
"Thank you... Thank you..."
Shen Ximan still remembered that night clearly.
Bo Jingyu's hands tightened on her shoulders. To avoid showing weakness in front of her, he lowered his head and stifled his sobs.
The night wind was cold, fluttering their thin clothes.
But the rift between their hearts seemed to be lifted a little, and their feelings were quietly spreading.
"It's cold outside. Let's go inside and talk."
After an unknown amount of time, Bo Jingyu calmed his emotions and turned to say.
Shen Ximan didn't say a word. She just followed him with a calm face.
"This is the invitation to the luxury yacht party at Lanshan Lake tomorrow night."
He handed the thing over from the table, his eyes calm.
"What are you up to?" she asked.
"It's just a surface - level cooperation exchange. I hope you can attend. I didn't invite Bo Siming, but he will surely find a way to come. Our goals have always been the same."
Hatred welled up in Bo Jingyu's eyes. "That is to bring him to justice."
Shen Ximan scoffed. "Are you suggesting we cooperate?"
"Aren't you out of your mind? You didn't trust me back then and threw me into the abyss. Now you want me to help you. What right do you have to order me around?"
Her cold and heartless words were like bullets to his heart.
But he deserved it. He couldn't blame anyone else.
"If you were in my shoes back then, you'd be in a dilemma too!"
Shen Ximan crossed her legs, looking nonchalant.
"Yeah, compared to property and status, I love money. I do now and I will in the future, but I wasn't like this before."
"If I were you, I would never have left her alone. I would never have let her suffer public and online condemnation and torture herself to a pitiful state."
Bo Jingyu had nothing to say in response to her words.
He felt guilty and had no reason to refute.
"Anyway, I should thank you. If you hadn't let me go back then, I wouldn't have turned things around. I wouldn't be sitting here negotiating with you so confidently. I owe you nothing but feelings."
Shen Ximan picked up the invitation and put it in her bag. Her expression gradually became professional.
"I can help you. After all, it's a mutually beneficial thing, but I have a pre - condition. After Bo Siming is convicted, I hope we'll have nothing to do with each other and never contact each other again."
Bo Jingyu's heart felt like it was being torn apart bit by bit.
Looking at her fake smile, his heart sank.
Before, he could always read her expressions at a glance, but now there was a lot more shrewdness and calculation, all for her own interests.
"I understand."
Although Shen Ximan felt a bit sad, compared to all the hardships she had endured, the pain in her heart from this was just a small thing.
She wouldn't be attracted to him anymore, and it was impossible for her to fall in love with him again.
On the night of the cooperation party, Bo Jingyu had defaulted on her guilt. Maybe that was when her heart died.
"Happy cooperation, Young Master Bo."
He looked at the hand Shen Ximan raised as she stood up and shook it after a long time.
"Happy cooperation."
Coming back to his senses, Bo Jingyu picked up a glass of wine from the table and walked over.
"You've worked hard."
Shen Ximan took it and smiled faintly. "It's just a piece of cake."
Taking a sip of the wine, she signaled with her eyes behind her. "They're here."
"I'll handle it. You go to the back cabin and take a break."
"Ruirui, Ruirui."
Shen Shiyu trotted over in her dress. She couldn't help but give Bo Jingyu a charming look and flashed a meaningful smile.
"Good evening, Second Young Master."
He just pretended not to see her and walked straight to the yacht ladder.
"… Why doesn't he even look at me!"
She was so angry that her face turned as red as a monkey's bottom. Shen Ximan didn't even bother to care.
"Maybe he's busy. You can wander around by yourself. I have some things to take care of."
With that, she turned and headed for the back cabin.
"What's going on here?" Shen Shiyu was completely confused.
She had thought she could tag along with Shen Ximan and meet some top - notch people, but who would have thought that Shen Ximan would leave her alone.
"Humph, I'll just wander around by myself. What's so great about it!"
She mumbled and complained. Then she turned around and bumped into a wall of flesh.
"Ouch! Who's so blind!"
Shen Shiyu rubbed her nose in pain, tears welling up in her eyes.