The Guide to Rising to Power: The Ultimate Schemes of a Green Tea Beauty

Shen Yao lay on the soft bed, overwhelmed by a wave of physical and mental exhaustion.

In her original plan, she should have gone a little further and used some subtle, elusive tactics to entice that gentleman to lie down on the bed with her, thus taking their relationship to the next level.

But looking at Zhou Jingyan's upright and principled demeanor, she knew in her heart that there was probably no chance tonight.

How ironic...

In her last moments before falling into a deep sleep, Shen Yao vaguely thought:

"What I painstakingly fought for, even at the cost of self-harm, seems to require only a few tears and a pitiful act in his eyes?"

This realization made her feel an absurd sense of powerlessness.

Zhou Jingyan... could he actually be easy to win over? Can you just pester him and play the victim to get him?

With this chaotic and ridiculous thought in mind, which even she herself found laughable, Shen Yao fell into a deep sleep.

If Zhou Jingyan knew what she was thinking right now, he would definitely cry out that he was wronged!

Zhou Jingyan has always been clear about separating public and private matters. His upbringing and principles are to help others and protect the weak, but this is completely different from romantic love.

The victim herself was sitting on the sofa in the living room, just a wall away from her, but she was restless and unable to sleep.

Only a dim floor lamp was on in the room, the light outlining his slightly agitated profile.

His mind was replaying everything that had happened that night in a relentless, uncontrollable loop.

She traveled all the way from Shanghai to Beijing just to find him?

How long did she wait downstairs at his company? How many tears did she secretly shed?

How desperate and heartbroken she must have felt when she discovered that the opportunity she had worked so hard for had been taken away in such a despicable way?

These imaginings, like invisible threads, tightly wrapped around his heart, giving rise to a tenderness and affection that even he himself found unfamiliar.

In the end, the relationship between men and women is nothing more than a matter of mutual affection.

The world used to teach men to protect women, while women were instructed to rely on men. But nowadays, that saying has long become a joke.

Why should a woman have to depend on a man? For many clear-headed women, the word "depend" is an irony.

Conversely, would a man really easily have the thought of "I'll take care of you" for someone?

What can make a man completely infatuated often starts with that slight reluctance.

What's terrifying is that even a little bit of pity is enough to silently cause the high wall built by reason to crumble.

Whether that "misery" is real or not, or what others think, what does it matter? He believes it, so it's real.

Just as Zhou Jingyan was in a state of utter confusion and unable to sleep, a faint, suppressed sobbing sound came from under the bedroom door.

Zhou Jingyan's heart tightened suddenly.

What's wrong with her?

He almost immediately stood up from the sofa, tiptoed to the bedroom door, hesitated for a moment, and then gently pushed the door open.

By the faint moonlight filtering through the window, he saw Shen Yao curled up on the bed, her brows furrowed, fine beads of sweat on her forehead, her lips trembling slightly, emitting intermittent, fearful sobs.

Did you have a nightmare?

Zhou Jingyan walked to the bedside, squatted down, and tried to soften his voice as much as possible to comfort her: "Shen Yao? Don't be afraid, it was just a dream, it's alright now."

The attempts to appease them did not seem to work.

Shen Yao was still trapped in the nightmare, her body convulsing slightly, muttering something incoherently, her voice filled with pain and fear, as if she were being chased by something terrifying.

Seeing her like this, and thinking about everything she had experienced tonight, Zhou Jingyan did something that even he found crazy.

He reached out, his movements gentle yet firm, and carefully pulled the curled-up Shen Yao, along with the blanket, into his arms.

The girl's soft, trembling body fell into his arms, carrying the faint fragrance of her bath and the salty taste of her tears.

A shiver of dread, a mixture of satisfaction and guilt, shot through his spine like an electric current.

Reason screamed in his mind, warning him that he was stepping into a gentle trap: one wrong step and he would be doomed.

But the warmth in his arms felt so real, and her vulnerability, like a silent vine, entangled his steps as he tried to retreat.

He was acutely aware that he was falling.

Even...willing to make the same mistake again and again.

Zhou Jingyan leaned down, his forehead almost touching her sweaty, stray hairs.

Those faint murmurs were like hooks, drawing out his deepest desire to explore.

He wanted to know what other terrible past she had, besides the harm inflicted by He Tian, ​​that even her dreams wouldn't let her go.

"...Mom...Mom..."

"Please... I miss you so much... Don't leave me... Don't leave Yao Yao..."

"Don't die..."

Mom? She's calling for her mom?

Is her mother no longer alive?

Zhou Jingyan felt a sudden pang in his heart, a wave of bitterness rising from the reopening of old wounds.

Those childhood memories he thought he had long forgotten suddenly surfaced clearly in his mind at this moment.

His father was as extravagant with affection as he was with his mother. The more flamboyant and passionate he was when pursuing her, the more ruthless and cold he became when he grew tired of her.

As a child, Zhou Jingyan often saw women with different faces walking out of his father's bedroom in the early morning, or was forced to listen to unabashed lewd moans coming from next door late at night.

"It's okay, Jingyan, your father loves me."

Countless times he stood by the dimly lit bedside, watching the wet, cold tear stains on his mother's face, listening to her pale defense of that man in a trembling voice; he watched as his gentle mother was gradually worn down, becoming timid, and finally twisted and driven mad in the abyss of despair.

"Don't leave me! Don't die!"

He had also cried out these words with all his might, on that rainy night when his mother tried to cut her wrists, he knelt on the cold ground and begged her.

From that moment on, protecting his mother became his instinct.

He learned to cook for his mother and do housework, trying his best to support the empty shell of a "home" with his young shoulders.

When his father passed away, he felt a shameful sense of relief welling up inside him.

However, the mother did not improve; instead, she completely broke down after losing her obsession with something.

Why?

Looking at his mother's frantic state, young Zhou Jingyan felt only heartache and immense confusion.

Love? What exactly is it that can make someone so humble and so devastated?

Perhaps it was this irreversible childhood trauma that drove him to subconsciously protect those who seemed vulnerable. By saving others, he tried to fill the void in his heart that he could never redeem from his mother.

But this time, it's completely different.

He gazed at the face in his arms.

A clear and firm thought broke through all hesitation and began to grow wildly:

Zhou Jingyan must protect Shen Yao.

It wasn't out of habitual pity, nor because her similar circumstances to her mother aroused his sympathy.

The cold wind must not disturb her, and the rain must not wet her.

He wanted to build her an impregnable fortress, completely isolating her from all filth and harm.

As for what lies behind this almost obsessive desire to protect?

His mind was in turmoil at the moment, and he had not yet figured it out.

Zhou Jingyan gently adjusted his position so she could lean more comfortably against him, then mimicked the gentle tone his mother used to coax children, speaking in a deep, magnetic voice, repeatedly and patiently whispering in her ear:

"Yaoyao, don't be afraid, Mommy's here, Mommy's here."

"It's okay, Yao Yao, Mommy's holding you, don't be afraid."

"Go to sleep, Mommy is with you, sleep peacefully."

His voice carried a strange, reassuring magic, like a warm tide, slowly enveloping Shen Yao's nerves, which were taut with fear.

Under his gentle and persistent reassurances, Shen Yao's tightly furrowed brows began to relax little by little.

Her rapid and suppressed breathing gradually became steady and long; the hand that was tightly gripping the corner of the blanket slowly relaxed.

Like a weary bird that has finally found its nest, she unconsciously snuggled closer to his warm embrace and drifted into a peaceful sleep.

Moonlight streamed through the gaps in the curtains, bathing the two of them.

Zhou Jingyan looked down at the girl in his arms, who had finally returned to a peaceful sleeping face. Her long eyelashes, like two small fans, cast a faint shadow under her eyelids.

The girl's cheeks still bore traces of wet tears, but the pain and fear from before were gone, leaving only a serene and defenseless vulnerability.

A feeling of heartache and a certain indescribable tenderness slowly flowed and spread in his chest.

He held her tightly, not daring to move, for fear of disturbing her sweet dreams.

The moonlight fell on her tightly closed eyelashes, and no one saw the hand that was quietly clenching under the covers.