The First Cold War

"Shuangshuang, let me explain. I was absolutely not trying to stand you up and have dinner with her on purpose. It was a coincidence," Ji Shen said in a low voice.

"A coincidence?" Wen Shuang lifted the corner of her mouth in faint mockery. "Miss He rushed over to tell me that you came here together from home. She also said that Madam Ji is very fond of her, and that the two of you will be getting married soon."

"I went home because my mother said she was feeling unwell, so I went back to check on her. I didn't expect to find He SuoSuo and Mrs. He there too. Since there are longstanding ties between the elders, I had no choice but to bring He SuoSuo out to dinner."

Ji Shen rarely explained himself in such detail.

Wen Shuang gave a cold laugh. "I don't think Officer Ji had much of a 'no choice' situation. You were smiling quite happily at dinner with He SuoSuo just now. And the way you acted together was rather intimate, nothing like a man who has a girlfriend."

And he had said bringing He SuoSuo was out of respect for the elders.

Wasn't that basically admitting that even though Ji Shen had a girlfriend, he had never made it clear that he wasn't single?

Otherwise the elders wouldn't have misunderstood him like that and insisted he take He SuoSuo out to dinner.

In the end, Wen Shuang had been the one reading too much into it.

At that moment, He SuoSuo hurried over as well and said coyly, "Sister Wen Shuang, so you're here too! I'm sorry. Tonight Brother Shen specially invited me to dinner as well, to welcome me back from studying abroad. You know, we've grown up together, and it's been so long since we've seen each other."

The more she said it, the more a fire seemed to burn in Wen Shuang's chest.

Ji Shen shot He SuoSuo a cold glance. "It's only a simple meal. There's no need for you to be so self-important."

"I think the one who's being self-important is me!"

After throwing out those words, Wen Shuang turned and left.

Tang Yan could not help but say to He SuoSuo, "It's exactly because of shameless mistresses like you that so many couples end up breaking up!"

Ji Shen caught up with Wen Shuang at the corner.

He forcibly pulled her into his arms.

But this time Wen Shuang was truly angry. No matter how he explained, she did not want to listen and struggled with all her strength.

Ji Shen had never coaxed a woman before. After trying for a while, even his patience began to wear thin.

"Wen Shuang, I've explained myself this far. If you keep being angry, it's just unreasonable."

Wen Shuang looked up at him. "Are you finally tired? Can't coax me anymore?"

"I thought you were sensible enough to listen to my explanation."

The man's brows were deeply furrowed.

"If I didn't like you, I really would be sensible enough." Wen Shuang laughed with a trace of self-mockery. "Officer Ji, I just suddenly realized that I was being very presumptuous."

This was the first real, full-blown fight since the two of them got together.

Ji Shen was a man, and he had his pride. Trying to soothe Wen Shuang in public, only to meet her stubborn temper, made him feel as though he had lost face as well.

They stood facing each other in silence, then returned home one after the other.

The table was still laid with those exquisite dishes.

Wen Shuang quietly dumped one plate after another into the trash.

Ji Shen frowned. "Do you really need to do this?"

"Oh, right, this does seem like a terrible waste of food." Wen Shuang turned with a plate in hand. "Then I'll take it downstairs and feed it to a dog instead. Feeding a dog is better than wasting all my care and effort!"

Ji Shen's brows knit even tighter.

He could only watch as Wen Shuang packed the dishes one by one into a bag.

He could actually see that she had put a great deal of thought into this lavish dinner.

But seeing how stubborn she was, Ji Shen no longer wanted to coax her.

Having dinner with He SuoSuo had not been his intention.

Besides, if a woman refused to listen to explanations and was unreasonable to the extreme, there was really no point.

Ji Shen had to leave for the airport at five the next morning.

He went straight back to the bedroom to shower.

After dumping the food, Wen Shuang went downstairs to feed a stray dog.

As she fed it, tears kept falling. "Sure enough, feeling sorry for a man is the beginning of bad luck. Being kind to him is worse than being kind to a dog!"

The stray dog ate the meal offered by the beautiful woman and was overjoyed, wagging its tail nonstop at Wen Shuang.

Wen Shuang stroked the little stray dog's head.

"You're still better, little dog. If I'm nice to you, at least you'll bark at me and wag your tail. Unlike lousy men, who only make me angry!"

That night, Wen Shuang did not return to the master bedroom.

Ever since she and Ji Shen had become intimate, they had always slept in the same bed.

But tonight, she did not want to see Ji Shen anymore!

She went to the guest room and wrapped herself up tightly.

Half asleep and half awake, she heard someone open the door and get into bed, then pull her firmly into an embrace from behind.

Wen Shuang instinctively struggled free.

"Don't touch me."

"I'm leaving tomorrow. Are you sure you want to stay angry with me?" The man's warm lips brushed along her neck.

Wen Shuang of course understood what that meant.

"Then leave if you want to leave! If I'm an eyesore to you, I can leave too." Wen Shuang broke free from his hold. "Or, Officer Ji, if you want to sleep in the guest room tonight, then go ahead. I'll sleep on the sofa in the living room."

"Wen Shuang!" Ji Shen had originally wanted to comfort her properly before leaving, but he had not expected her to be this stubborn, refusing to calm down even after four straight hours.

"Don't be so unreasonable!"

At those words, Wen Shuang's heart turned even colder.

So in his eyes, anger meant being unreasonable.

She abruptly sat up, her long hair spilling down her back in disarray from all the tossing and turning. "Then what do you want me to do, Officer Ji?"

"Don't forget what our relationship is." Ji Shen fixed her with a heavy stare.

Wen Shuang curved her lips, her smile carrying a chill. "Then I understand what you mean, Officer Ji."

With a blank expression, she took off her clothes.

She did not stop until she stood completely naked.

"I was the one being ignorant. Officer Ji has already lowered himself so much, and yet I still refused to give you face." Wen Shuang looked at him calmly. "Do whatever you want. I won't forget what kind of relationship we have."

Her yielding, ready-to-be-taken manner only made Ji Shen even more furious.

Angrily, he no longer wanted to say a single word.

He got out of bed.

Wen Shuang did not sleep all night.

At four thirty in the morning, she heard the sound of the man leaving.

She only moved slightly, without getting up.

Then she leaned back against the pillow as tears fell silently, one by one.

Had she really been too willful?

She only demanded too much of love and did not want too many impurities in it. Today, she had watched He SuoSuo cling so intimately to Ji Shen, and the man had not pushed her away.

That was why she had been so angry.

Perhaps Wen Shuang was the one in the wrong for not placing herself properly.

She should never have expected these things from the very beginning.

The two of them began an endless cold war.

If it had been before, whenever Ji Shen went on a business trip, he would certainly have filmed videos and sent photos to Wen Shuang from every place he passed through.

And whatever Wen Shuang did, she would report it to him in exhaustive detail.

But for two full days, neither of them spoke a single word to the other.

Much less a phone call.

Sometimes, when Wen Shuang came home and saw the empty house, she wondered whether she should move out. She began looking at apartments near the theater.

Ji Shen was on a business trip, and his subordinates could clearly see that their Captain Ji had very little staying power when it came to suppressing the household atmosphere.

Little Zhang could no longer hold back and asked, "Captain Ji, did you and Sister-in-law have a fight?"