April passed in a flash. With the new movie release, Fu Xueli’s busyness increased dramatically. She had no choice but to run all over the country for promotional activities.

The last stop was in Kanjiang, right next to the neighboring city.

Resting at the hotel in the evening, shoulders slumped, Fu Xueli half-sprawled on the bed doing a face mask. Several consecutive days of high-intensity work had left her somewhat wilted.

A while back, there had been an incident of moderate size. Tang Xin gave Fu Xueli a white envelope. She tore it open in confusion and looked—several photos fell out.

All of them were of her and Xu Xingchun. Various locations. A few shots even followed them to downstairs at his place.

The paparazzi were really something—to be able to follow them into Xu Xingchun’s neighborhood with that level of security.

Without a second word, that very night she threw out several hundred thousand in red envelopes to buy back the negatives and suppress the news. Fu Xueli was both angry and alarmed, furious to the core.

After cleaning up the mess, Tang Xin lay sprawled on the sofa, her tone cool. “You’re a celebrity, which means you’re destined not to be like ordinary people. Recently when you go out, have people follow you. Don’t mess around.”

Her personal freedom was inevitably restricted. Besides being annoyed, Fu Xueli suddenly experienced the helplessness and bitterness of this profession.

After going through all these things, she had pent-up anger in her belly. She increasingly loathed this circle. Actually, from the moment she entered the industry, Fu Xueli had realized she probably wasn’t suited to be a celebrity.

She had no interest in others’ adulation, nor could she find satisfaction in her own existence from others’ affection. She was too lazy to fawn and flatter anyone insincerely. Thus, thoughts of retiring gradually arose in her heart.

However, Fu Xueli hadn’t mentioned any of this to Xu Xingchun.

When she received his call, two assistants were in the room arranging tomorrow’s schedule. Fu Xueli rolled over and got up, put on slippers, and ran out to the corridor to take the call.

“Hello…”

Her slightly downcast voice fell too obviously on someone’s ears. Xu Xingchun asked, “What’s wrong? In a bad mood?”

Once this question was asked, she couldn’t hold it together anymore. Fu Xueli leaned back against the wall, one ear with an earphone, her slipper rubbing on the carpet. She bit her lip, desperately holding back tears. She didn’t know why she wanted to cry.

Maybe it was because she hadn’t seen him in so long.

So much she wanted to say, but didn’t know how to say it.

“No… I just miss you.” She murmured softly.

After a while, he turned on video on his end.

Fu Xueli saw herself on the phone screen and was shocked to realize her face was covered with volcanic mud—not pretty at all. The sad emotions from just now were considerably diluted.

She fumbled about and quickly turned off the video.

After a moment of silence, Xu Xingchun laughed gently. “Why’d you turn it off?”

“No way, I haven’t washed my face. This makes me look really ugly.”

“Not ugly, very pretty.”

“Doesn’t your conscience hurt lying with your eyes wide open?” Fu Xueli was completely unmoved. “Point it at your face. I can’t even see you.”

In the bedroom, Xu Xingchun was buttoning his pajama top with one hand, sitting on the edge of the bed. Hearing this, he bent down and adjusted the camera angle.

He had just showered, the edges of his hair a bit damp. Maybe it was the lighting—his eye color seemed lighter, exceptionally gentle and soft. “What’s been happening recently? Why are you unhappy?”

Due to professional habit, Xu Xingchun had intuition beyond ordinary people. And his voice also had a peculiar, magical power to comfort people’s hearts.

Fu Xueli put away all her worries and tried to force out a smile. “I’m fine, just really tired recently. I don’t want to be a celebrity anymore. Will you support me in the future?”

With almost no hesitation, she received Xu Xingchun’s response. “Okay.”

Speaking of this, she suddenly remembered a very important question. Because she was relaxed and didn’t think it through, Fu Xueli blurted out, “I just found out a few days ago that Li Jieyi got married. Don’t you have any thoughts about that?”

“….”

Xu Xingchun said nothing.

?!

Heaven and earth…

Oh my god…

What am I saying?

Too awkward…

It sounds like I’m desperate to get married.

“I’m not trying to pressure you or anything.” Realizing there was a problem with her last sentence, Fu Xueli’s mind raced. She happened to glimpse the simple suitcase standing nearby and changed the subject. “Are you going on a business trip again?”

“Yes.”

In the video, Xu Xingchun’s hand holding the phone was a bit low. His face viewed from below carried a somewhat harsh scrutiny, yet was still very refined and pleasing to look at. Very few people could hold this angle.

Fu Xueli was a bit mesmerized by his beauty and casually asked another question. “How long will you be gone?”

“Don’t know.”

“Don’t know?! Is it dangerous?!” Countless bad thoughts suddenly floated through her mind. She inexplicably panicked. “Can you call me regularly?”

“Not necessarily. I’ll try my best.” He paused, feeling a bit sorry for her, before saying, “Not really dangerous. Don’t be afraid.”

This case was related to the source of Heaven drugs. It also had countless connections to a major case his team had solved seven years ago.

The higher-ups had specifically requested him.

But fortunately it wasn’t in a border region. Negotiations in the mainland environment would be relatively much better.

The next evening, Xu Xingchun arrived in Dali and met up with the work team.

The person who came to pick him up wore all black with a scar on his face. The man in black had seen Xu Xingchun’s photo and could recognize him at a glance.

Indeed very handsome. No wonder the police station had specifically chosen Xu Xingchun’s photo as the image photo for the bureau’s website.

Traffic on the road was terrible. The driver chain-smoked several cigarettes while Xu Xingchun carefully reviewed materials in the passenger seat.

The man in black casually chatted with him. “The people we’ll be dealing with this time are quite mixed—a lot of gray-area personnel. We’ll coordinate at the hotel first.”

He suddenly asked, “By the way, buddy, I heard you’ve been on TV. With your looks, there’s no reason you shouldn’t be famous.” Direct without any barriers, very naturally familiar.

Xu Xingchun lowered his voice to explain. “I was on CCTV-12 once a few years ago, with a large potted plant blocking me. Half an arm appeared on camera.”

Someone was already waiting at the hotel.

As soon as Ah Si saw Xu Xingchun, he pounced on him in a hug and pounded his shoulder twice.

They had met in Yunnan before. Xu Xingchun had saved his life. Many of the lackeys in the ice factories where drugs were sold in Yunnan carried submachine guns—even AKs.

Ah Si had been shot through the neck by a drug dealer at the time. Fortunately, Xu Xingchun had rescued him in time and he didn’t die, though two large scars remained on both sides of his neck.

After exchanging pleasantries for a while, Old Wu squinted and smiled, pulled out a cigarette, and said to Xu Xingchun, “Have a smoke, take it easy. Let’s go eat first. Tonight we’ll meet the informant, then discuss work.”

The others nodded along.

Xu Xingchun accepted the cigarette and took it in his hand but didn’t smoke. He suddenly wanted to call Fu Xueli and ask what she was doing.

But then he remembered his phone had just been disassembled and replaced with another monitored card. So he gave up.

Kanjiang was the last stop for this movie’s promotional tour. Fu Yuandong had just been discharged from the hospital a while ago, so Fu Xueli took the opportunity to return to the neighboring city. She had just arrived at the airport when she received a message from Fu Chenglin to have dinner together that evening.

They agreed to meet in the underground parking garage.

Recently Fu Xueli had been worked almost to death. Finding Fu Chenglin’s car, she was still somewhat dazed. She pulled open the car door, planning to slide right in. But then discovered there was a woman in the passenger seat.

“New girlfriend?” She consciously opened the back door and got in.

The two exchanged glances. Fu Chenglin seemed too lazy to introduce much. “Call her sister-in-law.”

To avoid fans and remain inconspicuous, Fu Xueli’s appearance was extremely low-key. The woman in the passenger seat smiled. “Are you Fu Xueli? Many of my friends really like you.”

Then she said intimately and naturally, “Chenglin always mentions you.”

She casually glanced at this future sister-in-law, covered head to toe in top luxury brands. Bejeweled and glittering.

Fu Xueli wasn’t very interested. “Is that so?” Really too tired, she was too lazy to engage.

The next words hung in the young woman’s throat. Her smile became somewhat forced. The atmosphere in the car was a bit awkward for a moment.

Fu Chenglin explained with a straight face. “That’s just her personality. She hasn’t been very polite since childhood.”

“It’s fine.”

The two siblings hadn’t seen each other in a long time, but because of the outsider present, they didn’t talk the whole way. They just quietly went all the way to the restaurant.

The restaurant was Jinbi Garden—a bit too magnificent and solemn. Taking advantage of the woman going to touch up her makeup, Fu Xueli pulled Fu Chenglin aside. “What’s going on? Where’d this sister-in-law pop out from? You changed again? You’re pretty fast, huh?”

“Dad chose her. We’ve been together for a while. She’s okay.”

“What about the previous one?”

“Broke up.”

“What’s the situation now?”

“Having dinner with his parents. Your uncle is waiting for you. Let’s go up.”

Seeing Fu Chenglin’s mood wasn’t good, Fu Xueli couldn’t help asking, “Why do you look so bad?”

Fu Chenglin gave the car keys to the valet. “I’m out entertaining until one or two in the morning every day. What do you think?”

They were the last to arrive.

Both families were already seated in the private room.

The other parents were very well-mannered. Although they were surprised at first sight of Fu Xueli, they quickly collected their expressions.

They only ordered food once everyone had arrived—Fu Chenglin did the ordering. He looked down at the menu. The woman sitting beside him smiled graciously and appropriately. “Chenglin, Uncle Fu just recovered from a serious illness. He can’t eat anything too oily.”

Fu Chenglin nodded, his expression unchanged. “Got it.”

This meal was tasteless.

After the meal, Fu Chenglin left his chair to pour tea for the other party’s parents.

When asked about when they’d marry, Fu Chenglin’s hand shook and water from the teapot accidentally spilled on the table. As if sensing something, Fu Yuandong cast a faint glance in this direction from not far away.

Fu Chenglin quickly returned to normal and smiled. “Up to her.”

Until the dinner party was nearly over, the future sister-in-law had an evening event. Fu Chenglin drove her there, then returned to the hotel to pick up Fu Xueli.

But she was really too tired. As soon as she got in the car, she closed her eyes and fell asleep. She didn’t know how long had passed. When she woke up, the car had already stopped at the front door of their home.

In the night, Fu Chenglin sat on the hood of the car smoking. His phone was held in his palm, the screen flashing with dim light.

She quietly walked up and snatched his phone in one move.

Fu Chenglin didn’t care and let her look. He didn’t move, smoking intermittently. His gestures and bearing were typically that of a cynical rich second generation.

Seeing what was on the phone, it was Fu Xueli who couldn’t keep her composure. “What I wanted to say earlier but didn’t—what’s your situation? Did you really break up with your Xiao Yun?”

“Yeah.”

“Do you like the current one?”

He deliberately kept his head down. His expression couldn’t be seen clearly. Fu Chenglin said flatly, “Don’t know.”

Seeing him genuinely dejected, like an eggplant hit by frost, his whole person wilted down, seemingly mixed with endless confusion and grievance. Fu Xueli patted his shoulder. “Alright, don’t be like this. No one’s forcing you. Besides—”

“She married someone else.”

“…..”

The second half of her sentence got stuck.

Fu Chenglin threw down the cigarette in his hand and pulled out another one. “A couple days ago, she married someone else.”

Thousands of thoughts converged in her mind. Fu Xueli suddenly felt a sense of shared sorrow, and also very powerless. “I don’t know how to comfort you.”

Fu Chenglin gave a hollow laugh. “I’m not a child. What comfort do I need? Just need a bit of time. Don’t worry about me. Let me be alone for a while. You go on up.”