Li Xiaoyi’s mind was in chaos as Zhong Yi pulled her into the restaurant to sit down. At that moment, her phone rang. Seeing the three characters “Zhou Zhihao” on the screen, her face turned pale. She glanced at Zhong Yi and walked out of the restaurant to answer.

“Hey, why did it take you so long to answer my call?” Zhou Zhihao’s voice sounded different from usual—gloomy and dark.

“I… I was just dealing with something, so I was delayed for a bit.”

“What were you dealing with?” Zhou Zhihao sneered coldly. “The store manager said you took two days off! Not even coming to work—what did you go off to do?”

Li Xiaoyi suddenly felt unhappy.

Although Zhou Zhihao had a bit of a temper, during the half year he’d been pursuing her, he had always coaxed and pleased her. Even when he occasionally got angry, he would quickly get over it himself and come apologize to her. He had never spoken to her with such harsh words as today.

But thinking of the person sitting in the restaurant behind her, Li Xiaoyi still felt guilty, so she only answered sullenly: “My younger sister came to Shanghai for a competition, so I came to accompany her.”

“Hmph, what kind of woman are you? Is your sister more important or am I more important? Did I treat you too well before, did I give you too much face, that you dare to run off without saying a word? Damn it, why is everyone causing me trouble! You come back… right… right now… or I’ll… beat you to death!”

Li Xiaoyi’s mind buzzed with a “hum,” remembering what Achan had once said. It felt like a snow-bright blade tip that had been hanging high above her head had finally fallen to the ground.

At the same time, an even more peculiar emotion swept over her. She stood at an unfamiliar intersection with the cold wind rustling, yet it felt as if she were standing in an invisible, enormous torrent. It was her river of fate.

She seemed to feel the current slowly turning direction beneath her feet, as if telling her that fate should be this way, yet shouldn’t be this way.

However, this wondrous sensation vanished in an instant. Li Xiaoyi came back to her senses. By the end, Zhou Zhihao’s speech was already slurred. With tears in her eyes, she asked: “Are you… drunk?”

“I’m not drunk! Li Xiaoyi, I’ve always known you look down on me. I’ve been pursuing you for so long, and you still won’t give me a definite answer. I’ve never seen such a difficult woman. I’m asking you—do you love me or not? I love you! I love you so much!” He actually started crying.

Li Xiaoyi only felt her scalp tingling, panicked and at a loss. Suddenly, her phone was snatched away.

Zhong Yi stood before her, hung up the call, turned off the phone, and returned it to her.

Her face streaked with tears, she took it in a daze.

Zhong Yi’s face had turned cold at some point, though his tone remained as gentle as possible: “I was worried about you, so I came out to check. I heard a few sentences. Don’t be afraid. It’s fine that you hung up. There’s no need to reason with a drunk—when he sobers up, he won’t remember.”

Li Xiaoyi finally broke down crying, saying: “Do you look down on me? He wasn’t like this before. Achan warned me, but I…”

She turned to run, but Zhong Yi was quick-eyed and fast-handed, pulling her into his arms. He said: “Actually, I heard very clearly.”

She froze.

He spoke slowly: “You haven’t given him a definite answer yet, have you?”

Li Xiaoyi’s entire being went blank.

Zhong Yi patted her back and said: “Don’t be anxious, really don’t be anxious, and don’t be afraid. Don’t think about these things for now. Let’s eat, and these two days, still accompany me, your friend, to handle proper business. As for your situation with him, think it over carefully before making a decision. There will always be a way forward. The power of choice in your life is yours—not his, not anyone else’s.”

Li Xiaoyi looked at him. He was more steady and mature than in her memories. Just a few sentences from him made her emotions strangely calm down.

The two returned to the restaurant and ate their meal quietly.

Li Xiaoyi suddenly asked: “Do many men act like this ghost when they’re drunk?”

Zhong Yi lowered his gaze and answered: “I don’t know about others. I don’t usually drink. The only time I got drunk was the day I was discharged from the military. My comrades said that after drinking, I just slept soundly, more obedient than a block of wood, taking beatings and scoldings without reaction. From now on, I’ll absolutely never touch a drop of alcohol.”

Li Xiaoyi: “…”

——

As the lights began to illuminate the evening, Zhang Jingchan and Li Weiyi returned to Chen City.

They decided to return to “their own” respective homes—mainly because Zhang Jingchan had to return to the Li family home and go to school tomorrow, or their lie might be exposed.

Zhang Jingchan first took a taxi to drop Li Weiyi off at the villa entrance. Li Weiyi said: “There’s one more thing. I’d like to trouble you tomorrow.”

Zhang Jingchan asked the taxi driver to wait, got out of the car himself, and stood before her.

“I’d like to ask you to help persuade my parents to let me study painting. If life could be lived over again, I want to try pursuing my dream. I’ll also leave a letter for my seventeen-year-old self to explain. I think ‘she’ will understand and be very happy.”

Night enveloped them, the streetlights sparse. Zhang Jingchan gazed at her and said: “You’re a good financial officer. I even thought that once everything was resolved, I’d poach you to come work at my company.”

Li Weiyi’s eyes and brows were full of smiles: “You have good judgment—Xu Yi’s judgment isn’t as good as yours. But I’m going to disappoint you. I’m also waiting for the fate you’ll rewrite for me.”

When Zhang Jingchan arrived at the Li family home, Father Li and Mother Li were very surprised: “You came back so quickly?”

Zhang Jingchan answered: “The exam was just one morning. Once it was over, I came back to save on accommodation fees.”

“Child, you didn’t even tell us in advance—we didn’t save any dinner for you.” Mother Li hurried to the kitchen. “I’ll go cook a bowl of noodles. Oh, where’s your sister?”

Zhang Jingchan looked up, observing their honest and simple manner, and answered matter-of-factly: “She and Zhong Yi are staying in Shanghai for two days to accompany Zhong Yi and look at business opportunities.”

He was about to head to his room when Father Li said: “Wait a moment, Weiyi. Sit down first and explain properly—what’s going on?”

Zhang Jingchan answered: “I’m not clear. Zhong Yi asked her to help, and she didn’t say she was unwilling.”

Mother Li frowned: “But… your sister already has a boyfriend. Today Zhihao even called asking where your sister went. Although Zhong Yi is a child we know well, still… this isn’t quite appropriate, is it?”

Zhang Jingchan thought of the information Second Uncle had investigated today.

Second Uncle had certain connections when it came to digging up private matters like these. He had not only discovered that one of the Zhou family’s storefronts had property rights disputes and that the fire safety was completely non-compliant—by all rights it should be shut down and rectified—but he had also found out that Zhou Zhihao went out almost every month to secretly visit prostitutes. Second Uncle, eager to claim credit, had already started taking action.

Originally, Zhang Jingchan didn’t care to gossip about people behind their backs, and there was no need to say much to these two honest people. But he remembered how Li Weiyi’s little mouth would babble away with fabrications whenever she helped him; he also remembered Li Xiaoyi saying yesterday that “who his father is doesn’t matter, whether he has money doesn’t matter either.”

This family, except for Li Weiyi, was all too honest. If after he and Li Weiyi left, Zhou Zhihao instead used moral coercion to play the victim, or simply concealed the truth to deceive them into marriage, who could say that wouldn’t happen?

He didn’t like leaving loose ends when doing things. Today, having already sent Buddha to the west, he’d stab Zhou Zhihao one more time.

For him to take action—it was using a cleaver to kill a chicken.

Zhang Jingchan pondered for a moment and said: “Are Sister and Zhou Zhihao still together? I thought they’d broken up.”

“Child, what nonsense are you talking about…”

Zhang Jingchan: “They haven’t broken up? But I heard people saying that the Zhou family’s storefront was investigated and they’ll be fined a lot of money. The storefront might not even be salvageable.”

Father Li and Mother Li froze, exchanging glances. Just as they were about to ask questions, they heard Zhang Jingchan say very casually: “Also, last week after evening self-study ended, I saw Zhou Zhihao walking with a woman wearing a short skirt. He even pulled out five hundred yuan to give that woman, and right on the street, he was touching that woman’s thigh—very intimate. Is he two-timing?”