The man stood, moved back to his own seat, and ate the slightly-clumped noodles with a perfectly blank expression.

Yan Yunning: “…”

The housekeeper had just offered to ladle some soup for him and he had flatly refused — and now look.

“Go on then — what happened next?” Yan Yunning noticed the unmistakable displeasure written all over Xuan Yanyu’s face and took the initiative to ask.

The man’s expression didn’t soften in the slightest. He pulled out a paper napkin, unhurriedly dabbed the corner of his mouth, rose from the chair, and made to head upstairs.

“Sit down and finish eating.”

Xuan Yanyu lowered his lashes and continued toward the door. “Sorry — I only listen to my girlfriend.”

Yan Yunning pressed a hand to her forehead. He was upset — just now, he’d said he had no history, and she had implied he did. He must have taken it as her deliberately using that as an excuse to reject him.

As it happened, Yan Yunning understood him quite well. Xuan Yanyu was indeed angry for exactly that reason.

From the very beginning of their acquaintance, in his eyes, Yan Yunning had always seemed to find fault with him. He’d said he met her requirements, and she’d told him to think it over, then implied she’d seen otherwise.

Seen it on his bed, no less. Rejecting him with such an absurd excuse — how could he not be furious?

Yan Yunning let out a silent sigh, finished her noodles, then carried both her bowl and Xuan Yanyu’s unfinished bowl through to the kitchen.

“Miss Yan, please leave it — I’ll take care of it.” Nanny Feng, who had been brewing a sobering soup, heard footsteps and hurried over to take the bowls from Yan Yunning’s hands.

Yan Yunning smiled. “It’s fine — I was passing by anyway.”

“Miss Yan.” A polite greeting came from across the room.

Yan Yunning’s eyes curved. “And you are?”

“Miss Yan, his name is A’Ci. He used to be a bodyguard for Young Master Xuan, then the Second Miss requested him, and now he serves as the elder Mr. Xuan’s driver.” Nanny Feng explained cheerfully.

“Ah.” Yan Yunning smiled and nodded.

“Alright, Xiao Wan — take this over to the Second Miss.” Nanny Feng finished ladling the sobering soup and handed it to Xiao Wan, who was standing nearby.

A’Ci withdrew the hand he’d half-extended, dipped his head toward Yan Yunning, and said, “Miss Yan, I’ll head off then.”

“Alright.”

A’Ci’s retreating figure left the kitchen with a quiet loneliness. Yan Yunning exchanged a few words with Nanny Feng before returning to her own room.

After washing up and completing her skincare routine, she checked her phone — it was only half past eleven. Not too late. She opened her bedroom door and crossed the hallway, gave a perfunctory knock on the door opposite, found it unlocked, and let herself in.

The man inside had just finished his shower. He wore only a pair of black shorts, his hair still dripping wet, a towel in hand as he was about to dry it.

Clean, tapered waist. Firm chest. Lean, narrow hips. Taut abdominal muscles. Yan Yunning, hopelessly, swallowed involuntarily and stared unabashedly.

“Your brother never mentioned you were a little voyeur.” The man draped a bath towel from the bed around himself and cast a cool glance at the uninvited girl.

Her long hair fell half-dried over her shoulders. She wore a pale pink floral spaghetti-strap sleep dress, the straps whisper-thin, the exposed skin fair and soft. Long, slender legs. Red lips, bright teeth, lovely features — alluringly beautiful.

She wasn’t standing close, yet the tip of his nose could already catch the faint scent of her hair and the clean sweetness of her milk-scented body wash.

Xuan Yanyu dropped his gaze and dried his hair, concealing the scorching heat in his eyes. “Yan Yunning, I’m a man.”

“I know,” Yan Yunning said, genuinely puzzled.

Did she not know he was a man?

“Oh, you know, do you?” Xuan Yanyu’s gaze flicked to the pale skin she was showing. He tamped down the restlessness rising in him, narrowed his eyes, and asked, “When you were at your brother’s place, did you often run to his room in your nightgown after your shower too?”

“No — why would I go to his room?”

She never left her bedroom after washing up. And even on the rare occasion she did, she’d change into proper clothes before stepping out. She certainly didn’t wander around in a nightgown.

“Put something on.” The man tossed a shirt into Yan Yunning’s arms.

“Alright.” Yan Yunning obediently pulled on the shirt.

Xuan Yanyu looked away from her, drew a long, slow breath, and picked up the hairdryer.

Yan Yunning half-reclined in the desk chair and waited. Once the man had finished drying his hair and gone to the bathroom to dress properly, she asked in a soft, unhurried voice, “Xuan Yanyu, I have something I want to ask you.”

“What is it?”

Yan Yunning grew curious. She scooted the chair over to the edge of the bed, the corners of her eyes lifting slightly.

“Tell me about A’Ci — just now downstairs, I heard Nanny Feng say he used to be your bodyguard, then went to Ranran’s side, and now he’s with your father.”

“And earlier, he was waiting in the kitchen to deliver the sobering soup to Ranran, but Nanny Feng sent Xiao Wan instead. A’Ci looked quite crestfallen.”

“Give me a moment — twenty minutes at most.” Xuan Yanyu picked up the notebook from the desk, scrolled through his unread inbox, and connected to a video conference.

Yan Yunning said quietly, “You’re busy — I’ll head back to my room.”

“Ten minutes.”

“I left my phone behind and I’m bored. Just tell me tomorrow.” Yan Yunning kept her voice low.

The man reached over, picked up the phone lying on the bed, unlocked it, and held it out to Yan Yunning. “Here, take it.”

Yan Yunning: “…”

Was he not worried she’d see something she shouldn’t?

“Hmm?” Xuan Yanyu gave the phone a small wave.

Yan Yunning took it, surrendered the chair to him, and Xuan Yanyu wheeled it lazily over to the desk, leaning back against the backrest as he listened to the various overseas branch companies deliver their daily project reports.

Yan Yunning walked to the sofa and sat down, scrolling through the phone’s app list.

Not a single game. Not even a short-video app. Nothing but communications, office tools, data analysis, management, finance, and investment-related applications — with one sole exception: a fitness app.

What on earth was she supposed to do with this?

Go for a run?

This was even more boring than before.

Could she download a short-video app?

Could she?

She probably could!

Yan Yunning glanced at Xuan Yanyu, decided the meeting wasn’t going to wrap up anytime soon, and opened the app store to download a short-video application.

She had just tapped to confirm the download when a video call from Mu Heng came through.

“You get it.” The man’s low, lazy voice carried clearly through the room.

“Oh.” Yan Yunning turned down the volume and answered.

“Yanyu, want to come out? We’re at— Ningning?” The moment Mu Heng called Yan Yunning’s name, Yan Zhiyi, Xie Yan, Lou Ao, and the others all crowded into the phone’s screen.

Yan Yunning glanced at the time — nearly midnight. What were they still going out for?

Xie Yan raised an eyebrow. “Ningning, where’s Yanyu?”

“Busy.” Yan Yunning minimized the call screen, opened the newly-downloaded video app, and tapped to log in with her password.

Her account was already well-curated — nothing but food bloggers and men with impressive abs doing dance routines. She far preferred scrolling her personalized feed to starting fresh on a new account.

“Ningning, are you and Yanyu coming out to join us?”

Hearing Yan Zhiyi’s voice, Yan Yunning turned toward Xuan Yanyu and said softly, “Zhiyi-ge is asking whether you want to go out.”

Xuan Yanyu raised a hand toward his computer screen, then glanced sideways at the girl sprawled across the sofa, and asked at a leisurely pace, “Do you want to go?”

“No.”

It was too late. She wanted to go back to her room and sleep.

“Then we’re not going.”

“Alright.” Yan Yunning turned back, maximized the video call, and said, “He’s not going — you all have fun. Bye.”

Xie Yan said with his signature insufferable tone, “Oh? Wasn’t it just a few days ago that someone told me his phone was full of sensitive documents and he never let anyone look? I said it was only a matter of time before that came back to bite him — and he gave me this look like I was being ridiculous, like it could never happen.”

——