Ten minutes passed with no reply — her messages still showing as green outgoing bubbles. Xuanzhao Ran puffed out her cheeks.
She picked up her phone, ready to send a few more “threatening” messages, when the bedroom door flew open with a bang.
“Daddy~” The little girl called out sweetly, then went right back to lying on the bed playing with the doll in her hands.
Xuanzhao Ran swallowed hard. “B-B-Brother… are you… are you done with your meeting?”
“Say what you have to say.” Xuan Yanyu walked over and sat down on the sofa, crossing his long legs, lazily sweeping a glance over Xuanzhao Ran.
“Brother.” Xuanzhao Ran blinked at him.
The man propped his cheek on one hand, his tone offhand. “If your eye is bothering you, go see a doctor.”
Xuanzhao Ran rolled her eyes, then slowly shifted over to sit beside Xuan Yanyu. “Brother, didn’t my sister-in-law tell you?”
“Tell me what?” The joints of Xuan Yanyu’s fingers were well-defined and elegant as they tapped idly on the sofa’s armrest, the ink-dark pupils of his eyes filled entirely with the image of his daughter.
Xuanzhao Ran pursed her lips, not knowing how to begin.
Seeing Xuanzhao Ran hesitating and stopping herself, Xuan Yanyu explained: “Your sister-in-law did mention yesterday that she had something important to tell me. But I was very busy yesterday and didn’t listen. By the time I was free, she’d fallen asleep from exhaustion. So — is what she wanted to say your business?”
Xuanzhao Ran looked as if she had discovered something astonishing. “Brother, sister-in-law had something to tell you and you were too busy? And you didn’t listen?! That’s surprising!”
Xuan Yanyu shot her a cool, sidelong glance.
“Brother, you really mustn’t do that in the future.” Xuanzhao Ran offered her well-intentioned counsel.
“All that talk about being busy — it’s just an excuse. How many sentences would it really take? How long could it possibly hold you up? Be careful — if my sister-in-law gets fed up, she has no shortage of attentive young men at her company. And my sister-in-law is beautiful, with a great figure.”
“And sister-in-law is their boss on top of that — oh heavens. Watch out for sister-in-law deciding you’re too unruly and dumping you to find some other well-behaved young man.”
Noticing Xuan Yanyu’s cool gaze settle on her, Xuanzhao Ran ignored it and continued her advice: “Having such a beautiful wife…”
Xuan Yanyu’s toneless voice cut in: “Xuan Zhao Ran. If you say another word of nonsense, I’ll cancel your card.”
Xuanzhao Ran instantly clapped her hand over her mouth. “Brother, pretend you never heard what I just said.”
“But Brother, I mean it — sister-in-law has money, and she’s beautiful, and she runs the company so well. You really do need to treat my sister-in-law better. Otherwise, she really might not want you anymore. What would you ever do then?” Xuanzhao Ran couldn’t help adding.
“Notify finance — cancel Xuanzhao Ran’s living allowance. There’s no need for finance to transfer it to her going forward. She clearly has too much free time on her hands. She can go find a job.” The moment Xuanzhao Ran finished speaking, Xuan Yanyu had already placed the call.
“Brother!” Xuanzhao Ran grabbed Xuan Yanyu’s sleeve tightly, struggling to hold herself together. “Brother, Brother, Brother! I was wrong. Sister-in-law loves you most — she would never not want you.”
Xuan Yanyu pried her hand loose and stood up from the sofa.
“Brother!” Xuanzhao Ran switched to clutching his arm, laughing apologetically. “I was talking nonsense, all of it. Brother, my dearest brother! Please forgive my wild rambling.”
“Let go.”
Xuanzhao Ran slowly released her grip, pressed her palms together, and looked at Xuan Yanyu with a pitifully feigned expression. “Brother, I truly will never again say that sister-in-law doesn’t want you.”
Xuan Yanyu looked down at her, the corner of his mouth curving slightly, and — to Xuanzhao Ran’s hopeful gaze — he said without a shred of mercy, “Too late.”
“Brother!”
Xuan Yanyu strode toward the bedside and beckoned to the little girl. “Sweetheart, let’s go. Come back to the room with Daddy.”
The little girl obediently climbed up from the bed and threw herself into Xuan Yanyu’s arms.
“Brother, I still have something I haven’t told you yet.” Seeing father and daughter about to leave, Xuanzhao Ran hurried to block the way.
Xuan Yanyu let out a thin laugh. “Why didn’t you say it just now? You were too busy talking nonsense.”
“I… I…”
Xuan Yanyu glanced at the time. “If you have something to say, say it quickly. Don’t keep me from going to find my wife.”
“I… I’m in a relationship, Brother. Can you go speak to Mom and Dad for me?” Xuanzhao Ran said it all in one breath.
Xuan Yanyu’s eyes narrowed slightly. “Is it Qiuci?”
Xuanzhao Ran waved her hands frantically. “No, no, it’s not.”
Xuan Yanyu raised an eyebrow. “Then who? Another bodyguard from our household?”
“No — it’s your good friend.”
“My good friend?” Xuan Yanyu gave a lazy smile. “He went behind my back to get together with my little sister?”
“Hmm?” Xuanzhao Ran reminded him, “Don’t put it like that. Back when you and my sister-in-law got together, didn’t Jing Zhi-ge have no idea either?”
Xuan Yanyu’s gaze drifted over to her with an unhurried air.
“Brother, please help.” Xuanzhao Ran batted her eyes.
“Not my business. Your own affairs — go tell Mom and Dad yourself.” Xuan Yanyu took a step forward, then paused. “If Dad doesn’t agree, there’s no point going to anyone else.”
“Brother, I know… I…”
“Click.” Before Xuanzhao Ran could finish, Xuan You-yi found the card she had been holding interesting and let it drop to the floor at Xuanzhao Ran’s feet.
Xuanzhao Ran bent down to pick it up, wiped it clean with a tissue, and handed it back to the little girl. “Hold it carefully, sweetheart.”
“Thank you, Auntie.” The little girl beamed and showed it to Xuan Yanyu as a little treasure. “Daddy, do you like it?”
Xuan Yanyu’s lips curved faintly. “If sweetheart likes it, Daddy likes it.”
“I like it.” The little girl gave an emphatic nod.
“Good.” Xuan Yanyu tweaked her little upturned nose. “Daddy will give you lots and lots. How’s that?”
The little girl’s soft little baby voice was brimming with delight. “Yes, yes.”
Xuan Yanyu looked at Xuanzhao Ran and offered a compliment: “My daughter helped you play your little trick, and you know to give her something in return.”
“?” Xuanzhao Ran answered honestly, “That card wasn’t something I gave Jiaojiao. I thought she’d taken it out of her own pocket.”
Xuan Yanyu looked down and asked the little girl in his arms, “Sweetheart, did Mommy give you this card, or did Grandpa and Grandma?”
The little girl’s small finger pointed toward the bed. “It was there.”
Xuanzhao Ran’s eyes stilled slightly.
Xuan Yanyu took the card from the little girl’s hands by gentle persuasion, examined it carefully, and then held it out to Xuanzhao Ran. “This card belongs to Father. The material, the craftsmanship, and the logo on it — Father had them custom-made. There couldn’t possibly be a duplicate card face.”
“If it wasn’t given to you, then it must be the one Father gave to Qiuci back then.”
Xuanzhao Ran’s lips tightened. “But the cards Father gave us have a different card face.”
“The logo is the same. No one at the company would dare to have the company logo custom-made except Father, and no staff member would commission it for him either.”
Xuanzhao Ran didn’t dare acknowledge it. “Brother, it’s possible that Mom or sister-in-law had it made.”
Back then when Father gave Qiuci the card, she had only found out about it later. It was precisely because of that incident that she had completely let go of Qiuci.
And because of learning about it, she had mocked him every single time she saw him — without fail, not once.
But now she was being told that Qiuci had given the card to her…
He hadn’t broken up with her because of money…
Xuan Yanyu’s throat moved slightly. “If Mom and Ningning had it custom-made, why would it turn up in your room? Why wouldn’t they give it to you in person?”
“Brother… I… did I misunderstand him…”