Xu Yi neither met with her nor replied to her messages.

But every day, Li Xiaoyi’s household would receive flowers sent for her younger sister, as well as expensive fruits. Sometimes there were toys for the children or nutritional supplements for the elderly.

The whole family took it in stride, but Li Weiyi’s frown only deepened.

One day, Mother Li said, “Huh? Why haven’t we seen Xu Yi lately? I’m making lamb tonight. Weiyi, if he’s free, invite him over for dinner.”

Father Li also agreed, taking out a bottle of wine and saying, “Perfect timing—a fellow townsman gave me a bottle of home-brewed rice wine. The flavor is quite good. Although Xu Yi has tried all kinds of fine wines, this rice wine has a different taste altogether. Have him come keep me company for a drink.”

Li Weiyi: “He’s been especially busy lately and doesn’t have time.”

Mother Li chided her, “You didn’t even ask him!”

“There’s really no need to call him.”

Mother Li: “You! Xu Yi treats you so well. After all these years, can’t you put more thought into him? If you won’t call him, I will!” As she spoke, she reached for her phone.

Li Weiyi quickly stopped her, saying, “Mom, don’t call him. He and I had a fight. Anyway, you shouldn’t meddle in matters between us young people, or I’ll get angry.”

She didn’t want to explain too much to her parents. After all, once she traveled back, she was determined to erase this romantic storyline, so Xu Yi wouldn’t get hurt either.

Mother Li glared at her twice but ultimately didn’t insist.

When 9:30 in the evening arrived, Li Weiyi went out as usual. Mother Li stood upstairs, watching her get into an unfamiliar car. The driver was clearly a man. Mother Li’s frown deepened. After thinking it over, she dialed Xu Yi’s number.

After all these years, in Mother Li’s heart, Xu Yi was already like a son-in-law.

“Auntie, is something the matter?”

“Xiao Xu, have you been busy with work lately? How’s your health? We haven’t seen you come over for dinner in quite a while.”

Xu Yi on the other end fell silent for a moment before answering, “Auntie, I… have been quite busy lately.”

His hesitant tone confirmed Mother Li’s suspicions. She asked carefully, “Auntie will be presumptuous and ask—have you and Weiyi been getting along well lately?”

Xu Yi grew even more silent. After a moment, he said in a choked voice, “Auntie, she wants to break up with me… She actually wants to leave me. I really am…”

He couldn’t continue. Mother Li’s mind buzzed, feeling both angry and guilty. She asked, “Is she… is she…”

Xu Yi took a deep breath, seemingly controlling his emotions, and said, “Auntie, I think she’s temporarily lost her head, or perhaps someone has deceived her. After all our years together…”

Mother Li immediately said, “That’s right, it must be that. She must have encountered a scammer. That child—at her age, still so naive. Xiao Xu, you’re older than her. Don’t take it seriously, and don’t let it affect your relationship, okay?”

Xu Yi said, “Nothing can affect our relationship. Auntie, can you help me with something?”

“Tell me, tell me!”

“I’d like to set work aside for a while and take her on a trip, just the two of us together, to work through this knot in her heart.”

“Good! That’s a good idea. Auntie supports you.”

“But she won’t see me right now.” Xu Yi gave a bitter laugh. “She certainly won’t go traveling with me.”

“Then what should we do?”

On the other end of the phone, Xu Yi sat alone in the study of a quiet villa. The phone was on the table with the speaker on, and his expression was utterly calm.

“I do have her passport here with me. Auntie, the day after tomorrow morning, just say you’re going to Hainan for a trip and have her take you to the airport. Once we’re at the airport, I’ll take her away.”

“Alright, Auntie will definitely help you.”

The call ended. Xu Yi sat alone for a long while, then gave a self-deprecating laugh and called his secretary. “Is everything prepared?”

The secretary on the other end responded with a bright smile, “Boss, the private plane is ready. That island in the Maldives has also been rented, and it will be set up tomorrow. The ring has already been air-shipped from Europe. Everything is in place, just waiting for you and the lady boss to go.”

“Mm.” Xu Yi acknowledged, though his tone didn’t betray much happiness. After hanging up, he lit a cigarette and smoked it slowly.

She had changed.

From the morning she woke up that day, the way she looked at him had been wrong.

He had waited seven years for her, possessed her for barely one year, and overnight, she said love would eventually dissipate into nothing.

This scene felt strangely familiar.

Had that secret from eight years ago, hidden between her and Zhang Jingchan, happened again?

But Xu Yi didn’t care anymore.

Whether mysterious or forgotten.

Whether it was her or not her, it was still her.

He could still recognize her soul at a glance. She was still the same person—probably just lost her way somewhere in between.

Xu Yi stubbed out the cigarette in the ashtray, exhaled a long stream of smoke, and thought to himself: No one can stop me from obtaining happiness. Weiyi, not even you.

——

The next day, which was the fifth afternoon since Li Weiyi had traveled back, she received a call from Zhang Jingchan. “There’s a new discovery. Come downstairs.”

From a distance, Li Weiyi could see Zhang Jingchan wearing a black jacket, sitting in the car with both hands resting on the steering wheel. The sunlight was clear and transparent. Against the black fabric, his neck appeared even more fair and his wrists slender. Li Weiyi had long felt that his most beautiful feature was his prominent brow bones, as if a master calligrapher had meticulously yet freely sketched two strokes with an ink brush—handsome with a hint of pride.

She got into the passenger seat. Zhang Jingchan started the car. After a moment of silence between them, he asked, “What did you do at home during the day?”

Li Weiyi glanced at him, thinking the sun must be rising in the west—was his conscience bothering him? He was actually willing to make small talk with her.

She answered, “Drawing, watching TV dramas. What else could I do? I’m not allowed to work on actual business.”

Zhang Jingchan fell silent.

Li Weiyi snorted and said, “Today is going to be tough for you and me.”

“What do you mean?”

Li Weiyi checked the time. “We met before 6 PM this afternoon. Doesn’t that mean we have to spend six hours together? Not talking for such a long time—ha… Of course, I have no problem with that.”

“I didn’t say you couldn’t talk.”

“But there’s nothing to talk about anyway!” she retorted.

Zhang Jingchan finally looked at her. His face showed neither anger nor pleasure. Without responding to her words, he changed the subject. “There are two discoveries. First, I found that back then in Xiang City, there was another mysterious sum of money that bought soybean futures half a month after my father entered the market, then sold out one day after my father liquidated his position. The person behind it profited three hundred million.”

Li Weiyi’s expression became serious. “Have you found out who it was?”

“An unfamiliar name—Wang Ming. The key point is, I can confirm that in the previous life, this person and this capital entry didn’t exist.”

“It’s an inside mole!”

Zhang Jingchan nodded.

“But how could they have known?”

“Can’t be certain. Fu Ming wasn’t a company with well-established internal confidentiality and risk control mechanisms—in fact, it was extremely crude. Perhaps when my dad was moving the funds, certain people took notice. Perhaps my father’s financial accounts couldn’t be kept completely confidential either. Or… do you remember that day we told him about the futures plan? Three people entered the study in the middle of our conversation.”