In this lifetime, Xu Yi appeared even more gentle and serene than in all the previous lives. His black coat and black temples made his face glow like jade under the light. He glanced at her once, took off his coat, folded it over his arm, revealing a dark blue sweater underneath that accentuated his broad shoulders and slim waist, giving him a refined temperament.

“Why are you staring at me like that?” Xu Yi pulled over a chair and sat down. “It’s only been a few days since we last met.”

“I didn’t expect you to come this early,” Li Weiyi replied.

Just like in the previous life, this business tycoon who was now casually sitting on a simple chair in this cramped room remained Li Weiyi’s persistent suitor, even going so far as to frequently visit Zhang Jingchan to create chance encounters.

In the last life, he loved her, and Li Weiyi understood that. But in this life, Li Weiyi had already declared her feelings for Zhang Jingchan at age 17, and she had none of those gradual interactions or bonds with Xu Yi.

So she thought, perhaps it was a man’s competitive nature and desire to conquer at work. But looking at the Xu Yi before her, and the way he looked at her, gave her the illusion that he was the same person from the previous life.

But this was impossible.

That Xu Yi was equally unable to escape the Takeover. He no longer existed.

After they were both quiet for a while, Xu Yi asked, “How is he?”

“Same as always.”

“I happened to be in the area today discussing a project. Seeing the nice weather, I thought you’d probably come, so I stopped by to check.”

Li Weiyi said nothing. She had said words of rejection too many times over the years; saying them again would be meaningless.

“If you don’t mind, I need to feed him chicken soup first,” Li Weiyi said with a smile. “Otherwise it’ll get cold. I just made it fresh this morning.”

Xu Yi watched as she opened her backpack and took out a thermos; watched as she poured out a small bowl, tested the temperature with the same spoon, then sat in front of Zhang Jingchan, holding the bowl in one hand and the spoon and napkin in the other, carefully feeding Zhang Jingchan. At times like this, Li Weiyi usually treated everyone else as if they didn’t exist, feeding him while talking to Zhang Jingchan: “Doesn’t it taste good? Have one bowl now, and another at lunch. I’m not having any; I need to lose weight. But once you’re better, you need to exercise too, get those abs back…”

Xu Yi leaned back in his chair, just over a meter away, quietly watching.

After feeding him the chicken soup, Li Weiyi wiped Zhang Jingchan’s face clean, then took the bowl and spoon to the bathroom, squirted some dish soap and used a cloth to wash them.

She had just finished washing the bowl and spoon and set them on the counter beside her, lowering her head to wash her hands, when a tall figure flashed into the narrow bathroom and gently embraced her from behind.

Xu Yi lowered his head, but didn’t dare hold her too tightly, asking in a low voice, “It’s been eight years. Am I really inferior to a vegetable?”

Li Weiyi smiled, shook the water off her hands, gently pushed him away, walked back to the living room and said, “You’re very, very good—good-looking, good-tempered, capable, and wealthy. Much better than him. He has a terrible temper, acts affected, and isn’t very reasonable when it comes to relationships either.”

She sat down by the bed, pinched the face of the person on the bed, and said, “But I just like him. If I don’t see him for a day, I can’t eat. If I can’t have him, I can’t sleep at night. If he suddenly died one day, I’d go jump in the river; if he woke up, I’d immediately force him to marry me. You see, matters of the heart are just this inexplicable. You and I—it’s impossible.”

The room fell completely silent.

But Li Weiyi thought back to the last time she traveled back to 2014, when Zhang Jingchan had taught her hand-by-hand how to send a text message rejecting Xu Yi. She thought her sharp tongue in rejecting people now was all learned from him.

Even just lying beside her, he was her golden bell shield and iron cloth armor.

Yet Xu Yi didn’t lose his composure or simply leave. He slowly exhaled, sat back down beside her, and said, “Now you can stab knives into my heart without even needing a draft—you just stab them in casually.”

Li Weiyi smiled. “Probably practice makes perfect.”

However, Xu Yi’s magnanimity had always been different from ordinary people. He still wasn’t angry, instead asking gently, “Are you managing financially?”

Li Weiyi answered, “We won’t starve.”

Xu Yi looked at her with concern, wanting to say something but hesitating. Li Weiyi understood and said, “Don’t. His expenses—Li Yunmo and I can still afford them. You shouldn’t contribute money. Otherwise he’ll be angry when he wakes up; he’s quite petty.”

This finally made Xu Yi angry. He turned his head to the side. Li Weiyi heard his slightly heavy breathing and felt somewhat guilty after all, asking in a seemingly casual manner, “Have you been busy lately?”

“Busy!” He only answered with one word.

Li Weiyi fell silent too, only looking at Zhang Jingchan sleeping on the bed.

After a while, Xu Yi turned his face back on his own, his tone already returned to normal: “I just bought two new plots of land to build an industrial park, so I will be a bit busy lately.”

Li Weiyi gave a thumbs up. “Impressive.”

Xu Yi looked into her eyes, a glimmer of light passing through them, both bright and dim: “What’s impressive about it? Even if I bought half of Xiangcheng, I still couldn’t get you to have one meal with me.”

Li Weiyi shook her head. “Mr. Xu, don’t get stuck in a rut. There are plenty of fish in the sea.”

Xu Yi answered, “Right back at you. If he never wakes up, what will you do? You’re already 25 this year.”

Li Weiyi actually thought about it and answered, “Then I might try to have a child, just depends on whether he can or not. But from my observations, he can.”

Xu Yi never expected that this would be her plan, and her words were so explicit. A breath stuck in his chest, and he really couldn’t continue this conversation. He grabbed his coat, only leaving behind the sentence, “You’re deliberately trying to anger me today,” and pulled open the door and left.

Li Weiyi turned to look at the door he had slammed shut, finally having driven away this great Buddha. Since returning this time, the road ahead was unclear, both dangerous and difficult. If Zhang Jingchan never woke up, she didn’t even know what to do. So she really didn’t have the energy to deal with a covetous Xu Yi.

However, having actually angered him away, she felt a bit bad about it. In the previous life they were lovers; in this life they could be considered very close friends. Regardless of anything else, the two of them had always gotten along very happily and harmoniously. After 2014 in this life, some other things had happened—Fu Ming fell apart, more people died—but every single incident ultimately had nothing to do with Xu Yi. So Li Weiyi also hoped he could continue to be well, just like in that first life, being that carefree chairman without being affected by the turbulent timeline anymore.

Just as she was staring at the door lost in thought, suddenly her left hand resting by the bed was grasped by several cold fingers.

Li Weiyi’s whole body shuddered, and even the hairs on her neck stood up. She heard an extremely familiar but very hoarse voice ask, “Did someone steal your soul?”

Li Weiyi turned her head. Zhang Jingchan was using one hand to support himself on the bed and the other hand gripping the bed rail, slowly sitting up. She stared at him blankly without moving.

For Zhang Jingchan, it felt as if he had just taken a nap. Before falling asleep, his head had been hit by a crane. Now awake, he no longer felt pain. His mind just felt empty, as if he had experienced many things, yet couldn’t remember anything.