“Why are you on your phone now?” Zheng You’an looked at Ruan Sixian with tear-filled eyes. “Can’t you show me some respect?”

“…Just replying to a message.”

Ruan Sixian was tired, hungry, and exhausted. Suppressing the urge to yawn, she stood up and said, “I need to use the restroom.”

“Why do you keep going to the restroom?”

Zheng You’an frowned with dissatisfaction and continued to rest her head on the table, crying.

Ruan Sixian took her phone and hid in the bathroom, messaging Fu Mingyu.

[Ruan Sixian]: Are you here yet?

[Ruan Sixian]: Hurry up!

Fu Mingyu: Don’t rush, just a few more minutes.

After urging him, Ruan Sixian used the toilet. In those few minutes, someone took the opportunity to approach outside.

From a distance, she saw a man in a floral shirt and skinny pants holding a glass of wine, bending down to talk to Zheng You’an.

“Beautiful lady, drinking alone?”

Zheng You’an raised her head, tear streaks still evident on her face, looking pitiful and vulnerable.

The man’s heart instantly softened. He naturally sat down beside her and leaned close to her ear, saying, “Oh my, why are you crying, beautiful?”

Having grown up sheltered, Zheng You’an had never encountered such a situation. She couldn’t process what was happening and stared blankly at the man across from her, his shirt so loud it made her dizzy.

The man in the floral shirt was completely defenseless against a beauty with such an expression and reached out to put his arm around her.

However, before he could touch Zheng You’an’s shoulder, someone grabbed his arm.

“What are you doing?”

The floral shirt man turned around to see Ruan Sixian coldly looking at him.

Hey, what luck today—another beautiful woman.

“I was just comforting the little beauty,” the floral shirt man said with a smile, withdrawing his arm while his gaze stuck to Ruan Sixian’s face. “Are you two together?”

Ruan Sixian didn’t want to cause trouble in Bian Xuan’s bar and preferred to use words rather than actions if possible, so she calmly said, “Yes. Do you need something? If not, we’ll be leaving.”

“Come on, it’s still early. Let’s have a few drinks together,” the floral shirt man said, moving closer to Zheng You’an again. “Why are you crying, beautiful? Heartbreak? Tell brother about it, and I’ll make you feel better.”

Ruan Sixian sat down on the sofa opposite them, crossed her arms, and said, “I’ll tell you why. Today she broke the leg of a man who was hitting on her. She’s crying because she’s afraid of going to jail.”

Zheng You’an: “…?”

The smile on the floral shirt man’s face froze. After a few seconds, he gave a dry laugh. “Hehe, the lady has a good sense of humor.”

“I’m not joking with you,” Ruan Sixian said, flexing her hands. “I have more experience in this area, so she came to me for advice.”

Then she tilted her head and looked at the floral shirt man. “Would you like to give some advice too?”

One would have to be a complete idiot not to understand Ruan Sixian’s meaning now. The floral shirt man bit his back teeth, grabbed his glass, and left, muttering under his breath, “Really a rose with thorns.”

Ruan Sixian pretended not to hear his corny description and handed a tissue to Zheng You’an.

“Wipe your face. Your eyeliner is smudged.”

Zheng You’an took the tissue but then covered her mouth and started retching.

Ruan Sixian jumped up at once. “No way, you’re throwing up after just this much alcohol? I thought your tolerance was better.”

With vomit rising in her throat, Zheng You’an stood up and rushed to the bathroom, but not before explaining, “I’m throwing up because that man disgusted me!”

Ruan Sixian followed her with large strides but was shut out at the door.

Zheng You’an didn’t want anyone to see her vomiting—that would be too embarrassing. The first thing she did after entering was to turn on the faucet to cover the sound of her retching.

Ruan Sixian knocked on the door. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine, just need to throw up for a bit.”

Since that was the case, Ruan Sixian didn’t want to crowd the small bathroom unnecessarily.

It was at this moment that Fu Mingyu arrived.

He pushed the door open, looked around, and not seeing Ruan Sixian, walked toward the bar.

Bian Xuan, who was wiping glasses, looked up and saw him. Her eyes brightened momentarily, and then she felt a sense of familiarity.

She tilted her head and examined him carefully, suddenly understanding.

Fu Mingyu’s sudden appearance here—Bian Xuan wasn’t naive enough to think he had come for a drink. What else could he be doing but picking up Ruan Sixian?

“Director Fu?”

Fu Mingyu stopped at the bar. “You know me?”

Of course, I do.

Bian Xuan smiled mischievously: “You don’t know me, but I know you very well.”

Just as Fu Mingyu was puzzled, Ruan Sixian walked over with a dark face, giving Bian Xuan a death stare. “Don’t you have something to do?”

Bian Xuan immediately suppressed her smile and pretended to swirl a glass. “I’ll go attend to customers.”

With that, she scurried away, leaving only Fu Mingyu and Ruan Sixian at the bar.

He pondered Bian Xuan’s words, guessing what she might have meant.

So, did Ruan Sixian often mention him to her friends?

His mood improved even more as he looked down at her, his eyes filled with amusement. “Have you been drinking?”

“No.” Ruan Sixian sniffed. “You’ve been drinking, haven’t you?”

Fu Mingyu nodded. “Yes, I had a business dinner tonight.”

Hearing this, Ruan Sixian asked, “So you came in the middle of it?”

If that was the case and she had interrupted Fu Mingyu’s business, she would feel somewhat embarrassed.

After all, Shihang doing well meant she would do well too.

“No, I had already gone home. What did you need me for?”

“Oh, Zheng You’an is throwing up inside.”

Fu Mingyu paused. “Zheng You’an?”

“Yes,” Ruan Sixian said. “She was drinking here because of you. If you don’t take her away, I won’t be able to go home and sleep tonight.”

After a brief silence, Fu Mingyu’s expression gradually grew cold.

So she had called him over because of Zheng You’an?

He had drunk quite a bit at the business dinner that evening. When the driver asked where he wanted to go, he instinctively chose Mingchen Apartments, which was farther than Huguang Mansions.

The reason was simple—he suddenly wanted to see Ruan Sixian.

Just like the countless inexplicable thoughts that had occurred to him recently, there was no particular reason; he simply wanted to see her.

Although he knew she wouldn’t be pleased to see him, he didn’t mind. He even found it somewhat amusing when she got angry sometimes.

As for why he couldn’t text, it was because if he couldn’t see her, at least hearing her voice would be nice.

That was Fu Mingyu’s simple thought at the time.

So when she said, “If not, then forget it,” Fu Mingyu’s face instantly darkened.

Fortunately, in the next second, she sent another message: “Come find me right now.”

Sitting in the car, Fu Mingyu looked at the neon lights outside the window, the corners of his mouth curving into a faint smile.

She did want to see me after all.

And in a place like a bar, no less.

She’d been drinking and wanted to see me.

But when he arrived, Fu Mingyu discovered that it wasn’t quite what he had imagined.

He tilted his head slightly and asked, “What’s wrong with her?”

Ruan Sixian hadn’t noticed the change in Fu Mingyu’s expression and said with a hint of teasing, “You made her cry, so you go apologize. I’m not helping. I want to go home and sleep.”

Fu Mingyu certainly knew how he had “made” Zheng You’an cry, but he didn’t want to deal with it at all now.

So Ruan Sixian had urgently called him over not because she wanted to see him, but just to have him clean up Zheng You’an’s mess. Her tone was so detached, as if he were completely irrelevant, as if she didn’t care what he did with other women, and was even deliberately pushing him toward other women.

Suddenly, he felt quite foolish.

“I’ve made many women cry. If they choose to cause trouble for me, should I apologize to each one?”

As soon as he said this, he realized something wasn’t right.

Looking at Ruan Sixian, he saw her expression change, as expected.

Fu Mingyu frowned, regretful, and softened his tone: “That’s not what I meant.”

Ruan Sixian glared at him: “Does Director Fu’s dictionary not contain the word ‘apology’?”

Fu Mingyu admitted that part of what Ruan Sixian said was correct.

Since adulthood, he has rarely made mistakes. Due to his status and position, apologies were even rarer.

However, in the months since remembering Ruan Sixian, he had thought about apologizing several times, but each time he saw her cold demeanor toward him, he found it difficult to say the words.

Only now did Fu Mingyu realize that the incident was still a thorn in her heart, and if they didn’t openly address it, it would remain her eternal knot.

“I’m apologizing to you now,” he suddenly said, almost without deliberation.

?

Ruan Sixian didn’t immediately react. She only saw him slightly lowering his head, looking into her eyes, seeming to convey something.

“I misunderstood you before. I’m sorry.”

“You…” Ruan Sixian was somewhat incredulous. “You remember?”

“Yes,” he continued. “Can you forgive me? If not, make your demands. I’ll agree to anything within my power.”

Ruan Sixian stood frozen, somewhat at a loss.

She had imagined countless times this bastard Fu Mingyu humbly apologizing to her, followed by her coolly walking away.

But now that the day had come, her feelings were different from what she had imagined. There was no sense of great revenge being satisfied.

Thinking carefully, perhaps it was because she hadn’t thought about the past for a long time.

But recently, whenever she saw Fu Mingyu, she would still contradict him and go against him, but she was very clear that it wasn’t because of past grievances.

It seemed like an instinctive, childish behavior, like an elementary school student.

“Don’t just stay silent,” Fu Mingyu’s voice sounded beside her ear. “What do I need to do to make you feel better?”

When he spoke, Ruan Sixian’s heart became even more confused.

Because she realized that she had actually—damn it—already stopped being angry, and saying this out loud would be very embarrassing!

Just then, Zheng You’an came out of the bathroom.

Ruan Sixian frowned and said, “First, take Zheng You’an home. She’s drunk and has been vomiting in the bathroom.”

With a heavy heart, Fu Mingyu sighed and turned to walk toward Zheng You’an.

When he pulled Zheng You’an to the car door and tried to put her inside, she struggled vigorously.

“Hey! Don’t touch me! I can go back by myself. My driver will come pick me up!”

She wouldn’t get in, and Fu Mingyu couldn’t force her, so he could only say sternly: “Be good, don’t make trouble for me.”

“Who’s making trouble for you? Fu Mingyu, let me tell you, I’ve never suffered such humiliation in my life!” Her arm waved in front of Fu Mingyu. “From now on, Zheng You’an has nothing to do with you. You go your way, and I’ll go mine! No, you take the narrow path, and I’ll take the broad road. In short! We have nothing to do with each other from now on!”

Fu Mingyu was irritated and didn’t want to waste more words on a drunk person, so he asked the driver to come and settle her.

“Take her home. Let me know when she’s safely home, and don’t let her out on the way.”

“Don’t pretend to care about me! Let me tell you, I know you don’t like me at all. Do you think I like you? Do you think the whole world likes you? You’re thinking too much! There are plenty of people who don’t like you!”

That sentence, “There are plenty of people who don’t like you,” was like a needle suddenly pricking Fu Mingyu’s heart.

Fu Mingyu didn’t bother with Zheng You’an anymore and turned to go back.

Meanwhile, Ruan Sixian sat at the bar, resting her chin on her hand, lost in thought.

At this precise moment, the floral shirt man from earlier had somehow acquired a rose and unexpectedly presented it to Ruan Sixian.

“Beautiful lady, your friend left? Sitting at the bar alone?”

Ruan Sixian didn’t even look at him and said coldly, “Go away, don’t bother me.”

After speaking, she picked up her orange juice, intending to take a sip, but the floral shirt man suddenly took her glass away and smiled, revealing a set of yellow teeth. “If you’re troubled, all the more reason to drink. How about I treat you to this bar’s signature Sunset Boulevard?”

Ruan Sixian took a deep breath and turned to look at him.

The floral shirt man stood on tiptoe to sit on another bar stool. Noticing Ruan Sixian’s slender, fair fingers, he couldn’t resist reaching out to touch them.

“I hate to see a beautiful woman troubled. Come on, when kindred spirits meet, a thousand cups are too few. Let’s start with one?”

Looking down at his fleshy hand resting on the back of hers, still persistently caressing, the anger at the bottom of Ruan Sixian’s heart was on the verge of eruption.

“I’m warning you one last time. I don’t want to cause trouble for my friend, but if you harass me again, I won’t be polite.”

She pulled her hand away and glanced at the floral shirt man’s beer belly, sneering, “If it comes to blows, you’re no match for me. Do you believe that?”

The floral shirt man naturally didn’t believe a woman could do anything to him and grinned as he reached to put his arm around her shoulder. “Oh? Is that so? Want to get physical? Where shall we start?”

Just then, Bian Xuan came over. Seeing the scene, she immediately said coldly, “Sir, please show some respect, or I’ll call the police.”

In the end, the floral shirt man was driven away by Bian Xuan’s black-faced threats.

Ruan Sixian turned back around and continued to rest her chin on her hand, lost in thought.

“What’s wrong?” Bian Xuan, noticing Fu Mingyu was gone, asked, “Did he leave?”

“Yes, I asked him to take Zheng You’an home.”

“Asking him to take another woman home, you don’t care.”

Ruan Sixian clicked her tongue, just about to rebut Bian Xuan when suddenly a hand reached out and tapped her shoulder.

“Are you annoying or what?!”

After she spoke, the person behind her still showed no intention of leaving. The hand on her shoulder did let go, only to grab her wrist instead.

Ruan Sixian completely lost her patience. She thought to herself, did I do all those arm presses for nothing? Were all my pull-ups in vain? If I don’t teach you a lesson, you won’t know that you can’t harass just any woman.

She gathered her strength for a second, then turned around and delivered a slap.

“Smack!” The sound echoed throughout the entire bar.

The glass in Bian Xuan’s hand instantly dropped to the floor as she stared in disbelief at the scene before her.

Ruan Sixian stood frozen, her mouth half-open, her palm still stinging with a burning sensation that wouldn’t fade.

Ruan Sixian was completely dumbfounded, her mind buzzing, even forgetting to blink.

Fu Mingyu pressed his lips tightly together, his dark eyes fixed on Ruan Sixian.

A red palm print gradually appeared on his fair face, from his cheek down to his jawline.

“Do you feel better now?”