His words were calm and mild, with a hint of reassurance, as if to indicate that he didn’t mind these things. He didn’t think they would have any significant impact on him.
“Our relationship,” Sang Yan withdrew his hand, speaking leisurely, “doesn’t it still require your consent?”
“Hm?”
“Otherwise,” Sang Yan said nonchalantly, “wouldn’t you be the one at a disadvantage?”
“…”
Wen Yifan paused briefly, pondering his words, then said sincerely, “I’m not that autocratic. Your property is yours to use as you please. You can spend it however you want, without needing to consult me.”
Sang Yan tilted his head, looking at her thoughtfully.
A moment of silence passed.
Seeing him just staring at her without speaking, Wen Yifan couldn’t quite understand his meaning. She put down her chopsticks and asked hesitantly, “Do you want to manage my property then?”
“…”
“That’s fine too, but there might not be much,” Although Wen Yifan’s salary had increased slightly after becoming a permanent employee, due to various living expenses, she hadn’t saved much money, “Shall I make a list for you later?”
Sang Yan stared at her for a while.
As if contemplating how there could be someone so oblivious to romantic nuances in this world.
Wen Yifan thought for a moment and continued, “Then you can also keep accounts for me. I can’t figure it out myself.”
Sang Yan’s lips twitched, and he pinched her cheek hard, “You’re quite the dreamer, aren’t you?”
…
By the time they finished breakfast, it was almost time for Sang Yan to go to work. Wen Yifan stood up, and before leaving, she habitually checked the contents of her bag but couldn’t find her voice recorder. She asked Sang Yan to wait a moment and went back to the bedroom, quickly finding the voice recorder on the dressing table.
Just as she was about to leave the room, Wen Yifan suddenly remembered encountering Che Xingde during her “overtime” the other night. She hesitated, rummaging through the drawer.
Then, she took out a can of pepper spray and put it in her bag.
–
Over the next few days, Wen Yifan occasionally asked Sang Yan if Che Xingde had been back to his bar. But Sang Yan’s work was busy, and he only went to “work overtime” once in a while, so he wasn’t clear about the situation.
But according to He Mingbo, it seemed he hadn’t.
Even if he had, he probably hadn’t caused any trouble, just coming as an ordinary customer.
Wen Yifan finally felt somewhat relieved. She thought that Che Xingde probably had enough self-awareness not to rashly cause trouble on someone else’s turf. After being thrown out once, he probably wouldn’t do the same thing again.
Moreover, Wen Yifan had been busy with follow-up reports during this period, mostly commuting directly in the company car, and hadn’t seen Che Xingde again.
The incident that day seemed like a minor episode that hadn’t caused any ripples.
Wen Yifan gradually put it out of her mind.
Mu Chengyun’s resignation application was only approved a month later. With his good looks and obedient, enthusiastic nature, he had quite a good relationship with others in the team. Because of this, on the day of his official resignation, other team members specially arranged a farewell party for him.
To accommodate most people’s schedules, the farewell party was set late.
They planned to have a late-night snack at a barbecue stall near the company after everyone got off work.
Wen Yifan hadn’t finished writing her article, so she told the others to go ahead first. By the time she completed her work, it was close to ten o’clock at night. She turned off her computer, grabbed her bag, and left the company.
The barbecue stall was in the food street behind the company, about a ten-minute walk away.
Wen Yifan took out her phone and opened WeChat as she walked out. Seeing the message Sang Yan had just sent about coming to pick her up, she smiled slightly, about to reply that she would be back late. But before she could finish typing, a man’s thick, rough voice suddenly came from beside her.
“Shuangjiang.”
Wen Yifan’s fingers stopped, and she looked toward the source of the voice, inevitably meeting Che Xingde’s face. He was leaning against a pillar nearby, silent and motionless, who knows how long he had been waiting there.
Her gaze grew cold, and she withdrew her eyes, continuing to walk forward as if she hadn’t heard anything.
The next second, Che Xingde followed up and grabbed her arm again. His body reeked of a mixture of cigarettes and alcohol, along with a strong body odor, almost making Wen Yifan vomit.
Wen Yifan forcefully broke free, stepping back vigilantly, her hand reaching into her bag.
Che Xingde withdrew his hand, putting on a smile: “What’s the matter? You always have this attitude when you see your uncle.”
Wen Yifan stared at him: “What do you want?”
“We haven’t seen each other for years, have we?” Che Xingde rubbed his head vigorously, looking at her with the same eyes as before, “Not bad, you’ve been doing well these years, even found a rich boyfriend who owns a bar.”
“…”
“That’s the way, isn’t it? Flatter that boyfriend of yours more, let him give you more benefits.” Che Xingde said, “Back then, you didn’t listen when your uncle told you, insisting on going to university. Aren’t you still making money this way now?”
Wen Yifan closed her eyes briefly, feeling that these people were like maggots, disgusting her to the extreme, polluting her eyeballs with every glance. Her lips straightened, and she uttered three words without a ripple.
“Get lost.”
Che Xingde wasn’t angered, he went forward to pull her again, still shamelessly saying: “What’s wrong? Don’t want to hear it again? Shuangjiang, this isn’t good of you, only caring about living well yourself? I lost my job because of you back then, and couldn’t even hold my head up in the neighborhood. You still want to–“
Wen Yifan’s body stiffened slightly, feeling she had reached her limit of endurance.
Just as she found the pepper spray in her bag and was about to take it out, the next moment, the force pulling on her hand loosened. A tall figure appeared in front of Wen Yifan, shielding her behind him, shouting: “What are you doing!”
Wen Yifan’s breathing was a bit rapid, and she instinctively looked up.
It was Mu Chengyun.
Seeing another person, Che Xingde still didn’t feel anything was wrong. The smile on his face grew bigger, the wrinkles on his face deepening: “I’m not doing anything, I’m just talking to my niece.”
Mu Chengyun turned his head to look at her: “Sister Yifan, do you know this person?”
Wen Yifan, having slightly calmed her emotions, said: “I don’t know him.”
Hearing this, Mu Chengyun looked back at Che Xingde, his expression very unpleasant: “She said she doesn’t know you, are you leaving or not?”
Che Xingde looked at Wen Yifan again. The whites of his eyes were yellow, his pupils looking turbid. Then, he stepped back a few steps, sighing lightly: “Young man, I am her uncle.”
“…”
“We have a misunderstanding,” Che Xingde said again, “She’s just throwing a tantrum with me.”
Mu Chengyun acted as if he hadn’t heard: “Sister Yifan, let’s go. Everyone is waiting for you.”
Wen Yifan nodded.
The two walked one in front and one behind towards the direction of the barbecue stall.
Mu Chengyun stood behind Wen Yifan, as if afraid that Che Xingde might suddenly come forward and do something inappropriate.
Che Xingde didn’t follow them anymore.
Until they had walked some distance.
Wen Yifan turned her head, thanked him, and then asked: “Why did you come back?”
Mu Chengyun scratched his head: “I left my earphones at the company.”
“Oh?” Wen Yifan asked, “Do you want to go back and get them now?”
“Forget it, it’s fine,” Mu Chengyun said, “I’m too lazy to make the trip now, I’ll just ask Dazhuang to bring them to me later.”
Wen Yifan nodded, absent-mindedly making a sound of agreement.
“Sister Yifan, who was that man just now?” Noticing her expression, Mu Chengyun carefully said, “I think I’ve seen him come looking for you before.”
Wen Yifan had guessed as much, and hearing it now wasn’t too surprised, she just smiled.
Mu Chengyun didn’t continue to ask: “Be careful when you leave the company in the future, it seems this isn’t the first time he’s come. If you work late in the future, ask Senior Sang to come pick you up.”
“Mm.” Wen Yifan changed the subject, her tone casual and calm, “I heard you signed with a pretty good film and television company. Congratulations.”
Mu Chengyun scratched his head embarrassedly: “Thank you, Sister Yifan.”
Wen Yifan smiled: “Is being an actor something you like to do?”
“Yes,” talking about this, Mu Chengyun’s eyes brightened a bit, “The first time I acted was when a friend dragged me along to an audition, I didn’t expect to pass, and I was quite happy throughout the whole process.”
“That’s good.”
“What about you, Sister Yifan?” Mu Chengyun chatted casually with her, “Did you become a journalist because you like this industry?”
“…” Wen Yifan was stunned for a moment, looking up.
“What’s wrong?” Mu Chengyun felt a bit awkward, “Did I ask something I shouldn’t have?”
Wen Yifan came back to her senses: “No.”
Mu Chengyun sighed in relief.
“It’s just a job,” Wen Yifan thought carefully and gave a standard answer, “I can’t say I like it, but I don’t dislike it either.”
…
After arriving at the barbecue stall, Wen Yifan remembered to message Sang Yan. She sent him the location, then told him the approximate time, saying that if he got off work early, he didn’t need to come.
The farewell party ended around eleven o’clock.
Wen Yifan walked out of the food street with her colleagues and suddenly noticed Sang Yan’s car parked at the street corner. Her expression changed slightly, and she quickly said goodbye to the others, jogging over to get in the car.
Wen Yifan fastened her seatbelt and casually asked: “Did you just finish over time, or did you just come from ‘working overtime’?”
“Just got off work,” Sang Yan glanced outside, “What? Who were you sending off today?”
“Mu Chengyun,” Wen Yifan said honestly, “He submitted his resignation a while ago and officially left today. Our colleagues threw him a farewell party.”
Sang Yan made an “oh” sound, his lips curling up, his tone a bit teasing: “Must be quite heartbreaking.”
“…” Wen Yifan smiled, “It’s alright, he’s quite happy. He didn’t seem to like being a journalist much anyway, it’s good that he can go do something he likes now.”
Hearing this, Sang Yan’s eyelashes fluttered, and he instinctively looked at her. After a while, he withdrew his gaze and leisurely started the car: “Let’s go home.”
Wen Yifan responded with an “okay.”
She lowered the window and leaned on it, feeling the wind from outside.
Sang Yan glanced at her: “Wen Shuangjiang, pull your hand back a bit.”
Wen Yifan paused, slowly withdrawing her elbow from outside the window. Then, she looked at her phone and happened to see Zhao Yuandong’s message bubble jump to the top.
It mentioned the word “First Uncle.”
Wen Yifan’s gaze stopped, recalling Che Xingde from earlier, as well as Mu Chengyun’s words. She wasn’t sure if similar incidents would happen in the future and hesitantly tapped to read the message.
Scrolling up.
A series of messages, with Zhao Yuandong saying a few words to her every few days.
[Your First Uncle’s family came to Nanwu today, they’re staying at Mom’s place now. I know you don’t want to see them, so I’ve told them. They probably won’t stay for long, it’s just a temporary place for them.]
[Your First Aunt’s brother indeed doesn’t seem like a good person. Mom was careless before and didn’t consider your feelings. At the time, I just thought your First Uncle’s family took good care of you and didn’t think too much about it. Can we talk about this properly?]
…
[Today, your First Aunt’s brother drove your First Uncle’s friend’s car, got into a drunk driving accident, and needs to pay several tens of thousands in compensation. Mom gave them some money and has now asked them to move out.]
…
[Your First Aunt came over again today, and I roughly got the story. It seems they moved to Nanwu because they owed a lot of debts. If they come looking for you, don’t get involved. Don’t let them affect your life, okay?]
Wen Yifan didn’t continue reading and exited the chat window.
Beside her, Sang Yan spoke up at this moment: “How come you’re not in a good mood after a farewell party?”
Hearing this, Wen Yifan was startled: “Ah, no, I am.”
Sang Yan’s tone was ambiguous: “Reluctant to part?”
“…” Wen Yifan laughed, patiently saying, “Not at all.”
It happened to be a red light.
Sang Yan stopped the car and turned to look at her. His gaze seemed observant, yet not too obvious. After a good while, until the red light started flashing, he said: “Did something happen today?”
Wen Yifan instinctively denied: “No, why?”
“What do you mean ‘why’,” Sang Yan smiled, “Shouldn’t I be the one asking you that?”
“…”
Sang Yan looked away, started the car again, and only threw out a sentence.
“If anything’s wrong, tell me.”
After a moment.
Wen Yifan forcibly pushed the Che Xingde incident out of her mind and brought up the report she did today: “Well, I did a follow-up interview today. A family of three had a car accident, only the child survived, but became a vegetative patient. It was quite depressing to see.”
As if he had taken it in, Sang Yan pondered for a few seconds, then softly comforted her with a few words.
They drove to the underground parking lot of the residential area.
After getting out of the car, Wen Yifan took the initiative to hold his hand and suddenly called out: “Sang Yan.”
Sang Yan: “Hm?”
“If you have time later,” Wen Yifan asked, “can you come pick me up from work?”
“Come on, what are you making me out to be? If I don’t get off work later than you,” Sang Yan tilted his head, squeezing her fingertips hard, “when have I not picked you up?”
“Oh.” Wen Yifan curved her lips, “I just wanted to confirm.”
…
Wen Yifan could roughly guess Che Xingde’s purpose in finding her.
But she didn’t want to deal with these things at all, nor would she do what they wanted. Her work hours were irregular, sometimes she wouldn’t return to the station for days due to business trips. The rest of the time, it was mostly Sang Yan who came to pick her up.
As time passed, Wen Yifan stopped worrying.
She also didn’t believe Che Xingde would spend all day waiting outside the TV station for her over such trivial matters.
–
Because of Wen Yifan’s words, Sang Yan had another reason to boast. Additionally, his company had just completed a major project after working overtime, so he had more free time.
Sang Yan started a life of clocking in and out of work on time.
Every day, he would punctually send Wen Yifan to work, then punctually pick her up from her company and take her home. If she had to work overtime, he would go to “work overtime” to brag for a while, waiting for her to get off work and go home together.
Just like now.
Sang Yan sat casually in the center of the booth, holding a can of iced cola, leisurely saying: “Sorry, brothers. Recently, I can’t drink alcohol.”
Su Hao’an’s ears were practically calloused: “Get lost! Who the hell asked you to come!”
“My girlfriend wants me to pick her up from work every day,” Sang Yan continued, undisturbed, “I want to drink with you guys, but my girlfriend is so clingy, you know? I have no choice.”
“…” Qian Fei rarely came over since getting married, but he had heard Sang Yan bragging plenty of times, whether through WeChat or phone calls, “Just get lost already, I’ve had enough too.”
Catching sight of Qian Fei, Sang Yan brought up another topic: “Oh. Boss Qian, haven’t seen you around lately. Are you here specifically to brag about how you taught Duan Jiaxu to chase girls?”
Hearing this, Qian Fei’s expression froze.
“I envy you guys,” Sang Yan said, “I’ve never experienced the feeling of pursuing someone.”
“…”
“For me, it’s always been,” Sang Yan’s tone was arrogant and irritating, “being the one who’s frantically pursued.”
Su Hao’an gave up: “You dare say that in front of me.”
Sang Yan didn’t feel embarrassed at all and looked at Qian Fei again: “Alright, Boss Qian, start bragging about your glorious achievements.”
Qian Fei reluctantly said: “I didn’t, can you not listen to that idiot Duan Jiaxu’s nonsense?”
Sang Yan’s smile gradually faded, saying emotionlessly: “Are you sure you want to do this?”
Su Hao’an was also annoyed: “What are you doing with Duan Jiaxu? What secrets are there between brothers? Even if you didn’t teach him how to chase girls, with your damn personality, you’d take credit for it! Who are you denying this for!”
“…”
Before Qian Fei could speak again.
Yu Zhuo came up to the second floor at this moment, his expression somewhat helpless, saying to Sang Yan: “Brother Yan, there’s a customer downstairs who says he’s your uncle. He ordered a bunch of alcohol and doesn’t plan to pay…”
Sang Yan’s eyelashes fluttered: “What uncle do I have?”
Yu Zhuo added: “It’s that drunk who was carried out by Brother Dajun last time, the one who said he was Sister-in-law’s uncle.”
Su Hao’an frowned: “Which idiot is causing trouble on my turf?”
Sang Yan slowly raised an eyebrow, finished the remaining cola, and quickly stood up: “You guys keep drinking, I’ll go handle it. And then, I have to go pick up my clingy girl.”
“…”
Sang Yan went downstairs, led by Yu Zhuo to a booth in the center of the first floor. He immediately saw Che Xingde standing at the edge, with a group of people sitting nearby. At this moment, he was yelling at the waiter, Little Chen: “My niece is your boss’s girlfriend! Why should I pay anything!”
He walked over and casually took the bill from Little Chen’s hand.
Little Chen’s expression was also very troubled: “Brother Yan…”
Seeing Sang Yan, the arrogance on Che Xingde’s face instantly disappeared. He revealed a mouthful of yellow teeth, patting Sang Yan’s shoulder: “Hey, you’re our Shuangjiang’s boyfriend, right? She’s mentioned you several times.”
Sang Yan ignored him and turned to ask Little Chen: “How much alcohol did this table order?”
Little Chen quietly reported a number.
Che Xingde was still bragging to his friends, the pride on his face evident: “Come, brothers, take a look. This is my niece’s boyfriend, handsome, right? He’s also very generous, this bit of alcohol money is nothing to him!”
“…”
Sang Yan glanced at the bill, lazily lifting his eyelids.
“Your compliments, I accept them.”
The smile on Che Xingde’s face grew even wider.
Before he could speak again, Sang Yan said: “Tell me, are you going to pay for this or not?”
Che Xingde was stunned, thinking he had misheard: “Pay for what? It’s just this little money, I’m your girlfriend’s un—”
“So you’re not paying,” Sang Yan directly put the bill on the table, smiling coldly, “Fine.”
He turned his head to look at Yu Zhuo, bluntly throwing out two words.
“Call the police.”