Xuan Yanyu’s mind went blank for a moment. Before his thoughts had even caught up with him, his hands had already begun trimming Yan Ruijing’s voice from the video and cutting out the last frame where he appeared on camera, then saved the edited clip to his photo album.

Coming back to himself, he was startled by his own behavior. On several earlier occasions, when he had been at Ruijing’s company, his attention had always been drawn to Yan Yuning whenever she suddenly burst into the office.

She was beautiful — and she never so much as glanced at him. Or rather, her eyes were only ever on Ruijing’s red envelopes.

Every time, she found all sorts of ways to coax pocket money out of Ruijing — every excuse imaginable, every kind of playful coaxing — and she had always fascinated him. But he had never felt so utterly unreasonable about it as he did today.

He pressed a hand to his chest, over his rapidly beating heart, and arrived at a conclusion: “Post-accident side effect.”

“Knock knock.” A tap at the door. Before Ye Jian could get a word in, Xuan Yanyu opened the door and said with a serious expression, “Go book an appointment with a cardiac specialist. I need a heart examination. And a brain CT scan while you’re at it.”

“Ah.” Ye Jian looked as though disaster had struck, and momentarily forgot entirely what he had come to tell Xuan Yanyu about Shiyao. “Young Master Xuan, I’ll go arrange it right away.”

——

Two hours later, Xuan Yanyu stared at the test results — showing no abnormalities whatsoever — and sank into thought.

Ye’an snuck a glance at the doctor standing before Xuan Yanyu and quietly sighed. The examinations had been completed quickly enough. The trouble was that Young Master Xuan didn’t seem particularly convinced.

“Young Master Xuan, you are truly fine. You are in excellent health. There is no need to worry about any lasting effects.” The doctor maintained his professional smile.

Xuan Yanyu tossed the report at Ye Jian and walked out of the examination room.

“Young Master Xuan, back to the Xuan Residence?” Ye Jian asked in the elevator.

The man barely narrowed his eyes. “Let’s go see Shiyao.”

“Understood.” Ye Jian glanced at the department directory on the wall and pressed the corresponding floor button.

Obstetrics and Gynecology — VIP Ward.

Shiyao sat expressionless, gazing out the window, her hands folded over her abdomen. Hearing movement at the door, she didn’t turn her head. Her voice was filled with quiet heartache. “Thank you for taking care of me all this time. I want to go home.”

Xuan Yanyu gave her an impatient glance. “Why?”

Shiyao turned to look at him, her voice low and choked. “You said you wouldn’t let your girlfriend suffer…”

“Ha.” A low, dry laugh left the man’s throat. “Miss Shi, are you blaming me for letting you suffer? I am not your boyfriend. What obligation do I have to tend to your feelings? If you want to leave, then leave. If you don’t, then stay at the Xuan Residence and look after yourself during this pregnancy. You know perfectly well why you’re allowed to remain there.”

“As for how much you and the child in your womb have to do with me — you’re well aware. And you think that gives you reason to expect me to put up with your moods? That if you cry a little, I should drop everything to comfort you?”

Xuan Yanyu’s patience had run dry. “Miss Shi, I am not a charity. If this continues, please feel free to leave. If you still want to stay, then stop bringing these things up to me. And stop weeping like this. Settle down, give birth, and go. I am not your boyfriend — pouring your heart out to me is useless and frankly exhausting.”

He had only been awake for a few days, and she was already talking about not wanting the baby, then threatening to leave. She hadn’t dared act this dramatic while he was in a coma.

“A’Yu, I…”

Xuan Yanyu didn’t bother listening to the rest. He walked out of the ward without looking back.

The door clicked shut behind him. Shiyao stared at the cold, quiet room, drew her knees to her chest, buried her face in them, and wept.

But she had no friends in Chaxi City…

Who was there for her to pour her heart out to…

——

The villa district in the western part of the city.

Hearing the doorbell, Yan Ruijing — who had barely taken a few steps into the living room — went to open the door with a resigned sigh. “She’s not coming again… Yu-ge? What are you doing here?”

“Yu-ge, you… you… you…” Yan Ruijing stared at Xuan Yanyu, who had clearly made an effort with his appearance, blinked slowly, and said, “You look incredible.”

His features were striking and eye-catching. His throat moved as he swallowed. He wore a V-neck ink-black dress shirt, the shoulder line immaculate, the lines of his collarbone clean and defined — the kind that made one’s heart itch.

Below, a simple pair of black dress trousers, polished leather shoes, a fine watch on his lean wrist — on the surface, understated.

In reality, the custom-tailored shirt and trousers, every stitch of them, were anything but understated.

Yan Ruijing scratched his head. He felt that Xuan Yanyu really had no reason to dress up this way. No matter how handsome he was, it wasn’t as if he himself was attracted to him.

“Not welcome?” Xuan Yanyu’s lips curved into a handsome smile.

Yan Ruijing stared at him, flustered. “Yu… Yu-ge, what brings you…?”

Smiling like… like… well, he couldn’t quite find the words.

This was the first time in all the years he’d known Yu-ge that he had seen him smile quite so… quite so warmly.

He didn’t know how else to describe it, so he’d go with warmly.

“Sir, Young Master Xuan has come specifically to visit Miss Yan.” Ye Jian stepped to the side, and Ye Chen and Ye’an came into view behind him, arms laden with gift after gift, standing before Yan Ruijing.

Yan Ruijing looked at the mountain of expensive gifts that Ye Chen and Ye’an could barely hold, and his scalp prickled.

Visit Ningning? Had Yu-ge and Ningning ever spoken? Did he even know her? And he was here to visit her? With all these gifts?!

“Not a good time? I can come another day.” Xuan Yanyu found himself — for the first time — feeling remarkably agreeable.

“Welcome, welcome. It’s a great time, a great time.” Yan Ruijing snapped back to his senses, broke into a grin, and stepped aside from the doorway. “Yu-ge, please come in. But you really didn’t need to bring gifts — given the relationship we have.”

He would not accept the gifts on Ningning’s behalf. With Yu-ge’s status, who would dare offend the heir of Xuan Group? He didn’t want Ningning getting caught up in any complications from accepting them.

“Sir, these were not brought for you.” Ye Jian gave Yan Ruijing a professionally composed smile.

Yan Ruijing: “……”

He understood perfectly — the implication being that he had no right to make decisions on Ningning’s behalf.

He opened his mouth, almost said something, then caught Xuan Yanyu’s faint, ambiguous smile directed at him — and decisively shut it again.

He couldn’t afford to provoke him.

He’d keep his mouth shut!

He wasn’t about to bring trouble to his family!!!

“Sir, some tea.” Seeing that a guest had arrived, the housekeeper had brewed tea and set it on the coffee table.

“Thank you.” Xuan Yanyu’s voice was warm and gently unsteady as he gave the housekeeper a nod.

In an instant, the air in the living room seemed to solidify. Yan Ruijing’s eyes went wide. Ye’an and Ye Jian exchanged a glance, both clearly stunned.

Ye Chen blinked in surprise as well.

Not because of the “thank you” itself — but because Xuan Yanyu had deliberately softened his tone, and at the end of his words, there was a subtle, barely-there tremor, as though he were suppressing excitement.

No one quite knew what he was so excited about.

The four of them exchanged glances briefly in the air, then each looked away as though nothing had happened.

Yan Ruijing cleared his throat and asked carefully, “Yu-ge, you’ve come to see Ningning — does Miss Shi know?”

“Young Master Xuan’s schedule is not something that needs to be reported to Miss Shi.” Ye Jian spoke on Xuan Yanyu’s behalf.

“So she doesn’t know, then.” Yan Ruijing murmured under his breath.

Ye Jian raised an eyebrow and said nothing.

“Yu-ge, the thing is, you’ll need to wait a bit. Ningning went out on a ‘date’ with her ‘boyfriend’.” Yan Ruijing improvised the lie.

Ningning really wasn’t home — but she had gone to meet a close friend. The reason he said this was because, looking at Yu-ge’s manner right now, he was afraid the man had developed feelings for his Ningning.

That absolutely would not do. Yu-ge was not good enough for his Ningning.

It was all his own fault for filming Ningning looking so beautiful and sending it to Yu-ge. Had he known, he would have taken an unflattering shot. Though, come to think of it, his Ningning seemed to look good no matter how she was photographed.

Even if Yu-ge had never been married or engaged before, he’d still had Shiyao as a girlfriend.

This would not do. Absolutely not. Even if Yu-ge broke up with Shiyao, he still wouldn’t be good enough for Ningning. His Ningning deserved someone better.