“Boyfriend? A date?” Something weighed heavily in Xuan Yanyu’s chest. He pressed down the rising sense of loss and kept his voice low and composed — though a barely perceptible chill had crept into it.

“When did this happen? Didn’t you always say you wouldn’t let your sister get married before thirty?”

“Yu-ge, I said it, but Ningning doesn’t listen to me.” Yan Ruijing sighed slowly, his voice unexpectedly tinged with something like grievance. “Yu-ge, I want to stop her, but there’s nothing I can do.”

“Have them break up. If you can’t manage it yourself, I can help. You’re my brother, after all — I can’t bear watching you hide away and cry because you can’t let your sister go.” Xuan Yanyu fought to keep the wave of anger that was surging inside him under control.

Even he found himself baffled by his own reaction. He couldn’t understand why hearing that Yan Yuning had gone on a date with a boyfriend made him feel as though he were about to spit blood. He was barely holding onto reason by a thread.

He felt like he was losing his mind. Something was very, very wrong.

“……” Yan Ruijing pressed his lips together. “Yu-ge, that’s not going to work. Ningning cares deeply about her ‘boyfriend.’ She’s been in a bad mood lately because they had a little spat. If I tell her to break up, she’ll…”

“Tell them to break up.”

Those cold, clipped words exploded into the living room. The atmosphere froze for a heartbeat. Yan Ruijing snuck a look at Xuan Yanyu, met the raw, barely-contained fury in the man’s eyes, and said anxiously,

“Yu… Yu-ge, did Ningning do something to offend you? I… I… I’ll apologize to you on her behalf.”

There was no boyfriend to break up with!

“No, I’m only doing it so you won’t be upset.” Xuan Yanyu’s voice dropped a notch.

“Ah, right, I was just joking — what do I have to be upset about… Fine, I’ll go tell ‘them’ to break up right now.”

Yu-ge’s ice-cold stare was locked onto him, and he genuinely couldn’t hold out.

Why had he said something so reckless?!

How on earth was he supposed to wrap this up?

Watching Yan Ruijing trembling as he fished his phone out of his trouser pocket, Xuan Yanyu’s expression shifted. The coldness from a moment ago dissolved, and his features relaxed considerably. “Put it on speaker.”

“Okay, okay.” Yan Ruijing didn’t dare say no. He opened his contacts, dialed the number, and did as Xuan Yanyu asked — put it on speaker.

The line rang for a long time. Just as it was about to cut off, it was answered, and a sweet voice came through: “Ruijing-ge.”

Xuan Yanyu’s brow furrowed. That wasn’t her.

“Qingxia, where’s Ningning? Why did it take so long to answer?”

On the other end, He Qingxia looked up at Yan Yuning and Gu Jingye standing together in the distance, pointing at something on the menu. She smiled. “They’re ordering. Is there something you need, Ruijing-ge? I’ll hand the phone to Ningning.”

“Oh, it’s nothing important — don’t give it to Ningning. Just tell her for me: break up with her ‘boyfriend.’ I don’t approve of them dating.”

Yan Ruijing figured that He Qingxia likely wouldn’t know whether Yan Yuning was seeing someone or not. Having her pass on the message meant he could avoid Yan Yuning asking questions over the phone and possibly blowing his cover. Once Ningning was home, he could coordinate their story so the lie wouldn’t unravel — and he wouldn’t have to face the awkwardness of explaining himself to Xuan Yanyu.

What he hadn’t counted on was that close friends rarely kept secrets from each other. He Qingxia’s puzzled voice came through the line: “Ruijing-ge, are you alright? When did Ningning start dating? She doesn’t even have a boyfriend — who is she supposed to break up with??”

“I…” Yan Ruijing took a deep breath and stole a glance at Xuan Yanyu.

There was no anger at being lied to. If anything, there was a trace of something almost like pleasure.

“Ruijing-ge? Ruijing-ge?” He Qingxia called out twice more.

“What is it?” Yan Yuning’s voice came through the speaker. Xuan Yanyu instinctively sat up a little straighter.

“Ruijing-ge says to break up with your boyfriend. Where did a boyfriend even come from? Unless you’ve been secretly dating and hiding it from me?” He Qingxia pouted and handed the phone back to Yan Yuning.

Yan Ruijing closed his eyes. She’d said it all!

“He probably lost a bet and this is his forfeit. Don’t mind him. If I had a boyfriend, you’d be the first to know.” Yan Yuning laughed and hung up.

“Yu-ge, about that… that was…” Yan Ruijing’s voice got stuck in his throat, and he had no idea how to continue the story.

Xuan Yanyu leaned back against the sofa, his pale, slender fingers pointing at him. His handsome face wore an expression of dissatisfaction, and his voice was low and even. “Explain.”

“I… I…” Yan Ruijing chose his words carefully.

“Yu-ge, I was worried that if you showed concern for my Ningning, Miss Shi might get upset and then, in a fit of anger, go after Ningning. But Ningning is not one to just take that lying down. I also couldn’t have that upsetting Miss Shi — after all, she’s carrying your baby, and if anything went wrong, none of us could bear the responsibility.”

“So I told a little white lie to head all of that off before it could happen.” Yan Ruijing grinned and held up his fingers to indicate just how small.

He wasn’t entirely wrong either — none of them could really afford to have the full weight of Xuan Group bearing down on them.

Xuan Yanyu rose from his seat and cast Yan Ruijing an indifferent glance. “You’re overthinking it.”

Yan Ruijing’s lips curved into his usual confident, slightly roguish smile. “Yu-ge, so you’re saying — you’re purely looking out for my Ningning out of simple concern, so Miss Shi wouldn’t get upset. Is that right?”

“Pure.” The word came out just a touch more deliberately than the rest.

“I’ve only seen Yan Yuning a handful of times. It’s pure care for her — what else could it be?” The words sounded as though he were saying them as much to himself as to Yan Ruijing.

Yan Ruijing let out a long breath of relief. “Yu-ge, it was a misunderstanding — I see that now. Look at me, letting my imagination run wild.”

“The situation with Shiyao is not what you’re thinking.” Xuan Yanyu added this, seemingly on impulse, then turned and left the villa.

Yan Ruijing watched his retreating figure, eyebrows raised. “Not what I’m thinking? Then what is it? Don’t tell me the baby isn’t actually yours?”

“Sir, what would you like done with the gifts?” The housekeeper came over, looking at the table full of presents.

Yan Ruijing’s eyes also fell on the gifts. He clicked his tongue. “Those aren’t cheap. If even one goes missing and Yu-ge comes looking, my wallet would be half empty. Since they’re for Ningning, I’ll let her handle them when she gets back.”

“Understood, sir.”

——

As the sun sank below the horizon, Yan Yuning and her two companions emerged from the amusement park to find their attention caught by a couple in the middle of an argument.

“Where did that smell come from?” The young woman leaned in and sniffed the man’s dress shirt, her temper flaring on the spot.

“What smell?” The man scrambled to explain. “Young Master Xuan’s girlfriend fainted, and I helped catch her. I accidentally startled the baby a little, so I sent her to the hospital.”

Leng Yu Xianer’s eyes reddened. “Couldn’t he have caught her himself? Couldn’t he have taken his own girlfriend to the hospital?”

“Xianer, please understand — this is my job.” Ye Chen took her hand and coaxed her gently. “I’m sorry. I’ll be more careful next time. Don’t be angry, okay?”

Young Master Xuan and Miss Shiyao were not actually a couple — they had no real connection. There was no way Young Master Xuan would lower himself to carry Miss Shiyao to the hospital in his arms.

Yan Yuning loosened her grip on her bubble tea. She turned away and let her gaze drift.

She had spent the last few days looking things up online, and she had come to understand. Someone, apparently with nothing better to do, had written a historical romance novel whose major characters were modeled after the people around Xuan Yanyu — with one exception: herself.

Or perhaps not entirely. There were some characters the author had invented, but for the most part, the people around Xuan Yanyu served as the basis. She had seen Leng Yu Xianer and Ye Chen just now, which further confirmed what she had already suspected — in the novel, Leng Yu Xianer had inexplicably fallen for Ye Chen in a roadside inn. As it turned out, the two of them were already a real couple in life, and the author had simply drawn from that.