Those beautiful eyes had the faintest flush of red staining the corners.

It wasn’t a single solid black sports car — which meant he was inside.

“Just here to pick up Ningning? Not me?” Yan Jingzhi pointed to himself in disbelief.

Who was the actual brother here, anyway?

Ye’an nodded. “That’s right. The Young Master Xuan was afraid Miss Yan would slip away halfway, so he personally came to collect her. Please understand, Mr. Yan — there isn’t room in the car.”

Yan Jingzhi: “……”

“Then wait for me at the private room, Jingzhi.”

“Wait for what.” Yan Jingzhi pinched Yan Yunning’s ear, dropping his voice very low. “Without your brother’s agreement, you’re just going to walk off with someone on your own?”

Yan Yunning rubbed her ear and pouted. “Then hurry up and refuse.”

Wasn’t she counting on her brother being unable to say no — which was exactly why she had spoken up, so he’d at least save some face.

“Ningning will come with me. She won’t get out of the car halfway. Yanyu, don’t worry.” Yan Jingzhi looked toward Ye’an and Ye Chen with a tone of assurance.

Ye’an smiled. “Mr. Yan is welcome to speak with the Young Master Xuan directly about that.”

Yan Jingzhi: “……”

Five minutes later, Yan Yunning heard her brother say to her, “Ningning, your brother will go wait for you at the private room.”

Yan Yunning: “……”

“This way, Miss Yan.” Ye’an smiled as he rounded the rear of the car and opened the back door.

Yan Yunning stood rooted to the spot without moving a single step. Even as Yan Jingzhi’s car drove far out of sight, she still hadn’t budged an inch.

“Still hiding from me?” The man stepped out of the car and walked toward Yan Yunning one step at a time.

Afraid the young woman would see him and try to hide again, he had stayed in the car all this while. But rather than watching her through the window, he wanted to see her up close.

She was dressed in a light grey athletic set — the top a zip-up collared style, revealing just a sliver of a slender, hand-spanning waist.

Below, she wore wide-legged trousers in the same colour, accented with trim-line details along the sides, while her softly waved long hair was pulled up into a high ponytail that made her figure appear long and graceful.

On her delicately sculpted face: bright, expressive eyes, thick long lashes, a high and pert nose, lightly pink lips — her features were vivid and lovely.

Xuan Yanyu’s throat bobbed, and something in his composure faltered.

Yan Yunning said nothing. She only watched the man drawing nearer, her heart speeding up without her permission.

When counted properly, they had only gone without seeing each other for a little over half a month. Yet now they were strangers.

The white dress shirt she didn’t recognise. The black trousers she didn’t recognise. The dress shoes she didn’t recognise. And the stranger she had become in his memory.

Their eyes met. Yan Yunning looked at the man’s fine bone structure — a high nose, thin lips, the familiar, handsome face — and shifted half a small step forward.

Under Xuan Yanyu’s puzzled gaze, she grabbed his collar and yanked his white dress shirt open with force.

Two soft “ding” sounds rang out as two buttons fell and bounced across the marble floor. A third button came loose from its thread, dangling from the shirt.

Ye’an’s pupils contracted sharply. For a moment he didn’t know whether to admire Yan Yunning’s grip strength or reproach the shirt’s poor craftsmanship.

Ye Chen blinked rapidly, staring in disbelief at the slender, pale finger resting just above the muscles on Xuan Yanyu’s abdomen.

Good heavens — was there still anyone these days bold enough to do this on a first meeting? Weren’t they afraid of scaring someone off?

The critical thing was that their Young Master Xuan could absolutely have pushed the girl away with one hand — so why had he stood perfectly still and let her reach up and tear at his shirt like that?

Seeing that mole, Yan Yunning was certain that Xuan Yanyu had also transmigrated into this body — because no novel could describe a single mole in such precise detail. He truly was her Xuan Xixiao.

No — that was no longer the case.

Yan Yunning refastened the buttons for him and looked at the man whose collar now gaped wide, revealing his collarbones and the faint outline of his chest. She gave a perfunctory smile. “Sorry about that.”

The man looked up, his tone carrying a trace of casual indifference. “Is this how you greet everyone the first time you meet them?”

Yan Yunning: “……”

“Is it?” Xuan Yanyu stepped slowly closer to Yan Yunning and tilted his head down slightly, his lips brushing against her ear, his voice husky with lazy warmth. “Is it?”

The warm breath slipped into her ear canal. Yan Yunning’s ear tingled, and she quietly stepped back.

Xuan Yanyu reached out a long arm and hooked it around her waist, drawing her closer against him. His dark pupils were utterly still as he fixed his gaze on her — projecting the clear intent that if Yan Yunning didn’t speak, he would simply remain here all day.

Yan Yunning looked up and met his eyes directly. A quiet half-laugh rose from her throat. “What does it have to do with you?”

“You won’t answer directly — so it must be.” A deep smile settled on the man’s handsome face.

“…Xuan Yanyu, aren’t we leaving?” Yan Yunning pointed to the watch on his wrist. “As today’s guest of honour, you’re about to be late.”

“Late is late.”

“What exactly do you want?” Yan Yunning genuinely didn’t understand what he was trying to do.

The man spoke each word slowly and deliberately, his voice low and gentle. “Besides me, whose clothes have you ever grabbed like that?”

“No one’s.” After a prolonged stare-down, Yan Yunning conceded — she couldn’t outlast him.

“Mm.” Having heard the answer he wanted, Xuan Yanyu released the arm that had been wrapped around Yan Yunning’s waist. His low, resonant voice took on a serious tone. “That habit isn’t good. You’ll need to break it.”

Yan Yunning, not bothering to argue, gave a simple “Mm.”

The man’s dark eyes flickered. His lazy voice came out low and languid. “Why did you grab my shirt?”

Yan Yunning tilted her face up, dropping her voice to the very softest register. “My brother wanted me to check whether you had abs when you weren’t expecting it — he desperately wanted to know. I only did it out of consideration for the fact that he hadn’t been able to eat for several days over this.”

Xuan Yanyu frowned, and his voice came out utterly flat. “I have no interest in men.”

“Ha… haha.” Yan Yunning laughed dryly a couple of times. “I told my brother the same thing.”

“Yan Yunning?” Xuan Yanyu looked at her with amused curiosity, his expression hovering somewhere between a smile and a puzzled look. “Does Jingzhi know you’re spreading rumours about him like this?”

Yan Yunning: “……”

The man raised an eyebrow ever so slightly and pressed further. “Why exactly did you pull my shirt open?”

Yan Yunning opened her mouth. But what was the point of saying it? There was still Shiyao standing between them. Regardless of whether he and Shiyao had any involvement, as long as he shielded Shiyao for even one day, they would never have any possibility.

She didn’t want there to come a time when both she and Shiyao were in danger and he chose to abandon her and attend to Shiyao.

Even in times without danger, if he went to tend to Shiyao, she couldn’t accept it either. And besides, he had no memory of any of it — keeping things as they were was for the best.

Xuan Yanyu laughed softly. “Hard to come up with a story?”

“Since you insist on asking.” Yan Yunning spread her hands and took out her phone, holding it up near him. She scrolled through her browsing history from the day before and pointed to a comment left by a netizen: ‘I wonder if the Young Master Xuan has abs.’

This comment had been pinned to the top five responses beneath yesterday’s clarification statement, above all others.

The current top comment read: ‘Waiting for proof of true love.’

Yan Yunning said, completely justified, “So many people were curious — of course I was curious too.”

As she spoke, right in front of Xuan Yanyu, she typed ‘He does.’ and hit send.

Then she said, “See? How thoughtful of me, answering so many netizens’ questions.”

“……” The man pointed to the top-ranked comment on screen. “What’s this?”

“They’re speculating that you posted that statement for your true love to see.” Yan Yunning helpfully explained.

Xuan Yanyu glanced up from the corner of his eye. “There is no true love.”

The hand scrolling through the phone went still.

Xuan Yanyu glanced down at the time. “Let’s go. Time to eat.”

“I’m not hungry. What happened last time was my fault. I’ve also bought you gifts, and I’ve bought sticky notes too — return it to me the same way, and we’re even.”