Inside the room, Yan Yunning glared at Xuan Yanyu with flushed cheeks, clenching her teeth lightly. “Who told you to accept it?”

Had she said she wanted it???

The man’s slender fingers, with their clearly defined knuckles, held Yan Yunning’s phone, pressed the voice message key, and said in a low, resonant voice: “Sorry — wrong button.”

“Ding.” The moment the message was sent, the phone in Yan Yunning’s hand vibrated.

Backtracking to a moment earlier: seeing that Yan Yunning had not entered the amount, Xuan Yanyu had entered it himself, then without giving her a chance to protest, grabbed Yan Yunning’s hand and unlocked her phone using her finger.

He accepted the transfer he had sent, then in the same motion navigated to the group chat and accepted the transfer Xuan Shi’an had sent to Yan Yunning — after which he sent a voice message to the group, so that everyone in it would know it was he who had received it.

“You added Chu Sihang as a contact?” The man backed out of the group chat, scanned the message list, and his voice turned cold for a moment.

“What does that have to do with you? Is it not allowed?” Yan Yunning snatched her phone back.

Xuan Yanyu’s brow tightened, and a deep, dark look came into his eyes. “You can add him. Being friends is fine — but you can’t be with him.”

Yan Yunning heard this and pressed her lips together. She reached into her bag, took out a lollipop, unwrapped it, and tucked it into her mouth. Then she placed the wrapper into Xuan Yanyu’s palm, the corners of her eyes curving lightly. “You’re overstepping. You’re not my family — what right do you have to tell me who I can and can’t be with?”

The faint smile at the man’s lips barely shifted. “Yan Yunning, try being with him and see what happens.”

“Then let’s just—Xuan Yanyu!”

Before Yan Yunning could finish her sentence, Xuan Yanyu plucked the lollipop from her mouth and put it in his own.

The man smiled languidly, drawing out the last syllable. “Very sweet.”

“……” Yan Yunning rolled her eyes at him, grabbed her bag, and headed for the door.

Xuan Yanyu caught her by the arm, his gaze dropping directly onto her. “Where are you going?”

Yan Yunning looked up at him. “To see Shiyao.”

“What do you want with her? You haven’t eaten yet.”

“To get money!”

“Eat first.” The man draped his arm across her shoulders, drawing her gently toward him, his tone negotiating. “Let Ye Jian and the others go — all right?”

“Hm?” Yan Yunning slanted a glance at him, a playful smile on her lips. “Xuan Yanyu, are you afraid I’ll go to the hospital and upset Shiyao again?”

“No.” The man answered honestly. “It’ll upset you.”

Yan Yunning narrowed her eyes. “?”

“She has no money. How is she supposed to compensate you? If you go to the hospital, you’ll only be infuriated for nothing.”

“……” Yan Yunning lifted her chin, her red lips curving softly. “You know her quite well.”

Xuan Yanyu stared at Yan Yunning for a few seconds, then suddenly burst out laughing — a low, helpless laugh, like someone who’d been caught in a ticklish spot.

Yan Yunning: “?”

“Yan Yunning, what does ‘SZ’ mean?” The man leaned lazily against her, his head resting close to her cheek, his tongue nudging the candy in his mouth, his voice low and husky. “Is it an abbreviation for ‘deep love, true love’?”

‘SZ’ was what Yan Yunning had saved Xuan Yanyu as in her contacts. He had been wanting to ask about it since a little while ago.

“……” Yan Yunning pressed a hand to her forehead. “Is there any chance you’re reading way too much into this? That’s just a simple ‘stupid idiot.'”

“……” Xuan Yanyu’s throat worked, his eyes growing heavy. “Why is Chu Sihang’s contact name saved as Chu Sihang? How come he doesn’t get to be a stupid idiot?”

Yan Yunning raised her head slightly. “Well, he actually isn’t a stupid idiot. If you don’t like Chu Sihang, how about I change it to Sihang?”

The man’s eyes narrowed dangerously.

“Still not satisfied? Then I’ll change it to Hang—mmph?” Yan Yunning’s eyes went wide. The sweet scent of strawberry bloomed across her tongue as the man had placed the lollipop back in her mouth, and even her voice came out a little off. “Are you out of your mind?”

Xuan Yanyu shot her a glance, walked to the door, and shut it firmly behind him with a bang.

“Hah.” Yan Yunning tossed her bag onto the bed and laughed out of sheer vexation. “Throwing a tantrum again.”

She put the lollipop back in her mouth, bit down hard, and with a crisp crack, the round ball of candy shattered between her teeth.

First Floor — Dining Room.

Xie Yan, who had just picked up a piece of steamed fish, caught sight of Xuan Yanyu, then raised his wrist to glance at his watch and said awkwardly, “Brother Yu, that was… pretty fast… hiss…”

Nan Chu glanced sideways at the foot-in-his-mouth man and withdrew the high heel she had pressed down on his foot.

“Ahem.” Mu Heng cleared his throat.

“Go call Yan Yunning down for dinner.” Xuan Yanyu said, his tone sharp.

“Of course, Young Master Xuan.” Xiao Wan responded promptly.

Hearing the displeasure in Xuan Yanyu’s voice, Xie Yan stroked his chin. Xuan Yanyu swept a languid, pointed gaze over him. “What did you just say? Something about ‘pretty fast’?”

“Cough, cough.” Xie Yan, guilty as charged, picked up his water glass and took a large gulp.

“Here’s the thing, Brother Yu — we heard from Xiao Wan that Ningning was upset and you were upstairs coaxing her to come down for dinner. Girls can be difficult to handle, you know — so Ah Yan was surprised she turned out to be fairly easy to coax, which is why he said ‘pretty fast.'” Nan Chu smiled and offered the explanation.

“Right, right — exactly what Qingchu said.” Xie Yan was quick to back her up, then steered the conversation away. “Brother Yu, is little Ranran not home? Ah Xian was asking about her just now.”

Jiang Xian’s heart gave a quiet lurch, and his ears flushed with a faint blush.

Xuan Yanyu cast a measured look at Jiang Xian. “She’s home.”

The corner of Jiang Xian’s mouth instinctively curved upward. Keeping his composure, he said, “Isn’t Ranran coming down to eat?”

“If she’s hungry, she’ll come down on her own.”

Jiang Xian: “……”

Then why go and call Miss Yan down — couldn’t Miss Yan come down on her own if she was hungry?

Xie Yan raised an eyebrow, feeling a distinct sense of déjà vu.

Wasn’t this exactly the same as Brother Yu and Jingzhi a few days ago?

“Brother Xie, Sister Nan Chu…” Yan Yunning walked into the dining room and greeted each person politely in turn.

“No need to be so formal — just call me by my name from now on.” Xie Yan said with a meaningful note in his voice.

“Ah Yan’s right — using names is better. Makes things feel warmer.” Mu Heng smiled leisurely.

Yan Yunning smiled but said nothing. She scanned the available seats — beside Xuan Yanyu there was a free spot, and after Yan Zhiyi there were also empty seats. Without a moment’s hesitation, Yan Yunning walked over and sat down beside Yan Zhiyi.

The moment she was seated, she sensed a chill. Looking up, she met the cold, sharp gaze of the man at the head of the table, her lips curving into a smile, her eyes bending into a gentle arc.

“……” Xuan Yanyu had nowhere to put his frustration. His elegantly jointed fingers tapped the dining table, and he instructed the servants to open a few bottles of wine. “Come — let’s have a drink.”

“Brother Yu, maybe hold off — didn’t Miss Shi say you’d only just woken up and shouldn’t be drinking?” Jiang Xian cautioned.

Xuan Yanyu glanced up with an unhurried air, turning the wine glass idly in his fingers, his cool eyes settling on Jiang Xian. “It’s nothing. Don’t mention Shiyao again.”

Yan Yunning’s brow furrowed slightly. In that ancient-setting novel, everything had been fictional — at the end of the day, after entering that novel’s world, he had been revived in the story purely because the author had written it so, as a plot device. With the influence of the narrative, no matter what he put his body through, it didn’t matter — whether one’s health was good or bad came down to a single sentence from the author. But now they were in reality. There was no room for him to be so reckless.

She pulled out her phone, opened a certain someone’s conversation window, and typed: [Fed up with recovering too quickly — want to use alcohol to disinfect your insides?]

“Ding.” The phone face-down on the dining table sounded once.

Yan Yunning set down her phone and picked up her chopsticks, afraid of anyone noticing that it was she who had sent Xuan Yanyu a message.