Qi Qingchen took a sip of water. “Issue a public apology. Only then will this matter be considered settled.”

“You’re not going to look after me anymore?”

Qi Qingchen’s gaze was contemptuous. “If you have no money to pay compensation, you can use the card I just gave you.”

“Qi Qingchen……”

“There’s no need to yell. Apologizing now is better than having people come knocking shortly.”

Tears welled in Shiyao’s eyes all at once. “Qingchen, if I make a public apology, how am I ever supposed to show my face again?”

“Shiyao, when you went live, didn’t you think about the consequences?”

Shiyao shook her head, pitiful as could be. “Qingchen, I just felt wronged.”

“Shiyao, you’re an adult. Think it over carefully — if you don’t issue a public apology, just wait and see what happens to you.”

Shiyao clenched her fist, drew a deep breath, fury at the corners of her brow. “Qi Qingchen, I deeply regret ever being with you.”

Qi Qingchen looked at Shiyao with a completely indifferent gaze and said only, “Go do a live apology or record an apology video.”

Shiyao ground her back teeth together. She went up and swept the teapot and cups off the coffee table onto the floor. Tea splattered everywhere — on the marble tiles, tea leaves mixed with shards of glass, a scene of utter wreckage.

Qi Qingchen frowned and let her rage.

Two hours later, seeing that Qi Qingchen truly wasn’t going to relent, Shiyao finally, with great reluctance, recorded an apology video, stating that she would compensate for the losses she had brought to Xuan Yanyu.

Qi Qingchen watched Shiyao weeping uncontrollably, gave a faint sigh, and handed her some tissues.

Shiyao shoved Qi Qingchen away, and ran out of the apartment in embarrassment.

Hospital — Respiratory Medicine Department.

Wen Zhilu sneezed, and Ye Chen thoughtfully held out some tissues.

Ye’an kindly set the soy milk within Wen Zhilu’s reach.

Wen Zhilu looked piteously toward Yan Yunning, who was nestled in Xuan Yanyu’s arms on the sofa across the room, and called out in exasperation, “Yan Yunning!”

“Mm?” The girl swallowed the grape Xuan Yanyu had peeled for her, tapped the pause button on the video, and looked up at Wen Zhilu.

Wen Zhilu said through gritted teeth, “Shiyao’s going to compensate him for his losses, now — make him leave already. Having him in my hospital room is making it hard to breathe.”

Ye Jian laughed. “Mr. Wen, the legal department will handle the compensation matter with Shiyao. Something this minor doesn’t require President Xuan to be personally involved.”

“As for your difficulty breathing — that’s most likely just the cold. But don’t worry, even after the drip finishes you won’t recover immediately. You will get better eventually, though.”

Yan Yunning: “……”

Wen Zhilu ignored Ye Jian and fixed only on Yan Yunning, his voice thick with nasal congestion. “I want to drink congee. Go buy some from the canteen downstairs.”

Yan Yunning shook her head. “I’m not going.”

“Why not?”

“Too lazy to move.”

Wen Zhilu: “……”

“I’ll order for you through the phone.” Yan Yunning switched the screen, then realized the phone in her hand was Xuan Yanyu’s.

Yan Yunning pulled out her own phone from her bag, unlocked it, and opened the app. She selected a rock sugar mixed-grain congee that had been slow-cooked for five hours, then added a golden pumpkin congee, and threw in a few potato-shred flatbread pockets as well.

“Wait — it should arrive in about half an hour or so.” Yan Yunning tucked her phone away and, without looking up, leaned back against Xuan Yanyu and continued eating the grapes he had peeled for her.

“I want to switch hospital rooms!” Wen Zhilu grabbed his IV line and made to walk out.

“Get back in bed.” Yan Yunning raised her voice.

The young man’s steps halted. He pointed at Xuan Yanyu. “I don’t want to look at him.”

Xuan Yanyu rested his cheek against the top of Yan Yunning’s hair, not even lifting his eyelids. “Funny — I don’t want to look at you either.”

Wen Zhilu looked as though he had heard something utterly absurd. “Did I invite you here? If you don’t want to look at me, then leave.”

“Wen Zhilu!” Yan Yunning’s expression turned cold. “Since you don’t want to see him, then we’ll go. In the future, don’t bother calling me for no reason.”

“Yan Yunning?” Wen Zhilu’s throat tightened. “What do you mean? You’re done with me — is that it?”

Yan Yunning looked up at him. Their eyes met. She pressed her lips together and said plainly, “You dislike Xuan Yanyu and don’t want to see him. And I don’t want to keep being friends with someone who dislikes him.”

The young man hung his head, the corners of his eyes faintly red. “Yan Yunning, I…… I don’t dislike him anymore.”

In the past, he had never imagined that Yanyan would ever say she no longer wanted to be his friend. In the future he had envisioned, Yanyan was going to be his girlfriend, his wife, the mother of his children.

They had been so close before — and yet just four months, only four months without seeing each other……

Why had he picked a fight with her? If he hadn’t picked that fight, Xuan Yanyu would never have appeared at her side.

He regretted it……

Hearing Wen Zhilu’s quiet, muffled voice, Yan Yunning’s lashes trembled. She softened her tone. “Go back to your bed and finish your drip properly. Ye Chen and the others will stay with you. I’m leaving now.”

“Mm.” The young man obediently walked to the hospital bed and lay down.

Yan Yunning took Xuan Yanyu’s hand, and the two of them walked out of the ward side by side.

Wen Zhilu stared at their figures, leaning close together as they walked away, and fell into a daze for a moment.

“Hey — what’s your relationship with our Madam?” Ye Chen picked up an apple, wiped it on his shirt, and took a big bite.

Wen Zhilu lay listlessly on the bed, not the least bit interested in responding to Ye Chen.

Ye Chen took another huge bite of the apple. “Not convenient to say?”

Ye’an raised an eyebrow. “Probably the kind of relationship where he’d be invited to give a gift at our President Xuan and Miss Yan’s wedding.”

“That’s a pretty good relationship then.” Ye Chen tossed the apple core into the trash bin.

Wen Zhilu’s heart sank. He unlocked his phone and booked a flight. This time, he truly couldn’t stay here a moment longer.

The next day at noon.

Xuan Yanyu had been nowhere in sight since breakfast, and hadn’t sent Yan Yunning any messages either. It wasn’t until Ye Jian arrived with a makeup artist and a gown for Yan Yunning that she realized, belatedly, why the whole day had felt like something was missing.

From morning until now, she hadn’t seen Xuan Yanyu once.

“Miss Yan, President Xuan has a dinner banquet to attend this evening, and he hopes you’ll accompany him as his partner.”

Ye Jian set down the gown Xuan Yanyu had chosen to one side and stepped back. “Miss Yan, please let the makeup artist begin now — by the time the makeup is done, it should be just about time.”

“What kind of banquet is it?” Yan Yunning asked, curious.

Ye Jian lied without so much as a flicker. “A birthday banquet.”

“Oh.” Yan Yunning didn’t ask anything more. She washed her face, let the makeup artist do her makeup, and had her hair styled.

At five o’clock in the afternoon, dressed in a gradient-colored gown, her loosely curled long hair tumbling over her fair, delicate shoulders, Yan Yunning — breathtaking to the very extreme — followed Ye Jian to the venue.

The banquet was held at the largest hotel in Chaxi City, and the décor was lavishly opulent.

From the hotel entrance, at intervals of roughly a meter, pairs of pink roses tied together with gold thread were arranged in neat rows.

The floor was laid with an extravagantly luxurious pearl carpet. The LED display screens throughout the grand hall pulsed with glowing hearts, and even the tableware was inlaid with diamond fragments.

A symphony orchestra, photographers, a two-tiered mousse cake modeled to resemble Yan Yunning and Xuan Yanyu.

On the open lake outside, a water-screen projection played a video Xuan Yanyu had prepared in advance.

The man was dressed in a bespoke, hand-tailored suit, his hair expertly styled, his strikingly handsome features making Yan Yunning’s heart tremble just the slightest bit.

The girl blinked her wide eyes, taking in everything around her. A smile spread across her delicate face.

This was no birthday banquet whatsoever.