Yan Yunning, who had not looked at him once this entire time, finally lifted her gaze.

Xuan Yanyu immediately took out his phone, unlocked it, and held it up for her to see. “It’s Steward Feng.”

“Oh.”

Xuan Yanyu pressed his lips together and probed tentatively, “Are you still sleepy? Do you want to go upstairs and rest?”

Yan Yunning curled her fingertips inward and shook her head. “Xuan Yanyu, I want to go to my brother’s place.”

The man moved his lips, was silent for a few seconds, then said, “Alright, I’ll drive you there tomorrow.”

Yan Yunning nodded. “Thank you, but you don’t need to drive me — I’ll go on my own.”

“Yan Yunning, what happened between us occurred before I even knew you. Can’t you just—”

“No.”

The man clenched his jaw, enunciating each word deliberately. “The wedding will go on. I won’t call off our engagement. If you don’t want to see me for the time being, I can stay out of your sight.”

Yan Yunning asked in turn, “I can leave now, can’t I?”

Xuan Yanyu said nothing — he simply stared at her small face, expressionless, the corners of his eyes faintly red.

Since Xuan Yanyu did not speak, Ye’an and the others naturally had no reason to stop Yan Yunning. They stood to one side and watched as she picked up her suitcase and walked out of the villa.

The man’s throat moved up and down. His voice came out dry and rough. “See her to Jingjun’s villa.”

“Understood, Young Master Xuan.” Ye’an answered and went after Yan Yunning.

——

The following day, noon — the villa on the western side of the city.

Yan Jingjun heard the doorbell ring and opened the door with a yawn. Seeing Xuan Yanyu standing at the entrance, he frowned and asked, “Why are you here?”

Xuan Yanyu raised a hand and brushed the obstructing Yan Jingjun aside, then strode into the living room on his long legs. “I’m here to find Ningning.”

“You’re here to find Ningning?” Yan Jingjun looked at him with suspicion. “Ningning left for the airport early this morning — said she’s going abroad to clear her head. You’re her fiancé — she didn’t tell you???”

He and Jingye had picked Ningning up early that very morning, and now Xuan Yanyu was here looking for her too???

Yan Jingjun narrowed his eyes and stepped in front of Xuan Yanyu, his expression cold. “Did you bully my little sister???”

Xuan Yanyu couldn’t be bothered to respond. He turned and walked out of the villa.

Yan Jingjun: “……”

Showing so little regard for him, the elder brother?

When the New Year came around and Ningning brought Xuan Yanyu to pay respects to his parents, if he didn’t get that man thoroughly drunk, he would change his surname to Xuan!

After leaving the villa, Xuan Yanyu did not go to the office. He sat slumped in the car, his slender fingers turning over the exquisite diamond ring Yan Yunning had thrown away. His voice was barely audible. “Find out where she went, and who she went with.”

“Yes, Young Master Xuan.”

After a while, Ye Jian gathered the information and showed it to Xuan Yanyu. “Young Master Xuan, the person who appeared with Miss Yan in the airport terminal buying tickets was Wen Zhilu. Miss Yan boarded the same flight as Wen Zhilu and Mr. Wen’s party.”

Xuan Yanyu tightened his grip on the ring in his hand. His long arm reached past the half-open car window, his eyes flickering faintly. As long as he let go, the ring would fall to the ground. He was standing there in a daze when a raindrop fell coldly onto his arm without warning.

The man withdrew his arm and turned to look at the suddenly overcast sky, his mind a jumbled mess.

“Xuan Xixi, I want to go stand in the rain.”

“Get better first and I’ll take you to stand in the rain. How does that sound?”

“You’d better not go back on your word.”

“I’m not the one who went back on their word — you did.”

“Young Master Xuan, it’s starting to rain. Shall we head back?” Ye Jian turned around carefully to ask.

Xuan Yanyu was pulled back from his thoughts. After a moment, he gave a small nod.

“Young Master Xuan, we’ve located Shiyao — she’s at Qi Qingchen’s villa.” Ye’an, seated in the front passenger seat, reported.

Xuan Yanyu curved his lips into a cool smile. “Noted.”

——

Two days later — Qi Group.

Wu’an walked into the office with a thoroughly disgruntled expression. He was quiet for two or three seconds before speaking. “Director Qi, Miss Shi says she will not apologize, nor will she go explain anything to Miss Yan. She says you don’t need to concern yourself with her anymore — she has Director Xu handling things for her.”

Qi Qingchen raised an eyebrow. “Which Director Xu?”

He had never heard of this person.

“I looked into it — it’s an entertainment company that was established less than six months ago.”

Wu’an hesitated a moment longer, then added, “I’m not sure how Miss Shi came to know this Director Xu. He’s apparently had a great many girlfriends, and by all accounts he’s quite stingy.”

“If Miss Shi is with him, he won’t spend a single cent on her. She’ll just end up being used for nothing by him……”

“Enough. I don’t want to hear any more.”

Wu’an pursed his lips and ventured his own theory. “Director Qi, don’t you think it’s a strange coincidence? Miss Shi suddenly gets acquainted with this Director Xu, and on top of that — how would a tiny company like his dare to cross Young Master Xuan? Do you think Young Master Xuan arranged all of this? As revenge against Miss Shi?”

Qi Qingchen lowered his gaze, his tone unhurried. “That would still mean Shiyao chose it of her own accord, wouldn’t it?”

Wu’an let out a quiet sigh. If Shiyao hadn’t harbored other intentions — if she hadn’t gotten rid of the child she had with Director Qi — she could have become Mrs. Qi by now.

Without any scenes or tantrums, with Director Qi looking out for her and being acquainted with Young Master Xuan, any life she could lead would be far better than whatever she had with that Director Xu.

“How are things between Ayu and Ningning?”

Wu’an poured a glass of water and set it in front of Qi Qingchen before answering. “There’s been no news of a breakup.”

Qi Qingchen gave him a mildly exasperated glance. “I’m not completely offline — of course I know there hasn’t been any breakup news.”

Wu’an: “……”

“Prepare some gifts. We’ll go to the Xuan residence tonight.”

Wu’an nodded. “Understood. I’ll get to it right away while you’re occupied, Director Qi.”

“Mm.”

On the other side of the city, the group with Yan Yunning — who had spent two days staking out the location before finally catching Guo Si — let out a collective breath of relief. Yan Yunning in particular had nearly convinced herself the whole trip was for nothing.

That night, Ye’an had driven her back to her brother’s place and — in a fashion entirely of his own accord — spent a long while recounting Xuan Yanyu’s grievances on his behalf. She listened for a good while, growing increasingly uneasy, until Ye’an brought up Shiyao, and she finally understood what hadn’t been sitting right.

It turned out that Shiyao had impersonated her and fed Xuan Yanyu a string of lies. What Shiyao said had caused something to stir vaguely in Xuan Yanyu’s mind, and what surfaced matched with what Shiyao had told him.

That was the source of the misunderstanding between her and Xuan Yanyu.

She had probed carefully, asking roundabout questions to figure out what had happened, and Ye’an told her everything he knew — including the name Guo Si.

In the end, Ye’an told her that while it was somewhat hard to believe, it was the truth, and that their Young Master Xuan had not been sincere, that none of it had been of his own volition, and so on and so forth.

Listening to it all made her temples throb. What did he mean, not of his own volition? He had been plenty willing.

When she got back to her brother’s place, she dialed the number that had called Xuan Yanyu. Sure enough, the voice that answered — without the deliberate affectation of speaking sweetly — was unmistakably Shiyao’s.

Only, she had one question: how had Shiyao come to know about what had happened between her and Xuan Yanyu? She asked Shiyao directly, but Shiyao hemmed and hawed and hung up on her. So she had her older brother track down Guo Si’s address.

Only Guo Si would know why Shiyao had known about what had taken place between her and Xuan Yanyu.

After her older brother sent her the address, it happened that He Qingxia was sharing a video in the little group chat the four of them — her and Gu Jingye and Wen Zhilu — shared, so she took the opportunity to ask He Qingxia whether she had time to go abroad with her to find someone.