“Yaoyao.” Qi Qingchen’s voice rose slightly.

Shiyao’s eyes suddenly welled with tears.

“Yaoyao’s mama.” The little girl nestled in Yan Yunning’s arms and looked timidly at Shiyao, whose eyes had reddened.

Shiyao wiped her tears away, aggrieved beyond measure.

“I’m not eating anymore.” She threw down her chopsticks and ran out of the private room.

“Yaoyao.” A metallic sweetness surged up Qi Qingchen’s throat. He forced down the urge to cough and looked apologetically toward Xuan Yanyu and Yan Yunning. “Could I trouble you to watch over Youyou for a moment?”

“Daddy!” The little girl, seeing that Qi Qingchen was leaving without her, burst into tears that streamed down her face one after another.

“Don’t cry, don’t cry. Your daddy will be back very soon.” Yan Yunning drew out a napkin and tenderly wiped the little girl’s tears.

The little girl threw her arms around Yan Yunning and buried her small face into her shoulder, crying in great, heaving sobs. “Big sister, I want daddy right now. Please take me to find daddy. Can you?”

Yan Yunning soothingly patted her on the back and couldn’t help asking, “How old is Shiyao this year?”

Xuan Yanyu was caught off guard by the question, and after a moment said, “Qingchen is twenty-nine this year. He and Shiyao met in university, so Shiyao should be about the same age as Qingchen — either twenty-nine or twenty-eight.”

Yan Yunning gave a contemptuous smile. “I was starting to think she was three.”

Xuan Yanyu pressed his lips together and dared not make a sound.

“Uuugh…” The little girl scrunched up her small face. Her crying turned frantic — her breaths had gotten tangled up — and with a sudden heave, all the little cocktail sausages she’d just eaten came right back up.

“S-sorry, big sister.” Qi Xingyou’s small, milky voice was thick with a stuffy nose. Seeing that she had dirtied the floor, she cried even louder.

Yan Yunning took a napkin and wiped the corners of the little girl’s mouth, speaking in a gentle, coaxing tone. “Daddy will be back very soon. Can Youyou stop crying? Let’s wait a little longer — daddy will be back before you know it, alright?”

“Okay… okay.” The little girl’s sobs hitched to a pause. “Big sister, is daddy… is daddy asleep again?”

Yan Yunning froze. Was it because Qi Qingchen had fallen unconscious so many times when he left that Youyou had started asking whether he’d “gone to sleep” again?

“Big sister… then… then I won’t go find daddy anymore. The doctor auntie said that once daddy wakes up from his sleep, his body will be better, and he’ll be able to come back and keep Youyou company.” The little girl’s voice was choked and hoarse, and hearing it made something tighten inside one’s chest.

Yan Yunning, with a deeply complicated feeling, rubbed the top of her little head.

Fortunately they didn’t have to wait too long. By the time the cleaning auntie had finished tidying the floor, Qi Qingchen had returned to the private room with Shiyao.

No one knew what Qi Qingchen had said to Shiyao, but Shiyao apologized to Yan Yunning with a composed and pleasant manner.

Yan Yunning paid no mind to Shiyao and handed Qi Xingyou back to Qi Qingchen. The little girl wrapped her arms around Qi Qingchen’s neck, and silent tears began sliding down her cheeks one after another.

Qi Qingchen held the little girl close and soothed her with aching tenderness. Seeing that aggrieved, put-upon look on Shiyao’s face made Yan Yunning’s stomach churn with irritation. She really could not get through this meal.

She forced out the best smile she could manage and looked over at Qi Qingchen. “Big Brother Qi, I’m so sorry — I’m feeling a little unwell. I’d like to head back first.”

“Unwell?” Xuan Yanyu felt a flash of alarm. He shot up from his chair, and without a second thought, bent down and scooped Yan Yunning up into his arms. “To the hospital.”

Yan Yunning said nothing, and it wasn’t until they were out of the private room that she asked him to set her down.

“I’m not tired. You’re not heavy.” The man’s voice was low and husky.

“…” Yan Yunning raised her eyes and met his gaze. Her slender, fair hand hooked around his neck, and her voice came out a little subdued. “Xuan Yanyu, what would happen to Youyou if Qi Qingchen were gone?”

“She has her mother, her grandfather, her uncle. Youyou will live well. Stop worrying about other people — we’re going to the hospital right now.” The elevator arrived at the underground car park, and the man strode quickly, Yan Yunning still in his arms, over to the car.

“Young President Xuan, Miss Yan.” Ye Jian, who had been waiting beside the car, saw them and hurried to open the door.

“To the hospital.” Xuan Yanyu carried Yan Yunning in and sat down. With one hand free, he pressed it to Yan Yunning’s forehead. “Where does it hurt? I’ll have Ye’an notify the on-call physician to get ready ahead of time.”

Yan Yunning touched the tip of her nose. “Nothing hurts. I just felt sick at the sight of Shiyao. Let’s go back to your place.”

“Yan Yunning!” Xuan Yanyu pinched her soft, rosy cheek in exasperation. “Couldn’t you have given a different reason? Do you have any idea that you could scare me to death?”

The young woman arched the corner of her eye and asked curiously, “Xuan Yanyu — is it because of my brother’s sake, or because of my uncle and aunt’s sake, that you care about me so much?”

The man’s brow moved slightly, but he said nothing.

Yan Yunning didn’t press. She shifted the subject. “That time you had me accompany you abroad — was it to go see Qi Qingchen?”

“Mm.”

Seeing Xuan Yanyu fall into silence after answering, Yan Yunning made small talk to fill the quiet. “Oh, right — Ah Ci. Tell me about Ah Ci.”

“Why are you so invested in matters concerning Ah Ci?” The reply came with an unmistakably displeased tone.

Yan Yunning smoothed him over. “I’m just curious. Nanny Feng said he was your bodyguard, and then he went to Ranran’s side, and now he’s gone to Uncle’s — I can’t figure out why he didn’t just stay by your side. Staying by your side would be so much better.”

Xuan Yanyu was the type of person who, if he cared for you, would be prone to all sorts of petty jealousy. If you simply butted heads with him verbally, you wouldn’t get a single answer out of him — you’d only succeed in riling him up.

But coax him even a little, and he’d answer everything you asked.

“Ranran was the one who asked for him. She’s a little girl, after all — as she grows up there are bound to be someone who stirs her heart. At first we didn’t know…” Xuan Yanyu crossed his long legs and glanced lazily at Yan Yunning. A subtle smile played in his dark eyes. “Want to hear more?”

“Yes, yes.” The young woman blinked her pretty eyes.

The man tilted his head with interest. “You need to renew your membership to hear the rest.”

“…” Yan Yunning balled up her fist, suppressing the urge to punch him, and asked with a sweet smile, “How do I renew?”

Xuan Yanyu gave a mild smile, leaned back against the seat in a relaxed sprawl, and with his long, slender fingers opened his phone and tapped into the short-video app Yan Yunning had downloaded onto his device. “See this? Do you know what to do?”

“Are you serious?” Yan Yunning looked at the phone screen, where a man with rough features and exaggerated filters was playing at first.

Then came the cut. Under studio lighting, full of atmosphere — a strikingly handsome face with sharp, defined features appeared on screen, blowing a kiss at the camera, then looking sideways into the lens with a smile-crinkled gaze and calling out: “Big sister~”

Xuan Yanyu turned the phone screen off and twirled it idly in his hand. “Of course I’m serious. From now on, watch less of…”

The words he hadn’t finished dissolved into the heat of a kiss.

Xuan Yanyu’s heart hammered wildly. Coming back to his senses, his lips parted slightly. His elegant, bone-fine hand cupped the back of Yan Yunning’s neck, and the tip of his tongue reached out in a quiet, tentative curl.

In the front seat, Ye Jian kept his eyes fixed straight ahead. In the passenger seat, Ye’an silently pressed the button to lower the retractable privacy screen.