Yan Yuning chewed the strawberry in her mouth and stared at Xuan Zhaoran for a few seconds. Fine — coaxing Xuan Yanyu back into a good mood was indeed more important.

“Miss Yan, Second Young Miss.” A bodyguard walked up to Yan Yuning carrying a bouquet of light pink roses with edges tinted a soft creamy white. “Miss Yan, your bouquet.”

“Thank you.”

“Ahem, ahem.” Xuan Zhaoran sprang up from the sofa. She stared in astonishment as Yan Yuning accepted the bouquet from the bodyguard with a serene smile.

A sweet peach-pink, carrying a faint floral fragrance, the slightly curled petals on the lighter side.

Not a bold, saturated pink — fine water droplets still clung to the petals. Several white roses were interspersed among the pink, and the gaps in the bouquet were dotted with baby’s breath. At a rough count, there were ninety-nine blooms.

While not as bold and blazing as red roses, pink roses were gentle and no less romantic.

The bouquet also had white roses woven in, accented by baby’s breath — clearly the person who had ordered it had put real thought into it. Still, she really wanted Ningning to become her sister-in-law!!

Accepting a flower delivery from their family bodyguard — how could this stand?!

“Ningning!”

Xuan Zhaoran suddenly called out at the top of her voice, startling Yan Yuning so badly she nearly missed a step on the staircase. She turned back in confusion.

Without stopping to put on her shoes, Xuan Zhaoran padded barefoot toward Yan Yuning. She pointed at the beautiful bouquet in Yan Yuning’s arms. “Pretty, isn’t it.”

Yan Yuning: “?”

“Second Young Miss, your shoes.” A’Ci picked up Xuan Zhaoran’s slippers and placed them beside her feet.

Xuan Zhaoran looked down at the slippers, then her gaze fell on the man crouching at her feet, and her heart gave a sudden lurch.

Yan Yuning watched them with a teasing eye, growing ever more curious about their situation.

Xuan Zhaoran kicked the slippers away, the rims of her eyes burning with an aching heat. “What business is it of yours whether I wear shoes?”

A’Ci’s brow furrowed faintly. He quietly retrieved the kicked-away slippers. “The floor’s cold.”

“Hmph.” Xuan Zhaoran laughed with cool mockery. She said each word deliberately: “You’re just my father’s driver. Mind your own business.”

A’Ci’s frame stiffened. Without another word, he grasped Xuan Zhaoran’s ankle and put her slippers on for her, then stepped back to his usual respectful position.

With her contrary streak flaring up, Xuan Zhaoran kicked off the slippers A’Ci had just put on her feet.

“Second Young Miss, please stop making things difficult for A’Ci.” The maid Xiao Ting, unable to bear it any longer, picked up Xuan Zhaoran’s slippers.

Xuan Zhaoran looked at A’Ci and Xiao Ting standing side by side, looking very much like a couple, and felt her heart prick as if stung.

No — not looking like a couple. They were a couple.

“Second Young Miss, your slippers.” Xiao Ting stepped up to Xuan Zhaoran and placed the slippers at her feet with respectful courtesy.

“Why haven’t you quit yet?” Xuan Zhaoran’s tone was sharp.

“Second Young Miss, the head of the Xuan household asked me to stay.” Xiao Ting said timidly.

Xuan Zhaoran’s gaze stilled for a moment. She still didn’t put on the slippers — she hooked her arm through Yan Yuning’s and, barefoot, pulled her toward the stairs.

“Xuan Zhaoran.”

Xuan Zhaoran turned back and fixed A’Ci with a mocking look. “What, aren’t you afraid my father will suddenly come downstairs?”

A’Ci said only, “Shoes.”

“Ugh—” Xiao Ting suddenly clutched her abdomen in a dry heave. She pressed her hand over her mouth and stumbled in a wretched state to the trash bin, where she vomited until her whole body went limp.

“She’s pregnant?” Xuan Zhaoran’s eyes reddened at the corners as she stared at A’Ci, her mind going blank for an instant.

A’Ci said nothing. He simply walked to Xiao Ting’s side and gently patted her back.

Xuan Zhaoran’s chest tightened with a suffocating pressure. She forced down the urge to cry and looked at Yan Yuning. “I’m going to stay at my sister’s place. I’m leaving first.”

“Ranran, I’ll see you off.” Yan Yuning caught her wrist, led her back downstairs, fetched Xuan Zhaoran’s shoes at the entrance and helped her put them on, then walked her out of the hall. Once she saw Xuan Zhaoran seated in the car, Yan Yuning instructed the bodyguard to make sure she was delivered safely to Xuan Zhaorong’s home.

She watched the car pull away, then scrolled through her contacts for Xuan Zhaorong and sent her a message.

She hadn’t fully pieced together what had happened, but she had heard the girl say that the head of the Xuan household had asked her to stay. Combined with A’Ci — a bodyguard — having been in the main hall at all, she could at least guess: this was probably something Uncle had tacitly allowed.

As for the purpose — she suspected it might be to make Ranran give up on A’Ci.

With this detour, Yan Yuning glanced down at her phone. It was already past eight in the evening. She put her phone away and hurried through the main hall with the bouquet in her arms. She noticed A’Ci supporting the girl as they prepared to leave, and her footsteps slowed.

“Miss Yan.”

“Miss Yan.”

A’Ci and Xiao Ting each gave Yan Yuning a respectful nod.

Yan Yuning’s brow knitted tightly. She stepped past them and went to Xiao Wan, lowering her voice to ask,

“What’s their relationship? I don’t get it — they don’t seem like a bodyguard and a maid from the Xuan Residence. They seem more like the owners of this place. Is that just how everyone here is? Working and falling in love at the same time?”

Xiao Wan shook her head. “It isn’t like that, Miss Yan. A’Ci and Xiao Ting have been permitted by the head of the Xuan household.”

“Why?” Yan Yuning asked.

Xiao Wan bit her lip. “Miss Yan, I don’t know. Please don’t ask me — I have things to attend to.”

Yan Yuning’s gaze deepened. She wasn’t saying she didn’t know — she was unwilling to say. No wonder Xuan Yanyu had told her no one else would tell her.

“Ding dong.” The phone rang. Yan Yuning looked down at the familiar number, her pupils contracting sharply. She braced herself and answered. “Wen Zhilu, please don’t tell me you didn’t get on the plane!!”

“I didn’t. I just got here and haven’t had much time to play yet — why would I leave?”

The nonchalant voice drifted into Yan Yuning’s ear. She drew a deep breath. “Then why were you so set on leaving just now??”

“I really wanted to leave at the time. But now I don’t want to anymore.” The young man had slipped back into his cheerful tone.

“You……” Yan Yuning was so exasperated she was speechless.

“Yan Yuning, I still have a fever, you know. If you’re free, come keep me company for a meal. You said it yourself — things are still the same between us.”

“I’m busy. Bye.” Yan Yuning hung up and steadied her breathing.

She had chased after him, sent him all the way to the airport, and even gotten Xuan Yanyu angry at her — and now he was calling her to say he wasn’t leaving after all?!

She genuinely wanted to go to the hotel and give him a good smack!!

The phone rang again. Yan Yuning answered it with resigned patience, coaxing him the way one would coax a small child. “Tomorrow. Call your Xiaxia-jie and the others and we’ll all go out to eat tomorrow.”

There was a long silence on the other end before he said, “Then you have to come with me to the hospital for my drip tomorrow.”

Afraid Yan Yuning would refuse, Wen Zhilu rushed on. “I always used to go with you whenever you needed a drip. Have some conscience.”

Yan Yuning was at a complete loss for words. “That was because you had nothing better to do. My sister and my mom were both with me — you insisted on showing up anyway.”

“Yan Yuning, didn’t you say that having a boyfriend wouldn’t change things between us? I already feel like it has. You can’t come out to eat with me, and now you can’t come with me for my drip either. So just break up with him.”

Yan Yuning was so incensed she nearly coughed up blood. “Wen Zhilu, you’re an adult. I’m not your girlfriend — why on earth would I go with you to get a drip?”

Wen Zhilu answered with complete conviction. “Didn’t you say you were like a girl next door to me? I came all the way to Chaxi City to find you. I don’t know anyone here, and now I’m sick on top of it. Going to the hospital alone is bound to be lonely. You’d be keeping me company and chatting with me — what’s wrong with that?”

“Yan Yuning, if this were before, you’d have already said yes.”

“When it comes down to it, you have a boyfriend now and you just don’t want to bother with me anymore, right?”

“Just tell me — tell me you’re never going to pay any attention to me again, and I promise I will never call you again. Not once.”