By the time Shen Ruoxi had ducked her head, Xie Yan had already gone to wash up.

In a small rented apartment like this one, the bathroom was cramped and narrow, and the soundproofing was nearly nonexistent. She could hear him washing his face with perfect clarity.

She climbed off the bed, got dressed, and looked at the mattress — creased and crumpled beyond recognition. The two pillows had both tumbled off to the floor on either side. Everything that had happened the night before replayed itself in her mind like a rewinding reel.

“What are you doing?” Someone tapped her on the shoulder from behind.

Shen Ruoxi realized she had been standing there holding a pillow she had picked up, lost in a daze. The tap sent the pillow dropping from her arms.

Something warm was near her ear — his cheek pressed close. The heat of a fresh, clean breath fell against the side of her face. “Thinking about what just happened?”

His voice carried a faint undercurrent of teasing, like a wolf that had cornered its prey and was toying with it at leisure.

“No.” Shen Ruoxi denied it without a second thought.

“Then why are you blushing?”

“You’re seeing things.” Shen Ruoxi stepped sideways and escaped out of range of his breath. “I’m going to wash my face.”

She ducked into the bathroom in a hurry, and the moment she glanced up, the person in the mirror gave her a fright — hair in complete disarray, her face flushed with a distinctly unnatural color. That state of embarrassment had clearly been in full view of the man.

She quickly scooped up a ladle of cold water from the storage bucket, splashing handful after handful against her face without stopping until the warmth had completely drained from her cheeks, only then letting herself breathe.

“Hey.”

Xie Yan’s voice came from outside. “What are you doing in there? The water is spilling out.”

Only then did Shen Ruoxi realize she had been moving too hastily — water had spread all across the floor. Without any proper waterproofing, the surface was flooded with wet patches.

She quickly grabbed a cloth to wipe it up, and used a bath towel to block the gap at the bottom of the door.

In the middle of all this frantic tidying, Xie Yan suddenly pushed the door open.

She looked up at him: hair and face both damp, strands of hair clinging to her face in wet strips. It was far from a flattering look.

Xie Yan looked at her and broke into laughter.

“What are you laughing at?” Shen Ruoxi glared at him. “Never seen someone mop a floor before?”

“Weren’t you washing your face? How did it turn into mopping the floor?”

Shen Ruoxi had no intention of answering him. She kept her head down and continued cleaning up the floor.

By the time she had changed into fresh clothes, Xie Yan was already standing at the door.

“Isn’t Mr. Xie leaving yet?” Shen Ruoxi asked, her tone less than warm.

“Didn’t you say you wanted noodles?”

“I can make them myself.”

“You have the ingredients?” Xie Yan said with a pointed edge. “Miss Shen’s kitchen, one might say, is completely bare.”

Being so bluntly mocked for her poverty, Shen Ruoxi couldn’t help but roll her eyes. Though her pride told her she shouldn’t go anywhere with this man, her stomach had other ideas — it gurgled shamelessly.

Yesterday evening, she had only eaten some peanuts. That meager amount had long since been digested.

Xie Yan arched an eyebrow. “What are you standing there for? Move — unless you want to starve to death, in which case who would be earning money for me?”

Shen Ruoxi knew perfectly well that the money she earned was of no consequence to him, but she decided not to deny her stomach. Free breakfast, after all — there was no reason not to eat it.

Only, it turned out to be nothing like she had imagined. Xie Yan took her to a lavish Western restaurant.

“We only want a bowl of noodles,” Shen Ruoxi pointed out. “This sort of Western restaurant won’t have noodles.”

“You want me to eat at a roadside stall?”

“And why not? You can eat just the same.” She had eaten alongside stray cats and survived on things scavenged from rubbish bins.

In her eyes, food had no rank — only the ability to keep you alive.

Xie Yan looked at her as though she had said something idiotic. “You’d best abandon that idea.”

Shen Ruoxi thought about it and conceded the point. Asking the great and formidable Xie Yan to sit at a roadside stall and eat a bowl of noodles was, clearly, not something that could ever actually happen.

Once the two of them had taken their seats in a corner of the restaurant, a server appeared with menus.

Xie Yan didn’t take his. He looked at Shen Ruoxi instead. “You order.”

Shen Ruoxi said, “I just want noodles.”

Xie Yan turned back to the server: “Two bowls of noodles.”

The server looked thoroughly baffled. “Sir, we don’t have noodles here.”

This was a Western restaurant. Where would noodles come from?

“No noodles?” Xie Yan’s eyes swept over the server. “Are you certain?”

Before the server could say another word, the restaurant manager came rushing over, bowing and nodding at Xie Yan with great deference. “I do apologize, Mr. Xie — he’s new and didn’t recognize you.”

And with that, he shot a frantic series of pointed looks at the server.

The server also quickly bowed. “I’m terribly sorry, Mr. Xie — I had eyes but failed to see.”

“All right, all right.” Xie Yan waved his hand with impatience. “Do you have noodles or not?”

“Yes, yes, of course.” The manager said at once. “What kind of noodles would Mr. Xie like?”

Xie Yan again looked across at Shen Ruoxi. The manager and server both followed his gaze, fixing equally tense eyes on her.

It was evident that this woman’s words carried considerable weight.

Shen Ruoxi said evenly: “Scallion noodles.”

The manager and the server exchanged a glance, and the quick-witted manager responded immediately: “Scallion noodles — yes, yes, of course. Our specialty here is actually scallion noodles.”

Shen Ruoxi: “…”

A Western restaurant, and its specialty was scallion noodles. That was an extraordinary talent for lying without flinching.

Before long, the manager himself came out personally carrying two bowls of scallion noodles — though calling them scallion noodles was generous, for the noodles were almost beside the point. Alongside them came an array of high-end accompaniments: rare seasonal dishes and choice delicacies of every kind, leaving not an inch of table uncovered.

Xie Yan appeared very satisfied with the manager’s handling of things and generously tipped both him and the server handsomely.

“Do you always eat this extravagantly for breakfast?” Shen Ruoxi wrinkled her nose.

“I didn’t order any of this.” Xie Yan spread his hands. “They decided on their own initiative.”

Shen Ruoxi thought to herself: you didn’t order it, and yet you’re still tipping them — that’s silent approval if anything.

Not that she was going to waste energy caring about it. What mattered right now was eating her fill.

After the meal, Shen Ruoxi asked the manager to pack up the leftovers. The manager paused in confusion, then looked to Xie Yan for guidance.

In a restaurant like theirs, no guest had ever asked to take food away with them.

“If she says pack it up, pack it up. What are you looking at me for? Do I look like I’d do it myself?” Xie Yan said with unmasked irritation.

The manager immediately said: “Not at all, not at all — I’ll have someone take care of it right away.”

In the end, the manager and all the servers lined up at the door to see Xie Yan off.

Shen Ruoxi heard a chorus of “Farewell, Mr. Xie” and “We look forward to your return, Mr. Xie” rising up behind her and couldn’t help letting out a laugh.

“What are you laughing at?” Xie Yan’s tone was clearly displeased.

“Do you always have people swarming around you like this everywhere you go?”

Xie Yan gave a dismissive hum through his nose. “Is there anything strange about that?”

“You don’t find it exhausting?”

“You get used to it.”

He walked to the car, then suddenly turned back to look at her. “Where are you headed now?”

“Back to sleep. I have work tonight.”

Xie Yan paused. “Didn’t you just wake up?”

“The magpies outside the window call endlessly every morning. I was woken up by the noise.” Shen Ruoxi said this and then, before she could feel embarrassed about what had happened that morning, she turned away quickly. “I’ll walk back on my own. Thank you for breakfast, Mr. Xie.”

Xie Yan watched her leave before getting into the car. Old Liu turned around from the driver’s seat: “Mr. Xie, you have a lunch appointment with Miss Niu today.”

“Which Miss Niu?”

Old Liu seemed accustomed to this sort of question, and answered with careful precision: “The Miss Niu you met on the golf course yesterday — she is the daughter of Senior Advisor Niu.”

“Oh, her.” Xie Yan sounded indifferent. “Cancel it.”

Old Liu gave a small nod. “I’ll have someone send word to her.”

Old Liu had been at Xie Yan’s side for many years, one of his most trusted confidants. With just a single gesture or a look, he could usually tell what Xie Yan wanted.

“Old Liu.” Xie Yan, seated in the back, suddenly leaned forward slightly. “Was it entirely my own idea to go to Cujin Road last night?”

“Yes,” Old Liu answered earnestly. “Mr. Xie had been drinking last night, and I was planning to take you back to the Mansion. When we passed Cujin Road, you suddenly said you wanted to go to the old apartment. I offered to escort you upstairs, but you refused, so I waited at the street level all night until this morning.”

“It’s been a long time since I went back to that place,” Xie Yan said, leaning back against the seat rest. “When I first came to Shun Cheng, I had nowhere to stay. I slept in drainage ditches, slept under bridges, and only after scraping together a little money did I manage to rent an apartment. Sister Hong felt sorry for me and even cut the rent in half, and from time to time brought me good things to eat. Looking back on it now, it all feels like it happened in another life.”

Old Liu said: “That place was your first home in Shun Cheng, so it’s natural you feel attached to it. That’s why you bought the whole building — and even after buying it, you left the management rights with Sister Hong. You’ve never taken a cent of the income.”

For those who had shown him kindness, Xie Yan always kept gratitude in his heart. In the same way, for those who had wronged him, he would repay every debt to the last.

“Old Liu, what kind of woman do you think Shen Ruoxi is?”

Faced with Xie Yan’s sudden change of subject, Old Liu replied: “I can’t see through Miss Shen.”

“You think so too?” Xie Yan gave a faint curve of his lips. “Old Liu — do you think it was too much of a coincidence, me running into her in that alley?”

“What does Mr. Xie mean?”

“I’m not sure either.” Xie Yan shook his head. “She is a woman who seems simple on the surface, and yet is the hardest of all to see through.”

“Should I have someone look into her?”

“Have Ghost Hand look into her.”

Old Liu paused, then gave a measured nod. “Understood.”

Ghost Hand was one of the core operatives under Xie Yan’s command, responsible specifically for gathering intelligence. His informants were scattered across many locations, and his capabilities were beyond question.

The fact that Xie Yan had Ghost Hand investigate Shen Ruoxi suggested he had harbored doubts about her all along.

But what Old Liu could not understand was — if Xie Yan didn’t trust Shen Ruoxi, why did he continue to help her, and to keep engaging with her?

These were not matters that a subordinate like him could question, however. His place was to obey his orders and carry them out.

Xie Yan closed his eyes, preparing to rest briefly — when the car window was knocked.

He opened his eyes with some irritation, about to see which fool had the nerve to knock on his window. And then he saw Shen Ruoxi’s face pressed against the glass, her eyes blinking at him.