“Cheng Lele, I’m asking you a question.” After waiting for a long time, Chen An pressed, his voice cold and hard yet trembling.

Cheng Lele stood in his shadow and caught a glimpse of the person outside the railing.

She quickly withdrew her gaze, and many speculations that hadn’t yet settled were finally confirmed. Chen An indeed had a girlfriend.

Now his girlfriend was standing outside watching him reprimand her, and she felt utterly ashamed.

She stuffed her ice-cold hands in her pockets and said, “Mom’s death coincided with the outbreak of the pandemic, when prevention and control measures were at their strictest. Even if I had notified you, you wouldn’t have been able to come.”

“Is that a reason?” His voice rose in volume. “Whether I could come or not is my business. No one can make that decision for me. Didn’t you understand this principle when your godfather passed away?”

The words came out as a rebuke, and his heart suddenly ached. Who wants to understand such principles? Who wants this kind of life experience? How could he bear to pour salt on a wound?

Chen An lifted his head and took a deep breath. “What illness?”

“Myeloma.”

“How long was she sick?”

“Five years.”

“How was she treated? Where did the money come from?”

“There was compensation and savings. My mom remarried and had family support.”

“What else haven’t you told me? Say it all at once.”

“Nothing else.”

“Are you sure there’s nothing else?” Chen An was almost speaking through gritted teeth. “Don’t let another thing suddenly come up later.”

Cheng Lele lowered her head. Her hat had a fluffy pom-pom, and Chen An stared at it as he asked, “Why didn’t you tell me all this time?”

“What about you? Why didn’t you tell me my godfather was in prison?” Cheng Lele suddenly looked up and asked.

Chen An was first stunned, the cold damp air seeming to pour entirely into his heart. He shouted, “Is that the same?!”

Cheng Lele gave a cold snort, looked up at him, her pitch-black pupils holding a cluster of flames. “Before my mom died, she said I didn’t need to come back to notify anyone. If someone cared and asked, then I should tell the truth; if no one cared, then let her stay there quietly. Since you didn’t ask, I didn’t say anything. My mom was right—the relationship between our two families has long been severed. Crying at the funeral would be meaningless.”

Chen An seemed to have been struck on the head with a club. His body swayed, as if he couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He turned sideways and took a step closer, his words so dry he could only repeat the same phrase: “What did you say?”

Cheng Lele enunciated each word clearly: “My dad is gone, my mom is gone too. The Cheng family only has me left. You and I are almost completely severed too. What’s the point of discussing these things?”

“Completely severed?” Chen An’s head felt like it was about to split, but at this moment he still managed a smile.

“Isn’t that the case? You disappeared for so long—weren’t you figuring out how to completely sever ties with me? Now you come back to question me about this and that, going back and forth like this—don’t you find it ridiculous?”

“What, you’re angry that I want to sever ties with you? Why don’t you mention that seven years ago when you left without a word, you were already planning to sever ties with me?”

“That’s right, that was exactly my plan back then. I’m more ruthless than you—when I left, I could stay away for seven years. If we hadn’t run into each other after I came back, we could have stayed severed even longer. You should learn from me.”

The two of them each harboring their anger, like two enraged little beasts, struck at each other blow by blow, suddenly tearing open the wounds they had previously hidden and dared not reveal, exposing the bloody mess of new injuries and old scars.

Chen An stood dazed for a moment, then nodded. “Fine, you want to stay severed even longer?” With that, he suddenly reached out, pinched her chin, his other hand clamping the back of her head. His body leaned slightly forward, and without warning he covered her lips with his, staying there for a moment, even mischievously tracing the shape of her lips with his tongue in a circle.

Then he released his hand, wiped his mouth, and like a rogue said viciously, “Let me ask you—how long will you run away this time? Is it enough to stay severed for the rest of this lifetime?”

Her head exploded with a “boom.” Cheng Lele was stunned like a wooden chicken, her ears buzzing as if she’d heard thunder, even the corners of her eyes twitching slightly.

Even so, at such a critical moment, the first thing her brain did when blood rushed back to it was to guiltily look at the woman outside the railing.

She couldn’t make out her expression, didn’t know if she had seen or not.

She withdrew her gaze and forcefully pushed Chen An. “If anyone’s running, it should be you. This is my home. What business is it of yours?!”

With that, she ran into her room and slammed the door shut with a deafening “bang.”

Chen An was suddenly awakened by the sound of the door slamming. He slowly turned his head, looking at the dark room, his heart filled with melancholy.

The slow torture of avoidance couldn’t continue—it was just as well to cut through the chaos with a swift blade and end it like this.

From now on, they would go their separate ways on the broad highway of life.

When Chen An came out from the first floor, he was startled to discover Tang Xin waiting in the night wind. His voice hoarse, he asked, “Why didn’t you leave?”

Although Tang Xin loved gossip very much and had just instantly understood during the process of eating this melon that all the boss’s quirks and recent abnormalities stemmed from this source, she still defended her innocence: “I thought you might need me again… Sorry, I shouldn’t have stood here.”

Chen An shook his head. “It’s fine.”

Tang Xin sneezed, and seeing her like this, Chen An took off his down jacket and handed it to her. “It’s very late. Let me take you to a hotel.”

Tang Xin said, “I can go by myself. Boss, you should rest.”

Chen An insisted on seeing her into a car.

While waiting for a taxi in the bone-chilling cold wind, Tang Xin hesitantly spoke up: “So tomorrow…”

“Tomorrow we’re going back to the provincial capital.”

Tang Xin felt that as a subordinate she probably shouldn’t speak up again, but a taxi with its light on was approaching from the distance and she could soon escape, so she said very courageously, “I drove for a long time today and I’m very tired. Can we stay in Taixi tomorrow? Driving in snowy weather is very dangerous. If there’s urgent work, we can work at the cinema too.”

Chen An was just about to open his mouth to reject this proposal when Tang Xin loudly said, “The car is here! Good night, boss!”