“What are you thinking about?”

Although he had no idea what her little mind had conjured up, Shen Yi was first charmed by her adorable expression before asking what had frightened her so.

Rong Qian drooped her head and let out a sigh. “Ah, it’s nothing.”

“Have the hangover remedy first.”

Shen Yi picked up the bowl of hangover soup that had been left on the nightstand and handed it to her — it was still warm. Rong Qian took it, held her breath, and drained it in one go.

Once she had finished, Shen Yi said, “Are you feeling more clear-headed now?”

Rong Qian nodded. “Yes, much better!”

“Good. Now that you’re clear-headed, let’s have a proper talk.” Shen Yi settled himself into a posture of attentive listening, one of complete willingness to hear everything.

Rong Qian looked blank. “Talk about what?”

“It doesn’t matter that you don’t remember — I’ll remind you.” Shen Yi smiled slightly, firmly in command of the conversation. “You told me that you are not some kind of time-space traveler, and that the reason you were able to cross over to find me was because of a photograph.”

Rong Qian froze. “I said that?”

“Yes.” Shen Yi nodded.

Things having come this far, Rong Qian no longer had any intention of hiding it from him. She was just about to speak when there came a knock at the door from outside.

Xu Mo’s cautious voice called out from beyond the door: “Boss, are the two of you awake?”

“What is it?” Shen Yi did not answer directly.

Xu Mo quickly replied, “Secretary Sheng has arrived. She says there is something important she needs to speak with you about.”

Upon hearing it was Sheng Wanqing, Rong Qian glanced at Shen Yi and said, “Someone has urgent business with you — shouldn’t you go quickly?”

“You know who the Secretary Sheng Xu Mo is referring to?” Shen Yi picked up on the subtle shift in her mood with keen precision.

Rong Qian nodded and said breezily, “Of course I do. What’s so surprising about that?”

“A’Qian — are you jealous?” Shen Yi’s words carried amusement he could not quite conceal.

Rong Qian immediately fired back, “Who’s jealous? I’m perfectly fine. What would I have to be jealous about?”

“A’Qian, I only said it in passing — why are you getting so worked up?” A glint of roguish light played in the depths of Shen Yi’s eyes.

Rong Qian protested, “I am not worked up! Just go — I’ll tell you everything when you get back!”

Rong Qian was puffed up with indignation, but the amusement in Shen Yi’s eyes was impossible to hide. At his age, if he still could not see what she was feeling, then the years he had lived would have been wasted.

To be honest, the intensity of Rong Qian’s reaction had exceeded Shen Yi’s expectations.

It meant that she had a place in her heart for him — and this only strengthened Shen Yi’s resolve to say the things he had never gotten the chance to say to her all those years ago. He wanted her to not leave. He wanted her to stay.

Since Xu Mo was still waiting outside the door, Shen Yi had no choice but to go and see Sheng Wanqing first.

As he was heading out, Xu Mo leaned in and murmured quietly to Shen Yi, “Boss, Miss Rong originally wanted to reach you through Secretary Sheng yesterday, but Secretary Sheng didn’t believe her — and, well, you know what happened after that.”

Xu Mo did not need to spell it out further; Shen Yi understood. He had not anticipated this layer to the story, and his expression immediately cooled.

Sheng Wanqing was seated in the living room waiting.

In truth, Sheng Wanqing had already received a phone call from Ke Wenguang the night before. Over the phone, Ke Wenguang had told her that the woman called Rong Qian genuinely knew Shen Yi — and not in any simple or casual way.

Ke Wenguang had said it was major news, and that if she wanted the details, she should come find him.

As for why Ke Wenguang would tell Sheng Wanqing — the reason was simple: Ke Wenguang liked her.

Sheng Wanqing’s first instinct had been disbelief. She had hung up the phone, but then spent the entire night tossing and turning, unable to sleep — until she finally decided she had to come find Shen Yi first thing in the morning.

She wanted to hear it from his own lips: either a confirmation, or a clarification. As long as she could confirm that Ke Wenguang had been toying with her, Sheng Wanqing would not let him off easily.

“Mr. Shen, do you know a woman named Rong Qian?” Sheng Wanqing asked without any preamble, going straight to the point.

After Shen Yi took his seat, he turned the ring in his fingers, not answering immediately. He let Sheng Wanqing wait and grow more and more anxious — and only then did he say, at his own leisurely pace: “When someone introduces herself by name and says she’s looking for me, why was I not informed?”

The moment she heard those words, Sheng Wanqing’s heart sank. She quickly explained, “I thought she was the same as the women before — using it as a scheme to get close to you. So I took it upon myself to… drive — to persuade her to leave.”

Sheng Wanqing corrected herself just in time, switching to a gentler word choice. Shen Yi lifted his eyes and swept her with a glance; meeting his gaze, Sheng Wanqing immediately dropped her head in a fluster.

“Boss, this is simply what Secretary Sheng does as part of her job. It’s really quite understandable that she would act this way,” Xu Mo quickly stepped in to speak on Sheng Wanqing’s behalf, sensing the tension in the air.

After all, Sheng Wanqing did her job as secretary with genuine competence, and he still hoped she would not be fired.

“What exactly did Ke Wenguang tell you?” Shen Yi asked suddenly.

Sheng Wanqing startled — how had he known it was Ke Wenguang who had told her? But she answered honestly nonetheless: “He said there was major news involving you, and that if I wanted to know more details, I should go find him.”

Shen Yi nodded thoughtfully, then said a few words quietly to Xu Mo. Xu Mo listened with a focused expression, then said, “Understood, I’ll take care of it,” and went off to handle what he had been asked.

Sheng Wanqing watched as Shen Yi also rose to leave, and quickly called out to him, “Mr. Shen!”

“Was there something else?” Shen Yi cast a sidelong glance at her.

Sheng Wanqing hesitated for a moment before saying, “That Miss Rong Qian — would you like me to contact her?”

“Contact her for what purpose?”

Hearing that, Sheng Wanqing felt a flicker of relief, thinking perhaps he did not care so deeply for this woman called Rong Qian after all. She quickly added, “Well, she does know you, and I imagine it must have taken quite a lot of effort for her to come find you. If she is in any difficulty, we could perhaps help her.”

“She is in my room.”

That single sentence from Shen Yi left Sheng Wanqing completely speechless — and drained the color from her face entirely.

In his room — which meant that last night, the two of them had slept together…

Whatever Sheng Wanqing was thinking, Shen Yi could not have cared less. At this moment, he was already impatient to head upstairs and find Rong Qian.

The moment Shen Yi stepped into the room, he found Rong Qian doing leg stretches. Seeing him come in, she said, “You finished that quickly?”

“Yes — because I wanted to see you.” The words left Shen Yi’s lips completely naturally.

His directness caught Rong Qian off guard; she stood up, scratched the back of her head, and said with an awkward fidget, “Right, so, weren’t we going to have a talk? Let’s sit down and get to it.”

“Can you not leave?”

“Hm?” Rong Qian’s thoughts stumbled trying to keep up with him.

“I wanted to say these words to you the last time you left.” Shen Yi walked to stand before her, looking at her with deep, tender eyes. “A’Qian — don’t go. Please stay.”

Shen Yi had not wanted her to leave for a long time. Only the circumstances had prevented him from saying so — but now, he could say those words of entreaty openly, without reservation.

Rong Qian’s expression shifted from startled disbelief, to quiet calm. She looked at him and slowly said, “Shen Yi, words like that — others may say them, but you cannot. You should not be saying these things to me.”

“Why not?”

“Because I am doing everything I can to save you.”

Rong Qian’s expression was very grave. “Shen Yi, you don’t know yet — the situation we are in right now…”