As the sound of Shen Yi’s voice faded, the line on Yao Zhengxing’s end went silent.

Rong Qian decided to speak up. “Old Uncle — all these years, and your mouth is still just as unfiltered as ever?”

Three seconds of quiet on Yao Zhengxing’s end. Then: “You’ve been listening to us this whole time?”

“He put it on speaker. Every single word you said — I heard it all.” Rong Qian delivered this with a pointed look at a certain someone, who had clearly been enjoying himself.

Yao Zhengxing cursed Shen Yi under his breath, gave a curt announcement that they were all expected tonight, and hung up in a huff.

Rong Qian, recalling that Yao Zhengxing had brought up Yao Na’s kidnapping, turned to Shen Yi. “What’s the Yao family situation now? Is He Jicheng still alive?”

“The way you phrased that — it sounds like he’ll die.”

Shen Yi hadn’t given a direct answer, but Rong Qian read between the lines well enough: He Jicheng was alive — just in what condition, she didn’t yet know.

She didn’t bother hiding what she knew. “He will. He brought it on himself — harming others, only to destroy himself in the end.”

“Yao Zhengxing held onto a debt of gratitude to He Jicheng’s father and kept him in the Yao household,” Shen Yi told her. “But his authority has been stripped. The management of the casino has passed to someone else.”

Rong Qian hazarded a guess: “Not Zong Yutang, surely?”

She’d said it half on a whim — but it turned out she’d guessed exactly right.

Shen Yi confirmed it. “Zong Yutang is a scholarly type — highly educated. He was brought on as casino manager. But his personality is too guileless and soft-natured, and Yao Zhengxing has always found fault with him.”

“If Yao Zhengxing finds fault with him, why keep him on?” Rong Qian found this puzzling.

Shen Yi said with a faint smile, “Because I was the one who recommended him.”

“You recommended him?” Rong Qian was genuinely surprised. So they knew each other well, then?

Shen Yi explained unhurriedly. “Zong Yutang plays the part of the meek, simple-minded man — but there’s far more going on beneath the surface. He’s sharper than he lets on. The casino is in safe hands with him. And besides…” He paused briefly. “He has feelings for Yao Na. I simply helped give things a nudge in the right direction.”

“Didn’t Yao Zhengxing just say that Yao Na likes you?” Rong Qian told herself she was being perfectly breezy about it — and yet there was an unmistakable sourness in her voice.

Shen Yi reached over and took her hand, gently settling her back into her seat as though coaxing her, and then said, “She likes you.”

“Hm?” Rong Qian’s mind stuttered.

“She likes everyone who has ever protected her,” Shen Yi said with quiet warmth. “So don’t worry — she’s not your rival.”

“Oh.” A beat. Then Rong Qian’s expression shifted. “Wait — why am I even treating her as a rival?”

Shen Yi only smiled. He said nothing more.

Rong Qian regretted the words the moment they were out of her mouth. She shouldn’t have asked.

She knew Shen Yi cared for her. But that feeling — she had no way to meet it in return.

Because between them, there was no possible future.

The thought brought an involuntary sigh, and a quiet shadow settled behind her eyes. Part of her wanted to be reckless — to throw caution aside, to look at him and simply tell him how she felt.

But that feeling was like a child she already knew would be born into suffering, a life that could not last long. If the end was written from the beginning, why allow it to be born at all? Better to smother it in its cradle — cruel, yes, but a swift wound is kinder than a drawn-out one.

Don’t let yourself think about it, Rong Qian told herself. You have to keep this under control.

What she didn’t know was that the resolve she’d just made would crumble far sooner than she expected.

That very evening, Shen Yi brought Rong Qian to the restaurant Yao Zhengxing had reserved.

Yao Zhengxing had booked a private room. Aside from Yao Na, there was also Zong Yutang — black-framed glasses, a shy and quietly awkward air about him.

Young Zong Yutang had the face of a man you’d trust instinctively: measured, polite, unfailingly courteous to everyone. He had none of the air one might expect from a casino manager — he seemed more like an attentive waiter.

Yao Zhengxing found him more irritating the longer he looked at him. If it weren’t for his management abilities — and the fact that Shen Yi had vouched for him — Yao Zhengxing would have sent him packing long ago.

“Here, Miss — try the chicken leg.” Zong Yutang reached into the dish, selected the best piece, and placed it carefully into Yao Na’s bowl.

Yao Na looked at the glistening leg, then looked back at him. “I’m on a diet.”

Zong Yutang quietly reached over and took it back.

Yao Na’s brow knitted slightly. She thought, with this approach, did he seriously think he could win her over?

“Dad — you said Shen Yi would be bringing someone tonight. Who did he bring?” Yao Na couldn’t contain her curiosity any longer, turning to Yao Zhengxing.

Yao Zhengxing sipped his tea, deliberately drawing it out. “You’ll see when they get here, won’t you?”

“At least tell me — is it a man or a woman?” Yao Na barely finished the sentence before she corrected herself: “No, never mind — it has to be a man!”

Yao Zhengxing said offhandedly, “What makes you so certain it’s a man?”

“Because Shen Yi has been waiting for Miss Rong all this time,” Yao Na said with quiet conviction. “Someone that devoted would never fall for someone else.” She said it with a wistfulness in her voice — she hoped one day to find someone like that for herself.

Just as the thought crossed her mind, Zong Yutang placed a freshly peeled prawn in her bowl. He ducked his head and murmured softly: “Prawns won’t make you gain weight.”

Yao Na paused. The corner of her mouth curved upward, just slightly.

Yao Zhengxing, who had missed the exchange entirely, put on a deliberately dismissive smile. “Devoted? I’ll just tell you — he’s bringing a female companion tonight.”

Female companion.

Zong Yutang’s first thought was of Sheng Wanqing.

So Shen Yi had finally been won over by that woman after all.

As for someone called Rong Qian — Zong Yutang had never met her. By the time he’d come to know Shen Yi, there hadn’t been a single woman in Shen Yi’s life.

He’d heard Yao Na mention her more than once — that she had saved Yao Na’s life at some point. Zong Yutang had been curious enough to ask Shen Yi about her, but Shen Yi had never said a single word on the subject.

Later, he heard Xu Mo say that after she left, she never came back — not a word, not a trace.

Zong Yutang had drawn his own conclusion: she had walked away from Shen Yi. And if she had abandoned him, there was no reason for Shen Yi to keep thinking about her.

So that, he’d decided, must be why Shen Yi never brought her up.

From that point on, Zong Yutang had formed an impression of the woman called Rong Qian — and it was not a flattering one.

What Zong Yutang didn’t know was that the reason Shen Yi never spoke of her had nothing to do with grief or pride.

He simply didn’t want too many people to discover his most treasured secret.