Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

Yan Wangchuan was standing at the door, wearing a perfectly ironed black suit with a stern expression. When he looked at Qiao Aiyun, eyes were gloomier than the winter wind, looking stiff and solemn.

He looked down at his watch. “The Civil Affairs Bureau will open in ten seconds.”

It was as though he could hear the ticking of the second hand sliding across his ears. It felt like torture in these short ten seconds.

Qiao Aiyun frowned. It felt as though someone was strangling her throat inch by inch, making it difficult to breath.

When the second hand skipped past 59 seconds, Yan Wangchuan suddenly tightened his grip on the paper bag in his hand and gave her a profound look.

“I’m going to work.” Then he turned to leave.

Qiao Aiyun suddenly reached her hand out to stop him. “Wangchuan…”

Her voice was gentle and even trembling.

Yan Wangchuan was disappointed from the bottom of his heart. He was dense and inarticulate. Every time he mentioned registering for their marriage certificate, he had mustered up all his courage. And every time, he had returned in low spirits. His heart suffered a setback, and he felt immensely unwell.

It was as though he had been thrown into the air before falling down hard.

“… I know you like me and treat me well, but everything has happened too fast. Song Jingren and I just got divorced not long ago. You’ve already suffered a lot of criticism by being with me.”

“I don’t care.” If Yan Wangchuan cared about the opinions of others, he wouldn’t have painstakingly waited for her for more than 20 years.

“I care.” Qiao Aiyun’s fingers tightened slightly as she pulled him back. “Although we’ve known each other for a long time, we haven’t spent enough time together. There are many things we still need to work out…”

“Do you not like me at all?” Yan Wangchuan turned around to look at her.

Qiao Aiyun wished she could knock his head open and see what was inside. “If I didn’t have the slightest bit of feelings for you, would I let you touch me? What kind of person do you take me for?!”

Yan Wangchuan was obtuse when it came to matters of the heart. He lowered his eyes and didn’t speak.

“It’s because I care too much, so I cherish you even more. If I can’t even deal with my past properly and get together with you right away, it will be unfair to you.”

The pursed corners of Yan Wangchuan’s lips revealed a thin chill.

Seeing that he wasn’t moving, Qiao Aiyun took two steps forward, spread her arms, and hugged the man in front of her, who was more than half a head taller than her, with some difficulty.

He was born tall to begin with, and coupled with the fact that he had been exercising for a long time, Qiao Aiyun’s arms couldn’t circle around him completely. Her actions were clumsy and stiff.

Yan Wangchuan could clearly feel her leaning against his chest, her warm face pressed against him as she rubbed against him gently. His feelings of disappointment and anxiety were instantly soothed.

“This is a very important stage in Wanwan’s life. I want to spend more time with her and also give us more time to get along.

“With June as the deadline, if you still want to marry me then…

“We’ll go register our marriage.”

Yan Wangchuan narrowed his eyes. He hated that he couldn’t become husband and wife with her at this very moment. But her body was soft and warm in his embrace, and her voice was sweet and gentle. He couldn’t refuse her.

“Is this proposal unsuitable?” Qiao Aiyun looked up at him.

Only then did she notice that his neck was completely red, as though he had a fever.

“It’ll do.” Yan Wangchuan also knew that he was too impatient. Qiao Aiyun’s words made sense too. With June as the deadline, it would only be slightly over five months. It wasn’t a long time.

Qiao Aiyun heaved a sigh of relief and coughed twice. “Erm… Do you want to hug me?”

Why is he still acting like a block of wood at a time like this? Shouldn’t he hug me back?

Yan Wangchuan raised his hands stiffly and pulled her into his embrace suddenly as the corners of his rigid and solemn lips curled up slightly.

***

Yunjin Prime Manor…

After Fu Chen finished relaying his instructions about Sun Rui and got Shi Fang to carry them out, he prepared to go to the Duan family to check on Duan Linbai’s condition. The latter had said that he was going to get a re-examination of his eyes, but there had been no news this whole time.

As soon as he got in the car, he received a message from Yan Wangchuan.

We’re getting married in June at the latest.

Fu Chen held the prayer beads in his hand and smiled.

Although the two of them were always on bad terms, he was still happy for him.

Qiao Aiyun wasn’t like Yan Wangchuan. He didn’t care about the opinions of others, but she definitely wouldn’t want to be with him only to receive malicious slander from the people around them. There were only four months left until Song Fengwan’s college entrance examination. It would be best to give each other a break-in period and to take care of Song Fengwan too.

Fu Chen tilted his head and searched through the numbers in his phone. He called Duan Linbai twice, but the line was busy both times.

He could only give the landline of the Duan residence a call.

“Hello, Third Master,” a maid of the Duan residence answered the phone.

“Where’s your young master?”

“He’s throwing a tantrum in his room. We don’t know why, but he’s been very irritable lately.”

Fu Chen raised an eyebrow. Could this be the period of impatience and irritability the doctor spoke of after people lost their eyesight?

Duan Linbai wasn’t irritated because of this reason at all. He was an optimist, and his eyes were not permanently blind. He wasn’t anxious at all.

He was infuriated because of that woman Xu Jiamu.

Just now, Duan Linbai had called her. When the call finally got through, he had even been a little excited from the bottom of his heart. This woman had been keeping him hanging for three days. Was she finally going to respond to him?

As soon as the call connected, he heard a voice say…

“… My apologies, it’s a salesperson.”

Duan Linbai was immediately dumbfounded. You’re the f*cking salesperson. Your whole family are salespeople.

Actually, Xu Jiamu was meeting her mentor at this moment. The final exams for undergraduates had ended, so most people had left school. Xu Jiamu was studying for a doctorate, so she stayed behind a little later. Her mentor had been reminding her what to do during winter vacation and not to abandon her studies when Duan Linbai’s call came…

Initially, she had wanted to hang up immediately, but her hand slipped, and the call connected. So she found a random reason to hang up.

But it caused Duan Linbai to explode in anger.

***

When Fu Chen arrived at the Duan residence, a certain blind someone was fuming at a wall.

Fu Xinhan was lying on the carpet and licking his paws. From time to time, he would look up at Duan Linbai, his eyes looking as though they were watching…

… someone mentally disabled.

“Woof!” Upon seeing Fu Chen, Fu Xinhan dashed over and started dancing in circles and jumping around him wildly. He was incredibly excited.

“Third Fu?” Duan Linbai leaned on his blind cane and scouted the way forward, nearly knocking into the wall.

“What are you doing?” Fu Chen walked over and helped him sit down.

“I’m fine.” Duan Linbai would never say that he was angered by a woman.

“Because of Xu Jiamu?” It was not that Fu Chen could predict the future. But Duan Linbai had been pointing at the wall just now and kept talking about someone with the last name Xu, about how she was a salesperson, and that she even sold insurance…

It was childish and laughable.

“How is that possible? Ha… Of course not.” Duan Linbai leaned against the sofa, huffing away so much so that his lips rose into a pout. “Third Fu, why did she come when you called her, but she doesn’t answer when I call? What the heck is she doing?”

“She doesn’t answer?” Fu Chen guessed something.

That night, he had tested the waters. Student Xu had run back to school as though she had seen a ghost. When she sent Duan Linbai for the follow-up check-up, she must have realized that he was still unaware of it. So naturally, she would definitely hide as far away as possible.

“What exactly is your relationship with her? Why does she listen to you?” Duan Linbai raised his brows.

Fu Chen narrowed his eyes and leaned against his ear. “Actually, she’s the one who dragged you into the alley that night and beat you into the hospital.”

Duan Linbai jumped up from the sofa and hit his head against the floor lamp at the side. He sucked in a breath of cold air in pain.

“F*ck! Third Fu, why didn’t you tell me something so important earlier?! Damn it! It’s actually her! No wonder she was so solicitous about me. I even thought that…” Duan Linbai’s current feelings were along the lines of ‘God damn it!’

So, was her interest in me all my imagination?

He was a rash and impulsive person to begin with, so he immediately called his assistant to prepare a car and made a beeline for Beijing Medical University to find Xu Jiamu’s medical laboratory building.

The assistant got out of the car to find her. He ran until he was out of breath before getting news about Xu Jiamu.

“Little Boss, Miss Xu went home for vacation.”

“What did you say?” Duan Linbai was so angry that his heart hurt.

He had been away from campus life for a long time and had completely forgotten that students had winter and summer holidays. “Investigate immediately! Find out where she lives!”

If he found her, he would definitely kill this woman.

***

At this moment, Fu Chen was already waiting for Song Fengwan at the entrance of another examination hall.

“Third Master, why did you tell Young Master Duan about this matter? Given his temper, he definitely won’t be able to sit still. He’ll want to settle the score with Miss Xu.” Shi Fang couldn’t understand why he had told him about it at this moment after hiding the secret for so long.

“Sun Rui’s news will soon spread throughout the city, and her family will undoubtedly seek help from the Duan family.” Fu Chen held his Buddhist prayer beads and casually fiddled with a turquoise stone in the middle.

“Yes, the Duan family has almost monopolized this industry. They will definitely look for them.” Shi Fang nodded.

“It’s close to the new year. The Duan family will be very busy and can’t be contacted, so the Sun family will definitely look for Linbai directly. If they discover that he has lost his sight, they might cause some trouble.”

“Did you deliberately send him away?”

“If Sun Rui’s father calls personally, with Linbai’s temper, he probably won’t give him any face. It doesn’t matter if he offends the Sun family. I just don’t want to implicate him. I might as well get him to leave the capital and stay away from these muddy waters completely.”

Shi Fang nodded. In terms of taking things into consideration, Third Master is still the most thorough.

***

On the other side, in a provincial city near the capital, Ning County Station…

Xu Jiamu had just gotten out of the long-distance coach and hailed a taxi to go home. Carrying a cumbersome suitcase, she finally arrived at the entrance of a residential building. There, she saw a black car with two people standing beside it.

The surrounding passersby pointed at the two from time to time.

“Miss Xu.” Assistant Little Jiang greeted her first.

Duan Linbai was overjoyed. I finally f*cking found her.

The corners of Xu Jiamu’s mouth twitched twice…

Does this person have to wear a mink coat and carry a pouch to come to a small town like this?

How flashy..