He Siyu licked his dry lips and spoke in a hoarse voice.
“Ni Yang, when I come back, are you planning to sleep separately from me?”
Ni Yang, who had been waving Cotton Candy’s paw around, froze for a moment. She frowned slightly as she looked at He Siyu.
“Mhm. I think we need time to adjust and get familiar with each other. I assume you also wouldn’t like sleeping in the same bed with someone unfamiliar.”
“About how long would that take?”
Ni Yang lowered her eyes and thought for a while.
“About a month. I’m sleeping in the master bedroom right now. If you agree, then I’ll have to trouble you to sleep in the guest room.”
He Siyu fell silent briefly.
“I’ll listen to you.”
“Thank you for understanding.”
“It’s what I should do.”
After chatting a bit more about Cotton Candy, He Siyu had to get up and head to the branch office for work.
Once the video call ended, Ni Yang immediately called Min Yan. The other side answered very quickly.
“What’s wrong, my precious baby?”
While rubbing Cotton Candy’s little fluffy head, Ni Yang spoke incredulously.
“I just had a video call with He Siyu. Do you know what the first thing he said was? He asked if I planned on sleeping separately from him after he came back.”
“Of course I’m going to sleep separately first so we can get used to each other. We got married on impulse and don’t even have feelings yet. I don’t want to randomly roll into bed together like some lower life-form.”
Min Yan burst into loud laughter.
“Hahahahahahaha! Lower life-form? Baby, that sentence is going to offend so many people. Hahahahahaha! That’s too funny, I’m dying.”
Ni Yang: “……”
Silence was golden.
After waiting for Min Yan to finish laughing, she continued,
“He asked me how long it would take. I said one month. He was quiet for a while before saying he’d listen to me.”
For once, Min Yan restrained her laughter.
“Not bad. He’s pretty respectful.”
Ni Yang said, “I bought a Westie today. Come play with her when you visit.”
Min Yan excitedly stomped her feet.
“Wait for me. I’m coming tomorrow. Puppy, here I come!”
During the following half month, Ni Yang video-called He Siyu every day. They chatted about everything under the sun and about Cotton Candy as well. Their interactions became increasingly natural, and sometimes Ni Yang could even joke around with him.
After Min Yan stayed with her for a few days, Ni Yang brought Ling Xiaoye over to stay for several days too. Every morning, the first thing Little Ye did after waking up was run to find Cotton Candy. The little boy and the puppy played wildly together every day.
There was still one week left before He Siyu returned.
During the daytime, Ni Yang filmed videos, and at night she edited them. Long ago, she had already noticed a new fan sending her a huge amount of gifts.
Every time she uploaded a video, the fan donated money—sometimes over one million, sometimes four or five million at once—rapidly becoming the third-ranked fan after Mr. Ni and Madam Ling.
That evening, she uploaded a recently recorded audio clip of herself reading fairy tales. The accompanying photo only showed her holding a book without revealing her face.
Not long afterward, she received gifts and massive amounts of virtual currency from both Mr. Ni and Madam Ling.
A little later, the mysterious fan also sent a huge pile of gifts.
She took a screenshot and sent it to He Siyu.
Among everyone she knew, only He Siyu possessed the financial power to spend money like that on her.
The man replied shortly afterward.
[It’s me.]
As expected, Ni Yang was not surprised.
[Next time, you can transfer the money directly to my account. The platform takes a cut. If you send it directly to me, there won’t be any fees deducted.]
She had said the same thing to the couple before, but neither of them listened. They only insisted that they could not allow anyone else to outdo them when it came to spoiling their precious daughter. They had even considered buying the platform outright. She refused, yet the couple secretly acquired it behind her back anyway.
[Then send me your bank account number.]
Ni Yang laughed.
[I’m joking. Stop sending me gifts already. I don’t lack money.]
[How are the devices? Are they easy to use?]
[Very easy to use. If Mr. He suffers from insomnia, you can try listening to the fairy tales I read. They worked very well when I read them to Little Ye. He slept super soundly.]
[I’ll try it tonight.]
[Alright then, Mr. He, get back to work.]
Inside the London branch office.
The smile on He Siyu’s face instantly disappeared. He flipped his phone facedown and slowly raised his eyes, coldly sweeping his gaze over the row of senior management standing before his desk with lowered heads.
These were all people He Chuanhan had planted there.
He Chuanhan had thought that by quietly inserting his people into management, he could gradually take control of the branch company.
What he did not know was that every small move had already been under He Siyu’s watchful eyes.
He Siyu had deliberately allowed him to bring the hidden dangers inside so he could eliminate them all in one sweep and completely reshuffle the branch office.
Ji Chenzhao remained in Capital City to keep an eye on He Chuanhan. The moment there was any unusual movement, he would suppress it immediately.
It was almost time.
He Siyu had already finalized the candidates who would take over those positions.
Once these people were dealt with, he could finally go home.
At two o’clock the following afternoon, at Yutang Villa—
Ni Yang had seen a recipe online for a very beautiful modern Chinese-style dessert. She had been learning how to make it from the household cook in the kitchen for quite some time.
Before she could even appreciate the finished result, an uninvited guest arrived.
Uncle Zheng came in from outside.
“Madam, Mrs. Wen is at the gate. She says she came to visit you.”
Ni Yang paused while removing the dessert from the mold. Looking up in confusion, she asked,
“She came alone?”
“She brought her family butler with her.”
Ni Yang frowned slightly.
She had been married to He Siyu for nearly a month now, yet Wen Shuhua only chose to visit today.
That definitely did not seem well-intentioned.
“Let her come in.”
Ni Yang placed the pastries onto a tray, removed her apron, washed her hands, and instructed someone to prepare a pot of flower tea.
She then sat on the living room sofa waiting for Wen Shuhua’s arrival.
He Siyu’s stepmother.
Back at the old residence, when Grandmother had handed the prayer beads to Ni Yang, the look in Wen Shuhua’s eyes had practically screamed that she wanted to kill her on the spot.
Wen Shuhua entered wearing an exquisitely tailored dark green qipao. The moment she saw Ni Yang, her face bloomed into a radiant smile.
“Yangyang, Mother happened to pass by this area today, so I came to see you. Siyu is truly outrageous too. What kind of man leaves his wife alone in the marital home right after getting married?”
Ni Yang stood and smiled politely before inviting her to sit on the sofa.
“Aunt Wen, Siyu is the head of Yi An. As his wife, supporting his work is part of my responsibility. Complaining would only make a person ugly inside.”
Wen Shuhua’s smile stiffened instantly at the words “Aunt Wen.” Her hand tightened around the teacup handle as she held the flower tea.
Forcing herself to maintain her smile, she took a sip before turning again toward Ni Yang seated beside her.
Her brows furrowed slightly, looking as though she wanted to speak but did not dare to. Her red lips moved several times without making a sound.
It was as though the words she wanted to say were difficult to voice.
Ni Yang hated this kind of behavior the most.
If someone wanted to speak, then they should just say it. Acting constipated like this was unbearable to watch.
“What is it, Aunt Wen? Is there something you want to tell me?”
She maintained a proper smile and composed attitude.
Wen Shuhua let out a heavy breath, looking as though she had finally made up her mind.
“Yangyang, I simply can’t bear seeing such a good girl like you being deceived. Siyu didn’t just go overseas for a business trip this time.”
“He has a white moonlight overseas.”
Ni Yang: “?”