“Young Master Ji, here’s the thing. Ms. Xia—your wife—just called.”
“What happened?”
Hearing the displeasure in his voice deepen, Chen Yanci hurriedly answered honestly. “It’s really nothing serious. Young Master Ji, your wife just returned you, that’s all.”
“Returned me?”
The deep male voice turned even colder. Chen Yanci didn’t dare do anything stupid and pour oil on the fire, so before Ji Yanli could ask, he quickly tried to reassure him.
“Don’t worry, Young Master Ji. It was just a little misunderstanding. I’ve already helped take care of it. Though, all I did was return the two hundred thousand she paid my company.”
“But you’re my brother, so whatever you need, I’m there for you. Two hundred thousand? Even two million—I’d gladly do it, right, Young Master Ji?”
Once he had the gist of what happened, Ji Yanli didn’t hesitate. “Twenty million. It’ll be in your account in ten minutes.”
“That’s our Young Master Ji—so generous! Just say the word whenever you need anything. Your brother here would go through fire and water for you—”
“Enough. Stop.”
Ji Yanli cut him off before Chen Yanci could finish his flattery. More than any of that, he wanted to know:
“Why did Xia Feifei return me? Did she say why?”
“Uh… Young Master Ji, I think I forgot to ask.”
“Fine. Goodbye.”
The words had barely left Ji Yanli’s mouth when he coldly hung up.
Frowning, he toyed with his phone, its screen long since gone dark. He thought it over for ages, but still couldn’t figure out why Xia Feifei had returned him.
After turning it over in his mind, he called Yu Fei into his office more than ten minutes later.
“Yu Fei, do you know how to make a girl happy?”
“A girl?”
Yu Fei paused in surprise. Then he caught on and eagerly suggested, “Are you thinking of getting something for Young Madam? How about a handbag, Young Master Ji? You know what they say: a bag cures everything.”
“Good idea.”
Ji Yanli rose briskly. “Yu Fei, clear half an hour in my schedule this afternoon. I want to go to the mall and have a look around.”
“Of course, Young Master Ji.”
Jingli Residential Community.
After the call, Xia Feifei—who hadn’t managed to switch to someone else—didn’t dwell on it. She picked up her phone, ordered takeout, then sat down at her computer to write something and stabilize her income.
Given the situation, she wouldn’t be able to return to Rong Nation anytime soon—not if she wanted to keep her uncle from worrying.
So, with her biological parents out of the picture, she would have to fend for herself.
Staring at the website’s login page, Xia Feifei hesitated for a long while. In the end, she didn’t log in to her old account; instead, she clicked “Register” in the corner.
Her old account was already famous. If she started writing there again, her work would get recommendations and traffic, making it far easier to succeed.
But her uncle had been keeping a close eye on that account. Xia Feifei knew that if she logged in, he would probably call to check on her the very next second.
So rather than lie to him again, she might as well try opening a new account.
After all, writing was a one-person job. She refused to believe that without the traffic from her old account, she was nothing.
She registered an account with practiced ease. She’d barely finished when her takeout arrived. As she ate fried chicken and burgers and washed them down with a big soda, her phone rang.
She wiped the grease from her fingers with a napkin and answered the video call. On the screen, Qiao Ningran was sprawled listlessly across a king-size bed, wearing a striking pink slip.
Clearly, someone had been through a sleepless night of battle.
“Babe, how are things? Fu Qingyu suddenly came back these past couple of days, and I’ve been so busy I haven’t had a chance to ask what’s going on.”
“I guess things are temporarily sorted out!”
Xia Feifei took a sip of Coke, sounding far from certain. “Xiaoran’er, you have no idea. I got the marriage certificate and managed to get past my parents, but that ‘male companion’ from Worry Relief Hall—he, well… How do I put it?”
“What do you mean, how do you put it?”
Qiao Ningran rolled over, practically bursting with curiosity. “Babe, what kind of nonsense is that? You’re killing me with suspense.”
“Forget it. Are you free in an hour? How about we meet at our usual place, go shopping, and you can tell me all about it?”
“Sure! I’ve got tons of free time, so that’s no problem. I just don’t know if—”
“Hey, what are you doing? Fu Qingyu, put me down! Can’t you see I’m on a video call with my Babe? Stop putting your hands all over me!”
With a straw between her lips, Xia Feifei had only made it halfway through her sentence when the image before her spun. She obediently settled in to watch the show.
A worldly, lovestruck beauty × a cold CEO.
This was exactly the kind of real-life romance drama material she needed. Perfect—her next story was already here.
She hurriedly set down her Coke and began typing, putting together a story outline.
She had just typed two lines when a low, magnetic male voice came through the still-connected video call.
“Qiao Ningran, are you still not hanging up? Planning to give your best friend a live show?”
Good grief!
At those explosive words, Xia Feifei’s fingers visibly trembled, tapping out several punctuation marks. Just as she lifted her hand to hang up and give the couple some privacy, Qiao Ningran beat her to it and ended the call.
Xia Feifei put her fingers back on the keyboard and was about to get back to work when a notification chimed on her phone.
She tapped to play the voice message. Qiao Ningran’s voice came through in broken phrases, her tone enough to set the imagination racing.
“Babe, we’re agreed, okay? One hour from now, usual place. Don’t be late.”
That girl!
After writing for half an hour, Xia Feifei saved her draft and hurried to get ready to leave.
She allowed enough time for the trip, but when she arrived, Qiao Ningran still wasn’t there. Xia Feifei waited a while and tried calling, but couldn’t get through.
With nothing to do, she sat in the drinks shop for a bit, then got up and headed to the mall next door to browse.
But she never expected that the moment she reached the entrance of a luxury boutique selling handmade bags, she would spot a familiar figure.
Ji Yanli?
The second she saw him, Xia Feifei checked the time on her phone.
At this hour, he should still be at work.
So the only other reasonable explanation was…
She lifted her chin and watched Ji Yanli for a while. Aside from the handsome guy who had brought him clothes that morning, she didn’t see any of the wealthy older sisters she’d imagined.
After hesitating for a moment, her curiosity won out, and she decided to go over and ask him.
“Ji Yanli, what are you doing here—”
“Oh my!”
Xia Feifei had just appeared behind them and got out her first words when Yu Fei’s sudden yell cut her off.
“Sister-in-law, where did you come from? You scared the life out of me!”