“Nurse Lin, why aren’t you leaving with Dr. Tang today?” The gatekeeper didn’t think much of it, since the villa district was far from the main road, and Nurse Lin always rode with Dr. Tang every time.
Yan Yi’an’s heart was racing. She deliberately lowered her voice. “Dr. Tang still needs to do psychological counseling with Miss Yan.”
“Oh.”
Yan Yi’an watched helplessly as the gatekeeper lazily got up to open the gate, but behind her, an inappropriately warm and gentle voice sounded. “Why didn’t you wait for me to leave together?”
It was Tang Jingfeng.
Yan Yi’an nervously swallowed.
The gatekeeper turned to greet Tang Jingfeng, even forgetting to speak. Tang Jingfeng’s footsteps grew closer behind her. Yan Yi’an kept her head down, her heart beating faster and faster…
She had even already imagined how furious Zhou Xizhi would be if she were discovered.
Warm breath enveloped her side. Tang Jingfeng’s consistently gentle voice said, “It’s better if we leave together, after all, the road down to the car is too long.”
The gatekeeper chuckled and opened the gate. By the time they reached Tang Jingfeng’s car, Yan Yi’an’s palms were already damp with sweat.
“Get in.”
Tang Jingfeng met her eyes and lifted the corners of his mouth.
Only after they had driven some distance did Yan Yi’an, twisting her fingers together, still feel uneasy. “How did you know it was me? What about Xiao Lin now that you’ve left?”
“Xiao Lin doesn’t walk that slowly. Nurses usually walk very quickly. Besides, Zhou Xizhi isn’t some kind of pervert who would grab just anyone and torment them half to death.”
Tang Jingfeng had always been easygoing. In private, he had a somewhat carefree and mischievous air, with a smile flickering in his eyes—perhaps related to his profession. He was different from the stern, unsmiling Zhou Xizhi.
Zhou Xizhi was ice; Tang Jingfeng was warm sunshine.
“So where are you going? Do you want me to give you a ride?”
Where to go?
Yan Yi’an fell silent. She had no home.
It seemed she could go anywhere, but also nowhere at all. She was afraid of being found by Zhou Xizhi.
“How about going to my place first? I have an empty house.”
“But Zhou Xizhi…”
“No matter how much of a pervert Zhou Xizhi is, I’m still his brother after all. I’ll just say I don’t know where you are. What can he do to me?”
Tang Jingfeng’s casual conversation gradually chipped away at Yan Yi’an’s defenses.
He raised his handsome eyes and winked at Yan Yi’an. “Otherwise, next time he comes to me for treatment, I’ll poke a bloody hole in his butt, so he knows what happens when he messes with me.”
Yan Yi’an was rarely amused into laughter. Her eyes curved into crescent moons, a layer of brightness and laughter covering her sparkling gaze once more—utterly captivating.
Yan Yi’an was settled in by Tang Jingfeng.
On the other side, Zhou Xizhi returned to the villa and, not seeing Yan Yi’an, was already in a thunderous rage. Wen Xiao checked the surveillance footage and personally witnessed Tang Jingfeng taking her away.
Unsurprisingly, Tang Jingfeng could feel the other man’s fury even through the phone screen, as if he wished he could crawl through the internet cable and tear him limb from limb.
“Tang Jingfeng, you really don’t value your life, do you? Hm?”
Zhou Xizhi’s gnashing voice was especially loud in the quiet room.
Yan Yi’an lowered her eyes and shrank her neck slightly. Clearly, Zhou Xizhi had already left a shadow on her that ran bone-deep.
Tang Jingfeng covered the phone’s receiver and walked a few steps farther away. Fragments of his voice drifted into Yan Yi’an’s ears from time to time. “Don’t talk nonsense. I only took my little nurse. When did I ever see your Miss Yan…”
“Zhou Xizhi, choosing a woman over your brother? Fine, fine, fine…”
“You’re just a madman with not a shred of gentlemanly conduct…”
Zhou Xizhi hurled his phone to the ground with brutal force, the shattered pieces scattering at his feet.
Wen Xiao had never seen his boss this furious. He had also overheard every word of Tang Jingfeng’s scathing rebuke through the phone just moments ago, and inwardly he couldn’t help but admire the doctor’s courage.
“Search every one of Tang Jingfeng’s residences. Send people to find him. And have someone tail him every day from now on.”
Zhou Xizhi spoke.
Wen Xiao immediately dispatched men to handle it.
Yan Yi’an had been staying at Tang Jingfeng’s place for several days now. He rarely came by—likely because Zhou Xizhi had him under tight surveillance. But she had used these days to finally figure out where she truly belonged.
When Tang Jingfeng came over, she already had her answer. “I want to go back to Nancheng. My home, my convictions—they’re all in Nancheng.”
Her complexion was no longer as pale as before. Her eyes were bright and clear, and she spoke with a faint smile curving at the corners of her lips. Tang Jingfeng could see the hope in her.
“Alright,” he agreed.
A flicker of hesitation crossed his brow before he reverted to his usual harmless, warm smile. With a casual lift of his eyes, he asked offhandedly, “Nancheng—how did that car accident actually happen? I only heard bits and pieces from the news. Now that the person involved is right here, I’d like to hear it from the source. Won’t you tell me?”
Yan Yi’an was taken aback, seemingly not expecting him to ask so suddenly.
But she had grown accustomed to trusting someone who had sincerely helped her. She spoke with extreme simplicity, as if she didn’t want to revisit the past at all.
“Zhao Ruoruo thought I was pregnant with Zhou Xizhi’s child. She deliberately staged a car accident to make me miscarry, and to have me thrown in prison and ruined. If it weren’t for the camera on my bag, I’d probably be the one behind bars right now.”
Yan Yi’an’s eyes were remarkably clear and pure.
So pure that a flicker of guilt stirred in Tang Jingfeng’s heart. He cleared his throat and probed cautiously, “But doesn’t it bother you that Ruoruo and Xizhi are together? Haven’t you ever thought about taking Ruoruo’s place…”
Tang Jingfeng saw the surprise in Yan Yi’an’s eyes. In an instant, they dimmed, leaving only loneliness behind.
“Of course I’ve thought about it. I’d even be willing to silently stay by his side for the rest of my life. But Zhao Ruoruo’s return made me realize that the one in his heart isn’t me. Liking someone isn’t about possession. Besides, if I’m no longer the one in his eyes, I’d rather hold onto my memories than face the man he’s become.”
It was the first time Yan Yi’an had ever spoken to anyone about her feelings for Zhou Xizhi.
Her words were so gentle and soft, so sincere and deeply moving—yet in the end, only heartache and despair remained.
So fervent and intense was her love, yet all that remained to accompany her was a body full of scars.
Her sincerity, her purity, her trust—they sent Tang Jingfeng fleeing in disarray.
It wasn’t until he climbed into a black commercial vehicle that the words Yan Yi’an had just spoken began to flow softly through the cabin, over and over again—gentle and shallow like a clear spring, like a fine breeze with drizzling rain.
Tang Jingfeng glanced at the man in the suit beside him. He was fiddling with the luxury watch on his wrist, his expression low and grave, lost in thought. The screen of his phone displayed a live feed of Yan Yi’an in her room at that very moment.
“You’re not that twisted that you’re watching her twenty-four hours a day, are you? You heard what she just said too—liking someone isn’t about possession. So… she probably really didn’t mean to… cause Ruoruo to end up in prison.”
Only then did Zhou Xizhi shift his gaze from the phone screen to Tang Jingfeng’s face. Beneath his heavy eyelids, his eyes were dark and brooding. “How is it that after just a few days together, you’re already speaking up for her?”
Tang Jingfeng wore an expression that plainly said, “You’re out of your mind.”
She let out a “tsk,” but her heart couldn’t help but skip a beat. Recalling the expression on Yan Yi’an’s face when she mentioned Zhou Xizhi just now, she must have loved this heartless man deeply back then, which was why she was now so heartbroken and despairing.
Zhou Xizhi withdrew his gaze, his eyes settling on a window high up in the building. “This matter ends here. You don’t need to concern yourself with it anymore.”
“What do you mean?”
“A prey that has slipped away naturally needs to be caught again by my own hands.”