“Hmm?” Even if Yu Zhi felt exposed, she showed no trace of guilt on her face, only an expression of “What are you talking about?” surprise. “President Lu, why would you think that? Of course not.”
Lu Yanxi continued to watch her, though he straightened up slightly.
“If it’s because of the incident where I called you back before,” he pondered for a moment, “not respecting your wishes was my mistake. I apologize to you.”
“You’re too serious, I understand,” Yu Zhi replied calmly. “President Lu was just too concerned about Xiao Shuang, and you provided sufficient compensation. I hold no resentment toward you.”
Lu Yanxi’s fingers twitched slightly.
It was rare for him to feel such a sense of powerlessness toward anyone or anything—like trying to grasp cotton.
Yu Zhi was actually quite speechless and somewhat wary. What did he mean by “avoiding him”? There was an inexplicable, ambiguous undertone—was that her imagination?
Whether it was her imagination or not, she was genuinely afraid of narcissistic minds.
“If there’s nothing else, I’ll take my leave now,” Yu Zhi said as she stood up, ready to leave, but she was stopped.
“Teacher Yu.”
The man took two steps toward her. Yu Zhi could feel that familiar sense of pressure. If it weren’t for the lack of a System prompt in her mind, she would have almost thought she had entered another plotline.
Fortunately, the man stopped at a safe distance.
“Sorry, I have one last question…” Yu Zhi listened as he asked—
“Have you lost something?”
Lost something?
No, right?
Although the man eventually said, “Never mind if you haven’t, it must be a mistake,” and let her go, Lu Yanxi’s behavior was clearly too strange. So much so that after leaving the room, Yu Zhi checked her bag over and over again.
She really didn’t seem to have left anything behind.
“Yu Zhi.”
Chen Yihan’s voice pulled her out of her tangled thoughts.
Yu Zhi looked over and indeed saw the person not far away.
The young man wasn’t dressed in the usual casual sportswear seen around campus but wore a trench coat that reached his thighs. Standing in front of a white sports coupe, he exuded a stunning aura of “a handsome man with a beautiful car.”
But this was Chen Yihan, and Yu Zhi was only surprised. “Why did you come?”
She had expected the driver to pick her up.
The beautiful man looked at her for a while, his expression seeming to cool slightly.
“I was passing by.”
Even after Yu Zhi sat in the passenger seat, the atmosphere in the car remained tense. Knowing him well, Yu Zhi could tell that Chen Yihan was likely not very happy.
Probably because the moment she saw him, her surprise and reluctance were too obvious.
Oh well, this person had always been prone to anger in the past.
Back then, Yu Zhi would always coax him.
There was no helping it—Chen Yihan was just too good-looking. Beautiful children always received preferential treatment: from adults, from other children, from fate.
And from her.
Among all those who treated Chen Yihan exceptionally well, Yu Zhi was special. They were neighbors, childhood friends, and had spent the longest time together.
Having such a handsome childhood friend was actually quite a face-saving thing. People would envy her or, at the very least, show her respect. When buying things for Chen Yihan, they would often bring something for her too.
Whether in childhood or during adolescence, Chen Yihan’s presence had largely satisfied Yu Zhi’s vanity.
Whenever Chen Yihan got angry, Yu Zhi would always do her utmost to soothe him. Back then, she even felt smug about it, thinking it was a sign of their closeness.
Yu Zhi shuddered. She couldn’t dwell on it any longer—such a pathetic history. If she thought about it for even a moment more, she’d want to bang her head against a wall.
Chen Yihan drove slowly.
Yu Zhi felt much more at ease. The first time she rode in his car, his speed had terrified her, yet the boy had acted completely indifferent.
“This seat is something others beg for but can’t get.”
Yu Zhi believed it—
“But I still prefer something a bit steadier.”
That experience hadn’t been pleasant, but the next time she rode with him, Chen Yihan’s speed had noticeably slowed.
As if he were making a concession.
How strange—he would actually concede.
Just like now. Moments ago, Yu Zhi could still sense he was sulking, but before long, his voice came again.
“Didn’t you say once before that you weren’t going to tutor anymore? Why are you back at it?”
His tone carried a clear intention to drop the matter and move on.
For Chen Yihan, this was already rare.
But to Yu Zhi, it made little difference. Whether this person was cold or warm, her attitude remained roughly the same.
After all, they weren’t sworn enemies or anything.
“Yeah,” she explained, “the kid really liked me, so I went back.”
The car had long disappeared from sight, but Lu Yanxi still stood upstairs, gazing in the direction they had left.
Since this was someone who would be interacting with Xiao Shuang and frequently entering and leaving the house, Lu Yanxi had reviewed Yu Zhi’s basic information from the very beginning.
Including her relationships with her family.
It was all very basic—for example, he knew they were childhood friends, but the specifics of their emotional connection could only be inferred from the few gestures he observed from afar.
The man withdrew his gaze, opened a drawer, and looked at the item he had discovered in the car—
A pair of women’s stockings and a pink earring.
Lu Yanxi’s car had just been sent for repairs yesterday. Though there were many spare cars available, his eyes fell on the one usually used to pick up and drop off Yu Zhi.
The items had been found accidentally, wedged in the crevice of the car seat.
The crumpled stockings silently testified to the rough treatment they had endured. Such an item had appeared so brazenly before his eyes.
The earring was tangled among the stockings. While the owner of the stockings remained unknown, Lu Yanxi was all too familiar with the owner of the earring.
He had seen Yu Zhi wear it.
Lu Yanxi retrieved the car’s dashcam footage.
In the unedited recordings, aside from Yu Zhi, no one else had ever ridden in that car.
Little Teacher Yu…
Accidental? Or intentional?
The likelihood of it being accidental was far too small.
A man who had remained unmoved by countless subtle hints of all kinds felt a surge of emotion in that moment.
He spent two days thinking it over until now, reflecting on the sudden, deliberate distance the girl had maintained since a certain day when they were alone, the undeniable coldness and restraint, and the poorly concealed nervousness and flushed earlobes when they were in private…
The conclusion seemed almost obvious.
Lu Yanxi closed his eyes slightly.
The stockings had been placed in a box and stored here, untouched since.
But the earring was clutched in his hand, bringing a faint, stinging sensation.
If he found it bothersome, he could simply dismiss her.
He couldn’t discern what his own complicated and restless thoughts were dwelling on at this moment.
The only thing he could be sure of was that the inexplicable tightness in his chest, which had been weighing on him for quite some time, seemed to have suddenly cleared away.
So her distance…
Was because of this.
Yu Zhi had no idea that this damned narcissistic brain had come up with another delusion. By now, she had already arrived at Chen Yihan’s house.
Chen Yihan’s father was still at the office and hadn’t returned yet, but Aunt Ning had already come out to greet her.
“Momo!”
As the cheerful voice rang out, Yu Zhi finally broke into a smile.
“Aunt Ning.”
Ning Mei quickly walked over and took Yu Zhi’s hand.
“It’s been so long since you last visited, I’ve missed you terribly,” Ning Mei’s eyes sparkled with unrestrained delight. “I was just on the phone with your mom, and she said she’ll come to Jiangcheng for a visit sometime soon.”
“Really? She didn’t mention anything to me.”
“She probably hasn’t had the chance yet. When she comes, we’ll all go out together.”
The two chatted as they made their way inside.
The Chen family’s villa was quite spacious and luxuriously decorated.
Even back when the two families were neighbors, there had already been a noticeable difference in their financial situations, though at that time, her father’s construction business was still thriving.
Later, as the Chen family climbed higher and higher, the gap became more apparent.
But Yu Zhi’s family was content and happy with what they had, never envious of others, and the Chen family wasn’t the type to look down on those less fortunate, so their bond had endured over the years.
The young man who had parked the car followed them inside from behind.
Ning Mei spared him a glance. “What? Not going out today? Now that you’ve picked her up, you can go out if you want.”
Her tone carried a hint of sarcasm.
Chen Yihan’s voice was cold. “It’s my own home. What’s wrong with coming back whenever I feel like it?”
“Oh, coming back whenever you feel like it? Usually, on weekends, you’re like a monkey let loose, running wild. Why do you suddenly feel like coming back today?”
Aunt Ning’s words were clearly meant to undermine him, so Yu Zhi could sense Chen Yihan’s gaze quickly shifting toward her, probably out of embarrassment.
Yu Zhi swore she had no intention of making fun of him, and her expression remained perfectly calm.
But for some reason, the young man seemed even more displeased, a hint of flustered anger flickering in his eyes.
“I can’t be bothered talking to you. I’m going back to my room to play games.”
With that, he headed upstairs.
Ning Mei found it rather odd. Others might not know, but she certainly did—how strong her son’s pride was. After being spoken to like that, she had expected him to turn around and storm off in anger.
Even the direction of his shoe tips had shifted slightly outward.
Yet, in the end, he had stayed.
She shook her head, pointing at Chen Yihan’s retreating figure as she complained to Yu Zhi. “That’s just how he is. In your words, it’s what they call ‘face-saving’—you know, trying to salvage his dignity.”
As she said this, Yu Zhi noticed Chen Yihan’s back stiffen slightly, and his footsteps quickened.
Chen Yihan returned to his room, while Ning Mei led Yu Zhi to the bedroom.
“Auntie bought something for you. Come take a look.”
A familiar excitement lit up Aunt Ning’s face. Sure enough, several stylish outfits were hanging in the room.
“When I was out shopping, I thought these would suit you perfectly,” Ning Mei picked up one of the garments and held it up against Yu Zhi. “Momo, try it on. I’m sure it’ll look lovely on you.”
When Yu Zhi was little, Aunt Ning had been the same—always buying her all sorts of little dresses and accessories, dressing her up like a doll.
However, since starting middle school, Yu Zhi had gradually grown less fond of overly flashy outfits. Aunt Ning respected her preferences and slowly let go of the idea.
But now, she couldn’t help herself again.
Of course, Yu Zhi didn’t want to dampen her enthusiasm. In the end, she chose a sleek black spring-autumn dress that exuded a commanding presence.
Though her looks weren’t the most stunning, she was tall. During middle and high school, she had been slightly plump but slimmed down after the college entrance exams.
“Oh my,” Ning Mei also liked it and kept praising from the side, “Our tastes are exactly the same.”
“Come on, let’s go downstairs. Your Uncle Chen should be back soon.”
As the bedroom door opened, Chen Yihan was seen standing by the stairs with a water cup in hand. Hearing the noise, he glanced over in their direction.
Author’s Note:
Starting today, daily updates at midnight every night [tentative].