At 10 p.m., Nan Yin returned from the studio.
She was quite satisfied with the revisions to the design drafts.
Confident in her work, she planned to send them to Fu Shi’s company email tomorrow—it should be fine.
Rubbing her stiff and sore neck, Nan Yin entered the passcode and stepped inside.
In the entryway, she kicked off her high heels, switched on the wall light, and headed straight to the fridge for a cold beer to quench her thirst. After finishing it, she leaned against the table, pulling out her phone. Instantly, over a dozen private messages from her work WeChat popped up—all from her partner, Yang Li:
[Nan Yin, have you gone back to your hometown? It’s normal for partners to have disagreements over the studio’s vision, isn’t it? Why leave like this?]
[Nan Yin, can we talk?]
[Nan Yin, you worked so hard to build this studio. Do you really want to hand it over to me?]
[Nan Yin, I know you think I’m stubborn, but I have connections in Beijing’s circles. I believe pivoting the studio will take us to the next level.]
[Nan Yin, I’ve thought it over all night. I think there’s been a misunderstanding between us. If you don’t want to pivot, that’s fine. I can postpone collaborations with other major brands for now, okay?]
[Nan Yin, how long do you plan to stay in your hometown?]
[Nan Yin, please reply when you see this, okay?]
A few more messages followed, all from Yang Li, pleading for her to return to the capital.
Hah, she had no intention of going back.
Nan Yin was already annoyed just seeing his name. Her fingers swiftly exited the chat window as she prepared to take another shower, but a pleasant ringtone suddenly broke the silence in the apartment.
Thankfully, the high-end apartment had excellent soundproofing. Otherwise, such a loud ringtone in the dead of night would have been maddening.
Nan Yin turned toward the noisy phone.
After a moment of silence, she answered, “Yang Li, why are you calling so late?”
On the other end of the line, the handsome man, still at the office after hours, felt the frustration that had been building in his heart over the past few days instantly dissolve at the sound of her clear, charming voice—a voice he hadn’t heard in a while.
He and Nan Yin had been partners for three or four years now.
During that time, as a local from Beijing’s elite circles, he had initially paid little attention to her—a highly educated designer from out of town. But gradually, he found himself captivated by her beauty and talent, unable to control his admiration and growing infatuation.
Yet, he was too proud.
Born into a well-off Beijing family, with highly educated parents who were university professors, he had started his own business and owned two properties worth millions. These advantages made him arrogant.
In contrast, Nan Yin, aside from her beauty, talent, and education, came from a small town and, from what he’d heard, a single-parent family.
She had little in the way of assets.
She simply wasn’t on his level.
So, as a pragmatic man, over the past three-plus years, despite countless moments of temptation and the urge to confess his feelings to such a beautiful partner, he had always held back, staying grounded in reality. Recently, however, he could no longer resist.
He wanted to lay his cards on the table.
He wanted to pursue her, to take her home to meet his parents.
After all, she was talented. Once the studio grew, assets wouldn’t be an issue.
But then? Did she suddenly lose her mind? Abandon the studio they had worked so hard to build together and just return to her hometown?
Leaving him alone in the capital.
Yang Li was seething inside. He hated this sudden sense of detachment.
Even if they were simply business partners in reality.
But deep down, he had long regarded her as his possession, a candidate for his future wife.
Now that she had run away, he felt as though a piece of flesh had been carved out of his heart—painful, hollow. He decided to abandon his stubbornness and coax her back first.
“Still angry? Can I compromise with you?” Yang Li said, loosening the buttons of his shirt. “If you don’t want to pivot, that’s fine. I won’t touch our studio.”
“I won’t take back your studio either. Can you come back first?”
“You know, the chairman of Huacheng recently wanted to collaborate with us on a long-term workwear design project. He really admires your talent.” Yang Li’s voice was gentle and cautious as he tried to coax her.
To be honest, he wasn’t ugly.
But he wasn’t top-tier handsome either, falling far short of Fu Shi.
He was a typical Beijing-born petty bourgeois man.
Refined, self-interested.
Nan Yin disliked his type the most. As a business partner, he was acceptable, but as anything else, it was a definite no.
“Yang Li, I left the studio in a bit of a hurry this time, and there are some things I didn’t make clear to you. Actually, returning to my hometown wasn’t entirely because of our differing views on collaboration.” Nan Yin’s gaze was cold as she rubbed the stray hairs on her forehead, walking barefoot toward the bathroom. She entered and locked the door.
She started running the water.
The sound of water churned in the bathtub as Nan Yin walked to the sink and began removing her makeup.
“I came back to pursue love, and I probably won’t return in the future.” Nan Yin spoke bluntly, knowing full well that Yang Li had ulterior motives toward her.
In any case, their partnership was over.
She didn’t want him harassing her every day.
As a clever, refined, and self-interested man, he should have the sense to stop bothering her.
But Nan Yin had underestimated the inferior competitive nature of a man like him, who had been instilled since childhood with the mindset of a winner—that whatever he wanted, he must obtain.
He hadn’t even gotten her yet. How could he give up so easily?
Yang Li’s handsome face indeed darkened. His fingers tightened around the folder on the table, and his voice unconsciously turned sharp and gloomy. “You’re in a relationship?”
“What kind of man is he? Is he worth it?”
“Nan Yin, you’re a woman who’s made it in the capital. You’ve broadened your horizons. How could you be so foolish as to imitate those TV dramas, returning to a small hometown county and picking some man who can’t even make it to the table as your boyfriend just because you argued with me? Then all these years would have been wasted.” Yang Li couldn’t control his anger, and his cold, harsh tone even startled himself.
How could a woman as beautiful and intelligent as her choose a man from a small city?
Those men weren’t worthy of her.
Only an elite man from a big city like him was a match for her.
After his tirade, Nan Yin removed a pearl earring from her ear and couldn’t help but laugh at his words. “Yang Li, who I choose has nothing to do with you, right?”
“Besides, how do you know the man I chose isn’t good?”
“I can tell you, he’s top-tier.”
“It’s late. If there’s nothing else, don’t come looking for me in the future. Of course, if it’s about normal collaboration, you can contact Wen Ling first. For anything personal, don’t bother me.” Nan Yin was about to hang up.
Yang Li frowned, gritted his teeth, and hurriedly said, “Nan Yin, don’t hang up.”
“Sorry, I was too angry just now.”
“You know why I’m angry, right? I like you. I’ve liked you for a long time. I never dared to confess before, but this time… I don’t want to hide it anymore.”
“Can you come back to the capital? I’ll take you to meet my parents. I’m even willing to put the marital home under your name.” Yang Li said all this in one breath, every word offering concessions to Nan Yin.
If he were trying to fool some naive young girl, it might have worked. But Nan Yin was a little fox who had been navigating the design circle for years.
How could he possibly deceive her?
She wasn’t buying any of it: “Yang Li, I don’t like you.”
“Don’t waste your effort. Besides, the new marriage law is out now. Even if you add my name to something you bought before marriage, it won’t make a difference. Don’t try to sweet-talk me—and honestly, I don’t care about your place in the capital anyway.”
She had her own talent and could earn a home in the capital herself.
“That’s it.” Nan Yin didn’t waste any more words on him, quickly hung up the phone, tossed her phone aside, took off her tank dress, and headed for a bath.
Meanwhile, back in his capital studio, the man stared at his phone, which was now emitting a busy signal, his eyes darkening with anger.
No, he couldn’t accept that his love had been snuffed out by her before it even had a chance to bloom.
He was so outstanding, so charming—Nan Yin must be blind.
Yang Li reasonably suspected that Nan Yin was either deliberately provoking him or playing hard to get. Why else would she give up a privileged elite man like him in the big city and go back to her hometown to find some inferior man?
Once he finished up his current work in the next few days, he’d go to her hometown to find her. He wanted to see exactly what kind of small-town man she had chosen.
Could he possibly compare?
He was determined to win her back.