After the banquet ended, Xie Qingqing brought Chi Yan to the pre-booked hotel—the Chengfeng Hotel.
Both mother and daughter had VIP rooms, one each.
Xie Qingqing had originally wanted to share a room with Chi Yan. After all, Chi Yan had just recovered from her illness, and Xie Qingqing couldn’t rest easy with her staying alone.
But Chi Yan insisted repeatedly, and Xie Qingqing had no choice.
Chi Yan’s room.
“Hey, Yan, how did your engagement banquet go?” It was a call from Chi Yan’s best friend abroad, Lin Qixue.
“Mm… a small hiccup came up.”
Lin Qixue furrowed her brows. “A hiccup?”
A “bang” sounded from the other end of the line.
“Still working?”
Lin Qixue: “Yeah, but they’re just small fry, don’t worry.”
“Then be careful. Let’s catch up later.”
“Hey, don’t hang up! Who knows when we’ll get to talk next time—I barely managed to squeeze out this time.”
Chi Yan let out a sigh. “Fine.”
“By the way, why does your voice sound different? Did you turn on a voice changer?”
“No. Don’t you suspect I’m not Chi Yan?”
Lin Qixue patted her chest and declared, “Even if you used an animal-language voice changer, I’d still instantly tell whether it’s you or not.”
Chi Yan chuckled. “That’s so like you.”
Lin Qixue: “Don’t you dare doubt me—I’m being serious.”
“So what exactly was the hiccup? Did Shi Yu run away?”
“Uh… something like that.”
“What? He actually dared to flee the engagement!”
“We haven’t gotten engaged yet, so it’s not really fleeing the engagement.”
“Ah, whatever, whatever. Just wait—I’ll rally the brothers back home right now and get you justice.”
“No need. It’s not like he fled from marrying me.”
“Ah, he cheated? That’s even more serious.”
“Ugh, it’s not as serious as you think. You’ll understand naturally once you’re back in the country.”
“Fine then. I’ll get back to work. Take care of yourself.”
“Mm.”
Ending the call, Chi Yan turned and entered the shower.
She sat down in the bath, her loose hair slightly damp, the red mark on her shoulder faintly visible.
Chi Yan examined the mark closely—it looked like a small phoenix.
**
The Shi family villa.
“Speaking of which, today’s Chi Yan seemed different from before,” Shi Yu’s mother, Liu Xuxing, remarked.
Shi Yu denied it outright. “She’s no longer Chi Yan.”
Shi Yu’s father, Shi Qingfeng, was still stewing in anger on the side over the foolish thing his good son had done. “Hmph, how is she not Chi Yan? Her mother was standing right there—how could she have gotten it wrong?”
Shi Yu ignored Shi Qingfeng entirely.
“Alright, Qingfeng, don’t be angry at the child. He must have his own reasons for doing this,” Liu Xuxing interjected to mediate.
“Today we were lucky that Chi’s mother managed to contain the situation in time. Otherwise, the company’s stock would likely have taken a serious hit today.”
Shi Yu returned to his room, grabbed something, and left the villa without a single word.
“That brat is trying to infuriate me to death.”
“Enough. After all, he was only brought back to us when he was sixteen. It’s only natural that he isn’t close to us.”
At that moment, Shi Yuting walked over carrying a tray of tea.
“Father, please don’t be angry at big brother,” Shi Yuting said as she poured the tea.
“Pfft, that boy isn’t even half as good as Yuting.”
Liu Xuxing: “I don’t agree with that. Yuting is wonderful, but Shi Yu is also outstanding—otherwise, why would Chi Yan have taken a liking to him?”
“No matter how outstanding he is, he still isn’t close to us.”
“After all that, isn’t it still our fault? If we hadn’t lost Shi Yu back then…”
At that, Shi Qingfeng fell silent as well.