She strode forward and pointed at the jade pendant hanging around his neck. “Where did you get this jade pendant?”
The young man’s expression shifted, and he hastily tucked the pendant into his clothes.
But that very action allowed Song Yunyi to see the pendant clearly. Her pupils contracted slightly, and she sat back down.
The young man glanced at her nervously.
But Song Yunyi simply looked at him quietly, saying nothing.
“What are you looking at me for?” the young man couldn’t help but ask. “I don’t know why you’re so fixated on me. Anyway, my conscience is clear, and the police station can’t hold me forever.”
Song Yunyi let out a soft laugh. “You know the law pretty well.”
In ordinary questioning and investigation, without evidence, a person cannot be detained for more than eight hours.
Even with surveillance photos, he had only left money and hadn’t done anything harmful—at most, it couldn’t exceed twenty-four hours.
He truly had no need to curry favor with her to secure his release.
But Song Yunyi scratched her hair in mild irritation.
She didn’t know why, but she felt inexplicably anxious.
Her subconscious told her that this young man before her was deeply connected to her—sending her money, saving her, and now wearing a jade pendant that looked very familiar to her.
No, she had to get to the bottom of this.
So she darkened her expression. “I’ll ask you just one thing: do you actually know me or not? Think carefully before you answer. If you’re approaching me without reason, I’ll have no choice but to treat you as my enemy.”
That was a somewhat heavy statement.
It almost felt ungrateful.
But she had no other choice—she could tell that this young man cared deeply about how he appeared in her eyes. This was, in a way, a bluff.
Sure enough, the moment she finished speaking, she saw his face turn deathly pale. Those dark, pitch-black eyes looked at her, filled with both grievance and hurt.
She hardened her heart and spoke again. “Still refusing to answer?”
“…I know you.”
Song Yunyi let out a breath of relief. “What’s your name?”
The young man: “Can I not answer?”
“What do you think?”
“My name is Feng Qiyue.”
The surname Feng…
Song Yunyi recalled the erotic dream from not long ago. Her fingertips trembled slightly, and her heart inexplicably began to race.
She pinched her fingertips, suppressing that absurd speculation.
“Show me the jade pendant.”
Feng Qiyue was reluctant at first, but when Song Yunyi furrowed her brows, he conceded, watching her examine the pendant with eager, pleading eyes, like a wronged head of cabbage.
Song Yunyi took it, glanced at it, then stood up to make a phone call.
She called in a favor through her boss Aurora’s connections, and before long, Feng Qiyue was released.
The one handling the matter was Aurora’s assistant, Lin Yan—a man around thirty. Seeing Song Yunyi, he quickly stepped forward and asked, “Yunyi, how are you doing now?”
Song Yunyi shook her head, her face full of apology. “Sorry for the trouble, Brother Yan. It’s so late and I’ve made you come all the way to the police station. I’ll treat you to a meal another day.”
Seeing that Song Yunyi was fine, he let out a relieved breath and smiled. “What trouble is this? I’ve already communicated with the police. I’ll follow up on the rest for you—don’t worry about it. Also, your current residence isn’t safe to stay in anymore. Aurora has a vacant apartment. I’ll help you move tonight.”
Just as he was speaking, Lin Yan’s phone rang.
It was Aurora.
Lin Yan said a few words, then handed the phone to Song Yunyi.
Song Yunyi took it, lowered her eyes, and said with a tone full of apology, “Boss, I’m sorry for troubling you tonight.”
A mature male voice came through the receiver. “Anyone who dares to touch one of my Mingju people in the capital—that’s a blatant provocation. Don’t worry, Yunyi. Once I’m back in the capital, I’ll find the mastermind behind this and let you vent your anger.”
His speech was unhurried, his voice clear and smooth, sounding gentle in the quiet of the night.
Song Yunyi had just opened her mouth to thank him when he cut her off. “Don’t bother with thanks. If you’re really grateful, put in a good word for me with your advisor. She won’t even reply to my messages anymore! You don’t want your boss to reach middle age without a wife, do you? A boss like that gets depressed easily, and when he’s depressed, he tends to go crazy at random times…”
Song Yunyi silently moved the phone away from her ear.
Her master’s advisor was a very gentle Chinese woman. In that rainy, foreign land of England where she had no relatives, it was she who had given her warmth.
At the time, Aurora frequently flew to England to visit Wense.
Wense had wanted her to build connections with prestigious lawyers early on, so she showed Aurora a few of her SSCI papers.
Gradually, she came to know Aurora.
Later, when Aurora learned she was returning to China, she quickly extended an olive branch.
After Aurora finished his rant, Song Yunyi skillfully moved the phone back and picked up where she’d wanted to continue. “Boss, I’m already very grateful that you’re willing to help me. As for where I’ll stay, I’ll figure something out myself. I can’t trouble you any further.”
On the other end, after his outburst, he reverted to being that mature, steady senior lawyer.
He was silent for a moment, then said, “Fine. Your temper is stubborn and unyielding—I can’t manage you. Have it your way. I just advanced you three months’ salary. Go find yourself a decent place to live.”
“Thank you.” She mulled over in her mind how to repay the favor.
Unexpectedly, the person on the other end was sharp as a whip, and his next words were, “Favors are the last thing I lack. What I lack is a candlelit dinner with you, Senior Sister! Be good, Yunyi, work hard on that.”
“…”
After hanging up the phone, Lin Yan looked as if he had just communicated with Feng Qiyue, and when he turned around, his expression was odd.
“Yunyi, was the person who saved you a mute? Why wouldn’t he say a single word?”
Song Yunyi fixed her gaze on Feng Qiyue, her brows furrowing once again.
In truth, upon seeing that pendant, her suspicions had only grown stronger.
That jade peace buckle pendant was something she had gone to the temple alone to pray for when she was fifteen.
But judging by the degree of fading on the cord, it was definitely not the one she currently had.
After her true background was exposed, everyone called her and her biological mother trash. If it hadn’t been for Grandma Song protecting her at the time, she might have been sent to an orphanage.
That year, her loving mother seemed to become a different person, locking her in the basement for a full three months, and her devoted father tore up her exam admission ticket, causing her to miss the high school entrance exam.
Falling from the clouds into the mud, the dark and endless confinement tormented her to the brink of madness.
So she escaped.
She went to the temple and prayed for this peace buckle.
Later, perhaps she herself felt she wasn’t worthy of living, so how could she be worthy of praying for peace? So one night, she smashed the peace buckle.
It had been left with a permanent crack.
Exactly the same as this one.
Parking wasn’t convenient nearby, so Lin Yan went to get the car first.
In the silent night, only Feng Qiyue’s somewhat cold voice remained: “If there’s nothing else, I’ll be going now.”
Song Yunyi didn’t answer his statement but instead asked, “Why did you give me three hundred thousand?”
“…You needed the money.”
Song Yunyi was taken aback, but she couldn’t deny it.
Except for the one time Grandma Song had secretly sent her money and been caught, the Song family hadn’t given her a single cent since.
When she first entered Saint Lance, she had signed a bet with the principal: if she got into a top-tier university, not only would her tuition be waived, but she’d also receive a generous scholarship.
She had gotten by like this all these years.
She truly did need money, especially now, having just returned to the country.
“Where did you get the jade pendant?”
Feng Qiyue spread his hands: “It’s just an ordinary pendant. If you like it, I’ll give it to you.”
She furrowed her brows slightly: “Who exactly are you?”
Feng Qiyue smiled with detachment: “Does it matter to you? Just live your own life well. I won’t bring you any trouble. Just pretend you didn’t see me tonight.”