“What? You can’t?”
When he didn’t answer, Si Nanyuan asked him.
She had an older brother, Su Beiyue, who was six years older than her.
Sadly, he had died when he was only six.
If her mother hadn’t discovered she was pregnant with Nanyuan, perhaps she wouldn’t have found the strength to keep living.
Su Zekai came back to himself from his grief. “You can.”
“Nanny Li, I’m hungry.”
As she spoke, Si Nanyuan followed Butler Li upstairs.
“Miss Nanyuan, why don’t you rest for a while? The kitchen is already preparing a meal.”
“Thank you.”
Her sweet voice and obedient manner brought a relieved smile to Nanny Li’s face.
The Second Young Master had a child after all. Thank goodness.
Su Zekai sat motionless in the living room, his eyes vacant.
There were so many things he wanted to ask Si Nanyuan, but he didn’t know where to begin.
The girl had lost her mother when she was only eleven.
Asking her would only reopen her wounds.
Rou’er, why? Why didn’t you come back to me, no matter how hard things got?
Si Nanyuan arrived at Su Beiyue’s room. A wall lined with books made her pause.
“The Young Master loved reading and learning, so Madam took him to the bookstore. He bought all these himself. It’s such a pity…”
Nanny Li’s eyes grew red.
“Nanny Li, I’d like to be alone for a while.”
“Of course. I’ll come get you when it’s time to eat.”
Si Nanyuan looked at the three framed photographs on the table. She picked up the one of her mother and brother together, as well as the one of her brother alone. As for the frame beside them showing a family of three, she seemed not to see it.
So this was what her mother had looked like when she was younger. She was so beautiful.
Her throat tightened and her eyes reddened. She looked at Su Beiyue beside her: delicate features, a handsome little boy.
Brother, even though we never met, I swear that if your death wasn’t an accident, I’ll make those people pay with their lives.
When she caught sight of Su Zekai’s photograph, Si Nanyuan was puzzled. Hadn’t he broken her mother’s heart again and again for the woman he loved, Liu Wan? So why was he living here alone? And why hadn’t he married that woman all these years?
She would investigate everything: her mother’s car accident and the cruise-ship explosion that killed her brother on his school trip.
“Here. For spending money.”
Su Zekai held out a black card.
Si Nanyuan paused for a second, then smiled faintly. “Aren’t you afraid I’ll max it out?”
“There’s no limit.”
Su Zekai looked at her gently.
“Tomorrow, we’ll go to the household registration office. From now on, your name will be Su Nanyuan.”
“I prefer my mother’s surname. Besides, I came here to claim my share of the family property. I’d have to change it back later. What a hassle.”
“If you don’t want to change your surname, you don’t have to. But you’re my daughter, and it’s only right that you live in my home. Don’t even think of running away.”
Si Nanyuan said nothing. She had never planned to run.
She had come to stir up trouble for the Su family and make life miserable for those who had bullied her mother.
As he spoke, Su Zekai put food on her plate. “Eat more. Tell Dad what you like, and I’ll make it for you next time.”
“You can cook?”
“After your mother left, I couldn’t get used to the food the cook made, so I learned a few dishes from the cookbook she left behind.”
An idea flashed through Si Nanyuan’s mind. Could she taste her mother’s cooking now?
Still, how could this man compare to her mother?
“A-Yuan, someone your age should be at university. You…”
“I left school a long time ago.”
At that, Su Zekai’s heart sank.
Rou’er had left with nothing back then. Life must have been hard for her and her daughter.
Poor children had to grow up fast. This girl had probably dropped out at a young age.
What he didn’t know was that everything he’d managed to find out about Si Nanyuan was information she had let him uncover.
“Do you like Kyoto University? Dad can get you in.”
Si Nanyuan’s hand paused around her chopsticks. He was offering to pull strings for her.
“I don’t like studying.”
“That’s fine. Then don’t. Dad will support you for the rest of your life.”
His easygoing attitude left Si Nanyuan baffled. He was far too accommodating.
This wasn’t what she’d expected.
What was wrong with this man?
Wasn’t he supposed to be cold and ruthless, flirt with every woman he met, have no sense of boundaries, and fly into a rage at the drop of a hat—a mama’s boy?
She had angered Old Madam Su to the point of fainting. Didn’t he have anything to say about that?
She had made it clear she’d come to fight for the family property, yet he’d given her a black card with no spending limit.
Father and daughter sat through the meal with entirely different thoughts on their minds.
Su Zekai watched her without looking away, as if he were seeing someone else through her.
He guessed Si Nanyuan had come to stir up trouble, but he didn’t care.
She was the only person he had left who was connected to Rou’er.
If she wanted money, he’d give it to her.
If she wanted to avenge her mother, he’d help her.
But he had to teach this girl how to survive in Kyoto, a place where people could be devoured without so much as a trace.
Night fell. Si Nanyuan lay on her brother’s bed, looking at the black card in her hand. Now she wouldn’t have to worry about running out of money for her projects.
“Ring…”
Her phone rang. She glanced at the screen. It was Shao Wanyu.
“A-Yuan, I never would’ve guessed! You even kept it from me.”
Shao Wanyu’s excited voice came through the phone.
Si Nanyuan was baffled. “What?”
“Look at you, taking action so fast. So this is your type, huh?”
“What are you even talking about?”
Si Nanyuan was confused. “Tell me, or I’m hanging up.”
“Someone’s offering a huge sum to find you. They’re coming on strong—looks like they want to tear you limb from limb.”
“Who?”
Si Nanyuan had already guessed.
“Don’t worry, I’ve already kept it quiet. He won’t find you for now.”
Shao Wanyu had only wanted to find out who was looking for Si Nanyuan. She hadn’t expected what she found: the rumor was that A-Yuan had slept with Third Young Master Ye.
A-Yuan was incredible!
She’d heard long ago that Third Young Master Ye had a hidden condition.
He was probably trying to find A-Yuan now to silence her, in case she told anyone and damaged his image.
“Is Ye Jingxiao looking for me?”
“You know?”
“I guessed.”
She’d slapped Ye Jingxiao twice, and also…
The man was probably furious.
“Everyone says you slept with him. Third Young Master Ye is so angry he’d dig up the whole city to find you. I think he wants to kill you. I bought a plane ticket—why don’t you go away and lie low?”
Shao Wanyu wanted to see how things played out, but she was even more worried about her best friend’s safety.
Si Nanyuan was speechless. “Stop making up rumors in your head.”
“So it’s not true?”
“It couldn’t be further from the truth.”
At that, Shao Wanyu deflated like a punctured balloon.
“Spread the word that I can treat his condition.”
That night, she had used some special methods to help suppress it.
“Don’t provoke him. He’s a devil.”
“I know what I’m doing.”
Si Nanyuan’s lips curled into a mischievous smile. Ye Jingxiao, we meet again.
He still had that same sour look on his face. What a waste of a face handsome enough to make the whole world swoon.