Chapter 113: At Least, It Is Still Special

The man sat on the soft little stool that Qiao An had bought for her, his tall frame making the seat look even more miniature.

Yet he showed not the slightest discomfort, sitting there as if upon a throne of his own. Only the sharpness that usually lived in his expression had softened a little, leaving him gentler than usual.

Yun Fu bit the straw between her teeth and watched him focus intently on the test papers in his hands, disbelief filling her eyes.

Later, she had redone all those papers herself. Not only had she gotten every problem right, she had even found a flaw.

At that moment, even Lian Hanqi was a little dazed as he looked at the papers that matched the answer key exactly.

"You... can do these?"

He tapped the paper lightly with the tip of his pen and looked up. The girl was sipping milk through the straw between her red lips, her expression innocent and adorable.

"I can do quite a lot of things," she said lazily, nodding.

Lian Hanqi once again thought of the figure from his dream. Indeed, that had been an exceptionally outstanding girl.

These papers were meant merely to seal the mouths of a few people. In the end, they had served their purpose.

He reached out and ruffled her hair. "I know you can do many things, but a tall tree catches the wind, so I brought you this set of papers. Since you've finished them so well, I'll handle the rest."

His voice was low, carrying a tenderness that seemed to sweep away the cold of a winter night. His hand remained lightly on her hair, and warmth seemed to spread from the top of her head until it filled her entire body.

Yun Fu finally finished the bottle of milk. She tossed the empty bottle, and it landed squarely in the trash can.

She stood up and looked at the man still sitting on the little stool, lifting a brow. "You should go back now."

"You heartless little thing." Lian Hanqi stood, his tall body blocking part of the light. "I'm leaving. See you tomorrow."

Before he left, he even patted Yun Fu on the head, earning himself an eye roll.

But in Lian Hanqi's heart, he was thinking: even rolling her eyes made a beautiful girl look beautiful.

Looking at the empty house, Yun Fu, who had always been used to being alone, suddenly thought of the lively gathering earlier that day, and of the warmth she had felt while Lian Hanqi had been there.

That unfamiliar, elusive feeling made her irritable. She had no mood left for games.

She practiced a few sets of punches and exercised for more than an hour before she finally had no energy left to dwell on such things.

—

On the other side, when Lian Hanqi returned home, he found that the lights at Madame Lian's place were still blazing.

He glanced at the time. It was already eleven o'clock, and under normal circumstances, Madame Lian would have long since gone to bed.

He could not help but frown.

When he walked over, he saw a figure that should not have been there.

Seeing him, the visitor was delighted and quickly stood up.

"Hanqi, you're back." She was a very beautiful and elegant woman, the kind at a glance one could tell had been born into a distinguished family. The poise around her was not something an ordinary household could cultivate.

Her brows were dark, her lips red, her nose fine and elegant. She was beautiful in the most proper, composed way.

Yet Lian Hanqi's gaze did not ripple at all.

He merely nodded politely before looking over at Madame Lian, who sat not far away. "Grandma, it's so late. Why haven't you gone to rest yet?"

"I was waiting for you." Madame Lian wore an amused smile. "You went to see Little Fu, didn't you?"

"Mm. I had dinner with Zhishu and Qin Yi." Lian Hanqi helped Madame Lian up. "Grandma, it's late. You should go rest first."

Madame Lian patted his hand and leaned close to his ear to whisper, "Shiyu has been waiting for you all evening. Have a proper chat. Grandma's going to sleep now."

As Madame Lian's figure disappeared into the distance, Lian Hanqi's gentle expression instantly turned cold.

His usual aura of keeping everyone at arm's length returned at once.

"If I come back late again in the future, you can wait until the next day and come find me at the company." He looked at the woman beside him, his gaze sharp. "Grandma isn't in good health. She has to go to bed early."

Deng Shiyu's fingers tightened around her handbag so abruptly that her nails left scratch marks across the expensive leather.

She thought of the "Little Fu" Madame Lian had just mentioned, and of the tender expression on Lian Hanqi's face when he said he had taken her to dine with his friends and brother.

This had never happened before. She and Lian Hanqi could be considered childhood friends, and she knew very well that there had never been another woman by his side.

She had always believed herself to be special, after all, he had allowed her to come close.

But today, she had seen the official social account of the Lian Group, which had never once posted anything personal, suddenly publish a message mentioning a woman.

A female celebrity. A beautiful female celebrity.

It stirred in her an unprecedented sense of crisis, and that was why she had come.

By the time she came back to herself, she realized that Lian Hanqi had already walked out.

Without time to think of anything else, she hurried after him.

"Hanqi, I'm sorry. I won't do it again. I just thought..."

"What brings you here?" he asked.

It was that same tone again.

Deng Shiyu looked up. The man was standing in the courtyard now, directly beneath a streetlamp. The pale yellow light fell across his face.

Even the silver-gray coat on him seemed to shine. His features were striking and exceptionally handsome.

And yet, he was truly like moonlight itself: cold and far away.

"I... haven't been very busy lately. I just thought it had been a long time since I saw everyone, so I came to visit Grandma Lian."

"Mm." The man turned and left her with a single sentence. "If you come to see Grandma again, try to come in the morning. It's late now. Go back and rest."

With that, his figure gradually receded into the distance.

Deng Shiyu clenched her fists tightly. She thought that at least things were still different; at least Lian Hanqi was still willing to care about her.

But then she could not help thinking of that female celebrity named Yun Fu, and her brows knit together. Her eyes were filled more with disdain than anything else.

She took out her phone, sent a message while walking outside, and left.

The sun slowly rose, and a new day began.

Her biological clock woke Yun Fu early as usual. She exercised, ate breakfast, and checked her messages.

This was a habit she had recently developed. If anything came up, Qiao An would send it to her the night before.

But at that moment, her phone held only a message from Lian Hanqi.

It had been around midnight last night; by then, she had already fallen asleep.

"Put on another coat. It's windy there."

Lian Hanqi had come to pick her up, and by now Yun Fu was no longer surprised to see his figure downstairs from her apartment building.

"Have you had breakfast?"

"Mm."

"I haven't."

Yun Fu looked at him, as if to ask: and?

"So let's go eat breakfast first."

"..."

Yun Fu went with him and ate a little more.

By the time the two of them arrived at the estate, it was already after nine in the morning. Gu Zhishu and the others were all there.

From a distance, Yun Fu saw Gu Zhishu waving his arm, and beside him stood an unfamiliar woman.

She nudged Lian Hanqi and could not help asking with curiosity, "Is that Gu Zhishu's girlfriend?"