After she died, Mr. Bo knelt in front of the tombstone and cried like a dog.

In the eight months since she returned to South City, her life was neither good nor bad, and it was just ordinary.

Yan Chen transferred half of his work to her, and the other half to Qiao Yu. She was very busy at work and often worked overtime until late at night before going home, taking a shower and falling asleep.

In fact, there is rarely any time to feel sad about the autumn. All emotions are suppressed and sealed deep in my heart. They are stored in a locked box, which will not be opened easily if no one touches the lock.

There was a little snow on Friday night, but it didn't last.

It was a gloomy Saturday afternoon, and the snow that fell on the buildings was so thin that it was almost melting.

She drove to Yan Mansion and Qiao Yu's family had already arrived.

Nine-year-old Xiangsi still loves to play. She wears anti-freeze gloves and goes to the yard to scrape clean snow from the leaves and branches. She collects a small bucket, but it is not enough to make a snowman. She is quite distressed and uses her father's lighter to boil snow water to play with.

After playing outdoors for a while, the tip of the child's nose was frozen red and two lines of snot were running.

Her father seemed to laugh and scold her as "slug", and she looked unhappy, with her little brows deeply furrowed.

But her distress was simple, and when she saw the guest, it disappeared, and she exclaimed: "Auntie!"

She was very enthusiastic and pulled her aunt into the house to see her brother.

When passing by Bo Hanshi, Yan Haoyue made eye contact with him and nodded in greeting.

She and Qiao Yu often had video conferences for work, but this was the first time she met Bo Hanshi since returning to South City.

The times they visited Yan Chen in the hospital were also staggered.

If it weren't for Mr. Yan's intention to arrange a reunion, she and Bo Hanshi might not see each other for several years.

If it weren't for that person, she might have gotten along well with this cunning and ruthless brother-in-law. To be honest, Bo Hanshi was the kind of big shot she would admire and respect in the business world.

But the balance in one's heart can never be balanced.

When she was led into the house by little Xiangsi's cold little hand, Qiao Yu and Old Yan were helping Bo Chouchou learn to walk on the foam mat.

After saying hello, Qiao Yu pointed at her and asked Bo Chouchou to call her aunt.

The child had just learned to speak, and after babbling for a long time, he finally called out "duckling", which made everyone in the room laugh.

When Yan Haoyue held him in her arms, she took a closer look and found that the child's facial features had fully developed and his eyes were sparkling. He was no longer ugly. Like his sister, he had perfectly inherited the beauty of his parents.

If her child with that man was still alive, it would be exactly one month old now. I wonder how wrinkled it would be when it was just born, but it would definitely be extremely beautiful when it grows up.

That person is very bad, but there is nothing to say about the beauty of his face.

Little Xiangsi is very lovable, the kind of child that even someone with a child-hating complex would want to steal and raise.

She looked at Xiao Xiangsi and thought of Xiao Xiaowu...her eyes unconsciously deepened.

She had never looked at Xiao Xiangsi with such concern before. This was the first time.

Even Xiao Xiangsi noticed it and waved her little hand in front of her eyes: "Auntie, are you hungry? Do you want to eat my snacks?"

Qiao Yu looked at her and felt that something was wrong.

The Yan family didn't know what happened between her and Xiao Yan in Nanyang, let alone that she and Xiao Yan had a child...

Qiao Yu was just about to speak to test the waters.

Old Yan brought out a few photos and handed them over: "Haoyue, take a look and see if there are any that you like. These are the children of my old friends in South City. I know them well and they are about the same age as you. Even if we can't get along, we can still be ordinary friends."

"Godfather, I'm so busy now, how can I have time for love?"

"Time will come if you squeeze it. Let the past go. You can't deny your future just because of the past. How do you know it won't work if you don't try?"

Old Yan naturally thought that she had suffered a severe blow in Nanyang and was unable to start a new life. The elder who had never liked to matchmake or urge people to get married also began to look for candidates for her personally.

"Father, I..."

Qiao Yu interrupted: "Let's eat first. We haven't eaten yet. Why are you picking men? Let's see after we eat!"

She grabbed the photos, threw them aside, then took Yan Haoyue to the restaurant and chatted about some irrelevant topics.

During dinner, everyone drank some wine.

There was one person missing at the table, and Old Yan couldn't help but sigh: "The only one missing is your eldest brother. He has been lying for so long, and I don't know if he can wake up. Haoyue, I really shouldn't have let you go to Southeast Asia. If it weren't for this, you and Yan Chen would be fine..."

I shouldn't have mentioned these heavy and sad things.

But once this kind of thing is started, it will never stop.

Old Yan was mumbling like an ordinary elder: "That Xiao Yan is really a piece of shit. Not only did he poison me, he also kidnapped you. Now he has made Yan Chen like this. It would be a relief to send such a bad guy to hell..."

People are like this. When they are sad, they only care about their own sadness and find it difficult to observe and care about other people's feelings.

She sat there without saying a word.

After drinking a glass of white wine, his throat felt hot and spicy. He suddenly raised his head and retorted in a hoarse voice: "That's not the case."

Everyone at the table was stunned, their eyes showing obvious hesitation and confusion.

Because what she said sounded incoherent.

My mind is in a mess.

She opened her lips, but her voice failed.

There was no way she could tell them calmly that she had a child with that bad guy they called a damned villain.

There was no way to explain to them that Xiao Yan was a bad guy. Maybe in the eyes of all of them, Xiao Yan deserved to die, but it was not the case for her... No.

The bad guy is very bad, but he is very nice to her.

She knew that if she said this, they would not understand and would think, like Yan Chen, that she was bewitched by a bad guy, because to them, Xiao Yan was both a stranger and a bad guy.

Forget it…some things cannot be understood by refutation.

They are not her.

She swallowed back the thousands of thoughts that burst out of her chest, and said seriously and helplessly: "If it wasn't for saving me, Yan Chen wouldn't be lying in the hospital. I'm sorry."

Qiao Yu sat next to her and clearly saw the redness at the corners of her eyes. He reached out and stroked her back, saying, "How can I blame you? That's not what I meant."

Old Master Yan explained, "Haoyue, your godfather doesn't blame you. You fell into the hands of those villains in Nanyang. If anyone knew you were still alive, they would definitely send someone to rescue you..."

Bo Hanshi finally spoke in a deep voice: "Dad, Yan Chen is lying there, I am also responsible."

I don't know how this dinner ended.

She drank several glasses of white wine, so Mr. Yan and the others asked her to stay overnight.

She declined: "My assistant has already taken a taxi to pick me up. It would not be nice to ask him to go back."

After a while, the assistant took a taxi to the gate of Yan Mansion, got into her car and started the car.

Bo Hanshi said, "It's cold outside. I'll take Haoyue out. You guys stay at home."

Yan Haoyue clenched her bag tightly. It just so happened that she also had something to ask him.

When I walked to the side of the yard, there was still some snow on the ground, which made a slight crunching sound when I stepped on it.

She drank some wine, and her eyes were red from the alcohol.

Unlike her forbearance in the house, she was very straightforward and said, "Boss Bo, when you sent Yan Chen and Bai Xiao to Nanyang to save me, did you have any selfish motives?"

They looked at each other.

He had obviously been drinking, so his eyes were slightly blurry, yet exceptionally clear.

Bo Hanshi also admitted it frankly: "I did. I did want to take the opportunity of saving you to kill Xiao Yan. Sorry."

She took a deep breath and said with a smile: "It's okay, you don't have to apologize to me. You don't owe me anything, and you have no obligation to save me wholeheartedly. I can understand you, really."

"But...I may not be able to forgive you."

Bo Hanshi was not surprised, "I accept your non-forgiveness."

It is effortless for intelligent people to talk to each other.

It was easy to reach an agreement.

Bo Hanshi, who was always taciturn, still mentioned it when she turned around with her bag: "The Yan family wanted to save you."

But he didn't know exactly what happened.

She nodded, "I know. I won't hate you, let alone them. After all, Mr. Yan funded me. I will remember this kindness."

She would never tell Xiao Yan why he couldn't have that child.

on the way home.

Assistant Qin Rui was driving the car. She leaned in the back seat and opened the window a little. The biting cold wind blew on her face and into her neck, blowing away the heat brought by the strong liquor.

Qin Rui looked at her in the rearview mirror, "Boss, did you have a fight with your family?"

Yan Haoyue shook his head. "No, I just don't want to go home and be alone. Drive a few more laps and leave me alone."

I opened my phone and saw two sunset photos in the gallery, one of which was taken on a hot air balloon in Mexico, and the other was taken on Sunset Boulevard in California. I don’t know how many times I have seen them.

Watching it again, I still can't help but laugh.

Tears also fell.

It seemed like Yan Chen would never wake up.

She had hardly had any outbursts of emotion since returning from Southeast Asia, but once the locked box was opened, she was so heartbroken.

She turned to a private number and her fingers trembled when she clicked it.

Under the influence of alcohol, she was sober and selfish.

I actually dialed the phone like crazy...

Fortunately and unfortunately, it is turned off.

She vaguely guessed something and her tears fell even more heavily on the phone.

Xiao Yan...he will probably always be brooding over the death of that child.

And she could never say it.

He is just like that, calm and extreme. He will do anything when he wants. His indulgence and favoritism are real. He won't argue with you easily. Even if she teamed up with Su Cha to kill him, he could just put it aside calmly.

But he really crossed his bottom line, and there was no way back.

The phone lit up.

The WeChat message that Mr. Yan sent contained a photo of the blind date that he had personally selected.

Yan Haoyue picked one at random. He had a bit of a rebellious look, but was far worse than that guy.

Elder Yan sent a voice message saying, "The one you chose is the only son of the second-in-command of South City. His name is Ren Zhou. Tomorrow is the weekend and he is free. How about you meet him tomorrow?"

She didn't refuse again. Maybe she was too sad at that moment and even refusing took a lot of effort.

What to do? One has to look forward, she advised herself to move forward.

……

On a weekend afternoon, she drove to the agreed blind date location.

The people carefully selected by Mr. Yan are indeed superior.

The only son of the second-in-command of Nancheng, his appearance, conditions, and family background are impeccable.

But the other party came late and said, "Sorry, there is a traffic jam in the city. Have you been waiting for a long time?"

You must be kidding. She just came through the city center. There’s no traffic jam at all.

She smiled considerately, as if treating a customer: "No, I just got here too."

It would be difficult to offend the person carefully selected by Mr. Yan, and besides, the other party does have connections.

However, she could indeed understand that young men like Mr. Ren were often seen in the business world. He was late due to traffic jam, simply because he felt that in this blind date, he was here to pick people, while she, Yan Haoyue, was here to pick the best ones.

What if the person who came to have a blind date with him today was Mr. Yan’s biological daughter, his attitude would have to change again.

This group of people are all chameleons, they act according to the circumstances. Of course, Yan Haoyue is one of them.

Being used to the world of fame and fortune and the business circle, these were not really a humiliation to her.

This group of people is like this, they are used to weighing the pros and cons.

Weigh whether the other person's origin, family background, resume, personal assets, and personality are controllable.

What are the pros and cons? Can the sum of two people's marriage be greater than two? At the very least, they cannot be a drag.

Love at first sight can only remain fresh for one night in the eyes of people like them. Beneath their gentlemanly exterior, they are calculating and clear-headed.

She didn't look down on the other person because she was also that kind of person.

Ren Zhou looked at her for a few times and said with a smile: "Miss Yan is so beautiful and I heard she is doing well in business, why haven't you talked about marriage yet?"

She just said something official: "I haven't met the right one yet."

Ren Zhou thought for a moment, "I thought it was related to that incident."

She was puzzled, "What?"

Ren Zhou sat up straight, moved closer to her, and looked at her with a slightly distressed look.

He said to her in a friendly tone, "I also heard it from my friend. If the news is wrong, please don't be offended, Miss Yan."

"No wonder, go ahead."

Ren Zhou whispered, "I heard that you met with an accident when you went to Nanyang last year and were detained by local forces for a year? It's not easy for you, a girl so beautiful, to escape from their hands. Eh? How are you so smart? How, how did you escape?"

He talked to her about this as if she were an old friend, with a look of sympathy and confusion on his face.

It's actually just a cliché.

Her pain has nothing to do with others, so it is normal for others to talk about it after dinner or tea.

She didn't feel embarrassed, but was just curious: "Am I famous in South City? Can such a trivial matter of mine become gossip?"

Ren Zhou was stunned by the question, and probably thought she was thick-skinned enough, so he laughed, scratched his forehead, and wisely stopped talking.

We then chatted for more than half an hour.

She handled the whole process with ease.

When the other party wanted to add her on WeChat, she didn't turn her head and added him openly.

Coming out of the restaurant and feeling the cold wind, she felt that there was little hope and felt relieved.

Before she could even breathe a sigh of relief, Ren Zhou opened the passenger seat of the 911 and asked her, "Would you mind if we could go to the movies together?"

She didn't really understand.

It is actually very dreamy for people of this class to say that they are greedy for beauty. She is the adopted daughter of the Yan family, and her status is not equal to his status as the only son of a high-ranking official family. There is no problem with her dating, but there is an 80% chance of her getting married.

What's more, she now has an experience in Southeast Asia that seems to be known to everyone.

She had no idea what the other party was planning, but if she wanted to survive in this circle, losing face was the most difficult thing to do.

It was just a movie, so she didn't lose any weight and got into the car generously.

Everything is normal here.

The movie was lackluster and the plot was so mediocre that she fell asleep.

When I came out of the cinema, it was already dark and the winter night wind was very cold.

Ren Zhou glanced at her with a smile in his eyes, and said in a gentlemanly manner, "I'll take you there."

But where did he send her?

This was not the way back to her home.

The silver 911 stopped in front of the Ritz-Carlton Hotel.

She looked at him calmly, "What does Master Ren mean?"

Ren Zhou was slightly surprised: "I thought you understood what I meant. You should have... been in many relationships, right? We don't need to be so conservative, right?"

He came back from studying abroad at Columbia University and had a crazy time in New York. He had so many conversations that he couldn't even count them all.

Someone like Yan Haoyue, who has a pretty face, big breasts and a thin waist, has a shameful experience and is an adopted daughter, but she has no inferiority or shame at all and looks like a queen of the sea.

I guess they have played it too much in private and have no moral integrity anymore.

So, what are you pretending for?

Ren Zhou didn't take it seriously, thinking she was being reserved. He leaned over to unbuckle her seatbelt and asked, "Shall we give it a try?"

This guy looks like a decent person, but he's quite a scumbag.

She almost laughed out of anger, looked at him provocatively, and said arrogantly, "Try? You have 18 centimeters? If you don't have 18 centimeters, you are not worthy of trying with me."