Chapter 51

Shen Siyuan retracted the Ten Thousand Souls Banner and said to Yin Xingyue, “You’ve fulfilled your wish now.”

Yin Xingyue smiled and nodded, clearly delighted, as if the longstanding furrow between her brows had finally eased.

“Brother~”

Yin Xingyue called out again suddenly.

“What is it?”

“I want to visit Grandma,” Yin Xingyue said.

“Of course you can, but do you know how to get there?”

Yin Xingyue nodded; she didn’t know the route, but she knew which bus to take to reach her grandmother’s house.

“Then go ahead.”

“Thank you, Brother~”

Yin Xingyue bowed deeply to Shen Siyuan, then rode off on a howling shadowwind.

Shen Siyuan turned back to bed, preparing to sleep again.

Yet for some reason, a faint unease stirred in his heart.

That night, Shen Siyuan dreamed endlessly, the women in his dreams shifting one after another, his desires fully unleashed.

When he woke the next morning, he was not only uncomfortably swollen, but his lower body was drenched.

This was abnormal—he was twenty-six now, not an eighteen- or nineteen-year-old boy, yet he still had a nocturnal emission.

Shen Siyuan knew this was due to the influence of Fang Yunlou.

After the Ten Thousand Souls Banner consumed Fang Yunlou’s soul, the desires clinging to that soul had not vanished—they were absorbed by the banner and ultimately reflected back onto him, its master.

Fortunately, there was only one Fang Yunlou; the effect was minor—just a slight heat in his lower abdomen and fleeting urges, which Shen Siyuan could still suppress.

He rose, washed up, picked up the letter he’d written to Lu Guanchang the night before, went downstairs, and rode his electric scooter out of the compound.

As he passed the bus stop, Lin Manzhi called out to him while waiting for the bus.

“Sister Manzhi, didn’t you drive today?”

“The car’s in for maintenance—I won’t be able to use it this week.”

Lin Manzhi stepped forward and sat sideways on the back of his scooter.

“You should’ve told me earlier—if I’d woken up late, I might’ve been late.”

“I can’t keep troubling you; if I happen to see you, I’ll ask for a ride, if not, I’ll take the bus.”

“What’s the big deal? Sister Manzhi, don’t be so formal with me.”

They chatted casually as they rode.

“What about Brother Lü? Hasn’t he come back yet?”

“Probably another half-month,” Lin Manzhi sighed.

Brother Lü, as Shen Siyuan called him, was Lin Manzhi’s husband—he worked at a design institute and often traveled for projects.

That’s why, despite the two companies being so close, Lin Manzhi always commuted alone.

“By the way, how’s it going with Tingyu?”

“What do you mean, ‘how’s it going’? It’s just how it is.”

“I’m telling you, don’t wait—she doesn’t reach out, so you don’t reach out either?” Lin Manzhi said, giving him a light slap on the shoulder.

“She told you about this?”

Shen Siyuan thought—it seemed they hadn’t contacted each other since yesterday.

“Of course she did—she’s my best friend,” Lin Manzhi said.

“How did you two meet? Don’t tell me you were classmates—you’re years apart.”

“We met at a previous company, but we got along well, so we’ve stayed in touch…”

“Good morning, Boss Shen, good morning, Sister Manzhi…”

The enthusiastic greeting—without even looking, Shen Siyuan knew it was Ding Youguang.

“Morning,” Lin Manzhi nodded to him.

“Did you eat breakfast?” Ding Youguang asked casually.

Shen Siyuan stared at the breakfast in his hand: “Not yet—will you treat me?”

“Dream on—that’s mine. If you really want some, there’s a bread in my drawer—I’ll give it to you later,” Ding Youguang pulled his hand back sharply, eyes wary.

“Pfft~ Who eats bread?”

“And a cola.”

“Well… that’s not bad…”

Lin Manzhi laughed beside him.

After exiting the elevator and parting to return to their offices, Lin Manzhi asked casually, “Are you close with Ding Youguang?”

“Pretty close—we often order lunch together.”

“Ding Youguang’s actually quite capable,” Lin Manzhi suddenly said.

“You know that?” Shen Siyuan said in surprise.

“I heard from a friend—he started his own company doing traffic promotion, made a good profit, then sold it and came here.”

“He told me it wasn’t that he sold the company—he lost his business when the company he partnered with got acquired. He relied entirely on that partnership; once it vanished, his company collapsed.”

Ding Youguang’s company was the one now signing contracts with Shen Siyuan’s team.

As soon as Shen Siyuan returned to his seat, he received a message from Ding Youguang.

He must’ve been in the elevator with Lin Manzhi earlier and couldn’t say it then.

“Zhou Zheng says your proposal is very detailed—he says implementation won’t be a problem. Let’s get together this Friday to sync up.”

“I’m fine with that—ask Zhou Zheng to invite Li Qunfang too, see if she’s willing.”

The girl was extremely reclusive—she might not want to join three men for dinner.

“Don’t worry, she’ll definitely come,” Ding Youguang said confidently.

At that moment, Wang Chao walked in from the doorway and placed two bags on Shen Siyuan’s desk.

“Boss, your buns and soy milk.”

“Thanks—I’ll transfer you the money via WeChat later.”

So that was why Shen Siyuan hadn’t eaten breakfast—he’d been waiting for Wang Chao to bring it.

The buns from [Youguang Breakfast] were delicious, and since Wang Chao passed by the shop on his way to work, he bought them daily—so Shen Siyuan asked him to bring one along.

Of course, he wasn’t the only one—he carried several other orders too.

As Shen Siyuan read the news and ate breakfast, Dou Dou ran over, looked around, and asked curiously, “Where’s Little Moon?”

“She went to visit her grandmother.”

“Oh,” Dou Dou’s face lit up with understanding.

Then she tiptoed and peered at Shen Siyuan’s breakfast.

“What are you eating?”

She asked with her mouth, but already inhaled deeply—a thin wisp of steam entered her belly.

“So it’s buns, hehe~”

She finished speaking and dashed off to see what others were eating.

Watching her lively demeanor, Shen Siyuan thought of Yin Xingyue.

After seeing her grandmother, her wish was fully fulfilled.

What in this world could possibly keep her lingering?

He didn’t know whether she’d choose to leave or stay.

Though they’d only spent a few days together, Shen Siyuan truly liked this sensible, well-behaved little girl.

If she chose to leave, he would respect her wish.

But there was no reincarnation in this world—this departure meant total departure, dust to dust, earth to earth, vanishing utterly from heaven and earth.

Thinking of this, Shen Siyuan suddenly found his bun no longer tasted as good.