Chapter 130: Hiding Away

Shi Youxuan sat opposite Sheng Hanyu with a worried look, her chin resting in her hands.

She asked him to come up with an idea for how she could avoid attending tomorrow's engagement banquet!

At first, Sheng Hanyu didn't think the matter was that difficult to handle; if she didn't want to go, she just wouldn't go, there was no need to be this worried.

But Shi Youxuan told him it wouldn't work; as long as she refused, they would bring up her father, and while she could refuse everyone and everything else, she could not refuse her father.

"Then don't let your father find you."

"Huh?"

Sheng Hanyu's casual remark gave Shi Youxuan a wake-up call, and she thought this was a good idea.

As good as her word, she picked up Zai Zai and prepared to leave: "Thanks, goodbye."

"Come back."

Her arm was grabbed, and she couldn't run at all; because she had been running so hard, the recoil caused her to be pulled right back and fall into Sheng Hanyu's arms.

A soft, fragrant body filled his arms; the feeling wasn't bad.

But before he could savor it, Shi Youxuan pulled away as if electrocuted, her large eyes glaring at him: "Why did you pull me?"

He said in a deep voice: "Where are you going?"

Sheng Hanyu had a feeling that this person was about to slip away; she was always like this.

Sure enough, Shi Youxuan was righteous and confident: "Where am I going? Of course, I'm finding a place to hide so that none of them can find me..." Seeing Sheng Hanyu staring at her without blinking, she immediately realized it was inappropriate.

She explained again: "But don't worry, I meant them, not including you; if you want to find me, you can find me at any time."

He was satisfied with this explanation, let go of her hand, and said: "We'll go together and go out to play for a few days."

"Really?"

"If you don't believe me, you don't have to go."

"I'll go, I'll go."

The driver took them to the airport, and the two boarded a plane to Jiangnan!

Early the next morning.

Shi Yuke had someone hurry to pick up Shi Youxuan, and she told the person sent to pick her up that they must ensure both Sheng Hanyu and Shi Youxuan came.

However, the person sent to pick them up returned empty-handed very quickly, telling her they hadn't been picked up, as the servant said they had gone on their honeymoon!

Why go on a honeymoon neither early nor late, but specifically at the time of her engagement?

Shi Yuke knew the housekeeper was making excuses, but she wouldn't give up.

She called Shi Youxuan, but the phone was turned off; she went to ask Jian Yining, but Jian Yining's phone indicated it was out of the service area!

Besides Jian Yining, she really couldn't think of anyone else Shi Youxuan was in close contact with.

Shi Yuke began to regret it, regretting that she had been careless; why hadn't she sent someone to stay outside the Villa and keep watch yesterday?

That way, she would have received the news as soon as they left and could have stopped them, and wouldn't be unable to find anyone like she was now.

It was mainly her own fault for being too confident, confidently believing that Shi Youxuan would wait at home to prepare to attend her engagement banquet.

It was too late to say anything now; she could only think of a way to remedy the situation.

"Father—"

Shi Yuke used her trump card and went to complain to her father.

She wanted Shi Yucheng to step in and find her, and she felt that her father had a way to contact Shi Youxuan secretly that she didn't know about.

Unfortunately, he really didn't.

Although Shi Yucheng felt it was a pity that his second daughter couldn't attend his eldest daughter's engagement, he understood.

Not only did he understand, he also persuaded his eldest daughter: "If Xuanxuan doesn't want to go, then let it be; those things you did before... forget it, it's not worth mentioning."

Today was his daughter's big day, and it wasn't worth it to make her sad by bringing up those past events.

Shi Yucheng's kindness was not understood by Shi Yuke; instead, she complained: "You are biased; you have been biased toward Shi Youxuan since childhood. Today is my engagement, and she deliberately hid away to avoid coming. Not only do you not complain a single word, but you also speak up for her. Am I your biological daughter, or is she?"

After Jiang Yadan returned from the suburbs, she had calmed down quite a bit.

She comforted her daughter: "Alright, don't make things difficult for your father. Her legs are on her own body; what can your father do if she ran away? If she doesn't come, she doesn't come; it's better if she doesn't. If she did come, I would be worried that she might cause trouble for you at the wedding."

Jiang Yadan's comfort did not make Shi Yuke feel at ease; it only made her feel more irritable.

If Shi Youxuan didn't come, that old hag definitely wouldn't let it go!

She was so anxious she wasn't even in the mood to put on makeup, pacing back and forth in the room... suddenly, a flash of inspiration hit her, and she had a plan!

Shi Yuke immediately called her mother in and whispered detailed instructions in her ear; Jiang Yadan nodded repeatedly: "Good."

"Can do."

"No problem."

Jiangnan International Airport.

Sheng Hanyu's expression showed not a trace of fatigue as he walked out of the exit with the flow of people, while Shi Youxuan, following behind him, looked much worse.

She was yawning, looking like she hadn't woken up, falling behind Sheng Hanyu after a few steps, then jogging to catch up and complain: "Why are you walking so fast? Wait for me."

It was clearly her who was walking slowly; Sheng Hanyu slowed his pace to accommodate her, but she ended up going even slower!

Her head bobbed and drooped as if she could fall asleep standing up, only to be bumped awake by people constantly passing behind her.

Sheng Hanyu squatted down in front of her, and Shi Youxuan, not paying attention, bumped right into him.

"Sorry..."

Before she finished apologizing, her feet suddenly left the ground; Shi Youxuan was startled to find the person she had "bumped" into was carrying her on his back, and just as she was about to shout, she realized it was Sheng Hanyu.

So she rested assuredly on his back and fell asleep; even though the airport was quite noisy, she slept incredibly soundly, only waking up when the wind blew on her outside the airport.

"The air here smells so good, where are we going?" Shi Youxuan opened her pair of ignorant, large eyes, looking at everything as if it were a novelty, just like a big child who had never seen the world.

Looking at her now, Sheng Hanyu truly could not connect her to that Yingzi who was so decisive and ruthless in the stock market; they were clearly the same person, yet in different settings, she could always find an aura that belonged to her—and it was completely natural!

None of that mattered; what mattered was that Sheng Hanyu discovered that every version of her held a fatal attraction for him.

He was not like this with other women; Jian Yixin was gentle and kind, and Sheng Hanyu had once believed that he should like that kind of woman, and that all other women were merely painted faces and vulgar commoners.

But Shi Youxuan was not; she was completely different from Jian Yixin, yet he liked her very much, perhaps even more...

Sheng Hanyu was startled to realize that when he was with Shi Youxuan, the frequency with which he thought of Jian Yixin seemed to be getting lower and lower.

"Hey, do you know how to be polite? Answer me." Shi Youxuan nudged him lightly, pulling him back from his thoughts.

"You'll know when we get there." It was still the same icy tone, the same icy attitude.

A taxi arrived, and the two of them got in.

Sheng Hanyu stated the destination: "Zhulu Academy."

"Going to an academy?" Shi Youxuan did not understand why the first stop was an academy; logically speaking, shouldn't they find a place to stay first?

Sheng Hanyu explained: "It's called an academy, but it's a guesthouse; you'll know when we get there."

"Oh."

Upon arriving, she was captivated by the Jiangnan-style guesthouse.

This place was simply too beautiful, so beautiful it felt unreal.

White walls and grey tiles, with old-fashioned red bricks paved on the ground, bright red and clean without a speck of dust.

The entire guesthouse—no, the whole street seemed as if it were built on water; step outside, and there were black-awning boats.

The sky was purely blue, the water purely green, and it felt as if one were inside a painting; Shi Youxuan fell in love with this place immediately.

The proprietress looked to be in her forties, still possessing charm, well-maintained, and very elegant.

She stood by the door to welcome them in, greeting Sheng Hanyu with a smile: "You've finally come out, that's very good; this young lady is truly beautiful."