Chapter 31: So Close, Yet Worlds Apart

Shi Youxuan could feel the man's attitude; for a moment, she was even lost in this damn tenderness, unable to extricate herself!

Forget it, she couldn't break free anyway, and they were a legal married couple after all... Shi Youxuan was finding a reasonable explanation for her own sinking; she just didn't want to admit to herself that she didn't hate this man, and perhaps even liked him a little.

He wasn't wearing sunglasses now, and his eyes were truly beautiful, deep like unfathomable pools of water. Was he really unable to see?

This thought had just entered her mind when it was disrupted by another more intense assault. Shi Youxuan was like a small boat tossed on stormy waves, passively enduring it all.

After the storm, he struck Shi Youxuan into hell with just one sentence.

Sheng Hanyu whispered in her ear: "Yixin, promise me, never be separated from me."

……

Shi Youxuan's head went "boom" and swelled up.

Jian Yining's words echoed in her ears: The boss of Dingsheng is my sister's fiancé, and Sheng Hanyu is the boss of Dingsheng...

Her head was buzzing. She had been moved just a moment ago, thinking Sheng Hanyu had searched heaven and earth to find her, but it turned out it was all just her own wishful thinking.

The person Sheng Hanyu was looking for wasn't her, but Jian Yixin, and she just happened to be treated as a substitute.

Shi Youxuan put on her clothes, stuffed the computer into Zai Zai, and then hugged Zai Zai as she walked out of the house!

The bodyguard was dozing in the car and didn't notice Shi Youxuan walking past him at all.

She walked blindly on the street; the sky was already beginning to brighten, and a touch of fish-belly white appeared in the east.

Soon, the sun would rise from the east, but Shi Youxuan didn't know where she was going or where she could go.

"Ring, ring..."

The mobile phone on the nightstand vibrated and rang, spinning in circles for a long time before Jian Yining reluctantly went to pick it up.

He reached out and fumbled on the nightstand a few times, finally grabbing the phone. With sleepy eyes, he saw the number on the screen, and his sleepiness vanished instantly!

"Hello, Yingzi, why are you calling so early?"

Jian Yining said with a cheeky, joking tone: "Are you missing me so much you can't sleep? Don't be shy, just admit it." The joke was half-true and half-false; if Yingzi answered yes, he would confess his feelings immediately.

If she answered no, or scolded him, he would aggrievedly say he was just joking and ask why she was taking it seriously.

There was no sound for a long while.

"Hello, Yingzi, speak? Are you angry? I'm sorry, it's all my fault. I was just joking, please don't be angry, okay? Say something."

The person on the other end finally spoke: "Laomao, I have nowhere to live, I don't know where to go." The voice was soft and sweet, carrying a sobbing tone that made Jian Yining's heart break.

"Where are you now?"

"I don't know."

……

He tilted his head, clamping the phone between his head and shoulder, and quickly put on his clothes while talking to Yingzi: "Send me your location immediately, I'll come pick you up."

"Mm."

Jian Yining sprinted to his car, floored the gas pedal, and the car sped away.

Behind his car, an inconspicuous van followed, not too far or too close, but always behind him.

His mind was entirely on Yingzi, so he didn't notice.

But the car speed was too fast, and the van eventually lost him!

Twenty minutes later.

Jian Yining saw a girl squatting by the roadside holding a doll, wearing a messy bun, and she didn't look very old.

The girl was about the same height and build as Yingzi, only she looked much younger, and she was holding a large teddy bear doll in her arms!

The location was correct, but he still wasn't sure. He took out his phone and dialed Yingzi's number, and the girl pulled the phone out of her pocket... That was it! It was her!

The car stopped beside Shi Youxuan. She glanced inside, then opened the door and sat in the back seat.

Jian Yining adjusted the rearview mirror and exclaimed: "Wow—"

"Is this your real appearance? Yingzi, why do you wear such an ugly mask when you're so beautiful... Hey, why are you sitting in the back? Why don't I pull over and you sit in the front? It'll be easier for us to talk!"

It was true that it would be easier to talk, but Jian Yining wanted to be closer to her to verify if this was Yingzi's true appearance or if she had changed into another mask.

"Stop talking, you're so noisy!"

Having been out for two hours, Shi Youxuan still couldn't control her tears, which kept streaming down her cheeks.

So Jian Yining shut his mouth and stopped talking.

Heading north, Shi Youxuan finally stopped sobbing and asked vigilantly: "Where are you going?"

This was the direction of the Sheng Hanyu Villa, and she didn't want to go there.

Jian Yining said: "To my place. Not far ahead, I have a Villa that's empty; no one goes there usually."

"Thank you."

"You don't need to say thank you to me."

……

Arriving at Jian Yining's Villa, Shi Youxuan realized how close it was to Sheng Hanyu's home!

The two Villas faced each other from afar, separated by nothing more than an artificial lake!

One could even stand by the window and see the housekeeper Zhang Ma scolding servants at the front gate.

Shi Youxuan was beyond tears: "I don't want to live here, can we change to another place?"

Jian Yining looked serious: "Didn't you say you wanted to find a quiet environment where no one would disturb you? This is perfect. Other than the cleaners coming three times a week, no one else will come."

Shi Youxuan knew she couldn't explain it clearly to Jian Yining in a sentence or two, so she didn't want to explain.

Jian Yining glanced at the opposite side and smiled: "Oh, I know, you lived over there and are afraid the people there will recognize you, right? It's fine, don't look at the distance, but the people over there never come over here."

It was so close to the Sheng Hanyu Villa, a case of "the darkest place is under the lamp," and since Jian Yining said no one else came except the cleaners, it should be safe.

But for the sake of caution, Shi Youxuan still said to Jian Yining: "Find me a servant's uniform. If anyone asks about me, can you just say I'm a servant you hired?"

Jian Yining agreed readily: "Sure, no problem."

……

It was nearly noon.

Sheng Hanyu woke up from a hangover; as soon as he opened his eyes, the dazzling sunlight forced him to close them again.

This was Jian Yixin's Apartment, he remembered.

But he could not remember when he had arrived last night or how he had gotten here; he had blacked out from drinking.

His head was still not very clear; last night, it felt as if he had had a wonderful dream, so beautiful that he simply did not want to wake up.

No, that was not right.

Sheng Hanyu sat up abruptly from the bed; he was not wearing any clothes, and the messy bedsheets along with a smear of dark red on them were all reminding him that something indescribable had indeed happened last night—it was not a dream!

"Yixin, Yixin!" No one answered.

Sheng Hanyu became instantly sober; he jumped off the bed with a start, shouting as he searched every room.

There was no one in the guest bedroom, the Study, the living room, the bathroom, or the kitchen... but he discovered that the Apartment was different from before!

On the TV cabinet sat a row of small, cute dolls, looking naive and endearing in various poses; if you touched their heads lightly, they would nod and bow incessantly, extremely adorable.

He pulled open the refrigerator door; the fridge was full of food, completely different from the last time he had looked.

In the trash can, there were even empty yogurt bottles, snack bags, and apple cores...

Everything indicated that Jian Yixin had been living here these past two days!

"Damn it!"

Sheng Hanyu slammed his fist onto the table, cursing himself.

He felt especially regretful now, so regretful that he wanted to drag his yesterday's self out and beat him up!

Why did he have to drink yesterday?

If he hadn't drunk so much, he wouldn't have done such a crude thing to Jian Yixin; she must be blaming him, which was why she was hiding and refusing to see him.

Sheng Hanyu called Jian Yining; he felt that Jian Yining must know where Jian Yixin was hiding, or perhaps Jian Yining was the one who had hidden her.

"Beep, beep, beep—"