Chapter 209: Say You Miss Me Too

Parent-child relationship...

Father and son.

A shadow loomed over Sheng Yu in front of the floor-to-ceiling window; he gripped the report in his hand, staring at the data displayed on it.

Amidst the lengthy English text was that string of figures showing a near-hundred-percent ratio, leaving no room for denial.

Several sheets of paper were crushed and crumpled into a ball in his palm.

In the moment Situ stood stunned, Sheng Yu had already pressed his lighter, the flame flicking across the paper ball with a *poof*.

It fell to the floor, turning to ash in no time.

Watching the cold, silent man, Situ retreated from the room in silence.

Seconds ticked by, and it was quite a while before the man standing before the floor-to-ceiling window took his phone from his pocket to check the time.

It was not yet dawn in Kyoto City.

If she didn't get enough sleep, she would throw a tantrum.

Sheng Yu suppressed the urge to call Zhu Yuan, sat down on the sofa in front of the floor-to-ceiling window, tossed aside his phone and lighter, spread his legs, and buried his fingers into his hair with a spasmodic curl; outside the window, a light rain had begun to fall at some point, the pitter-patter of rain striking the glass.

A deeper, thicker darkness reflected on the window.

A low sigh emanated from the quiet room.

At seven in the morning in Kyoto City, Zhu Yuan, who had only fallen asleep in the small hours of the night, heard her phone ringing in a daze.

She propped herself up on the bed and reached for the phone on the nightstand; the moment she saw the caller ID, her heart trembled uncontrollably.

The number that previously had no contact name had been forcibly renamed by Sheng Yu as: Brother Sheng Yu.

Recalling their past intimacy now, Zhu Yuan felt that the scene from two days ago was like a nightmare.

The moment she answered the call, before she could speak, the man's low, hoarse, and tender voice came from the other end: "Yuanyuan."

A sound escaped her throat: "Mm."

She gripped the phone tightly, her eyes burning for some reason.

"I miss you." The man's voice grew even lower.

Detecting the abnormality in his voice, she asked hurriedly: "Have you been drinking?"

Her voice, just woken from sleep, was soft and gentle, and hearing it, Sheng Yu leaned against the back of the sofa and closed his eyes; her face instantly appeared in his mind, and his heart softened, "Mm, I had a little."

There were several open bottles of wine on the table.

She only knew he was away on business, not where he had gone, nor the time difference with Kyoto City, so she just urged him as usual over the phone: "Drink less."

The man closed his eyes and chuckled softly, "Yuanyuan."

"Mm?"

"I miss you."

Zhu Yuan responded in a low voice: "Mm, you've been drinking, get some rest."

Just before hanging up, Sheng Yu's voice clung to her: "Say you miss me too, Yuanyuan."

She could not detect a hint of obsession in his voice, and the tip of her heart trembled, "I miss you too."

After the call ended, Sheng Yu listened to the busy signal on the phone for a long time without moving it away; he slowly opened his eyes, looking at everything before him—the ashes on the floor—and Zhu Yuan's face vanished from his mind.

Everything returned to reality.

His brows furrowed slightly, his gaze cold and obsessive.

Even reality could not affect him and Yuanyuan in the slightest.

It was just barely dawn when Situ drove to the hospital and saw Ning Huaiqing keeping watch by the bedside.

Yesterday, Youyou had been frightened and fainted from crying during a blood draw, then developed a high fever, which only broke in the middle of the night; now, she was sleeping soundly while Ning Huaiqing held her hand.

Upon seeing Situ, she looked behind him instinctively.

"Young Master Yu didn't come," Situ said coldly.

Ning Huaiqing withdrew her expectant gaze and curled her lips in self-mockery, "Does he refuse to see me?"

"Miss Ning, you should be very clear about the reason why Young Master Yu won't see you."

He handed a card to Ning Huaiqing, "Young Master Yu says that you and your son are never to return to Kyoto City."

The cold card pressed against Ning Huaiqing's hand; her hand trembled, her eyes reddened, and she stubbornly picked up the card to return it to Situ, "I can earn money to raise Youyou; if I wanted money, I wouldn't have kept it hidden until today."

Situ did not take the card, nodded slightly at her, and turned to leave the ward.

The ward fell into silence once again.

Ning Huaiqing gripped the card tightly, tears falling silently.

She let go of Youyou's hand, pulled open the ward door, and chased after him; Situ had not gone far, and hearing footsteps, he turned his head to look at her with an expressionless face.

"Miss Ning, I believe that as mature adults, some things don't need to be said too bluntly. Young Master Yu has already proposed to Miss Zhu, and marriage is only a matter of time. I hope you will behave yourself and continue to hide this child's existence just as you did before, and from now on, cut off all contact with people from Kyoto City. Your relationship with your father isn't close either; you are the only witness to why he fell from the building that night. You know the truth yourself. Let's leave each other some dignity."

After all, the existence of this child was her immorality.

Ning Huaiqing stood there, lost and dejected, her dry lips moving, "Can you pass a message to him for me?"

"Young Master Yu's meaning is already very clear; there is no need."

Situ left.

Ning Huaiqing stood there for a while, worried that Youyou would be scared if she woke up and didn't see her, so she hurriedly turned back to the ward, only to encounter the doctor looking for her, holding an examination report.

"Miss Ning, there seems to be a problem with your child's physical condition."

After the tour in Yucheng ended, Zhu Yuan had no plans to perform on stage for the time being, only going to the theater every day to rehearse the previous play in preparation for the tour in half a month.

After resting enough at noon, she prepared to go upstairs to the rehearsal hall, but encountered Pei Ling in the corridor.

The last time rumors spread online about Sheng Yu and Ning Huaiqing, Pei Ling had sought her out, and she had made her words very clear and stated her position of loving Sheng Yu, but it seemed those words had offended him as well.

Zhu Yuan wanted to pretend she didn't see him, lowering her head and walking close to the wall.

But she was blocked by a pair of long legs.

The faint, fresh scent of body wash drifted over.

She had no choice but to stop and greet him: "Second Master."

Looking down at her chin, which was a bit sharper than before, Pei Ling frowned slightly, and his left chest felt a strange, stinging sensation.

Hearing no response from him, Zhu Yuan instinctively looked up at him.

With this one look, he took in not only her sharper chin, but also the faint dark circles under her eyes and her poor complexion.

Pei Ling's expression turned cold, "What's wrong?"

"I don't understand what you mean, Second Master." How was one supposed to answer such an abrupt "what's wrong"?

"I asked why you've lost weight. Having accepted Sheng Yu's marriage proposal, shouldn't you be very happy?"

The grand, high-profile proposal made everyone see that she was the person Sheng Yu held in the palm of his hand.

Yet, that delicate flower who should be cherished in Sheng Yu's palm gave one the feeling that she was about to wither.

Zhu Yuan calmly retorted: "Which eye of yours saw that I wasn't happy, Second Master?"

Pei Ling sneered, "Do you take me for blind?"