Hiding deep, aren't you?

The person standing opposite, wearing a forced smile and saying "what a coincidence," was naturally Gao Tang, who had declared a few days ago that he wanted to buy all the remaining apartments on the eighth floor of Building 8 at Crape Myrtle Residence.

Little Hu had rushed to secure apartment 803 for him at lightning speed, but apartments 802 and 805 were still under negotiation. Not wanting to leave things dragging on, Gao Tang had his family's assistants and housekeepers move his luggage over the day after the class reunion.

He never expected that their very first encounter today would feature these two walking out together looking so affectionate.

Gao Tang's gaze darkened momentarily in a place out of sight, though a familiar smile quickly surfaced on his face again.

"Heading out?"

Chen Ruowen answered quite naturally with a casual hum. Bai Jiyan's gaze lingered on Gao Tang's face for a moment before he too nodded amicably.

"Just going to buy some things."

"Not grocery shopping, are you?" Gao Tang joked.

"Buying clothes."

Bai Jiyan pulled his hand away from Chen Ruowen's embrace, wrapped his arm around her waist from behind, and pressed the elevator button. Chen Ruowen glanced at him without saying anything.

Gao Tang paid no mind to Bai Jiyan's deliberate move to insert himself between them. He stepped into the elevator with them, tilting his head slightly to focus his attention solely on Chen Ruowen.

"The brands you usually wear all have stores in World Trade Emporium. Need me to show you the way?"

Chen Ruowen could distinctly feel the large hand on her waist tighten abruptly. She looked at Bai Jiyan with a trace of amusement in her eyes, then turned back to Gao Tang.

"Are you that free? What did you even come out here for?"

Gao Tang curved his lips into a smile. "To run into you, of course."

Chen Ruowen: ... ＝＝|||

Bai Jiyan: (╯°Д°)╯︵┻━┻

As soon as the elevator stopped at the basement level, Bai Jiyan pulled her toward his car without a single second of delay. Pressing his lips into a tight line, he controlled the pressure of his foot on the accelerator and steered the car out of the residential compound.

This time, Chen Ruowen clearly sensed that Bai Jiyan was angry. In high spirits, she tugged at his arm, which finally snapped him out of whatever distraction he had fallen into, causing him to slam hard on the brakes.

"Don't fool around while I'm driving. It's dangerous."

Chen Ruowen raised an eyebrow, but surprisingly said nothing in retort. Instead, she looped her arm through his and leaned closer.

"Do you remember what I told you that night?"

Bai Jiyan didn't speak.

Chen Ruowen raised her head to look at him.

"I don't like Gao Tang. I only like you."

These words seemed to act as the most potent soothing balm, slowly eroding the stifling gloom in Bai Jiyan's heart bit by bit. Yet, remembering how Gao Tang had repeatedly provoked him to his face, that remaining shred of frustration still managed to break past the constraints of his throat.

Seeing Bai Jiyan's lips move without any sound coming out, Chen Ruowen leaned in a little closer.

"What did you say?"

After hesitating for a moment, Bai Jiyan gloomily repeated the six words that had just been echoing in his mind in a low voice.

"But he likes you."

Chen Ruowen raised an eyebrow again. "What does that have to do with me?"

Not only did it have nothing to do with her, but as for Gao Tang... Chen Ruowen honestly didn't think Gao Tang liked her all that much.

Currently, the frequency of Gao Tang's contact with her was essentially on a monthly basis, and every single time he had a legitimate excuse. It was completely unlike the way she pestered Bai Jiyan whether she had a reason or not.

Furthermore, Gao Tang's attitude toward the opposite sex had always been ambiguous. Chen Ruowen still remembered how an obscure actress had leaned against Gao Tang during their second encounter. Consequently, she had always viewed Gao Tang as a playboy who liked to flirt everywhere, and she never took his occasional weird remarks to heart.

Yet Bai Jiyan cared so much it was driving him crazy—it was truly bizarre.

Bai Jiyan slowly turned the steering wheel, pressed the accelerator once more, and unexpectedly made a U-turn when he reached the intersection ahead.

"I'm moving over here."

Chen Ruowen: ...

"Didn't you just say a moment ago that moving in now is too early?"

Bai Jiyan switched to a familiar route and directed the car toward Clear Water Riverside.

"Apartment 802 is mine."

Chen Ruowen was stunned. This big-tailed wolf was hiding quite deep!

...

At a cemetery in the west of Nancheng, Guo Jingyuan bent down to place a bunch of white flowers before a tombstone. She knelt on the hard stone pathway, her black dress fluttering gently in the breeze.

The photograph printed on the tombstone was that of a middle-aged woman with shoulder-length hair, gentle features, and a faint smile curving her lips, imparting an indescribable sense of tranquility.

If anyone could be described as having a character as pure and quiet as a chrysanthemum, it was surely her.

Guo Jingyuan stroked the gentle brow of the woman in the photograph, her clear eyes curving softly.

"Mom, I've come to see you."

The moment she finished speaking, a tear dropped from the corner of her eye.

"Mom, I got into the best university in Nancheng, and I've made a really good friend. Her name is Chen Ruowen, and I... really like her. Next time, I'll bring her along to visit you. You're bound to like her too."

"Oh, right, I became the class monitor again, just like you always hoped I would."

"I'm doing really well now, truly exceptionally well. The teachers and classmates are all so kind to me, and I've met a lot of kind-hearted people who helped me. The only bad thing... is that you're not by my side."

"Mom, I miss you so much..."

Tears began to fall once more. Even though Guo Jingyuan tried hard to lift the corners of her mouth, a profound sorrow inevitably spilled from her curved eyes.

Three years.

Three years—when spoken of, it seemed to take only a single instant, after which time flashed by and the grief should have faded. Yet in real life, across three or five years, was there ever a single second that didn't feel agonizingly long?

Having finished paying her respects to her mother, Guo Jingyuan wiped the corners of her eyes and stood up, preparing to leave. It was only after she turned around that she noticed a man standing not far away.

The man's features bore a fifty-percent resemblance to Guo Jingyuan's, though they were far more mediocre. He carried a potbelly developed from prolonged sitting and an unappealing bureaucratic aura.

The visitor was naturally Guo Jingyuan's biological father, Guo Yang.

Guo Yang's expression was somewhat strange. It looked as though he had long guessed Guo Jingyuan would appear here today, yet also as though he believed she had no business being here.

Father and daughter exchanged a look, each harboring their own thoughts, before Guo Yang took the lead in nodding toward his daughter.

"Came to see your mom?"

"Today is Mom's death anniversary," Guo Jingyuan replied.

Her complexion did not undergo any emotional shift due to Guo Yang's appearance. All expectations of the bond of blood had been ground to dust over the past three years, and that final scrap of father-daughter affection had long since been burned away by Guo Yang's words: "Why don't you just go die?"

Guo Yang let out a sigh.

"You're a filial child. In the past, Dad was afraid you'd go astray and let down Chuyao's expectations, so I was a bit hard on you. Now that you've been admitted to Nanda, Dad can finally rest easy."

What kind of act was this benevolent father routine? Guo Jingyuan did not let down her guard simply because of Guo Yang's softened words. His bias against her wasn't a matter of a day or two; would he really drop those preconceptions just because she got into university?

Noticing the faint detachment in his daughter's expression, Guo Yang frowned, suppressed his internal displeasure, and waved a hand at her.

"Never mind, let's not talk about that. It's been a long time since our father and daughter met, let's find a place to sit down and talk."