Talk

When she woke up, no one was beside her. Su pulled her loose pajamas together and got up to look for An Chi.

This has never changed over the years—An Chi is making breakfast in the kitchen.

He was somewhat surprised to see Su Yao appear. "Why are you up so early?"

An Chi got up and made breakfast according to the time Su was supposed to get up before leaving the country. She should have just gotten up by the time he finished making it.

Su took out coffee beans from the refrigerator and picked through them in the coffee machine. She joked, "Maybe it's because I'm getting old and need less sleep."

The oil in the pan sizzled as the eggs were fried. When the eggs were flipped over, the sizzling became even louder, splashing onto An Chi and interrupting his words, which he was struggling to say, with a hiss.

Su wanted to turn around to look, but he withdrew his hand and hid behind her.

She reached out and beckoned to him, but Su Yao's face was cold, her previous playful smile gone. "Give me your hand."

"It's nothing," An Chi declined.

Without saying much, she reached out and started pulling at him, refusing to give up. However, she overlooked the looseness of her pajamas, revealing a snow-white expanse underneath, her skin as smooth as jade. He had slept with such a piece of white jade in his arms last night, no wonder he wasn't thinking about it now.

Before he could react, Su grabbed his hand and saw a faint red mark that wasn't very noticeable. She was relieved and pulled him to the pool to gently wash away the red mark that didn't feel painful at all with cold water.

An Chi watched her expression change, then slowly wrapped his other arm around Su Yao. "Su Yao, would you consider my suggestion from four years ago?"

Four years have passed, and Su Yao has been busy with many things. How could he possibly remember so much? She took out a tissue and wiped the water stains off him again. "What suggestion did you make four years ago?"

"I want to be your...friends with benefits, just me." He rephrased it.

Hearing An Chi's words, Su pushed him away, "The wound is treated, hurry up and continue cooking."

She was avoiding the matter, and An Chi noticed, not knowing how to make her understand her feelings.

The coffee was ready, and she held the cup, preparing to leave.

An Chi called out to her, "Su Yao, then... how about we be together? I want to be with you."

Young people are so impulsive, Su said with a smile as she turned around. "An Chi, do you know what you're saying?"

“I know, and I know better than you what I want,” he said firmly, his eyes filled with unwavering determination.

Su took a sip of coffee and said, "I'll treat you as a child today and not let you talk nonsense. Don't say it again."

"I'm not young anymore, Su Yao." He really couldn't do anything with her. She always thought that way. So how old is not considered young? "When you were my age, weren't you dating Bai Lutong?"

"Oh, you seem to know me so well after all these years?" At times like this, she prefers to make sarcastic remarks.

An Chi was angry, but his usual reluctance to talk when angry changed. He said, "I'm not young anymore. I like you. The money I've earned in the past few years can give you a grand wedding. And you like me too, right?"

"A grand wedding?" Su knew that An Chi had indeed made a lot of money from his work abroad in recent years. "I can earn that myself. Besides, I don't like you. That's how it was four years ago. How can you think I'll change after four years? What, just lying in bed together for one night makes you think so much? Then I guess I won't be able to finish getting married for the next few years."

He said this on purpose simply to make An Chi understand the difference in their relationship and social status.

She had hoped to take advantage of An Chi while he was still dazed yesterday, but An Chi refused, so she couldn't force him, and she certainly couldn't do such a thing when she was truly sober.

Su Yao is still the same Su Yao.

But An Chi was no longer the same An Chi. He suddenly smiled without being annoyed, stepped forward and tucked the stray hairs in front of Su Yao's ear behind her ear. "I know, then let me do something that will make you happy. Would you like to be with me?"

Su suddenly took a few steps back. "What do you want to do?" She had indeed underestimated An Chi, thinking that if An Chi couldn't have her, he would force himself on her.

Unexpectedly, An Chi said, "How about letting Bai Lutong destroy it?"

"Don't do anything reckless, An Chi!" Su Yao was shocked to hear this. She didn't know how An Chi had the courage to say such a thing, but since Bai Lutong was able to take over the Su family four years ago, it proved that he was even more powerful than the Bai family back then, and was not someone An Chi could mess with.

An Chi inexplicably looked aggrieved, "No matter what, it's considered reckless. Being together is reckless, messing with Bai Lutong is reckless, so what does Mother say that isn't reckless?"

Su pretended to be in a difficult position, saying, "The Su family is still in Bai Lutong's hands, so we can't touch him. You should focus on your studies and not worry about these things."

"But I'm not at ease."

What are you worried about?

"What if Bai Lutong becomes my adoptive father? I don't like him."

Su felt contempt. An Chi probably only liked her. She wondered how he had developed such a personality after living abroad for so many years. Everything was arranged, but if he made a move against Bai Lutong, she would inevitably be dragged into it. She really didn't want to get involved in any more conflicts of interest with Bai Lutong. When two tigers fight, one of them will surely be injured.

"No, he will not be my marriage partner, not in the past, and not in the future." Su Yao could keep this promise, after all, that was indeed her plan. People like Bai Lutong were easier to get along with if they just went through the motions.

"Okay, then Su, you must not forget what you promised me today." He looked at her like a tiger, eyeing its prey with predatory intent.

After breakfast, Ge came in to pick up Su Yao. Su Yao sat in the car and said, "Have Tang Pai investigate what happened to An Chi in the United States over the past four years, the more detailed the better."

She needed to understand him, whether he was a friend or foe. Su needed to understand the principle of knowing yourself and your enemy, and that you will never be defeated.

Su Yao was a little annoyed when Ge Jin came in and said that Bai Lutong had come to see her. She had only been sitting in the company for a few minutes.

It's often said that three women make a drama, but if she's surrounded by three men, then it's probably more than just a drama.

No sooner said than done, just as she was telling Ge Jin to send Bai Lutong away, An Chi and Bai Lutong stepped through the door one after the other, and with Ge Jin beside them, there were three men in total.

Indeed, people shouldn't think about these unfortunate things; they always come true.

"Su Yao, don't forget what you promised me. I'll be waiting for you at home tonight." The ambiguous tone of the words made Bai Lutong frown.

Ge Jin gestured for them to leave. "Please, both of you, go out first. Mr. Bai, our CEO Su is too busy to entertain you today. Mr. An, I haven't informed CEO Su that you're coming in yet."

Bai Lutong casually poured himself a glass of water and sat on the sofa. "Didn't Xiao Yao promise me last week that she would have dinner with me this week?"

Su glanced at the three men, each with their own version of events, and she felt a headache coming on. She declined their requests one by one, saying, "I didn't say I'd come to your place tonight. Ge Jin, you should go and do your own thing. This week isn't over yet, and you don't need President Bai to grace us with his presence every day."

Ge Jin was more obedient; as a subordinate, he dared not disobey his boss. But the other two were more difficult to deal with. Su scolded angrily, "If you two want to fight, get lost. I don't have time to play with you."

She was indeed extremely busy.

However, both of them were extremely patient. Bai Lutong was a bit busy, so he stayed in Su Yao's office with his office computer, not to mention An Chi, who wasn't busy at all.

When it was time to eat, the two were about to have another big fight.

Su wanted to avoid the noise and decided to eat with Tang Pai, and also listened to An Chi's experiences abroad over the past four years.

Tang Pai said that An Chi's stay abroad was not unusual, except that he made many friends and learned to trade stocks four years ago, and his stock trading was going well.

Su Yao didn't quite believe that a person's entire state could be completely changed simply because of changes in social interactions. Ever since An Chi rejected her last night, he had been acting strangely.

Four years ago, An Chi would have wanted to make love to her immediately, but he didn't do so yesterday.

If a person's behavior can be faked, but their body can't, then the fact that they had to endure it even though they were pressing against her yesterday is not their true nature. These are the kinds of problems she only noticed today after she realized that An Chi was acting strangely.

If Su wanted to understand where her doubts came from, it seemed she still needed to meet An Chi.

In the afternoon, the two came again. Ge Jin stopped Bai Lutong and let An Chi in, which was Su Yao's idea.

"An Chi, what exactly happened to you in these four years?" Su asked.

An Chi was gentle and humble, with a slight upturn at the corners of his lips. "Be with me, and I'll tell you, how about it?"

"Then you can go, I won't see you off." That's a quick change of heart.

"Then I have to offer something in return, right, Mr. Su? Aren't you the one who needs me right now?" Seeing that he wasn't getting anywhere, An Chi started to bargain.

"What do you want?" Su Yao wasn't one to be difficult to talk to.

An Chi took out a contract that he had prepared beforehand and placed it in front of Su Yao, saying, "Sign it."

Su looked through the contract and found that there was only one thing: An Chi could not be forced to leave.

His demands were far too easy for Su Yao; she couldn't understand them. "This contract..."

“There’s no trickery involved. I won’t harm you, Su Yao. My request is that simple.” An Chi opened the pen cap, inserted the pen, and handed it to her.

Su couldn't understand because she didn't take the contract she signed four years ago to get An Chi to go abroad to her heart. Only An Chi remembered it, and only he was afraid of it.

Sue was about to sign her name when she said, "Now you can speak."

“Nothing has happened in these four years, you’ve investigated, haven’t you?... If anything has happened, it’s that I hope I can become powerful enough for you to use.” His tone was sincere, not a coercive “to be together,” but rather “to be used by Su.”

An Chi knew very well that one of the reasons he was abandoned four years ago was because he was useless.

He pushed himself to grow over four years. Even though Su had to arrange everything in detail, he kept looking for ways to break through: choosing to make a living in the business world was the fastest way he could think of, because Su only needed people like that.

Su Yao didn't know what she was thinking, so she told An Chi to take the contract and leave.

Standing by the window, she noticed that her floor was the only one in the entire building without floor-to-ceiling windows. She felt she shouldn't have installed them. She didn't have the same arrogance she had in her youth, always weighing the pros and cons. She didn't have the same ambition as Su Qingye, always confining herself to her own little world. All she had was a sliver of kindness in her heart, hoping to make the window cleaner feel more at ease.

She can control herself in the whole building, but not others. Perhaps those people will blame her for causing trouble.