Ever since he read the message from Bai Heng, Zhou Yanchen's mood seemed to be shrouded by dark clouds, weighing heavily on him, without a ray of sunlight getting in.

The content of the message was like a sharp thorn, piercing straight into his heart.

This made him fall into an indescribable depression.

Zhou Yanchen had only eaten half of his dinner and had no appetite to eat anything else.

Shen Jinnan noticed that his father was acting strange. Seeing Zhou Yanchen picking up food for his younger sister while he barely moved his chopsticks, he couldn't help but wonder:

"Dad, aren't you going to eat? You don't seem to have eaten much."

Zhou Yanchen felt warm at heart when he heard his son's concern, but when he thought of Shen Qingli being with Jiang Yubai at the moment, he began to feel irritated.

But how could he let the children realize that he was in a bad mood?

Then, he forced a smile and said, "Dad is not that hungry. You guys should eat more. You are still growing."

After dinner, in order to prevent the children from noticing his absent-mindedness, Zhou Yanchen watched some cartoons with them.

The two children played too much during the day and consumed too much energy. Not long after watching the cartoon, they began to feel sleepy and their eyelids were drooping.

Zhou Yanchen and Aunt Lan helped them wash and dress, and then let them sleep on the bed in the master bedroom.

Shen Jinxi lay on the bed, looking at Zhou Yanchen with sparkling eyes, and asked softly: "Dad, will you always be here with me?"

Zhou Yanchen nodded, reached out and gently touched his daughter's head, "Of course, Dabao and Xiaobao, don't be afraid, Daddy will always be here with you. If a monster comes, Daddy will drive it away for you."

Hearing his father's words, Shen Jinxi smiled peacefully, "Okay, with daddy here, Xiaobao won't be afraid."

"When mom comes back later, remember to wake me up. I'll let mom sleep here with me."

Zhou Yanchen looked at his daughter's cute appearance, and said with a mixed feeling, "Okay, Daddy's good daughter, go to sleep quickly, good night."

The two children said in unison: "Good night, Dad!"

After coaxing the two children to sleep, Zhou Yanchen looked at his watch and it was already past half past nine.

Shen Qingli hadn't come back yet, which made him even angrier. She hadn't even sent him a message.

Did you forget about your child when you were with Jiang Yubai?

He wished he could drive out to find Shen Qingli right now.

At this moment, all kinds of speculations emerged involuntarily in his mind. Is she dating Jiang Yubai?

Watch a movie or go shopping together?

Also……

Thinking of this, Zhou Yanchen felt like there was a fire burning in his heart, and he was extremely irritated.

He couldn't help but complain in his heart that she had never spent so much time with him before.

Jiang Yubai, why do you always haunt me?

Zhou Yanchen really couldn't stand this torment, so he stood up and walked to the balcony outside his bedroom, lit a cigarette, and tried to calm himself down in the lingering smoke.

At this time, Shen Qingli followed Jiang Yubai to Professor Qi's house after dinner.

As their former mentor, Professor Qi has a very high reputation in the field of medicine.

He excitedly told them that he had made new discoveries in cancer research.

Jiang Yubai and Shen Qingli were once his most proud students, so he couldn't wait to share and discuss with them.

For Shen Qingli, this research was like a ray of light in the darkness, full of temptation.

She has also been privately collecting various data on cancer treatment recently and has formed some of her own opinions and insights.

When they gathered together to discuss, sparks of thought collided violently, and everyone was immersed in the world of academics, temporarily forgetting the passage of time.

When they finally finished the discussion, Shen Qingli remembered to check his mobile phone and realized that it was almost ten o'clock.

She suddenly realized that Dabao and Xiaobao were still at the old house, and she had to quickly pick them up and take them home.

Shen Qingli and Jiang Yubai left Professor Qi's house.

When they reached the roadside, Shen Qingli said, "Brother, it's getting late. I'll leave first."

Jiang Yubai looked around, frowned and said, "Hey, Xiaoli, I'll take you home. It's not easy to get a taxi around Professor Qi's house."

Shen Qingli looked around and found that it was indeed not easy to get a taxi, just as Jiang Yubai said. "Brother, I'll take your car to the taxi stand outside and you can drop me off."

After saying that, she was about to walk towards Jiang Yubai's car.

At this time, Jiang Yubai suddenly shouted: "Xiao Li, can you please stop being so polite to me? Can our relationship really never go back to the way it was before?"

When Shen Qingli heard this, he paused, with a complex emotion in his heart.

After a few seconds, she slowly turned around and looked at Jiang Yubai, with the corners of her lips raised in a perfect arc, and her smile was a little distant but polite.

"Brother, aren't we both the same people we used to be? In my heart, you will always be my most beloved brother, and this will never change no matter how long it takes."

Shen Qingli's words were like a gentle knife, quietly cutting off any possibility that might have existed between them.

A trace of pain flashed across Jiang Yubai's eyes. He opened his mouth, as if he wanted to say something: "Xiao Li, actually I..."

However, when he was about to say the last few words, Shen Qingli interrupted him: "Brother, let's go, I'm in a hurry."

Although her tone was still calm, it contained an unquestionable firmness.

Jiang Yubai glanced at her and finally said nothing, "Let's go!"

In the car, Shen Qingli took out her cell phone and sent a message to Zhou Yanchen, telling him that she was going to pick up the child.

The message was sent for one minute, two minutes... or even minutes without any reply from the other party.

Zhou Yanchen had been sitting on the sofa in the bedroom watching over the two children. He had already seen the message from Shen Qingli when she came over.

But he didn't want to go back.

It’s already so late that I just remembered to send him a message.

Shen Qingli wondered if they were still playing and didn't see the message.

I thought it was over, so I didn't ask any more questions.

Jiang Yubai saw that she was busy, "Xiao Li, what are you going to do?"

Shen Qingli thought for a moment and said, "I'm going to Zhou Yanchen's place to pick up the two children."

Hearing this, Jiang Yubai's grip on the steering wheel gradually tightened.

He exhaled lightly, "Where does he live? I'll take you there."

Seeing that it was getting late, Shen Qingli stopped wasting time and told Jiang Yubai the location of the Zhou family's old house.

Zhou Yanchen had been holding the phone, and the phone interface was still on Shen Qingli's chat box.

"Are you going to send a message? If I don't reply, you won't send any more messages?" Zhou Yanchen muttered to himself emotionally.

He looked up at the two children on the bed, and seeing that they were sleeping soundly, he went downstairs to drink some water.

He took a bottle of water and came to the yard. Before he opened the bottle cap, he saw car lights shining towards the door, so he quickly walked towards it.