"Stop, stop, stop!"

Xu Lan abruptly interrupted him, her eyes flashing with unwavering resolve and a hint of coldness. "Brother Lin Yuan! My heart already belongs to someone else. The person I love is Li Tianyi, not you."

Lin Yuan's movements froze abruptly, the light in his eyes shifting from gentleness to astonishment, and then to disbelief: "What did you say? Li Tianyi? That bodyguard Li Tianyi?" He deliberately dragged out the words "bodyguard Li Tianyi," his words full of sarcasm towards Li Tianyi.

Xu Lan was fearless; her gaze was piercing, reaching deep into Lin Yuan's heart.

"It is him, without a doubt. Stop having any unrealistic fantasies. I will never have any feelings for you in this lifetime."

Her voice was calm and resolute, each word striking Lin Yuan's heart like a heavy hammer.

Lin Yuan's face instantly turned ashen, and anger and resentment flashed in his eyes.

He grabbed Xu Lan's wrist, his voice low and sinister.

Are you telling the truth?

Xu Lan glared at him fearlessly: "Of course it's true! You'd better give up!"

Lin Yuan's heart sank instantly. He let go of her hand and slumped down on the edge of the bed.

Just then, the cell phone rang.

Xu Lan glanced at the caller ID; it was her mother. Her relationship with her mother had never been close; in fact, it was somewhat distant.

She was adopted by Xu's mother when she was in junior high school. Although Xu's mother treated her well, there was always an unspeakable distance between them.

However, Xu Lan wasn't the type to deliberately neglect her mother, so she answered the phone.

"Hello, Mom."

Xu Lan's voice sounded tired, but she tried her best to remain calm.

On the other end of the phone came Xu's mother's rambling voice. As always, she controlled the pace of the call, talking about everything from household chores to the gossip of the neighbors, without any intention of stopping.

Xu Lan only occasionally hummed in agreement to indicate that she was listening.

Lin Yuan quietly slipped into the master bedroom and lay on the large bed, his eyes gleaming with a cunning light, concealing a little scheme that no one would know about.

A slight smile unconsciously curved the corners of his mouth; the earlier disappointment had already been cleverly hidden in a corner of his heart.

Standing on tiptoe, his gaze swept over Xu Lan like a hunter searching for the perfect target for his next prank.

"Hey, little sister Xu Lan, is Aunt Xu starting to chant her 'tightening spell' again?"

Lin Yuan deliberately lowered his voice, his tone slightly mocking, trying to create a relaxed atmosphere.

Xu Lan looked up and gave him a slightly reproachful glare: "Stop messing around, things are in a mess here."

Lin Yuan, however, put on an extremely innocent look, his smiling eyes still curving into crescent shapes.

Xu Lan glared at him irritably, and was about to tell him to leave when she heard her mother's voice on the other end of the phone.

"Lanlan, what's wrong? Are you feeling unwell?"

Xu Lan quickly replied, "It's nothing, Mom. I probably just slipped."

Only then did Xu's mother feel relieved and continue with her own topic, while Lin Yuan, as if he had found a fun toy, had a mischievous glint in his eyes.

He first quietly reached out and gently tickled Xu Lan's toes.

Xu Lan's feet were extremely ticklish, and she immediately giggled as they were tickled, letting out a couple of soft moans.

Xu's mother immediately sensed something was wrong on the other end of the phone: "Lanlan, what's wrong with you? Is someone with you?"

Xu Lan's face instantly turned bright red. She quickly covered the microphone with her hand, glared at Lin Yuan, and whispered scoldingly, "Stop messing around!"

Lin Yuan looked at her innocently, his smile widening: "I didn't do anything, you're the one who laughed."

Xu Lan was so angry that she gritted her teeth, but she could only continue to give perfunctory answers on the phone: "Mom, it's nothing, it was probably just a mosquito bite."

Xu's mother was still worried: "Lanlan, how about I come over to see you tomorrow?"

"No need, no need!"

Xu Lan quickly refused, afraid that her mother would really come. "Mom, I'm fine here, don't worry."

Lin Yuan couldn't help but laugh as he watched Xu Lan's flustered state.

Let's see how you handle this.

Xu Lan glared at him fiercely, but dared not shout at him again. She could only curse him inwardly for being such a troublemaker.

Xu's mother was still nagging on the other end of the phone, while Xu Lan could only deal with her mother while being wary of Lin Yuan's next prank.

"Haha, Xu Lan, your mom is so long-winded."

Lin Yuan deliberately leaned close to Xu Lan's ear and said in an exaggerated tone, "Do you want me to help you deal with this?"

Xu Lan glared at him and retorted in a low voice, "If you dare to mess around again, I'll have Li Tianyi deal with you!"

Upon hearing this, Lin Yuan immediately perked up and burst into laughter: "Oh ho, little sister Xu Lan! Alright, I'd like to see how Li Tianyi deals with me!"

Xu Lan was speechless with anger, and could only silently pray that her mother would end the call soon.

Meanwhile, Lin Yuan continued to cause trouble, poking Xu Lan's waist from time to time, making her laugh, which made Xu's mother on the other end of the phone even more confused.

"Lanlan, what's wrong with you? Is Lin Yuan from the orphanage with you?"

Xu's mother's voice suddenly turned serious.

Xu Lan's face instantly turned red to her ears. She quickly shook her head, forgetting that her mother couldn't see.

"Mom, no, no, don't think nonsense!"

Lin Yuan, however, grinned mischievously and deliberately leaned close to Xu Lan's ear, saying in an exaggerated tone, "Lanlan, your mom is amazing! She actually guessed it was me!"

Xu Lan glared angrily.

That stinky Lin Yuan is infuriating!