Upon hearing this, Qi Yanxu merely opened his lips; he did not speak and continued hanging up the bedding on the floor.

The wind was strong on the balcony; it was already winter. Even a casual exhale seemed to freeze into white ice. Su Wenwen smoothed her wind-blown hair, momentarily at a loss at his indifference.

"Hey, Qi Yanxu! Don't play dumb with me! I want you to leave here." She was a little angry and stomped her foot.

Qi Yanxu remained silent, ignoring her. Seeing his indifference, Su Wenwen subconsciously bit her lip. "If you stay here, I won't cook for you."

"It's fine. If you don't give it to me, I'll just starve to death here. It's not a problem, and I'm not leaving." Qi Yanxu put down what he was doing and turned to leave. But Su Wenwen wasn't about to let him off so easily; she rushed forward and blocked his way.

"You have to leave," she said coldly.

"Shall we let Gu Yiming in? Su Wenwen, don't think I don't know what kind of deal you made with him. You're harming Huahua, not helping her." Qi Yanxu's eyes turned cold, clearly growing impatient with her relentless pursuit.

Su Wenwen was taken aback. She had been careless and had overlooked his vigilance. "I didn't harm Huahua. You know that even if you were here, Huahua wouldn't like you. As for Gu Yiming, whether she goes with him or not is not my business. But as long as Jiang Hua doesn't want to, even if Gu Yiming puts a knife to my throat, I won't let him take Huahua away."

“I might be more effective here. Move aside.” He raised an eyebrow, patted the person in front of him on the shoulder, then pushed her aside and walked straight out onto the balcony.

Ah, this man…

Su Wenwen helplessly tilted her head back and jumped up and down a few times in a fit of anger to vent her frustration.

...

Inside the room, Su Wenwen took out her phone and hesitated for a few moments. She opened WeChat; it showed Gu Yiming's profile. The page was clean, with no chat messages.

"I'm sorry, I can't help you." She thought for a long time before typing these words. After sending the message successfully, she also uploaded an audio file to him.

That was a recording of her conversation with Qi Yanxu. She knew she might not be able to keep her promise to Gu Yiming, so she secretly recorded the conversation.

After she had sent all the information she needed to report, she sat on the edge of the bed waiting for his reply.

But a few minutes later, apart from her message, no other messages came in. The only notifications were from the same few people in the work group, chatting and daydreaming about buying luxury goods.

Su Wenwen sat on the edge of the bed, but Gu Yiming didn't reply. After a long time, she gave up looking for his reply.

Whether Gu Yiming replies or not is none of her business; she would be flattered if he suddenly replied.

...

Gu Yiming received the message after the meeting. He assumed Su Wenwen would succeed, and when he saw the message, he didn't show any surprise. He wasn't surprised by Su Wenwen's failure; on the contrary, he had expected it.

However, what truly darkened his expression was Qi Yanxu's relentless pestering. It must be said, his kung fu was truly impressive.

"President, Mr. Wang would like to meet with you this afternoon to discuss the cooperation plan further." The secretary held documents in her hand, her posture composed, demonstrating excellent manners. No wonder she was Gu Yiming's personal secretary.

The contract with President Wang is very important. If we can secure it, Gu Yiming's value will double.

But right now, he was only focused on Jiang Hua and had no time for anything else. "I'll postpone the arrangements and appease President Wang. I might not be able to come back this afternoon."

The secretary was somewhat surprised by his decision. In her view, Gu Yiming had always been a work-oriented person. That's why she was willing to continue working by his side. Since that's the case, it must be something very important.

Gu Yiming went to Qi's company after leaving the company.

"Uncle Qi, how have you been lately?" Gu Yiming greeted the middle-aged man sitting there as soon as he entered the door.

"Yiming's here. Sit down, please sit down. You didn't even let me know you were coming. Please forgive my poor hospitality." The middle-aged man was clearly surprised by his arrival.

"Uncle Qi, I hope you can do me a favor. Your son, Qi Yanxu, is currently staying with my wife. My wife and I have been having some disagreements lately." Gu Yiming thought for a moment and then spoke up, regardless of whether it was awkward or not.

The middle-aged man's face visibly stiffened. "Yanxu told me he was at a friend's house."

"Pfft. He's always been so fond of teasing people." Gu Yiming smiled, a slight smirk playing on his lips.

The middle-aged man agreed to his request, and he would have done so even if he hadn't. Qi Yanxu could like anyone, but he absolutely could not like Gu Yiming's woman. He would never allow it.

After Gu Yiming left, he took out his phone and dialed Qi Yanxu's number, "Yanxu, are you with Jiang Hua?"

Qi Yanxu was clearly surprised that his father knew his whereabouts, but he quickly came to terms with it; it must have been Gu Yiming who tipped him off. This man… he clenched his fingers inwardly.

"Yanxu, get out of there right now." The middle-aged man hadn't received a reply for a long time, and he was starting to get the hint.

“Dad, I’m pursuing a daughter-in-law. Haven’t you always wanted a grandson?” Qi Yanxu retorted, not to be outdone.

“But that’s Gu Yiming’s woman! I can’t say anything about who you’re with, but not that woman.” The middle-aged man hesitated; he had indeed wanted a grandson for a long time. But when he thought of Gu Yiming, he hardened his heart.

Qi Yanxu was getting angry, and his voice rose a lot, "Why not? Do you think drawing is bad, or is it that the other person is Gu Yiming, and you can't please him unless you do this!"

"You... I'm doing this for your own good!" The middle-aged man was taken aback by Qi Yanxu's harsh words, and felt a tingling pain in his heart.

"I'm not going back anyway."

“You have to come back… Ah… Ha…” A muffled groan came from the other end of the phone, followed by heavy breathing.

"Father, what's wrong?" Qi Yanxu's heart was filled with alarm, and his blood was boiling.

"Come back, Yanxu, I'm begging you..." Then came the sound of a phone falling to the ground. Qi Yanxu knew he couldn't stay there any longer, so he went to Jiang Hua's door before leaving.

"Painting, my father seems to be sick..." Qi Yanxu wanted to knock on her door, but he hesitated and didn't actually knock.

"So now I have to go see my father first. You know, he's an artist. I'll miss you."

"Since you're sick, you should leave now." A cold voice suddenly came from inside the room.

His coldness caused a pang in his heart, and loneliness welled up in his eyes. "I know you don't like me. Although it makes me sad and makes me jealous of Gu Yiming, I still want to say that although I took the initiative and clung to you here, I was really happy."

After a long silence, Jiang Hua did not respond. He sighed and said, "I'm leaving. Goodbye."