Chapter 48

Li Ye returned home dejectedly and went straight to sleep. Things are different now than they used to be; he's older now, and a night of drinking and recklessness can no longer be made up for with just two hours of sleep.

When she woke up, it was already completely dark. She felt very thirsty, but without turning on the light, she went barefoot to the kitchen in the dark, got a glass of water, and drank it all in one gulp.

My spirit returned somewhat, but my heart was even more somber.

She picked up her phone and opened WeChat. As always, it was full of messages. Her slender fingers swiped across the screen, and the red dots moved up rapidly.

"I don't have her WeChat, what am I looking for here?" Li Ye had no interest in looking at it at all.

Suddenly, she seemed to catch Feng Jing's name, quickly swiped back, and clicked on it: "Li Lu, when are you free? I'll bring you the materials."

"I'll come to your company at seven o'clock tomorrow morning." After sending the message, I added, "My car will be parked in the underground garage. Even though it's not time for work yet, I'd appreciate it if you could bring it down, Mr. Feng. It wouldn't be good if other people saw it."

In fact, Li Ye did not want to run into Xu Wanyi. Her emotions had not yet calmed down, and she could still feel the soft touch of Xu Wanyi's smooth skin on her hands.

"Okay, thank you, Attorney Li. See you tomorrow."

"See you tomorrow."

Xu Wanyi stared at the few lines of text on the screen and remained silent for a long time.

"Chairman, is there anything else we should pay attention to?" Feng Jing asked quickly, thinking that Xu Wanyi was still considering whether the case report materials were sufficient.

“It’s nothing, but Attorney Li is right. This matter cannot be seen by others, especially those people.”

"Okay, I'll be careful." Feng Jing obviously knew he was referring to Zhang Gang's group.

At 8:00 a.m. the next morning, Li Ye arrived at the garage as promised. As soon as he parked, Feng Jing got out of the car next to him.

"Attorney Li, here is all the information. Thank you, Attorney Li!"

"You're welcome."

After exchanging pleasantries, Feng Jing prepared to leave. Li Ye's eyes flickered, his expression somewhat unnatural. "President Feng, did Chairman Xu say anything?"

Feng Jing was a little confused. She was unsure what Li Ye wanted to say. Was Lawyer Li waiting for the chairman to say something?

"The chairman was very busy yesterday and didn't give me more details. Should I ask him?"

"Uh, no need, I was just asking casually. It's better not to say anything."

"Understood, Lawyer Li. I'll be going now and wait for your news."

After Feng Jing left, Li Ye sat in the car, looking at the empty garage. "Sigh, this is what they call shooting yourself in the foot. If only I had known this would happen in the first place."

Thinking of this, Li Ye felt his whole body heat up. Although he had thought about what happened last night for a long time, if it weren't for last night, he would have been feeling empty all this time. There is no loss without gain, but now that he had gained and lost, the feeling of emptiness was like a thousand ants gnawing at his heart, which was extremely torturous.

While Xiang Nuo was still in Haixi, Li Ye stepped on the gas and drove up to Zhuang Ke's apartment. He parked the car on the side of the road, picked up the bag, and went inside.

Zhuang Ke's house is near the university town, which is not as bustling as the city center, but it has complete amenities and convenient transportation. In particular, the house price is less than half of that in the city center. Zhuang Ke was happy to be close to the school. He bought the house when it was still under construction. Last year, he took possession of the house, renovated it, and moved in. He completed the whole process in one go.

He just bought a house and already has a girlfriend; he's a true winner in life.

The security guard recognized Li Ye and didn't stop her when he saw her hurrying through the gate and then rushing onto the elevator.

We quickly reached the eleventh floor.

"Ding-dong, ding-dong." After a while, the door opened, and Li Ye saw Xiang Nuo with her long hair draped haphazardly over her shoulders, her eyes still sleepy, looking like she was half-awake.

"Attorney Li, you're really good at being a lackey. What benefits has Xu Wanyi given you?" Zhuang Ke's voice came from inside the house.

"How did you know it was me?" Li Ye asked, quite puzzled, after Xiang Nuo let him in.

"Who else could it be but you, ringing my doorbell so confidently at just eight in the morning? Tell me, who else could it be?"

Although Zhuang Ke's house wasn't as big as Li Ye's single-level apartment, the living room was still extremely spacious. So much so that she placed the sofa in the middle of the living room, and the sofa and the wall formed a corridor for easy movement.

She was lying on her back on the sofa, looking half-dead.

"You can't entirely blame me. If you did less exercise and went to bed earlier... As far as I know, eight o'clock is the normal time for humans to get up and be active. Right? Going to bed earlier means you'll be full of energy right now."

Xiang Nuo closed the door, walked past Li Ye, and glanced at her. "Attorney Li, you're just judging others by your own standards. Teacher Zhuang talked about life with her students until 2 a.m. last night, which is completely different from Attorney Li and Chairman Xu."

Xiang Nuo was implying something. That night, she saw these two book a room and drink alcohol. Could they have just done nothing? Judging from Li Ye and Xu Wanyi's appearances, neither of them seemed like pushovers.

Recalling the events of last night, Li Ye felt a flush on his face. After a pause, he said, "You didn't have breakfast, did you? Here, I bought you soy milk, fried dough sticks, glutinous rice cakes, sesame balls, and wontons."

Seeing that Li Ye was changing the subject, Xiang Nuo and Zhuang Ke's keen sense of smell, like a dog's nose, immediately kicked in.

"Hey, I'm telling you, you two haven't really made up, have you? You won't keep crying in my arms from now on, will you?" Zhuang Ke was leaning back on the sofa, but after hearing Li Ye's words, she immediately turned around, knelt on the sofa, supported herself on the back of the sofa with her hands, and looked at Li Ye with bright eyes. She no longer looked sleepy at all.

Li Ye touched his nose, looking like he wanted to say something but couldn't.

Zhuang Ke rarely saw Li Ye like this. "No way... the sky has fallen."

"No, don't overthink it. If we don't make up, things might even be worse." Li Ye, having nothing to lose, simply told the truth.

"I got her, but then I got dumped." Xiang Nuo had already put breakfast on the table and sat down comfortably to eat when she slowly uttered this sentence.

Zhuang Ke looked shocked.

"Li Ye, I really don't know whether to say you're good or bad. You still couldn't win over Xu Wanyi, and I was right. She gave you a little benefit, and you turned into a loyal and hardworking dog."

"But it's fine, I told you from the beginning that you're not from the same world. Don't think that just because you've become a big lawyer and made some money, you've risen to a higher social class. Think about her mother's methods and style back then. Like mother, like daughter. Just give up."

Li Ye listened without saying a word. She knew that Zhuang Ke was right, but she didn't know what the future held, so she could only take it one step at a time.

"Judge, these are the police report documents. Please take them to Officer Xiang in Yuzhou. I've already filled out the report and the form, and Leguang Group has stamped it." Li Ye handed the documents to Xiang Nuo.

"Okay, put it there. I promise I'll bring it to you without delaying your wife's business." Before Xiang Nuo could answer, Zhuang Ke spoke first, sitting down next to Xiang Nuo as she spoke. Xiang Nuo had already set out a full set of tableware for her.

Sigh, dog food is everywhere. Li Ye rolled his eyes inwardly.

"Attorney Li, have you had breakfast yet?" The two of them were already happily eating when Xiang Nuo reluctantly remembered to ask if the guest had eaten breakfast.

"I've already eaten, and if I haven't, I'm full now. I have things to do, so I won't keep you two from eating and spreading your love any longer. See you later."

"Don't sit for long, we're in the university town now. Let's go out for a walk later. We won't go to Ocean University, just look around and let you experience what youthful energy is all about." Zhuang Ke only started speaking seriously after hearing Li Ye say he was leaving.

"Let's do it another day, I really have something to do today. I'll come see you another time." She didn't want to be a third wheel.

More importantly, if there's one place Li Ye least wants to stay in right now, the first is Leguang Group, and the second is the University Town. Unfortunately, she'd already traversed both this morning, so she needs to go home and recharge.

"I'm going back to Yuzhou on Sunday. I'll give the things to my brother on Monday and contact you next Monday." Xiang Nuo confirmed with her before she left.

"Okay, thank you, Judge. You two can enjoy your time together this week. Goodbye."

Stepping out of Zhuang Ke's apartment, Li Ye realized it was getting dark. A cold wind blew, and withered leaves fell from the sycamore trees along the roadside, swirling in the air. Before he even reached his car, a fine, silky autumn rain began to fall, and Li Ye felt a chill.

It seems that winter will soon officially arrive in Haixi, and the biting damp cold will once again take over the city.

The rain intensified, and Li Ye jogged to the car. He took out his phone, "President Feng, the materials have been submitted. We should get a response by next Monday."

Leguang Group.

Xu Wanyi sat alone in her office, looking at the gloomy sky outside the window. Raindrops slowly dampened the French windows. She had just finished listening to Feng Jing's report on the handover of materials this morning, and a sense of unreality arose in her heart.

This incident had a significant impact on her; even though she had done some "self-reflection" that morning, she was still unconsciously thinking about it.

For the past ten years, she has buried herself in her work, determined to become the heir to the Xu family business. She has neither the time nor the interest to date anyone, and even jokingly says that she has become sexually frigid at a young age and has no desire for anyone.

But what exactly happened that night? Why couldn't she control herself the moment she saw this person? She thought she had calmed her mind and could no longer hold anyone else, including Li Ye.

But this feeling now... is more complex than mere affection. It's as if there are countless threads connecting the two of them, but each thread has been cursed by their own hands, making it impossible to connect anymore. It's truly a tangled mess that can't be untangled.

Just as I was lost in thought, the phone rang. It was Feng Jing.

"Chairman, the materials have been given to the judge, and he said he will receive a reply next Monday."

"Okay. Go and make preparations, check those people's schedules, and make sure everyone on the list is in the office for the entire week next week."

"Yes, Chairman."

After hanging up the phone, Xu Wanyi continued to look out the window at the already wet sky and the dim light. She thought of Li Ye's angular yet not stiff face, her long, slender fingers with distinct knuckles, her breath and her sweat.

Perhaps I really need to think about how I should get along with her after this matter is resolved. Should I reconcile with her? Or should I continue to have contact with her altogether?

Just like the question she hysterically asked Li Ye that night: "It took me ten years to finally find peace and live a simple, ordinary life. So, Xu Wanyi, do you still want to get caught up in these intense emotions?"

When you're young, you don't have these hesitations; you love when you want to love and hate when you want to hate. It's only when you reach a certain age that you realize passion isn't a necessity of life; sometimes, it can't even sustain two people to the next stage.

At this moment, Chairman Xu was truly in a state of utter confusion.