Jing Min returned to the master bedroom and had just put down his coat when his phone suddenly rang.

He frowned, thinking it was Yun Yang calling again, a hint of impatience flashing in his eyes.

I picked it up at random and saw Zhou Chen's name displayed on the screen.

He pressed the answer button, his tone calm and detached:

"What's up?"

On the other end of the phone, Zhou Chen's voice sounded hurried and tinged with sorrow:

"What you said about you and Yunyang... is it true or false?"

"There are rumors circulating that you two are together."

"What if it's true?"

Jing Min was taken aback, then frowned slightly, his tone revealing a hint of impatience:

"Zhou Chen, that's enough, don't get too into character."

"After deceiving yourself for so long, you actually started to believe it was real?"

"no!"

Zhou Chen choked for a moment.

After a brief pause, he resumed his complaining tone.

"Rong Fu broke up with me!"

"She said Yunyang had absolutely nothing to do with me, and even mocked me for not being useful enough,"

“They said Yunyang has a much stronger backer now and doesn’t need my ‘help’ at all.”

She said I was no longer useful to her!

His tone revealed a hint of frustration and resentment.

Finally, he became more and more agitated, and his voice grew increasingly dissatisfied:

"She keeps staring at Yun Yang, and all she talks about is Yun Yang!"

"Anyone who didn't know better would think she didn't have a grudge against Yun Yang, but rather that she had fallen in love with her!"

Jing Min listened quietly, his expression indifferent.

He leaned back in his chair, his gaze sweeping across the window.

One hand supporting his temple,

With his other hand, he held the phone a little further away.

Clearly, they had little interest in the content of the phone call.

Zhou Chen sighed, a hint of self-deprecation in his voice.

"In the end, it's all because Rong Fu hated Yun Yang to the core from the very beginning!"

"But Rong Fu doesn't like me anyway, what can I do?"

"I guess I can only try to make my presence felt by using Yunyang as a connection."

"I was thinking that if Rong Fu felt that Yun Yang was under my protection, she would have to be more cautious about dealing with her, and Rong Fu would naturally notice me."

"She had already set her sights on me, actively coming to my side and even gradually seeming to like me, which made me very happy."

"But she loved her brother so much before, and she came to my side after relentlessly pursuing Yun Yang to avenge him. I have no confidence that she could truly like me back."

"To test whether she really liked me, I tried flirting with other girls, but she didn't seem to care at all!"

"It's as if only Yun Yang can touch her emotions!"

"Then, I can only approach Yunyang again and again, trying to ignite Rongfu's jealousy,"

"I'm deceiving myself into thinking that as long as she gets angry, or even just jealous, it means she cares about me."

"In that instant, I felt that I was a little closer to her."

"But I forgot that this kind of testing is also a kind of overdraft of trust. Now it has come to this, and I have completely ruined myself."

His voice lowered even further, as if he were speaking to himself.

"That probing move was absolutely awful..."

Jing Min's eyes flickered slightly, catching the subtle implication in the words, but he didn't reveal it.

He simply spoke in a low, cold voice:

"So what's the point of you coming to me and saying all this?"

Zhou Chen seemed not to hear his cold response and continued rambling on:

"Rong Fu heard from somewhere that you and Yun Yang are together, and she believes it without a doubt!"

"She didn't believe a word I said and deleted all my contact information."

"Jingmin, she wouldn't really come looking for you, would she?"

Speaking of which,

Zhou Chen's tone suddenly changed, his voice carrying a hint of helplessness and an almost absurd threat:

"I'm warning you, if you dare to have anything with her, I'll never forgive you!"

Jing Min finally raised his head, his slightly narrowed eyes revealing deep impatience.

He reached up and gently rubbed his temples, letting out a soft sigh, his tone cold and resolute:

"Zhou Chen, are you done talking?"

"without--"

Zhou Chen was about to continue when Jing Min rudely interrupted him:

"I'm going to sleep. If you want to keep complaining, save it for someone else."

As soon as he finished speaking, Jing Min hung up the phone and tossed it onto the bedside table.

The room instantly fell silent, with only the sound of the night wind gently tapping against the glass outside the window.

He leaned against the headboard and closed his eyes.

But he found that his mind was still filled with Zhou Chen's messy complaints.

The voice murmured to itself,

"Is it really not okay to test them?"

——

Chu Wuyang rubbed his head, feeling like it was about to explode.

She tried to stand up, but her legs gave way and she fell back onto the cold ground.

The air was filled with a damp, musty smell, and the surroundings were dim, with light so weak that it was almost impossible to see anything.

She swallowed hard, leaning against the wall to steady herself, and called out in a weak, tentative voice:

Is anyone here?

A slight noise came from the dimly lit corner, as if something had moved.

Immediately afterwards, a weak yet familiar voice broke the silence, tinged with weariness.

"Don't waste your energy, there's no one else here."

Chu Wuyang froze instantly, her heart pounding like a drum.

His eyes were fixed on the direction from which the sound came.

She swallowed hard, her throat dry, and cautiously asked:

"Who... Yun Yang?"

In the darkness, that familiar voice came again, still so weak it seemed it might break at any moment:

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