Si Mingyu suddenly tightened his grip, and Fu Jingran couldn't help but cry out in pain, "Damn it! Si Mingyu, are you crazy?"

Fu Jingran grabbed his arm from Si Mingyu's hand, stepped aside, and distanced himself from Si Mingyu, frowning as he looked at him.

Si Mingyu, his face cold, strode forward, grabbed Fu Jingran by the collar, and pulled him forcefully in front of him. His eyes were filled with malice as he said, word by word, "Fu Jingran, remember this! If you dare do anything to Shen Zhi Qiu, I will never let you get away with it!"

Fu Jingran was stunned for a moment. In his memory, Si Mingyu had always been gentle and composed, seemingly unfazed by anything, even if something huge happened.

However, whenever Shen Zhi Qiu is involved, Si Ming Yu's emotions visibly fluctuate.

"I'm absolutely speechless!"

Fu Jingran forcefully ripped Si Mingyu's hands away, took a step back, spat a mouthful of bloody saliva on the ground, and jumped up and down in anger, cursing, "Damn it! You made me vomit blood!"

"I must have forgotten to check the almanac before I left home today, running into you bunch of jinxes. What, you think I didn't get a good beating earlier, and you want to lash out and beat me up like Gu Qingyan did last time?"

"It's not impossible," Si Mingyu said coldly, glancing at him.

"Hahaha," Fu Jingran reached out and steadied himself against the wall, then suddenly burst into laughter, "Damn it, everyone's starting to act all sentimental! What? Is it really like those books say, that wealthy and powerful families only produce romantics? Pshaw!"

"What do you want to say?" Si Mingyu's brows furrowed into a deep frown, and his hands, hanging by his sides, clenched into fists.

"Hahahaha, I admire people like you. You've only read a few books and you act like you're all human, but you're actually disgusting! More disgusting than me! Bah!"

Fu Jingran laughed sarcastically, "Gu Qingyan and you, you're disgusting to the core!"

Gu Qingyan keeps saying he loves Shen Zhi Qiu, saying he fell in love with her at first sight. Yes, I even saw him secretly taking pictures of Shen Zhi Qiu at the banquet, and I saw him hiding in his studio repeatedly sketching her appearance. What's the point? Tell me, what's the point?

What a scumbag's trick! Making himself out to be so devoted, so in love, so romantic! Pah!

Gu Qingyan has the nerve to call me a scumbag. At least I'm a scumbag on the surface. I clearly tell the women around me that I don't date. If you want to be with me, come on over; if you don't, then forget it!

Don't ask me for a title or status. I don't do any of this fake lovey-dovey stuff with girls. I just spend money!

Gu Qingyan, on the other hand, has been entangled with Xiao Wanqing for years under the guise of brother and sister. And even after marriage, he's still like this. He knows I'm about to marry Xiao Wanqing, the wedding date is already set, and he's still acting like this. I'd rather not go through with this marriage! Bah! Bah! Bah!

Fu Jingran, who had been holding back his anger, vented it all at once.

Seeing Si Mingyu remain silent, he sneered and continued cursing, "Tell me yourself, Shen Zhi Qiu knew you before Gu Qing Yan, right? Back in college, you even invited her to celebrate your birthday with you. Everyone there could see that she liked you. She kept circling around you and calling you 'Brother Ming Yu,' and the love in her eyes was impossible to hide!"

Hearing Fu Jingran recount the past, Si Mingyu's taut shoulders relaxed, and he let go of her hand with a sense of helplessness.

"But what happened next? When everyone thought you two would be together, what did you do? You cowered like a coward..."

"Enough!" Si Mingyu said in a low voice, looking at him with a serious expression. "Stop talking."

"Ha, fine, I won't say. Gu Qingyan is a fool, but I'm not! Others may not know what happened back then, but I know it all very clearly."

With that, Fu Jingran straightened his collar, dusted himself off, snorted coldly, and walked away with a disdainful look.

Si Mingyu remained silent. Fu Jingran's words, though rough, were reasonable and true. These words felt like a sharp knife stabbing into Si Mingyu's heart, causing him unbearable pain and making him unable to refute or face his own conscience.

Si Mingyu seemed to have been completely drained; he stood there blankly, looking utterly dejected.

After a long while, Si Mingyu finally came to his senses amidst repeated calls of "cousin".

"Huh? Tian Tian, ​​what's wrong?" Si Mingyu looked at his little cousin, who had a worried expression, in a daze and asked subconsciously.

"Cousin, I should be the one asking you what happened! I've been looking for you everywhere! I even had to ask the waitress and describe what you looked like. She said she thought she saw you go upstairs from here, and that's how I found you!"

Tian Tian tugged at the strap of her crossbody bag, looking a little unhappy, and complained, "Last time you left me alone in the mall for so long, and now it's the same thing. It feels like someone has bewitched you..."

"I'm sorry." Si Mingyu snapped out of his reverie and apologized softly, though his mind was still in turmoil. "It's my fault. Would you like some dessert? I heard the desserts here are quite good, shall we order some?"

"I've finished eating, cousin." Tian Tian pouted, feeling wronged, and hooked her arm around Si Mingyu's. "If you do this again, I'm going to tell Auntie!"

"I'm sorry, it was my fault. Don't be angry, it won't happen again." Si Mingyu lowered his head slightly, looking at her sincerely as he apologized.

Seeing that Si Mingyu had already lowered his head to coax her, Tian Tian stopped arguing, but still asked with some doubt, "Cousin, what exactly did you go to do?"

"Mingyu, you haven't left yet?"

Before Si Mingyu could answer, footsteps suddenly sounded on the stairs, and Shen Zhi Qiu appeared at the top of the stairs. She was somewhat surprised to see Si Mingyu still there.

She glanced down but didn't see Fu Jingran.

Si Mingyu said in a low voice, "He's already gone."

"Who left, brother?" Tian Tian tugged at Si Mingyu's sleeve and asked curiously.

"It's nothing." Si Mingyu gently shook his head, indicating that she shouldn't ask anymore.

"Zhiqiu, this is my cousin, Tiantian."

"Hello." Shen Zhi Qiu greeted the pure and lovely girl in front of her with a smile.

"Hello, Sister Zhi Qiu." Tian Tian's gaze fell on Shen Zhi Qiu's belly, and she greeted her with a faint smile.

"Mingyu, we'll be going now. I'm a little tired and want to go back and rest."

With Lu Jia's help, Shen Zhi Qiu slowly walked down.

"Okay, take good care of yourself," Si Mingyu said gently, looking at her.

As Rong Mo passed by Si Mingyu, he nodded slightly in greeting.

Seeing Shen Zhi Qiu naturally take Lu Jia's arm, Si Ming Yu's face instantly darkened.

"Brother, is that the girl you've always liked?"

Tian Tian watched as Shen Zhi Qiu had already gone far away, while Si Ming Yu remained standing there like a stone, and couldn't help but ask.