Chen Ke nudged him with his elbow, "Let's put that aside for now. I'm asking you, did you use any underhanded methods on Miss Xu? Otherwise, how could you have married her?"

Li Guaizi immediately raised his hand and swore, "I was able to marry Manling with my true heart, I didn't use any tricks!"

"It was his life that was saved. He was so cool saving the damsel in distress, wasn't he, Uncle Li?" Zhou Shuya suddenly appeared out of nowhere and teased her before fleeing quickly.

"Hey, you little brat, you're lying!" Marrying Xu Manling was the happiest thing in Li Guaizi's life, but he hated hearing people mention that he almost lost his life saving Xu Manling.

Because he always felt that Xu Manling married him to repay his life-saving grace.

Chen Ke looked at him in surprise. "I never would have guessed you'd be so desperate for love! No, I never noticed you were so deeply in love with Miss Xu when I was around."

Li Guai Zi chuckled, "Well, I thought you two would become a couple... but then I asked Manling and she said she had no feelings for you at all, so I started to show it..."

Chen Ke: ·······

It seems that his presence unwittingly blocked other people's paths to love.

"But I haven't asked you yet? You don't have any feelings for Manling either, do you?"

Seeing Li Guaizi's nervous expression, Chen Ke firmly shook his head, "No."

"Phew, that's good, otherwise I would have felt guilty."

"What guilt?" Xu Manling finally couldn't help but come over when she saw that the two of them hadn't come over yet.

"Oh, it's nothing, you misheard." Li Guaizi's flustered appearance clearly showed that he was trying to cover something up.

However, Xu Manling didn't expose him. She looked at Chen Ke and smiled, "Boss Chen, it's been a long time."

Hearing the familiar address again, Chen Ke couldn't help but smile, "Long time no see, Miss Xu."

"Tsk tsk tsk, it has been quite a long time, twenty years. We are all no longer young, but Boss Chen looks exactly the same as before. It's really enviable."

"Hehe, after all these years, Miss Xu's straightforward personality hasn't changed at all."

"Oh, not at all, everything has changed. I just suddenly saw Mr. Chen appear again." Xu Manling finished speaking, looked Chen Ke up and down, took a deep breath, and extended her hand, saying, "Mr. Chen, welcome home."

Chen Ke shook hands with her back, saying, "It's a pleasure to see Miss Xu again."

The two had barely shaken hands when Li Guaizi separated them, saying, "Alright, alright, let's go over and chat with Aunt Song and the others."

Xu Manling smiled helplessly at Chen Ke and obediently left.

Chen Ke looked at Li Guaizi's cautious manner and chuckled to himself, thinking that he was truly a fool with good fortune.

That night, the Zhou family's house was almost brightly lit. Everyone sat together and had endless things to talk about. However, it seemed that everyone had agreed not to ask Chen Ke why he suddenly disappeared for twenty years, why he hadn't changed at all in those twenty years, or why he suddenly reappeared.

Even Song Xiaowen, who had been asking questions non-stop at the beginning, didn't ask a single question again.

It wasn't until the eastern sky gradually turned a pale white that everyone reluctantly got up and went back to their rooms to sleep. Li Guaizi and Xu Manling practically stepped out of the courtyard on the morning dew.

Chen Ke stood at the door to see the two off. Even after Li Guaizi got into the car, he still stuck his head out and said, "By the way, boss, I have a name now. Manling gave it to me. It's called Li Jinchun. Does it sound nice?"

Manling, Jinchun?

Chen Ke nodded. "It sounds nice."

"Hehe, you can call me Jinchun from now on."

"Can."

·······

After seeing the two off, Chen Ke returned to the living room. Song Xiaowen and Zhou Shanhuai had already fallen asleep. Zhou Shuya brought a cup of coffee upstairs and whispered to Chen Ke, "Big brother, you can sleep in second brother's room. He keeps it clean."

"Yes, I know."

Pushing open Chen Zhuo's door, it seemed that nothing had changed. Twenty years had passed, the curtains were still the same color, the stool in front of the bed was still in the same place, and even the quilt seemed to be the same one he used to sleep in.

Entering the room, Chen Ke had the unsettling feeling that the past twenty years had never existed; it was as if it were still New Year's Eve before he left, when he was forced to share a bed with Chen Zhuo...

After washing up and lying in bed, Chen Ke thought he wouldn't be able to sleep, but to his surprise, he fell asleep almost as soon as his head hit the pillow.

······

A few hours later, the morning sun had climbed to its highest point, and the slightly dazzling sunlight fell on the bed through the glass window. Chen Ke, who was still asleep, frowned uncomfortably. A tall figure immediately turned around and quietly drew the curtains. The heavy curtains darkened the bright room instantly. The tall figure stood for a long time before finally sitting down silently on the stool by the bed.

His gaze lingered inch by inch on Chen Ke's unchanging face, a mixture of restraint and greed, longing and resentment...