relief

"I don't want to see it!" The thug tried to grab the phone while propping himself up, but his right leg, which was raised high, greatly restricted his movements. The man hesitated for a moment, then took the phone while meeting Gu Nan's gaze.

From beginning to end, the video was filled with vulgar language and exaggerated movements; the man pursed his lips and his profile was very tense.

Gu Nan tapped the bed frame with her finger bones, the movements slow and the sound crisp, giving him ample time to react.

From the moment he entered the room, the anger and shock on the man's face, and then the grievance and resentment he felt while talking to Kang Shengtai, all turned into guilt. He stood by the foot of the bed, his head down, his gaze fixed on his toes, his lips moving as he awkwardly tried to organize his words of apology.

His blood rushed to his head with shame, his cheeks flushed, and his voice was low and somber, a far cry from the righteous words he had spoken when he first entered.

"I'm sorry, I..." He raised his hand to push up his glasses, only to realize that Gu Nan had just smashed them. He was at a loss for what to do with his hands.

He looked rather disheveled.

She explained softly, “My parents passed away early, and I’m busy with work. My parents usually take care of me. I’m really sorry for causing you and your friends trouble. Don’t worry, I will definitely discipline them properly when I get back.”

"Brother?" The thug tried to stand up by bracing his elbows on the hospital bed, but was forced to give up because he had nowhere to put his weight on. His eyes were wide open and his mouth was agape for a long time.

"What did you say? I'm your own brother! She hit me, and instead of standing up for me, you apologize to her? Even if I went too far, I didn't actually hit her. Since your lousy job is so important, why did you come back? To help outsiders bully me?"

"Xiao Wu, that's enough." The man gritted his teeth, his face darkening. "Apologize to Miss Gu."

The thug stared at the man for a full half minute as if he were a stranger, then laughed in anger.

Just as he was about to speak, his attention was drawn to a loud laugh outside the door.

The room door was pushed open, and the bodyguards immediately became respectful. The sound of footsteps approached from afar, and their mockery was clearly audible.

"Look, has anyone ever seen such a cowardly older brother?" Wan Sizong said with a smile, but when his eyes fell on Gu Nan, he couldn't suppress his fierce look. He didn't linger for long, but quickly swept his gaze around, speaking in a sarcastic tone as if he was enjoying the show.

“My younger brother was beaten and hospitalized. The assailant swaggered into the ward and slapped him more than a dozen times. Instead of standing up for his brother, the older brother forced his brother to apologize to the assailant.”

Behind him stood an extremely thin young man, wearing a trench coat. He was more than half a head taller than Wan Sizong. The black trench coat wrapped around his body, making him look like a withered hemp stalk in the ground. When the autumn wind swept by, it unintentionally left a black garbage bag from the trash can on him.

The skinny man chuckled obsequiously, "Even an enemy wouldn't do something like this, let alone a brother."

Wan Sizong clapped his hands exaggeratedly, a sneer on his lips: "Brilliant, truly brilliant. It seems that not only Kang Shengtai is Lu Yushi's lackey, but even his most capable assistant is bullied by Lu Yushi's girlfriend. His younger brother was beaten so badly by her that he couldn't get up, yet he still bows and scrapes to her."

The man's expression changed slightly: "My family matters are none of your concern, Mr. Wan."

“No need to worry. He’s Xiao Liu’s childhood friend, which means he’s also my friend, Wan Sizong. If a friend is bullied, I’ll naturally go to great lengths to stand up for him.” Wan Sizong said meaningfully.

"My child..."

"Thank you, Young Master Wan." The thug interrupted the man before he could finish speaking, staring at Wan Sizong with adoration, as if he had seen a savior.

The man hissed, "Xiao Wu!"

"You're afraid to offend anyone because of your lousy job. Young Master Wan is kind enough to help me, so why shouldn't I allow it?"

"I'm doing this for your own good."

"Trying to help me means forcing me to apologize to the murderer when I'm crippled!" the thug said impassionedly, gritting his teeth as he spoke. "Thanks, bro, but I don't need you to do that for me."

Wan Sizong glanced at the two brothers and then smoothed things over: "Xiao Wu just joked with that woman a few times. That woman is practically dead. Xiao Wu is only 20 years old. How blind must he be to fall for her?"

He paused for a moment, then subtly added fuel to the fire: "It seems this older brother's understanding of his younger brother is nothing special."

"you!"

After Wan Sizong finished speaking, he turned to face Gu Nan, as if only then noticing a living person standing there. He covered his mouth, feigning surprise, and said, "Oh, isn't this Miss Gu? What's wrong? You're not with Young Master Lu?"

Gu Nan met his gaze without flinching or avoiding it, and scoffed lightly, "Young Master Wan's face... healed pretty quickly."

Hatred tore open the face of the seemingly composed person. Wan Sizong stared at her for a moment with cold eyes, then suddenly smiled, took half a step closer, and spoke in a deliberately lowered voice that was still clear enough.

"Lu Yushi must have lost a lot of money on those mining machines."

Gu Nan's expression froze slightly, but she spoke calmly, "Young Master Wan is very concerned about Lu Yushi?"

“Of course,” Wan Sizong chuckled, “After all, it has been seven years since he last stumbled. I regret that I was unable to help him seven years ago.” His smile gradually widened. “Speaking of which, I should thank Miss Gu. If it weren’t for Miss Gu, I wouldn’t have been able to think of a way to break the ice with Young Master Lu.”

Gu Nan's heart suddenly sank.

Xingzilou and Lu Yushi collaborated, and she only told Shen Ming about it. Now that Wan Sizong has revealed it, only Shen Ming can inform him.

However, the contents of the machine case were placed there by Shen Ming's people. She only released the news of the mining machines entering customs in advance, so what evidence could she possibly have?

"You framed me?" The tone was flat.

Wan Sizong slowly walked around behind her: "Whether it's a frame-up or not depends on what Lu Yushi thinks."

"What are you thinking about?" someone asked as they entered through the door.

Everyone looked up in unison, their expressions changing simultaneously. Only the man guarding the thug's bedside immediately shifted his gaze to Gu Nan, his expression strange.

The "staring" continued for so long that the sound of the door closing finally pulled everyone back from their thoughts.

Lu Yushi, impeccably dressed in a suit, calmly swept his gaze over everyone before finally settling on Gu Nan, his brow furrowing slightly.

Gu Nan swallowed hard, her heart clenching.

"Young Master Lu." Wan Sizong's smile became even more cheerful as he stepped forward to greet him.

Lu Yushi didn't glance at her in the slightest. He brushed past Wan Sizong, stopped in front of Gu Nan, and bent down to take her hand.

"Are you injured?"

Wan Sizong narrowed his eyes, his expression suddenly changing drastically.

"Huh?" Gu Nan subconsciously looked down, only then realizing that there were some wood chips stuck to her arm, and that her palms and finger bones had been cut. Several gruesome cuts were oozing blood, which had long since dried, but she hadn't felt any pain until now.

But then she saw Lu Yushi silently grasp her wrist, take out a tissue, and carefully wipe it, when she suddenly felt a stinging pain.

Silence spread through the room.

Wan Sizong chuckled dryly twice: "Didn't Young Master Lu see my message?"

Lu Yushi slowly and methodically cleaned up the debris before turning to Wan Sizong, his gaze calm yet incredibly imposing.

Wan Sizong hesitated for a moment, then insisted, "I suggest you take a look before making a decision."

"If you'd like to discuss collaboration, Mr. Wan, you can contact my assistant."

“It’s a private matter,” Wan Sizong replied, meeting his gaze, his confidence vanishing. “It’s a private matter.”

"I have no private matters to discuss with Young Master Wan."

He pulled Gu Nan aside and strode towards the door.

"Young Master Lu," Wan Sizong called from behind. He stopped when he saw Lu Yu. He thought there was hope, but before his joy could linger, his expression turned tense as their eyes met. "Aren't you curious about Miss Gu, Young Master Lu?"

Lu Yushi fell silent, and the atmosphere suddenly became tense.

Gu Nan swallowed unconsciously, racking her brains for a solution. Unsure of Wan Sizong's so-called evidence, she dared not act rashly.

With a knife hanging over his head, he tried his best to maintain a calm expression.

"Cold?" Lu Yushi's voice came from above.

She was a beat slow to react, and by the time she came to her senses, the well-tailored suit jacket was already draped over her shoulders.

Lu Yushi's tone was calm: "Since it's about my girlfriend, I suppose she knows more about it than Wan Shao does."

He pushed open the door, and no one dared to stop him.

The streetlights shone alone on the road.

The two figures stretched, shortened, overlapped, and stretched into a long line again. Light and shadow flowed around them. The surroundings were quiet, which made the footsteps and breathing sound much heavier.

The lighting was warm and yellow, creating a subtle atmosphere.

After their shadows circled around their feet three times, Gu Nan finally couldn't help but ask, "Why are you here?"

"Wan Yi called me."

Gu Nan nodded vaguely. Wan Yi took Xue Li and left first; his good friend naturally wouldn't abandon her.

A thought flashed through my mind, and as I nodded halfway through, a thought suddenly popped into my head.

—Lu Yushi rushed over from the north city.

Lu Yushi noticed that she had stopped and looked back.

It grows wildly in silence.

Stimulating every cell in the body, those messy, fragmented memories grow wildly as if they've been ingested by hormones.

Her love, her hate, everything seemed so insignificant in the face of these memories.

Her ten fingers, hidden beneath her suit, clenched into fists, the wounds on her palms churning and bleeding. She forced a standard smile, standing under the lights, her pupils flashing with tiny sparkles, laughing as she misinterpreted Lu Yushi.

"No way, what a coincidence, you're in Xuncheng on business?"

Before Lu Yushi could speak, she took a few steps forward, grabbed his arm, tilted her head to look at him, and continued speaking in one breath.

“You’ve come at just the right time. You don’t know, I was terrified when Wan Sizong walked in. If you hadn’t come, I suspected he would have sought revenge for the time I slashed his face. I don’t care, you’re the one who made me slash him last time, you have to take responsibility and not let him seek revenge on me.”

"good."

Gu Nan was terrified, forgetting to move, with only one thought in her mind.

How could the scent of agarwood, which she disliked so much, suddenly have a reassuring effect?

A disordered heartbeat, mixed with an indescribable fear.

The absurdity tonight goes far beyond this.

"Gu Nan."

"Nanbao!"

Two voices rang out at the same time. Gu Nan looked into the distance as if grasping at a lifeline. Wan Yi was waving not far away, with a plain black sedan behind him.

She took a breath, immediately released Lu Yushi's arm, and pulled off her coat, handing it back to him. She spoke with a strange guilty tone, "I... am a friend."

Feeling the gaze fixed on her, Gu Nan felt uncomfortable and lowered her eyelashes.

"Wait me a moment."