Ni Sitian felt a pang of pity as she watched Shen Muzhi walk away with his shoulders slumped, and she let out a long sigh.

He probably loved Zhi Lan, but unfortunately, his methods, timing, and fate were all wrong.

Xu Tingchuan put his arm around Ni Sitian's shoulder and patted her gently. Ni Sitian gasped.

"What's wrong?" Xu Tingchuan released his grip and asked with concern.

"It hurts so much." Ni Sitian lowered her head and pulled her collar open a little to reveal her round, fair shoulder, where there were five clearly visible finger marks.

"Was it Shen Muzhi who did this yesterday?" Xu Tingchuan's face darkened, and anger rose in his eyes.

"Forget it, don't bother with him. He's lost his wife, son, and daughter all of a sudden." Ni Sitian held Xu Tingchuan's wrist, feeling his tension slowly relax, and leaned on his arm, saying, "I really hope Su Yan can get better. The living can never compare to the dead. Only when Su Yan is alive can he understand who is more important."

"You're getting more and more insightful." Xu Tingchuan playfully flicked Ni Sitian's nose.

“There’s something even more insightful, do you want to hear it?” Ni Sitian looked up and smiled at Xu Tingchuan.

Xu Tingchuan raised an eyebrow, indicating that he was all ears. Ni Sitian said meaningfully, "Actually, Zhi Lan may not even care about being the most important person in his heart. If loving more makes one a loser, then Shen Muzhi is destined to lose miserably."

"I can see that." Xu Tingchuan nodded in agreement. Judging from Xiang Zhilan's carefree way of running away, she might forget all her little bit of affection for Shen Muzhi in less than a few months.

What happens to them in the future is entirely up to fate.

"You see others so clearly, but what about us? Who lost?" Xu Tingchuan asked with a smile, his arm around Ni Sitian's waist.

"Us?" Ni Sitian curled the corners of her mouth, drawing out the word in suspense, and then said with a smirk, "It's a win-win situation for us."

Xu Tingchuan lowered his head and pressed his forehead against Ni Sitian's, smiling slightly as he said earnestly, "But I feel like I've lost."

"If you want to say you love me more, just say it. Why beat around the bush?" Ni Sitian hummed softly, but her heart was filled with sweetness, very satisfied with his sweet words.

Xu Tingchuan lowered his head and kissed her upturned lips, then said softly, "Let me apply some medicine to help you disperse the bruises."

Ni Sitian nodded and readily agreed as he led her to a chair.

The two were very affectionate, and happiness filled the air.

However, after leaving their residential area, Shen Muzhi felt lost and unsure of where to go.

Xiang Zhilan left, and his heart felt like a huge chunk had been hollowed out, impossible to fill, yet he felt a surge of energy.

"Sir, we've found the flight and passenger information, but these international flights are registered using pinyin. Several flights have had the name 'xiangzhilan' on them in the last two days, so we're not sure which one is Mrs. Chen." Ah Chao rushed to report to Shen Muzhi as she came out of the residential area.

Shen Muzhi raised his eyes, looked at the afterimage of the plane streaking across the sky, and smiled bitterly. He was afraid that this was also part of Xiang Zhilan's plan. He had known for a long time that she was clever and intelligent, but he never expected that she would use that intelligence to run away.

"Have someone search every place." Shen Mu got into the car, leaned back in the back seat, and closed his eyes: "Let's go home."

Seeing Shen Muzhi like this, Ah Chao felt guilty and blamed himself: "Sir, I'm sorry, I didn't take good care of my wife."

"What's it to you? This is my fault." Shen Muzhi opened his eyes and looked out the window. Flocks of wild geese flew south, freely changing formations.

It's only the beginning of autumn, but it already feels unusually cold.