Seeing his composed demeanor, Ni Sitian slowly breathed a sigh of relief and sat back down.

However, Xu Tingchuan was not as calm as he appeared. The chef of this private restaurant should remember that he couldn't eat bamboo shoots, so he wouldn't deliberately put bamboo shoots in the soup. Moreover, he had just told the waiter that he didn't want bamboo shoots in the duck soup.

Now there are such delicate bamboo shoot strands; if you don't savor them carefully, you might easily miss them and end up drinking the whole soup. It would be hard for him not to get into trouble then.

The soup was deliberately prepared by someone; although the bamboo shoots wouldn't kill him, they were enough to make him feel unwell.

Who is it?

"Tingchuan?" Ni Sitian called out when she saw him frowning, seemingly lost in thought. "Are you really alright? Should we go to the hospital now?"

Xu Tingchuan snapped out of his reverie, not wanting her to worry, and shook his head, saying nonchalantly, "It's alright, eat up, the food's getting cold."

"It's all my fault for being so careless. Why didn't I try it first?" Ni Sitian said, feeling remorseful and blaming herself.

Xu Tingchuan was afraid that she would blame herself, so he tried his best to suppress the itching on his back and ate the meal with her with a normal expression.

After they finished eating, they paid the bill, got up, and left the courtyard.

When Xu Tingchuan led Ni Sitian to the car, he saw a black Mercedes parked across the front of his car, and his eyes darkened slightly.

"Who is this? Parking so haphazardly shows no consideration for others." Ni Sitian frowned and looked around.

Her gaze lingered on a man in a black coat. She was horrified and instinctively grabbed Xu Tingchuan's arm in nervousness.

Xu Tingchuan's gaze met Li Rui's, and a powerful pressure seemed to condense in the air.

Li Rui slowly approached them, a faint smile on his dark face, but his eyes were cold and devoid of warmth.

“Mr. Xu, what a coincidence.” Li Rui put one hand in his pocket and raised his thick, dark eyebrows slightly.

Xu Tingchuan looked at him calmly. He had just been guessing whose creation that bowl of soup was, but now the answer was obvious.

What a boring and childish trick.

“Mrs. Xu, we meet again. Did you like the gift I gave you last time?” Li Rui waved to Ni Sitian.

Ni Sitian's face turned pale. She knew what he meant by "gift"—it was that horrific car accident. She and Xu Tingchuan had almost been killed. How could this person talk about such a terrible thing in such a casual tone, as if it were just a small prank?

Xu Tingchuan sensed Ni Sitian's stiffness and fear. He squeezed her hand and said to Li Rui with an indifferent expression, "Mr. Li, please drive your car away."

"Oh, I'm really sorry." Li Rui smiled apologetically, opened the car door and got in. He moved his car to the side but didn't drive far, just parked there, sticking his head out of the window to look at them.

Ni Sitian felt like he was waiting for them to get in the car. She gripped Xu Tingchuan's arm tightly and shook her head slightly, trying to tell him not to get in. Who knew what Li Rui had done to the car while they were eating?

She vividly remembers that car accident; it was truly terrifying.

Xu Tingchuan raised his hand and gently patted her hand that was gripping his arm, then smiled faintly at her, "Get in the car."

Ni Sitian gripped his hand tightly, neither moving herself nor letting him move.

"Trust me." Xu Tingchuan looked at her gently, his eyes filled with certainty.

Upon hearing his words, Ni Sitian released his arm and got into the passenger seat.

As soon as she sat down, she saw Li Rui smiling at her with a sinister look.