Meng Jiuyi felt a sudden weightlessness beneath her feet. Although she was sitting in a chair, it felt as if someone was holding her upside down in mid-air with a rope.

Her throat tightened under the man's casual gaze, and she smiled, feigning confusion. "It's been almost two months, why did you suddenly want to look for her, cousin?"

Tan Yuchen rested his chin on his hand, deep in thought. "Although I was out of my mind and out of control that night, no matter how I try to justify it, I forced her. I owe her so much, I can't just let myself off so easily."

"....."

Meng Jiuyi knew perfectly well that he was such a conscientious person.

Tan Yuchen said, "It's quite interesting. After so long, she hasn't come looking for me. Isn't that strange?"

The man flicked his cigarette, his deep eyes peering at her meaningfully through the smoke.

Under that gaze, Meng Jiuyi was like a butterfly caught in a spider's web, its colorful and beautiful wings easily bound, unable to move.

Her eyelashes trembled slightly. Unable to meet his gaze, she tried to calmly focus her eyes on his eyebrows.

"Perhaps the incident was too unexpected, and the maid just wanted to hide. She also didn't know her cousin's identity. Afterwards, finding him was like looking for a needle in a haystack."

Tan Yuchen raised an eyebrow, which was considered an acceptance of this explanation.

"That's perfect. Please help me, Ah Jiu, give me and her a chance to reunite."

Meng Jiuyi: "......" Reunion my foot.

A man's words are decisive and leave no room for argument.

A thick stack of photos, each with a distinct face, wove circles of dizziness into Meng Jiuyi's eyes.

Headache! How could she know which one to choose if the person doesn't even exist?

She lowered her eyes, trying to keep her voice calm, "After finding her, what does my cousin plan to do? Take revenge on her?"

Tan Yuchen chuckled softly, "How could that be?"

Their eyes met somehow, and in the dead of night, the firefly-like light rippled like a gentle lake in his eyes.

"If I make that girl suffer such injustice for no reason, how can I face anyone if I retaliate?"

The messy room included not only scattered lamps, pillows, and blankets, but also a bright red bloodstain on the bed sheet.

Tan Yuchen knew what that meant, of course. Not having eaten pork didn't mean he hadn't seen pigs run, and besides, the teeth marks and scratches on his shoulder couldn't be faked.

Meng Jiuyi couldn't figure out what he was thinking. "So, cousin, what are you planning to do?"

Tan Yuchen stared at her, his eyes growing darker and darker. "I plan to... repay you with my body."

Meng Jiuyi's heart suddenly started pounding.

"Of course, that is...if she's willing."

His fluctuating tone of voice was like sitting on a seesaw; if Meng Jiuyi listened to it a couple more times, he'd probably fall off his stool.

The autumn wind rippled the water in the pool below, creating more than one ripple.

Meng Jiuyi was also blown so hard she couldn't breathe, her heart was racing, and her eyelashes trembled like butterflies trying to escape a spider web.

Should we be honest with him?

don't want!

Let's not even talk about how she wished she could bury that memory deep in the ground, dig a thirty-meter-deep pit, bury it, and then stomp on it a few times.

And you should just listen to what he says and leave it at that; why take it seriously?

What good would it do her to expose these things? Given the vast difference in their social status, at most she could be his secret lover while he was still interested.

Mo Ruyue is a perfect example. When she first met Meng's father, she was his goddess, pure, beautiful, and naive.

But a cinnabar mole will eventually turn into mosquito blood. Once a man and woman's relationship develops from cooperation to sex, it's nothing more than being looked down upon and taken advantage of.

They couldn't even get money by using the name of love.

She lowered her head and pretended to flip through the pages one by one, then denied it and put it aside, but in reality, she was already feeling very uneasy.

Suddenly, Meng Jiuyi's pupils contracted. Regardless of the deepening autumn and the gradually cooling weather, he was shocked.

His entire face instantly turned into a furnace.

"How...how did my photo end up here?!"

Tan Yuchen glanced at it casually, and sure enough, it was true. He clicked his tongue.

"What kind of person is Jiang Zhou? I asked him to collect the maids' photos, and he actually put yours in too. Is he trying to quit because he's so stupid?"

Meng Jiuyi: "..."

"A-Jiu, just put your photo aside."

Meng Jiuyi: "......"

The burning sensation on my face just wouldn't go down.

She's not someone whose emotions show easily; at most, they cool down quietly by the time they reach her earlobes. Now, her face is like an apple, a furnace, and a pomegranate, switching back and forth between color, full of collagen and crystal clear, making one want to take a bite.

She couldn't swallow this insult. "Jiang Zhou is so careless in his work, cousin, you should just fire him."

Tan Yuchen hummed in agreement. "Send him to Africa to mine coal tomorrow."

Jiang Zhou, who was silently caught in the crossfire: "......"

Meng Jiuyi: "..."

Even if she couldn't swallow it, she had to. With her long hair tucked behind her ears, her delicate, rosy profile was framed by the deep green light and shadow. Meng Jiuyi felt she couldn't remain passive any longer and began to probe silently.

"Does my cousin remember any of the other person's features? That might help us find them faster."

He then placed another confirmed photo next to him, looking very serious as he searched.

The man paused for a few seconds, his tone low and languid.

"She's quite good-looking."

My heart pounded in my throat.

"...Did my cousin see her?"

"Feel."

My heart sank back down like it was on a drop tower.

Tan Yuchen's gaze lingered on her, and he said slowly, "By the way, the scent on her is very similar to yours."

That's easy.

Having been questioned by him before, Meng Jiuyi answered this time with almost no blush or skipped a beat.

"She probably bought the shampoo at the supermarket too. Should my cousin check the surveillance footage from each supermarket? Maybe he can find some clues."

Searching like this would be like finding a needle in a haystack. There are countless supermarkets of all sizes in the city, and the daily output of shampoos that cost only a few dozen yuan is estimated to be tens of thousands of bottles.

It turns out that poverty really can save lives.

"Not for now."

Stray hairs fell across the man's forehead as he said in a sullen tone, "Isn't there you here?"

"....."

Meng Jiuyi flipped through another photo, her ears perked up as she tried to be on guard.

"Does cousin remember any other features? Facial or body features are fine."

With her head down, she didn't notice the man's gaze across from her. Through the deep, dark smoke, it was like a wild beast lurking in the depths of a forest, staring at its long-desired prey, pondering how to devour it piece by piece.

His Adam's apple slid down.

"It's very soft."