Meng Jiuyi originally thought he was taking her home, but the car drove to Songhe Private Hospital instead. Xu Yanzhi insisted that the doctor take a look at the injury on her arm.

After examining her, the doctor said there was nothing seriously wrong and that no bones were injured. He prescribed some medication and instructed her to apply it when she got home.

Seeing her handle everything with ease, Xu Yanzhi felt even more bitter.

"I'm sorry, I didn't handle it well enough."

Meng Jiuyi was puzzled as to why he blamed everything on himself. "You're not a god, you can't possibly predict everything. Besides, if you went in with me to see Tan Ni, she would definitely explode on the spot and kick me out without letting me say another word."

Xu Yanzhi curled his lips, "Miss Meng has a silver tongue, who would dare to kick you out?"

Once outside the hospital, he refused to let her go, and on a whim, said, "Come with me for a walk. I haven't been here in all these years!"

Meng Jiuyi agreed.

It's around 7 or 8 pm now, the busiest time in the city.

The suit jacket was still draped over her shoulders. They crossed the street to the food street. As the motorcycle drove through the alley, he hooked his arm around her shoulder and gently pulled her inside, protecting her.

The aroma of steamed buns mixed with the scent of sweet potatoes wafting from somewhere whetted Meng Jiuyi's appetite, but she figured he probably wasn't interested in these things, so she just kept her eyes straight ahead. Unexpectedly, Xu Yanzhi accompanied her and bought everything on the street. He carried plastic bags of savory pancakes and roasted rice cakes, and they sat down at a table in a sizzling hot and sour noodle shop.

The room was filled with the lively atmosphere of people coming and going, and she was sweating profusely from the spiciness, constantly drinking water.

Xu Yanzhi simply couldn't stand it anymore.

"You're not allowed to eat anymore."

She insisted, "No, it's delicious."

Xu Yanzhi couldn't refuse her, so he washed it with water and put it back in her bowl.

Kyushu has many old and unassuming buildings, and the flea market doors are still open. They walk through small shops with flashing neon signs, and the men are already carrying all sorts of trinkets.

All of these were places where her gaze lingered and she couldn't bear to look away.

There was a flower shop on the street corner, with bougainvillea and wild roses climbing up the wall. Meng Jiuyi was picking out flowers inside, while Xu Yanzhi was paying at the door.

I was out taking street photos when I noticed the way he was looking at the girl. His gaze was so gentle it was as if the world had stopped. Plus, the two of them were so good-looking that I couldn't resist taking a picture.

When Meng Jiuyi came out, she was holding a bunch of lisianthus flowers in her arms, which almost covered most of her face.

He glanced at her and smiled.

"Just as I expected."

Meng Jiuyi was slightly taken aback.

"What's the same?"

Xu Yanzhi did not continue the topic and asked.

"You really like flowers?"

Meng Jiuyi nodded.

She didn't have much of a feeling for flowers before, but Wenqi likes to buy flowers to put in vases. A little bit of vibrant green on the coffee table is enough to make her feel good all day.

Less than half an hour later, Meng Jiuyi understood what he meant by "just as expected." It wasn't until the car drove out of the downtown area and onto the elevated highway that Meng Jiuyi belatedly realized what he meant.

Where to?

Having learned from his previous experience of acting first and informing her later, she no longer trusted him much.

Xu Yanzhi chuckled slightly, "I won't kidnap you; you'll find out when we get there."

After driving for less than half an hour, the road turned out of the city along the mountain road and suddenly opened up into a vast, open garden-like landscape. After passing the guard post, the car stopped inside.

Xu Yanzhi said, "Shall we go down and take a look?"

Meng Jiuyi got out of the car in a daze. The headlights swept across the dense vegetation, with large patches of lisianthus growing wildly. The flower stems supported layers upon layers of petals, which were crowded together, forming a cluster of flowers, and a faint fragrance filled the air.

If Meng Jiuyi observed carefully, the soil was still fresh, and the flowers had only been transplanted recently.

She stared in disbelief. "This is...your flower garden?"

"your."

Meng Jiuyi was dumbfounded and let him walk up to her and put the suit jacket that had just fallen off his shoulder back on.

Xu Yanzhi looked down at her. "I have no experience in coaxing girls, so I'm just learning as I go. This flower garden isn't far from the city center, so you can come anytime you want. This is the season when lisianthus blooms, so I chose to plant it. You can also plant roses later. There are people here to take care of it, and you can sell any flowers you don't need to a florist in the city."

Giving her a flower garden isn't just romantic; it can also provide a livelihood.

She's a more pragmatic girl, and Xu Yanzhi has completely figured out her personality after all these times.

This gift should actually have been prepared a little longer, at least until the lisianthus blooms all over the mountains.

But he couldn't wait tonight.

Meng Jiuyi was so shocked that he didn't know what to say.

"I can't accept this; it's too expensive."

“If you don’t take it in, it’s just an ordinary garden to me. Only when you take it in will it become a unique place for me.”

Xu Yanzhi gently placed his hand on her head, "If you really think it's valuable, I'd like to ask you for a favor."

"What?"

Under the light, her eyes shone exceptionally bright, and her long hair partially obscured her face, like the moon hidden in the mist.

Xu Yanzhi said, "Help me ask this girl in front of me how to make her happy."

Under his adoring gaze, Meng Jiuyi's eyelashes involuntarily drooped.

"...I'm really not unhappy."

"Then can you ask her for me how to make her depend on me?"

After their reunion, it turned out that it wasn't just Xu Yanzhi's imagination. There seemed to be an insurmountable chasm between them. No matter how close she was to him, there was always an unbreakable veil between them.

At least, she wouldn't treat him the way she treated Tan Yuchen.

To throw a tantrum.

Meng Jiuyi's heartstrings almost trembled. She thought she no longer felt guilty, but she still felt breathless because of his honesty.

She looked up at him and smiled, "Am I not dependent enough? I've shamelessly accepted your help time and time again, not only eating and taking things from you, but also letting you buy such a big flower garden for me."

Xu Yanzhi smiled and looked at her intently.

"Is there anything else you want to do? You said you admire Tan Ni for being able to do everything and shining in her beloved field. Would you like to travel abroad and see different cultures?"

"No, no, I'm just a frog in a well, only good for my own territory, and I'm perfectly happy right now."

After Meng Jiuyi finished speaking, he noticed a bruise on the lower left side of his jaw near his ear.

"What's wrong with you?" She hadn't even noticed.

Xu Yanzhi shook his head and said calmly.

"It's nothing, I bumped into it by accident."

--

Meng Jiuyi was unaware that when she entered Tan Ni's room, Xu Yanzhi grabbed Tan Yuchen by the collar and punched him.

Even though she was consumed by jealousy and hatred, neither of the two men brought up the matter in front of her.

Tan Yuchen waited for him on the small balcony at the back. A cold wind blew in his face, making his clothes flutter. He heard steady footsteps behind him, but he didn't turn around, and his voice was inappropriate.

"This small place is simple and there's nothing to entertain Chairman Xu with, only the northwest wind to fill your stomach."

Some people, like Xu Yanzhi, appear calm and composed even in the heat of anger.

"You can't mess with a friend's wife. Young Master, you should have at least a basic sense of boundaries. I don't mind if you're interested in or play with whoever you want, but not Meng Jiuyi!"

Tan Yuchen laughed out loud, turned his head and glared at him, his eyes dark and unsettling, revealing an innate arrogance.

"Which eye of yours saw me playing with her? And shouldn't I be the one warning Chairman Xu? You're stealing someone else's love and then turning around and blaming them. If it weren't for you, you troublemaker, I might have already proposed to you."

"What are you going to offer in return? Are you delusional?"

Xu Yanzhi laughed angrily, "Where were you, this fake cousin, when I met her? Were you abroad, surrounded by women?"

Tan Yuchen slowly opened his eyelids. "You said it yourself, it was many years ago. I don't believe in old news from the last century."

He was incredibly arrogant and showed absolutely no remorse.

Xu Yanzhi's expression turned completely cold. "What gives you the right?"

"There are many reasons, for example—"

Tan Yuchen laughed, speaking casually, "She used any means necessary, racking her brains to forcibly possess me. I'll settle this score with her in my next life."

No sooner had he finished speaking than his collar was grabbed and Xu Yanzhi punched him hard.

He was also really angry, losing his mind and beating someone for the first time. The fist hit his face, and half of Tan Yuchen's face was numb. He pressed his tongue against his left cheek, his expression relaxed.

"I've been thinking about it, and I really haven't wronged you in the past twenty years, so I'm sorry, I can't take this punch—"

As Tan Yuchen slowly uttered the last word, the man's fist slammed directly into his jaw, targeting the most hidden spot and delivering the heaviest blow.

"In four years and more than a thousand days, while you were forgetting your future and enjoying yourself abroad, she had already created opportunities to get to know me. If you were truly destined for each other, you wouldn't have missed each other, but you still left her behind. Missing out on something once means missing out for a lifetime, and I will never follow in your footsteps."

He knew all too well how to stab Xu Yanzhi in the heart. The regrets of the past were forgotten in a corner, like a stagnant pool without waves. Now, when he thinks back, it hurts every time, and he wishes he had a time machine to go back to the past.

But time cannot be turned back; it can only be torn apart and left bleeding.

Xu Yanzhi's eyes were like knives. "Whether you're right or wrong is up to you."

"It really is up to me to call the shots."

Tan Yuchen's voice was firm and resolute, the cold wind seeping through his shirt, arrogant and determined, "Because of her, I'm determined to have her."

---

good evening