Chapter 127 He was like a silent guardian.
Qin Feng looked at the mess in front of him, his face still showing that calm and professional expression.
Ruan Yao straightened up, leaning on the desk, her gaze fixed on him. "Did Huo Yanzhi leave any message before he left?"
Qin Feng lowered his eyes and began to recite the speech he had prepared long ago.
"The boss said that the business at the European branch is very urgent and he has to handle it personally, so he can't confirm when he will return to China. He told you to rest and take care of yourself and not to worry too much."
Ruan Yao listened quietly without any reaction.
Qin Feng paused, seemingly organizing his thoughts, before dropping the most hurtful bombshell.
"The boss also said... if you feel stressed or unhappy in this relationship... he will respect any decision you make. He will take care of everything after he returns to his country."
break off an engagement.
Ruan Yao's fingers curled up slightly.
He gave her a way out in this way.
"Did he really say that?" Ruan Yao looked up to confirm again.
"Yes." Qin Feng nodded.
"Besides that, what else was said?"
"there is none left."
"Is that so?" Ruan Yao stood up and slowly walked to him.
She took a step closer and looked up at this perpetually calm and composed man.
"Did he already know me?"
Qin Feng's breathing paused for a moment.
But he quickly regained his composure and shook his head.
"No, madam."
“You’re lying,” Ruan Yao said firmly.
Although he concealed it well, she still caught the barely perceptible stiffness in his muscles a second before he answered.
Qin Feng fell silent.
He couldn't utter another word; the boss's orders were absolute.
Seeing his unyielding attitude, Ruan Yao knew that pressing Qin Feng for answers would be useless.
She took a deep breath, her eyes reddened, and she put on a distraught, tearful expression.
"I knew it... I knew he didn't really love me."
She seemed to be talking to herself, yet also to Qin Feng.
"He must be tired of me. He's such a proud person, how could he really like me like this, and still cling to him like this?"
“After the kidnapping, he must have thought I was a huge problem, so he made up an excuse to run away.”
"What European branch... Maybe he's found someone new and left me here all alone. Men are all like that..."
"Madam, you've misunderstood!"
Qin Feng was indeed anxious.
He could tolerate Ruan Yao's questioning, but he couldn't tolerate her slandering and misunderstanding his sincere feelings.
Qin Feng realized he had let something slip, his expression changed, and he tried to take it back, but it was too late.
The fragility and tears on Ruan Yao's face vanished instantly, leaving only calmness and clarity in her clear eyes.
Qin Feng then realized that he had been tricked by her.
He gave a wry smile. This Miss Ruan was indeed not the harmless little white rabbit she appeared to be.
"Qin Feng".
Ruan Yao's tone was unusually serious.
"Huo Yanzhi's condition is very bad, isn't it?"
She walked step by step to Qin Feng and looked at him intently.
“If you really care about him, if you don’t want things to get worse, tell me everything you know.”
Qin Feng's lips were pressed into a tight line, and he was having an internal struggle.
On one side is the boss's death order, and on the other side is the only person in front of him who can save the boss.
Ultimately, his concern for his boss outweighed his rigid loyalty.
"Yes," he admitted with difficulty, "the boss has been paying attention to you for a long time... a very long time."
"From when?"
“I don’t know.” Qin Feng shook his head. “I only know that ever since I started working for the boss, there has always been a photo of you in his study. He collects all your information, your preferences, your class schedule, every post on your social media…”
Ruan Yao's heart skipped a beat.
"Why?" she murmured. "Why won't he come to see me?"
"The boss won't allow it," Qin Feng shook his head. "He said, 'Don't disturb your life. Just quietly resolve any trouble you encounter.'"
Qin Feng seemed lost in memories.
"Madam, do you remember when you first came to Beijing and were in junior high school? There were always a few hooligans on the way home from school who would extort pocket money from your classmates."
Ruan Yao paused for a moment, then nodded: "I remember."
Of course she remembered; back then, she was timid and would always avoid that alley whenever she passed by.
Later, for some reason, those thugs never showed up again. I heard they were arrested and sent to a juvenile detention center for gang fighting.
“Once, they got into a group fight, which scared you when you were passing by. You got a high fever when you got home and didn’t go to school for a day.” Qin Feng’s voice was flat, but it stirred up a storm in Ruan Yao’s heart.
"The boss had someone handle it."
Ruan Yao's mind went blank.
So... that's how it is?
"Also," Qin Feng said, seeing Ruan Yao's dazed expression, he decided to be more explicit, "When you were in high school, wasn't there a rich second-generation guy surnamed Wang who kept harassing you?"
Ruan Yao's memory was pulled back to a much more distant past.
In her second year of high school, a boy did indeed pursue her intensely, taking advantage of his family's wealth.
After she clearly refused, the boy became enraged and not only spread rumors about her being materialistic throughout the school, but also repeatedly ambushed her on her way home from school.
She was extremely annoyed and was considering whether to tell her brother when the boy suddenly transferred schools and disappeared without a trace.
The classmates all said that his family must have offended some important person, and they had to run away overnight.
Could it be...?
"It's him too?" Ruan Yao's voice was dry.
"Yes," Qin Feng nodded, "It was the boss who sent someone to handle it."
Ruan Yao was completely speechless.
She always thought that her childhood, apart from the occasional minor troubles, had been mostly smooth sailing.
Behind those long-forgotten, insignificant episodes in her life, there was actually Huo Yanzhi standing behind them all.
He was like a silent guardian, clearing away all the thorns for her where she couldn't see.
But what gives her the right?
What makes her worthy of Huo Yanzhi's silent and selfless love?
Ruan Yao's thoughts were in complete disarray, but they all ultimately pointed to that one and only source.
"Is his early attention to me... related to his experiences in Nancheng?"
She grasped the most crucial clue and pressed urgently, "He saw me in Nancheng, didn't he? What exactly happened?"
This time, Qin Feng really shook his head.
"I have no idea."
He frankly stated, "The matter of Nancheng has always been a taboo subject for the Huo family; no one dares to mention it. I also have no right to inquire about the boss's past."
“But I can be sure of one thing,” Qin Feng said with utmost seriousness, “the boss’s love for you is real. He values you more than his own life.”
"Perhaps his way of expressing love is a bit... obsessive, but what he gives you is all he can give."
"Please, no matter what, do not doubt his feelings for you."
Ruan Yao's mind was in turmoil.
She thought that by summoning Qin Feng, she could dispel the fog and see the truth.
Unexpectedly, the information he brought plunged her into even deeper confusion and bewilderment.
Why?
Why did he do so much, yet never tell her?
Why did he have to fabricate a lie about "love at first sight" to deceive her in both lifetimes?
What is he afraid of?
"You can go now," Ruan Yao said softly. "I want to be alone for a while."
Just as he turned to leave, Ruan Yao called him back.
Where did he go?
She looked at him. "You can at least tell me this, right?"
For the first time, Qin Feng's face showed an expression that was a mixture of apology and anxiety.
"The boss claimed to have gone to Europe, but he didn't actually board that plane."
"I don't know exactly where he went."
Qin Feng's voice turned somber. "Since yesterday afternoon, I haven't been able to contact the boss for over 24 hours."
Ruan Qin's heart sank completely.
After Qin Feng left, she was left alone in the empty study.
She slowly sat down in the large leather chair that belonged to Huo Yanzhi.
The chair still carried his usual cool ebony scent, enveloping her completely.
In front of Huo Yanzhi, she was always separated by a layer of mist that she could not see or understand, and she could never truly touch him.
The chair slowly spun in place, and her gaze swept across the entire wall of bookshelves.
Suddenly, she stopped moving.
My gaze settled on a thick, hardcover book with a gold-embossed cover in the middle of the bookshelf.
—The Republic.
Something suddenly flashed through Ruan Yao's mind.
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