Tan Si looked at the man in the back seat. Just as he was about to say something comforting, Shen Yu'an spoke first.
"Let's go back to the company."
On this side, Chi Yu was surrounded by the crowd and hadn't seen Qingmian's figure. He looked down at his wrist. It was already half an hour past the 9 o'clock they had agreed on with Shen Yu'an. He frowned slightly. When facing the crowd again, he put on that signature smile on his face. "Everyone, I have a class later. If you have any questions, you can come to my class." He quietly stepped back, smiling, "I'll answer them one by one."
Chi Yu got out of the crowd. From afar, he saw Qingmian doing the freshman registration. As soon as he got closer, he saw a male classmate blushing as he introduced himself to Qingmian.
The smile on his face faded. He quickened his steps, adjusted his glasses, and said, "Shen Qingmian."
Hearing that familiar voice, Qingmian immediately put away the smiling face she had just shown to Shu Yi. She turned her head and looked at Chi Yu.
He was wearing a gray sweatshirt, a pair of loose jeans, and black sports shoes today. His hair was a bit shorter than when she saw him at home the other day. His glasses had thin silver frames. He looked every bit like a college guy.
"Professor Chi, do you two know each other?"
Before Qingmian could say anything, Shu Yi looked at Chi Yu and asked first.
Chi Yu glanced at him indifferently without saying a word. Then his gaze returned to Qingmian. He took the suitcase from her hand. His amber eyes stared at her. "Where's your dormitory?"
"Qingmian's dormitory is in Area D." Shu Yi answered for Shen Qingmian before she could.
Chi Yu shifted his gaze from Qingmian and looked down at Shu Yi haughtily. "I'm asking her." He curled his lips, but his voice carried a warning tone. "Classmate, her surname is Shen." Then he didn't look at him again and led Qingmian straight towards the dormitory building.
All the way, there was only the sound of the suitcase wheels rubbing against the ground. Qingmian walked beside Chi Yu, her steps a bit unnaturally hasty.
Qingmian was 168 cm tall. Chi Yu was much taller than her, standing at 188 cm. With his broad shoulders and narrow waist, he was like a human wall beside her, completely blocking her. He deliberately slowed down his steps to match Qingmian's pace.
Qingmian noticed his slowed - down steps and thanked him. Her voice was polite but distant. "Thank you, Professor Chi."
Chi Yu laughed and stopped. He looked down at her with lowered eyes. "Why don't you call me brother anymore?"
Qingmian stopped and looked at him sideways. "This is school. Is there any problem calling you Professor Chi?"
Chi Yu was stunned for a moment. The former Qingmian wouldn't talk like this.
If it were the former her, she would definitely say, "Brother Chi Yu, this is school. What if someone finds out about your relationship with my brother? People will say I got in through the back door! I don't want to cause trouble for my brother."
But now she didn't mention Shen Yu'an at all.
This thought made Chi Yu happy. "Of course there's no problem." Compared to "Brother Chi Yu", he preferred this address.
Qingmian started walking forward again. She remembered that during the freshman registration, they said the student dormitory was not far away. But now, why had they walked for so long and still not arrived?
Was this the right direction to the dormitory?
Qingmian glanced at Chi Yu from the corner of her eye.
She still remembered the first time she met Chi Yu. She was 14 years old that year.
Shen Yu'an took her, Lu Wenxuan, Lu Wenxi, and Ji Bai to a campsite in a neighboring city. Chi Yu came halfway.
That night, she went out to the toilet in the middle of the night. When she came out, she couldn't find her way back. It was pitch - black on the mountain in the middle of the night, so dark that she couldn't see her own hand. Chi Yu suddenly appeared out of nowhere, almost scaring her to death.
Chi Yu said he would take her to find her brother, but in the end, he took her to the top of the mountain. Just thinking about this made her scared. It was blatant abduction.
Chi Yu was always up to no good.
But now that he was already a professor, he shouldn't be so childish anymore, right?
As Qingmian recalled Chi Yu's various misdeeds, she didn't notice the other person's gaze.
Chi Yu took in all her little expressions. His eyes behind the glasses were as dark as the deep sea.
The girl in front of him had shed the childish look of a few years ago. Her chubby, rosy face when she was a child had now turned into a pale oval face. She no longer had that shallow smile on her face all the time. Now her expression was mostly indifferent, as if she had lost hope in everything and was not interested in anything.
She also seemed much more distant when facing Shen Yu'an, no longer calling him "brother" all the time like before.
What had happened to Shen Qingmian during the years he was abroad?
...
In the hillside villa.
"Miss An, the girl adopted by Mr. Shen has come back." Butler Uncle Yang stood in front of the French window and bowed to the woman on the chaise longue beside him.
An Ya paused in her actions. The green tea in her cup spilled onto her white long dress.
Seeing this, Uncle Yang immediately trembled and took the teacup from An Ya's hand, apologizing. "I'm sorry, miss! It's my mistake."
An Ya gave a charming smile, but there was no warmth in her eyes. "Uncle Yang, I didn't hold it steady myself. How can I blame you?"
"Miss..."
Uncle Yang's words were interrupted coldly before he could finish.
"Don't be so flustered next time. I, An Ya, never keep useless people. Get out."
An Ya lay on the chaise longue, looking at the only sunflower in the yard downstairs. Her eyes were full of disgust.
For Shen Yu'an, she had restrained her temper and tried her best to please his favorite younger sister. But she didn't expect that Shen Qingmian actually had unrealistic fantasies about her own brother. Her mood seemed to return to the nausea when she discovered that secret.
She had thought that after sending Shen Qingmian away, she could marry Shen Yu'an without any worries. But unexpectedly, he kept postponing the wedding date. Now that the vixen Shen Qingmian was back, it was still uncertain whether the wedding next month could be held on time!
An Ya took out her phone and looked at the message she received three years ago.
[Elder Sister An Ya, it's my birthday today. Can you accompany me to a bar on South Street for a drink for my great coming - of - age ceremony? By the way, don't tell my brother!]
The remark column said, "Xiaomian".
Shen Qingmian wasn't lying. This message was indeed not sent by her.
An Ya just found a hacker and installed a remote program on Shen Qingmian's phone. As long as Shen Yu'an was willing to investigate properly, he would immediately know it was a scam.
An Ya was fearless. It didn't matter even if Shen Yu'an knew. Due to the pressure from the An family, the best he could do was to drive Shen Qingmian out of Qingyuan. What she didn't expect was that Shen Yu'an didn't even investigate. He directly sent Shen Qingmian to Mexico overnight.
What kind of place was Mexico? How could Shen Qingmian have a good life there?
An Ya was very satisfied with this result. But she didn't expect that after Shen Qingmian left the imperial capital, Shen Yu'an postponed the wedding date again and again on the pretext of work. Now that Shen Qingmian was back, she wouldn't let Shen Yu'an arrange things anymore. The wedding next month must be held on schedule.