On the other end of the phone, An Ya was stunned for a moment after seeing the message. Her fingers holding the phone tightened involuntarily.
"What's wrong?"
Chen Yu'an beside her saw her suddenly stiff face and asked.
An Ya looked puzzled and aggrieved as she held out her phone in front of him.
"A Yu, does Qing Mian still blame me... Is she just teasing me by sending this message..."
As An Ya spoke, a tear dropped onto the white bedsheet.
Chen Yu'an looked at the message on her phone. A fact he didn't want to believe suddenly flashed through his mind.
He recalled that all the messages he had sent before had received no reply. Only then did he realize that she had already changed her contact information.
She didn't even have the slightest intention of telling him...
Chen Yu'an felt that the thing he had been tightly holding onto seemed to be gradually slipping away from his palm without him even noticing. The harder he tried to hold on, the less he had.
Chen Yu'an's face darkened, and the aura around him dropped sharply. He said coldly, "It's not teasing."
"It's really her."
An Ya covered her mouth in shock. She quickly apologized to Chen Yu'an, "I'm sorry, A Yu. I thought she was..."
Before she could finish her sentence, Chen Yu'an shot her a sharp look. His voice carried a hint of threat, "She's not you."
As soon as the words left his mouth, An Ya looked at the man in disbelief. "A Yu, what do you mean by that?"
"Have I done anything to her?"
"How could you talk to me like this?"
An Ya looked at him as if she was hurt, her face full of grievance. But when she lowered her head, her eyes were filled with hostility.
"Don't you know what you've done?"
An Ya was startled. A look of panic flashed across her eyes. Did he know something...
"Tan Si."
Chen Yu'an called out.
"Yes, sir."
Tan Si took out the photo from An Ya's secretive WeChat Moments post on his phone and showed it to her.
"From now on, without my permission, I don't want my photos to appear on any of your social media platforms."
Chen Yu'an's voice was cold, leaving no room for negotiation.
The moment An Ya saw the photo, the stone in her heart dropped. Although she was a bit reluctant, she had no choice but to comply. Over the years, for the sake of Chen Yu'an, she had always tried to be non - competitive. She had done everything a wife should do, but she still couldn't move the wedding date forward.
Now that she was injured and lying in bed, if she angered him again, the wedding might be out of reach.
She didn't want to take the risk. She obediently replied, "I understand, A Yu. I won't post your photos randomly anymore."
Chen Yu'an recalled Qing Mian's cold demeanor during dinner. She must have seen what An Ya had posted. It made her unhappy.
She had always been jealous since she was a child.
Chen Yu'an remembered that in college, a classmate who had a crush on him would message him every day. Qing Mian had secretly sulked because of this and even deleted the classmate behind his back.
It was both annoying and amusing.
So her unhappiness today must be because of what she saw.
The feeling of uneasiness in Chen Yu'an was gradually disappearing. Qing Mian was back and she wouldn't leave again. They would be together forever, just like before.
He turned to look at An Ya on the hospital bed. His handsome face was as cold as ice. "There are still things to do in the company. Don't call me to the hospital again if it's not necessary. If your father doesn't want the marriage alliance, he can continue to hold up the approval process."
After saying that, Chen Yu'an left the hospital without looking back.
An Ya on the hospital bed watched the man's back. Her hands clenched tightly into fists, and the hostility in her eyes grew stronger.
At the same time, in Qingyuan.
Qing Mian looked at the chat box on her phone. After she sent that message, An Ya didn't reply anymore. She closed the chat box and changed her avatar to a sunflower.
She pressed the screen - off button, pulled the quilt, turned off the room light, and left only the warm yellow bedside lamp on. Then she lay down on the bed.
...
In the quiet car, Chen Yu'an leaned against the back seat. He held his phone and scrolled through Qing Mian's WeChat Moments.
Qing Mian was a chatterbox. She would post about every little thing on her Moments. You could even tell what she did, where she went, and what she played just by looking at her Moments. Chen Yu'an was even worried that one day she might be abducted.
He never thought that she wasn't abducted, but was lost by himself.
Chen Yu'an looked at the last post she made three years ago.
[I'm an adult! Chen Yu'an! I have a huge surprise for you. Are you looking forward to it! (Naughty smile emoji)]
Chen Yu'an didn't know what the surprise was. He only saw this post after he sent Qing Mian away.
He was very busy. He didn't have extra time to waste on trivial things like scrolling through Moments. He wanted to be independent and break away from Wei Jianguo as soon as possible. Only in this way could Qing Mian have the best future.
He stared at that post for a long time. Tan Si glanced at him through the rear - view mirror and silently sighed in his heart.
The car slowly drove into Qingyuan. Chen Yu'an got out of the car and walked into the house. Looking at the empty living room, he turned to Uncle Wang and asked, "Where's Er Bao?"
"Miss has already gone to bed."
Chen Yu'an frowned and looked at the time on his watch. It was not even ten o'clock yet. This was not her biological clock. She was a master at staying up late.
Was she sick?
"Did she eat the fruit?" Qing Mian never ate fruit when she was sick.
Uncle Wang nodded repeatedly. "Miss said to put it in her room. She would eat it later. She should have eaten it by now."
Chen Yu'an was shocked. This was exactly the same trick she used to play. Whenever there was something she didn't want to eat but had to, she would say she would eat it slowly in her room, but actually she would secretly pour it away.
Chen Yu'an didn't have time to think too much. He strode towards the second floor and gently opened the bedroom door.
The room was illuminated by the warm yellow bedside lamp. There was also an aromatherapy candle burning on the bedside table. It looked very cozy.
He looked at the girl sleeping quietly on the bed and walked towards the bedside carefully.
Looking at Qing Mian's hand outside the quilt, in the hot summer, she was wearing long - sleeved clothes. If it was before, she would be wearing a spaghetti - strap dress and walking around the house bare - footed.
She used to be restless in her sleep and liked to kick the quilt. Chen Yu'an would get up several times at night just to cover her with the quilt.
Chen Yu'an was always worried that she would catch a cold. He had told her many times, but she never listened. So he just stopped insisting and always kept some medicine at home.
Now she could take care of herself.
She wasn't sick.
She never used to burn aromatherapy when she slept.
The girl in front of him suddenly seemed a bit strange. These were all habits he had never known about.
Chen Yu'an suddenly didn't like this feeling. He would rather Qing Mian still kicked the quilt in her sleep and ran around the house bare - footed in summer like before.
The current her made him feel a bit panicked, as if... she didn't need him anymore. It seemed that she could live a good life on her own...
Chen Yu'an hated this feeling.