That day, Fang Yongnian did not make it to Huating City.

His car was a modified vehicle for the disabled. Because of the shadow from four years ago, he would check the condition of the car every time before getting in.

And this time, it was precisely this psychological shadow that saved his life—and also saved Zheng Fei’s.

His car had been tampered with. The parking card he habitually placed on the dashboard had been moved.

He almost immediately got out of the car, quickly called the police, and also called a tow truck company. After the vehicle was sent to the 4S shop for inspection, they found that the brake pads inside his car had been replaced with ones that were nearly worn down to nothing.

“At speeds over ninety kilometers per hour, they would definitely fail,” the shop employee wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.

He had always thought things like this only happened on TV, yet today he personally experienced it—and the target turned out to be a disabled person.

Too vicious.

Fang Yongnian and Zheng Fei’s faces were ashen.

Because the report was made in time, the police had already collected fingerprints from the car and quickly reviewed the surveillance footage.

There were no third-party fingerprints. The two cameras in the parking lot that could have recorded his parking space were both broken that day. Even the memory card in his car’s dashcam had been replaced with a blank one.

The methods were clean and decisive, with no intention of leaving any survivors.

The only person who knew he would rush to Huating City overnight was Lu Boyuan. He hadn’t even called Yu Hanfeng.

If he hadn’t received Lu Boyuan’s call earlier, if he hadn’t known that Liu Yufang had also once called Lu Boyuan back then, he might really have believed that all of this was a trap set by Lu Boyuan to kill and silence him.

The feeling was too familiar, just like that document from back then that only the two of them had the key to.

The same person, the same method of mutual entrapment.

This time, he had spared Lu Boyuan, but the other party hadn’t planned to spare him.

He sneered.

Perhaps it was because, for the past four years, he had been like a mad dog refusing to let go—using his brother’s connections in the Public Security Bureau to obtain many investigative materials that ordinary people could never access.

Those who had been caught and those who hadn’t, he had no intention of letting any of them off.

He sat in the police station lobby, expressionless, making calls—to Lu Boyuan, and to Yu Hanfeng.

The person hiding in the dark had finally lost patience and reached out a claw; there was no reason for him to let that claw retract.

୨୧ ⏔⏔⏔⏔♡⏔⏔⏔⏔ ୨୧ 

The Lu household had become very lively.

Lu Boyuan, who had planned to rush to the project team for an emergency, returned—and brought back a woman. She wore a white blouse and wide-legged trousers, her makeup immaculate even at three in the morning.

Lu Yixin, wearing a wrinkled nightdress, opened her bedroom door, yawned ungracefully, rubbed her eyes, and only then recognized the woman—Yu Hanfeng.

The woman she had seen many times in the news, inwardly ridiculed many times, and secretly cursed many times—her love rival.

No, her former love rival.

Lu Boyuan was someone who forgot all manners whenever business was involved. Upon entering the house, he didn’t even greet his daughter before heading straight into the study.

Yu Hanfeng stood at the entryway, smiled politely at Lu Yixin, and extended her hand in introduction. “Yu Hanfeng.”

Lu Yixin looked down at her pink nightdress, faded to gray from washing, covered in little carrots. She tugged at it, realizing the wrinkles wouldn’t smooth no matter how hard she pulled.

As love rivals meeting face to face, her reaction went beyond simple defeat.

“I… I’m Lu Yixin.” She awkwardly extended her hand to shake Yu Hanfeng’s, then tugged at her nightdress again, at least flattening the carrot pattern at the neckline.

Yu Hanfeng tilted her head slightly and smiled. “Mm, I know.”

So this was the little gluttonous girl, the one who made Fang Yongnian take detours on his business trips just to buy local snacks for her before coming home.

A very pretty little girl, clean and fresh.

Lu Yixin mumbled, wanting to tug at her dress again, but after thinking about how humiliating that looked, she forced herself to grab her own hand instead.

“Sit…” She crouched down to find slippers for Yu Hanfeng, gesturing for her to come in and sit.

She tried her best to act like the little mistress of the house, instinctively wanting to regain the upper hand.

“No need, I’ll be leaving soon.” Yu Hanfeng smiled faintly, politely declining.

Lu Yixin froze.

Yu Hanfeng’s composure and ease only made her feel smaller, childish and ridiculous.

“This trip was rushed. I didn’t have time to bring you any food.” Yu Hanfeng glanced toward Lu Boyuan, who still hadn’t come out, and felt awkward just standing there, so she tried to make small talk with the girl.

Lu Yixin’s face instantly turned red.

A young girl’s pride shattered to pieces. The thing she hated most right now was adults treating her like a child, especially when that adult happened to be her love rival.

She and Fang Yongnian had appeared together in countless photos in the news!

And she herself had never taken a single photo with Fang Yongnian!!

Her stubborn streak flared up again. She stomped into the living room in her slippers, poured a glass of water for Yu Hanfeng, then took out a pack of bear-shaped cookies from the cupboard.

“Here!” Having already resigned herself to embarrassment, Lu Yixin spoke with the blunt confidence of someone past caring.

If she didn’t want to come in, fine—she could drink her water right there in the entryway. She hadn’t brought any snacks? Then Lu Yixin would give her some.

The moment she forcefully reclaimed her initiative, she felt much better. She no longer tugged at her dress; instead, she dragged a chair over, sat by the entryway, and fixed Yu Hanfeng with a fierce, unblinking stare.

Yu Hanfeng almost burst out laughing.

The tension she’d been carrying after rushing overnight to Hecheng over all those filthy affairs suddenly eased a little.

She could understand now why the solitary Fang Yongnian looked at this girl differently.

Some people’s presence simply put others at ease.

Lu Yixin was that kind of girl.

Yu Hanfeng tilted her head left and right to loosen her neck, then pulled up a chair nearby, tore open the bag of bear cookies, ate one, and took a sip of the water.

The water even had honey mixed in it.

The smile in Yu Hanfeng’s eyes deepened.

She almost immediately took a liking to this awkward little girl. Handing the bag of cookies toward Lu Yixin, she asked, “Want some?”

Lu Yixin’s eyes widened.

She thought Yu Hanfeng was rather thick-skinned. Those were her cookies, yet Yu Hanfeng’s posture made it seem like she meant to claim them as her own.

“I want some!” Lu Yixin grabbed a handful and stuffed them into her mouth, glaring indignantly as she chewed.

When Lu Boyuan came out of the study carrying some documents, what he saw was his daughter—very hospitably—blocking Yu Hanfeng right at the entryway. The two of them were eating bear cookies, one bite after another.

Lu Boyuan: “……”

He wasn’t close with Yu Hanfeng, and he didn’t want to embarrass his daughter in front of an outsider, so he simply pretended not to see.

“You don’t have school tomorrow, right?” He picked up one of the bear cookies himself, since what’s done is done.

Lemon flavor, lightly sweet.

“Tomorrow’s Sunday,” Lu Yixin swallowed her cookie with effort.

She couldn’t quite figure out why Yu Hanfeng had decided to compete with her either. The two of them were now locked in an unspoken race to see who could eat cookies faster, shoving them into their mouths one after another. She hadn’t poured herself any water, she was practically choking.

“Have Auntie Li stew some pigeon soup tomorrow…” Lu Boyuan thought for a moment, then waved his hand. “Forget it, old hen soup will do. Add some codonopsis. There’s still some saffron your mom hid on the top shelf of the kitchen cabinet, throw that in too.”

“Once it’s done, bring it to the hospital at noon.” As he spoke, he bent down to put on his shoes. “Bring a few extra bowls and chopsticks. Have Auntie Liu make a few dishes too, keep them light.”

Lu Yixin was completely confused but still nodded obediently.

No way she was going to let an outsider like Yu Hanfeng see her and her father arguing like they usually did.

“Also, bring a set of bedding, and two washbasins.” Lu Boyuan, being a rough sort, frowned as he tried to recall what he had brought when Liu Miqing had been hospitalized back then. “Grab a few garbage bags too. Hey, take a pen and write this down.”

“Okay.” Lu Yixin moved immediately after each instruction.

Lu Boyuan was quite satisfied, his daughter rarely behaved this well.

“Tableware for four people…” he continued giving orders piece by piece.

“Three. I have to rush back to Huating tomorrow,” Yu Hanfeng interjected from the side.

“Oh, right, three then.” Lu Boyuan quickly corrected himself. “Also take the charger. I’ve got my laptop, but tomorrow make a trip to Yongnian’s place and bring his laptop too.”

Lu Yixin’s mouth formed an O shape. “……”

“And what does your Uncle Fang like to eat?” Lu Boyuan scratched his head.

“Meat…” Lu Yixin was starting to feel that something wasn’t right. “Who’s in the hospital?”

In the middle of the night, someone who wasn’t supposed to be home suddenly came back—and even brought Yu Hanfeng along.

She began to panic. “Fang Yongnian’s in the hospital?”

Yu Hanfeng raised an eyebrow, a little surprised by how she addressed him.

Lu Boyuan waved his hand. “Just staying for a few days.”

“W–What happened? He was fine when we finished dinner today.” Lu Yixin’s eyes were starting to redden.

Wasn’t he supposed to go to Huating? Didn’t he say he wouldn’t be back for a long time?

He had stayed until Auntie Li came, checked all the doors and windows before leaving. Everything had seemed perfectly normal.

“Just a few days,” Lu Boyuan didn’t want to explain further. After finishing with his shoes, he opened the front door and said casually, “I won’t be back tonight. Lock up the doors and windows.”

Yu Hanfeng followed behind Lu Boyuan, then turned back to glance at Lu Yixin, who looked on the verge of tears, her expression thoughtful.

“He’s fine,” she said softly, comforting her, and winked. “It’s just that we can’t let anyone else know he’s fine.”

Lu Yixin stared blankly, her eyes red.

Yu Hanfeng raised her index finger, making a quiet gesture.

Sniffling, Lu Yixin watched the two adults quickly disappear into the night.

In the guest room, Auntie Li was still snoring. Half the pack of bear cookies from her little contest with Yu Hanfeng remained untouched. Lu Yixin sat dazed in the entryway, replaying in her mind all the hurried instructions her father had given earlier.

Old hen soup was a tonic, people in serious condition usually couldn’t eat it. That meant… he wasn’t gravely ill.

Her father had asked for washbasins and bedding. Clearly, he planned to stay overnight at the hospital. Which meant Fang Yongnian really was going to be admitted for a few days.

He hated hospitals the most.

And she hated them too.

She took out her phone, hesitated for a long time, then finally sent a WeChat message:

“Fang… Yongnian?”

She still couldn’t bring herself to add the word Uncle. The ellipsis and punctuation were her way of expressing the struggle.

3:10 a.m.

Fang Yongnian replied quickly: “I’m fine. Go to sleep.”

Tears welled up instantly. Lu Yixin typed a trembling “Good night,” her eyes brimming as she hit send.

Even though the sky was already about to brighten.