Chapter 31: Persuasion

Chapter 31: Disillusionment

After replying to the message, Zhou Zuofei shoved her phone into her bag and strolled down the tree-lined path.

She had made sure to remember the way when she arrived. Following this route would lead her straight to the main road, where she could catch a cab home.

The moment she heard Zhan Zilang’s friends making passes at her, Zhou Zuofei had spun on her heel and walked out.

Why stick around listening to uncomfortable remarks, waiting for more to gross her out?

It truly took only a second to turn her off. Zhan Zilang’s friends might have seemed classy, but their words were unexpectedly crass and tasteless.

Or was this the nature of all men—always making crude jokes the moment women were mentioned, never understanding the meaning of respect?

But then it occurred to her: since this world was essentially a novel, there must be decent male leads created by the author. So, in the end, it was because she was just a background character that she could only encounter such people.

This was probably just how things were.

For example, she was destined to work at Universal. Or how, despite her careful selection of a residence, Cen Huan still ended up living next door.

Her current situation also felt like something out of a novel—an ordinary girl meeting a supposedly handsome, wealthy young man, their lives intersecting for various reasons, followed by the guy inviting her to his luxurious mansion to experience the high life.

If this were the heroine’s story, there would undoubtedly be a romantic development next.

But all she saw was a mess—first, a red-haired guy trying to buy her off with money, then those gross comments.

If she had known this would happen, she might as well have taken Xie Ya’s 100,000 yuan!

Steaming, Zhou Zuofei marched down the street, ignoring her phone buzzing in her bag.

After a while, she gradually calmed down.

Deep down, she knew she was just venting. If she had really taken that 100,000 yuan, she’d probably never be able to hold her head up in front of Xie Ya again—which wouldn’t be worth it.

Just then, a black car rolled up beside her, slowing to match her pace as if deliberately keeping in step with her.

Suspicious, Zhou Zuofei glanced over as the rear window rolled down, revealing Xie Huai’s face.

His expression was inscrutable as always, sitting comfortably in his seat. "Miss Zhou, can I give you a lift?"

Zhou Zuofei refused without hesitation.

"No, thank you."

Having already turned down 100,000 yuan, rejecting a ride in a luxury car became much easier.

More importantly, Zhou Zuofei was completely fed up with these wealthy people right now.

She couldn’t help wondering if Xie Huai was also the type who acted all proper on the surface but talked shit about women behind their backs.

He spoke again, "Miss Zhou, I’d like to ask you something. Do you know my younger brother?"

This wasn’t something she could ponder—hesitation would make her seem guilty.

So Zhou Zuofei responded with an innocent look, "Mr. Xie, your public records show you’re an only child, aren’t you?"

Xie Huai hadn’t expected this answer.

On paper, Xie Ya wasn’t his brother, but anyone with even a passing acquaintance with the Xie family knew of Xie Ya’s existence.

Xie Ya was his father's illegitimate child. To avoid affecting him, his father had always had Xie Ya raised by a distant relative. It wasn't until two years ago, when his father grew older and wanted to see brotherly harmony, while also fearing that he might later refuse to acknowledge this younger brother, that Xie Ya was brought back in an attempt to foster some bond between them.

But he and Xie Ya had never lived together—what kind of bond could there be? Acknowledging this brother was just to avoid a messy scene and giving the people of K City a reason to mock the Xie family.

So, in a way, Zhou Zuofei’s answer was exactly what he’d hoped for.

Xie Huai couldn’t help but study her again.

Earlier at the Zhan residence, he had felt that Zhou Zuofei seemed strangely familiar, but at the time, his focus had been on finding Xie Ya, so he hadn’t paid much attention.

Only when he saw her from the car just now did Xie Huai realize where this sense of familiarity came from.

Her figure looked strikingly like someone from his memories.

Gathering his thoughts, he said, "Sorry if I wasn’t clear earlier. Do you know a guy named Xie Ya? If you need a photo, I can show you."

This time, Zhou Zuofei deliberately took a moment to think before replying earnestly, "I’m sorry, Mr. Xie, I honestly can’t help. But I do know an excellent private investigator named Jiang Shen. If you need assistance, you could reach out to him."

She wavered between helping Xie Ya or Xie Huai but ultimately chose to help neither.

Because she didn’t particularly like either of them—and more importantly, she couldn’t risk angering either. No matter how intense the conflict between Xie Ya and Xie Huai seemed now, they were both still Xies. Once they resolved their issues, they’d turn their anger outward, and wouldn’t she be the one to suffer?

So she played dumb, careful not to piss anyone off.

Her earlier decision to help Xie Ya had been based on the same reasoning—and look how well that had turned out. Xie Ya was so mad he couldn’t even yell at her.

Because deep down, he knew he’d look bad if he did.

"No problem. If you happen to hear anything, please let me know. Here’s my contact."

He took out a business card from his holder, and Zhou Zuofei stepped forward to accept it. She then pretended to search through her bag before saying, "Sorry, Mr. Xie, I didn’t bring any cards with me today."

"That’s alright. Just give me your number." As he spoke, Xie Huai had already pulled out his phone, his gaze fixed on her expectantly.

Zhou Zuofei started to feel something wasn’t right. A company president, personally handing out business cards on the street to ask about his younger brother instead of delegating it to a secretary or assistant—that didn’t make sense, right?

She couldn’t even imagine Ling Yu standing on the side of the road handing out cards and asking for phone numbers.

Could it be that all of this was just a pretense, and the real goal was to get her number?

The idea freaked her out, making her eyelid twitch like crazy.

Wasn’t that way too weird?

After a brief hesitation, she still recited her phone number. She figured if he really wanted to find it out, it wouldn’t be a problem anyway, so fighting it was useless.

Once he noted it down, Xie Huai immediately dialed the number, let it ring twice, then hung up.

"Thanks for your help."

Xie Huai’s demeanor now seemed friendlier than it had been back at the Zhan residence, but Zhou Zuofei still remembered the way his stare had made her spine tingle earlier. She wasn’t buying his act.

A genuinely kind and warm person wouldn’t be like this. They’d be more like Secretary Xiao—someone who never made others uncomfortable, someone she could interact with freely, equally, and easily, without needing to weigh every word.

"Are you sure you don’t need a ride? It’s still quite a distance to the main road."

"Really, no need. I’d prefer to walk."

Seeing how firm she was, Xie Huai didn’t press further. After saying goodbye, he instructed the driver to continue on their way.

The car gradually picked up speed, quickly leaving Zhou Zuofei behind, yet she still felt a pair of eyes from the vehicle ahead watching her.

She couldn’t tell whether it was her sixth sense being too sharp or just her mind playing tricks on her.

But staying away from Xie Huai was definitely the right move.

So, her first step was to spell things out with Xie Ya and have him handle this for her.

Zhou Zuofei walked for a long time before reaching the main road. Only after getting into a car did she pull out her phone to check. There was one missed call and several texts from Zhan Zilang.

He must have guessed something from her reply, as he sent a bunch of texts back-to-back—apologies and explanations.

She wasn’t really mad at Zhan Zilang. Xiao Zhan had always been good to her, and they had known each other for a while. He was still young, a bit impulsive, but fundamentally a great guy.

Besides, they often chatted and shared similar values. She knew he wouldn’t say those things himself—his friends’ behavior shouldn’t be blamed on him.

On the other hand, people tend to be more forgiving toward friends than strangers. For instance, she couldn’t tolerate Xie Ya at all, but with Zhan Zilang, she could selectively overlook certain things.

So, she replied to Zhan Zilang, saying she was fine, and didn’t hide the fact that she had overheard their conversation.

[I didn’t mean to eavesdrop. I was just about to look for you when I happened to hear it.]

They were totally inappropriate. I’ve already scolded them. Really sorry, Ms. Zhou. I didn’t expect them to show up. I was just planning to play games with you today. Treat you to make up for it on Monday!

[It’s fine. I don’t care about their attitude. I only know you, anyway. As long as I don’t run into them again, it’s all good.]

Zhan Zilang sent a series of crying-face emojis, which made Zhou Zuofei, who had been in a funk, laugh.

It seemed she shouldn’t be too absolute in her judgments. The world still had normal, great guys like Xiao Zhan and Secretary Xiao.

After returning, Zhou Zuofei didn’t even step into her own home first. Instead, she knocked on Cen Huan’s door.

Cen Huan answered quickly. “Zuofei, what’s up?”

“Is Xie Ya here?”

“He’s at his second job today.”

Zhou Zuofei: Breaking into mansions counts as a second job?

Noticing Zhou Zuofei’s weird look, Cen Huan asked with concern, “Is it something urgent? Should I give you his number?”

“No need. It’s not that urgent. Just have him come see me when he gets back.”

“Okay.” Cen Huan looked slightly worried. Zhou Zuofei chatted with her for a bit before heading home.

As she sorted through her bag, she saw the business card Xie Huai had given her earlier. It was a standard professional layout, but when she looked again, the number seemed different.

Zhou Zuofei took out her phone to compare and confirmed that the number Xie Huai had called from wasn’t the same as the one on the card.

Based on her understanding of Ling Yu, guys in his position often had multiple phones. Xie Huai was probably no different—the number he called from must have been his personal line.

Why would the multimillionaire exec go out of his way to give her his personal number?

Recalling his earlier behavior, a bad feeling rose in her again. This time, it was different from the situation with Han Chubin.

Han Chubin had set off alarm bells due to the inconsistency between his identity and actions, but Xie Huai hadn’t done anything—just his gaze had been enough to make her wary.

Without thinking, she wanted to talk to someone. Xiao Wang’s name immediately came to mind, but she shut that thought down.

She shouldn’t keep bothering Secretary Xiao anymore. Besides, this wasn’t even an actual issue—nothing had actually happened. It was all just her anxiety and unease playing tricks on her.

So asking Xiao Wang would just be a waste of his time.

But discussing this with Du Yu wouldn’t help either. Xie Huai’s affairs were clearly beyond their reach, and probably very few people in the entire company could even access the "circle" Zhan Zilang had mentioned.

Zhou Zuofei rubbed her temples. Gaming was already exhausting, and now she had to think about all this—her brain was running on empty.

She sat on the sofa for a while to rest. The cat, sensing something, had been lying on the cat scratcher in the corner but now jumped onto the sofa and started nuzzling her thigh.

Zhou Zuofei stroked the soft furry head, thinking how nice it would be if people were as simple as animals. At the same time, she comforted herself—don’t panic, just focus on identifying the core issue here.

Ye-jie had taught her that when analyzing a problem, one shouldn’t just look at the surface but grasp the key point. For example, when couples argue, is it really just because of a single disagreement?

Zhou Zuofei took a deep breath and concentrated on analyzing the situation.

After a while, Xie Ya came knocking.

Cen Huan, noticing Zhou Zuofei’s unusual attitude, didn’t even wait for Xie Ya to enter before urging him to go see her first.

As soon as Xie Ya stepped inside, Director, startled by the stranger, quickly fled to the bedroom.

"Huan-jie said you wanted to see me." Xie Ya had run off to meet other friends after leaving the Zhan residence and only returned around his nominal quitting time.

The moment he heard Zhou Zuofei wanted to talk to him, he could guess why.

Once inside, his eyes immediately landed on the business card placed on the living room table. The design was all too familiar to him. Walking closer, he saw Xie Huai’s name printed on it, and his mind raced with suspicion.

Why did Zhou Zuofei have his brother’s business card? What exactly had happened?

Zhou Zuofei pointed to the sofa beside her. "Have a seat. I need to ask you something."

Seeing Xie Ya still looking defensive, Zhou Zuofei didn’t hold back and cut straight to the chase.

"I don’t know what your real intentions are for staying at Cen Huan’s place, but do you really think, given your family situation, you can hide forever? Or rather, how long do you think this can last?"

As expected, the moment Cen Huan was mentioned, Xie Ya instantly wilted like a dying plant—all his defiance vanished in a flash.

He slumped, lips trembling. "I didn’t mean to deceive her."

"So you’re playing the victim, and Cen Huan will care for you even more, right?"

Seeing Xie Ya’s intense reaction as he tried to explain, Zhou Zuofei waved her hand. "Save your excuses. The one you need to explain to is next door."

Xie Ya immediately shut his mouth. Zhou Zuofei was right—there was no point explaining now.

"To me, you’re a stranger, and I’m sure it’s the same for you. But we both want what’s best for Huan-jie, right?"

Zhou Zuofei first needed to establish common ground with Xie Ya so he’d be more receptive to what she had to say next.

"Your brother has already found me." She tapped the coffee table, gesturing to the business card. "How long do you think this can last?"

Zhou Zuofei even suspected Xie Huai hadn’t been seriously looking for Xie Ya before. Otherwise, how could he not have found him after Xie Ya had been performing at New World for months?

Could Xie Huai’s people really be less competent than Jiang Shen?

Xie Ya naturally understood this logic too. In truth, he was counting on Xie Huai not caring.

He had taken a leave from college and run off to do his own thing for months—who knew Xie Huai would come looking now?

"I don't know much about your brother, but he sounds like a real tough customer. I just wonder who's gonna come out worse in this standoff—you, him, or perhaps..."

Zhou Zuofei trailed off, just jerking her thumb toward the next room.

This was her reasoning: if Xie Huai had sought her out because of Xie Ya, then getting Xie Ya under control would effectively resolve her own problem.

And since Xie Ya cared about Cen Huan, all she needed to do was pull Cen Huan into this, and he would naturally figure out what to do.

"That's all I have to say. Now it's your turn."

Zhou Zuofei let out a long exhale, sinking into the couch as she relaxed, mentally reviewing her earlier statements for any oversights.

It didn’t seem like there were any—or if there were, they were beyond her control anyway.

"You're right," Xie Ya admitted, looking as pitiful as a kicked dog. "I was too careless."

He’d gotten too comfortable the last few months. Knowing Xie Huai never visited bars or nightclubs, he made a point of singing at those spots. Over time, he let his guard down, and now, having slipped up, he'd gotten caught.

If this had happened before, it wouldn’t have been a big deal—nothing worse than Xie Huai chewing him out.

But now? No way he was accepting this. He didn’t want to leave, and he especially didn’t want to leave Cen Huan.

Yet what else could he do?

In the end, Xie Ya staggered out of Zhou Zuofei’s place in a daze.

Before he left, Zhou Zuofei seized the moment to lay down a three-day deadline, urging him to resolve things quickly.

She admitted frankly, "I really don’t want to be involved in this. And your brother seems pretty damn scary—how long do you think I can keep this hidden?"

Chapter 31: Disillusionment

After replying to the message, Zhou Zuofei shoved her phone into her bag and strolled down the tree-lined path.

She had made sure to remember the way when she arrived. Following this route would lead her straight to the main road, where she could catch a cab home.

The moment she heard Zhan Zilang’s friends making passes at her, Zhou Zuofei had spun on her heel and walked out.

Why stick around listening to uncomfortable remarks, waiting for more to gross her out?

It truly took only a second to turn her off. Zhan Zilang’s friends might have seemed classy, but their words were unexpectedly crass and tasteless.

Or was this the nature of all men—always making crude jokes the moment women were mentioned, never understanding the meaning of respect?

But then it occurred to her: since this world was essentially a novel, there must be decent male leads created by the author. So, in the end, it was because she was just a background character that she could only encounter such people.

This was probably just how things were.

For example, she was destined to work at Universal. Or how, despite her careful selection of a residence, Cen Huan still ended up living next door.

Her current situation also felt like something out of a novel—an ordinary girl meeting a supposedly handsome, wealthy young man, their lives intersecting for various reasons, followed by the guy inviting her to his luxurious mansion to experience the high life.

If this were the heroine’s story, there would undoubtedly be a romantic development next.

But all she saw was a mess—first, a red-haired guy trying to buy her off with money, then those gross comments.

If she had known this would happen, she might as well have taken Xie Ya’s 100,000 yuan!

Steaming, Zhou Zuofei marched down the street, ignoring her phone buzzing in her bag.

After a while, she gradually calmed down.

Deep down, she knew she was just venting. If she had really taken that 100,000 yuan, she’d probably never be able to hold her head up in front of Xie Ya again—which wouldn’t be worth it.

Just then, a black car rolled up beside her, slowing to match her pace as if deliberately keeping in step with her.

Suspicious, Zhou Zuofei glanced over as the rear window rolled down, revealing Xie Huai’s face.

His expression was inscrutable as always, sitting comfortably in his seat. "Miss Zhou, can I give you a lift?"

Zhou Zuofei refused without hesitation.

"No, thank you."

Having already turned down 100,000 yuan, rejecting a ride in a luxury car became much easier.

More importantly, Zhou Zuofei was completely fed up with these wealthy people right now.

She couldn’t help wondering if Xie Huai was also the type who acted all proper on the surface but talked shit about women behind their backs.

He spoke again, "Miss Zhou, I’d like to ask you something. Do you know my younger brother?"

This wasn’t something she could ponder—hesitation would make her seem guilty.

So Zhou Zuofei responded with an innocent look, "Mr. Xie, your public records show you’re an only child, aren’t you?"

Xie Huai hadn’t expected this answer.

On paper, Xie Ya wasn’t his brother, but anyone with even a passing acquaintance with the Xie family knew of Xie Ya’s existence.

Xie Ya was his father's illegitimate child. To avoid affecting him, his father had always had Xie Ya raised by a distant relative. It wasn't until two years ago, when his father grew older and wanted to see brotherly harmony, while also fearing that he might later refuse to acknowledge this younger brother, that Xie Ya was brought back in an attempt to foster some bond between them.

But he and Xie Ya had never lived together—what kind of bond could there be? Acknowledging this brother was just to avoid a messy scene and giving the people of K City a reason to mock the Xie family.

So, in a way, Zhou Zuofei’s answer was exactly what he’d hoped for.

Xie Huai couldn’t help but study her again.

Earlier at the Zhan residence, he had felt that Zhou Zuofei seemed strangely familiar, but at the time, his focus had been on finding Xie Ya, so he hadn’t paid much attention.

Only when he saw her from the car just now did Xie Huai realize where this sense of familiarity came from.

Her figure looked strikingly like someone from his memories.

Gathering his thoughts, he said, "Sorry if I wasn’t clear earlier. Do you know a guy named Xie Ya? If you need a photo, I can show you."

This time, Zhou Zuofei deliberately took a moment to think before replying earnestly, "I’m sorry, Mr. Xie, I honestly can’t help. But I do know an excellent private investigator named Jiang Shen. If you need assistance, you could reach out to him."

She wavered between helping Xie Ya or Xie Huai but ultimately chose to help neither.

Because she didn’t particularly like either of them—and more importantly, she couldn’t risk angering either. No matter how intense the conflict between Xie Ya and Xie Huai seemed now, they were both still Xies. Once they resolved their issues, they’d turn their anger outward, and wouldn’t she be the one to suffer?

So she played dumb, careful not to piss anyone off.

Her earlier decision to help Xie Ya had been based on the same reasoning—and look how well that had turned out. Xie Ya was so mad he couldn’t even yell at her.

Because deep down, he knew he’d look bad if he did.

"No problem. If you happen to hear anything, please let me know. Here’s my contact."

He took out a business card from his holder, and Zhou Zuofei stepped forward to accept it. She then pretended to search through her bag before saying, "Sorry, Mr. Xie, I didn’t bring any cards with me today."

"That’s alright. Just give me your number." As he spoke, Xie Huai had already pulled out his phone, his gaze fixed on her expectantly.

Zhou Zuofei started to feel something wasn’t right. A company president, personally handing out business cards on the street to ask about his younger brother instead of delegating it to a secretary or assistant—that didn’t make sense, right?

She couldn’t even imagine Ling Yu standing on the side of the road handing out cards and asking for phone numbers.

Could it be that all of this was just a pretense, and the real goal was to get her number?

The idea freaked her out, making her eyelid twitch like crazy.

Wasn’t that way too weird?

After a brief hesitation, she still recited her phone number. She figured if he really wanted to find it out, it wouldn’t be a problem anyway, so fighting it was useless.

Once he noted it down, Xie Huai immediately dialed the number, let it ring twice, then hung up.

"Thanks for your help."

Xie Huai’s demeanor now seemed friendlier than it had been back at the Zhan residence, but Zhou Zuofei still remembered the way his stare had made her spine tingle earlier. She wasn’t buying his act.

A genuinely kind and warm person wouldn’t be like this. They’d be more like Secretary Xiao—someone who never made others uncomfortable, someone she could interact with freely, equally, and easily, without needing to weigh every word.

"Are you sure you don’t need a ride? It’s still quite a distance to the main road."

"Really, no need. I’d prefer to walk."

Seeing how firm she was, Xie Huai didn’t press further. After saying goodbye, he instructed the driver to continue on their way.

The car gradually picked up speed, quickly leaving Zhou Zuofei behind, yet she still felt a pair of eyes from the vehicle ahead watching her.

She couldn’t tell whether it was her sixth sense being too sharp or just her mind playing tricks on her.

But staying away from Xie Huai was definitely the right move.

So, her first step was to spell things out with Xie Ya and have him handle this for her.

Zhou Zuofei walked for a long time before reaching the main road. Only after getting into a car did she pull out her phone to check. There was one missed call and several texts from Zhan Zilang.

He must have guessed something from her reply, as he sent a bunch of texts back-to-back—apologies and explanations.

She wasn’t really mad at Zhan Zilang. Xiao Zhan had always been good to her, and they had known each other for a while. He was still young, a bit impulsive, but fundamentally a great guy.

Besides, they often chatted and shared similar values. She knew he wouldn’t say those things himself—his friends’ behavior shouldn’t be blamed on him.

On the other hand, people tend to be more forgiving toward friends than strangers. For instance, she couldn’t tolerate Xie Ya at all, but with Zhan Zilang, she could selectively overlook certain things.

So, she replied to Zhan Zilang, saying she was fine, and didn’t hide the fact that she had overheard their conversation.

[I didn’t mean to eavesdrop. I was just about to look for you when I happened to hear it.]

They were totally inappropriate. I’ve already scolded them. Really sorry, Ms. Zhou. I didn’t expect them to show up. I was just planning to play games with you today. Treat you to make up for it on Monday!

[It’s fine. I don’t care about their attitude. I only know you, anyway. As long as I don’t run into them again, it’s all good.]

Zhan Zilang sent a series of crying-face emojis, which made Zhou Zuofei, who had been in a funk, laugh.

It seemed she shouldn’t be too absolute in her judgments. The world still had normal, great guys like Xiao Zhan and Secretary Xiao.

After returning, Zhou Zuofei didn’t even step into her own home first. Instead, she knocked on Cen Huan’s door.

Cen Huan answered quickly. “Zuofei, what’s up?”

“Is Xie Ya here?”

“He’s at his second job today.”

Zhou Zuofei: Breaking into mansions counts as a second job?

Noticing Zhou Zuofei’s weird look, Cen Huan asked with concern, “Is it something urgent? Should I give you his number?”

“No need. It’s not that urgent. Just have him come see me when he gets back.”

“Okay.” Cen Huan looked slightly worried. Zhou Zuofei chatted with her for a bit before heading home.

As she sorted through her bag, she saw the business card Xie Huai had given her earlier. It was a standard professional layout, but when she looked again, the number seemed different.

Zhou Zuofei took out her phone to compare and confirmed that the number Xie Huai had called from wasn’t the same as the one on the card.

Based on her understanding of Ling Yu, guys in his position often had multiple phones. Xie Huai was probably no different—the number he called from must have been his personal line.

Why would the multimillionaire exec go out of his way to give her his personal number?

Recalling his earlier behavior, a bad feeling rose in her again. This time, it was different from the situation with Han Chubin.

Han Chubin had set off alarm bells due to the inconsistency between his identity and actions, but Xie Huai hadn’t done anything—just his gaze had been enough to make her wary.

Without thinking, she wanted to talk to someone. Xiao Wang’s name immediately came to mind, but she shut that thought down.

She shouldn’t keep bothering Secretary Xiao anymore. Besides, this wasn’t even an actual issue—nothing had actually happened. It was all just her anxiety and unease playing tricks on her.

So asking Xiao Wang would just be a waste of his time.

But discussing this with Du Yu wouldn’t help either. Xie Huai’s affairs were clearly beyond their reach, and probably very few people in the entire company could even access the "circle" Zhan Zilang had mentioned.

Zhou Zuofei rubbed her temples. Gaming was already exhausting, and now she had to think about all this—her brain was running on empty.

She sat on the sofa for a while to rest. The cat, sensing something, had been lying on the cat scratcher in the corner but now jumped onto the sofa and started nuzzling her thigh.

Zhou Zuofei stroked the soft furry head, thinking how nice it would be if people were as simple as animals. At the same time, she comforted herself—don’t panic, just focus on identifying the core issue here.

Ye-jie had taught her that when analyzing a problem, one shouldn’t just look at the surface but grasp the key point. For example, when couples argue, is it really just because of a single disagreement?

Zhou Zuofei took a deep breath and concentrated on analyzing the situation.

After a while, Xie Ya came knocking.

Cen Huan, noticing Zhou Zuofei’s unusual attitude, didn’t even wait for Xie Ya to enter before urging him to go see her first.

As soon as Xie Ya stepped inside, Director, startled by the stranger, quickly fled to the bedroom.

"Huan-jie said you wanted to see me." Xie Ya had run off to meet other friends after leaving the Zhan residence and only returned around his nominal quitting time.

The moment he heard Zhou Zuofei wanted to talk to him, he could guess why.

Once inside, his eyes immediately landed on the business card placed on the living room table. The design was all too familiar to him. Walking closer, he saw Xie Huai’s name printed on it, and his mind raced with suspicion.

Why did Zhou Zuofei have his brother’s business card? What exactly had happened?

Zhou Zuofei pointed to the sofa beside her. "Have a seat. I need to ask you something."

Seeing Xie Ya still looking defensive, Zhou Zuofei didn’t hold back and cut straight to the chase.

"I don’t know what your real intentions are for staying at Cen Huan’s place, but do you really think, given your family situation, you can hide forever? Or rather, how long do you think this can last?"

As expected, the moment Cen Huan was mentioned, Xie Ya instantly wilted like a dying plant—all his defiance vanished in a flash.

He slumped, lips trembling. "I didn’t mean to deceive her."

"So you’re playing the victim, and Cen Huan will care for you even more, right?"

Seeing Xie Ya’s intense reaction as he tried to explain, Zhou Zuofei waved her hand. "Save your excuses. The one you need to explain to is next door."

Xie Ya immediately shut his mouth. Zhou Zuofei was right—there was no point explaining now.

"To me, you’re a stranger, and I’m sure it’s the same for you. But we both want what’s best for Huan-jie, right?"

Zhou Zuofei first needed to establish common ground with Xie Ya so he’d be more receptive to what she had to say next.

"Your brother has already found me." She tapped the coffee table, gesturing to the business card. "How long do you think this can last?"

Zhou Zuofei even suspected Xie Huai hadn’t been seriously looking for Xie Ya before. Otherwise, how could he not have found him after Xie Ya had been performing at New World for months?

Could Xie Huai’s people really be less competent than Jiang Shen?

Xie Ya naturally understood this logic too. In truth, he was counting on Xie Huai not caring.

He had taken a leave from college and run off to do his own thing for months—who knew Xie Huai would come looking now?

"I don't know much about your brother, but he sounds like a real tough customer. I just wonder who's gonna come out worse in this standoff—you, him, or perhaps..."

Zhou Zuofei trailed off, just jerking her thumb toward the next room.

This was her reasoning: if Xie Huai had sought her out because of Xie Ya, then getting Xie Ya under control would effectively resolve her own problem.

And since Xie Ya cared about Cen Huan, all she needed to do was pull Cen Huan into this, and he would naturally figure out what to do.

"That's all I have to say. Now it's your turn."

Zhou Zuofei let out a long exhale, sinking into the couch as she relaxed, mentally reviewing her earlier statements for any oversights.

It didn’t seem like there were any—or if there were, they were beyond her control anyway.

"You're right," Xie Ya admitted, looking as pitiful as a kicked dog. "I was too careless."

He’d gotten too comfortable the last few months. Knowing Xie Huai never visited bars or nightclubs, he made a point of singing at those spots. Over time, he let his guard down, and now, having slipped up, he'd gotten caught.

If this had happened before, it wouldn’t have been a big deal—nothing worse than Xie Huai chewing him out.

But now? No way he was accepting this. He didn’t want to leave, and he especially didn’t want to leave Cen Huan.

Yet what else could he do?

In the end, Xie Ya staggered out of Zhou Zuofei’s place in a daze.

Before he left, Zhou Zuofei seized the moment to lay down a three-day deadline, urging him to resolve things quickly.

She admitted frankly, "I really don’t want to be involved in this. And your brother seems pretty damn scary—how long do you think I can keep this hidden?"