Ning An could not remember what else her father had said at the end. It was only when she had dazededly agreed to his demands that Xiao Chang finally allowed her to leave.
As the door clicked shut, Ning An regained a shred of awareness, but when she opened her eyes, the room appeared distorted. Colors were indistinguishable; one moment everything was vibrant, the next, a wash of gray. She felt like a speck of dust trapped in a compressed space, twisted by forces from every direction. Her consciousness began to blur, and she had to summon every ounce of strength just to keep breathing.
"Your little cutie is calling~"
The cheerful ringtone broke the silence. Startled as if from a nightmare, Ning An realized she had been clutching her own throat. She hurriedly pulled her hands away and reached for the phone by the sound.
"Darling, is the welcome banquet over?" Su Wenzhu’s bubbly voice was like a beam of light cutting through the darkness of the room. "I didn't disturb you, did I?"
Ning An slid down the door until she hit the floor, leaning back against it. She tilted her head up, catching her breath for a long moment before answering, "I'm already back."
Having known each other for over a decade, Su Wenzhu could tell from the tone of her voice that something was wrong. She forgot the original reason for her call and asked nervously, "What happened? Did your father say something to you again?"
Because of the protection from Qin Wang and his grandmother, the Xiao family dared not neglect Ning An's material needs. However, they never ceased their suppression and control over her. Whenever they were displeased, they would lock Ning An in a dark room, subjecting her to years of cold violence and psychological manipulation until her mental state finally neared collapse. It was Su Wenzhu who had forced her to see a psychiatrist at the brink of her breakdown.
Su Wenzhu was well aware of her situation, and Ning An did not hide anything, relaying the evening's events in detail.
"Damn it!" Su Wenzhu cursed fiercely. "For years, he turned a blind eye to the state of the old orphanage. Then, once you got engaged, he claimed he wanted to help build a new one, but more than a year has passed without any progress! How dare he use the orphanage to threaten you?!"
"Tell me about it," Ning An sneered. "He called it an engagement gift for me, but he made a huge spectacle of it in the media. Once the Qin family found out, the grandmother insisted that it was the place that raised me and offered to fund it too. In the end, he only had to pay a fraction, while the bulk of the cost fell on the Qin family."
Just like when they adopted her, it wasn't out of love for a child or love for her; he only did it to cultivate his image as a philanthropist.
Su Wenzhu raged again, "That old bastard is so cunning."
The orphanage was the only home Ning An had in her heart, and Xiao Chang had gone to great lengths to use it as leverage to control her.
"An'an, why don't you just run away?" Su Wenzhu asked with deep concern. "The bank cards you’ve been keeping with me should have quite a bit of savings—enough for you to live well on your own."
Su Wenzhu had started working as a cartoonist in college, and Ning An had never touched a cent of the side-hustle money she’d earned helping her over the years. By now, she had saved over a million.
"I can't leave yet," Ning An said, her mind clearing after taking her medication. "The land for the new orphanage has been approved, and the funding from the Qin and Xiao families is public. If they were to suddenly pull out, other corporate and individual donors might get cold feet and withdraw as well. Even if we turned to public donations, it would be difficult to raise that much money again."
"They haven't even started construction yet. It will take at least two or three years to build and hand it over... How are you going to get through these next few years?"
"I don't necessarily have to wait for it to be finished."
"You aren't waiting for it to be built?"
"Getting their funding in hand and building it myself is safer than waiting for them to show some shred of kindness."
"Brilliant!" Su Wenzhu cheered. "But will your stingy father actually give you the money? Qin Wang’s infidelity has already been exposed. If he flips the table and refuses to fund it, how will you get the Qin family to pay up willingly?"
Ning An lay on the sofa, staring blankly at the ceiling, her gaze firm. "Then I’ll make him pay me unwillingly."
Qin Wang was willing to set aside his dignity and spin transparent lies just to avoid admitting he had reunited with Tang Meng, which meant he could not yet afford the consequences of calling off the engagement. As long as she played her cards right, whether he wanted to pay or not would no longer be up to him.
***
The Mid-level Villa was brightly lit.
Xi Siyuan drove into the courtyard. The butler hurried over to greet him. "Young Master, Secretary Lin is waiting for you."
Xi Siyuan tossed the keys to him and walked into the house without a word.
"Mr. Xi," Secretary Lin said, trotting over with several documents. "These are the urgent files that require your signature today."
"Wait in the study." Xi Siyuan headed straight for the bedroom.
He took a shower, changed into a clean black robe, and when he entered the study, Secretary Lin had already laid out all the documents. Xi Siyuan flipped through them quickly, signing his name with elegant, sweeping strokes. For every document he signed, Secretary Lin collected it; once finished, he would be free to go.
"Thank you for your hard work."
Xi Siyuan suddenly called out to him, "Did you bring the rest of the documents from the office?"
Secretary Lin paused, surprised. "Aren't you going to rest?"
Xi Siyuan waved a hand. "Bring them all here."
Secretary Lin looked at him, wanting to speak but holding back. In the end, he didn't ask further and went with the butler to the car to fetch the remaining files. Lately, Mr. Xi had been driven by some unknown force; he was already a workaholic, but for the past few days, he seemed to have evolved past the need for sleep. He had thought that attending the banquet would provide a reprieve, but here he was, planning to pull an all-nighter. No matter how young or healthy one was, the body couldn't withstand this kind of self-destruction.
Secretary Lin tried to advise him several times, but seeing that Xi Siyuan had already begun working, he settled for, "Please get some rest soon."
After he left, Xi Siyuan dismissed the butler as well. In the vast, quiet study, the only sounds were the rustling of paper and the scratching of a fountain pen.
*Get some rest soon?*
Every time he closed his eyes, all he saw was the charred corpse of Ning An, which he had been unable to wake no matter how he called to her. Even after his rebirth, even after confirming time and again that Ning An was still alive, the agony left over from his previous life—the nightmares that tormented him every night—still clung to him. For him, sleeping was more painful than being awake.
He reviewed a few more documents before his hand stopped involuntarily. His mind drifted back to the guarded, impatient look on Ning An's face when they parted.
*An'an doesn't seem to like me pestering her.*
Xi Siyuan threw his pen down in frustration, a flicker of remorse crossing his deep, indifferent eyes. He suddenly felt uncertain if leaking the scandal about Qin Wang and Tang Meng had been a mistake. Had he pushed too hard again?
In his previous life, if he hadn't pressured her so much, if he had given her more trust and time, Ning An would not have left him behind...
Self-reproach and reflection haunted Xi Siyuan for hours. By the time he finished reviewing all the documents, the morning sun was filtering through the curtains, casting golden beads of light onto the soft carpet.
Xi Siyuan set down his pen and rose to return to the bedroom. The butler had already woken up and approached to ask what he wanted for breakfast. Outside the window, birds hopped happily in the magnolia tree. Xi Siyuan paused to watch for a moment, then calmly ordered, "Have someone install screens on all the windows in the house."
"Oh?" The villa had only been furnished a few days ago; why the sudden change?
"Are you... dissatisfied with the style?" the butler asked tentatively.
"I’ll be keeping a cat in the future."
"You want to keep a cat?"
"The young mistress..."
The word "mistress" reached his lips, but Xi Siyuan forced it back down. He corrected himself, "A friend will be staying here for a while, and she will be bringing a cat. Have someone prepare for it."
Those who had hurt Ning An were not worthy of receiving her love again. And neither was he; he was no longer fit to call her his young mistress.