Sheng Zhiyu paused, his brow deeply furrowed. "So you're just acting out of spite against me? Xu Shiyan, I said it before, I will treat you well, and things between Nuonuo and me aren't what you think."
"Treat me well?"
Xu Shiyan wore a half-smile, unable to keep the corners of her lips from lifting. "Sheng Zhiyu, the way you call 'treating me well' is watching me suffer through hell on Qiongzhou Island with your own eyes, while you pair up with my own sister?"
Before she could even finish, Xu Nuo bit her lip and cut in. "Sister, sending you to Qiongzhou Island back then was letting you suffer. But Qiongzhou Island has such beautiful scenery nowadays, and you're perfectly fine, so why do you keep bringing up the past? Sister... are you still blaming me?"
Hearing this, Sheng Zhiyu's expression grew somewhat colder.
Nuonuo was right. Even though he had never been to Qiongzhou Island, how desolate could it really be?
It was all just Xu Shiyan exaggerating to play the victim and win sympathy.
"Enough, Shiyan," Sheng Zhiyu said, his voice dropping a few degrees. "When Aunt Xu and the others sent you to Qiongzhou Island, it was for your own good. Why must you keep holding a grudge? Now that everything is in the past, and we're willing to make it up to you—since you're back now, can't you just act normal?"
*Everything is in the past.*
Those few words sounded so utterly weightless.
Xu Shiyan stroked the scar on her index finger.
Scars like this were truly the most ordinary thing imaginable.
Everyone on Qiongzhou Island was covered in scars, their bones shattered and pieced back together.
Yet her own family had sent her to Qiongzhou Island, where she faced near-death experiences and endless torment.
And they felt she should peacefully and calmly accept the punishment they had inflicted upon her?
"Don't ever bring up calling off the wedding again," Sheng Zhiyu said indifferently. "Grandpa is about to undergo surgery. If you have even a shred of conscience, stop upsetting him."
He truly didn't like Xu Shiyan.
Yet nothing mattered more than Grandpa's health.
Grandpa Sheng?
Xu Nuo narrowed her eyes, asking with ambiguous intent, "You mean... you're unwilling to call off the wedding because of Grandpa Sheng?"
"Yes." Sheng Zhiyu lowered his voice, a hint of worry in his tone. "He's stubborn, and his current health can't take any shocks. If you talk about breaking off the engagement now, it will only make him anxious."
"Fine."
Xu Shiyan agreed offhandedly. "I'll cure Grandpa Sheng."
Even without Sheng Zhiyu, she had already planned to heal Elder Sheng.
It was just that, to rid herself of this marriage, she needed to settle matters with the Sheng Family as quickly as possible.
"Just you? Do you have any idea how many famous doctors we've invited, and every single one of them said the old man's condition is terminal?" Sheng Zhiyu laughed in bitter exasperation.
Xu Shiyan arched an eyebrow. "That's my business. I just hope you keep your word when the time comes."
Come to think of it, Qiongzhou Island was a miraculous place.
Everyone there was desperate to survive, which meant it produced no end of capable people.
Take Ghost Doctor Grandpa from Qiongzhou Island, for instance—he was far more competent than this bunch of third-rate doctors.
Without bothering with the two of them any longer, Xu Shiyan turned and left.
Sheng Zhiyu watched her retreating figure, his brows locked in a tight frown.
Xu Nuo also bit her lip, her expression filled with worry. "Brother Zhiyu, Grandpa Sheng's health is poor. If Sister keeps throwing tantrums out of spite, I'm afraid Grandpa Sheng's condition will only get worse..."
"She's just got too much time on her hands," Sheng Zhiyu said with a darkening face. "I'll talk to Mingxuan properly and have her settle down at the company. I'll make sure she gets familiar with the business operations too, so she doesn't end up a total failure."
Xu Shiyan had no inkling of Sheng Zhiyu's thoughts.
After leaving the club, she made a trip to her former art studio.
Before being sent to Qiongzhou Island, a large number of stray cats had gathered near her art studio.
Back then, a whole bunch of feral felines would cluster together, looking rather like cats holding a formal meeting.
Now that the studio was closed, she had no idea what had happened to that pack of strays.
She walked along in an unhurried daze, and by the time she arrived, the night had deepened.
Accompanied by a few meows, Xu Shiyan followed the sound and looked over.
In the shadows of the night, a man was crouching down, holding a ham sausage to tease a little stray cat. His bewitchingly handsome face carried an air of casual nobility, swaying like the moonlight.
It was Bo Jinke.
Xu Shiyan paused.
What was he doing here?
This area wasn't completely desolate, but because the art studio had closed down, very few people ever came by.
She certainly hadn't expected to run into Bo Jinke here.
The man's slender fingers were exceptionally elegant, making even the act of teasing a little black cat pleasing to the eye.
"Little Black."
His voice was melodic, but the little black cat before him stubbornly tilted its head, arrogantly averting its gaze from the ham sausage in his hand.
Very well.
A thoroughly haughty cat.
Bo Jinke seemed used to it, however. Pinching the back of its neck and staring at the small black cat, he said in a cool tone, "Eat up, or I'll have you sent away to be neutered."
The corners of Xu Shiyan's lips curved upward.
Right on cue, her phone buzzed with a text message.
The message was from Jiang Min.
"Shiyan, are you certain you want to call off the wedding and choose that Mr. Bo? I heard that all eighteen blind-date candidates Elder Sheng sent him were sent home in tears. Such a ruthless man."
Xu Shiyan's gaze landed on Bo Jinke not far away, a lazy, intrigued glint in the depths of her eyes.
After a moment, she crunched down on the candy in her mouth and replied in a leisurely manner: "He'll do."
What a fine man.
Self-disciplined, looked after An'an.
And... liked the little black cat she used to keep.
Xu Shiyan's gaze swept over the plump little stray cats that had been fed round by Bo Jinke, then glanced one last time at the haughty, meowing little black cat. Without going over to disturb them, she hailed a taxi and returned to the Xu Family home alone.
Meanwhile, beside the art studio not far away.
Bo Jinke's thumb brushed over the little black cat's round head as he casually unlocked his phone.
A text message popped up.
"Brother, did you go to the art studio again?"
"Mmm."
"What a coincidence. If that missing eldest Miss Xu is the boss lady of Qiongzhou Island, then she might really be the person you're looking for, because she's also the owner of the art studio."
Bo Jinke narrowed his eyes.
Over the years, he had frequently visited the art studio.
Simply because, years ago, he had once caught sight of the girl of his dreams near this very studio.
Yet three years had passed, and he had never seen her again.
If Xu Shiyan was both the guesthouse owner and the art studio's owner...
Could she be the person he had been searching for all these years?
Just then, Ning Qun replied with another message.
"Still, this eldest Miss Xu is engaged to Zhiyu. Grandpa Sheng seems to really like her; even though his health is poor, he's deliberately inviting her to the family banquet in a couple of days."
The image of the young woman's sly expression flashed quickly through Bo Jinke's mind, and the corners of his thin lips suddenly curved upward.
"How about I offer Mr. Bo a business collaboration in a few days?"
He didn't return to the Sheng Family often.
But for this family banquet, he didn't mind going back to take a look.
And elsewhere.
When Xu Shiyan arrived home, the expressions of the Xu Family members inside were each quite different.
Most of their eyes held displeasure, however, while Mother Xu's eyes were filled with deep anxiety.
The moment Xu Shiyan stepped into the foyer, Xu Minghua said coldly, "You still have the nerve to come back? What on earth were you thinking? Flirting with Bo Jinke right in front of A-yu—do you have any idea who Bo Jinke is?!"