Chen Xiao was a step too slow and could only watch as Lu Nan casually picked out a whole bunch, as if she were selecting soldiers for battle. 

But after thinking for a moment, he didn’t stop her. 

People, when they’re feeling down, often need a way to vent. For example, he liked to spend time in arcades—maybe Lu Nan’s way of venting was through eating desserts? 

Six bowls of dessert were brought to the table, and Lu Nan asked Chen Xiao to pick first. 

Chen Xiao took the mango pomelo sago and prepared to choose a second one. 

Then he realized he had completely misjudged the situation. Lu Nan clearly considered the remaining five bowls all hers. 

Was she serious? Eating that much—did she even care about her stomach? 

Chen Xiao tapped his index finger on the table. “Lu Nan, you usually watch your diet. Don’t suddenly overdo it.” 

Lu Nan sighed. “You’re my boss, not my parent. Even if you were, I’m already an adult.” Why was he being so controlling? 

Chen Xiao insisted and carried away the two desserts with the most ice. 

“Hey!” Lu Nan protested, reaching to grab them back. 

Chen Xiao gave her a glance, then scooped a spoonful of the cold dessert into his mouth. 

Isn’t that childish? Lu Nan watched as he shamelessly did that and could only eat the three leftover bowls. 

Of course, by the time she reached the third one, she was already quite full. 

She covered her mouth and let out a small “Hiss…” from the cold. Meanwhile, Chen Xiao, whose own mouth was half-numb from the ice, said flatly, “Still think I took too much?” 

Lu Nan stubbornly insisted, “I could’ve finished them.” 

“Hmm, you can eat it. Then, when we leave the mall, I’ll take you to the hospital. How old are you? Punishing yourself for someone else’s mistake?” 

For a moment, neither of them spoke. 

Just over an hour ago, things between them had still been tense. 

Lu Nan didn’t know how to respond. She lowered her eyes and stared at the empty bowls, then sighed. Adults shouldn’t throw tantrums. “I should apologize. I was too harsh when we were eating noodles earlier. Something happened at home… I took it out on you.” 

Chen Xiao was momentarily stunned, then let out a quiet breath of relief. He had thought he was the one who made her cry. Good thing it wasn’t him! 

“Even if you’re in a bad mood, you shouldn’t take it out on your stomach,” Chen Xiao said carefully. “You mentioned that your family problems are bothering you? Just to clarify, I didn’t intentionally eavesdrop on your calls. It just so happened that a few times, in the taxi and such, you know, there was no way to avoid it.” He wanted to make his position clear. Apart from the taxi and feeding stray cats, there was also once at a welcome party, but he had stayed around the corner and never actually appeared, so he wouldn’t bring that up. 

Lu Nan pressed her lips together. “Hmm, I know.” 

“I can’t make any judgments about your parents—I’ve never met them, so I don’t have an objective stance. What I do want to say is that while we don’t get to choose the family we’re born into, we do get to choose the kind of life we want to live. Parents can only walk with us for part of the journey, but life is long, and the rest of the way, we have to walk on our own.” 

Chen Xiao gave a small smile. “Take my parents, for example. They split up when I was really young. At first, I couldn’t understand—why did other families seem so happy while mine felt like a battlefield? It took me a long time to come to terms with one thing: they did love each other once, but does love really last forever? I think relationships—whether between spouses or between parents and children—are never without reason. Every bond requires time, effort, and compromise. The truth is, not all parents have a loving heart. Some parents love themselves more than they love their children. 

It might sound harsh, especially when so many works of art glorify parental love as selfless and great. But isn’t there a saying? Art comes from life—but it also rises above it.” 

“I know.” Lu Nan nodded. She had come to understand this herself later on, but convincing others was always easier than convincing herself. 

Chen Xiao continued, “Anything you want—whether it’s love or money—you have to actively fight for it yourself. Anything you don’t want—things that others impose on you—you need to learn to reject. Even your own negative emotions, you have to let go of and move on. This is what I’ve realized over the past few years. I hope it helps you too.” 

Lu Nan lowered her head and fiddled with her spoon. 

Letting go and moving on—easier said than done. 

Lu Nan briefly explained that her emotional outburst was an apology to Chen Xiao. 

But Chen Xiao was sharp enough to realize that her pain stemmed from her family background. 

However, Lu Nan was more concerned with offering an explanation than having a heart-to-heart conversation. 

She didn’t want to talk too much about her personal matters with him, so she raised her head and asked a completely unrelated question: “Did you figure out where the smuggled goods came from?” 

Chen Xiao looked back at her, slightly puzzled. 

…What? How did they get to this topic? 

“You haven’t yet?” Lu Nan blinked, looking all innocent and curious. “But I took a picture of that logistics form at the wholesale market the other day—wasn’t that a solid lead? How come there’s no progress? Is it because of privacy regulations?” She recalled that unless someone was the sender, recipient, or an authorized pickup person, logistics companies wouldn’t disclose any shipping details without the original or a copy of the recipient’s ID. 

Chen Xiao’s expression shifted slightly. 

She was right. They had indeed been stuck at this point. Since he had no connections in Hailin City, trying to investigate from this angle had been quite a challenge. 

Lu Nan leaned in closer to Chen Xiao and spoke softly. “Actually, there’s no need to go through all the trouble of hiring a private detective. You already have a suspect, and getting a copy—or even the original—of their ID isn’t hard. As long as someone inside the provincial office is willing to help you…” 

Then, Lu Nan felt a sharp pain in her left cheek. “Hiss—” 

Noticing that Lu Nan had abruptly changed the subject to avoid revealing her discomfort, Chen Xiao felt a bitter sensation in his heart. 

After hearing the girl’s nonsensical ramblings clearly, Chen Xiao reached out and pinched her cheek. “Talk properly.” 

Lu Nan covered her face and sat back down. “Mmm!” 

Chen Xiao’s expression turned serious. “Is that how you see me? Someone who’ll do anything to get what they want? Someone who’d push He Manlin to break professional ethics and steal company employees’ personal information for me?” His tone grew harsher with each question. 

Isn’t that the case? In the previous life, even though the details of the Yuan Chuan smuggling incident in Hailin City were never made public, the fact that Xiang Yunfeng was fired and blacklisted from the industry, you were reassigned to headquarters, and He Manlin resigned—those events happened one after another. If there’s no connection between them, I don’t believe it. 

Lu Nan didn’t speak, but her eyes clearly expressed what was on her mind. 

Chen Xiao couldn’t help but laugh in frustration. 

When he laughed, Lu Nan felt a little uncertain. 

Chen Xiao smirked and said, “I can’t get the sender’s and receiver’s details from the logistics company through official means, but the order slip you took a picture of has the shipping time! Plus, you got me two bottles of the latest unauthorized Harmony liquor, and they have box cap codes. I can ask someone at headquarters to check the warehouse records for Harmony liquor during that timeframe and trace which distributor these unauthorized goods came from using the QR codes. I can even estimate when the next batch will be shipped. That way, catching them with solid evidence will be even more convincing. What, don’t think I can pull this off?” 

Hearing that, Lu Nan actually found it somewhat believable. She just hadn’t considered that Chen Xiao already had allies—wait, no, “allies” wasn’t the right word. More like… supporters. 

Seeing her reaction, Chen Xiao decided to stop there and softened his tone. “I’ve already basically pinpointed the source of the gray smuggled goods in Hailin City. I’m working on getting information from people around him and trying to convince them to redeem themselves by turning in the culprit.” 

Lu Nan’s mind clicked, suddenly realizing someone she had overlooked. She snapped her head up, her almond-shaped eyes widening at Chen Xiao. “Zhou Tian!” So, Chen Xiao’s words were not baseless after all. 

A clear expression appeared on Lu Nan’s face, mixed with a hint of embarrassment. 

Today, not only had she vented her frustration on him, but she had also unintentionally removed the long-standing “ends justify the means” label from his reputation. 

“It seems you’ve figured out who was involved in the smuggling,” Chen Xiao said, a slight look of surprise on his face, followed by a hint of admiration. 

Lu Nan didn’t deny it, because more than a month ago, she had pretended to guess the purpose of Chen Xiao’s investigation. At that time, the suspects were identified as Xiang Yunfeng and Wang Xinglong. Now, it wasn’t hard to guess between the two. 

She sighed. “I thought I could be of some help to you in this matter.” Lu Nan hadn’t planned to get involved, but after considering many factors, she decided to lend Chen Xiao a hand. However, it seemed he no longer needed her help—this showed just how clever Chen Xiao really was. 

Everything she knew was based on working backward from the “known outcome,” whereas Chen Xiao had pieced it all together purely from his own investigation and reasoning. 

“Oh? You think you can help me?” Chen Xiao asked with interest. 

“Brother Xiao, you probably don’t know where I interned before, do you?” Lu Nan teased. 

But in fact, Chen Xiao knew. 

He still remembered what Mr. Song from CIMC Logistics had said in the Sofitel Hotel lobby. That was the moment he had first taken notice of the newcomer, Lu Nan. 

Chen Xiao tapped his fingers on the table. “So, what was holding you back before? Were you evaluating my character? Or did you just not bring this up earlier because you had a problem with me?” 

Lu Nan flushed slightly at being called out so directly. 

Chen Xiao smiled helplessly and let the matter go. “I’m almost done here. You don’t need to get involved anymore, so it doesn’t cause any more trouble.” 

Lu Nan didn’t argue, just sighed. “Alright, then. Just remember, I owe you one. I’ll repay you with a big favor in the future.” 

Since when did she owe me anything? Why am I unaware of this? If anything, I still owe you a favor, don’t I? Chen Xiao blinked. 

Looking at the seven little ones on the chair next to him and the six empty bowls on the table, 

Lu Nan said, “The video material was settled a long time ago. Today, the seventh unicorn that summoned the dragon was caught by you.” 

Hearing this, Chen Xiao became interested. “Shouldn’t I have been the one to summon it? Or was I forced to win it?” 

“Just tell me if you want it.” 

“Of course,” Chen Xiao replied with a smile. 

Since her phone had run out of battery, Lu Nan asked Chen Xiao, “What time is it?” After learning it was already 4:30 in the afternoon, she said, “Let’s go. I still need to find someone to change the dormitory lock.” 

Chen Xiao didn’t take to heart the favor Lu Nan mentioned. He took a taxi and dropped her off at Xinguang Yipin. As she got out of the car, he said to her, “Take some time to adjust your mood first. Don’t rush to contact those who have been troubling you. Sometimes, disappearing for a while isn’t such a bad thing.” It sounded like he was speaking from experience. 

Escaping may be shameful, but it’s effective. Lu Nan nodded. 

Back at the dormitory, Lu Nan charged her phone, then contacted Teacher Zhang to let her know that the lock needed to be changed. After the new lock was installed, she would leave the spare key with Teacher Zhang. 

Teacher Zhang had no objections. “But I’m not home today. No rush, just give it to me later.” 

Lu Nan said, “I’m really sorry for troubling you about yesterday.” 

“It’s no problem.” Teacher Zhang seemed to have something else to do. After saying a few more words, she hung up. “I should be home tomorrow and the day after. Call me then.” 

“Okay, Teacher Zhang.” 

… 

Around 8 p.m., Lu Nan looked at her fully charged phone, took a few deep breaths, and then pressed redial on the most frequent call. 

The waiting tone echoed with each beep, and Lu Nan’s heart involuntarily started to race. 

The reason her mother had a breakdown today was simple. It was entirely related to her ex-husband, Lu Nan’s father, and nothing else. 

Lu Nan didn’t know whether she was responsible for this situation or not. 

It all started with the box of liquor Lu Nan had sent home. Her mother had complained about it, saying it was useless, but after looking it up online, she discovered the brand was quite expensive, over a hundred yuan per bottle. So, she opened the box of six bottles, divided them into three portions, and used them as gifts for relatives during the Mid-Autumn Festival. 

It should be noted that even though Lu Nan’s parents had been divorced for years, her mother and her ex-sister-in-law still kept in touch and had a good relationship. 

Today, Lu Nan’s mother went to her ex-sister-in-law’s house, and on the way, she ran into her ex-husband. 

If it had been just that, it would have been fine—she could have just turned and left. 

What made things worse was that her ex-husband had brought a woman and a small baby in his arms.