Qi Wang was making coffee at the counter, but every few minutes, he would glance at the phone lying next to him, clearly distracted.

Ten minutes ago, he even accidentally made a latte instead of the Americano the customer asked for, a mistake that was extremely rare for him.

But he just couldn’t concentrate.

Since Yu Nian returned home yesterday, he hadn’t been able to contact him, and now it had been almost twenty-four hours.

In such a short time, let alone Yu Nian just going home, even if he went missing and went to the police station to file a report, they wouldn’t accept the case.

But he couldn’t shake off the feeling of unease.

Yu Nian, who was usually clingy, wouldn’t ignore him for so long.

He sent messages asking what Yu Nian was doing, if he had woken up, and when he would come back, but all went unanswered.

He suspected that perhaps Yu Nian’s phone was broken, or maybe he was too happy at home to think about him.

But each of these suspicions was quickly overturned.

Yu Nian wasn’t like that.

---

Qi Wang worked until the end of the day.

At nine in the evening, he called Yu Nian again, but his phone was still off.

He couldn’t endure it anymore and changed into casual clothes before heading to the lounge.

In the lounge, there was only Song Yunchun sitting there, staring blankly at her phone, looking very upset, even a bit melancholic.

Qi Wang couldn’t help but pause for a moment, but he couldn’t afford to care for Song Yunchun. He went straight to the point and asked, “Ms. Song, do you know where Yu Nian’s family is?”

Furrowing his brows, he spoke quickly, “Yu Nian hasn’t been in touch since he returned home yesterday. I’m very worried about him.”

When Song Yunchun heard this, she blinked and looked at Qi Wang.

The anxiety on Qi Wang’s face was genuine. In the year she had known him, she had never seen him so agitated.

Qi Wang was always aloof and serious, indifferent to most things. He could be described as unmoved by even the collapse of Mount Tai, or outright cold-hearted.

This was the first time she had seen him so anxious, even reckless.

She sighed lightly in her heart.

She had misjudged.

Right under her nose, Qi Wang and Yu Nian had a relationship so different from usual, their relationship was close, and their gazes towards each other were gentle, yet she hadn’t noticed anything.

Her phone was still on the table, and she remembered what Mr. Pei had said opposite her, making it almost impossible to meet Qi Wang’s eyes.

This usually polite and gentle Mr. Pei, in a rare cold tone, informed her that his brother Yu Nian and her restaurant employee Qi Wang were in a relationship.

“Miss Song, you may think we’re old-fashioned or even feudal, but from the perspective of guardians, we will never allow our barely eighteen-year-old brother to be with someone whose background is unknown, especially when his past is so checkered.”

Mr. Pei’s tone was calm, but his words were as heavy as a mountain.

Song Yunchun felt her scalp tingling.

This was the first time she had felt the dominance of Mr. Pei so directly. Usually, he was gentle and warm, almost making her forget his prominent status, but a single sentence could crush someone like her, an insignificant commoner.

She wanted to defend Qi Wang for a moment, but when she opened her mouth, she found herself powerless to say anything.

Now, Qi Wang was standing in front of her, asking about Yu Nian’s whereabouts.

Song Yunchun rubbed her forehead. She had never had such a headache before.

“Yu Nian is fine, you don’t need to worry,” she sighed wearily, “He just went home. His brother and sister brought him back… but they said Yu Nian might never come back to work again.”

As she said this, she paused, feeling a bit dazed herself.

Perhaps Mr. Pei and Yu Xinli wouldn’t believe it, but she genuinely liked Yu Nian. Knowing that this lovely and sensible young master might never come to see her again filled her with a sense of loss.

This made her expression even more solemn.

She thought of what she had to say next, and she almost couldn’t bear it.

But she had to say it.

She looked up at Qi Wang, her voice a bit muffled, and her words stopped there, “Yu Nian’s brother and sister want to meet you and talk to you.”

Qi Wang was taken aback and immediately understood Song Yunchun’s meaning.

Yu Nian’s brother and sister wanted to meet him, which could only mean one thing.

His relationship with Yu Nian had been discovered by Yu Nian’s family, and now his family was intervening, wanting to take Yu Nian back home.

He had already sensed something was wrong when he heard that Yu Nian wouldn’t be coming to the restaurant again, but when he heard Song Yunchun’s last sentence, his heart skipped a beat.

The incandescent light in the restaurant lounge was bright, casting his shadow diagonally on the ground, making it look long and thin. With his head slightly bowed, his expression was indiscernible.

Qi Wang remained silent for a moment, then calmly nodded and said, “Okay.”

He had thought about facing Yu Nian’s family, but he never expected this day to come so soon.

To be honest, this wasn’t a good time. He hadn’t prepared anything, hadn’t achieved anything, and hadn’t become a shelter for Yu Nian.

He was just a humble coffee maker in a small restaurant, like a floating weed, unable to take care of even himself, let alone Yu Nian.

But he had no choice.

Because Yu Nian must be waiting for him.

After a few seconds of contemplation, he asked Song Yunchun in a low voice, “I can meet with them at any time, But could you tell me if Yu Nian is okay at home, what are his brother and sister like, will they… hurt him?”

He said the last two words very lightly and reluctantly, but he asked very seriously, his brows furrowed, genuinely worried.

If Song Yunchun answered yes, he might entertain some irrational thoughts.

Song Yunchun almost wanted to laugh. What was the point of worrying about this now?

But seeing Qi Wang’s expression and vaguely understanding a bit about his background, she could only sigh deeply.

“He’s fine, his brother and sister are civilized people and they’ve always been fond of him. They wouldn’t resort to violence. But you…” Song Yunchun looked at Qi Wang with regret, “Do you know what you might be facing? It’s not good to be in a relationship with just anyone, but you insist on being with Yu Nian. Do you know who he is? Do you know who his brother and sister are? Huh?”

Qi Wang shook his head lightly.

He furrowed his brows slightly, hesitating, “Isn’t he a distant relative of yours?”

That’s what Song Yunchun had always told him, and the information revealed by Yu Nian seemed to match.

With parents gone early, the once affluent family now fallen on hard times, the siblings had to both take care of him and worry about livelihood. Therefore, it was difficult to balance, neglecting care and attention to Yu Nian.

Of course, he knew, even from a declining family, there was still a gap between him and Yu Nian.

But he had also seriously considered the future.

He was indeed still too young now, but given a few more years, he would strive to catch up, become outstanding enough to take care of Yu Nian’s every need.

By then, perhaps Yu Nian’s family wouldn’t be so opposed.

It was like an unspoken wish, like the note he had hidden in the wall when he was a child.

It was fanciful thinking, but tempting.

Especially when Yu Nian lay in his arms, a kiss on Yu Nian’s face would make every day feel full of anticipation.

But now, he sensed a clue from Song Yunchun’s words.

He asked sharply, “Isn’t he your relative?”

Song Yunchun could only smile bitterly, “I don’t have such relatives.”

She sighed, picked up the iPad on the table, typed in keywords, and searched a few pages of news before pushing it in front of Qi Wang.

On the page, Pei Zhao and Yu Xinli were cutting the ribbon in front of a newly completed building.

Pei Zhao was elegant and composed, while Yu Xinli was cold and proud. Both faced the camera calmly, exuding an air of refinement cultivated since childhood. Even though they interacted with warmth and friendliness, there was an inherent nobility.

And a little further down, there were introductions about them.

Yu Xinli, Chairwoman and CEO of Ke Yun Group.

Pei Zhao, CFO of Ke Yun Group.

“I said Yu Nian was my distant relative just to avoid trouble. In fact, he’s the young master of Ke Yun Group,” Song Yunchun said softly, “After Yu Nian ran away from home, his brother and sister came to me, worried that he might be mistreated here, so they specifically came to ask me to take care of him, and I entrusted him to you. Now that I think about it, I was indeed wrong.”

If only she had spoken up earlier, maybe they wouldn’t be in this situation today.

But Qi Wang didn’t pay attention to what Song Yunchun was saying at all.

He flipped through the news, one page after another. The figures of Pei Zhao and Yu Xinli flashed before his eyes, the more he looked, the more shocked he felt.

These familiar names formed a completely unfamiliar world, as if they were events happening in a parallel universe.

His eyelashes trembled imperceptibly.

He still found it hard to believe that the Third Young Master, who lived quietly under the protection of his siblings, like a precious pearl in their hands, could be the same person who played the piano and joked around with him in the restaurant.

But soon, his fingers stopped at an old news article from a few years ago.

It was about Yu Xinli visiting an orphanage sponsored by the company.

Because it was a charity event, she rarely brought her younger brother along, but no frontal photos were allowed to be taken, and the media only captured a side profile of the Third Young Master.

But Qi Wang recognized him at a glance.

That silhouette, that profile, was unmistakably the person who had slept quietly by his side just two nights ago.

Qi Wang’s fingers froze for a long time.

A sense of immense absurdity washed over him.

He looked at Song Yunchun in disbelief.

Song Yunchun looked guilty.

She had never encountered such a tricky situation in her life since her youth.

She reluctantly said to Qi Wang, “Qi Wang, by now you should understand what I’m trying to say. Yu Nian… he’s a true young master born with a silver spoon in his mouth. What he has had since birth is something ordinary people can only dream of throughout their lives. Such a person is just too distant from us.”

Qi Wang didn’t respond.

He held onto the tablet tightly, his gaze falling once again on the profile of Yu Nian on the screen.

This figure was so familiar yet so strange.

Song Yunchun was tactful and gentle, afraid of hurting him, so she said Yu Nian was too distant from them.

But he understood very well that what Song Yunchun truly meant was – Yu Nian was simply out of his reach.

In this brightly lit lounge, Qi Wang realized that the harsh words he had said to Yu Nian earlier had hinted at the outcome long ago.

Indeed, they were as different as clouds and mud.

^[1]Author’s note: There are only a few chapters left until the end, I’ll try to reunite them soon, but I’ve used up all my saved drafts, so it’s time to rush to finish the … Continue reading