Everything was out of control.

An Yi raised his hands, one hand messing up Yan Chen’s hair, the other tearing Yan Chen’s arm from around his waist.

He had never imagined that Yan Chen would do this to him one day. Just the thought of it made his heart race, and he couldn’t hold on for too long.

He tensed all over.

He muttered, trying to push Yan Chen away, but unexpectedly Yan Chen looked up and met his bewildered gaze, then rolled his Adam’s apple twice.

An Yi’s head buzzed, his ears ringing, unable to hear anything.

Yan Chen stood up, wiping away the remnants of moisture from his lips.

He reached for An Yi’s hand, but the moment their fingertips touched, An Yi woke up as if electrified. He pushed Yan Chen away with all his strength, pulled up his pants, and ran into the yard in panic.

“An Yi!” Yan Chen chased after him.

With a loud “bang”, the gate was closed by the wind, narrowly missing Yan Chen’s face.

Yan Chen pushed the door, but it wouldn’t budge.

He glanced over to the side, behind the low wall, An Yi, fearing that he would climb over, rushed into the house like a thief, locking the door tightly behind him.

Yan Chen scratched his head, leaned against the door, and lit another cigarette.

It took a long time for the fire in his body to be suppressed.

The bedroom on the second floor was always dark. He sighed heavily.

By midnight, Yan Chen left in disappointment.

There were still many things to deal with in Jin Hai, and he couldn’t stay in Ling’an for too long.

Before returning to Jin Hai, he went to the Xie family again, this time without disturbing anyone, just looking from afar across the fence and the wall.

Xie Nancang and An Yi were sweeping snow in the yard, while Xie Fei Nian sat on the rocking chair under the porch, leisurely smoking a cigarette and directing his two obedient grandchildren to work. The cat lay at the old man’s feet, occasionally flicking its tail. After An Yi finished his work, he picked up the cat and sat next to Xie Fei Nian, chatting with him. Xie Nancang brought a plate of washed fruits, and the three of them sat together, chatting and laughing.

Yan Chen had never seen An Yi smile so freely and relaxed.

Since he first saw An Yi at the age of sixteen, this person had always looked pitiful, silently gritting his teeth and persevering through everything. A smile on An Yi’s face was an extremely rare luxury.

Yan Chen watched for a long time before turning away.

The Art Bank was still in the trial operation stage, and many plans deviated from expectations during the actual process, requiring timely strategic adjustments.

Yan Chen was busy and couldn’t free himself. Finally, before the Spring Festival, he settled on the general direction, and the members of the project team could go home for the New Year with peace of mind.

Yan Heng and Yan Jin called Yan Chen one after another, asking him to come home. They said Dad had long since calmed down, but had been unwilling to lose face. As long as Yan Chen softened his stance and gave each other a step, the matter of coming out could be put to rest.

Yan Chen went to Xichuan, but didn’t enter the Yan family’s gate. After giving flowers to An Ya at the cemetery, he dealt with a few official matters and flew back to Jin Hai overnight.

During the Spring Festival, the Art Bank collaborated with a local private art museum, exhibiting several collections, including the porcelain statue of the young girl he had originally purchased.

It was placed on a separate display stand, emitting a warm and beautiful color under the lights, like mutton-fat jade.

Yan Chen visited it every day.

During the exhibition, some people inquired about the collection price of this porcelain statue, but Yan Chen refused, citing the reason of permanent collection by the Art Bank.

After the Spring Festival, the registration for the first phase of funding support program of the Art Bank officially ended, and for the next two months, various groups gradually collected the works for the competition evaluation, with each group’s top five selected by authoritative experts.

To avoid suspicion, Yan Chen couldn’t go to find An Yi, and the matter of project selection was entrusted to the deputy general manager, Su Fan, to handle.

The other business of the Art Bank was also progressing smoothly, without Yan Chen needing to monitor it around the clock.

He hadn’t been this leisurely in a long time.

The days of drinking, racing cars, riding horses, and gambling with Qi Wenxing and those people seemed distant, as if they had happened in a previous life.

He felt uncomfortable with so much free time. He couldn’t go to find An Yi, and he couldn’t muster any interest in doing anything else. So, he simply went to Europe to ski, trying to vent his excess energy through extreme sports.

When he received the selection results from his assistant, he was leaping over the final steep slope of the Alberg Mountain in Austria.

An Yi won first prize in the ceramics group with a polychrome flower and bird double-eared vase.

Upon hearing this news, An Yi’s heart was filled with apprehension, overshadowing his joy, because he knew that this project was spearheaded by Yan Chen. He feared that his award this time might not be purely deserved.

On the contrary, Xie Fei Nian seemed to take it for granted, saying, “The student I personally taught, it would be strange if he didn’t get first place.”

Xie Nancang joked, “If I had known that, I would have signed up too and made some money.”

“Go away, does your face turn red when you say that?” Xie Fei Nian tossed him a cat treat. “An An has only been learning from me for less than two years, and he’s already about to graduate. Look at what you can do with your hands. You didn’t inherit anything from me.”

An Yi smiled, “Nancang ge can code very well.”

Xie Fei Nian snorted, “But can’t ride any horse.”

Xie Nancang smiled, put the luggage in the car, and asked An Yi, “Just this one suitcase?”

“Yes,” An Yi was going to Jin Hai to attend the award ceremony, expected to last about a week. “There’s no need to bring too much.”

He scratched the fat orange cat in his arms. “Be a good boy and listen to grandpa.”

Xie Fei Nian took the cat and waved to them, “Go on, take it easy on the road.”

The weather had turned warmer, and the willow trees on both sides of the road had already budded and sprouted leaves, presenting a lush green scenery.

An Yi squinted his eyes in the brilliant spring sun, his thick eyelashes tinged with a light golden color.

Since receiving the news of winning the award, he had been very nervous, because he hadn’t seen Yan Chen since that absurd snowy night when they parted ways. Although almost three months had passed, recalling it still made his scalp tingle and his body heat up.

The support program was hosted by the Art Bank, and high-level executives would definitely attend the awards ceremony. An Yi especially hoped that Yan Chen wouldn’t show up, otherwise it would be very awkward.

“We’re here,” Xie Nancang parked the car on the side of the road, regretting, “I really want to go in and watch you receive the award, but the company’s meeting has already been scheduled, and I can’t cancel it.”

“You go ahead with your business,” An Yi smiled, “I’ll show you the trophy when I get back home, it’s the same.”

“Okay,” Xie Nancang patted the steering wheel, “I’ll take you out for dinner tonight, and I’ll call you after I finish.”

An Yi nodded, and after watching Xie Nancang drive away, he turned around and looked at the three-story glass curtain wall building in front of him, which used to be a small theater and was later converted into the office headquarters of the Art Bank.

He took a deep breath and walked into the lobby.

A woman in professional attire saw the invitation in his hand and immediately led him to his seat in the venue.

The venue was divided into three areas: left, middle, and right. The seats of the 20 winners were concentrated in the front row of the middle section, while the left and right sides were for cooperative sponsors, media seats, and invited industry insiders.

An Yi was seated in the second row by the aisle, and the seats in the front row were all empty, reserved for senior executives of the Art Bank and the title sponsor. On his right were the first-place winners of calligraphy, seal cutting, and traditional Chinese painting.

Everyone was quite reserved, smiling and nodding to each other in greeting, then lowering their heads to pretend to be busy with their phones.

An Yi intended to take a look at the name tags on the front row seats, but as soon as he poked his head out, a dark shadow loomed over him, gently pressing against the back of his head and pushing him back.

An Yi looked up and met a bright and vigorous smiling face.

“Hey, Yi ge!” Qi Wenxing flashed eight big white teeth at him. “I haven’t seen you in over two years, right? Do you still remember me?”

An Yi nodded. Qi Wenxing was also there on the night Yan Chen said he wanted to play enough with him before sending him away. He couldn’t possibly forget.

Qi Wenxing extended a hand and smiled, “Let me first congratulate you, first place, impressive! The porcelain vase you made is already placed in their family study. Yan Chen knew about it and nearly spat blood.”

An Yi shook hands with him and couldn’t help but glance towards the entrance of the venue upon hearing Yan Chen’s name.

“Don’t look, he’s not coming today,” Qi Wenxing raised the back of his hand to his mouth and lowered his voice, “That guy crippled himself skiing in Austria.”

An Yi was taken aback, “What?”

“He was showing off while skiing, doing front flips and back flips, exerting too much force with nowhere to go, and then with a ‘snap’—” Qi Wenxing clapped his hands and spread them open, raising his eyebrows, “crippled himself.”

An Yi frowned, “What do you mean, crippled? Where did he injure himself? How is he now?”

“Hard to say, I’m not a doctor.”

Qi Wenxing stole a glance at his expression and exaggeratedly sighed.

“This guy is really unlucky. Originally, Uncle Yan had frozen all his cards. Last year, he spent half a million to buy that white porcelain you made, and then ate instant noodles for several months. This year, he finally earned some money on his own, and then he cripples himself. He can’t even afford a caretaker, tsk tsk.”

An Yi tightened his lips and leaned back in his seat.

Qi Wenxing handed him a note, “This is Yan Chen’s current address. If you’re worried, go see him. Probably, seeing you, he won’t feel as much pain.”

“…No thanks,” An Yi pushed the note back to him, “You’re good friends, you’ll take care of him.”

Qi Wenxing asked, “Aren’t you worried at all?”

An Yi shook his head. Whether he was worried or not, he shouldn’t knock on Yan Chen’s door.

Qi Wenxing was helpless, sitting back in his seat and quietly took out his phone to message Yan Chen. Yan Chen quickly replied with a photo of him giving the middle finger.

Many media outlets were present at the awards ceremony to promote the Art Bank.

Qi Wenxing, dressed in formal attire, went on stage to give a speech. At the beginning, he specifically conveyed Yan Chen’s regrets for not being able to attend and his congratulations and expectations for the winners as the CEO. Only then did An Yi believe that what Qi Wenxing had just said was probably true.

Was it a serious injury?

He had seen Yan Chen skiing, soaring up the slope like a falcon, how could he have fallen?

An Yi was absent-minded, and his smile was forced when taking the group photo on stage.

When the ceremony ended, all the winners moved to the conference room to register and confirm their information. The person in charge of the funding plan project group would also explain the follow-up details of the funding.

Halfway through the meeting, the door of the conference room was suddenly pushed open.

Everyone’s eyes turned, only to see a tall man in loose sportswear, with messy hair, pushing the door open. His dark eyes swept across the room, softened when they met An Yi’s gaze.

The person in charge of the project was surprised, “Mr… Mr. Yan?”

“Yeah.” Yan Chen slowed his breathing and entered the conference room.

An Yi saw that his left arm was in a cast, with a bandage hanging around his neck, suspending his left arm in front of him.

It didn’t look as serious as Qi Wenxing had said.

Yan Chen strode towards him, and An Yi immediately lowered his eyes, avoiding eye contact with him.

He felt the man stop behind him, and caught a glimpse of Yan Chen pulling out a chair and sitting down beside him. A low, slightly urgent voice sounded in his ear, “Continue, I’m just listening in.”

^[1]Author’s note:

Qi Wenxing: buddy, you’re in trouble, saying you’re dead doesn’t even get a reaction An Yi.