The moment Jiang Chenlin saw Su Qingran, the chaotic turmoil in his heart over the past few days suddenly quieted down.

A smile appeared on his lips, and he took a few large strides forward, ready to give her a hug.

But after only a few steps, he noticed the tall man walking behind Su Qingran.

Jiang Chenlin’s pupils instantly contracted, and his steps abruptly halted as he stared in disbelief at Pei Jingyan coming out.

Pei Jingyan didn’t look at him; instead, he walked out with his secretary.

As he passed by Su Qingran, he murmured something in a low voice, then strode away quickly, getting farther and farther.

Jiang Chenlin stood frozen in place, feeling like the bustling scene of the airport was suddenly covered with a blurry filter, sped up to 2.5x, turning into fragmented light in front of his eyes.

His throat felt dry and parched, and even his breathing seemed to tear painfully at his chest.

Su Qingran noticed that he had suddenly stopped moving, so she walked over and waved a hand in front of his eyes. “Jiang Chenlin, what’s wrong?”

But as soon as she asked, she realized his breathing was heavy, and his eyes were filled with suppressed emotions.

“What’s going on?” Although Su Qingran was usually a bit absent-minded in life, she could tell something was off this time. She touched Jiang Chenlin’s arm and asked, “Did something happen with the Jiang family? You’ve been acting strange all week.”

Seeing that he wasn’t responding, Su Qingran added, “Don’t worry. If it’s business-related, we can figure it out together.”

After a moment, Jiang Chenlin wrapped his arms around Su Qingran tightly.

They were in a busy airport hall, and although Su Qingran felt a bit embarrassed, she still reached out and gently patted Jiang Chenlin’s back to comfort him.

In the distance, Pei Jingyan turned to glance back at the two embracing. His dark eyes filled with a boundless, cold emptiness, devoid of light.

His hand tightened around the half-full cup of pine nut candies he had taken with him.

“Ranran, let’s go home,” Jiang Chenlin said after holding her for a while, finally letting her go.

“Okay.” Su Qingran looked at him with concern, but seeing that he didn’t seem ready to say anything and the bodyguard was still waiting nearby, she held back her questions.

The two of them got into the car together, with Jiang Chenlin and Su Qingran sitting in the back seat. Jiang Chenlin reached out, intertwined his fingers with hers, and held her hand tightly.

It was as if he was afraid of losing something.

Su Qingran looked at his profile, sighed, and rested her head on his shoulder.

Everything seemed warm and peaceful again, except for Jiang Chenlin. He lowered his gaze to the girl beside him and suppressed the emotions churning in his heart. “The company is having some trouble, but my mom says she can handle it.”

He lied.

But seeing Su Qingran’s relieved expression and the way she immediately sat up with concern, looking at him, Jiang Chenlin’s turbulent emotions calmed down a little.

All that remained was a deep, hollow emptiness.

He felt like he could step into a void at any moment.

“If you ever need my dad’s help, just say the word,” Su Qingran said seriously.

Jiang Chenlin nodded. “Yeah, though I think my grandpa will help take care of it too. Don’t worry too much.”

Su Qingran’s mood lightened as well, and she pulled out her phone to show Jiang Chenlin some photos. “By the way, let me show you the stones I collected this time.”

She enthusiastically explained the carving themes she had in mind for each one, then sighed.

“I’m just an extravagant sculptor. A lot of carvings these days are done to remove imperfections in the material. But me? I only carve with the finest stones.”

Jiang Chenlin ruffled her soft hair. “It’s alright. I’ll work hard and make money, so you can carve whatever you want.”

Su Qingran smiled, her eyes sparkling. “But if I win a prize in this competition, my value will skyrocket, and my fees won’t be what they used to be.”

Her master, after all, charged exorbitant fees for his work, priced by the gram.

Three years ago, a real estate tycoon from Hong Kong acquired a high-quality piece of white jade and commissioned Master Hong Yiru to carve a Guanyin statue.

In his early years, Master Hong worked on a wide variety of subjects, but after gaining fame in his thirties, he became particularly fond of carving Guanyin.

Over the decades, the price for one of his Guanyin statues soared to over 30 million yuan, as was the case for the one commissioned by the Hong Kong tycoon.

The statue was dignified and majestic, exuding calm and peace.

So, it wasn’t that Su Qingran lacked confidence; even though the industry had been impacted by 3D printing technology, with many machine-made carvings imitating handmade ones, machines were still just machines—they had no soul.