Not only Chen An was blocked. The day after Su Yun fainted, Zhou Siyang finally had someone to vent to and started to pour out his grievances.

“I don’t know what to do, really don’t know…” he muttered repeatedly, even thinking about borrowing a cigarette from Chen An, then suddenly remembering that Chen An doesn’t smoke. He doesn’t either.

His head drooped again heavily, as if lacking strength, and he helplessly asked, “Chen An, what should I do?”

The winter light wasn’t bright. When Chen An opened the blackout curtain and looked outside, a narrow beam of light hit his eyelids.

He withdrew his gaze and thought about what Zhou Siyang had mentioned earlier about Yi Ni blocking him.

“Did you make it clear?”

“Mm…?” Zhou Siyang, immersed in his frustration, seemed to snap out of it for a moment upon hearing this, then responded, “I sent her a message last night… she didn’t agree.”

Chen An let go of the curtain, and it fell again, plunging the room into darkness.

“As expected.”

Perhaps the result he could have imagined before sending the message was the same, and Zhou Siyang fell silent as if he had nothing more to say.

After a while.

He hesitated, “I didn’t tell her about my situation… she seems cold, but she’s actually soft-hearted.”

“Using pity to manipulate her?” Chen An wasn’t sure whether to laugh or scold, “I can’t believe you came up with that.”

Zhou Siyang took a deep breath, “I have no choice.”

Chen An’s voice was calm and deep, “Tell her you’re depressed? She’s not even depressed, so why should you be?”

Zhou Siyang was speechless, looking at him with hope, “Can you help me?”

After thinking for a while, the only person he could turn to was Chen An, since Yu Jiao Jiao was abroad. Chen An was evidently more capable than Yu Jiao Jiao in handling matters, having solved the milk tea shop issue and making Yi Ni answer the phone and agree to meet him at the tea house.

That meant there must be another way, especially since his sister was Lin Ayi’s nurse.

“How can I help?” Chen An said, “I’m here to talk business.”

Right. Zhou Siyang’s primary reason for seeking Chen An was to advance the project, and the location was even set at the hospital because of Su Yun.

Initially, they were talking business, but after a brief conversation, Zhou Siyang completely steered the topic away.

He paused, glanced at the shared wall with the next room, and lowered his voice.

“Chen An, you know… I love her, I really love her.”

He couldn’t talk to Su Yun, who was on the verge of collapse, nor could he confide in his disappointed father.

At this moment, he felt as though he wanted to tear his heart out and show it to people.

It was as if, once Chen An knew, Yi Ni would understand.

“I’m flying to Europe tomorrow, for a month. I can’t help you, but I can give you some advice,” Chen An said.

Zhou Siyang grasped at the last straw, “What?”

“First, solve the problem with your aunt, then go to her,” Chen An paused, then emphasized, “During this time, don’t show up. Otherwise, it will only push her farther away.”

Zhou Siyang pursed his lips, falling into a silent contemplation. After a while, he reluctantly nodded, knowing he had no other choice.

Chen An returned to his car, opened the armrest compartment, and grabbed a piece of candy. As he unwrapped it, his thoughts momentarily froze.

Inside, there was a variety of candy. He hadn’t expected to randomly pick a green-wrapped one.

Chen An shook the candy in his hand.

The last piece of candy he ate in elementary school was funeral candy, and since then, he hadn’t had any.

For a long time, he couldn’t even recall what sweetness tasted like.

When did he have it again?

Probably at the end of his second year of high school. He saw Yi Ni, who had just argued with Zhou Siyang, hiding in the equipment room, crying and stuffing something into her mouth.

He stood outside for a long time, waiting for her to finish crying, then quietly pushed the door open.

Candy wrappers were scattered all over the floor, and the sunlight outside the window cast colorful reflections on the floor. He found an unopened glass candy among the wrappers.

Green apple flavor.

The first bite was overwhelmingly sweet, but the aftertaste was entirely sour.

He had looked up the English word on the wrapper. It was a high-end imported candy. He heard that Zhou Siyang had asked his relatives studying in Denmark to send it, and without fail, a box was delivered to Yi Ni every week.

Chen An always believed that people who couldn’t love weren’t qualified to speak of love.

At that time, Zhou Siyang had something that Chen An could never reach.

But now, what Zhou Siyang didn’t have, he had.

As winter deepened, time moved slowly and quietly.

The Wanli Card had three bars. One was called “Desire,” which had a business nature and also offered the highest salary. The friend that Xuanzi mentioned worked there.

The other two were on the eighth floor, called “Deep Blue” and “White Tune.”

Because she refused to accompany customers for drinks, Manager Zhu assigned Yi Ni to the lowest-end bar, “White Tune.”

The work at a quiet bar was simply taking orders and serving drinks. Unless actively accompanying for drinks, there were no commissions.

Lily sighed beside her, “What a great opportunity, Desire is a members-only club. The customers who can get in are worth billions. If you get close to one, you won’t need to work anymore.

There was a princess who did that. She’s already immigrated with the boss.”

It wasn’t dark yet, and the bar had few customers. The live singer was testing the sound. Yi Ni bent down to pick up a leaf that had fallen from a bottle of flowers.

Lily casually leaned against the table and said enviously, “You’re so beautiful, you won’t lack big bosses.”

Yi Ni threw the leaf into the trash can and turned around, “Do you think they’re all stupid?”

Lily pulled out a chair and sat down, crossing her legs as she looked at her phone, “Rich people aren’t stupid. They always have to pay something. It’s a given.”

After the sound check, the music stopped, and the surrounding area fell into silence.

Lily’s phone was on speaker, and the sound was particularly noisy. Yi Ni was about to remind her to lower the volume when she heard her mutter:

“Chuangyuan… what is this about?”

Hearing the first two words, Yi Ni’s body suddenly stiffened.

The two were about three meters apart. Lily held her phone upright, and from this angle, Yi Ni could only see the shiny phone case.

She thought, it can’t be about batteries, right?

“They’re reading financial news,” a female server who happened to pass by leaned in and asked, “Can you understand it?”

“I don’t understand,” Lily shrugged nonchalantly, “I follow it every issue to get an idea. At least now I’ll know who it is when I meet them here.”

The woman felt she had a point. Even if she didn’t come to White Tune to drink, she would definitely stay at Wanli Card’s hotel. Who knows, maybe one day she would encounter a romantic encounter.

She leaned down, “Turn the volume up, let’s watch together.”

Standing, Yi Ni suddenly remembered the words Chen An left the last time they met. So naturally, and almost as if guided by fate, she loosened her grip on the cloth, propped her hand on the edge of the table, and slightly perked up her ears.

She wanted to hear what was so remarkable.

Chen An’s voice was undoubtedly pleasant, even when processed and transmitted with a slight static, the depth remained intact.

It felt like walking into a temple deep in the mountains, heavy and tranquil.

Yi Ni couldn’t see the screen, so she could only focus on the voice and content.

The two women across from her, however, seemed more interested in other aspects.

“How old is he?”

“How much is he worth?”

“Is he married?”

Yi Ni silently answered in her mind.

Around thirty, a little older than her.

Wealth… not sure. Someone mentioned it before, but she forgot.

No wife. His sister said he’s single.

“So young, handsome too. I wonder if he’s been to Wanli Card before. What type does he like?”

Yi Ni had already picked up the cloth again, her expression unchanged upon hearing this.

So far, what she knew was that his preferences included types like hers.

“There’s more in the next episode, let’s keep watching.” The woman eagerly tapped Lily’s phone screen.

Lily adjusted her posture, her arm stretched out flat on her legs. This gave Yi Ni a clear view of the screen.

Chen An sat in a genuine leather chair, facing the host. The ever-present deep black suit was now paired with a light blue inner lining, complementing the deep blue striped tie.

It softened the usual cold, capitalist look of black and white, adding a scholarly, elite aura.

Yi Ni majored in finance in university, so she could understand the host’s questions. She could also follow Chen An’s responses.

Some complex financial terms became easy to understand after he explained them, even Lily and the others were nodding and praising him for making sense.

Yi Ni couldn’t help thinking, if only her university professors had his ability, maybe the final exams wouldn’t have been full of red marks.

But he wasn’t a finance major. What did he study in undergrad? Did he pursue a master’s degree? When did he start his business? Where did the startup capital come from…

Her thoughts wandered farther and farther until she nearly lost track, but she snapped back to the moment.

What was she doing? Was she subconsciously refuting the idea of knowing nothing?

She truly didn’t understand him enough to fall for such an obvious tactic to intrigue people.

By the time she regained her focus, the interview had reached its final moments.

The host thanked him for his support and suddenly turned the conversation to a more personal topic.

“Can I ask a more private question?”

Lily, who loved following celebrities, was highly sensitive to the word “private” and immediately exclaimed, “Is this about his love life?!”

The two women exchanged a glance, and the air grew tense.

They were wrapped in this excited atmosphere.

Yi Ni suddenly recalled a scene from a novel she read a long time ago, one that was strikingly similar to what was happening now.

The male protagonist, as an outstanding investor, participated in a financial talk show called Face-to-Face.

At the end, the host asked him, after so many years on Wall Street, if there was anything he regretted.

The male protagonist paused for a moment, then replied, “The girl I like… she never looked at me.”

Yi Ni had been deeply moved by his reddened eyes back then, crying all night. The next day, she found a boy who aspired to be an investor to be her boyfriend.

But soon, she realized he couldn’t even figure out how much money to spend on a bowl of noodles. They broke up soon after.

She never imagined that years later, those words would come alive in reality.

Yi Ni stood there, listening.

“Why are you doing this?” Lily put down her phone, looking suspiciously at the woman who had clenched her fists. “You just mentioned the benefits of Desire. It’s not like you’re going to hit me.”

Yi Ni loosened her fingers, pulling at the corner of her mouth, feeling awkward.

Her mind was clearly messed up from years of reading novels. How could such a melodramatic scene happen in a serious financial channel?

But if Chen An truly acted like the elite man from the novel, she would slowly curl her lips and show a mocking smile.

The impression of capitalists in her mind was the same as what Chen Jingjing had described: flying everywhere, busy with work.

Their inherent pursuit of profit made them absolutely unwilling to waste any time or energy on businesses that had little or no return.

Let alone love, as described in the novels, a love so intense that it’s life or death.

Yi Ni rubbed her nose, stepped over the table, and opened the window, trying to shake off the ridiculous scene from a few minutes ago.

The winter wind was biting and cold, and she couldn’t help but sneeze. Suddenly, a hand reached over her shoulder, swiftly and lightly pulling the window shut.

When the window closed, the wind ceased, replaced by the sound of breath falling softly over her head.

“You’ll catch a cold.”

Yi Ni turned around abruptly, her fist weakly resting under her nose. She looked perfectly normal, but her stiff movements betrayed her surprise.

Chen An stood at the other end of the window, very close to her. The light from the nearby ambient lights softened his silhouette.

It had been over half a month since their last meeting. It felt like such a long time.

Nearby, Lily pinched her companion’s arm hard, on the verge of losing her mind.

“Chen An? Chuangyuan’s CEO? The person we just saw in the video? Oh my god, it’s him…”

Not just Lily, almost

everyone in the bar was staring at Chen An at that moment.