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Chapter 31: The Mystery Behind Their Breakup Ten Years Ago!

A low, magnetic voice suddenly rang out, and Song Qiao looked confused and bewildered.

Instinctively, she looked up at Xie Yanli’s excessively cold face. His eyes were direct and forceful, with a hint of danger lurking beneath the surface.

She felt an overwhelming pressure radiating from him, and the surrounding temperature seemed to drop several degrees because of his icy expression. Her heart involuntarily tightened.

After a few seconds of suffocating silence, Song Qiao uneasily took a few steps back and frowned. “Xie Yanli, what do you mean by that? I don’t understand what you’re talking about.”

Xie Yanli stared at her. The stark contrast between her passionate enthusiasm that night and her current cold indifference made him feel both angry and hurt.

He abruptly yanked her back toward him and said coldly, “Song Qiao, you dare do it but won’t admit it? I really look down on you.”

His gaze darkened, and his voice became even colder than before. Song Qiao couldn’t help but freeze. That night? What had she done? She had no idea.

Just as she was about to argue back, she suddenly recalled something Shen Yao had told her earlier. Her heart skipped a beat. Could it be that she really did something to Xie Yanli that night? And forgot because of the car accident?

Looking at Xie Yanli seriously, she started, “Xie Yanli, I was in a—”

Before she could finish, Xie Yanli’s phone rang.

He glanced at the screen. It was Xie Changfeng calling. He wanted to get an explanation from Song Qiao about that night, so he hung up on Xie Changfeng without hesitation.

But as soon as he hung up, the phone rang again. Just as he was about to decline it again, Song Qiao looked at him and said, “What if it’s something important? You should answer it first.”

Xie Yanli suddenly thought of Xie Zhenting and worried the call might be related. So he answered the call in front of Song Qiao.

“Xie Yanli, you’re the first person who’s ever dared to hang up on me,” Xie Changfeng’s voice on the other end was filled with barely restrained fury.

From his tone, Xie Yanli knew it wasn’t about Xie Zhenting, and he immediately relaxed a bit. Raising his brow indifferently, he replied, “If I do it a few more times, you’ll get used to it.”

“You… you little brat! If it weren’t for me—”

“I’m busy right now. If you’ve got something to say, get to the point,” Xie Yanli cut him off impatiently.

Xie Changfeng was furious at his cold attitude, but he was used to it by now. He said gruffly, “Tonight, cancel everything and go on that blind date.”

Song Qiao, standing close by, naturally heard the conversation. When she heard Xie Yanli had a blind date, her expression involuntarily dimmed. But not wanting him to notice, she quickly composed herself.

Xie Yanli glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. Seeing that her face showed no reaction at all, he replied coolly, “You already told me that this morning. If there’s nothing else, I’m hanging up.”

“Wait, Xie Yanli. Let me remind you one more time—when you get there, talk properly with the girl. If it goes well, spend more time with her and settle things quickly. If not, I’ll keep setting you up. You’d better remember—don’t walk out halfway. You still remember what you promised me yesterday, right? And your grandfather—”

“You said it’d be one sentence. You’re nagging. Got it. Hanging up.”

“Xie Yanli, you—”

Before Xie Changfeng could finish roaring, Xie Yanli ended the call.

From the conversation, Song Qiao could tell that the relationship between the two was strained. And she could guess that most of the problem stemmed from Xie Yanli. What kind of junior talks to an elder like that?

She couldn’t help but purse her lips and mutter, “Xie Yanli, is that really how you talk to your dad? You’re seriously lacking in manners.”

Maybe it was the fact that she showed no reaction at all to the blind date that really broke his heart. Xie Yanli felt an uncontrollable rage burning inside him with nowhere to go.

His eyes darkened as he looked at her and said faintly, “You’re right. After my mom died, someone pointed at my nose and said I was uncultured. Said my dad didn’t even like me and wondered why I didn’t just die with my mom. Song Qiao, is that what you want to hear?”

Song Qiao didn’t understand how her one comment had triggered such a sarcastic and painful response from him.

She didn’t know who had dared to say that to him. And though she disliked him, that wasn’t what she had meant at all.

She lowered her voice and explained, “Xie Yanli, that’s not what I meant. You misunderstood me.”

After a moment of silence, Xie Yanli shoved his hands in his pockets and said meaningfully, “Song Qiao, people can’t be judged by appearances. Someone who burns incense and prays isn’t necessarily a good person. A beggar on the street isn’t necessarily poor. Someone who treats you sweetly isn’t necessarily kind. And just wearing clothes doesn’t make someone human.”

Hearing this, Song Qiao rolled her eyes in annoyance. “Xie Yanli, are you trying to say Chen Yang isn’t a good person again?”

Even though he was still furious, Xie Yanli tried to reason with her, forcing himself to calm down. “Song Qiao, why won’t you believe me? Chen Yang is scum. If you really marry him, you’ll regret it.”

Song Qiao was equally upset by what he said. What right does he have to call Chen Yang scum? If anything, Xie Yanli’s actions were even more despicable.

She stared at him, the corners of her lips curling in mockery. “If Chen Yang isn’t worth marrying, then who is? You?”

Xie Yanli heard the sarcasm in her words and his face darkened.

Over the years, countless women had tried everything to get close to him, to get into his bed, and he had rejected all of them—because he only loved her.

Even ten years ago, when she fell for someone else and broke up with him, he kept her in his heart. Even that night, when he knew she only wanted revenge on another man, he still gave in. He had changed his principles for her, lowered his standards—how could he not be worth marrying?

“Song Qiao, of course I’m worth marrying,” Xie Yanli said, eyes blazing with sincerity and determination.

For a moment, Song Qiao was dazed. She fell into a trance, as if she had been transported back ten years, to when they were young and in love.

She clearly remembered what Xie Yanli had once said to her: “Qiao Qiao, I’ll only ever marry you.”

Her fingers curled tightly. She hesitated, then finally gathered the courage to ask the question that had haunted her for a decade.

She looked at Xie Yanli seriously and asked, “Xie Yanli, after you went abroad back then, why did you secretly—”

“Qiao Qiao! I’m here!”

Before she could finish, Chen Yang came running toward her, panting heavily.

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