Yan Chen rushed out of the hotel lobby, his eyes red as if he wanted to devour someone.

An Yi was startled by his momentum and instinctively took a step back, while Xie Nancang tactfully stepped in front to shield him.

The intimate and tacit attitude of these two people stabbed at Yan Chen’s heart. He was extremely furious, and he swung his fist towards Xie Nancang.

In order to protect An Yi, Xie Nancang couldn’t completely avoid it and got scratched on the chin by the ring on Yan Chen’s hand. An Yi saw blood oozing out and exclaimed, hastily pulling Xie Nancang to the side.

“Stop it!” he shouted loudly.

As soon as the words came out, Yan Chen clearly paused.

In the five years they had been together, An Yi had never raised his voice at him like this, let alone scolded him for another man. And just now, he had clearly seen An Yi… kissing this man!

“Damn it!”

Yan Chen had never felt so frustrated in his life. He could even hear the sound of grass growing out of his head!

“I chased you all the way from Guangdong to Hawaii for this whole damn month! I’ve been under the sun and wind by the beach in Hawaii and almost turned into a stone pillar waiting for you! And you’re kissing someone behind my back here?!”

Yan Chen became more and more agitated as he spoke, his anger escalating, and his hand trembled as he pointed at Xie Nancang.

“You kissing this old man! Do you even have any respect for me, An Yi?!”

An Yi, fearing he might resort to violence, positioned himself in front of Xie Nancang.

In a cold voice, he said, “I haven’t done anything wrong to you, we’ve already broken up.”

“Bullshit!” Yan Chen exclaimed. “Did I agree to break up with you?! Just so you could kiss this idiot?!”

“Watch your language!” An Yi frowned, “Anyway, we’re done, you should go back.”

“If I’m going back, you’re coming back with me!” Yan Chen grabbed An Yi’s arm forcefully, overpowering him easily.

At this point, Xie Nancang intervened, firmly holding An Yi’s other hand, and said, “We’re both adults, relationships are a matter of mutual consent. You’ve seen and heard, An An doesn’t want to be with you.”

“An An… who the hell are you calling An An! Don’t you dare call him that!” Yan Chen smirked, then without hesitation, he lifted his leg and kicked fiercely towards Xie Nancang’s ribs.

At this moment, the noble young master completely abandoned the etiquette and manners he had been taught, and his violent nature was fully activated.

Xie Nancang staggered backward from the kick, leaning against a pillar of the hotel corridor and slowly sliding down.

An Yi’s face turned pale as he rushed over to check on him. Seeing Xie Nancang grimacing in pain, unable to speak, his voice trembling with tears in his eyes, “Are you alright? Where does it hurt?” Then he turned to Yan Chen, who was ready to strike again, and shouted angrily, “leave! I don’t want to see you again! leave!”

“What did you say?!” Yan Chen stared at him in disbelief, his heart twisting in pain, “Say it again if you dare!”

“I told you to get the hell out of here!” An Yi shivered as he fumbled for his phone, intending to call for an ambulance. Xie Nancang, who had regained some composure, shook his head and held An Yi’s wrist, “It’s okay, don’t worry.”

At this moment, the crowd in the hotel lobby blocked the entrance, and two security guards hurried over, asking in slightly accented English what had happened.

Xie Nancang nodded and asked them to call the police in English.

Yan Chen was both anxious and angry, and his patience had run out.

He took a deep breath, summoning all his willpower, and tried to speak as calmly as possible.

“An Yi, let me say it one last time, get up and come home with me, forget about what happened today.”

“I’ll tell you one last time too, we’re done, it’s over, I don’t want to see you again in my life.” An Yi’s eyes were red, and he replied word by word.

Yan Chen’s unwavering stubbornness made him feel incredibly uncomfortable.

“You have to be stubborn, huh? I know, you’re mad about the engagement thing, aren’t you? I won’t marry her, okay? You don’t have to be so stubborn with me!”

An Yi pursed his lips, no longer engaging with him.

He helped Xie Nancang up, softly asking, “are you okay?” Completely ignoring Yan Chen.

Xie Nancang patted his hand, reassuring him not to worry. Then he stood up a bit straighter, looking at the angry young man, “A forced melon is not sweet, let’s let each other go. I considered those actions of yours justifiable, but if you continue to be unreasonable, I won’t be so lenient.”

“Who do you think you are?” Yan Chen wanted to resort to violence again, but this time Xie Nancang directly engaged in a physical confrontation with him.

With the summer clothes thin, the fight was intense.

Especially for Yan Chen, who had been holding back for over a month, bursting with energy, he was so strong that even two security guards couldn’t contain him, and two enthusiastic bystanders had to join in to hold him down.

An Yi pulled Xie Nancang back and begged repeatedly, “Stop fighting. If he won’t leave, then we will. Please take me away quickly.”

Seeing An Yi’s tears and trembling body, Xie Nancang stopped fighting. “Okay, I’ll listen to you.””

His waist was still throbbing slightly, and he couldn’t stand up straight, so An Yi let him lean on his shoulder as they walked back to the car.

Outside the car window, Yan Chen, who was forcibly restrained by security guards, couldn’t help but curse loudly, his throat almost splitting.

An Yi closed the car window, forcing himself not to look at the man’s angry and contorted face.

Xie Nancang drove An Yi back to his own home and parked in front of the garage beside the courtyard. He looked at An Yi worriedly. “Are you okay?”

An Yi shook his head silently, calming his emotions for a minute. Then he turned to Xie Nancang. “How about you? Where did he kick you? Maybe it’s safer to go to the hospital and get checked.”

Xie Nancang smiled and held his hand. “It’s not that serious. It’s mainly because he attacked me unexpectedly, and I wasn’t prepared. I feel a bit embarrassed.” He leaned in a bit closer, trying to cheer An Yi up. “You won’t despise me because of this, will you?”

“…How can you still joke about this?” An Yi frowned. “If it weren’t for me, you wouldn’t have been hit. Yan Chen isn’t usually like this…”

“An An,” Xie Nancang called out firmly, “are you making excuses for him?”

“…No,” An Yi sighed and unbuckled his seatbelt with a click, releasing something he had been holding tightly inside, “I won’t go back to him.”

Having finally made up his mind and taken action, if he were to turn back now, there would be no saving him.

Once inside the house, An Yi helped Xie Nancang to the sofa. He unbuttoned his shirt to inspect the injury, his brows furrowing tighter.

He saw a large bruise on Xie Nancang’s left side, especially frightening.

“No, we have to go to the hospital.”

Xie Nancang chuckled. “Do you know you look cute when you’re nervous? It’s quite charming.”

“Xie ge, please be serious.” An Yi didn’t understand how he could still laugh with such an injury. “If your internal organs are injured, it’s very serious.”

After An Yi’s repeated insistence, Xie Nancang was eventually persuaded to go to the nearby hospital for a check-up.

The X-rays showed some bruised ribs, and it would be best to stay in the hospital for observation for two days to see if there would be any internal bleeding.

An Yi felt even more guilty.

But Xie Nancang seemed quite happy and content, lying in the hospital bed, looking around, “Thanks to you, I can also enjoy VIP nursing services.”

An Yi knew he was using this method to ease his psychological burden, and his heart couldn’t help but feel complicated.

He stayed by the hospital bed and took care of him attentively. Xie Nancang asked about his plans, and An Yi lowered his head, unsure how to answer.

“Why don’t you come back to China with me in a couple of days?” Xie Nancang invited him. “Although Yan Chen will surely be able to track your whereabouts, once you’re back in China, you can stay at my house for a while. He won’t be able to get close to you, and after some time, he’ll probably give up.”

An Yi had many concerns and didn’t immediately agree.

After today’s incident, he already felt guilty towards Xie Nancang. He didn’t want to involve him in this mess.

Xie Nancang suggested he think of something else to distract himself. “Aren’t you interested in ceramics? My grandfather always complains about not having any young people around. Why don’t you come and keep him company, relieve his boredom? How about it?”

This invitation was indeed very tempting.

An Yi hesitated for a moment and said, “…Let me think about it, okay?”

“No rush,” Xie Nancang deliberately spoke in a strange tone to cheer him up, “my door is always open~ waiting for you with open arms.”

Finally, An Yi smiled.

At night, An Yi slept on the accompanying bed in the hospital room.

After turning off the light, the moonlight seeped through the curtains, casting a gentle glow on his fair face.

Xie Nancang turned to look at him for a while, then asked softly, “An An, are you asleep?”

An Yi also turned towards him, “Not yet, are you feeling uncomfortable anywhere?”

“No,” Xie Nancang quieted for a moment, “I just wanted to tell you that you deserve better.”

An Yi was taken aback for a moment. Lin Yuming and Qin Muye had said similar things to him before, but what exactly was “better”?

Was being gentler and more considerate than Yan Chen considered “better”? But how could he retrieve intact the heartfelt devotion he had once given, only to be torn apart, and then entrust it to someone else?

An Yi sincerely felt that whether loving or being loved, it was too difficult. He needed enough time to heal and mend.

And how long that would take, he wasn’t sure.

“Goodnight,” Xie Nancang said softly above him.

An Yi also replied softly, “Goodnight.”

An Yi wanted to wait for sleep to come, but every time he closed his eyes, all he saw was Yan Chen’s furious face during the day.

He had never seen Yan Chen lose control like that before.

Could it be that his sudden departure had finally made Yan Chen realize his feelings?

An Yi couldn’t help but laugh at himself. How could someone like Yan Chen, a playboy, have genuine feelings? His hysterics today were probably just because he couldn’t accept it.

He was also a man, of course, and he understood the competitiveness and possessiveness of men. Once they swelled up, they could be quite intimidating.

As his thoughts drifted in the night, he suddenly felt his heartbeat pounding heavily.

He felt inexplicably uneasy.

Just as he was about to sit up and check on Xie Nancang’s condition, he heard hurried footsteps outside the door, followed by the hospital room door being kicked open, and Yan Chen, clad in a chill, stepping briskly towards him in the darkness.