“It’s nothing.”

An Xun straightened up immediately, facing Bo Xiangzhou as if he were a superior.

Bo Xiangzhou clearly didn’t believe him; An Xun’s words held little credibility with him. He turned his gaze to Uncle Liu, hoping he would speak on his behalf.

Standing behind him, Uncle Liu stepped forward, not quite grasping An Xun’s intention, but feeling pity for the pathetic look in his lady’s eyes as if he had a grievance he couldn’t voice.

Uncle Liu, both distressed and angry, said, “President Bo, the An family was too much tonight, and that young master Liu Tang, seeing how naive and easily deceived the lady is, colluded with An Xin to trap her. They lured the lady to An Xin’s room using her name and then started hitting and kicking her…”

His voice choked up towards the end, “The lady could barely stand up. If I hadn’t seen Mr. An and his wife downstairs, I wouldn’t have known she was taken away. I can’t believe if I had been a step later, whether the lady would still see tomorrow’s sun.”

An Xun: “!”

An Xun frantically explained, “No! It’s not like that! It wasn’t that serious! We were just chatting in the room.”

“What about your leg?” Bo Xiangzhou asked, his expression unchanged.

“It cramped up; they didn’t gang up on me.”

An Xun pulled up his pant leg to show his knee down, his skin smooth and translucent, free of bruises or any suspicious marks.

Bo Xiangzhou’s underlying worries slightly abated.

Uncle Liu, tears running down his face, said, “I saw with my own eyes Liu Tang and An Xin cornering the lady against the wall. Although I was a bit far, if I had been late, the beating would have truly fallen on the lady.”

He just wanted to sell some pity to Bo Xiangzhou, but ended up stirring up a hornet’s nest instead of just smoothing things over. He was still hoping that Uncle Liu would gloss over the incident in front of Bo Xiangzhou, and later at midnight, he could act out being threatened and cursed, suffering from severe insomnia leading to tears, to deeply craft his tragic image—

Now, it was all messed up.

What Uncle Liu said about him could no longer be described simply as “pitiful”; it was downright foolish.

Numb, An Xun announced he was fine, then slowly pulled down his pant leg and trudged upstairs.

At the corner, An Xun peeked back; Uncle Liu was vividly describing what he saw, his gestures animated, while Bo Xiangzhou appeared brainwashed, thoughtful.

An Xun: “…”

He had seen people fabricate rumors, but never this fiercely.

He gripped his shoulders as he walked to his room, took off his thin outer jacket, and flopped directly onto the bed. He pondered what to do next, his plan to outsmart the others backfiring horribly, ending up the biggest loser himself.

In Bo Xiangzhou’s eyes, he must look like a complete fool, the kind who wouldn’t know to come in out of the rain.

An Xun sighed; life was tough, now even acting was hard.

He lay on his side and shook his leg; after a few wobbles, it cramped again. He straightened his leg, sucking in a breath through clenched teeth.

An Xun turned to lie on his back, letting his cramped leg hang off the bed as he waited for the muscle pain to subside.

The bedroom door opened, and An Xun lifted his eyelids; it was the expected visitor.

Bo Xiangzhou approached slowly, his gaze moving from An Xun’s leg to his face. Perhaps it was An Xun’s inherently innocent features or the irritation from the cramping that made his impatience seem like weariness and disappointment from life, which, combined with the preceding minute’s infusion of how pitiful An Xun was, made him seem even more aggrieved in Bo Xiangzhou’s eyes.

Bo Xiangzhou asked, “Is what Uncle Liu said true?”

“Half of it,” An Xun candidly responded.

An Xin and Liu Tang did indeed plan to hit him, but they were stopped by Uncle Liu bursting in.

Bo Xiangzhou thought for a moment, then asked with thin lips, “Which parts are true?”

An Xun, annoyed—this old man really asks too much! Doesn’t he let people sleep?

An Xun, struggling to keep up his act, burrowed under the blanket, his voice muffled, “Stop asking, it’s all fake. I misspoke just now.”

Silence fell, except for a warm hand that landed on his calf, stretching and kneading the muscle.

A different kind of emotion spread from his numb heart; An Xun’s face flushed, his toes curling at the tingling sensation where Bo Xiangzhou touched.

An Xun clutched the pillow edge. Once his stiff muscles eased, he retracted his leg and said softly, “That’s enough, dear.”

His voice was tender and unabashedly shy, the undertones diluting his usually affected tone, closer to his real voice. But because he was buried under the blanket, this change wasn’t very noticeable.

Bo Xiangzhou’s heart skipped a beat.

He had heard An Xun’s playful tone many times before, but none had stirred him quite like this.

Why did the same voice have a different effect this time?

He buried his question deep in his heart, steadied his emotions, and with his usual unreadable expression said, “Get up, I’m taking you to the Liu family.”

An Xun popped his head up, “What for?”

He wasn’t in the mood to go.

Bo Xiangzhou, not the type to catch on to others’ feelings, simply said, “Hurry up,” and left.

“Ridiculous.” An Xun kicked his blanket, blaming Liu Tang’s actions on him. After kicking the blanket into disarray, he humbly smoothed it out again, kneeling and nearly sticking his eyes to it as he ironed out every tiny wrinkle, then changed his jacket and followed.

Downstairs, Uncle Liu gave him a smug smile, which An Xun found chilling. Without leaving a trace, he stepped past him and into the car.

At night, the streets were still bustling with traffic, the lights merging into a dazzling galaxy.

An Xun eagerly looked out the Maybach’s window at the nearby food street. Even from a few hundred meters away, he could smell the aroma of fried chicken.

He decided, he would find a time when Bo Xiangzhou was away to take Tao Nian and eat their way through the entire street.

As the car drove into the quiet streets leading to the villas, his playful mood receded, and his fear intensified without other distractions.

Bo Xiangzhou wouldn’t be taking him to apologize to Liu Tang, would he?

Uncle Liu was definitely on his side, looking at his demeanor, that possibility could be dismissed.

An Xun rested his chin on his hand, pondering another possibility, his gaze shifting to Bo Xiangzhou’s profile—high nose, thin lips, even more aloof and noble from the side. He couldn’t appreciate the handsome features; his anger swallowed up and internalized.

He wasn’t planning to have them verify each other’s statements and pursue the truth, was he?

Every false statement he had made replayed in his mind.

He was wrong; he should have just let those two point and yell at him, not spoken up and infuriated them to the point of metaphorical bleeding.

His uneasy heart didn’t settle down as they arrived at the Liu family’s home.

The Liu family, having been notified in advance, had all the lights on in the villa. Liu’s parents came forward to greet Bo Xiangzhou, their faces a mix of subordinate trying to please a superior and elder showing concern for a junior, managing both aspects well without offending and subtly closing the distance.

Father Liu extended his hand, “President Bo, coming here so grandly so late, is there something important? Can’t the work matter wait to be discussed after a few days at the office?”

Bo Xiangzhou shook his hand lightly, saying, “Let’s talk tonight. I’m afraid it might not be possible in a few days.”

Father Liu was surprised, “The land approval in the suburbs isn’t coming through?”

“No, let’s go inside first, we’ll talk later.” Bo Xiangzhou’s smile unnerved him, his heart feeling like it was held up by a steel wire.

Mother Liu, not well-versed in business matters, held An Xun’s hand and fondled it, heaping praise upon him.

An Xun wasn’t falling for it but couldn’t extricate himself and ended up walking beside her behind the other two.

The Liu family’s home was stylishly arranged, with two large gardens front and back, both planted with fragrantly understated flowers.

Crossing the front garden, they entered the Liu family’s drawing room. Bo Xiangzhou scanned the room and asked, “Where’s Liu Tang?”

The air suddenly chilled, Liu’s parents realizing this visitor was here to hold someone accountable.

Liu Tang had roughly explained the situation to them after returning home, and they had lulled themselves into thinking An Xun wasn’t important enough to fuss over. When they received the call, they were somewhat panicked because Bo Xiangzhou hadn’t elaborated, just told them to wait.

They thought that their relationship with Shen Qing’s family wasn’t enough for Bo Xiangzhou to do anything too drastic, but when they saw An Xun step out of the car adeptly linking arms, they became uncertain and decided to play dumb, waiting for Bo Xiangzhou to speak.

As long as he didn’t mention it, they would act as if it never happened.

Mother Liu gripping An Xun’s arm, tightened her hold, “Tang Tang is upstairs, probably asleep by now?”

“He just got back and is already asleep? No matter if he’s really sleeping or faking it, call him down. I have important matters to discuss with him.” Bo Xiangzhou’s tone was cold, unfluctuating, “I didn’t realize he and An Xin were also acquainted.”

If he had known, he would have postponed tonight’s event to accompany An Xun there.

One An Xin couldn’t stir up much trouble, but Liu Tang was the real concern.

Mother Liu cast a pleading look at An Xun, who said nothing, detached her arm, and clung to Bo Xiangzhou’s.

An Xun, feeling a surge of confidence, added fuel to the fire, “Dear, can you not blame him? I think he’s right, it’s just that I’m not likable…”

“Right about what? You just listen to whatever he says?” Bo Xiangzhou’s flawless expression cracked slightly.

An Xun saw it clearly, that was indignation.

Bo Xiangzhou was angry, but his tone remained gentle.

“I didn’t listen to everything.” An Xun said, the unclear emotions spreading in his heart, “He told me to divorce you, and I didn’t listen.”

Bo Xiangzhou, pushed to laughter by rage, “You still want me to praise you?”

Liu’s parents exchanged shocked glances, Father Liu composedly said, “When did this happen? How come I didn’t know? Let’s go upstairs to the study and discuss this in detail to avoid giving malicious people a chance to disrupt the peace. Xiangzhou, you know, Tang Tang isn’t usually like this.”

“I don’t know.” Bo Xiangzhou was blunt.

Father Liu choked.

Inside and out, trying to clear Liu Tang of any blame, did he mean to imply that the troublemaker was him?

Bo Xiangzhou’s approach was beyond his expectation, not aligning with his prior thoughts, but he didn’t mind adding more fuel to the fire, letting it burn fiercer.

An Xun, with a broken voice, said, “Husband, I want to go home…”

“We’ll talk and then go.”

“Can I not go up to talk?”

“You can.”

“Then…” An Xun, tugging at Bo Xiangzhou, his eyes misty, “Can you always believe what I say?”

Bo Xiangzhou without hesitation, “I can.”

An Xun hadn’t expected Bo Xiangzhou to answer so decisively, feeling very guilty.

He was unworthy of Bo Xiangzhou’s trust.