“Did you hear me?” Xu Xiaoyue’s face flushed red. She hadn’t thought there was anything particularly wrong with what she’d said earlier.  

But the thought of this man in front of her having heard it made her feel strangely uneasy.  

Yan Ye nodded. “I heard.”  

His gaze lowered slightly, settling on the guilty-looking woman before him.  

Xu Xiaoyue, upon getting his answer, assumed he was going to lecture her like before. She tapped the floor impatiently with the tip of her foot.  

“That’s right, I called her shameless,” she said, her tone defiant, as if she had nothing left to lose.  

“If she dares to talk about me again, I’ll curse her again.”  

“Good job.”  

Xu Xiaoyue froze, looking up at him in surprise. “You’re not angry?”  

Yan Ye raised an eyebrow. “Why would I be angry?”  

“You *would* be angry. You’d get mad and even arrest me,” Xu Xiaoyue muttered, her body instinctively shifting away from him.  

She remembered the dream she’d had a few days ago—perhaps it was her final fate in the book: locked in a room without even a sliver of light.  

Her eyes had been covered, and all she could hear was a cold voice asking, “What should we do with this woman?”  

After a long silence, she heard only one word: “Execution.”  

Then, the sound of a gunshot rang out in the dream, jolting her awake in terror.  

Thinking of this, she shot Yan Ye a few angry glares with her almond-shaped eyes before turning to walk away.  

After that dream, she really didn’t want to see him right now.  

After walking a dozen meters, she glanced back and saw the man following her at a distance.  

Frowning, she stomped her foot and turned into an alley on the left. After a few steps, she crouched down, pretending to adjust her shoe, and peeked behind her—he was still there.  

“Why are you following me?” Xu Xiaoyue couldn’t hold back anymore and stood up to confront him.  

Seeing her cheeks puff up in anger, Yan Ye’s rough fingers twitched slightly.  

Her skin was so delicate it looked like it would bruise at the slightest touch—softer than he’d imagined.  

Xu Xiaoyue was caught off guard when he suddenly pinched her cheek. She froze for a moment, then opened her mouth to speak.  

But Yan Ye withdrew his hand first, curling his fingers slightly as if reluctant to let go.  

“Little comrade, such a temper.”  

Since he’d appeared, he’d barely spoken three sentences total. He had no idea which one had set her off.  

“Even after closing a big deal, you still look so sour.”  

“What do you mean?” Xu Xiaoyue blinked in confusion.  

“Nothing much. Just thought I did someone a favor, but didn’t even get a smile in return.” The man shoved his hands into his pockets and turned his head away.  

“Hey, explain yourself properly.” Xu Xiaoyue grabbed the hem of his shirt, looking up at him.  

Among her peers, she wasn’t short, but compared to Yan Ye, she was practically tiny. She even had to rise onto her tiptoes to see his expression clearly.  

Yan Ye lowered his gaze, meeting her insistent stare. Her cheeks were still slightly red—probably from where he’d pinched her.  

“Kindness taken for ingratitude. Nothing more to say.”  

Despite his words, his large hand instinctively circled her waist, as if afraid she might stumble.  

“Explain it to me properly—” Before Xu Xiaoyue could finish, a sharp female voice cut her off.  

“What are you two doing?”  

Startled, she flinched like a frightened rabbit and instinctively let go.  

Yan Ye frowned, turning toward the source of the voice.  

Sun Ningning could hardly believe her eyes. The last time she’d merely touched Yan Ye’s bicycle, he had glared at her as if he wanted to stay eight hundred meters away from her.

But now, the two of them were pressed so close together, the intimacy between them unmistakable.  

“What are you two doing together?” Sun Ningning stormed over, her sharp gaze stabbing toward the woman standing beside him.  

Yan Ye stepped in front of Xu Xiaoyue, his expression indifferent. “What I do is none of your concern.”  

Sun Ningning hadn’t expected Yan Ye to humiliate her so blatantly in front of an outsider.  

Her face paled, then flushed with anger as she turned to glare at Xu Xiaoyue, her eyes burning with jealousy and resentment.  

“Don’t you know that Regiment Commander Yan and Sister Weiwei are meant to be together?”  

The moment the words left her mouth, she felt Yan Ye’s icy stare land on her.  

“Oh? I wasn’t aware of that.”  

Yan Ye let out a derisive laugh before continuing.  

“Comrade Sun Ningning, spreading malicious rumors warrants disciplinary action. If I ever hear anyone linking me with Ruan Wei again, I’ll hold you responsible.”  

His words were heavy, his tone unyielding, and the displeasure radiating from him was palpable.  

This was different from the teasing tone he’d used with her before. Xu Xiaoyue could feel his anger.  

Beside them, Sun Ningning’s face turned deathly pale at his words. Anyone who had undergone military training knew exactly what disciplinary action entailed.  

She could tell Yan Ye wasn’t joking.  

Sun Ningning’s eyes reddened.  

She would rather Yan Ye maintain his usual aloof distance from all women than see him entangled with some orphan girl from the countryside.  

The man she had secretly adored for so long was now sternly warning her—her heart ached.  

She no longer knew what expression to wear. If she stayed any longer, she feared she’d only ruin her image in his eyes further.  

Wiping her eyes, she shot the two of them a furious glare. “You’ll regret this!”  

With that, she turned and stormed off.  

Watching Sun Ningning leave, Yan Ye’s expression darkened. He turned to Xu Xiaoyue. “Ignore her.”  

Xu Xiaoyue took two steps back, putting distance between them, then glanced at his face and muttered under her breath, “Flirt.”  

So this was what they called a “disastrously handsome man.” She’d witnessed it firsthand today.  

Yan Ye’s hearing was sharp—he caught every word.  

“Comrade Xu,” he corrected, “where did you learn to misuse idioms like that?”  

“What just happened was, at most, someone meddling in others’ business.”  

With that, he reached out and tugged lightly at her braid, steering the conversation back.  

“Now, care to explain why you’ve been avoiding me?”