Xu Xiaoyue was annoyed by his act of pulling her braid.  

She slapped his hand away forcefully and snapped, “Who said I was avoiding you? I just don’t want anything to do with you.”  

In a moment of carelessness, she had blurted out her true feelings.  

Xu Xiaoyue’s heart sank. Realizing her slip of the tongue, she lowered her head and nervously fiddled with her fingers, not daring to look at the man’s face, which had darkened like ink.  

Yan Ye’s expression turned grim. He withdrew his hand, his dark eyes fixed intently on the petite woman before him.  

“Are you serious about what you just said?”  

He had always enjoyed teasing her, never stopping until he had provoked her into anger.  

Yan Ye had always thought they were at least somewhat close, but Xu Xiaoyue’s words felt like a sharp knife plunging into his heart.  

She hated him.  

Never before had Yan Ye realized this so clearly.  

Xu Xiaoyue bit her lip, unsure how to respond. Instinctively, she took a step back, trying to escape.  

But the man didn’t give her the chance. His long arm blocked her path, his gaze heavy.  

From his vantage point, he could clearly see Xu Xiaoyue’s fair, glowing face and the faint glimpse of her pale neck where her collar was slightly undone.  

Under normal circumstances, Yan Ye would have chided her, reminding her as a young woman to button up properly.  

But now, he didn’t even have the right to say anything.  

His hand hovered near her shoulder, waiting for Xu Xiaoyue’s answer.  

The petite woman lowered her lashes and muttered sullenly, “Yes, I hate you. You can leave now.”  

The air instantly turned still. Yan Ye didn’t move a muscle.  

To say he wasn’t angry would be a lie. Since childhood, everything he did had a purpose.  

But with Xu Xiaoyue, all his efforts seemed futile. Not only did he fail to earn a single kind look from her, but even his mere presence was something she avoided at all costs.  

“Why?” Yan Ye’s voice was hoarse, as if his throat was itching.  

Xu Xiaoyue stared blankly at the chest in front of her. If she hadn’t had that dream—if she didn’t know that Yan Ye would eventually cause her death—  

Perhaps she would have been more tolerant of him.  

But she knew everything now.  

She had worked so hard to escape that small village and find a job.  

She had won Liu Ye’s favor and thwarted Zheng Jiaojiao’s schemes.  

She had painstakingly avoided every plot point from the book, striving not to become the cannon-fodder supporting character.  

Now, her only wish was to stay far away from all the male leads in the book—including the man standing before her.  

Xu Xiaoyue pressed against his chest and pushed him away defiantly. “Because you don’t respect me. I really do hate you.”  

Perhaps her words were too final. Yan Ye took two steps back, actually allowing Xu Xiaoyue to break free.  

Her cheeks were flushed, whether from anger or the stifling atmosphere.  

The petite woman clenched her fists, her eyes glistening with unshed tears as she glared at him. “From now on, don’t let your friends come here anymore.”  

With that, she ducked under his arm and strode away without a single glance back.  

Yan Ye stood rooted to the spot, motionless.  

It wasn’t until much later that he seemed to snap out of it, finally processing Xu Xiaoyue’s words.  

“Daring to hate me? Fine. Very fine,” he sneered, the words almost grinding out from between his clenched teeth.  

Wang Jianhua didn’t understand how, after going out for just a while, Regiment Commander Yan had returned even angrier.  

This anger was different from before. If his previous anger had been gloomy like a drizzly day, this time it was like lightning, a torrential downpour, and a typhoon all rolled into one.

Even Yan Shuli, who was usually incredibly dense, could sense the oppressive air around the man.

“Uncle Jianhua, what’s going on with my uncle?”

“You’re asking me? Who am I supposed to ask?”

“You could ask my uncle! Didn’t that political commissar or whatever just call you over—”  

Wang Jianhua raised a middle finger to his lips, signaling him to shut up.  

Yan Ye sat down with a dark expression, rubbing his temples. Just then, there was a knock at the door.  

“Come in,” the man said tersely.  

Wang Jianhua poked his head through the door, holding a bundle of fabric he had bought from the state-run supermarket, a placating smile on his face.  

“Commander Yan, the guys bought some fabric and saved some for you. Take a look and see if there’s anything you like.”  

A pile of brightly colored fabric was unceremoniously dumped onto the desk. Remembering where this fabric had come from, Yan Ye felt another dull throb in his forehead.  

He pinched the bridge of his nose, not even sparing the fabric a glance, and said coldly, “Take it away.”  

“Ah… Oh, right, got it.” Wang Jianhua scrambled to gather the fabric back into his arms, his eyelids twitching nervously.  

He had a rough guess about the reason behind Yan Ye’s sudden temper.  

If there’s anyone who could piss off our Commander Yan like this, it’s probably that Comrade Xu Xiaoyue, he thought to himself.  

Wang Jianhua quickly packed up the fabric and, remembering his main purpose for coming in, hesitantly spoke up.  

“Commander Yan, the political commissar asked me to check in… about the ‘personal family matters’ the organization mentioned last time. He wants to know how your progress is.”  

Wang Jianhua mumbled the words, squinting as if afraid to see the man’s expression.  

He had been too confident, thinking that since he knew a bit about the situation between the two, he could boldly take on this task for the commissar.  

Who would’ve thought that after going out for a bit, Commander Yan would come back looking like he’d swallowed a crate of explosives, ready to blow at any moment?  

The man let out a cold laugh, cracking his knuckles audibly, his expression darker than charcoal.  

Seeing this, Wang Jianhua shrank back. “Uh… I’ll just tell the commissar you don’t have anyone in mind yet, so he shouldn’t rush you.”  

He quickly made up an excuse to save face and backed out of the room.  

The moment he closed the door, he nearly bumped into someone standing behind him.  

“Yan Shuli? What are you doing here again?” Wang Jianhua frowned, lowering his voice.  

“Uncle Jianhua, I wanted to ask… how’s my uncle’s temper right now?”  

Yan Shuli had been staying at the military base for a week now. At first, he’d thought his parents would come pick him up, but now it dawned on him that they might be perfectly fine with him staying here and had no intention of fetching him at all.  

So, he wanted his uncle to put in a word and get him back to the Yan family sooner.  

The young man’s thoughts were practically written on his face. Wang Jianhua waved a hand dismissively. “Take my advice—don’t go looking for trouble.”  

“What do you mean? Did my uncle yell at you?”  

“Don’t talk nonsense. Commander Yan isn’t the type to yell at people for no reason.”  

Yan Shuli glanced at the man in front of him, then peeked toward Yan Ye’s office, muttering under his breath, “Right, with your relationship, of course he wouldn’t yell at you.”  

His voice was so quiet it was almost as if he were talking to himself.  

As it happened, Wang Jianhua was in a hurry to report back to the commissar, missing the best chance to clarify.  

…

Xu Xiaoyue had already walked some distance when she looked back—the man’s figure was long gone.  

Yan Ye hadn’t chased after her or pestered her. Logically, she should have been relieved. But instead of feeling happy, her chest felt heavy, as if something were missing.  

She knew that, from his perspective, her words made no sense.  

Especially after he had helped her so much—it made her seem unreasonable and ungrateful.  

Their relationship was now strained to the point where Xu Xiaoyue couldn’t even imagine how Yan Ye would react if he ever discovered her true identity.  

Moving out needed to happen as soon as possible. At the very least, she didn’t want to be kicked out.