“I paid the ransom, and they said they could release one person first. We wanted A Zhuo, but in the end, you came back. What did you do to A Zhuo?” His face twisted in rage. “Do you know? In the vast Nanqiao mountains, your brother was just a little kid. Can you bear to leave him like that?”

“Doesn’t he resent you?” Lu Zhihong said. “Let me tell you, he must hate you to death.”

Lu Nian’s head was spinning, standing still, unable to utter a word.

Lu Zhihong finally spoke out the deepest words buried in his heart for years, speaking out with relish and excitement.

“When you came back that year, I didn’t say anything. I still took good care of you,” Lu Zhihong’s expression turned sinister. “I raised you for so many years, and now you’re defying me like this? When you were a child, you threatened suicide. When you grew up, I asked you to marry, but you wouldn’t listen. You don’t listen to anything I say. Now you’re helping your brother hide things from me?”

Lu Nian’s feet seemed glued to the ground, her temples suddenly throbbing.

In her mind, fragmented memories flashed by.

Suddenly, she seemed to feel the original Lu Nian’s grievance.

As if by some kind of empathy, a very strong emotion surged in her heart.

Tears rolled down her cheeks. “Dad, am I not your daughter? Why is everything blamed on me? I don’t remember anything, but if it’s true as you say, what’s wrong with wanting to live? Or do you think that back then, when I was just a little kid, I could determine the intentions of the kidnappers?”

It seemed like she was saying something that had been buried in her heart for a long time.

Lu Zhihong never expected his gentle daughter to refute him like this.

His expression turned fierce. “Don’t try to cover up anymore. Anyway, your brother didn’t die. Later, you’ll go and talk to him to clear things up.”

“You come with me, leave this place immediately,” Lu Zhihong grabbed her wrist, his face twisted in anger. “I’ve prepared everything. We don’t want the company anymore. We’ll open another one elsewhere. I’ll also go find your brother. We’re a family, and we won’t be separated no matter where we go.”

“You go and tell that surname Qin guy to break up with him.”

Lu Nian struggled desperately. “I don’t want to.”

She felt like Lu Zhihong had lost his mind.

The middle-aged man’s eyes were bloodshot and terrifying, his usual gentle demeanor completely gone.

Seeing her resistance intensify, Lu Zhihong couldn’t control his anger.

He raised his hand, intending to grab her hair and slap her.

Lu Nian closed her eyes, preparing to accept reality.

She was a girl, naturally frail, and had no strength to resist at all.

The courtyard door was pushed open again.

Fang Deng, upon seeing the scene, was so scared that he nearly had a spasm.

He jumped up and yelled at the bodyguards beside him, “Hurry up and save her! Are you all dead?!”

Lu Zhihong was quickly subdued by someone.

Lu Nian couldn’t stop crying until she was held up by a pair of long and powerful hands.

Through teary eyes, she saw him and cried even harder.

His fingers were gentle as they wrapped around her, holding her close and urging her to lie down in the room to rest for a while.

An assistant handed her tissues and water, telling her to wipe away her tears.

Lu Zhihong was still struggling, but the man walked up to him, his expression cold. “She’s my girlfriend, not your daughter. Who gave you the right to talk to her like that?”

He had a strong grip on Lu Zhihong, his expression icy. “It’s time to settle the score.”

He threw a document to Lu Zhihong.

Over the past few days, he had dug up all the people buried by the Lu family, every one of them, and all the investment projects and loans he had done privately.

Lu Zhihong’s eyes widened in disbelief. “What is this? Where did you get it?”

The door opened again, and Xiao Honghe entered with his head bowed, followed by Minghong.

Lu Zhihong’s lips trembled. “You…”

Xiao Honghe couldn’t look at him. He stammered, “Boss, I had no choice…”

All the people were confirmed by him.

“Are you betraying me?” Lu Zhihong roared. “Did you tell him I was coming here?”

“He’s lost his mind,” Minghong shrugged and said to Fang Deng.

There was no way that Lu Nian’s safety wasn’t more important to Qin Si than Lu Zhihong’s petty schemes.

Bringing Xiao Honghe over now was just to resolve everything at once.

“Your investment plan is basically bankrupt,” the assistant approached respectfully and showed him the documents.

“As a result of your previous failed investments, you’re on the verge of bankruptcy. As collateral for the loans to the bank, your property in Ancheng will also be confiscated. So you no longer have a home in Ancheng. Mr. Qin has bought you a house in Haicheng.”

“As a condition, until Miss Lu Nian agrees, you cannot appear in front of her and Mr. Qiu again.”

“And given your current condition, you need to go to the psychiatric department of the hospital for a check-up.”

Lu Zhihong felt completely powerless, slumping down.

Minghong shrugged, looking at the man on the ground. “What now?”

Qin Si didn’t spare him another glance. “Now let him go.”

The decision was made quickly, and they immediately left with Lu Zhihong.

They left without a sound, leaving no trace.

Inside the house, only the two of them remained.

Hearing the commotion outside, Lu Nian struggled to sit up. “Is he gone?”

“They’re all gone.” The man sat down by her bed.

Lu Nian’s eyes were still moist with tears, and he silently wiped them away, finally saying, “He won’t come to harass you again.”

“Why did you come to Nanqiao?” Her voice was still hoarse.

He whispered, “Because I’ve been tracking Lu Zhihong.”

Lu Nian’s spirit was still extremely poor.

Now she was in a state of confusion, thinking of Lu Zhihong’s words earlier and suddenly remembering many years ago when Zhao Yayuan first met her, those strange behaviors, and the subsequent silence of many people.

“I want to sleep with you,” she said, her eyes red. “Is that okay?”

She was really scared and didn’t want to be alone anymore.

His fingers stiffened for a moment. “Okay.”

“But I don’t want to stay here for the time being,” she wiped away her tears, flustered, “Can we stay in a hotel outside? Leave tomorrow, is that okay?”

Her mind was really too chaotic now.

Qin Si originally wanted to take her back overnight, but seeing her mental state was too poor, there was no way.

Fang Deng and the others had already left, some to handle things in Ancheng, and some to “escort” Lu Zhihong to Haicheng.

Everything was arranged.

Now, only the two of them were left.

There was only one hotel in Nanqiao.

It was still the familiar small hotel from back then, with the same pot-bellied boss, and the rooms were still mostly empty.

He actually remembered them. “Oh, are you here for your honeymoon?” Many years ago, that beautiful young couple who came to Nanqiao left a deep impression on him.

“Yes,” he didn’t say much.

Lu Nian held his hand, her eyes still red, and said nothing.

The conditions here were really poor. Nanqiao had poor transportation and a bad geographical location.

Since Lu Nian insisted, he could only accompany her.

After all, no matter how bad a place was, he had slept in it before.

The room they stayed in this time seemed to be in a similar position to before, but it was a double bed room.

Lu Nian went to take a shower, and he went out to buy bedding, changing all the bedding on the bed.

She came out of the shower, drying her hair, her eyes still red.

Whether it was the eruption of emotions left by this body or just her own sympathy being stirred up, she suddenly felt very floaty, her whole body cold, as if she had returned to the little girl she was many years ago.

Sitting beside her, he was a little stiff.

He really wasn’t good at comforting people, and he didn’t know how to ease her emotions.

Lu Nian stared into the distance, hugging her knees, and suddenly murmured, “Qiao Li, do you actually resent me?”

“And Yayuan.”

Her eyes turned red. “Dad thinks so too.”

Today, she finally realized Lu Zhihong’s true nature.

He didn’t have any love or fatherly affection for her.

They had been father and daughter for over ten years, but now they had reached such a point.

No one truly loved her.

Seeing her cry like this, he felt his heart softening, sour and painful.

At this moment, even if stopping her tears meant giving up his life, he would willingly do so.

…

Her sobs didn’t stop,

sometimes loud, sometimes soft.

He didn’t know how to comfort her, so he silently wiped away her tears.

Just as he dried them, more tears fell, seemingly endless.

He threw away the wet tissue suddenly.

“And me.”

He hugged her, pressed against her smooth forehead, his voice low and hoarse. “If you want, I love you.”

If those people she cared about didn’t love her.

Then at least, he loved her, loved her for many, many years.

Lu Nian sat in his arms, slowly stopping her sobs.

His fingers were slender, and his touch was a little cold.

As he brushed over her burning cheeks, wiping away her tears, he was gentle and patient, repeating the motion for who knows how long.

Her sobbing subsided a bit, but then she suddenly asked.

“I heard from Qiao Li that you liked me when we first came to Nanqiao.” Tears glistened in her eyes. “Is it true?”

He was wiping her tears, and his movements suddenly stiffened.

He didn’t answer for a long time.

Not getting the reply she wanted, Lu Nian continued to cry, tears silently streaming down her face.

Her dewy almond eyes, with long, wet lashes, adorned with glistening tear drops, cried soundlessly, yet pitifully.

Her cries hit him hard, making him extremely uncomfortable, especially hating himself for still being powerless at this moment.

…

“He didn’t lie,” he hoarsely, at the risk of everything, “That’s how it was back then. Is that enough?”

“If he confessed these things, perhaps it could make her feel a little better, even if just a little bit.”

Lu Nian finally calmed down a bit, her thin shoulders no longer trembling with sobs.

The warmth of his fingertips was real, and the embrace around her was genuine.

He patiently wiped away her tears without any other thoughts.

Unexpectedly, she suddenly exerted force and pushed him down, kissing him haphazardly.

The bed creaked.

“At that time, when I kissed you here, it was just a casual kiss,” she remembered, tears still in her eyes, “But you bit me so hard, it hurt.”

So it wasn’t because he was being difficult, but because he liked her?

He blushed deeply.

So many years had passed, yet the bed’s quality was still poor. It creaked with every movement.

He closed his eyes and said hoarsely, “You can hear everything outside.”

The soundproofing of this hotel in Nanqiao was terrible, and everything happening inside could be heard clearly outside.

The bed in the Nanqiao hotel was particularly old and narrow, barely enough for two people.

Lu Nian was extremely emotional tonight.

He tried his best to comfort her and let her do as she pleased.

Lu Nian’s emotions finally stabilized a bit.

Some warmth seemed to rise in her heart. Did he really start liking her back then?

But his attitude was always so cold and aloof, always appearing indifferent and arrogant in front of her.

“Why did you treat me like that back then?” she suddenly asked.

He hesitated.

Lu Nian lowered her eyes, tears threatening to fall again.

She kissed him and bit him haphazardly, making him extremely uncomfortable and unable to resist, so he had to let her do as she pleased.

Until her slender hands moved down…

He grunted, extremely embarrassed.

“Why?” her voice still carried a hint of crying.

…

“I’m not worthy of you, but I like you since I don’t remember and loved you” he gritted his teeth and finally said hoarsely.

She was the daughter of heaven, while he was just a destitute nobody, with no parents, an unpleasant personality, and nothing to offer.

How could he have said such words back then? He couldn’t even express his emotions.

Lu Nian had never expected this reason.

He always appeared indifferent and arrogant.

Could it be that he had such thoughts?

“In those years, I always wanted to come back,” he said with his eyes closed.

For many years, he had thought of her incessantly, yearning to see her every day.

But he had no way to do so.

Looking back now, he felt that his handling of the situation back then was immature.

However, as a radical, proud, and self-deprecating teenager at the time, he made the decision without hesitation, and now it was irreversible.

“How could you not be worthy?” She was silent for a moment, then spoke sincerely, “You have always been so much better than me.”

“I don’t know when I started liking you” Man beneath her and she continued, “But now, I can be sure.”

“I really like you,” She said.

Tears still hung on her lashes.

There was a hole in his heart, empty and longing for her feelings, wanting to be filled continuously.

Hearing her say this, he felt somewhat disoriented.

It didn’t feel real.

He thought she was probably just saying things because her mental state was nearly collapsing, so it was normal for her to say something random or just a polite response.

He always placed himself in an extremely humble position, constantly hinting to himself that she couldn’t possibly have any feelings for him.

In fact, after so many years, he was no different from the lonely and stubborn little boy in the attic who stared at the moon.

The same fear of loss, the same fear of accepting her kindness, the same disbelief, and constant worry.

Lu Nian sniffled and finally stopped crying, whispering softly, “Can you say what you said earlier again?”

“I love you.”

“I’ve liked you for a long time.”

His cheeks turned red, lips pursed, he tried several times, but couldn’t say anything, not even a single syllable.

‘He’s really shy, so thin-skinned,’ Lu Nian thought.

Her strangely cold heart slowly warmed up again. That dreadful suspended feeling seemed to return to normal in his arms.

…

As she returned to normal, she suddenly felt something was wrong.

“…You actually want it, don’t you?” Tears welled up in her eyes, making her look particularly fragile, her face pale, her pair of clear and moist apricot eyes appearing clear and beautiful. “I can help you.”

The wooden boards beneath them creaked as she leaned closer.

His eyes were red, stirred by her, her movements were not skillful, but there was a hint of unfamiliar teasing, especially when he thought it was her.

Every sensation in his body was controlled by her.

Through each of her actions, the once clear and beautiful black eyes of the man were no longer clear.

He wanted more but couldn’t voice this shameful request, only silently pleading.

She whispered, “Don’t you want to make a sound?”

The walls here were too thin, the sound insulation was extremely poor, almost non-existent, they had known this many years ago.

Not to mention that nothing had actually happened then, but when that boss asked about it, he blushed his entire ears.

“Are you afraid of being heard outside?” She applied a bit more force.

He gritted his teeth, his long lashes trembling, the corners of his eyes crimson, almost unable to suppress the low gasp, but forcefully suppressed it back.

Several years ago, also in this place, she suddenly remembered a lot, thinking back to several years ago, that cold and proud stubborn teenager, and the handsome man in front of her who had already been lured into her downfall.

…

Finally, after everything was over.

The strange feeling in his body hadn’t faded yet.

Remembering the scenes just now, his ears turned red.

He covered his eyes with his slender fingers and lay on the bed in silence for a while.

He got up to clean up the scene, took a quick shower, and gently changed the bedding to clean ones.

Lu Nian had been very tired during this time.

Now that everything was over, she finally fell asleep completely, sleeping soundly.

He, with his ears red, cleaned her small hands and then gently placed her in his arms.

…She said she liked him.

Although still unwilling to completely believe it, he kept that sentence in his heart and chewed on it countless times.

Painful, yet there was a hidden joy.

Seeing that she had indeed fallen asleep, he lowered his eyes, his eyelashes trembling.

Finally, he leaned over, very unskilledly touching her cheek lightly, cherishing it deeply.