“Hey!” Su Feifei blocked Ye Tianxie’s path once again, though now her expression carried a good deal more urgency and exasperation. “Are you even a man?!”

“Am I a man…? Care to find out?” Ye Tianxie’s smile turned lecherous.

“You—” Su Feifei’s face flushed crimson. She suddenly snapped her head up and stared into his eyes. “Tell me — am I pretty? Do I count as a beauty?”

“Mm.” Ye Tianxie’s gaze traveled from top to bottom, from her lovely face to her legs, lingering deliberately at her chest along the way, and he nodded in all seriousness. “You are indeed a beauty who’s a pleasure to behold.”

“Then you—”

“But whether you’re a beauty or not doesn’t seem to have anything to do with me. Goodbye!” Before Su Feifei could get out a third word, Ye Tianxie cut off everything she’d meant to say, gave a cool wave of his hand, stuffed his hands into his trouser pockets, and walked off at an unhurried pace.

“Hey! Hey!” Su Feifei hurried a few steps to catch up — and then the most uncanny thing happened. Before her eyes, Ye Tianxie’s steps were plainly slow and even, and she was hurrying, yet he was pulling away from her at a speed that left her feeling she was in a dream, as if a single stride of his covered ten of an ordinary person’s. In only a little while, he vanished completely from her sight under the cover of night… This time, no lollipop fell out of his pocket by accident.

“Ye Tianxie! Ye Tianxie… you detestable… you scoundrel! I’m coming to your house tomorrow — you just wait, hmph!!” Su Feifei stamped her foot hard in the direction he’d gone, fire all but shooting from her bright, beautiful eyes. She, who had only ever refused others, had today been rebuffed by someone for the very first time.

Two men approached carefully and came up behind her. The one on the right asked in a low voice, “Miss… what you said just now about going to live at his place… Miss, you can’t be serious?”

“Of course I’m serious. Hmph!” Su Feifei gave a light snort and walked off angrily in the direction Ye Tianxie had gone.

“But… Miss, this isn’t really appropriate. He may be exceptionally good-looking, and he did save you, but we still haven’t uncovered his background. Wouldn’t this be… wouldn’t this be too fast…” the man advised cautiously.

“Fast, my foot! You think I’m about to pledge myself to him? Hmph! Let me tell you, he’s a hundred times — a thousand times — more capable than the two of you! If I live at his place, I won’t have to worry about safety at all. When I go out, I’ll just drag him along. With you two useless things at my side, I’m on edge every single day! Let’s go! I’m going back to pack!”

The two bodyguards lowered their heads under the scolding. In terms of ability, they were absolutely top-tier among bodyguards — but those dispatched to harm Su Luo and the people around him were, without question, experts among experts, and with a frequency ordinary people could scarcely imagine. So it wasn’t that their ability fell short; it was that the risk factor around Su Luo and his daughter was simply too great.

“But he is, after all, a man about the same age as you, Miss. And you’re so beautiful — if he were to do something to you, you’d have no way at all to resist. Perhaps this matter should still—”

“He wouldn’t dare!” Su Feifei snorted heavily, her cheeks puffing out with indignation. “Look at what just happened — he couldn’t get away from me fast enough… He was actually avoiding me. It makes me furious!”

“…” The two men promptly fell silent and followed close behind her. Their stubborn young mistress seemed, this time, to have truly made a rather insane decision.

From a dark corner, Ye Tianxie watched Su Feifei get into an unremarkable business van and speed away. He glanced up at the cloudless night sky and reckoned whether today was an auspicious day or another kind of calamitous one.

“Su Feifei… will this be trouble delivering itself to my door, or a god of wealth delivering itself to my door?”

That question wasn’t the most pressing one for now. What mattered most was… the reason Ye Tianxie hadn’t actually left was, naturally, not that he’d kindly stayed to protect Su Feifei from the shadows until she was gone, but because… all fifty of those hard-won lollipops had gone into Su Feifei’s bag.

He flicked a finger at the ground, and the hard pavement promptly cracked apart, several sizeable chunks of concrete springing up. He caught one in his hand, then tossed it off with a casual flick.

With a soft crack, a surveillance camera pointed in this direction was smashed outright — for which he had Su Feifei’s reminder to thank.

He walked back to the vending machine, fed in more than enough cash, and then… received a notice: lollipops sold out.

Ye Tianxie heaved a long sigh and asked the heavens, wordless.

……

……

Apart from madmen, everyone fears loneliness, because human nature rejects it. Ye Tianxie was no exception. But ever since she had quietly left, he had always been alone. Even with the few friends he had, he never let them come to his home, nor did he ever reach out to them first.

It wasn’t that he liked being alone. It was that he could no longer find anyone who could keep him company the way she had. And so he would rather settle, in the quiet, the sorrow and longing he never showed to anyone.

And then, with no preparation whatsoever, Guoguo had entered his world. Looking at his own empty hands, he smiled without meaning to… He had actually gone out on purpose to buy lollipops for a little girl. For him, this was truly an inconceivable thing. At the very least, the man he’d once been would never have imagined a day like this.

Though he balked at this face-losing, image-ruining errand-running… whenever he recalled the endearing, pitiable way Guoguo ate her lollipops, he would smile helplessly and quite naturally, and now that he’d failed to buy them for her this time, there was actually a thread of nervousness in his heart, a fear of seeing her look wronged and unhappy.

Not even ten days together — why do I feel this way… She, this tiny girl, has she already slipped into my world without my noticing?

This feeling is really quite good…

If she were suddenly gone…

I would… I really would… be unwilling to part with her.

Back home, the moment he opened the door, Ye Tianxie heard Guoguo’s clear voice coming from the direction of the bathroom:

“Bath time, bath time, I love baths. Bath time, bath time, I love baths, bath time, bath time, I love baths… Hm? Master’s scent! Wah! Master’s back! There’ll be more lollipops to eat!”

Then came the soft sound of splashing water.

Ye Tianxie: “…”

(End of Chapter 66)