Chapter 43

Mi Zhao didn’t know Madam Li, nor did he know what kind of person she was, but from Yan Qinting’s description, she seemed like a man-eating monster.

His mind went blank, and it took him a long time to finally register a sense of nervousness.

“I-I didn’t know he was that old lady’s son. If I had known, I would have…” Mi Zhao wanted to say he would have kept his distance from Li Sipei, but when the words reached his lips, he couldn’t say them.

Looking back on his time with Li Sipei, he felt that Li Sipei was truly a good match for him. Aside from his odd temper and jealousy, they got along very well in all other aspects.

Most importantly, he could tolerate Li Sipei’s flaws.

Even when he had dated Li Yan in the past, they had never been this compatible.

Seeing Mi Zhao stuck in silence, Yan Qinting sat back down with a headache. “So what are you going to do?”

Mi Zhao shook his head blankly. “I don’t know.”

Although Yan Qinting had been single for twenty years and had never been in a relationship, that didn’t stop him from offering advice at this critical moment. “I think you need to figure out why Li Sipei is with you in the first place.”

Mi Zhao looked at him blankly. “What reason?”

Yan Qinting propped his chin up and thought for a moment. “Do you feel like you two are actually dating?”

Mi Zhao shook his head again. People say love makes one blind, and he hadn’t even entered this relationship with romance in mind. Looking back now, he felt like they were both dating and not dating at the same time.

“I think there’s a high chance he’s just taking advantage of you,” Yan Qinting said. “You’re young, so he’s just playing around.”

This wasn’t without reason.

If Li Sipei were around their age and they had gotten to know each other, built a connection, confessed, and then started dating, then it would be obvious they were in a real relationship. But that wasn’t the case. They knew little about each other’s backgrounds, families, or pasts, and every time they met, it was for a certain purpose.

How was that a relationship?

Mi Zhao might have misunderstood things at first, but Li Sipei never objected to their dynamic, which meant he had accepted it as well.

Wasn’t this just a classic case of a fling?

Yan Qinting thought so but didn’t say it out loud—he still wanted to save his friend some dignity.

But after living together for years, Mi Zhao could more or less pick up on what Yan Qinting was implying.

“What do you think I should do?” Mi Zhao ruffled his hair in frustration.

Yan Qinting seriously pointed at his chest. “You should ask yourself what you really want.”

Seeing that Mi Zhao was still confused, Yan Qinting added, “Since your relationship with him isn’t what you thought it was, you need to reconsider how you view it. If he’s just playing around, then I suggest you don’t take it too seriously. Luckily, you never did in the first place.”

Mi Zhao was still muddled, but he had to admit Yan Qinting made sense.

Yan Qinting rubbed his smooth chin. “The only thing you really need to worry about is Madam Li. She treasures her son like a priceless gem. If she finds out about all this, she’ll skin you alive.”

“…” Mi Zhao shivered.

“If you’re not afraid of Madam Li, then do whatever you want.” Yan Qinting sighed, then suddenly grinned. “After all, you’ve already done everything you should and shouldn’t do with her son, haven’t you?”

“…”

—

That night, Mi Zhao tossed and turned, unable to sleep.

As dawn approached, he reached for his phone and searched for Madam Li’s name—Pei Yu. It was Yan Qinting who had told him.

Unfortunately, there wasn’t much information about Pei Yu online. Most of the search results were about Li family businesses, and her name only appeared occasionally in some news articles.

Mi Zhao scoured every platform he could think of and finally found a few candid photos of Pei Yu from three years ago on a private Weibo account.

Judging by the background, the photos were taken at a hotel. Pei Yu was wearing a fitted black qipao with a coat draped over her shoulders. Her jet-black hair was styled in an updo, revealing a well-maintained face that still retained traces of her youthful beauty and elegance.

At first glance, Mi Zhao immediately thought that Li Sipei looked a lot like Pei Yu. Especially when she furrowed her brows—her cold expression and unapproachable demeanor were exactly the same as his.

If Mi Zhao had any doubts before, they vanished completely now.

Because they looked too much alike.

He put down his phone and lay flat on his bed, staring at the ceiling in the darkness.

Yan Qinting’s words about Madam Li echoed in his mind.

Judging by her appearance alone, Pei Yu indeed didn’t seem like an easy person to get along with.

What should he do?

Should he cut ties with Li Sipei immediately, or should he come clean and lay everything out in the open?

His gut told him that no matter what he chose, the outcome wouldn’t be great. The only silver lining was that if Li Sipei got angry, he wouldn’t have to go through the trouble of coaxing him anymore.

Before getting involved, he had mentally prepared himself for an easy breakup.

But for some reason, now that it was actually happening, he felt reluctant.

Mi Zhao closed his eyes.

After a long time, he let out a deep sigh.

If only he had never found out about this.

After a sleepless night, Mi Zhao went to his morning class the next day and, for the first time ever, slept through most of it.

Fortunately, the teacher was lenient and encouraged students to work freely. Seeing the dark circles under Mi Zhao’s eyes, the teacher kindly advised, “Health is the foundation of everything. Don’t ruin your body just to make money. Get some proper rest and stop staying up late.”

Mi Zhao: “……”

Even the teacher knew about his recent frenzy of taking on commissions.

After his sketching class, Mi Zhao planned to return to the dorm with Yan Qinting to catch up on sleep. But as they walked across the square downstairs, they unsurprisingly ran into a familiar face.

Normally, the moment Li Yan saw Mi Zhao, he would make a beeline for him, no matter how far apart they were. But today, he didn’t make a move. He simply walked alongside his roommate, though his gaze was glued to Mi Zhao like it had been nailed in place.

Yan Qinting immediately nudged Mi Zhao and motioned toward Li Yan with his chin.

Mi Zhao glanced at him once before quickly looking away. Just seeing Li Yan annoyed him now. He had even considered exposing all of Li Yan’s dirty secrets, but he wasn’t Lin Qiuzu—he couldn’t backstab someone without a second thought.

Thinking about Lin Qiuzu’s sneaky little tricks only made him more irritated.

On the other side, Li Yan had barely slept all night. Ever since he learned about the relationship between Mi Zhao and his uncle, he had been in a daze. Even Li Kejian had called to ask about what had happened that day, but he couldn’t get a single word out.

He had scrolled back to an old post his uncle had shared on his WeChat Moments.

That casually placed bouquet of roses on the bedside table loomed large in his mind, the vivid red burning into his eyes as if it could bleed out of the screen. For the first time, he felt like a complete idiot.

Back then, he had been desperately trying to win Mi Zhao back, completely unaware that his uncle had already stolen him away—and flaunted it right in his face.

That post might have been meant for him all along.

Look.

Your boyfriend sent me roses.

Your boyfriend came to my house.

Your boyfriend did all the things with me that you wanted to do but never could.

Li Yan clenched his fists, his whole body trembling. His teeth ground together so hard it felt like they might shatter. His eyes locked onto Mi Zhao with an obsessive intensity, as if he wanted to pierce straight through his soul.

But Mi Zhao didn’t spare him even a single glance. Without hesitation, he walked right past him.

Li Yan couldn’t hold back—he reached out his hand.

Before he could even touch Mi Zhao, another hand appeared out of nowhere and smacked his away.

Yan Qinting glared at him fiercely, mouthing the words, Behave yourself.

In just those few seconds, Mi Zhao and Yan Qinting had already walked away, their figures swallowed up by the crowd of students.

Li Yan stood frozen until his roommate patted him on the shoulder. “Still not going?”

“Huh? Oh.” Li Yan snapped out of it and numbly followed his roommate into the teaching building.

“That guy just now—wasn’t that Mi Zhao?” his roommate asked. “You two still haven’t made up? You used to be so close. It’d be a shame to throw that away.”

“……” Li Yan opened his mouth but couldn’t say a word.

He thought about how last semester, their class schedules rarely overlapped. To spend more time together, they would crash each other’s classes. When the weather was still cold, they’d sit in the back of the classroom, bundled up like two little quails.

Mi Zhao didn’t like milk tea. He always brought two cups of hot lattes, and they would sit on the bleachers at the school track, sipping their drinks and watching the cheerleaders practice.

Now, the weather had cooled again, but he and Mi Zhao had truly become strangers.

With his uncle standing like a giant wall between them, he had lost even the chance to remain friends.

A slow, creeping pain settled in his heart.

Suddenly, he deeply regretted ever meeting Lin Qiuzu.

“Li Yan?” His roommate sounded shocked. “Are you crying?”

Li Yan hurriedly wiped his face. “Just got some dust in my eye.”

—

After submitting his final work, Mi Zhao finally had some free time. He and Yan Qinting sprawled on their beds, pretending to be corpses.

Yan Qinting was a hardcore homebody. As long as someone brought him food, he could stay in bed for an entire week, switching between reading novels and playing games on his phone.

Mi Zhao, on the other hand, wasn’t into games or novels. When he picked up his phone, it was only to scroll through WeChat and Weibo. Once he ran out of things to look at, he simply put his phone down and stared into space.

When Yan Qinting turned his head, he saw Mi Zhao gazing blankly at the ceiling, looking as if he had transcended worldly concerns. He coughed twice and asked, “Still haven’t sorted things out?”

Without even blinking, Mi Zhao replied, “I’ll just slowly distance myself.”

Yan Qinting gave him a thumbs-up. “Now that’s the smart way to do it. Don’t throw yourself into a mess for some guy you’ve only known for two or three months. His mother isn’t someone to mess with.”

“Mm.” Mi Zhao let out a weak sound of agreement.

After a moment of silence, Yan Qinting leaned on the bed railing and asked, “Are you not visiting your parents this week?”

It was odd—Mi Zhao’s parents had been in A City for nearly half a month, yet he hadn’t really gone to see them. Then again, they hadn’t come to A University to visit him either.

Mi Zhao listlessly turned over, facing away from Yan Qinting. “They’re busy.”

“Busy with what? Didn’t you say they cut ties with that old family friend who scammed them?”

“They’re busy making new friends,” Mi Zhao said. “Apparently, they met someone in A City with a pretty high status and have been trying to build a good relationship with them.”

Yan Qinting was momentarily speechless. Then he sighed and shook his head. “Your parents really can’t sit still for even a day, huh?”

Speak of the devil, and the devil appears.

Before his words had even faded, Mi Zhao’s phone, lying next to his pillow, started ringing.

He picked it up and glanced at the screen—it was a call from He Linfang.