Chapter 145: Chapter 145: How Do I Qualify to Argue with Her?

“Can I ask what your original name was, or is it okay if you don’t want to say?” Lin Xu asked curiously the first time she heard that Ji Yuqiao had changed her name.

“My previous name was…”

The three syllables “Ji Lanyue” coincided with the ringtone of a cell phone.

At the tranquil lakeside, the ringtone exploded abruptly, startling Lin Xu so much that her heart trembled.

She patted her chest, it took a while for her heart to calm its rapid beating, “I didn’t catch that. What did you just say?”

“It’s okay, you answer the phone first.” Ji Yuqiao said.

Lin Xu nodded and had just answered the call when Ji Tingyang’s anxious voice came from the other end.

“Mom, why have you not come back yet, it’s almost midnight. Where are you now, I’ll come and pick you up!”

“Didn’t I tell you before I left that I was just going out to meet a friend?” Lin Xu replied.@@novelbin@@

“…Which friend are you meeting, that it’s so late and you’re still not home?” Ji Tingyang cautiously probed, several times wanting to directly ask if she was meeting with Xie Changyan.

Initially, when Lin Xu was leaving the house that evening, Ji Tingyang wanted to go with her.

But Lin Xu had sent him upstairs to fetch a piece of clothing, and by the time he came down, she was already gone.

Ji Tingyang was both angry and anxious.

He had held back until now, watching as it was about to pass midnight, finally unable to restrain himself, he made the call.

But before he could say much, Lin Xu efficiently hung up the phone, “Don’t worry, I’ll be back in a bit, let’s leave it at that.”

Ji Yuqiao vaguely heard the voice from the other end, urging Lin Xu to come home.

She glanced at the time, startled, “Is your family calling you home? Then you should hurry back. I forgot to check the time; I didn’t realize it was so late.”

“But…”

“I’m fine now, you should rush home.”

Ji Yuqiao also urged, pushing and pulling the reluctant Lin Xu, finally sending her off in a taxi.

Not until the taxi’s silhouette vanished from her sight did Ji Yuqiao turn around and slowly walk back to the dorm.

On the way back to the dorm, she thought of Xiao Yu again, and her eyes welled up with tears once more.

That night, she was not the only one heartbroken.

Deep into the night at the bar, the place was awash with colored lights and drinks.

Su Linzhou had just said goodbye to a few beauties and returned to his booth, only to see Xie Changyan sitting there, drinking sullenly.

“I used to invite you to the bar and you never wanted to come; how come now that you’ve finally agreed, you’re hiding in the corner drinking all gloomy?” Su Linzhou sat down, clicking his tongue and shaking his head, “With so many beauties around, what fun is there in drinking alone?”

Xie Changyan looked at the glass on the table, his slender, pale fingers slowly tracing the rim. His drooped eyelashes obscured his brown eyes, concealing his expression. The atmosphere around him was chillingly low and intimidating.

After a while, he picked up the glass and downed it in one go.

“Over fifty degrees of strong alcohol, and you just downed it like that?” Su Linzhou stared in disbelief, moving closer to Xie Changyan, he whispered cautiously, “Do you, perhaps, have something on your mind?”

Xie Changyan remained silent.

“Is it… about Lin Xu?” Su Linzhou ventured cautiously.

Xie Changyan was exceptionally capable and had achieved extraordinary success in business at a young age, leading Xie’s to even greater heights.

Everyone said he was extremely talented, having never faced setbacks in his early life.

Yet now, this favored son of heaven seemed so despondent, and aside from Lin Xu, Su Linzhou couldn’t think of any other reason.

Sure enough, upon hearing this name, Xie Changyan’s expression tightened, his face as if shrouded in the gloomy night sky, turned even darker.

“It couldn’t be that you failed to steal someone’s girl, could it?!” Su Linzhou exclaimed.

No sooner had he spoken than Xie Changyan’s whole aura turned even colder.

Su Linzhou swallowed, feeling his guess was probably right on the mark.

“Look…there’s plenty of fish in the sea, why not just give up?” Su Linzhou advised.

Anxiety stirred in his eyes, as Xie Changyan closed them and rubbed his nose bridge.

After a while, when he opened his eyes again, the emotions in his eyes had settled into calmness.

He stood up, picked up the coat beside him, casually draped it over his arm, and headed straight for the door.

“The night is just beginning, why head back so early? Stay around here a bit longer, perhaps you’ll find another one soon!” Su Linzhou’s voice carried from behind.

Xie’s Family.

The lights in the living room were still on.

As soon as Xie Changyan entered, he saw Xie Mingwang sitting on the sofa, his face somber.

“Grandpa, why haven’t you gone to bed?” Xie Changyan casually threw his coat on the rack and breezily said, “I’m heading to my room now, you should rest early too.”

“Wait a second!” Xie Mingwang called out to him.

Xie Mingwang looked at him, his brows tightly furrowed.

From a distance, the smell of alcohol wafted from him.

“Why are you back so late, where have you been?”

“Where else could I have been besides drinking?” Xie Changyan pulled at the corner of his lips, his tone slack.

“Really?” Xie Mingwang was skeptical.

Xie Changyan, knowing what he was thinking, snorted, “Don’t worry, I’ve been coming back late these days because of the bars, not because I met her.”

Xie Mingwang, as if seen through, coughed awkwardly, “I’m just worried about you coming back so late these past few days.”

“I’m grown up now, there’s nothing to worry about. You should worry more about your own health.” After saying that, Xie Changyan went back to his room to rest.

Knowing that his grandson hadn’t met with that woman again, Xie Mingwang initially breathed a sigh of relief.

However, over the next several days, repeatedly seeing Xie Changyan coming back late and smelling of alcohol raised Xie Mingwang’s concerns again.

“Tell me the truth, has something happened at the company recently?” One night, Xie Mingwang blocked Xie Changyan who had come back in the middle of the night and asked.

“Aren’t you a director of the company? How could any troubles at the company be hidden from you?” Xie Changyan responded nonchalantly.

“Then is it that my health is failing?” Xie Mingwang added.

“…Have you been watching too many TV dramas?”

“So it’s that you had a quarrel with that woman?”

Xie Changyan paused for a moment, a self-mocking smile appearing on his handsome face, “What right do I have to quarrel with anyone?”

He remembered it had been half a month since he last took Lin Xu back to Ji Family, besides a message thanking him initially, she hadn’t sent him any more.

He didn’t know if it was because she was busy caring for the injured Ji Tingyang, or if she had simply forgotten him.

Perhaps, as Ji Tingyang had said, he was simply not important to her, insignificant to the extent of not even meriting contact.

A bitter, indescribable ache surged from the depths of his heart, rising to his chest and throat, ultimately escaping in a bitter chuckle.

Xie Mingwang, hearing this, immediately understood.

There must have been some misunderstanding between him and that woman.