A beautiful summer night

Xia Wanzhi's face paled slightly as her fingernails dug into her palm, leaving several marks of varying depths. When she closed her eyes, all she could think of was the woman's smug and provocative demeanor.

Her fiancé was currently groveling on top of another woman, indulging in unrestrained pleasure.

Zhou Yu is dirty.

The Zhou family's house is also filthy.

After regaining her senses, Xia Wanzhi opened the car door, got out, turned around, and walked in the opposite direction, gradually moving further and further away from the Zhou family's villa.

She felt sorry for him, and not just because of Zhou Yu's betrayal.

Rather, she misjudged someone.

She could be said to know Zhou Yu quite well.

But they don't understand the nature of men.

Early August was already the end of summer, and a few days later it would be the beginning of autumn. The wind was gentle, lightly lifting Xia Wanzhi's light skirt.

She hadn't changed out of her dress yet, and her seven-centimeter high heels were a little uncomfortable. Xia Wanzhi stopped, bent down, took off her shoes, and continued walking aimlessly.

Her appearance was truly eye-catching, like a princess who had escaped from a fairy tale kingdom. Passersby looked at her with curiosity, and some came up to ask her if she needed help. She shook her head and said thank you.

"Another pitiful person heartbroken over love," a passerby sighed.

"Such a beautiful girl, how could anyone not appreciate her?" Passersby spoke out in her defense.

Xia Wanzhi stopped walking, found a bench to sit on, stared blankly at her dirty feet, and suddenly laughed self-deprecatingly.

If her grandparents, who live far away in England, knew that she had ended up like this in the North City, they would definitely send someone over immediately to kidnap her.

Cutting her off from her parents was one tactic, and freezing her bank cards was another of their usual tricks.

They were betting that she would give up quickly.

Then she obediently gave up everything in Beicheng and immigrated to England to continue living a pampered life as a young lady.

At the same time, Zhou Yu, wrapped in a bathrobe, picked up his phone from the bedside table after finishing. The woman beside him immediately snuggled up to him and clung to his shoulders, her sweet voice full of apology: "I accidentally answered a WeChat call. I was going to reject it, but I pressed the wrong button..."

Zhou Yu lit a cigarette and slowly exhaled a puff of smoke: "You don't need to tell me about your affairs."

The woman rested her chin on his shoulder, her voice slightly nasal as she heard his words: "I thought the phone was mine..."

"What did you say?" Zhou Yu turned his head almost reflexively, looking at the woman with sharp eyes, a bad premonition rising within him.

The woman swallowed hard and explained, "I didn't expect the phone to be yours..."

"Sun Lingzhi!" Zhou Yu felt a chill run down his spine. The veins on the hand gripping Sun Lingzhi's neck bulged, and his mind went blank for a moment.

His phone and Sun Lingzhi's phone were placed together on the bedside table. The phone rang in the middle of the night, but he was in a high mood and hung up on it. Shortly after, a WeChat call came in.

Sun Lingzhi half-heartedly said that her phone had rung.

Few people call Zhou Yu via WeChat, in fact, none at all, so he believed her and flirtatiously let her hang up on her own.

“Young Master Zhou…” Sun Lingzhi struggled, her eyes filled with fear.

"Who gave you the audacity to play mind games with me?" Zhou Yu's eyes were bloodshot, his anger and dissatisfaction erupting. After a brief loss of reason, he came back to his senses, released Sun Lingzhi's neck, and searched for messages on his WeChat.

Xia Wanzhi is his only pinned post.

The words "[Video Call]" clearly visible below the note indicated that Xia Wanzhi had made a call to him.

Zhou Yu's fingers trembled as he tapped into the chat interface.

[Call duration: 01:26]

Above that, there were several other messages sent by Xia Wanzhi.

She also asked him where he was, saying she was waiting for him in the car so they could go inside together.

In an instant, countless regrets swept over Zhou Yu's entire body. A huge panic surged in his heart, and his body stiffened for a moment. He looked up at Sun Lingzhi, who was kneeling on the bed, and blamed all the mistakes on this woman.

"Slap—" Zhou Yu slapped Sun Lingzhi across the face with full force, grabbing her hair in a fit of rage, "It's all your fault..."

"It was all your fault for seducing me!" He said, his expression pained, unable to conceal the rage emanating from him.

It was because this woman took advantage of his vulnerability and said that her name was also Zhizhi that he lost his guard.

Sun Lingzhi begged for mercy in terror, tears streaming down her face. Suddenly, a ringtone pulled Zhou Yu back from his loss of control. The moment Zhou Yu answered the phone, Sun Lingzhi shakily got up and fell back to the ground, trembling and shrinking into a corner, too afraid to move.

"Mom, has Zhizhi come back yet?" Zhou Yu asked anxiously.

As soon as he spoke, Zhou's mother interrupted Xia Wanzhi impatiently, "Zhizhi, do you even care about me as your mother? Weren't you going to a banquet together? What time is it and you're still not back?"

"What did you say? Zhizhi didn't go back?" Zhou Yu's heart tightened, and he ignored Sun Lingzhi hurriedly changing her clothes and leaving the house.

Xia Wanzhi blocked him, and he couldn't contact her. He searched everywhere Xia Wanzhi could go, but he still couldn't find her.

The car finally stopped in front of the Xie family's old house. He covered his face with his hands, looking disheveled.

This is the last place Xia Wanzhi might visit.

Upon entering the gate, Zhou Yu was stopped in a side hall by Xie Qiyan's order.

After waiting for a while, Xie Qiyan finally arrived late. He wasn't wearing his glasses, and a dark glint was hidden in his calm eyes: "It's almost eleven o'clock, Xie Tan is already asleep."

Zhou Yu swallowed hard and stammered, "Cousin...cousin, I've come to find Zhizhi."

Xie Qiyan immediately sneered: "Looking for your fiancée, you came here? Do you suspect I've been hiding her?"

"Zhizhi is close to my cousin, I thought she..."

“He’s not here.” Xie Qiyan’s gaze was sinister, and when he looked down, his eyes fixed on the collar of his shirt.

There was a bright red lipstick mark there.

Xia Wanzhi's lipstick is very light tonight.

The mark was rather wide.

It doesn't match Xia Wanzhi's cherry-sized lips at all.

Xie Qiyan scoffed coldly, his gaze towards Zhou Yu now tinged with mockery.

Zhou Yu wasn't entirely convinced, but he didn't dare disbelieve either. After hesitating for a few seconds, he said, "If she comes looking for Xie Tan tonight, please give me a call, cousin, I..."

"What does this have to do with me?" Xie Qiyan stood up, turned around and left the side hall without any hesitation.

In the south courtyard, Xie Tan's bedroom lights were already off.

Xie Qiyan stood outside the door and simply turned the doorknob. The light switch was on the left side of the entrance. Xie Qiyan slapped the light off, and Xie Tan, who was hiding under the covers reading comics with a nightlight, immediately turned off the light, held her breath, and pretended to be asleep.

"Get up." Xie Qiyan's aura was extremely low.

Xie Tan dared not move.

"Give your sister Wanzi a call." Xie Qiyan stood at the head of the bed and pulled the blanket off Xie Tan.

They didn't lift much before revealing her head and her tools of the crime.

Xie Tan opened one eye, chuckled, and pulled the blanket up to cover his comic book.