A beautiful summer night

Disappointment welled up in her heart but she couldn't express it. Xia Wanzhi withdrew her hand, got up, walked to the door, opened it, and said in a tone that left no room for refusal: "You can leave now. I will go back tonight and explain the annulment to my aunt and uncle. At the latest, I will move out by tomorrow night."

From then on, they went their separate ways.

Zhou Yu stood up slowly after a long while, his voice hoarse: "Are you really going to be this heartless?"

Xia Wanzhi remained silent, and the confrontation was unusually quiet.

"I've liked you since I was little." Zhou Yu gave a bitter laugh, his disheveled appearance making him look especially pitiful. "We've been engaged for almost three months, and I've always followed your pace. Ask yourself honestly, do we look like we're in a relationship?"

“Every time I try to get close to you, you avoid me. All you care about is your studio and your clients. When have you ever considered me as your fiancé?”

"Xia Wanzhi, have you never liked me?"

With red eyes, Zhou Yu pressed him for answers. He was terrified; he couldn't bear the consequences of Xia Wanzhi leaving him.

He had always revolved around Xia Wanzhi since he was a child, and now that things had turned out this way, he was unwilling to accept it, he was very unwilling to accept it.

Xia Wanzhi closed her eyes, suppressing the bitterness in her heart, and said softly, "I like it."

Zhou Yu suddenly looked up, his pupils contracting slightly. He stared intently at Xia Wanzhi as if in disbelief, his immense joy overshadowing the complex emotions in his heart. He stepped forward, only to see Xia Wanzhi take a large step back.

“But what I like is that spirited young man at seventeen or eighteen.” Xia Wanzhi clenched her hands, her throat slightly choked, “not the Zhou Yu who puts commercial interests first, nor the Zhou Yu who is now, who clearly did something wrong but righteously criticizes and questions me to cover up his mistakes!”

She agreed to get engaged to Zhou Yu because she had a brotherly affection for him, who had protected her since childhood. However, when she started interacting with him as his fiancée, she found that she couldn't adapt to this change in status.

Both she and Zhou Yu have changed.

Everything that happened after the Xia family went bankrupt, and the change in their attitude towards her, meant that one day they would drift apart.

"Let's call off the engagement, Zhou Yu." Xia Wanzhi's eyes were filled with indifference as she looked at him.

For Zhou Yu, this was a very unfamiliar look.

He knew she wasn't joking, nor was she saying it out of anger.

There was no turning back between him and Xia Wanzhi.

The argument between the two came to an end. Zhu Zi listened to the whole thing in the studio, and only came out indignantly after Zhou Yu left, speaking up for Xia Wanzhi: "That heartless bastard, he has the appearance of a gentleman but no substance."

Xia Wanzhi let out a soft breath, rubbed her temples, sat down, poured herself a cup of hot tea, and sipped it slowly. Hearing this, she chuckled and said, "People do change."

In the past, Zhou Yu was self-disciplined and observed proper etiquette.

Bamboo puffed out her cheeks in anger, sighed, and began to worry for Xia Wanzhi: "Will this engagement be successfully called off? He doesn't seem like he'll let go easily. And where will you live after you move out of the Zhou family?"

The changes came too quickly, catching not only the bamboo but also Xia Wanzhi herself off guard.

She had no plans.

Bamboo paced anxiously, hands on her hips, muttering to herself, "Where did your aunt and uncle go? How could they leave you like this? If only they were here..."

Xia Wanzhi sighed inwardly, resting her chin on her hand.

She's really a bit poor right now.

This disheveled state is probably exactly what the old man in England wanted to see.

She would lose if she made even one phone call to them.

"If all else fails, I'll stay at the studio; this is my home." Xia Wanzhi maintained an optimistic attitude.

Bamboo said with a mournful face, "Have you forgotten that we are being exploited and driven out by capitalists? This place will soon no longer be your home."

Xia Wanzhi: "..."

Heaven is going to destroy me.

Just as she was feeling down, a group of people suddenly appeared at the entrance of the studio, led by Yu Fei, whom Xia Wanzhi remembered very well.

He was a subordinate who could act as a bodyguard to protect the capitalist's safety, and also as a driver and secretary to accompany the capitalist.

He is both literate and skilled in martial arts; he is a truly talented individual.

Xia Wanzhi and Zhu Zi followed them closely. They thought they would barge in like last time, throw out a huge compensation contract, and force her to sign it and leave. But today, they only glanced at it and disappeared after looking around.

Xia Wanzhi and Zhu Zi looked at each other in bewilderment.

Bamboo swallowed hard: "Does this mean your 'home' is safe?"

Xia Wanzhi chuckled twice: "If it's that easy, I'll acknowledge the Xie family as my father."

Xie Qiyan is the kind of person who doesn't easily show kindness.

Moreover, their relationship wasn't that good.

After a while, Yu Fei returned to the place after the inspection. He knocked on the door very politely and waved to the person inside through the glass.

Even knowing that Xia Wanzhi didn't welcome him, he still had to come in and complete the task assigned by his boss.

"Ms. Xia, Mr. Xie said he'll give you one more month's grace." Yu Fei handed over the new contract, which had been revised to increase the amount of compensation for breach of contract by half. The string of numbers that followed was quite obvious.

The amount to be compensated for breach of contract is 12.5 million.

What a sum of 2.5 million!

If Xia Wanzhi agrees to sign the eviction notice, the compensation plus the refunded rent will total more than 15 million yuan.

This money is more than enough for Xia Wanzhi to get by.

"Let him come and talk to me." Xia Wanzhi calmly pushed the contract back to Yu Fei. Things had come to this point, and she wasn't afraid of offending Xie Qiyan any further. She would struggle for as long as possible.

Xie Qiyan refused to let her go, and she refused to let Xie Qiyan go either. They would see who lost patience first and who would wear the other down first.

Xia Wanzhi has no choice but to fight this tough battle.

Of the thirty-six stratagems, if all else fails, use the beauty trap.

Yu Fei coughed lightly, not wanting to linger, and politely said goodbye after putting the contract back into his file bag: "I will definitely pass on Miss Xia's message."

Xia Wanzhi watched him leave.

Zhu Zi's expression was slightly complicated: "I have a feeling that his purpose in coming here is not to get you to sign the contract."

"Yes, he's here to laugh at me on behalf of that wicked capitalist." Xia Wanzhi was indignant. She slammed the cup in her hand on the table, got up and went into the studio. She stirred a bucket of paint and then splashed it hard onto the canvas that was 1.5 meters high.

Bamboo swallowed hard.

She hadn't seen Xia Wanzhi create in such a crude way in a long time.

By evening, Xia Wanzhi had finished her painting. Zhu Zi looked at the abstract portrait of Xie Qiyan in front of her and her brow twitched.

This painting must not be discovered by that wicked capitalist.

Otherwise, let alone 12.5 million, you wouldn't even get 250,000.

You should know that capitalists hold grudges and can be ruthless.