A beautiful summer night

The Xie family banquet ended with both Zhou Yu and Xie Nan sporting bruises on their faces.

When Xie Qiyan arrived, the farce stopped, and Xia Wanzhi, who had caused the farce, was calmly sitting to the side applying medicine to Zhou Yu's lips.

The affairs of the younger generation did not disturb the elders, especially since Xie Qiyan was present.

"What, are you all mute?" Xie Qiyan withdrew his gaze from Xia Wanzhi and sneered, "Sister Xia is quite capable, single-handedly turning my Xie family upside down."

“It has nothing to do with Zhizhi. I started it.” Zhou Yu brushed Xia Wanzhi’s hand away, stood up and said, “But it was also because Xie Nan spoke rudely first.”

"You're talking nonsense! What the hell are you pretending to be, some saintly white lotus?"

"Xie Nan." Xie Qiyan's gaze shifted slightly, and he only called out Xie Nan's name once before falling silent, swallowing back even the greatest dissatisfaction.

No one dares to mess with Xie Qiyan now.

"Big brother is right. It's my fault for not disciplining my younger brother and cousin properly." Xie Lin, the second son of the Xie family, secretly tugged at Xie Nan's wrist, chuckled twice, and then turned to apologize, "Sister-in-law, what do you think about this..."

Xia Wanzhi glanced at him twice, still holding a disinfectant cotton swab between her fingers. She didn't say anything, but simply threw the cotton swab away, closed the first-aid kit, and left the side hall.

It would be a lie to say she didn't care about what was said earlier.

She was spoiled and pampered, and had heard too many flattering words. Now that she has fallen on hard times, it seems that the whole world is hostile towards her.

One person after another, one event after another, were forcing her to put aside her pride.

“This…” Xie Lin looked at Zhou Yu.

Zhou Yu then looked at Xie Qiyan and hurriedly took his leave: "I'll take the blame for today's incident. If Grandpa is angry, just come to me."

After a long pause, Xie Qiyan smiled.

Jesting, chilling.

Zhou Yu chased after her, grabbed Xia Wanzhi's hand, and pulled her into his arms: "Zhizhi, listen to me, I never had such thoughts, they're just talking nonsense, you have to believe me, believe me..."

After struggling for a moment and realizing it was futile, Xia Wanzhi fell silent. Sensing Zhou Yu's tense and frightened emotions, she asked in a slightly choked voice, "Zhou Yu, what are you panicking about?"

She's not brainless.

Since the incident involving the Xia family, Zhou Yu seems to have changed.

His panic at this moment was not because he was afraid of making her angry, but because he felt guilty and wanted to cover up his true feelings, which made him flustered.

He is someone whose principles are easily swayed.

Xia Wanzhi knew she could no longer trust him.

Zhou Yu's back stiffened, and he released his embrace, looking at Xia Wanzhi in bewilderment: "What do you mean?"

"I need to go back to the studio later; I still owe a client half a painting to finish." A lot has happened during this time, and people have changed a lot because of it. Xia Wanzhi is still conflicted, and she doesn't want to talk to Zhou Yu anymore.

She knew that if she continued talking, a crisis of trust would arise between her and Zhou Yu.

"But……"

"Take me there," Xia Wanzhi interrupted.

Zhou Yu hesitated for a moment, then nodded: "Okay."

-

Since the Xingyao Building was acquired by the Xie family, the small companies and businesses inside have all moved. Those whose leases expired moved out wisely, and those whose leases hadn't expired also moved out quickly because of the huge compensation they received from the higher-ups.

The rest are just some troublemakers.

Xia Wanzhi was one of those troublemakers.

"Sister, someone came again today, saying the compensation amount has doubled and we have to move out within a week." Zhu Zi was sorting through the client paintings whose contracts had been broken. As she spoke, she deliberately turned to look at Xia Wanzhi's expression.

Xia Wanzhi held a contract in her hand and looked at it; the compensation amount marked on it was indeed quite substantial.

Further down, there is a prominent official seal of the Xie Group.

"I don't want to move." Xia Wanzhi looked a little melancholy. She put down the contract and walked towards the bamboo. The two of them worked together to take care of the paintings that had been finished but had become discarded.

The profession of dream artist is actually quite niche, but Xia Wanzhi started her own studio with the support of her family when she was in college.

She didn't want to move because this place held her youth, her efforts, and all her achievements.

She started from here, and she wants to create her own glory.

The studio is located on the top floor of the building, with a floor-to-ceiling window offering an extremely wide view, where you can see the most beautiful sunrises and sunsets in the northern part of the city.

She likes it here.

Most importantly, this studio was a gift from her grandmother.

Because it was a gift from her maternal grandmother, the studio did not belong to the Xia family's assets, which is why it was not seized by the court to pay off debts.

Bamboo looked up at the sky and sighed, "I don't want to move either. If we move, where can we find such a good place? But now we have no choice."

"What exactly is this Xie family member trying to do? He's made such a big fuss as soon as he returned to the country, with acquisitions and mergers all the time. Does he want to control everything?"

Xia Wanzhi suddenly looked up, as if she had made up her mind: "I'll go ask."

Bamboo's eyes widened in shock at her words: "Where are you going to ask? You can't just see a big shot whenever you want, besides..."

"What else?" Xia Wanzhi stopped, her amber eyes staring straight at her.

Bamboo moved her lips, then choked out, "Besides, given your current status, even if you came to our door, we might not even get to you..."

After a moment of silence, Xia Wanzhi lowered her eyes, pulled over a high stool, sat down, and said calmly, "I'm not going to the Xie family."

Bamboo paused slightly: "Then you..."

"I'll make a call." Xia Wanzhi picked up her phone and made a video call in front of Zhu Zi.

Bamboo was stunned for a long time before it came to its senses.

How come she didn't know that her boss had this relationship with the Xie family?

It wasn't until the video call was answered and a little girl's head appeared on the screen that Zhu Zi suddenly realized: "I understand, to win over the big shot, start by winning over his family."

Xia Wanzhi's eyes widened: "Is that a big shot? That's a lunatic."

"Sister Wanzi, who's crazy?" Xie Tan's childish voice was full of curiosity.

"Your older brother," Xia Wanzhi said without any hesitation.

Bamboo swallowed hard, respecting her as a lone hero.

Xie Tan slammed his hand on the table: "Right! You think so too!"

Xia Wanzhi was amused: "Yes, great minds think alike."

Just as the two were about to continue their conversation, Xia Wanzhi had also come up with a plan on how to get Xie Tan to subtly probe Xie Qiyan, but before she could say anything, Xie Tan suddenly appeared and disappeared.

Then, Xie Qiyan's voice came through, cold and icy.

"Have you finished your homework?" Xie Qiyan asked.

Xie Tan honestly confessed, "It's almost there."

"Who are you chatting with?" Xie Qiyan's gaze fell directly on the smartwatch on Xie Tan's desk.

Xie Tan betrayed her in an instant: "Little Maruko-chan sister."

This was something Xie Qiyan hadn't expected. A few seconds later, he asked, "What do you want?"

Xie Tan clearly sensed Xie Qiyan's hostile attitude, and in a moment of fear, he confessed everything: "I'm calling you a lunatic."

Xia Wanzhi: "..."

Xie Qiyan's eyes darkened, and he walked straight over and picked up the watch.

Xia Wanzhi was shocked to see his face, which resembled a thousand-year-old snow mountain.

"Young lady of the Xia family, you're quite free?"

Xia Wanzhi gave up in despair: "Yeah, wanna go out, Brother Xie?"