The Secret Realm of Time, His and Her Life Through the Changes

There weren't many vehicles on the highway. They only stopped briefly at a service area to rest, replenish their water and food, and then drove back.

Around 6 p.m., the car entered the Sixth Ring Road.

"Sister Yanruo, President Fang wants to add you on WeChat. I've already sent her your WeChat ID. Please check the new friend request." Ding Jiajia turned around from the front seat and said to Zhou Yanruo.

"Which Mr. Fang?" Zhou Yanruo was resting with her eyes closed and didn't react for a moment.

"The chairman's wife, I suppose," Qi Qingwan said.

Why add Zhou Yanruo on WeChat?

Shang Yibo suddenly spoke up, and the others looked at each other, unsure how to respond.

"Oh right, why did you add me on WeChat, Madam?" Zhou Yanruo asked, looking even more puzzled.

“Well, that makes sense.” After a moment, Zhou Yanruo realized what was going on and explained, “It’s probably to make it easier to know the chairman’s schedule.”

As she spoke, she took out her phone to check, and sure enough, a "new friend" was requesting verification: "Hello, Mr. Zhou! I am Fang Xichen."

Zhou Yanruo passed the verification.

She then sent a greeting: "Hello, Mr. Fang! This is Zhou Yanruo."

Soon, Fang Xichen sent a message: "Have you arrived in Beijing yet?"

Zhou Yanruo replied to the message: "Yes, Mr. Fang, we have just entered the Sixth Ring Road."

Fang Xichen: "Shang Yibo's father saw the news and is very worried. Why don't you come directly to our house? I've also sent a message to Ding Jiajia."

Zhou Yanruo found it strange. If she wanted Shang Yibo to come home, shouldn't she have told him directly? Why did she have to talk to Shang Yibo's manager and assistant instead?

Zhou Yanruo replied to the message: "I'll ask Shang Yibo."

Fang Xichen: "Okay, thank you, Mr. Zhou."

Zhou Yanruo: "You're welcome, Mr. Fang."

Shang Yibo, sitting in the front row, was leaning back, not holding a phone in his hand.

Zhou Yanruo peeked at Shang Yibo from the side. He had his eyes closed and his lips pursed. He had just been talking to someone, so he didn't seem to be asleep.

She opened her mouth, but didn't say anything to disturb him.

Zhou Yanruo sent Ding Jiajia a WeChat message: "What's going on? Shang Yibo is going home. Do you and I need to come and inform him?"

Ding Jiajia replied, "It's hard to explain in a sentence or two, just notify him."

Zhou Yanruo replied with "Okay," followed by a facepalm emoji.

She leaned forward and whispered, "Shang Yibo, President Fang just sent a message saying that we should go straight to your house."

Zhou Yanruo informed him directly without any embellishment, which made her appear more professional and avoided any awkwardness.

"Heh, she's even got you under her thumb now," Shang Yibo said in a low voice. "I know."

What does "I know" mean? I don't care, I'll just interpret it as "okay." Zhou Yanru thought to herself.

"Driver, please take us directly to Shang Yibo's house," Zhou Yanruo said to the driver.

The driver said, "Okay, send me the address and I'll navigate to it."

Sitting in the passenger seat, Ding Jiajia said, "Let me navigate. Should we go to the city or the villa?"

"Why are there houses in the city and villas? Does this mean they own several homes?" Zhou Yanruo was about to ask.

Shang Yibo muttered two more words in a low voice: "Villa".

Ding Jiajia said, "Yes, the home that President Fang told me to go back to must be a villa. I was being stupid."

She turned on her phone, set up the navigation, and then positioned the phone in the best possible line of sight for the driver.

He turned to Zhou Yanruo and said, "President Zhou, the navigation shows it will take about twenty minutes by car."

Zhou Yanruo replied to Fang Xichen with a message: "President Fang, we should be there in about twenty minutes."

Fang Xichen replied instantly: "See you in a bit."

They arrived at the villa before 7 a.m., and the van stopped in the small square in front of the villa's courtyard.

Shang Yibo got out of the car first and walked straight towards the villa.

Qi Qingwan caught up with Shang Yibo and said, "Yibo, I won't go to your house. My child is sick, so I'll go back first."

"Whatever." Shang Yibo walked straight into the villa without stopping.

Qi Qingwan smiled helplessly, walked over and greeted Zhou Yanruo and Ding Jiajia: "I'm going back now."

Zhou Yanruo stopped and said, "How are you going to get back? This is still the suburbs, isn't it?"

Qi Qingwan: "It's okay, I'll take a taxi."

"It must be hard to get a taxi in the villa area." Ding Jiajia was talking when her phone rang. She opened it and saw a message from Shang Yibo: "Tell the driver that the car belongs to Qi Qingwan tonight."

Ding Jiajia pursed her lips and muttered to herself, "Tch, I knew you'd do this."

She held up her phone to show Zhou Yanruo and Qi Qingwan the messages she had received.

Qi Qingwan smiled and said, "Always the same, a cold-faced but warm-hearted little brat."

Zhou Yanruo thought to herself, "Shang Yibo isn't a bad person; he's actually quite warm-hearted. No wonder everyone around him is genuinely kind to him. It turns out his cold exterior was just an act."

Ding Jiajia walked over to the driver and said, "Mr. Li, you can take Mr. Qi back to the city. You don't need to come back to pick us up. We'll follow Mr. Qi's arrangements tonight."

Driver: "Okay."

Qi Qingwan helped the driver unload the luggage from the car, then got back in and said to the two men, "I'm leaving now. Tomorrow's itinerary is in the afternoon, so there's plenty of time. You two should get some rest."

Ding Jiajia had been to the villa a few times and was quite familiar with it. She led the way, pulling two suitcases, while Zhou Yanruo followed behind, pulling her own suitcase.

As soon as they entered the courtyard, driver Lao Ding ran out to greet them. He took the suitcase from Ding Jiajia, quickly placed it at the garage door on the side, and then ran back to take Zhou Yanruo's suitcase, saying, "You guys go in first, I'll take the luggage in later."

"Thank you, Master Ding."

Ding Jiajia pulled Zhou Yanruo into the villa.

Zhou Yanruo looked around the foyer; its simple, light colors made it feel warm and bright.

The hostess, dressed in an elegant light pink dress, was already standing at the living room door to greet them.

Fang Xichen and another person walked in, smiling and greeting them: "You've worked hard. Jiajia, this must be President Zhou."

Ding Jiajia quickly introduced, "President Fang, this is President Zhou."

"President Zhou, this is President Fang," Ding Jiajia said, turning to introduce him to Zhou Yanruo.

"Mr. Fang, hello, I am Zhou Yanruo."

Zhou Yanruo stepped forward and stood in front of Fang Xichen, and said.

When her gaze fell on Zhou Yanruo's face, she paused, and then her smile froze on her face.

It returned to normal in just one second.

"Welcome, please come in." Fang Xichen gestured for her to enter, speaking gently yet warmly.

Zhou Yanruo thought to herself, "Shang Yibo's mother is so gentle and elegant, and so beautiful. If I didn't know beforehand that she was Shang Yibo's mother, I wouldn't even be able to guess her age."

They went into the living room and sat on the circular sofa.

Fang Xichen instructed the servants to bring tea and snacks, saying, "Have some tea and snacks first, and we can start eating soon."

Ding Jiajia: "President Fang, where's Yibo? He came in before us."

"He went back to his room. I'll have someone inform him when dinner is served."

Zhou Yanruo thought to herself, "Is Shang Yibo really that rude? I had just started to change my opinion of him, and he has already surprised me."