After the tycoon went bankrupt, he was raised by the villainous female supporting character and beca

"Why?" Pei Xingzhi cupped her face, forcing her to look at him. "A-Yuan, why is there no way? Do you know something?"

Xie Zhao looked into his eyes, and the sorrow on his face gradually turned into helplessness.

"Yes," she answered truthfully.

She had promised Pei Xingzhi that she would be honest with him no matter what happened in the future. Even knowing that he didn't believe in time travel or systems, she was still willing to be honest with him.

"What is it?" Pei Xingzhi wiped away her tears, his tone clearly gentle, but to Xie Zhaoyuan's ears, it carried an undeniable domineering air.

"Ah Yuan, tell me, what do you know?"

Xie Zhaoyuan pursed her lips, her voice choked with emotion, and said, "Pei Xingzhi, Shen Yan returned to her..."

"Buzz-"

"Buzz-"

I had just started to tell the truth when I was interrupted by the sudden vibration of my phone.

"Tsk," Pei Xingzhi frowned impatiently, took out his phone from his coat and glanced at it, then his expression changed.

"Who is it?" Xie Zhaoyuan realized something was wrong.

Pei Xingzhi raised an eyebrow and softly uttered three words: "Lu Yibai".

"...Lu Yibai?" Xie Zhaoyuan was somewhat surprised. "Why did he suddenly call you? Is he urging you to give him an answer?"

"Hmph..." Pei Xingzhi chuckled sarcastically, "If nothing unexpected happens, it should be true. Now the whole of Yun City knows that you have been rescued, and I have no excuse to delay any longer."

“Okay.” Xie Zhaoyuan nodded. “Since we can’t delay any longer, let’s have a proper talk with Lu Yibai.”

Pei Xingzhi didn't answer the phone; instead, he put it back in his pocket and let it ring.

"This isn't the place to answer the phone. Let's go downstairs first."

“…Okay.” Xie Zhaoyuan took one last look at the door that wouldn’t open, then followed Pei Xingzhi away.

The soft footsteps approached and then receded into the distance, disappearing completely outside the door after a few moments.

Shen Yan, inside the door, breathed a sigh of relief. Her thin, paper-thin body slid weakly down the wall, collapsing to the ground like a pile of withered leaves.

"Why don't you go see her, host?" the mechanical female voice asked with a smile.

Shen Yanhui twitched the corners of her lips, her gray eyes devoid of any life, making her no different from a puppet.

"I would like to see her, but can you guarantee that you will behave yourself and not cause trouble after I see her?"

"No." The mechanical female voice was quite honest. "I need her, so naturally I won't let her go easily."

“So,” Shen Yanhui breathed wearily, “you have ulterior motives towards her, so even if I want to see her, I can’t. I’ve said it before, I’ll protect Xie Zhaoyuan even if it kills me, and you can’t do anything to her.”

"[Heh...]" The mechanical female voice let out a cold laugh, its tone disdainful. "Host, it's too early to say such things now. When death is far away, you can certainly utter this word lightly, but when death is close at hand, it will be difficult to remain so relaxed and casual."

In human terms, it means that when you're alive, you want to die, but when you're actually supposed to die, you're unhappy.

"Hmph..." Shen Yan laughed, "Whether I'm happy or not, you'll know once you try."

Mechanical female voice: 【Haven't I been accompanying you through all this testing, host?】

……

"Oh!"

Just as Pei Xingzhi closed the car door, Lu Yibai called impatiently for the sixth time.

He took his phone out of his coat pocket and handed it to Xie Zhaoyuan: "Zhaoyuan, you can answer this call."

"I should answer?" Xie Zhaoyuan took the phone, somewhat surprised. "Why should I answer?"

Pei Xingzhi looked at her and smiled: "Because I want you to personally tease Lu Yibai. You've been locked up for so long, you must be incredibly bored. As your husband, I have an obligation to find some fun for you."

"Hmm?" This explanation was completely unexpected by Xie Zhaoyuan. She raised her hand and pinched Pei Xingzhi's cheek, her smiling eyes hiding a hint of surprise.

"Has Pei Xingzhi really become so bad in just half a month?"

Pei Xingzhi raised an eyebrow, looking quite proud: "Of course."

Xie Zhaoyuan laughed indulgently and answered Lu Yibai's call before the ringing ended.

"Pei Xingzhi, have you made up your mind?"

Xie Zhaoyuan turned on speakerphone, and Lu Yibai's voice instantly filled the entire carriage.

"Consider what?" Xie Zhaoyuan looked at Pei Xingzhi, feigning ignorance, "Consider the deal you proposed?"

"...Qin Song?" Upon hearing Xie Zhaoyuan's voice, Lu Yibai was immediately startled. "You...you're back already?"

Xie Zhaoyuan rolled her eyes: "Hey Mr. Lu, are you using an old-fashioned phone? The news of my rescue is already all over the internet, and you didn't even know?"

Lu Yibai: "I know... I just didn't expect you to return to Pei Xingzhi's side so quickly."

“Pei Xingzhi is my husband, isn’t it normal for me to go back to him immediately?” Xie Zhaoyuan was a little speechless. “Okay, let’s not talk about this. What do you want by calling me all of a sudden?”

“…I’m looking for Pei Xingzhi.” Lu Yibai didn’t say it explicitly, seemingly a little embarrassed.

Xie Zhaoyuan held Pei Xingzhi's hand and lied through her teeth: "Pei Xingzhi is in a meeting and probably won't be out for several hours. Tell me what you need and I'll pass it on to him later."

"No." Lu Yibai was quite proud. "I can only talk to Pei Xingzhi about this."

"..." Xie Zhaoyuan's lips couldn't help but curl upwards.

Pei Xingzhi, who was supposed to be at a meeting, was sitting next to her, touching her face and kissing her hand, acting as affectionately as a couple deeply in love.

"Why can I only tell Pei Xingzhi? Even though I'm Pei Xingzhi's wife, can't I listen?" She feigned ignorance, her tone innocent and bewildered, as if she knew nothing.

Lu Yibai actually believed her and explained very seriously: "No. This is a private matter between me and Pei Xingzhi, and also a private matter between the Lu Group and the Pei Group. You'd better not get involved."

“…Oh.” Xie Zhaoyuan answered perfunctorily.

Lu Yibai: "Since Pei Xingzhi is in a meeting, I won't disturb him any longer. When he comes out of the meeting, remember to remind him to call me back."

"Wait a minute." Xie Zhaoyuan realized that he wanted to hang up, so she quickly stopped her wicked fun and slowly brought up her main topic.

“Lu Yibai, you don’t need to wait for Pei Xingzhi to finish his meeting. I can resolve what you want to say right now.”

"...Huh?" Lu Yibai hadn't reacted yet. "You don't know anything, how are you going to solve this for me?"

"Hmph, why can't I solve it for you?" Xie Zhaoyuan laughed. "I was the one who told Pei Xingzhi about your collusion with Fang Bo."