[GB] Boss Ruan, your husband doesn't want you anymore.

Ruan Qian'an wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth with her hand.

"Squeak-"

The window wasn't closed properly and was blown open by the wind, letting in the rain. Ruan Qian'an went over to close the window.

The rain hitting her eyes made her vision increasingly blurry, and the intermittent blurring of her vision made Ruan Qian'an extremely irritable.

With a "click," Ruan Qian'an closed the window tightly.

Ruan Qian'an heard footsteps approaching her and shouted sharply, "Who?!"

"Boss, it's me."

Ruan Qian'an's wary expression disappeared, and she calmed down. As endless darkness enveloped her, she blinked her eyes.

She twitched her ears, listened to the sound, and looked in the direction Chen Siqi was speaking: "Siqi, you're back."

Chen Si frowned and immediately sensed something was wrong, asking Ruan Qian'an, "Boss, your eyes?"

Ruan Qian'an: "It's alright. The side effects of overuse can bring someone back from the dead, but there has to be a price to pay."

Ruan Qian'an couldn't see Chen Siqi's expression at this moment, but she could hear him ask with some disappointment, "Is this really necessary?"

Ruan Qian'an smiled and said, "I owe her after all."

Chen Siqi: "But there are many ways to make it up to her, why choose such an extreme method?"

Ruan Qian'an knew he was worried about her and didn't say anything blaming: "It's not that I chose an extreme way, it's that she went to an extreme. All I can do is cover for her."

"My mother owes Qingyu too much because of me."

After a while, Chen Siqi said, "Boss, I have a question that has been lingering in my mind. Does your mother know that her daughter has been switched? And why is she so good to you?"

Ruan Qian'an: "I probably don't know."

“My mother was only pregnant with one child, Ruan Qingyu, but it wasn’t her and me who were switched at the time; it was Ruan Qingyu and Ruan Ming who were switched.”

Ruan Qian'an then added, "But if it weren't for me, Ruan Qingyu wouldn't have been switched."

Chen Siqi asked, utterly bewildered and even more confused, "The one who swapped places with your sister was Ruan Ming! This... doesn't make sense. What exactly happened back then?"

Ruan Qian'an frowned, not in the mood to continue the conversation, and asked, "What exactly are you here for?"

Chen Siqi then remembered the real reason he came to see Ruan Qian'an and said, "Oh... oh boss, a guy has emerged from that no-man's-land in Alan who calls himself Bai Xiao and claims to be a great hero. That guy wants to meet you."

Ruan Qian'an: "I won't see you."

"By the way, what did Mrs. Huo say?"

Chen Siqi said dismissively, "She agreed."

Then Chen Siqi handed the recorder to Ruan Qian'an: "It's already recorded."

Ruan Qian'an took the answer: "Being hurt by the person closest to you is the most painful."

-

Outside, lightning flashed and thunder roared, causing a sudden drop in temperature, but inside the house, the temperature remained warm and cozy.

Even so, Huo Jingmo, who was only covered by a suit jacket, couldn't help but shiver.

I grabbed the blanket and wrapped it tightly around myself, but my body was still ice cold and I couldn't warm up.

With tears still in the corners of her eyes, she drifted into a hazy, half-awake state.

The door was opened from the outside, and Ruan Qian'an came in. It was completely dark by then.

For Ruan Qian'an now, it makes no difference whether it's dark or not.

Ruan Qian'an walked precisely to the bedside where Huo Jingmo was and stood there for a while.

Feeling that her vision had recovered a little, and that the blackness was no longer a vague void, Ruan Qian'an then lifted the covers and lay down.

Huo Jingmo wasn't asleep to begin with; he had already woken up when someone came in.

He didn't resist when Ruan Qian'an hugged him. He couldn't resist anyway, and he didn't want to waste his energy on futile resistance.

Ruan Qian'an chuckled lightly, then pinched her hand lightly and said, "Pretending to be asleep?"

Huo Jingmo groaned uncomfortably. He smiled bitterly; this person wouldn't let him off easily.

The heavy rain outside was like a river bursting its banks, surging and pouring down, crashing against the flower bushes and shattering the flower stamens.

The trees outside the window tapped against the glass, and water droplets splashed against the glass, creating ripples before dripping down.

The rain, like a wild horse galloping across the sky, stirred up a frenzied emotion.

"what."

Ruan Qian'an tossed her messy long hair aside, approached Huo Jingmo with an imposing air, and took out a recorder, saying, "Want to hear what your mother said?"

Huo Jingmo kept his back to Ruan Qian'an, biting his lip tightly and remaining silent, but his words betrayed a hint of his presence.

"What...did you do to my mother?"

"It hurts."

Ruan Qian'an smiled and said, "You'll know once you listen."

As he spoke, he pressed the recorder button, and Huo's mother's happy words came through.

Mother Huo: "Okay, I agree. I won't care whether Huo Jingmo lives or dies."

“I accept all your conditions. I will sever my mother-son relationship with Huo Jingmo right now.”

Chen Siqi: "Won't you reconsider?"

Mrs. Huo: "No need, as long as you don't cause me any more trouble."

The recording ended there, and Ruan Qian'an gently stroked Huo Jingmo's injured area with her hand.

Looking at Huo Jingmo, who remained silent, he said, "Boring."

Then Ruan Qian'an stood up and let go of him. Huo Jingmo collapsed onto the bed, unable to support himself any longer.

Ruan Qian'an walked out, leaving Huo Jingmo in a disheveled state. After Ruan Qian'an left, Huo Jingmo listened to the recording repeatedly.

As if torturing himself, he finally gave up. Even without Ruan Qian'an's interference, Huo Jingmo could not save this precarious family relationship.

He curled up in pain, closed his eyes as if unconscious, and didn't even have time to cover himself with the blanket.

It's bright.

A light drizzle was falling outside, and Huo Jingmo felt a terrible pain in his throat.

That night, after Ruan Qian'an left, he listened to the recording and actually fell asleep.

He tried to get up to find some water, but felt weak and powerless.

He coughed incessantly, and then his head began to ache.

Huo Jingmo touched his head and murmured in a hoarse voice, "I have a fever."

He was too lazy to bother, so he just pulled the blanket over himself and wanted to close his eyes and go back to sleep.

The maid came in, put down the food, and left without even glancing at the bed. She hurriedly retreated.

Ruan Qian'an sat in the study, flipping through a book in her hand: "Did you send it?"

The servant nodded.

"Have you gotten up and eaten?"

The maid shook her head and said, "He hasn't moved; he doesn't seem to be awake yet."

Ruan Qian'an pressed her temples: "Hmm, don't disturb him, let him continue sleeping. He'll only be effective if he recovers properly, right?"

Servant: "Yes."

Then withdrew.

Ruan Qian'an sat on a single sofa and said to the people sitting at the long table, "Please continue."

Yan Ling was the first to react, saying, "All three sides want to cooperate with us, but rather than wanting to cooperate with us, they want to devour us."

Chen Siqi: "They don't have the guts. The one in the north is ambitious and wants to break the deadlock. Whoever can get our support will be able to unify the forces in this area."

Ruan Qian'an smiled and said, "Which one do you think is better?"

Chi Xiao lazily remarked from the side, "Nobody thinks highly of them; they're just a bunch of rabble."

After a moment's thought, Chen Siqi said, "Compared to these three, I think Alan's White Owl is the better choice."

Ruan Qian'an smiled and did not continue the previous conversation, saying, "Yan Ling is right. They want to take over this place. Not only these three people, but also Bai Xiao, whom Si Qi mentioned."

"They have quite the appetite."

"Never mind them, let's see if they have the ability to crack this rotten bone."

Chi Xiao slumped in his chair and said, "Yeah, it's not because this place is so good, it's because the boss is here that this place is good. I really don't believe that besides you, who else can control those vicious people?"

"It's not an easy thing to convince those people."

Chi Xiao couldn't help but get goosebumps just thinking about those people: "They're all a bunch of freaks."

Ruan Qian'an said with a smile, "It would be a good thing if someone could do it."

The five people at the table started discussing amongst themselves again.