The male protagonist of a sweet romance novel went on a killing spree in the world of angst novels.

It was already dark, and the crescent moon cast a bright white light over the entire cruise ship.

In the restaurant.

Chen Xiao, sitting by the window, turned his head to look out.

After a moment, he turned around and suddenly asked, "May I have a cigarette?"

Upon hearing this, Yanting was suddenly taken aback.

"what?"

Isn't this just a matter of smoking whenever you want?

Chen Xiao stared straight at her and said seriously, "If you don't want to, I won't smoke."

Yan Ting thought for a moment, then replied, "Go ahead and smoke."

To be honest, she had never seen Chen Xiao smoke; she had only ever seen him with a lollipop in his mouth.

呲——

A flame emerged from the lighter's hole.

Chen Xiao leaned back, a cigarette dangling from his lips, tilted his head slightly, and brought the cigarette to the lighter. The next second, the cigarette was lit.

Chen Xiao hadn't put his suit jacket back on since taking it off. His thin, snow-white shirt clung to his skin, the collar still slightly open. Amidst the swirling smoke, he flicked off some ash, his relaxed and casual posture exuding an indescribable hormonal sexiness.

To be honest, Yanting was amazed by this scene.

This was the first time she had ever seen a man exude such a powerful charm while smoking.

Yan Ting had seen many men smoking in a vulgar manner, but Chen Xiao was the only one who didn't annoy her as much.

On the contrary, it's a visual treat.

Chen Xiao held a cigarette between two fingers, took a sip of champagne, and said casually, "Today is actually my birthday."

Upon hearing this, Yan Ting was completely stunned.

"Why didn't you tell me earlier?"

Her first thought was that she hadn't prepared a birthday gift for Chen Xiao.

Chen Xiao lowered his eyebrows, as if he knew what she was thinking, and said calmly, "I don't need you to give me a gift."

Yan Ting: "..."

Despite his calm tone, she could clearly tell that he wasn't in a good mood.

It was only then that she finally realized why Chen Xiao had suddenly told her to dress up nicely today and to accompany him on the cruise ship all day.

It turns out it was simply because today was his birthday.

"Happy birthday." Yanting felt a little guilty. Her cool voice was gentle as she said, "It was all too rushed, so I didn't prepare a gift for you."

Chen Xiao squinted at her.

After a long while, he suddenly spoke up: "You do have it."

Yan Ting: "?"

How come she didn't know she had prepared a birthday present for him?

Then, the next moment, Yan Ting saw Chen Xiao stub out his cigarette in the ashtray and slowly unbutton his white shirt cuffs, revealing a slender wrist.

Yan Ting looked on with slight confusion. She parted her lips, about to ask a question, but stopped abruptly when she saw the Buddhist prayer beads on the man's wrist.

Her amber pupils suddenly contracted.

That was... the Buddhist prayer beads she gave to Lu Huai!

All of a sudden.

Yan Ting was somewhat speechless.

She never expected that the bracelet that Lu Huai had discarded would be so brazenly worn on Chen Xiao's wrist.

After a long pause, Yan Ting finally found her voice, her throat slightly hoarse as she said, "That was a gift I gave to Lu—"

Before he could even utter the word "槐" (huai), Chen Xiao interrupted him.

"I know."

But this string of Buddhist prayer beads was originally meant to be his gift.

Chen Xiao twirled the round and full prayer beads, his deep voice soft and slow: "But he doesn't deserve it."

Chen Xiao was always a proud and arrogant prince in front of outsiders, but in front of Yan Ting, he was just an ordinary man.

If it weren't for that accident before he time-traveled, Yanting would have secretly prepared a gift for him these past two days, and on his birthday she would have sung a birthday song to wish him a lifetime of peace and joy.

Instead of having their self-respect and life trampled on by those people in this messed-up world.

Yan Ting's eyes inexplicably stung.

She admitted that at that moment, she was slightly touched by the other person.

"Chen Xiao." Yan Ting looked into Chen Xiao's dark, deep eyes and suddenly said, "Shall I make you a cake?"

Chen Xiao recalled his childhood sweetheart's feat of blowing up the kitchen three times. He twitched his lips and uttered two words: "Okay."

Although he doesn't like sweets, he still misses the terrible dishes that Yanting used to make.

Yanting was clearly very confident in her culinary skills.

20 minute later.

Watching Yanting bustling about in the kitchen, Chen Xiao, his tall and broad frame leaning lazily against the kitchen doorframe, asked, "Do you need my help?"

"No need." Yanting looked at the tutorial on the screen and said without turning her head, "You can just sit in the living room and wait for me."

Who makes the birthday person cook?

By the time the cake was finished, it was almost midnight.

Yanting quickly put candles on the cake and urged the birthday person, "Quickly close your eyes and make a wish."

Compared to her hurried and flustered state, Chen Xiao remained casual and lazy. He glanced at Yan Ting and then gently closed his eyes.

Three seconds later.

He opened his eyes and gently blew out the candle.

Yanting asked curiously, "What did you wish for?"

Chen Xiao raised an eyebrow and gave a wicked smile: "I'm not telling you."

Yan Ting: "..."

She didn't really want to know.

The next second, she heard Chen Xiao continue, "If you say your wish out loud, it won't be allowed."

If it were any other wish, it wouldn't matter to Chen Xiao whether it was fulfilled or not, but when it came to his childhood sweetheart, he simply couldn't bring himself to say it.

Yan Ting glanced at the time; there were less than two minutes left until the next day.

"Want some cake?" Yan Ting cut a small piece of cake onto a plate and handed it to Chen Xiao. "Try it and see how it tastes." There was a hint of anticipation in her voice.

The cake looked pretty good, and the taste should be better than before, Chen Xiao thought, taking a spoonful and putting it in his mouth.

Suddenly, an indescribable, strange taste of sweetness and vinegar clashing spread across his tongue.

Chen Xiao looked into Yan Ting's expectant amber eyes, swallowed the cake in his mouth, and praised without changing his expression, "Not bad."

Yan Ting's eyes brightened slightly: "Really? I'll try it."

To everyone's surprise, Chen Xiao took the whole cake away, and seeing Yan Ting's puzzled and confused look, he said succinctly, "I don't have enough to eat."

Yan Ting: "..."

Suddenly I realized this guy is pretty childish.

But who can blame him when it's his birthday today!

"Alright then," Yanting said regretfully, "I'll make it for myself next time."

Unexpectedly, Chen Xiao actually likes sweets so much.

It has to be said, this is truly a wonderful misunderstanding.

……

Yan Ting was unaware that the Yan family had been in chaos during the three days she was away.

Just the day before yesterday, a very important person suddenly came to the Yan family.

The head steward of the Yan family in Gangcheng.

His arrival aroused various suspicions in Yanshan, who feared that the Yan family was coming to deliver news that was detrimental to the Yan family.

It's no wonder he thinks that way.

This was simply because the main family of the Yan clan had always looked down on him, a member of a collateral branch of the family.

The head butler was quite old, around seventy years old, and his surname was Yan.

His original surname was Yang, but he changed it to Yan with the permission of the head of the Yan family.

This alone shows that Steward Yan held a high position within the Yan clan.

In the study where Yan family entertains guests.

Yan Shan looked at the refined old man sitting opposite him and said politely, "If the Yan family has failed to provide adequate hospitality, please forgive us, Steward Yan."

Butler Yan took a sip of the finest tea but did not speak immediately. His expression was calm and unreadable, revealing no depth of his thoughts.

Just as Yan Shan was feeling increasingly uncertain, the steward finally spoke up: "This trip to Yancheng is mainly at the behest of the old patriarch."

Yanshan immediately replied, "Thank you for your concern, Elder."

How is his health?

Butler Yan glanced at Yanshan and said in a slightly heavy, aged voice, "You don't need to know this."

Everyone knows that the situation in the port city is actually more chaotic than that in the dam city.

The Yan family appears glamorous on the surface, but only its own members know the true nature of their family.

Strangely enough, the Yan family had many descendants, including those from collateral branches, but each one of them was more wasteful and incompetent than the last.

The current situation is that the head of the Yan family is getting thinner and thinner every day, and the middle-aged ones are either stupid as pigs or addicted to whoring and gambling, while the promising descendants are too young.

The Yan clan simply cannot afford to wait.

For a prestigious family, the most important thing is often not wealth and fame, but the person who inherits them.

Seeing that none of the younger generation could carry on the Yan family's legacy, the old patriarch had no choice but to turn his attention to the descendants of a collateral branch, hoping to select a qualified successor from among them.

But after much deliberation, including Yanshan's son Yannan, only three people were ultimately chosen.

The other two are Yanta, a descendant of a collateral branch in Beijing, and Yanming, a descendant of a collateral branch in Hong Kong, not far from the main family.

The three people are of similar age.

Yanshan was slightly excited when he learned that his master, the Yan family, planned to take Yannan to the port city.

This opportunity was incredibly rare for them.

Although Steward Yan did not specify the reason, Yan Shan was a shrewd person. After a little thought, he guessed that it must be because the old master's health was failing.

Then, thinking of the old man's incompetent sons and his disgraced descendants, he suddenly understood the old man's current plans.

He's planning to support a collateral descendant to inherit the main family's property.

When Yan Nan learned about this, her first thought was not happiness or excitement, but rather Yan Ting, who had not returned to this day.

He pursed his lips, thinking that once he got to the port city, he would probably never see Yanting again.

Upon learning of this, Xu Rou's first thought was that if Yan Nan really went to Gangcheng, she might have a great chance of acquiring the businesses in Yancheng.

After all, in the eyes of outsiders, she is the true eldest daughter of the Yan family.

Instead of that imposter Yanting.