After Reuniting, My Beautiful Ex-Lover Fishes for Me Every Day - Chapter 5

Chapter 5: Outsider

Sympathy, pity, a gift or handout to pass the time, the pleasure and thrill of playing with someone in the palm of one’s hand, or perhaps some unspeakable ulterior motive—

When Wei Changli asked Yan Xu this question, he had already provided himself with many preconceived notions. But unexpectedly, Yan Xu had no intention of answering at all, to the point that Wei Changli felt a flare of irritation, thinking, “He won’t even be bothered to give me a perfunctory excuse.”

Yan Xu seemed not to perceive the change in his emotions. He turned back with that familiar, peaceful, yet indistinguishable posture, his gaze soaking the young master Wei into his ink-like pupils like warm water.

He seemed to want to say something, but in the end, he only gave Wei Changli a brief look, urged him to rest well, then withdrew his wrist and turned to leave.

With a click, the bedroom door opened and closed. Only one person remained in the vast bedroom. The open window allowed the wind to billow the curtains, and the monotonous sound of the breeze rushed into the young man’s ears.

It felt like swinging iron fists into a bale of cotton; Wei Changli had nowhere to vent his anger. A vein throbbed faintly at his temple. Yan Xu wanted him to stay put, so he decided he wouldn’t stay put.

Young Master Wei had grown up being pampered like a star surrounded by moons; even in ruin, his past temperament was hard to change. Enduring the discomfort throughout his body, he propped himself up from the bed, stood on the floor, and swung the bedroom door open with a whoosh. He ran down from the second floor and slammed his hand onto the kitchen island with a smack, making the breakfast laid out on the table seem to shudder invisibly.

“Is stringing me along fun?” Wei Changli’s lips pursed into a sharp, bitter arc.

The man was standing at the end of the open kitchen. Hearing the commotion behind him, he showed no surprise. He poured warmed milk into a cup, turned around, and placed it gently by Wei Changli’s hand.

Yan Xu’s gaze fell upon the young man from above. His eyes slid like flowing water over the youth’s neck—flushed red from kisses—and his exquisite collarbones, finally landing on his loose shirt and trousers. At last, there was a slight change in his expression.

Wei Changli’s clothes from last night were unwearable. During the night, Yan Xu had temporarily changed him into his own clothes. However, the sizes were too large, and since the young master hadn’t slept soundly, tossing and turning had made them messy. His current appearance was truly “disheveled.”

Only now did Wei Changli notice that his collar was wide open, exposing a patch of fair skin. He immediately covered his chest in shame and indignation, as if he had been “disciplined” by the man’s gaze.

Just as Yan Xu was about to say something, the doorbell of the villa suddenly rang.

Wei Changli paused, realizing belatedly that Yan Xu had an appointment.

Looking around, he realized that the nannies and housekeepers who had been active in the house last night seemed to have been sent away early. The vast villa was empty, exuding a coldness devoid of human touch.

Young Master Wei hesitated. On one hand, he felt he shouldn’t be standing here; on the other, he felt that hiding back in the bedroom now would be even more awkward. He had no choice but to straighten his messy clothes and stand there in embarrassment.

Yan Xu, however, gave a slight wave of his hand, signaling him to sit down and eat breakfast in peace, then walked to the door and opened it.

The door swung inward, and the plain doorframe framed an elegant, cold woman like a painting, with the soft morning light falling behind her.

Her features bore some resemblance to Yan Xu’s. Carrying a business bag, she called out, “Brother.”

“Morning, Yufan,” Yan Xu said with a smile.

Yan Yufan came in and changed her shoes with practiced ease. As soon as she entered, she smelled the aroma of toasted bread. She looked around and confirmed she didn’t see the nanny, then looked back at her brother with surprise: “Cooking personally? Rare.”

Yan Xu didn’t answer, asking instead: “Have you eaten this morning?”

“A row of new coffee shops opened along Xihe Road; there’s one with a decent latte.”

Yan Yufan chatted as she entered the room. Then, her voice stopped. Her beautiful eyebrows lifted slightly, and her originally parted lips pressed into a straight line.

In the open dining area, the flowing air stagnated for no reason. Yan Yufan and Wei Changli, who was sitting at the dining table, stared at each other. An indescribable, subtle expression appeared on her face.

After a moment, the girl turned to look at her brother: “There’s a guest at home.”

Yan Xu introduced: “This is the young son of the Wei family, Wei Changli.”

Yan Yufan’s gaze fell back onto Wei Changli briefly, and she greeted him with an ambiguous tone: “I’ve heard much about you.”

Wei Changli did not respond. For some reason, Yan Yufan’s gaze made him feel very uncomfortable.

In those eyes that looked so much like Yan Xu’s, there was a polite, distant formality, and deep in her pupils, there seemed to be a kind of cold defensiveness.

“Then will you two dine first?” Yan Yufan quickly looked away and said, “I’ll go upstairs first to start the meeting.”

She carried her business bag directly toward the stairs. The sound of crisp, decisive footsteps rang out on the stairs leading to the second floor, but the sound stopped quickly, as if indicating that the resistance in her heart had broken through her basic polite disguise.

“Today’s meeting is at a confidential level.”

Standing on the stairs, Yan Yufan’s downward gaze held the beauty and indifference characteristic of the Yan family. Her lips curled slightly into an impersonal smile directed at Yan Xu’s back as she asked with emphasized volume:

“I remembered correctly, didn’t I, Brother?”

Yan Xu stood at the dining table, looked back at his sister, and nodded slightly: “Go and prepare.”

Clatter. Wei Changli heard his “redundancy.” Upon hearing the exchange, he put down his knife and fork and pushed back the breakfast he hadn’t touched. He stood up without a word, preparing to leave this “confidential” zone of trouble.

Yan Xu: “You threw up last night, and your stomach is empty—”

“I haven’t seen you for years, yet your interference grows wider and wider,” Wei Changli snapped back ungratefully. “Stop this posturing, Yan Xu… Director Yan.”

Yan Xu’s eyelashes flickered slightly.

“Director Yan,” Wei Changli called him by that title with great interest, yet his tone was stiff to the point of being aggressive. “I’d like you to explain something.”

Yan Xu looked up at him.

Wei Changli: “The streets of the Old District are crisscrossed like a sewer network. May I ask, for someone who could locate me so precisely to save me, were you a police dog in your past life?”

Silence.

After a moment, Yan Xu spoke candidly: “I have been keeping an eye on your movements since the Wei family fell.”

Wei Changli’s breath hitched slightly.

Yan Xu explained: “Wei Changjun only fled with a few confidants from the group; his whereabouts are currently a mystery. I was worried someone would strike at you to seek revenge.”

“Don’t make investigation and surveillance sound so pleasant,” Wei Changli interrupted him. “Even if something really happened to me, I don’t need you to play the hypocritical good guy.”

Yan Xu’s gaze remained unmoved.

With an almost indulgent attitude, he accepted Wei Changli’s bitterness toward his “savior.” He even walked to the dining table and, quite tenderly, leaned over to fasten the buttons of the young master’s shirt from below the collarbone up to the throat.

“I just didn’t want anything to happen to you.”

“…”

That feeling of powerlessness, like punching cotton, returned. Wei Changli stared at the man before him—so considerate he couldn’t tell if it was real—for a few seconds, wanting to demand what kind of scheme he was really planning.

But in his current situation, dwelling on these things seemed meaningless.

Wei Changli spoke with a determined tone: “Let go of me.”

Yan Xu withdrew his hand from the collar and took a step back as requested.

Wei Changli narrowed his eyes slightly, hesitating for a moment before interpreting this as a restrained transition from “control” to “letting go.”

Yan Xu continued from where he left off: “You will be safer staying here.”

Click— The house door closed with a sound, cutting off the man’s words.

Wei Changli decisively refused his voice and pushed open the door and left without looking back.

Yan Xu remained in his position at the dining table, his entire being bathed in the shimmering morning light. He didn’t seem displeased by the abrupt interruption or Wei Changli’s sudden departure.

In truth, it was the same three years ago. The young master Wei could maintain a degree of distant, calm politeness with anyone, yet with him, he was unrestrained. He would cover his ears if he didn’t want to listen, slack off if he didn’t want to work, and run away if he didn’t want to deal with it. His personality was vivid and free.

Soon, a crack of light appeared from the tightly closed study on the second floor. Yan Yufan pushed the door open and walked out, watching her brother through the railing.

Deep in her pupils, like a mirror, was the reflection of a profound and cold silhouette. She asked, “Is it all for him?”

Yan Xu looked back at his sister.

Yan Yufan silently looked away, her gaze falling on the untouched breakfast on the dining table. Her tone was ambiguous:

“Regardless of your health, without waiting for approval from above, ignoring everyone’s opposition to return early, only to face interrogation, be placed on a suspicion list, and forced to become the target of all Ning City… was all of this for him?”

Yan Xu’s eyebrows raised slightly: “Who told you all of this?”

“I am a member of the Yan family too, stop treating me like a child,” Yan Yufan pursed her lips slightly. “He is Wei Changjun’s biological younger brother. Brother, you shouldn’t have touched him.”

Yan Xu: “He is himself; Wei Changjun is Wei Changjun.”

“You think so, but others don’t,” Yan Yufan tapped her fingers on the staircase handrail. “Besides, if you truly felt Wei Changli was an individual completely independent of the Wei family, would you tell him what you did to his brother?”

Yan Xu narrowed his ink-colored eyes slightly. Under the shadow of his deep brow ridge, his eyes seemed to reveal a trace of profound coldness.

“You won’t,” Yan Yufan answered her own question for him. “You are wary of Wei Changli’s temperament. You know that once he learns everything he has encountered is related to you, you two…”

Yan Xu raised a hand, making a flat gesture of interruption.

Mid-sentence, Yan Yufan hesitated, but after a moment, she fell silent.

“The things Wei Changjun did are enough to get him executed several lifetimes over. I had no choice but to dismantle the Wei Group…”

Every trace of expression vanished from Yan Xu’s face, giving this already beautiful man a soul-stirring, frigid aura. He spoke syllable by syllable:

“But as for Wei Changli, I must have him.”