I fear she might run away from home again.

“It’s fine,” Yichen replied, following her lead. “Because I don’t like these two dishes, I’m seriously lacking the nutrients they provide. So, whenever there’s a stir-fry, these vegetables always end up in it.”

“…”

Xiao Qi was now gritting her teeth. “President Lin, just give it to me straight—am I doomed to pick out your vegetables for the rest of my life?”

He nodded elegantly. “Picking vegetables for the president is a glorious duty. Consider yourself an honored picker.”

“…”

With a show of backbone, Xiao Qi slammed her chopsticks down. “They say neither wealth nor poverty can sway the virtuous, nor can power bend them. So, as for your glorious vegetable-picker, find someone else!”

Damn it, she might be a rather poor alien, but she was still an alien. How could she come all the way to Earth just to pick vegetables for someone else?

Impossible.

Yichen shook his head. Very well—she was angry. If he pushed any further, she might threaten to “run away from home” again.

But since they had already started this little act…

“All right, let’s eat. If you don’t want to pick, I won’t force you. This president can pick his own vegetables.”

Then Xiao Qi watched as President Lin began meticulously picking through his food himself.

He really wouldn’t eat them?

She had thought he was just teasing her.

Xiao Qi scoffed, “You’re a grown man and still a picky eater. Stop picking—just eat the beef, I’ll eat these two vegetables.”

“Okay!”

Five hours later, Xiao Qi collapsed onto the bed.

Xiao Bai jumped onto her. “Xiao Qi, why do you look like you’ve just been violated?”

“…”

“Try spending five hours being lectured in the kitchen. I bet even your cat brain would be turned into a pig’s brain.”

Xiao Bai: “…”

“So you mean your brain is pig’s brain now?”

Xiao Qi: “…”

She sat up and raked her hair, instantly turning it into a nest. “That man isn’t teaching me to cook—he’s just taking the chance to scold me.”

Indeed, after dinner, President Lin had taught her how to cook.

And then…

“Xiyang, how can you be so clumsy? That’s vinegar, not soy sauce.”

“How can you be so silly? That’s sugar, not salt.”

“How can you be so dense? That’s pepper, not MSG…”

Being called clumsy, silly, and dense over and over—how could she not feel like her brain had turned to mush?

“No, I have to go back to Auntie’s place. If this keeps up every day, I won’t survive.”

“Xiao Bai, I’ll go check things out first. Once I make sure it’s safe, we’ll head back to Auntie’s.”

Xiao Bai agreed wholeheartedly. The house was big, but they preferred their cozy little den.

Xiao Qi slipped out, tiptoed downstairs, and as she passed the study, she noticed the wooden door was half open. Out of habit, she peeked inside.

She was well acquainted with the study—bright, spacious, and filled with a solemn, understated elegance, much like his office.

President Lin sat behind the large desk, head bent over a file.

He was probably working…

Suddenly, she realized he hadn’t gone to the company all afternoon.

So he’d brought his work home.

But why hadn’t he gone to the company that afternoon?

She pushed the question from her mind.

Because right now…

Yichen, absorbed in work, exuded a unique, commanding presence. The light from the floor-to-ceiling window behind him bathed his young frame, and Xiao Qi found herself involuntarily awed by him, infatuated all over again.

So handsome, so suave, so cool…

“If you want to look, come in. No need to sneak around.”

---

Xiao Qi snapped out of her daze, realizing she’d just been mesmerized by President Lin’s good looks again, and broke into a cold sweat.

Truly, the more dangerous a creature, the more alluring its appearance—President Lin was the perfect example.

Wait—his eyes had been fixed on the file the whole time. How did he know she was standing at the door?

“What are you standing there for?” Yichen finally looked up at her. “Come in.”

“Oh!” For some reason, Xiao Qi felt a bit uneasy, her eyes darting as she walked in.

Last time she’d been here, she’d snooped through all his books.

“Would you like some tea?”

“Huh? Tea?”

Yichen took out a box of floral tea from the drawer. “Go brew two cups, use the white porcelain set in the kitchen.”

“Oh, sure.”

A short while later.

The study was filled with the delicate fragrance of tea.

Xiao Qi hadn’t expected the tea to taste so wonderful. And… the cup itself…

It was an elegantly curved white porcelain teacup, its surface fine and translucent, holding pale green tea that made it look adorable and exquisite.

Thus, the scene in the study was set:

A girl sat on the sofa, head lowered, delicately admiring the teacup in her hands.

The man in the armchair, however, was gazing at the girl on the sofa.

Just like when you sit on the sofa admiring the scenery, but the one admiring the scenery is actually looking at you.

Xiao Qi was completely unaware that she had become part of the scene.

Head down, she carefully studied her teacup.

Yichen’s slender fingers gently stroked his own cup.

He watched her clear, lively face, the faint fragrance of tea lingering in the air, and deep in his heart, a quiet joy stirred.

This pair of teacups had been a gift from Xiyang.

Since she’d left, he hadn’t brewed tea in them.

When she first left, he’d been so angry he nearly smashed the teacups.

But in the end, he couldn’t bear to.

Yichen opened the drawer. Inside, the ring she’d given him lay quietly.

He wanted to take it out and slip it onto her finger right then.

But the impulse was quickly suppressed.

The last time he’d tried to put it on her, she’d taken it off without hesitation and returned it.

No doubt it would be the same now.

At last, Xiao Qi sensed the heat of his gaze.

She looked up, and their eyes met unexpectedly in the air.

Looking into those deep, dark eyes, Xiao Qi’s heart skipped a beat, but she quickly composed herself.

She lowered her gaze.

Oh god, she’d almost been mesmerized again.

Suddenly, another thought struck her.

How foolish! Why not just use her powers to leave? Instead, she sat here, sipping tea like an idiot.

“Xiyang,” Yichen broke the silence, looking at his teacup. “Do you think these cups are beautiful?”

The mention of the teacup immediately drew Xiao Qi’s attention. “They’re lovely—delicate and classical.”

“Can you tell how old they are?”

How was she supposed to know?

But Xiao Qi would never admit she couldn’t tell.

She answered confidently, “At least five or six years,” and took a sip.

---

He looked up at her.

Why was he looking at her?

“Was I wrong?”

“No, you were right.”

Xiao Qi immediately beamed with pride. “Haha, I’m very smart—I can always tell.”

“These are the cups you gave me in college.”

Xiao Qi’s self-satisfied grin vanished at once.

No wonder he’d been staring at the cups just now.

She recalled what Zhuang Jia had said: “Xiyang, you’ll never know how much Yichen loves you.”

Xiao Qi set the cup down, her voice losing its usual cheer. “Do you miss the old Ye Xiyang?”

Yichen replied calmly, “No, because you’re right here beside me.”

Staring into the tea, Xiao Qi murmured, “I’ve lost my memory, so I have no soulful understanding of you. What’s such a soulless connection really worth…”

Yichen’s phone rang. “Wait, let me take this call.”

He saw it was Joanna and walked over to the window to answer. Anna’s voice was cold and sinister. “Yichen, I have to tell you something. That sapphire in your research department—Ye Xiyang stole it.”

Yichen’s first reaction was to deny it. “She wouldn’t do that.” His dark eyes narrowed sharply. “The sapphire’s missing? How do you know about it?”

Anna replied, “I’ve been to your company several times, so most people there know me, including the head of the research department. He checked the lab’s surveillance and saw Ye Xiyang taking the sapphire. Li Cheng knows you have a soft spot for Ye Xiyang, so he didn’t dare tell you directly—after all, he works for you.”

“But I’m different. We’re partners, so Li Cheng told me. He’s afraid of angering you, so he didn’t send you the footage right away. Yichen, you must have your doubts too—otherwise, with your smarts, you’d already have checked the surveillance.”

“Ye Xiyang is a smiling schemer, soft on the outside and ruthless within. Someone like that—”

“Are you finished?” Yichen cut her off coldly.

“If you don’t believe me, I can send you the footage. I’ve said my piece—what you do next is up to you.”

Yes, Li Cheng had called him that day, hesitant to speak. And that day, when Xiyang was beside him, he’d felt something in his pocket move.

Then he’d gone looking for her, and she’d been obsessed with his jacket.

“I’ve lost my memory, so I have no soulful understanding of you. What’s such a soulless connection really worth…”

Yes, she had lost her memory. So for him—how deep could her feelings go?

Even if she hadn’t lost her memory, perhaps there wouldn’t have been much feeling left.

Five years was a long time—so much could happen.

He was the only one still standing in place, waiting.

Xiao Qi watched him after he ended the call. She could clearly sense the change in him. It was as if he had frozen, his tall, broad figure suddenly lonely and cold, the outside world’s sounds especially clear in the night breeze.

What happened to him?

“Hey? Are you all right? Did something happen at the company?”

“It’s the research department,” Yichen glanced at her. “Did you take the sapphire?”

He caught her startled look, a faint mocking smile appearing on his handsome face. “You know, my first instinct was to check the surveillance. But I didn’t. For the first time in my life, I avoided facing a problem at work.”

Xiao Qi stared at her shoes and asked in a low, clear voice, “So you’ve decided it was me?”

Yichen answered steadily, “It never crossed my mind that you would steal the sapphire. But the fact is—you did.”

That word “steal” stabbed into her heart like a blade.

It hurt—deeply.

Xiao Qi’s face turned a little pale, her voice unsteady. “Calling it stealing—that’s just reckless.”

Even now, she refused to admit it.

Yichen’s tone was heavy. “Calling it stealing is already putting it lightly. Do you realize? TC is a company of great renown. If this goes to the police, your actions could land you in prison—the whole country would be shocked. Do you understand?”

His voice was calm, but every word struck her with the weight of a thousand pounds.

Prison?

Was it really that serious?

Should she tell the truth?