Liu Changqing was eating while An Yuanyao watched.
It should have been a peaceful scene, but the sudden ringing of a phone shattered the tranquility.
The sound ca from An Yuanyao’s bag on the table.
Liu Changqing paused, swallowing his food before looking up at her.
"Whose call is it?"
"Let check..."
An Yuanyao responded, unzipped her bag, and took out her phone. Upon seeing the caller ID, her expression turned puzzled, which made Liu Changqing slightly curious. However, he didn’t ask and simply continued eating.
She pressed the answer button and brought the phone to her ear.
"Hello? Why are you suddenly calling ?"
[Sis, guess where I am right now?]
"Hmm... Aren’t you at ho?"
[Wrong answer!]
Her younger brother’s words confused her. After all, ever since he got married and had a family, he rarely went anywhere. He was usually at ho.
But An Yuanyao wasn’t in the mood to play guessing gas, so she pretended to be uninterested.
"If you’re not going to say, then forget it."
[No, co on, guess again! It’s really easy!]
"Not guessing."
[Sis, just one more guess!]
"I said no!"
[...]
The other end of the line fell silent. Just as An Yuanyao was about to say sothing, her brother’s voice ca through again.
[I’m at the door of the apartnt you rented. Open up.]
"..."
This ti, it was An Yuanyao who went silent. Her expression shifted the mont she heard those words.
She instinctively glanced at Liu Changqing, who was still eating. After thinking for a mont, she slowly stood up and walked toward the door.
Liu Changqing noticed her movents, put down his chopsticks, and looked at her back.
"Who was it?"
[Who was that man’s voice just now?]
"Wait a minute!"
Realizing she had exposed herself, An Yuanyao quickly ended the call, turned around, and looked at Liu Changqing with a flustered expression.
"What do I do? He’s here!"
"Who’s here? Who could scare you like this?"
Liu Changqing asked while picking up a piece of pork rib, bringing it to his mouth.
"My brother!"
Clang.
The rib slipped from his chopsticks and landed on the table.
Liu Changqing was stunned. He turned to look at An Yuanyao, who was just as anxious, and after a brief silence, sothing clicked in his mind.
Wait... why am I panicking? It’s her brother, not mine.
Realizing this, Liu Changqing relaxed.
"This is a good thing, isn’t it? Alright, I’ll stop eating for now. Where is he? Let’s go pick him up. Or maybe I should book a table at a restaurant first?"
An Yuanyao, however, didn’t think this was a good thing.
She clearly rembered the last ti she ran away from ho and received a call from her brother. He had told her that their father wouldn’t keep her locked up anymore, but when she returned ho for the New Year, she had to bring Liu Changqing back with her.
At that ti, to avoid her mother’s questions, she had made up a fake na—Liu Changqing beca Liu Changqing (柳常清).
Now, her brother’s sudden arrival brought that lie back to the surface. If he was here to et "Liu Changqing," it was highly likely their mother had sent him.
Her family knew who Liu Changqing was. They had t before. If they found out she had lied...
Realizing this, An Yuanyao snapped back to her senses and saw Liu Changqing pulling out his phone to book a private dining room at a restaurant.
"You... don’t call yet!"
"Hmm?"
Hearing her urgency, Liu Changqing paused and put his phone down. He looked at her carefully.
"You're right, I was being impulsive. What kind of food does your brother like? I should at least book a place he’d enjoy."
"I..."
Liu Changqing observed her. He could tell sothing was off—she looked nervous, like she wanted to say sothing but didn’t dare to.
Her reaction was too unusual. Clearly, sothing had happened that he didn’t know about. And it was related to her brother’s arrival.
Liu Changqing’s expression grew serious. He looked at her and asked in a low voice,
"Are you hiding sothing from ?"
"I..."
An Yuanyao hesitated. She looked at Liu Changqing’s stern face, clenched her phone tightly, and finally made up her mind to tell the truth.
—
Outside, An Qianxun frowned at his phone.
His sister’s last words had been "wait a minute," and although he didn’t understand why, he obediently complied.
He moved his gaze from his phone to the building in front of him—his sister’s apartnt.
He had learned about this place from their past conversations. An Qianxun rembered clearly that his sister had said she rented a place after getting divorced.
It wasn’t hard to find. Even though she never gave a detailed address, finding it was easy enough with the right resources.
This ti, An Qianxun had co alone.
No wife. No kids.
The reason for his visit? A mission from their mother—to et with Liu Changqing.
Thinking about the ridiculous lie his sister had told their mother, An Qianxun couldn’t help but chuckle.
Did she really think she could fool them by making up so non-existent person?
Sis... you’re way too naive.
Their father might have stopped restricting her movents, but that didn’t an he wasn’t keeping track of her.
After all... she was the most cherished child in the family.
An Qianxun had known this since he was a kid—his sister was the undisputed favorite.
That favoritism had led to his rebellious phase in high school, where he had been completely out of control.
Of course... if not for that rebellious phase, he wouldn’t have t his wife.
Just thinking about those high school days made him feel like he had stepped out of a novel. His relationship with his wife had been full of ups and downs, but in the end, love had triumphed.
Lost in thought, An Qianxun chuckled to himself at the mories.
Then, suddenly, his laughter stopped.
Sothing felt off.
He had called his sister monts ago, but there hadn’t been a single sound from inside the apartnt.
Frowning, he reached out and pressed the doorbell again.
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