Lu Tingyuan, I forbid you from going to see Su Yiyi.

Qi Qingran watched the phone screen light up, and on a whim, she picked up the pillow and covered the phone with it.

She didn’t know why she felt that way—she simply didn’t want Lu Tingyuan to answer the call.

Especially since he had just kissed her moments ago.

But it was too late.

Lu Tingyuan had already seen it.

Still simmering with lingering anger, he reached out and lifted the pillow, taking the phone from beneath it.

In the process, he cast a complex look at her—perhaps a silent warning at her little act just now.

Before answering the call, he took a moment to calm himself. When he finally spoke, calling out the name Su Yiyi, his tone was as gentle as a spring breeze in March.

"Yiyi, is there something you need from me?"

To Qi Qingran’s ears, the words sounded sharp and grating.

His voice for Su Yiyi was worlds apart from how he spoke to her.

Trapped and curled up on the sofa, unable to break free, sitting so close to him, she couldn’t block out Su Yiyi’s incessant voice piercing her ears, no matter how much she wished to.

"Senior Brother," the young girl on the other end of the line sobbed quietly, her voice alone evoking a sense of heartbreak.

"I got rejected… from Professor Qi’s research team. I wasn’t accepted…"

"He chose my roommate, but not me…"

"Professor Qi is just a junior to my father, and his skills aren’t even on par with my father’s… If my father were still alive, this wouldn’t have happened…"

"Senior Brother, what should I do? What am I supposed to do? I…I’m so upset…"

…

The girl’s cries became too much to continue, and even though they weren’t face to face, Qi Qingran could vividly picture her vulnerable and helpless expression.

She turned to look at Lu Tingyuan. Unsurprisingly, his brows were deeply furrowed, his face filled with pity for the girl.

His comforting voice was so gentle it was almost inaudible, as if afraid that even a slightly firmer tone might frighten the girl.

"Yiyi, don’t cry. There will be a way."

"The list has already been announced. What other way could there be?"

"There is. There must be a way. First, tell me where you are now. I’ll come pick you up."

He stood up from the sofa as he spoke, grabbing his coat and preparing to leave. "As for getting into the research team, don’t worry. Trust me, I’ll handle it."

---

Qi Qingran listened in a daze, but as Lu Tingyuan was about to step away, she suddenly grabbed his wrist.

"Don’t go!"

Lu Tingyuan looked back at her, a hint of displeasure in his eyes. "Let go."

"Lu Tingyuan, I’m telling you, you can’t go. I won’t allow it."

She stared at him stubbornly, refusing to budge an inch.

She didn’t understand herself—after enduring so many times, why now did she want to pick a fight with Su Yiyi?

But she just wanted to indulge herself this once.

Not caring whether Lu Tingyuan would get angry, not thinking about the consequences of his anger.

She wanted Su Yiyi to taste what it was like to wait in vain for a long time, to be stood up so badly that she would cry inconsolably, beyond anything Lu Tingyuan could soothe.

That would bring her immense satisfaction.

Just the thought of it made her want to push Lu Tingyuan harder.

If just once she could make him stay, then there would be a next time, and the time after that…

Only then would she have a chance to drive Su Yiyi away from his side, returning things to how they once were.

To achieve this, she was even willing to expose her own wounds.

"Ah Yuan, you know I went back to the Qi family today. Don’t you want to know what my biological parents and Qi Wanrou said to me?"

She deliberately emphasized the words "biological parents."

Lu Tingyuan knew how the Qi family treated her and understood how much she had suffered there. If he wasn’t worried about her, he wouldn’t have postponed three meetings to rush to the Qi family and bring her away.

She clung to this lifeline, replaying what he had once said to himself repeatedly in her heart.

It’s possible. He still cares about you and will stay for you.

After all, Su Yiyi was merely upset, not in any real danger.

The hardships the little girl faced could never compare to the torment the Qi family had put her through.

The Qi family had once driven her to a dead end.

But all her hopes were met with Lu Tingyuan’s silence.

His silence made his choice clear.

Qi Qingran bit her lip, unwilling to accept it. "I endured a long time at the Qi family. I didn’t want to cry in front of them. I thought after being away for so long, seeing them again, I could be calm. But, Ah Yuan, I can’t. The moment I see my parents laughing with Qi Wanrou, I feel so sad I want to cry."

She intended to play the victim before Lu Tingyuan, but once spoken, the grievances she had long suppressed surged out uncontrollably.

---

"Why is it that everything I’ve worked so hard for, Qi Wanrou can snatch effortlessly from me? Why does she take everything I have without paying any price?"

"Ah Yuan, can you tell me why I have to live harder than everyone else? Why, even though I have two families, do I have no one who truly loves me?"

As she spoke, Lu Tingyuan’s expression darkened. Each word was like a needle piercing his heart.

No one understood how pitiful the former Qi Qingran was better than him.

But—

His mind was filled with Su Yiyi’s cries. All he could think about was getting the girl back quickly.

There are priorities.

No matter how upset Qi Qingran was, she was no longer at the Qi family. She was here, on his turf, where no one would bully her.

But Su Yiyi was different.

The girl was lonely and frail, in poor health. Without his protection, who knew what she would suffer next.

"Qingran."

He reached out, embraced her, gently patting her back, soothing her softly. "I’ll be back soon."

All of Qi Qingran’s emotions stopped abruptly.

Suddenly, she felt the words she had just spoken, the tears she had shed, were utterly meaningless.

"Lu Tingyuan," she rested her chin on his shoulder, a mocking smile curling at her lips, her tone tinged with faint coldness. "Is it that every time Su Yiyi cries, you come running?"

Lu Tingyuan clearly didn’t expect her to say that. His comforting touch faltered before he gave a perfunctory pat or two and then pushed her away.

"Qingran, now is not the time for you to be willful. Yiyi is unstable right now, and it’s dangerous for her to be out alone. I’m going to pick her up first. We can discuss everything else later."

Qi Qingran said no more, only giving a faint smile, tears glistening at the corner of her eyes.

Lu Tingyuan pressed his lips tight, was silent for a few seconds, then said, "You know I have you in my heart."

Hearing this, Qi Qingran only let out a cold laugh.

He didn’t bother with her attitude and hurriedly left to retrieve the little junior he cared so much about.

Left alone in the room, it felt so vast, so empty, so silent.