The Billionaire's Hidden Affection

Chapter 885 - 882: The Dagger Revealed, Part 6

Yan Xixi smiled faintly. "You two talk, I’ll head out first."

Li Xianzhen panicked and ran after her. "Yan, are you going tomorrow night?"

She was very straightforward. "Pick me up tomorrow night."

Of course she was going! Why wouldn’t she!

When there’s a chance to learn, observe, and expand your network, you’d be a fool not to go.

After Liu the Empress Dowager’s exhortations, her mindset had already shifted: slowly, she needed to adapt to the Wan Family, not demand that the Wan Family adapt to her.

She drove home, and as soon as she parked the car and walked to the bench by the lawn to sit down, Ms. Liu came over with a young woman.

"Miss Yan, you have a visitor."

Li Mingyu’s girlfriend An’an said quietly, "Yan, I came without an invitation. Please forgive me."

Yan Xixi was quite surprised. She invited her to sit, then asked, "An’an, is something wrong?"

An’an put down her coffee cup. Her eyes were red and swollen, she looked utterly haggard. "Yan, I need a favor."

"What’s going on?"

"Li Mingyu wants to break up with me..."

Yan Xixi froze, and asked carefully, "Why?"

"I’m not that young anymore. I want to get married, and I’m hoping we can buy an apartment in South Country. Mingyu works for his advisor and also does several side jobs. Over the past two summers he’s made quite a bit of money; he has a decent amount of savings. I’ve saved up some too. I thought, if we pool it together, we could at least buy a place. But he just would not agree, no matter what..."

"..."

"He wouldn’t even agree when I pushed him to get married. I got so mad I went and bought a designer bag, a few outfits, and some cosmetics—things I’d usually never bear to buy. I spent a little over five thousand in total... After he found out, he had a huge fight with me. He said I was too extravagant, that I should wear a hat that fits my head, that he couldn’t afford a vain woman like me, and if I despised him for being poor I should go find some rich, handsome guy instead... I was furious and blurted out that we should break up..."

Couples quarrelling is nothing unusual, and a woman blurting out "let’s break up" in the heat of the moment is normal too.

"I didn’t expect him to agree right away and actually break up with me..."

Yan Xixi could only say, "Maybe he was just angry in the moment too?"

"No, he really wants to break up. He moved out the very next day. He won’t answer my calls, and when I go looking for him, he avoids me... Yan, what do you think I should do now?"

Yan Xixi’s scalp was tingling.

"I don’t want to break up. I’ve treated him so well. I buy T‑shirts for myself that only cost a few yuan, but I’ll buy him shirts costing hundreds as birthday presents..."

And the more practical problem was that after they broke up, covering the rent and everything on one income would be even harder. Besides, he was about to graduate, about to have a bright future ahead of him; he could finally see the light at the end of the tunnel, yet he chose this moment to break up!

Maybe he’d just been waiting for this opening.

And she just had to be the one to bring it up, handing him the excuse.

"Li Mingyu and Li Zhen are best buddies. You and Li Zhen help me talk to him, okay? He’ll definitely listen to you two... Yan, I’m begging you."

Yan Xixi didn’t know how to respond. She thought, the moment you only buy yourself clothes that cost a few yuan but buy him a hundred-plus-yuan shirt, you’ve already lost.

She watched An’an walk away. Ms. Liu came out to clear the coffee cups from the table. "I made hotpot tonight. It’ll be ready soon..."

Yan Xixi could already smell the aroma of chilies drifting out from the induction cooker—the authentic scent of dried chilis, ground Sichuan pepper, and a rich Da Hong Pao hotpot base.

Ever since she came to South Country, she’d been craving hotpot. Tonight, Ms. Liu had finally made it.