Her memory was a little fuzzy. She just knew that she stood still by the entrance after she came out. Then, she got uncomfortable and could not really remember anything else afterward.

She faintly had the impression that she fought with someone hard. Her fists were actually slightly hurting even now.

Her headache came back, and she took a glance at her surroundings as she felt uneasy.

There was no one else in the living room. Why was she even there?

Moreover, she was sleeping on the floor!

She ran her fingers through her messy hair and could smell a slightly foul scent. She quickly looked down at herself and noticed she was still wearing the same clothes as yesterday. They were wrinkled and soiled.

Drip!

A wind blew past and lifted the gray curtains while the sound of the water dripping became clear to her. For some reason, Ji Zitong suddenly got goosebumps.

She had slept on the floor in this place for the whole night!

She quickly stood up, not wanting to find out what had happened. Her first instinct was to get out of there as soon as possible!

However, she miscalculated!

She never would have guessed that from the moment she sat up, a pair of sharp eyes were observing each and every reaction of hers.

As Ji Zitong got up with her head still pounding, she detected a creepy stare from the back.

She took a deep breath and turned around to see a man before her. He was looking at her as he crossed his arms and leaned against the doorframe!

The man had a large bruise on his face. Obviously, he had been beaten up badly because it was entirely swollen.

However, she could still see his face clearly, and she found him oddly familiar! She must have seen him before.

She searched through her memories and found her answer before long!

Su Chen!

She would never forget him!

He was the man who gave her the worst criticism ever as her superior officer when she participated in a special camp during her time in the army. Ji Zitong remembered that he and Mu Yuchen led the team.

She had a positive impression of Mu Yuchen. He was quiet and cool. Many other soldiers respected him, but everyone feared and loathed Su Chen!

He left a lasting impression on her because she hated him deeply!

This bastard was the one who had left a scar on her thigh, resulting in her not being able to wear short skirts anymore!

"It's you!" Her cold voice reached Su Chen's ears.

Su Chen finally took a good look at the woman's face. It had been dark last night, and with her messy hair covering her face, he could not recognize her at all. After she tidied herself up a little more, he could finally see her features better.

Obviously, Su Chen remembered this woman!

This woman had been dissatisfied with his training method, so he punished her. In retaliation, she tried to pull off a trick out of spite. Fortunately, she had no idea about his relationship with Mu Yuchen. If that matter reached the higher-ups, he would have been done for!

"Ji Zitong!"

There were not many women whose name Su Chen could remember. Ji Zitong should be honored to be one of them!

Su Chen laughed instead of getting angry. What a small world!

He had planned to give this woman a lesson after the camp back then. Unfortunately, she had been transferred away, so he was unable to reach her. Otherwise, he would have given her hell!

"Long time no see, Officer Su!"

Ji Zitong's eyes turned cold as her hands clenched into fists. It took her a lot of effort to restrain herself from punching him, but she could guess that the bruises on his face should be her deed from last night!

As her cold voice reached him, Su Chen's eyes looked at her sharply.

"Long time no see indeed. I've been looking for you for quite a while." Su Chen's tone was not friendly as well, and his smile was bitter.

"How nice of you to be concerned about me. I've never forgotten what you taught me."

"It seems that your boyfriend never went back to you, I guess. I heard he's doing pretty well. He married Deputy Chief Wang's daughter, and he should be a lieutenant commander now. He came to me and begged for work some time ago. Sadly, I rejected him. See, I told you I wasn't wrong..."

Su Chen was enjoying Ji Zitong's pale expression as he felt exceptionally smug.

"Women are too simple. Do you think a man would still change his mind after he's gotten tired of you? Naive, stupid!"

Ji Zitong's expression changed and her clenched fists trembled slightly. "What do you know? Who are you to comment on this? I never knew that a man like you would care so much about someone's private matters. You've broadened my mind."

"Still having a sharp tongue, huh? You're still trying to argue with me even when you're a deserter? Didn't the military life ease your arrogance?"

"I'm going to say it again. I'm not a deserter! If you continue to accuse me, don't blame me for anything that's about to happen!" Su Chen's words triggered Ji Zitong.

"What are you going to do? I haven't even settled the score with you yet, but you're talking to me like this?"

Ji Zitong did not want to waste any more time there. She still had to report for duty at Glory World, and she needed a place to clean herself up. Nonetheless, she felt slightly better knowing that she beat this guy up last night.

As she flattened her wrinkled outfit and was about to leave, Su Chen's long arm blocked her way.

"Move!" She halted her steps and glared at the arm before her.

"I think we have a score to settle."

She wanted to storm away after doing all those things to him. Did she really underestimate him that much?

The next day, after Xi Xiaye washed up and went downstairs, the man was drinking tea on the sofa with Zhou Zimo, who had changed into a set of clean clothes. He was about the same size as Mu Yuchen, so Mu Yuchen's clothes fit him quite well.

"Su Chen's fine, isn't he? How did I end up being the one who drank too much instead? Why didn't you stop me?" Zhou Zimo sipped his tea as he looked up at Mu Yuchen who was flipping through the newspaper leisurely.

"If you really wanted to drink, could I have stopped you?" His deep voice was colored with a teasing note, yet Mu Yuchen did not even look up as he answered him directly.

Zhou Zimo shrugged. "This morning, I called Elder Su and the rest. You should find time to visit them. Sis Su misses you too. Right, when I saw Ah Mo a few days ago, I heard that they were inspecting people. It's about Lingshi's father, isn't it?" As he said this, he stopped what he was doing and looked at Mu Yuchen.

"Mmm, Lingshi has been trying to find out who he is, but we don't have many leads. Well, this is our only option and we hope that we get a clue."

Mu Yuchen did not hide anything, yet when he talked about this, he felt a faint bitterness inside.

Zhou Zimo nodded. "I know this is an unfulfilled wish of Lingshi all these years. Even Lingtian has been trying so hard to look for answers years ago, and what about now? Do you have any leads? Did you find any matches in the DNA bank?"

Mu Yuchen hesitated for a moment, then he said to Zhou Zimo, "If I could, my hands wouldn't be so tied up right now. You've got quite a wide network here too. Help me find out if there was someone named Mr. Wen in the circle around 30 years ago. This person should be someone of status, and may not be local. He's got some kind of friendship with the famous manager, Lu Xinlan. Once you've got any leads, do let me know."

"Mr. Wen? Mr. Wen?" Zhou Zimo softly muttered. He wanted to ask more, but seeing Mu Yuchen in deep thought, he decided against it. "Okay, I'll do my best, but it's been 30 years, so it's quite a distant memory now. We weren't all that old back then too. I can't be sure that I'll find out about anything."

"Just do your best. I've been quite occupied recently."

Work had been busy, and Fuhua needed him to personally handle matters too. At the same time, his mind was on Xiaye's health. Clearly, he felt a little fatigued from juggling everything.

"Okay, leave it to me. You should rest well too. Look at you. You've really lost weight. It's going to be the Mid-Autumn festival in two days. Let's meet up." Zhou Zimo patted Mu Yuchen on the shoulder.

"I'll have to make a trip back to the old residence then. Let's gather after that."

Zhou Zimo glanced at the clock and saw the time. Upon seeing that it was not that early anymore, he grabbed his phone as he said, "As you wish. I'll return to the company then since I have a morning meeting. Give me your car keys."

Mu Yuchen pointed to the drawer on the side, and Zhou Zimo swiftly took the keys out and got up.

"Have some breakfast before you go." Xi Xiaye just came downstairs at the same time.

"Morning! I'm rushing. Next time!" Zhou Zimo greeted cheerfully before heading out. The way he rushed out surprised Xi Xiaye a little. Meanwhile, at that moment, Mu Yuchen had already put away the newspapers and walked towards her.

Xi Xiaye watched as Zhou Zimo vanished out of the door as she muttered to herself, "He's in such a rush. Last night, he drank so much, but he looks quite sober this morning."

"He's rushing for a meeting. Hungry? Have some breakfast."

Then, he pulled her to sit down at the dining table. Sis Wang had already prepared a sumptuous breakfast.

Xi Xiaye sat down quietly. She picked up the cutlery and was about to dig in when the phone rang from the living room. Sis Wang swiftly picked it up before she said to Xi Xiaye, "Missus, a call for you. It's Miss Su Nan!"

"Pass it to me!"

When Xi Xiaye heard that, she stopped what she was doing and reached out a hand to Sis Wang urgently. Sis Wang quickly handed the phone to her.

"Nan Nan?" Xi Xiaye's clear voice rang out.

"Xiaye? I have something to tell you, but you've got to be mentally prepared."

Su Nan's voice sounded hesitant on the other end. Xi Xiaye thought it was weird, so she frowned and asked, "What's wrong?"

Su Nan took a deep breath, then spoke in a lowered voice, "Last night, Ruan Heng bumped into Han Yifeng at the bar. He was really drunk and almost got hit by a car when he left. Anyway, Ruan Heng dragged him to stay at a nearby hotel. Ruan Heng said that he... he kept calling out your name. After that, Xi Xinyi rushed over. I'm worried that... that woman would get up to mischief because of this. You have to watch out. Don't let her get her way!"

As Su Nan spoke, she could not help but worry because she knew Xi Xinyi all too well.

Yet, upon hearing Su Nan, Xi Xiaye was slightly stunned. Her hand that held the phone froze in the air.

"Xiaye, what do you think Han Yifeng is trying to do? Don't tell me that he's regretting it and missing you now! What the hell is this? When Ruan Heng told me about this, I thought it was quite unbelievable! To be honest, I think he suits Xi Xinyi very well. They can't be peaceful together and have to torment each other like this. I'd like to see how long they'd last! Being with a woman who isn't what she seems is disgusting. This is the best punishment for him! Earlier, I even heard that he wanted to get a divorce from Xi Xinyi, but now, I think it's even better to let them hate each other and wear each other out!"

When Su Nan spoke about this, she could not help but be outraged. She cursed Han Yifeng and Xi Xinyi again.

"Xi Xinyi is quite delighted now. While she has the little one in her, she's really acting recklessly. Even Han Yifeng's mother is all over her now. A few days ago, I even bumped into them at the New Era Plaza."

Su Nan continued to ramble on. Obviously, she could not see the mix of emotions that surfaced on Xi Xiaye's shocked face. Initially, Xi Xiaye wanted to respond to Su Nan, yet before she could say anything, the man beside her grabbed the phone away.

"Is this Su Nan? Next time, don't tell Xiaye anything about Han Yifeng. Got it?"

Mu Yuchen's sudden deep voice was colored with cold hostility and silenced Su Nan. After a while, she responded apologetically, "Sorry, Master Mu. I was worried that Xi Xinyi... would think of mischief against Xiaye again."

He overheard everything that Su Nan said earlier.

So, Han Yifeng was drunk? He had even been thinking about Xi Xiaye endlessly. Any other man would be fuming too, what more Mr. Mu who had spent a lot of effort squeezing his way into Xiaye's heart.

"She wouldn't play any tricks," Mu Yuchen said emotionlessly, then hung up. His handsome face vaguely darkened.

Xi Xiaye quickly tugged at him and frowned. "Don't be angry. Su Nan didn't have ill intentions. Don't be so mean to her. She just wanted to warn me."

When she finished, Mu Yuchen just shot her a glare. Upon seeing her hand grip onto him tightly, his expression softened quite a bit. He did not say anything and just silently poured her a glass of milk while Xi Xiaye just stared at him. After a long while, when she saw that he had no plans of saying anything, she lowered her gaze.

"Petty," she muttered softly as she lowered her head and took the milk that he handed her.

When he heard that, he immediately swiveled to look at her. His intent gaze could really startle someone. "You're quite enjoying your high market value, are you?"

"How would I dare?! That gaze of yours can kill me!" She shot him a look and dared not get closer to his rage, so she curled up and silently drank her milk with her head lowered.

"He knows you're a good woman now, eh? When did his judgment experience such a major improvement? No wonder the last time he even talked about being willing to turn back time. Has he suddenly come to his senses?" Mr. Mu's current tone was clearly sharp and unkind. "These kind of people are the most unreliable. Ignore him. I can't stand him as a man either. Hey, what's with this glare of yours? I'm not being petty or jealous. I'm just debating the facts with you, teaching you how to judge people."

"I didn't say you were jealous, but you said it yourself!" She lowered her voice and then smiled drily through pursed lips. "In fact, just let his woman like him. I understand that like repels like."

"Are you being sharp-tongued now? You're really getting more and more daring, hmm? Haven't you always listened quietly when I spoke?" Mu Yuchen's hands reached over to slice the food on her plate.

"I didn't do anything bad. I'm just debating the facts as well to make sure there's no knot in your heart. I even praised you for being a gentleman before."

"Am I supposed to be a gentleman about this? Enough. Quickly finish your breakfast. It's long past working hours, and I have to make a trip to the government office at 10. I'll send you to work first."

She stopped what she was doing and asked, puzzled, "Is it about the South River project? The work progress has been going quite well recently."

"Mmm, there are some things I need to discuss with them. You don't have to worry about this. Just stay in the office and settle those data for me."

Since he said so, she could not be bothered with worrying. Recently, she could really push everything to him. Even the materials that Grandpa had told Lan Zilang to send over so that she could get familiarize with them was pushed to him, so he had really been quite busy recently. She was quite worried by this sight of him too. Then, she took those materials back and familiarized herself with them.

...

At this moment, Ji Zitong was also delayed and had yet to reach work.

On the side of the sofa in the living room, Su Chen put the paper that Ji Zitong had signed away with spirited ease and delight. He looked down at her. Despite her appearing rather frigid while she repressed her anger, he smiled coldly. "Do you think I was a military instructor for nothing? Can't I handle a little woman like you?"

"You're really despicable! You're thoroughly the pinnacle of trash among men!"

Ji Zitong endured the pain all over her body as she lifted a hand to wipe the blood on the corner of her lips away as she stared fiercely at Su Chen.

Su Chen shrugged nonchalantly. He was a man and never cared less to be petty with a woman. Furthermore, he was even lazier to debate, so he waved the paper between his fingers and said, "You can curse me in your heart, but don't let me hear it and I won't care. See that bag of things by the door? You dirtied my clothes with your puke, so I want you to wash it spotless before sending it back. Of course, I don't mind it if you were to buy me a new set of clothes, but this set isn't cheap. If you think you've got a lot to spend, then you can burn it. I'll be very happy that I have something new to wear. Also, last night you went crazy drunk and beat me up like this. I'm warning you, I won't be petty with the medical fees. I want you to write me a 50,000-word self-criticism letter as an apology. It must be handwritten. Otherwise, this letter of guarantee and your face will go viral on the Internet. If anything bad happens then, don't blame me for being an unreasonable instructor!"

When Su Chen thought about what happened before, he seethed with anger. This woman was too arrogant. If it were not for the fact that she was a woman, he would have settled her by now! He would not have talked so politely!

When Ji Zitong saw his delighted and righteous expression lecturing her, she wanted to fling a punch at him!

"Don't be unhappy. You're just like how you were with such poor self-awareness. Years ago, I really messed with you quite badly. If it weren't for Instructor Mu's quick wits, I probably would've ended up as you wished, but Cadet Ji Zitong, as an instructor, I was just carrying out my duty. You must self-reflect and apologize for what you did, understand?" Su Chen sneered with a hostile expression.

"Huh, you keep saying that you were just carrying out your duty. Let me ask you then. How come Wang Jingxue could request for a leave of absence and I couldn't? Did you know that because you didn't let me leave, that..."

"Wang Jingxue's old man was my superior, Commander Wang, and he gave an order. Could I have disobeyed it? Without an order from the top, I wouldn't have let anyone off!"

"Stop pretending like you were very fair. Why don't you just say that you were trying to curry favor with your superior?! You even pretend to be dignified about obeying a superior's orders. Ugh, it's disgusting to hear." Ji Zitong shot him a look of disdain as she got up coldly.

"It's up to you whether you want to believe it or not. Whatever it is, just do as this letter of guarantee says. Otherwise, you should know that I've always been one to keep my word. If I don't see that clean set of clothing next week at this time and that 50,000-word self-reflection letter as an apology, you'll find out just how despicable I can be."

Su Chen did not justify himself anymore. He waved the piece of paper and swiftly slid it into his pocket. He coldly showed her the door. "You can leave now!"

Ji Zitong then scoffed and wiped the blood on the corner of her lips away. She glared at him lividly before walking to the door.

"Remember to take the bag!" Su Chen's voice came from behind.

Ji Zitong practically grabbed the bag by the door through gritted teeth before she stormed out.