Xi Xiaye held her forehead with a hand and calmly shut her laptop down. She took the document Xiao Mei delivered and got up. "Mmm, everyone should just obey Chairman Mu's instructions. Pack up. We're making a trip to the South River."

There were some detailed questions that she needed to still inspect there before handling them. Because she would need to submit the proposal for the project next week, there was not enough time. With such a tight timeline, Xi Xiaye did not dare to delay.

"Okay, Director Xi!" Xiao Mei answered, then swiftly left to prepare.

Xi Xiaye quickly tidied up the documents on the table, stuffed them into her briefcase, and then took the windbreaker from the side as she walked out of the door.

She had just stepped out of Glory World Corporation when she faintly felt a chilly humidity in her face. Looking up at the sky, she saw that the horizon was filled with a haze. The boundlessly drab sky was drizzling, unlike the splendid sunshine before this.

When Xiao Mei came out with the things, she cried out, "Eh? It's raining! Director!"

"It's not too heavy. Bring an umbrella along!" Xi Xiaye lowered her eyes and sighed to herself. She could not care much about the cold that came attacking them. She took the briefcase in Xiao Mei's hand and said, "I'll wait for you in the car. Go and get an umbrella from the reception."

Then, she took huge strides into the rain.

As Xiao Mei panted and rushed out with the umbrella, Xi Xiaye had already driven out of the car park and parked by the roadside.

Xiao Mei got into the car hastily and her keen eye noticed that in the passenger's seat up front, Chairman Mu's windbreaker and briefcase seemed to be there. Like the other colleagues in the company, they paid special attention to their Chairman Mu. Naturally, she would be familiar with his things.

Someone seemed to have seen Director Xi and Chairman Mu get down from the same car this morning, so now the entire company was buzzing around with rumors about the two of them...

Before Xiao Mei could not hold it in further, she stared at Xi Xiaye through the rearview mirror in front and asked carefully, "Director, people in the company are saying that you and Chairman Mu... are living together... Is that true? In fact, the ring on your finger... Director, are you married?"

When she heard this question, Xi Xiaye was astonished for a moment. She subconsciously looked at the ring on her finger.

Right, deliberately hiding it now would not work when there was something this obvious.

She thought about it and finally nodded. "I'm married."

"Oh my God, is it Chairman Mu? Director? It must be Chairman Mu, right? I knew it! The way Chairman Mu looks at you is different from the way he looks at other women! That's awesome! Even just thinking about it feels exciting!"

Once Xi Xiaye said that, Xiao Mei could not hold back and cried out in joy. She stared at Xi Xiaye in admiration. "Director, how did you... How did you two end up together?"

Xiao Mei was a little curious about this bit of juicy gossip.

To them, someone like Chairman Mu was someone out of reach, yet unexpectedly, he had been spoken for by their Director Xi. If she told the others this, it would make her look good! She could be elevated in front of colleagues from the other departments!

"I'll just tell you for you to know. We don't need to end up having the whole company knowing. Otherwise, we'll become the company's hot topic. Understood?"

Xiao Mei was her personal secretary. In the future, she would need to be in contact with a lot of things, so Xi Xiaye treated her like one of her own.

"Is that so? Okay then, I understand. I won't breathe a word!"

Xi Xiaye smiled. "I'm not saying don't let everyone know, but maybe later on."

...

The two of them chatted and it felt like time flew by pretty quickly. Soon, they reached the south of the city, and at this moment it was still drizzling outside. The entire South River was engulfed in mist.

Xi Xiaye drove through some slightly narrow cemented trails, immediately driving up to higher land ahead. There they could get a bird's eye view of the scenery around the South River.

At the end of the trail was a small viewing deck. Xi Xiaye parked the car on the side and Xiao Mei immediately got down from the car with the umbrella before walking over to Xi Xiaye's side.

"Director!" Xiao Mei opened the umbrella and walked over while Xi Xiaye took out a folder and pen from her briefcase before getting down from the car too.

The rain was not heavy, but if they stood like that in the drizzle, their shoulders would be drenched in a short while.

The two of them followed the trail and walked to the deck. The cool, rustling breeze that came was very bitterly cold and they could not help but shiver a little.

"The scenery here is pretty beautiful. The South River runs for miles, Director Xi, look! It's quite amazing!"

The sound of Xiao Mei's cries came. Xi Xiaye followed the direction of her finger to look and saw that the South River below them was hidden amidst the hazy rain, seeming rather dreamy and surreal, lingering in the clouds and mist.

The huge plot of open land beside the South River was Xi Xiaye's target for the day. She nodded slightly and then opened the folder in her hand as she glanced up to carefully examine the surroundings of the land below...

Xiao Mei stood behind her while holding the umbrella, watching the way Xi Xiaye focused on sketching with not a hair out of place. She wanted to ask her to put on another layer, but after that, she did not dare speak up to disturb her.

They walked along the viewing deck. Some time had passed when Xiao Mei felt herself shiver. In fact, her legs were a little numb from standing, but when she looked at Xi Xiaye, she saw that she seemed to be thinking about something. Her expression was calm and the document in her hand was filled with notes.

Finally, when Xiao Mei's stomach made a rumbling sound, Xi Xiaye closed the document and turned to look at her assistant who was blushing from the awkwardness. She smiled. "It should be about time. Are you hungry already?"

"Director Xi..." Xiao Mei looked down feeling embarrassed.

"How about this? You go down and eat first, then go straight back to the office. Just go down and get a taxi. I'll be fine by myself here. When you go back, make a trip to the Marketing Department. Tell them to get me a copy of the South River's market research. I need it in the afternoon when I get back to the office."

"Then, Director Xi, you..." Xiao Mei hesitated.

"I'll go back in the afternoon. There's an umbrella in the car that you can take," Xi Xiaye said and then took the umbrella in Xiao Mei's hand.

Xiao Mei did not dare to question her boss. She turned around and left.

Xi Xiaye continued to be busy. Not too long after Xiao Mei left, she was about to continue walking ahead when she suddenly heard the sound of a car honking from behind. She turned around and followed the source of the sound to look.

A gorgeous Rolls-Royce slowly entered her sight and she noticed that the car slowly stopped beside her car that she had parked by the roadside.

The driver's door quickly opened, and a tall man in a black suit walked to the back seat with an umbrella. He respectfully opened the car door before a tall figure stepped out of the car...

A familiar handsome face entered her sight, making her absent-minded in that instance.

Han Yifeng?

How could it be him?

Xi Xiaye's hand that held onto the black umbrella unconsciously tightened. Her bright eyes were momentarily in a daze before it returned to clarity. Then, she watched on with an indifferent expression through the hazy rain.

While Han Yifeng seemed to have sensed the car. He frowned and looked at the Porsche that was parked in front, his dim gaze flickering for a moment, and then subconsciously looking up to search for something. Quickly, he noticed Xi Xiaye who was standing on the viewing deck, watching him apathetically...

Today, she was dressed as usual in a black work suit. On the outside, there was a mid-length windbreaker and her beautiful, long hair fell onto her shoulders like always. Her thin and slender figure towered in the rain, and it looked like there was something more to her than how it used to be.

He suddenly felt that the two of them had not met for a very, very long time.

Han Yifeng's stern face seemed to ease a little. His dark eyes were still dense with an indescribable complexity as he stood where he was and hesitated for a long time, unmoving.

Only when his assistant, secretary Wang called out for him did he snap back to his senses. "CEO Han!"

He took a deep breath and saw that up ahead, Xi Xiaye had already looked away and continued to look downward. Han Yifeng then nodded and took the umbrella in secretary Wang's hand. "I'll go over by myself. Wait for me in the car."

Then, he walked over.

...

Han Yifeng stopped behind Xi Xiaye, his profound eyes looked quietly at her slender figure as he asked, "Why are you here?"

"Why wouldn't I be here? Maybe the Han Corporation is interested in this project too?" Xi Xiaye looked up coldly from the document, turning to look indifferently at him. Her twinkling eyes were filled with obvious hostility and distance.

Han Yifeng's handsome face fell silent for a moment. He did not answer, yet he moved a slight step forward and stood by her side. He looked up at the vast empty land before them.

When Xi Xiaye saw that he did not respond, she coldly retrieved her gaze and was about to walk away. At this moment, Han Yifeng suddenly lamented, "You know that's not what I meant."

He looked on with mixed emotions at the drizzle from the sky. Then, he thought about it before continuing, "It's quite cold here."

"I thought you'd question me about the orphanage scandal." Xi Xiaye's cold voice came through as she closed her document and looked at him plainly.

When he heard this, Han Yifeng's expression shifted. He gazed at her deeply. Ironically, Xi Xiaye saw a rare sign of apology in his eyes!

"I didn't know that Xinyi would go looking for you with the document. She only told me to give her that as an engagement gift, so... I wasn't intentionally going against you. I hope you won't misunderstand."

Han Yifeng spoke in a lowered tone, "Did she bring you that document to negotiate terms with you and to make you hand over Yueying's shares? I found out about it..."

When she heard this, XI Xiaye's beautiful face flashed with a faint smile before she answered calmly, "How could that be? To let so many children from the orphanage go homeless, someone as kind and beautiful as Xi Xinyi would definitely not do such an utterly heartless thing. Only someone as despicable and vicious as I would. In fact, she's been so good to me. I really don't know how I should thank her. Do you think she's the kind of person who would use an orphanage to coerce me into doing something?"

"Xiaye..." Han Yifeng's handsome brows furrowed. "Xinyi might not have done it on purpose, so can you please..."

"Forgive her, right?" Before Han Yifeng could finish, Xi Xiaye had already indifferently cut him off. She smiled radiantly and casually but it looked harsh to Han Yifeng whose heart sank for some reason.

"Of course, I'll forgive her. I know that she's always been so good to me. I'm just blind for not seeing it. Other than that, I'll also have to thank her mother for being so great at giving birth to her and raising her to be so pure and kind. Usually, in TV dramas, the third party would be trampled on by the first wife. Then, the stepmother would torture the first wife's daughter to death. The fact that I, Xi Xiaye can live healthily right now, and be provided with the basic necessities, I feel that I should indeed be deeply grateful to the mother and daughter pair. What do you think?"

Xi Xiaye's tone was indifferent and calm as if she had just said nothing out of the ordinary. Her expression cold as the wind...

"That's not what I meant? Xiaye..."

Her apathetic and distant expression greeted his sight. That calm and unwavering tone was not how she was before when you could vaguely feel her anger. Now, all that was left seemed to be an endless desolation and coldness.

"I've told you before that if you decide to take on a united front with them, I don't care for the sake of any old times. Whatever they've taken from my mother, I will make them pay back in double. Even if it's Yueying, if I don't get it, I'll ruin it! You and I have long decided to go our separate ways. If you insist on helping them to come for me, then go ahead."

"Can't the two of you resolve this in a different way? Does it have to be like this?" Han Yifeng's voice sounded a little helpless and disappointed.

"Do you think that apart from competing with each other to death, there's another way to resolve things in this situation? Can you make the mother and daughter willing to leave the Xi family and leave West Park just like how my mother did back then? Can you make Xi Xinyi give up on the right to inherit Yueying? Can you make Xi Xinyi break off her marriage with you and swear on her life that she will never ever marry into the Han family again?"

Her cold tone of disdain blurted out, sounding quite harsh.

"I..." Han Yifeng suddenly did not know how to answer her.

She had already turned away and looked up at him with the umbrella in her hand. Her beautiful face flashed with a smile that was mixed with a stillness.

"If you can't, then please just move aside to watch the good show. I, Xi Xiaye will use my own way to take them on right to the end. Of course, I won't mind if you join in too. I'll just have to spend a little more thought."

"Do you hate me, Xiaye? How did Mu Yuchen... I want to hear you tell the truth."

Han Yifeng suddenly turned to look at her. From the depths of his eyes was a sadness. Even he did not know why he would ask such a weird question.

"I used to hate you," she admitted calmly while her gaze was still as water, "After that, I felt like it was meaningless, so I got too lazy to hate you."

He faintly heard her sigh. Before he could react, she had already looked away and continued walking ahead. "I accept the fact that you've never liked me. I also know that the Han family has actually never been satisfied with me being your fiancé... Just as how they looked down on my mother back then. Actually, it's not just Xi Xinyi who has a strong background... I'm very lucky. He's not like you guys... All these years, I don't think anyone has been as kind to me as he has..."

She left him with that and then stopped bothering about Han Yifeng behind her, continuing to walk ahead along the handrail.

Han Yifeng felt his heart suffocate. Amidst this dazed feeling, he suddenly felt a mix of feelings welling up in his heart. It made him clutch his chest tightly as he felt upset.

He could tell from her tone that she seemed to be quite satisfied with Mu Yuchen. As he listened to her, he suddenly felt stifled and wretched.

He did not continue chasing after her, and just watched her figure gradually move further away.

...

When she was about done handling the matters, Xi Xiaye felt slightly starving. She had been in the cold wind for so long that she felt chilly all over. Taking a look at the time, she noticed that it was already past 1 p.m. in the afternoon. She needed to rush back to the office.

She hastily returned to her car and warmed herself up. When she felt that her hands and legs were not that numb from the cold anymore, she started the car.

However, she had only driven a short distance when from afar, she saw that a Rolls-Royce had blocked the road ahead — it was Han Yifeng's car!

She thought that he had already left a while ago.

Xi Xiaye frowned and waited for quite a while. When she saw that the car in front did not seem to be moving, she honked.

At the din, the car door in front suddenly opened and Han Yifeng walked out of the car. She did not see the assistant that had come with him earlier.

Xi Xiaye honked again, making Han Yifeng turn around and look to her.

From the looks of his expression and movement, Xi Xiaye could already guess that his car had probably broken down.

She looked at the time on her phone again. Hesitating for a moment, she frowned and alighted from the car.

Han Yifeng saw that she looked quite anxious, so he explained, "The car engine has died. I've already gotten people to come over. You..."

Xi Xiaye looked up at the gloomy weather. The drizzle had not stopped since earlier. In fact, it felt like it was getting heavier. Her brows furrowed into a tight knot as she looked at her car behind them, and then gloomily lowered her eyes. Without even glancing at him, she just walked right to the driver's seat of his car, immediately fiddling with something below.

A while after that, her cold voice came through. "Do you have a toolbox in your car?"

When she asked that, Han Yifeng was stunned for a while. He reacted after seconds. "Yes!"

Then, he walked towards the car boot and very quickly took out a toolbox, handing it to her.

Xi Xiaye put on a pair of gloves and skillfully opened the car bonnet, starting to examine and sort things out...

Watching her busy figure, Han Yifeng's heart beat fast for an instant. His eyes held shock and a mix of emotions.

This incredibly adept and confident action seems... But when did she learn all of these?

With a practiced hand, she unscrewed a screw using a wrench and then cut off a wire. She seemed to be extremely familiar with these problems. Increasingly heavy rain started to fall, intertwining her figure into the haziness. He found it surreal watching her. As keen as his sight could be, he could not see through the engulfing rain to get a clearer look of her.

He struggled for a while before he finally returned to his senses. With mixed feelings, he took out an umbrella from his car and walked towards her, shielding her from the falling rain.

When she sensed that the wet coldness falling on her face had faded away and the splattering rain was cut off, Xi Xiaye was stunned for a moment. She turned to look up at him, thought about it, and her twinkling eyes dimmed. Then, she lifted a hand to brush away the umbrella in his hand.

She swiftly fastened the screw back on and said calmly, "No need. It'll be done soon. Get into the car to try. I'm in a rush."

Han Yifeng quietly watched the umbrella that fell aside after being brushed away by her. His eyes darkened. He saw her turn away to keep the tools without even looking at him, and he immediately looked dejected. A while after that, he snapped out of it.

He did not say anything though and just turned around to get into his car.

The car did manage to start!

Xi Xiaye quickly returned to her car, and after his car moved slightly aside for her to overtake his car without a moment of hesitation. Soon, her car was quickly engulfed by the rain ahead.