Zhou Zimo watched as Mu Yuchen's car gradually faded away in the dark. He lowered his head and looked at the long shadow on the ground for a while. Then, he sighed and took a cigarette out to light up.

However, before he got to smoke, a hand snatched it away from him.

Zhou Zimo looked over and saw Su Chen puffing away on the stolen cigarette casually. With a grin, he lit another cigarette for himself.

Su Chen glanced over at Mu Yuchen's faraway car as he puffed some smoke out and sighed. "I never expected the high and mighty Mu Yuchen to become like this. He actually asked you to help him out, so he can't work it out normally and he's using a backhanded method! When do you think he became like this?

Zhou Zimo stared at him. "What now? Is it only you that I can help out? Well, I do think it's good that he's become like this. Otherwise, how are we supposed to keep being friends? The charm of a woman!"

Su Chen shrugged. "I'm starting to be envious of Ah Chen. At least he knows someone is waiting for him at home, unlike us, lonely and empty."

"Weren't you talking about how nice it is to be free and single, and that marriage is the graveyard of love?" Zhou Zimo teased him as he took his phone out.

"But there's also another saying that goes, 'without the graveyard of love, wouldn't we be dead without a place for us?'"

"That does make sense! You should probably get married soon and give birth to a son. Ah Chen said Xi Xiaye is going to give birth to a daughter. Then, your son can marry his daughter. Don't you think that's a good deal?"

Su Chen squinted his eyes as he touched his chin to ponder. "That's a great suggestion. I should try to get two sons, and I'll make them marry both Ah Chen's and your daughters. I'll get all the benefits then!"

"Who knows if you might have two daughters while Ah Chen and I both get sons? Your daughters will be marrying our sons then, ha!"

"We don't even have a partner, yet we're talking about our children."

Zhou Zimo laughed as he started to make a call which was soon picked up.

"Hello? Mr. Zhou?" A slightly hoarse voice came through the phone.

Zhou Zimo replied, "Mmm, it's me. Check if the ex-mayor's ex-wife owed Bro Hao any money."

"Noted, please wait for a moment." There was a short moment of silence after the reply. The voice came back again to him moments later. "Mr. Zhou?"

Zhou Zimo flicked his cigarette casually as he replied, "I'm here."

"I've found it, Mr. Zhou. Yue Lingsi has a debt of $8 million to Bro Hao. Along with the interest, it's over $10 million now. She's not paying back any money, and when they visited her to collect the money, she scolded them harshly. She would've been killed if it weren't for the Yues and the Hans!" The man's voice sounded cold.

"Over $10 million? That's enough to take her legs away. Connect me to Bro Hao." Zhou Zimo leaned against a road side lamp pole.

"Yes, Mr. Zhou. A moment please!"

...

The call connected quickly. Bro Hao chirped to Zhou Zimo, "Zimo? It's been a long time since you called me. I miss you! You're the same as Su Chen. Both of you are always quick when you need me to do something. Please learn from Ah Chen. The Mid-Autumn Festival has just passed and I didn't receive any mooncakes from you two. Well, I don't really mind the mooncakes. At least, come over and have a drink with me."

No wonder Mu Yuchen did not want to make the call himself! Zhou Zimo regretted helping him now!

"What are you talking about? I was just thinking about meeting up with you soon. I just wanted to check if you have the time."

"I'll definitely make time for you if you ask me. I'm sure there's no free lunch in this world. What can I do for you?" Bro Hao was a straightforward person, but he was a little bit too passionate. The three of them could not really handle him well, especially Mu Yuchen.

Bro Hao was pretty touchy when they visited him, and they knew very well that he was okay with all handsome guys and pretty girls!

"It's great that you understand. I'll be straightforward with you then. I heard that Yue Lingsi owes you about $10 million."

...

Half of the cigarette was gone after the phone call. Zhou Zimo kept his phone and threw the leftover cigarette away into a nearby trash can.

"How did Yue Lingsi accumulate such an amount of debt? Couldn't Xi Xinyi or Han Yifeng clear the debt for her? And how did she mess with Ah Chen?" Su Chen sighed.

"It's most likely related to Xiaye. Well, I don't really mind taking this a step further." Zhou Zimo then started making a call again.

"What are you doing?" Su Chen frowned.

"Calling the mass media, of course. Chen should be happy with this."

...

It was around 10 p.m. when he returned to Maple Residence. Wang Hui and Zhuang Shurong had returned to the Mu Residence while Sis Wang had gone back with them to grab something. The other servants were already resting in their room, so the house was pretty empty. The lights by the front yard were still switched on.

After Mu Yuchen parked his car and went inside, he raised his head and looked at the second floor. It was pitch dark while there was some light coming from the living room.

He walked past the yard in the dark and soon reached the staircase. Then, he entered the villa.

It was quiet in the living room. The faint light came from the lamp on the coffee table. With the night breeze brushing past the curtain, the whole space seemed peaceful. He switched the lights on and the whole living room brightened up. Immediately, he noticed the small figure on the sofa.

She was sound asleep on the sofa and did not even notice that someone was beside her.

He looked at her for a while before letting out a helpless sigh. As he was about to pick her up to go back to the room, she was slightly shocked when he touched her arm, and she trembled a little before opening her eyes.

"You're back..." She rubbed her eyes as she looked at the man before her. Sitting up abruptly, her messy hair fell over her shoulders and her eyes still seemed blurry. She grabbed Mu Yuchen's hand.

"Why don't you sleep in the room? It's cold at night. Why not wear an extra piece of garment?" His tone was concerned while his other hand ran his fingers through her hair.

"It's not that cold at home. I'm waiting for you." She dragged him down to sit beside her.

Her simple words were meaningful to him, and he felt a warmth deep inside his heart.

Mu Yuchen remembered that he got a call just now, so he asked, "Did my grandmother and mother go back?"

Xi Xiaye nodded. "They just left not too long ago. They planned to wait up, but they waited for quite some time, so they went back first. Well, you did come back pretty early today, just slightly past ten."

"I was worried about leaving you alone at home. Why did they come here? Didn't we just go back a few days ago?"

He could smell the pleasant scent of hers after her shower. He felt the thrum of a thrill as he saw her beautiful face and her collarbone right beneath her sleeping robe. Suddenly, he realized that her charm was getting stronger, and he had fallen deeper for her.

"Please don't do that..." She backed away slightly as she pushed him away. Her face blushed while she stared at him.

"What?" He smiled and wrapped her in his arms. He then lowered his head and landed a kiss on her pink lips. The passionate makeout went on for several minutes before he finally let her go.

"This little thing is pretty torturing. It'll never know how much its father sacrificed." He sighed as he touched Xi Xiaye's baby bump. His helplessness was manifested in both his tone of voice and his frown.

Xi Xiaye rolled her eyes at him. "Can you please have more healthy thoughts? You weren't like this before. You're becoming more and more of a pervert as you get older."

"Am I old now?" His eyebrows raised when he asked her that.

"Mother told me just now that you're going to be 33 next year. Do you still think that you're young?" She stood up and asked, "Do you want to have supper? I can make you some."

"I'm not hungry. Let's head upstairs and rest earlier. What else did my mother and grandmother tell you?"

"Nothing much. You should go take a shower first. I have something to talk to you about later."

...

Mu Yuchen swiftly finished his shower after he went into the bedroom. When he went to lie down on the bed, he noticed she was reading a poetry collection while caressing her belly.

"Mr. Mu?" she called out to him as he came closer.

"Hmm?" He lifted the blanket and looked at her.

Xi Xiaye gave it some thought. In the end, she still decided to tell him about it. "Mother talked to me about the Mu family and the Gu family. She mentioned Gu Lingsha as well... Actually, I think she really cares about you. Both her and Father knew that I sent people to investigate the Qi family. They were worried that we'd get into a fight because of some misunderstandings in the past, so she explained it all to me."

He went silent for a moment before he nodded. "That does sound like my parents' style. They are always like this, preferring to talk things through."

"Mmm, I think they are very liberal, whether at work or at home. Some people say rationale can create a gap between people, but I have a different view on that now. In the end, it depends on how people want to work through the relationship. Sometimes I'm quite envious of how polite the relationship between Father and Mother is," Xi Xiaye said.

Mu Yuchen laughed. "Polite? That's just what we see on the surface."

Xi Xiaye took a pause as she was suddenly reminded of something. Then, she grinned. "True. When I saw Father's gaze at Mother, it's just like..."

She did not finish her sentence, so he probed, "Like what?"

She smiled mischievously. "Just like how you look at me..."

Mu Yuchen was stunned. He stared at her for a while before turning away. Then, he grabbed her book and tossed it away before climbing onto the top of her.

Right before he switched the lamp off, she could clearly see the man was actually blushing!

...

It was getting late and the moonlight lit up the night sky of City Z, making the scenery look magical.

Yue Lingsi was furious and frustrated when she watched the police car slowly go away. She scolded them, "You dogs! Who do you think you are!? Do you people even know who I am? I'm going to make you all pay for this! Idiots! Trash!"

After the incident at the rehabilitation center, Li Si and the others had sent her to the police station and delivered the video to the authorities. She was locked up and only released just a while ago, thanks to her brother!

"Xi Xiaye, you little witch, I'll never let this go so easily! Never! Shen Wenna, don't you dare think that you've won! I can do anything if you force me into a corner. Shen Wenna, Xi Mushan, you guys are going to regret this!" Yue Lingsi clenched her fists angrily.

How did she end up like this after she had sacrificed so much for Xi Mushan, even her reputation and her marriage? How could Shen Wenna grab his heart even when she had given nothing up at all?

She could not accept this at all!

Without anywhere to express her anger, Yue Lingsi just berated Shen Wenna for a long while. Her hatred towards Shen Wenna and Xi Xiaye grew.

The amount of resentment she harbored was extremely deep. Many people were involved in their conflict as well. Furthermore, the rift between them grew larger by day in the past two decades, so who could be the judge in their case?

Yue Lingsi always felt that she was the victim. She had been protecting their relationship for almost 40 years, and she thought Xi Mushan's cold heart should have been melted by now.

She staggered as she held onto a lamp pole. The faint light from above created a tiny shadow of hers. At that moment, Yue Lingsi felt that she was so helpless and small.

A sense of sadness flooded her heart.

"Xi Mushan, Shen Wenna! You two betrayed me. I'll never let you guys be together like this! Go to hell!"

She suddenly went mad and started kicking a trash can nearby. The way she behaved was like a maniac who had lost her reasoning.

"Xi Xiaye, you little witch, I'll make sure you have a lot of reasons to cry in the future! Just wait and see! Ah—!"

Her shriek broke the silence of the night, making the empty streets frighteningly creepy. If it were not for the random cars passing by and the moon in the sky, Yue Lingsi would probably be freaked out as well.

She calmed down moments later. She looked around and flag herself a taxi, but it was 11 p.m., and she was in the outskirts right now. How could she find a taxi like this?

She did not see any taxis around and started cursing Xi Xiaye again before continue walking forward. After she took a few steps, suddenly—

Screech!

A strong wind approached her from behind before she heard the loud squeal of car brakes. It was so loud that it almost busted her eardrums. In terror, she quickly moved aside. Even before she could see the person's face, she already started yelling, "Damn it! Do you know how to drive?! Can't you see there's someone here?"

Moments later, she looked at the car before her and saw the person inside. Her expression changed instantly and she wanted to run away. However, the person in the car was much quicker. The sound of the door opening was followed by the patter of footsteps right after!

Yue Lingsi saw two dark figures whiz past from the side. Suddenly, they were right in front of her, blocking her path!

"Where are you going, Madam Yue?"

She could barely see their faces under the dim light from the street lamps around. They were two thugs wearing flowery shirts and ferocious expressions as they crossed their arms and flashed cold smiles.

The one talking was a man wearing a suit standing behind her. He wore a pair of sunglasses and had a deep wound across his face that invoked fear.

Yue Lingsi shivered uncontrollably as panic filled her eyes. Moments later, she managed to suppress her emotions and force a smile on her face as she turned towards the man. "You guys... Why are you guys here? What a coincidence!"

"Really? I've been looking for you for days. I waited here just for you after finding out that you'd be here. Really a coincidence, huh?" The man snorted.

"This... I..." Yue Lingsi stuttered, unable to even form a proper sentence!

She was very familiar with these people!

They were debt collectors!

She had several million of debts. Adding the interest, it should be over $10 million now!

Where could she get this amount of money?

Had it been before, $10 million was not an issue at all, but ever since the Xi family had fallen and Yueying got into trouble, a part of Yue Lingsi's assets was used to fill the financial void. After that, she got addicted to gambling. Not only did she lose all her money in the short span of a few months, but now she also needed to pay $10 million back!

She did not even have a million dollars right now!

She promised to return the money in ten days, thinking that she could get it from either Xi Xinyi or Han Yifeng, but she could not even meet Han Yifeng. Every time she arrived at the Han Corporation and wanted to see him, they reply she got was always "CEO isn't here" or "CEO has gone abroad".

It was even worse when she went to look for Xi Xinyi. Instantly, she was reminded about the scene at the hospital the other day!

Xi Xinyi had changed to become cruel and cold. She had been her support back when she was still the Deputy CEO of Yueying, but now that she became useless, Xi Xinyi was going to abandon her!

She was her mother after all. How could she be so cruel? Yue Lingsi had worked so hard for her sake, yet...

Bile rose in her throat.

Xi Xinyi was present as well when the debt collectors went to their house, but she did not really care after she chased them away. Yue Lingsi was going to ask Xi Xinyi to help out on this, but she gave up after seeing Xi Xinyi's cold attitude towards her.

She could not do anything else but hide. Although she was afraid the debt collectors might find her, she could not avoid them forever and was still caught in the end.

"Madam Yue, it's been three days since the promised date. Where's the money? Our boss is very generous with you. You can't take advantage of him like this!" the man spoke coldly as he walked towards her.

Her expression changed as she backed off slowly while her face was filled with fear as she looked at the man with unease in her eyes. Her voice started to tremble. "No... I... I'm getting money right now. Can you ask your boss to give me a few more days?"