Yan Jue rushed back to Xianfu Group, his eyes scanning around.
"Has Minmin returned?"
Lu Xing shook his head.
"Haven't seen her. President Yan, our Yuan City branch has been bombed, please take a look."
"What?"
Yan Jue was stunned.
"Which suicidal fool dared to bomb my branch?"
The computer screen showed the Xianfu Group branch building on the outskirts of Yuan City, bombarded by unknown projectiles and instantly collapsing.
The locations for Xianfu Group's branches were always in the suburbs, far from populated areas.
Yuan City was just a small city, and the Yuan City branch only housed the cremation department, operating from nine to five and closing punctually.
This bombing caused no casualties, only the destruction of the branch and the burial of the bodies in the cold storage.
"President Yan, they are clearing the scene. However, we haven't been able to determine who did it yet."
Yan Jue lit a cigarette and took a puff.
"Besides Ye Fengxing, who else could it be."
Yan Jue asked himself, besides the Ye family, he hadn't offended anyone else.
"President Yan, what should we do next?"
What to do?
Yan Jue's trip was solely for Tang Xiaomin.
But now it seemed that Ye Fengxing, a mere mortal, insisted on opposing him. Where did he get the audacity?
"Analyze his potential next moves."
"Yes."
Yan Jue arrived outside Tang Xiaomin's villa.
By then, the sky had darkened.
He still couldn't reach Tang Xiaomin by phone.
Picking up two small stones, he threw them at her window.
He figured she'd be upstairs; she loved living with her adoptive parents the most.
He threw them three times, but not only did no one appear, the curtains were drawn.
...
Yan Jue felt extremely wronged and aggrieved.
What is "calamity from the sky"? This is it.
He waited silently for two hours, with no response.
He knew she had to know he was here.
A light drizzle began to fall.
Zhong Li offered Yan Jue an umbrella, but Yan Jue pushed it away.
"President Yan, it's raining, let's use an umbrella and wait slowly."
"Holding an umbrella lacks sincerity; I'll endure the rain."
...
Zhong Li stopped trying to persuade him.
Having witnessed the destructive power of love, Zhong Li vowed that he would rather remain single for life than foolishly fall in love.
Zhong Li walked away holding his umbrella. He would risk his life if there was danger, but he wouldn't stand in the rain like an idiot.
The rain grew heavier.
Yan Jue tried to light a cigarette several times, only for it to be extinguished by the rain.
His clothes were already soaked, and it was winter, with the outside temperature only a few degrees Celsius.
He stood there for a very, very long time.
The light in the second-floor room turned on, and soon after, the light in the first-floor room also turned on.
Tang Xiaomin, wearing a fluffy pajama set, came out holding an umbrella.
Their eyes met, and a silence hung between them for a while.
Tang Xiaomin said exasperatedly, "Not sleeping in the middle of the night, what are you trying to do?"
At this moment, Yan Jue was a drowned rat.
But inwardly, he was overjoyed.
"Minmin, I was wrong. It doesn't matter how cold it is standing here; I only beg you not to ignore me."
Only Yan Jue knew what he felt standing there.
Without her, his life was worse than death.
In the long passage of time, she was the only meaning to his existence.
"Minmin, I'm not familiar with Ye Die. Starting tomorrow, I'll have ten bodyguards follow me, and no person of the opposite sex is allowed within five meters of me."
He wanted to reach out and touch her.
But he hesitated, raising his hand halfway before retracting it, afraid of getting her clothes wet.
He had lost all the dignity of a major group president, acting like a complete sycophant.
Tang Xiaomin didn't understand what was happening to her lately.
Yan Jue was handsome and rich; it was normal for women to like him.
He wasn't wrong.
If she had been by his side, how could Ye Die have had the opportunity to approach him?
She herself had also been at fault.
It was really unnecessary for things to escalate like this.
Tang Xiaomin chuckled.
"Oh, forget it, forget it. Go back, take a bath, and get some rest. Don't make a fuss."
"I'm not leaving!"
Yan Jue suddenly became stubborn and placed his hands on Tang Xiaomin's shoulders.
"Minmin, don't send me away. Without you, I can't go on, Minmin."
As he spoke, he hugged Tang Xiaomin's body without restraint.
"If you ignore me, what's the point of my existence? I'm already tired of it. It's you who has kept me going until now."
"Minmin, I beg you."
Saying that, he was about to kneel before Tang Xiaomin.
Tang Xiaomin couldn't possibly accept such a grand gesture from him.
"Don't be like this; I'll talk to you, won't I?"
Yan Jue's cold hands cupped Tang Xiaomin's face, his eyes full of her.
"Are you serious?"
"Are you sincere? You're not lying to me?"
"Tell me, I want you to tell me yourself!"
Yan Jue's rare display of excitement and panic.
She couldn't remember how long it had been since she last saw him like this.
How come she felt like she was a sinner?
"I'm sincere. It's raining, shall we..."
"Hey... you..."
The next second, her body lightened, and she was lifted by Yan Jue, spinning joyfully in the rain.
"Put me down quickly, you idiot."
She was drenched by the rain, completely speechless.
After a while, Yan Jue finally put Tang Xiaomin down, beaming like a child.
"I knew you wouldn't ignore me."
"Don't do this again next time."
...
After much commotion until late at night, Yan Jue carried Tang Xiaomin on his back back to Xianfu Group.
They each took a hot shower and then squeezed onto his bed to sleep.
That night, he poured out his heart to her, telling her many heartfelt words in his piteous state.
The next day, the weather cleared.
Lu Xing, with a grave expression, knocked on the door.
"President Yan, I have something to tell you."
"I know."
Yan Jue stroked Tang Xiaomin's hair.
"I'll go take a look. You sleep a little longer."
Tang Xiaomin rubbed her arm. What kind of person was he, sleeping while holding her arm, causing blood to become blocked.
He had almost cried several times as he spoke last night, and she couldn't bear it, so she let him hold her arm all night.
In the office, Lu Xing was almost frantic.
"President Yan, another branch was bombed early this morning."
"Then why didn't you say so sooner?"
Lu Xing was speechless.
Some people were too busy with their romantic lives to spare any attention for company matters.
"President Yan, this cannot continue."
"Next, it might be the Jincheng branch that gets bombed."
The situation was grim.
Yet, they hadn't even identified their opponent.
"What happened?" Tang Xiaomin asked.
"Nothing, just a small matter."
Yan Jue asked Lu Xing to withdraw and concealed the matter.
"Minmin, I have to go on a business trip. It might be for a week."
Tang Xiaomin nodded.
"Oh, you go then. I have exams coming up soon and need to study hard lately."
"When you get back, I'll also be on holiday. Then, we can take my parents on a vacation together, how about that?"