Xia Wanwan, who didn’t expect Han Jingnian to be home at all, stared at him in shock for a while, she nodded and said “Oh.”

Ignoring the incessant vibrating of his phone in his pocket, Han Jingnian intentionally slowed down his pace, straightened the suitcase, and pulled the handle. He saw that Xia Wan’an still hadn’t said anything more, so he said to her again, “I’m leaving, then.” 

Xia Wan’an responded with another “Oh” and stepped aside to let him out of the dressing room. 

Han Jingnian remained still for a while in his spot. Seeing that Xia Wan’an still hadn’t said anything else, he spoke again, “I’ll be back next week.” 

Xia Wan’an subconsciously turned her head to look outside and realized it was indeed nighttime. Her heart finally calmed down. 

She had been scared for a moment, thinking that day had turned into night! 

Feeling more composed now, Xia Wan’an responded with another “Oh” to Han Jingnian. 

Han Jingnian didn’t say anything further, continued to walk toward the bedroom door, and took a couple of steps. However, he stopped again and said, “Goodbye.” 

Had Han Jingnian taken the wrong medicine today? He had been initiating conversations with her… 

Xia Wan’an stared at Han Jingnian suspiciously for a while, then responded with yet another “Oh.” 

Han Jingnian lowered his gaze, concealing the disappointment in his eyes, and continued walking toward the door with his suitcase. 

But just as he had taken a few steps, Xia Wan’an couldn’t help but say, “Um…” 

Han Jingnian abruptly stopped in his tracks, his eyes concealing a glimmer of hope as he turned to look at Xia Wan’an. “Hmm?” 

Xia Wan’an stared at Han Jingnian for a while and finally asked, “Are you… okay?” 

Fortunately, she reacted quickly; otherwise, she might have asked if he had a fever. 

The light in Han Jingnian’s eyes instantly dimmed. “I’m fine.” 

“Oh,” Xia Wan’an paused for a moment and then waved her hand at Han Jingnian. “Well, then, you should leave.” 

Han Jingnian pursed his lips, didn’t say anything more, and continued to drag his suitcase as he left. 

As he descended the stairs, his phone kept vibrating in his pocket. He knew it was a call from Assistant Zhang urging him to come down quickly, so he chose not to answer. 

When he arrived in the underground parking lot, Assistant Zhang has been anxiously waiting for him and wiped his sweat with relief when he saw him. “Mr. Han, if you hadn’t come down now, you would have missed your flight…” 

Before Assistant Zhang could finish his sentence, he looked at the suitcase Han Jingnian was dragging and exclaimed in surprise, “Mr. Han, didn’t you ask me to prepare your luggage and put it in the trunk in advance? Why do you have another suitcase now?” 

It’s unclear which part of this statement struck a nerve with Han Jingnian, but his originally cold and aloof expression became even colder. 

He didn’t even glance at Assistant Zhang and simply tossed the suitcase in his direction before opening the car door and sitting inside, slamming the door loudly in the process. 

What had happened? He had seemed perfectly fine before going upstairs. How had he suddenly become like this when he came downstairs? 

Assistant Zhang desperately wanted to know the answer but didn’t dare to touch a sore spot. To avoid getting into trouble, he minimized his presence as much as possible, kept a low profile, and drove to the airport without asking further questions. 

… 

After taking a shower and completing her skincare routine, Xia Wan’an lay down on the bed. The more she thought about tonight, the stranger Han Jingnian seemed to her. 

She pinched herself a few times in secret to confirm that she wasn’t dreaming. Unable to help herself, she picked up her phone and sent a WeChat message to Assistant Zhang. 

“Assistant Zhang, did you notice that Han Jingnian was acting strangely today?” 

“I think he might have a fever. Should we get him a thermometer?” 

… 

While waiting in the airport VIP lounge, Han Jingnian heard two “ding-dong” sounds and instinctively glanced at his phone. Seeing that there were no message notifications, he continued to lower his head and focus on his laptop. 

Sitting next to him, Assistant Zhang, thinking it was his phone, took it out and checked, only to find that there were no new message notifications. He then spoke, “Mr. Han, I think those two notification sounds just now seemed to have come from your phone.” 

Han Jingnian ignored Assistant Zhang, continued to scroll through the laptop’s touchpad, and reviewed some documents. Suddenly, as if he had remembered something, he took out another phone from the folder he was carrying. 

After glancing at it, he confirmed that it was a WeChat message from Xia Wan’an. 

He immediately closed his laptop and opened the message. 

As he opened WeChat, he noticed Assistant Zhang leaning over to sneak a peek at his phone screen. Han Jingnian moved away and only checked the message after putting some distance between them. 

 The Most Beautiful Wan’an: “Assistant Zhang, did you notice that Han Jingnian was acting strangely today?” 

 The Most Beautiful Wan’an: “I think he might have a fever. Should we get him a thermometer?” 

Han Jingnian: “…” 

After a while, Han Jingnian raised his hand and, forcing himself to assume Assistant Zhang’s identity, replied, “Madam, hello.” 

“Why are you calling me ‘Madam’?”  The Most Beautiful Wan’an asked. 

 The Most Beautiful Wan’an: “Are you unaware? When Han Jingnian came home today, he said several sentences to me, such as him going on a business trip and coming back next week. You should pay attention to him; I’m afraid he’s burning up.” 

Han Jingnian was once again speechless. 

Did she really think so poorly of him? Poor enough to the extent that when he informed her of his whereabouts, she thought he was telling a joke and that he might be delirious from a fever? 

Han Jingnian tried to salvage his image: “Madam, Han Jingnian is not running a fever. He is perfectly fine. He probably told you those things just to inform you of his plans.” 

 The Most Beautiful Wan’an responded with a rabbit emoji laughing heartily. 

After a while, a line of text caught Han Jingnian’s eye. 

 The Most Beautiful Wan’an: “Assistant Zhang, honestly, this is the funniest joke I’ve heard all year.” 

Subsequently, a laughing emoji with teeth falling out entered Han Jingnian’s field of view. 

This emoji was dynamic; the teeth fell out, were put back, and then fell out again… quite comical. However, while looking at this amusing and laugh-inducing emoji, Han Jingnian found no amusement. In fact, he felt a touch of irony. 

Was the distance between them really this great? To the extent that when he reported his whereabouts to her, she considered it the funniest joke of the year. 

A sour feeling surged in Han Jingnian’s chest. He stared at the screen for a while before finally replying to Xia Wan’an’s message. 

“Madam, this is not a joke. Han Jingnian is indeed reporting his whereabouts to you.” 

Xia Wan’an didn’t reply for a long time. 

Han Jingnian thought it might be due to poor signal at the airport, so he moved around a bit with his phone. After a while, he sent another message. 

“Madam?” 

After waiting for a long time, just as he was about to send a third message to Xia Wan’an, her message finally arrived. 

 The Most Beautiful Wan’an: “We have a thief at home!” 

A thief? 

Han Jingnian barely hesitated and walked quickly toward the exit of the VIP lounge. While walking, he sent a message back to Xia Wan’an. 

“What’s going on? What did you lose? Is the thief still at home? I will call 110 immediately…” 

Just as Han Jingnian was about to report the incident to the police, his phone received another message. 

 The Most Beautiful Wan’an: “We lost several bottles of Yakult.”