“Owner of the penultimate level, Gu Qingcheng,” Gu Qingcheng said.

  After ascertaining Gu Qingcheng’s identity, the security guard quickly opened the door for Gu Qingcheng, letting him in.

  After he entered the elevator and scanned his thumbprint, the elevator automatically headed for the penultimate level.

  Gu Qingcheng kept both hands in his pockets and stared at his own reflection in the elevator’s mirror. He couldn’t help but recall the scene where Yun Liuli took that boy’s hand and ran over to Lin Nuan.

  It could be that he felt that the elevator’s ceiling lights were too piercing, but Gu Qingcheng’s deep eyes squinted slightly, revealing a hint of dangerous chill.

  “Ding—”


  The elevator door opened, and a bright living room came into sight.

  The Cloud Top Condominium’s lights were all smart sensory lights. When the elevator went up, the lights in the room would be automatically lit up. Therefore, Gu Qingcheng didn’t think too much into it.

  The sofa and floor in the living room were spotless. Even if Yun Liuli didn’t stay there, there would always be a housekeeper to come over and clean the place up. This was so that if Yun Liuli were thinking of coming back to stay, she wouldn’t find that the house was dirty.

  Gu Qingcheng didn’t change out of his shoes and walked up the stairs, heading straight for the kitchen. He opened up the fridge, took out a bottle of water, and drank two sips of cold water. He sat down sluggishly on the sofa, feeling strangely gloomy when he thought of how brightly Yun Liuli was smiling when she held the boy’s hand.

  He unbuttoned his shirt, casually putting the bottle of water on the coffee table. He then called to get someone to send his clothes over. He was planning to stay there for the night.

  After the call connected, Gu Qingcheng’s assistant told him that when the place was renovated, he had thought that Gu Qingcheng would be staying together with Yun Liuli… Therefore, the master bedroom was decorated based on his preferences. The dressing room was also filled with Gu Qingcheng’s clothes in case he needed them when he came back to the country.

  It was just that Gu Qingcheng had never stayed at the Cloud Top Condominium before, so his assistant didn’t mention it.

  Gu Qingcheng hung up the call, then got up and headed to the dressing room. He took a change of clothes and then went to take a shower.

  Yun Liuli had laid down on the big bed, covered herself in the green blanket, and cried silently for the entire afternoon. She then fell asleep, feeling tired.

  Yun Liuli hadn’t had lunch and had slept all the way until now, so she was almost woken up from hunger. When she opened her eyes, her phone that was next to her hand started to vibrate. She rubbed her swollen eyes, looked at the call notification, and saw that it was Zhong Qingfei…


  Yun Liuli sat up, picked up the call, and rubbed her sore temple. “Hello…”


  She spoke in her nasal voice, which contained strong hoarseness.

  “You’ve just woken up?” There was a hint of a smile in Zhong Qingfei’s voice.

  “En…”


  Hearing Yun Liuli’s reply, Zhong Qingfei asked, “Have you got your things? Why don’t I come and pick you up? It’ll be dark soon, and it’s not safe for you as a girl to head back to school yourself.”


  Yun Liuli leaned against the headboard and looked outside. The sky was gradually turning dark.

  On the other end of the call were the voices of Zhong Qingfei’s companions, who were teasing him, asking him if he was calling Yun Liuli…


  Zhong Qingfei smiled and ignored them. He asked Yun Liuli, “Are there a lot of things?”


  “There isn’t much. I can just take a taxi back. It was already hard on you, with me troubling you to attend the one-month-old celebration today! I can’t continue to trouble you!” Yun Liuli was very polite with her words, and she also felt a little guilty.

  Yun Liuli knew that Gu Qingcheng would be around today. She had only taken Zhong Qingfei there because she recalled how Gu Qingcheng said that he hoped that she could go out with someone close to her age.

  Yun Liuli had made use of Zhong Qingfei and was feeling guilty about it.

  “It’s alright, we’re friends. You’ll be standing on ceremony by saying that it’s trouble…”


  Zhong Qingfei’s cheerful voice rang out from the phone, and when Yun Liuli heard him mention the word “friend,” she felt even more guilty toward him.

  She tucked her stray hair behind her ears, stared at the corner of the wall, and said, “Zhong Qingfei, I’m sorry. The reason I got you to accompany me to Sister Xiao Nuan’s place to attend the baby’s one-month-old celebration was actually so that my uncle could feel assured. My uncle… he wishes for me to go out with a boy close to my age. He feels like that’s the kind of life a normal girl should lead. I wanted to show him that I could do that as well, so I…”


  Zhong Qingfei thought of the solemn-looking man at the Fu residence today. The man’s composed disposition was especially pressuring.

  Didn’t most families forbid their children from getting into a relationship during their university days? Why did Yun Liuli’s uncle do the opposite, wanting her to get into a relationship?

  Having seen Yun Liuli’s uncle, Zhong Qingfei felt that he wasn’t the kind of person who was so open-minded.

  Zhong Qingfei had only heard from Yun Liuli’s hostel roommates that she had grown up by her uncle’s side. He hadn’t heard Yun Liuli mention this before…


  The man from today was Yun Liuli’s uncle? Thinking of this, Zhong Qingfei couldn’t help but feel uneasy.

  Zhong Qingfei thought of how Yun Liuli had taken his hand and ran over when she saw that man today. He guessed that the man must have been her uncle!

  Zhong Qingfei lowered his gaze and looked at the hand Yun Liuli had taken. He felt that the place where Yun Liuli touched him still seemed to have a hint of lingering fragrance and warmth. He suddenly felt very uneasy.

  He wondered if there was anything about him that Yun Liuli’s uncle wasn’t satisfied with when he saw him today…


  Zhong Qingfei wondered whether Yun Liuli’s uncle had said something to her. Was it because there was something he hadn’t done well today that her uncle didn’t agree for them to be together?

  At the thought of this, Zhong Qingfei’s scalp tensed up. “Liuli, was there something I didn’t do well today? Uncle… has a bad opinion of me?”


  Yun Liuli didn’t wish to mention much about Gu Qingcheng. Every time she did, her heart would ache.

  “I won’t be returning to the hostel today. I don’t have any classes tomorrow morning. I’ll be hanging up first…”


  Yun Liuli couldn’t detect if Zhong Qingfei, who was on the other end of the call, was feeling uneasy and had something to say. She couldn’t hold it in anymore and hung up the call, holding onto her phone and curling up in bed. She thought of how she had seen Gu Qingcheng’s upright figure from afar today, and her eyes turned red.

  She and Gu Qingcheng hadn’t met each other for some time. The person that had been constantly on her mind was right before her today, but Yun Liuli didn’t have the courage to walk up to Gu Qingcheng and talk to him.

  She admitted that she had intentionally taken Zhong Qingfei’s hand, wanting to let Gu Qingcheng feel at ease. It was also because she wanted to do a test…


  If Gu Qingcheng really treated her as a friend’s child, then he should feel satisfied now to see that she was really going out with someone close to her age.

  If he harbored other feelings toward her, then he should call her to ask if she was going out with Zhong Qingfei.

  However, Yun Liuli hadn’t received any calls from Gu Qingcheng. Did that mean that she was now no one of any significance to Gu Qingcheng?

  She had done the test, but the only one feeling disappointed was her.

  After hearing crackling thunder, Yun Liuli returned to her senses and looked out the window…


  Big rain droplets smashed down on the window. Such a heavy rain made Yun Liuli think of the days before she had met Gu Qingcheng for some reason.

  Yun Liuli was more of an introvert by nature and didn’t know much about how to get along well with others. Therefore, she devoted all her attention to her studies.