Atlas Studios

  Atlas Studios

  The dim yellow light in the car shone on the man’s face, outlining the sharp contours of his face. His jaw was clenched tight and was tapping his knee with his slender finger.

  Xia Yanran looked at his dark eyes and felt choked up. “Xiao Yi, Second Master Qin almost killed you, why do you want to work with him? Do you want revenge or……”


  He interrupted her coldly before she could finish, the eyes looking at her turned sharp. “That’s right, from the moment I left a pair of leather shoes for Xiao Xi to find, I knew Second Master Qin would think of ways to find me.”


  Xia Yanran knew he had not finished and did not interrupt him. She only stared at him with her breath tight.

  “I was brought up by Second Master Qin, so I can’t lay my hands on him first. But he was heartless first, so he can’t blame me for being unloyal! Yanran, I’m returning to Hong Kong. When I become the leader of the mafia, I will be the one to kill Second Master Qin.”


  Xia Yanran’s hands that were by her sides clenched together and her eyelashes fluttered.

  He was going back to Hong Kong to get involved in that bloody, underworld.

  In the future, she and him, one would be bright and the other dark.

  They would really become two parallel lines that would never cross.

  “Xiao Yi, can’t you return to a normal life?” she asked with a hoarse voice, as if her throat was being grabbed tightly by an invisible black hand.

  Xiao Yi took out a cigarette and lighter from his pants pocket. He put the cigarette in his mouth and played with the lighter with his fingers, but he did not light the cigarette.

  He only spoke after a while, “It’s impossible in this lifetime.” He wanted to turn over a new leaf and become a proper businessman. But he had a black history, enemies and his hands were stained with blood. Some people did not like to see that he was doing well, so if he did not rise up to the challenge, he would become bait.

  “I have two paths to take returning to the mafia. Either I become the leader, or I die. After I become the leader, my life would be much more worthless and there will be countless people wanting my head. In order to protect myself, I have to sit on that seat. I can never live a normal life any more.”


  Tears filled Xia Yanran’s eyes and fell uncontrollably.

  She understood everything he said.

  But she was very helpless.

  She was unable to change his current situation, nor was she able to support his choice.

  Xiao Yi saw Xia Yanran’s tears and he raised his large palm, his calloused fingers wiping the tears seeping out from the corner of her eyes.

  Seeing that her gaze had darkened, he said, “Yanran, I’ve never regretted imprisoning and forcing you. You’ve given me a lot of warmth and happiness.”


  He leaned down and kissed the teardrop sliding down her face that almost fell into her lips.

  His large, calloused hands held onto her small face. “If it was a year ago, I would have taken you with me to Hong Kong. If I became the boss, you’d be the boss’s woman and you wouldn’t be able to live as well.

  “But after this, I can’t be so selfish anymore. The best gift for you is to set you free.”


  Xia Yanran’s wet eyelashes fluttered and her heart was was pulled together tightly, it was so uncomfortable she was almost suffocating.

  She almost shouted that she wanted to leave with him.

  But, he was not what he was a year ago. A year ago, he was a businessman and doing proper business.

  But now, the thing he was going to do was the most unacceptable thing for her.

  Everyone had his own outlook on life, values and morals, and could not be forced to change because of love.

  It was because he knew that she was a righteous, kind and positive girl, so he was unwilling to take her into that dark and dirty grey world.

  They should just say goodbye.

  It was not because he did not love her, but because they were faced with a real problem.

  Like an endless chasm that could not be crossed.

  Xia Yanran looked at him with teary eyes, her lips trembling. She raised her hands and held his head, her voice choking. “Xiao Yi, have you ever loved me?”


  Xiao Yi looked at her with a deep gaze and did not reply.

  He did not know what it was like to love someone, but if he did not love her, would he have given her up? Would he have given her freedom?

  “I’m just like what you had said before, a hooligan and a jerk. A person like that is not worthy of love.”


  Xia Yanran’s heart clenched.

  This separation forced by reality made her feel even more upset and helpless than seeing him cheat and holding another woman.

  Perhaps there might still be some hope when some couples broke up.

  But for her and him, they would be strangers after they broke up.

  Once he entered that dark world, he would never be able to turn back.

  And she could not accept it anymore.

  Xia Yanran released the hold on his head and used the back of her hand to wipe away her tears. She nodded to him. “You’re really a jerk, but I don’t want to lie to you. Xiao Yi, I loved you, jerk.”


  Hearing her words, Xiao Yi’s body, and soul trembled.

  She said that she had loved him.

  He thought she would only ever hate him.

  He was once envious of Yi Fan, who was able to receive her love so readily, so easily.

  But now, he had her love but had lost the fate to enjoy it.

  Xia Yanran closed her eyes, pulling away the man’s hands that were cupping her face, the gaze looking at him gradually turned from hot to calm. “Xiao Yi, from now on, let’s forget about each other. You don’t have to feel guilty about me because without you, I would be able to find a better man, right?”


  Xiao Yi stared at her for a while and finally nodded in silence.

  Xia Yanran closed her eyes and pushed open the door to get off without saying anything more.

  She did not look back and ran away quickly.

  Xiao Yi did not get out of the car to look at her again.

  So what if she could not bear to part and was upset? Nobody could change reality. She could only bury all her emotions deep in her heart and let them ferment, decay and turn into dust!……

  Everything she had experienced in the village felt like it was a dream.

  Xia Yanran shut herself at home for three days and nights and got drunk every night.

  Junyuan and Nan Zhi took turns to comfort her and took care of her, but she did not want to see them.

  But she only let herself be depressed for three days.

  Three days later, she came out of her room.

  She was not sloppy. She had taken a bath and changed into business attire.

  She wanted to get her life back on track.

  So she became a reporter again.

  From then on, there was no longer the words ‘Xiao Yi’ in her world……

  Nan Zhi and Yan Hua were very worried about Xia Yanran, but she was much stronger than they thought.

  She was still that girl with a sense of justice deep within her and was not afraid of power and evil, and insisted to continue her mission as a reporter.

  Nan Zhi was going to bring Xiaojie back to the Capital after Xia Yanran had gotten back on her feet.

  At the airport.

  Xia Yanran came to send both mother and son off. After hugging each of them, Xia Yanran smiled and said, “Don’t worry, it’s just a man! I’ll soon forget about him and fall in love again. Zhizhi, you on the other hand, when can you have a good ending with Young Master Mu?”