Yu Yihan left the bedroom, leaving only Xiao Yufan behind, his face filled with helplessness. Encountering a woman like her, he didn’t know whether he should consider himself lucky or unfortunate…
In Xiao Yufan’s eyes, he and Yu Yihan were two parallel lines destined never to intersect, yet fate had entangled them together by some twist of chance—like a beautiful story, though no one could predict its ending.
He could sense that Yu Yihan’s heart was lonely, though she skillfully masked it. If not for their conversation today, Xiao Yufan might never have discovered this quiet, emotional side of her.
“They say that if someone reveals the deepest secrets of their heart to you, then they must truly trust you…” Xiao Yufan recalled this saying, offering a faint, self-mocking smile. To him, trust was the most unreliable thing in the world. After the failure of his past relationship with Cheng Ying, the very idea of trust had long been buried deep within him…
Trying to clear all emotion from his mind, Xiao Yufan drifted into a deep sleep. Compared to the aimless haze of his previous days, every current moment seemed exhausting.
…
Winter mornings in the north seemed to offer only coldness, especially when light snowflakes drifted through the air, making everything feel even more desolate and crisp.
When Xiao Yufan opened his eyes, he found a thick layer of snow already covering the window outside his bedroom. Snow was rare in Beijing—at least during the past three years, he had seen it only a handful of times. Thus, watching the falling flakes, he felt a sense of surprise.
“Didn’t expect it to get this cold so soon…” Xiao Yufan sighed deeply. Three years ago, he had arrived in Beijing around this time. He never imagined that three years would pass in the blink of an eye, while he himself remained unchanged…
In the past, on days as cold as this, Xiao Yufan would happily stay in his little nest and sleep the day away. But today, he couldn’t afford to be lazy. He had made plans to meet Hu Yingluo around nine o’clock. Whether or not she could help him with the contract between their companies, he had to give it a try. Alone, he knew he could never accomplish such a difficult task.
Early in the morning, Xiao Yufan arrived at the designated plaza, watching the hurried passersby. He felt increasingly out of place in this city.
“Hope I’m not late…” A pleasant voice came from behind him. Xiao Yufan turned around and saw Hu Yingluo smiling at him. Many pedestrians couldn’t help but glance at her. As the saying goes, beauty is a feast for the eyes.
“Even if you were a bit late, I wouldn’t mind waiting a little longer. After all, not everyone gets to wait for a beautiful lady…” Xiao Yufan chuckled, stepping closer to Hu Yingluo.
Hu Yingluo happily accepted such direct compliments. Indeed, flattery was no rarity in her daily life, but for some reason, Xiao Yufan’s words always stirred something inside her.
“I heard from Ma Teng that you’re having some trouble. Tell me, how can I help?”
“I just want to learn more about your company… and through you, meet some of the senior management there,” Xiao Yufan said, pulling out the contract from his bag and handing it to her.
“You’re not trying to steal company secrets, are you? That I definitely can’t help with…” she teased, yet accepted the contract and skimmed through it briefly. She looked at Xiao Yufan with a puzzled expression. “How are you connected to this company? Why do you have this contract?”
“I applied to this company, and they’ve given me a task to complete. This contract is their test for me!”
“Just a test? Then they’re going pretty big, handing such an important contract to a newcomer!” Hu Yingluo responded with half-belief, half-doubt. Xiao Yufan could only shrug helplessly—indeed, anyone would probably feel suspicious about this.
“Since you reacted like that, you must be familiar with this contract. Can you help me? This really means a lot to me…” Xiao Yufan could tell from her expression that she was clearly familiar with the document. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have reacted so strongly after just a quick glance. If that was the case, he might have really found the right person…
“Then tell me, what’s your relationship with Yu Yihan…” Hu Yingluo suddenly changed the topic, asking something seemingly irrelevant. Xiao Yufan was momentarily stunned.
“She’s the CEO of that company—the one making things hard for me. We had some unpleasant history before.”
“Only that?”
“She also bought the apartment I used to rent, and I haven’t found a new place yet, so I’m temporarily staying there…” Xiao Yufan replied reluctantly, feeling like he had just exposed all his secrets.
“You’re living together…” Hu Yingluo clearly looked surprised, though her expression was exaggerated enough to make Xiao Yufan want to find a crack in the ground to hide in.
“Not living together—just staying there temporarily. I’ll move out once I settle into my job!” Xiao Yufan hurried to clarify, not wanting Hu Yingluo to misunderstand. He certainly didn’t want any conflict between the two beautiful women to drag him into the middle—especially since he still needed her help.
“I don’t care about your relationship. Leave the contract matter to me,” Hu Yingluo said straightforwardly, tucking the document into her bag and looking at Xiao Yufan, who was now visibly astonished.
At this moment, Xiao Yufan couldn’t help but think how similar Hu Yingluo and Yu Yihan seemed—both so unpredictable in temperament. But since Hu Yingluo had agreed to help, the matter was already halfway to success. Of course, if Xiao Yufan had known Hu Yingluo’s true identity, he wouldn’t have worried about this task at all…
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