Volume One, Chapter Sixteen: Not Even Allowing a Touch

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By the time Song Nanyi returned home, night had fallen deep.

After parking the car, she sat inside for a long while without moving.

The streetlamps in the courtyard cast a faint orange glow.

Her aversion to this home had seeped into her very bones.

And yet, she had no choice but to face it.

Just as she was about to open the car door, she heard a voice on the phone from behind the thick parasol tree.

“He told me to move to South Garden. He’ll probably buy me a car too, but I don’t want any of that.” The girl’s voice was lowered to a whisper. “Don’t worry about me too much. Once I get what I want, I’ll go back.”

It was Su Yu’an’s voice.

Song Nanyi had no idea who was on the other end.

From those few simple words, she extracted two pieces of information.

First, Huo Shixu had bought her a house, presumably so he could keep her hidden away as his mistress.

Second, to Su Yu’an, there was something more important than obtaining a house.

Only after Su Yu’an had gone far away did Song Nanyi finally open the car door and step out.

What, exactly, could be more important than that?

The living room was brightly lit.

The girl who had just been whispering furtively on the phone was now chatting and laughing with Huo Shixu.

When she saw Song Nanyi, she greeted her politely and obediently. “Sister Nanyi, you’re back.”

Song Nanyi’s expression was cool.

This time, her gaze lingered a little longer on Su Yu’an’s uneasy face.

Under her scrutiny, Su Yu’an did not dare raise her head.

Her fingers clutched the hem of her clothes tightly, and she looked extremely nervous.

“Why are you looking at her like that?” Huo Shixu asked.

Song Nanyi cast him a faint glance. “Can’t you even bear to see me look at her?”

“You…” Huo Shixu was visibly irritated.

Song Nanyi hurried upstairs.

After taking a deep breath, she sat down before the vanity and began removing her makeup.

Huo Shixu approached from behind and looked at the woman’s exquisite face through the mirror.

Gently, he placed his hands on her shoulders.

His voice was almost unnaturally tender. “Nanyi, since you don’t like Yu’an living here, I’ll have her move out.”

Whenever Huo Shixu adopted this understanding, considerate attitude, it was usually because he wanted Song Nanyi’s approval and sympathy.

There was even a hint of ingratiation in it.

“Do whatever you want,” she said without emotion.

Huo Shixu’s eyes darkened. He leaned closer to her face. “Nanyi, don’t be like this. I only want to make you a little happier.”

“If you want to make me happy, divorce me.”

She looked at the man’s face in the mirror.

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Did a man’s face change after he had fallen out of love?

Back then, Song Nanyi had accepted Huo Shixu’s courtship because he possessed a face capable of beguiling every woman in the world.

Now, merely looking at him made her feel sick.

He said nothing.

Yet the eyes meeting hers in the mirror were filled with an unmistakable distance.

Song Nanyi removed her earrings and rose. “I’m tired. I’m going to take a shower.”

She had just started toward the bathroom when he seized her wrist and yanked her back, pinning her hard against the wall.

His eyes were deep and intense.

The way he looked at her today was clearly different.

After a moment, he leaned in, intending to kiss her.

As if startled, Song Nanyi shoved him away. “What are you doing?”

“Song Nanyi, what are you trying to do?” Feeling that his masculine dignity had been challenged, he seized her wrist again and stared at her. “You won’t even let me touch you now?”

Whenever Song Nanyi thought of the way she had died in her previous life, she found herself unable to tolerate Huo Shixu’s intimacy.

But she knew him too well. If she offended him, she was genuinely afraid he would vent his anger on the Song family’s company.

“Mother made an appointment for me with a gynecological specialist. I’m going for an examination tomorrow. The doctor specifically instructed me not to have sex before the examination.”

Song Nanyi was not entirely lying.

Before she came home, Sun Aiyun had scolded her again for failing to see a doctor.

Huo Shixu knew even better than she did how desperately the elders of the Huo family wanted an heir.

Whether they wished for it or not, the younger generation could not defy the elders’ will.

The tension in the man’s expression eased somewhat.

He lifted his eyes slightly and drew her back into his arms. “We never intended to have children. Is the examination result really that important?”

“I don’t want to embarrass myself in front of the doctor.”

Song Nanyi gently pushed Huo Shixu away, entered the bathroom, and locked the door.

Huo Shixu did not pursue her.

She heard the bedroom door open, then close. Only then did she turn on the shower.

At dawn, she was roused by the commotion in the house.

Sister Lu said a moving company had arrived.

Song Nanyi furrowed her brow slightly. “Does Su Yu’an have that many things? Why does she need a moving company?”

“Madam, Sir said Miss Su has grown used to sleeping in that bed, so he wants the bed moved with her. And…” Sister Lu herself found it absurd. “…the bathtub is being moved too.”

The corners of Song Nanyi’s lips tightened.

She mocked, “Why not just move the entire villa while they’re at it?”

Sister Lu was helpless.

She did not understand it either. “By rights, Miss Su isn’t even some pampered heiress. She isn’t so delicate that she needs all this. Sir really is…”

Sister Lu could not make sense of it.

Because she was a normal person.

[Page 3 of 3]

But Huo Shixu, who was in love, had long since been blinded by it.

He gave without reservation.

He indulged without limits.

He had long since lost the ability to distinguish between what was right and what was not.

“As long as he’s happy. Sister Lu, go on with your work.”

“All right, Madam.”

“Sister Nanyi, I’m moving out today.”

Su Yu’an’s voice rang out, carrying a trace of cheerfulness.

Song Nanyi raised her eyes.

Su Yu’an was dressed beautifully that day: a little white dress in a courtly style, a pair of pretty white shoes, and two braids hanging over her chest. She looked pure, with a touch of simplicity about her.

“Sister Nanyi, Brother Shixu was worried I wouldn’t sleep well in a different bed, so he told me to take this one with me. You won’t be angry, will you?”

From Su Yu’an’s expression and tone, Song Nanyi detected a hint of provocation.

It was an emotion that rarely appeared before.

She had put on quite an act previously.

“I’m angry. Will you stop moving out?” Song Nanyi walked up to her and spoke in a very calm voice. “Su Yu’an, you don’t need to seek attention in front of me. You’re not worthy of it.”

Su Yu’an’s expression shifted.

Yet she pretended not to understand. “Sister Nanyi, you’re Brother Shixu’s wife. How could I possibly compare with you? Brother Shixu doesn’t treat me the way you think he does. He’s only pitying me. You’re not really angry, are you?”

In her previous life, Song Nanyi had dealt with her several times.

She had never seen this side of her.

Whenever she was pushed to tears by a scolding, the most she had ever done was cry. She had never even dared to answer back.

Was it because, after successfully moving into the house, she had fallen in love with the feeling of manipulating Huo Shixu and borrowing his power to intimidate others?

Did she think Song Nanyi was easy to bully as well?

Or…

Was there some other purpose behind her eagerness to provoke her?

If so, Su Yu’an had miscalculated.

“Su Yu’an, if you’re capable of monopolizing Huo Shixu for the rest of your life, then by all means do so. I’ll be more than happy to enjoy the peace and quiet. Besides, he means nothing to me now—not even enough to be called a diversion.”

The instant those words fell, Huo Shixu strode inside.

He had not heard what came before, but he had heard the final sentence clearly. He had not missed a single word.

Su Yu’an blinked her innocent, wide eyes and approached him. “Brother Shixu, Sister Nanyi seems angry again. Why don’t you go and comfort her?”

Huo Shixu’s face was dark.

But he did not lose his temper with Song Nanyi.

“Yu’an is used to all these things. Once everything has been moved out, I’ll buy new ones.”

That was Huo Shixu’s explanation.

“Sister Nanyi, why don’t I pay you for them?” Su Yu’an took a disorganized stack of bills from her bag.

There were ten-unit notes, twenty-unit notes, as well as fifties and hundreds.

Biting her lip apologetically, she said, “Sister Nanyi, I know this isn’t enough. I’ll pay you back little by little. If… if you really don’t want me to take these things, I can leave them behind.”