10: What a coincidence, we meet again.

Right then, Song Qingyao's phone suddenly rang.

It was a call from Lu Cheng.

As soon as the call was picked up, Lu Cheng's frantic cry for help came from the other end.

"Qingyao, I'm cornered by paparazzi at the hospital. Where are you? Can you come pick me up?"

Along with Lu Cheng's voice...

...came the panicked voice of his assistant from the other side. "Don't push! Stop pushing! You've knocked Lu Cheng down..."

Hearing that Lu Cheng had been knocked down, Song Qingyao's heart tightened.

"Wait for me there. I'm coming to pick you up right away."

Song Qingyao looked up at Lin Xiao and pursed her lips. "To the hospital. Continue investigating Xiao Bufan."

She was starting to feel that Xiao Bufan's identity wasn't as simple as he claimed.

...

Meanwhile, at the Xiao Group, inside the CEO's office.

Xiao Bufan was dressed in a black suit, clutching a coffee cup as he scrolled through his phone while drinking.

Seeing a news video titled [Rising Star Lu Cheng to Marry Song Qingyao Soon], Xiao Bufan's eyes darkened, and he clicked on it.

It was a video of Lu Cheng being interviewed by reporters at the hospital entrance.

Facing the camera, he spoke calmly and graciously, "Qingyao and I are childhood sweethearts. We were once lovers who shared mutual feelings."

"I've already given her up once, and I don't want to do it a second time. Now that Song Qingyao is divorced, I will pursue her again and never let go."

Implicitly, he was subtly telling everyone that from beginning to end, there was only one person in Song Qingyao's heart—him, Lu Cheng—while Xiao Bufan was the 'third wheel' who had sabotaged their relationship.

"Heh." Xiao Bufan's helpless yet cold jawline tightened into a stiff smile.

He thought he didn't care anymore.

But hearing the man in the video say such things, Xiao Bufan's brow furrowed, and he felt his heart sink to the bottom of a cold abyss.

He closed the video and clicked on the comments.

In the era of self-media, news travels fast.

Less than half an hour after the news of Song Qingyao and Lu Cheng's potential marriage broke, the comment views were reaching tens of millions by the minute.

[I've long heard that Brother Cheng and the President of the Song Group were childhood sweethearts. If that shameless third wheel Xiao Bufan hadn't interfered, they would have been married long ago.]

Some even started heated discussions about Xiao Bufan.

[I heard Song Qingyao's ex-husband is from the countryside; a total live-in son-in-law.]

[I heard Xiao Bufan is quite good-looking. I wonder how he compares to Lu Cheng...]

[Me, me, me! I have a photo of Xiao Bufan! I can leak it!]

[I want to see!]

...

Looking at those piercing comments that stung his heart, Xiao Bufan's eyes flickered; he still couldn't help but think of that person...

But since he had already decided to leave, there was no turning back.

Seeing someone below saying they would leak his photo, Xiao Bufan's pupils narrowed, feeling a faint sense of foreboding.

Once someone actually posted his photo online, he feared that a simple matter would become complicated.

Xiao Bufan composed himself and opened his laptop. His slender fingers tapped rapidly on the keyboard as he directly hacked into the account of the person who wanted to "leak the photo and investigate the identity," then wiped all traces of himself.

Leaving no trace, it was as if he had never been there.

Just as he closed his laptop, his phone suddenly rang.

Xiao Bufan saw it was a call from Qin Yin and lazily lifted his eyelids. "What's up?"

"Young Master, you really can stay calm, can't you!"

"Hurry up and look online! That wretched ex-wife of yours actually teamed up with her lover to post the news of your divorce online. She's even making veiled accusations that you were the third wheel, a homewrecker!"

Qin Yin, on the other end of the phone, sounded even angrier than Xiao Bufan.

"That pretty boy actually dares to call you a homewrecker. Where is the justice? I've truly never seen someone so shameless."

Xiao Bufan glanced at the news [Lu Cheng Suspected to be Marrying Song Qingyao Soon], and his eyes darkened.

"No need," he replied dismissively.

Leaking the news of the divorce at this juncture wouldn't benefit Song Qingyao; in fact, the disadvantages outweighed the advantages.

"The news hit the top trending spot as soon as it broke; someone is clearly pulling strings. These clumsy, brainless tactics definitely aren't Song Qingyao's style. They seem more like Lu Cheng's handiwork."

Qin Yin also saw through it; this matter was clearly premeditated.

"I'll go investigate right now and see if that pretty boy is behind this!"

"Don't alert the enemy. Just tell me once you find something fishy; don't disturb Lu Cheng yet." Xiao Bufan gave a cold smile. So he wanted to play? Fine, he would play along until the very end.

After finishing with the annoying news, Qin Yin excitedly told Xiao Bufan over the phone, "Bufan, I've organized a gathering at Nightfall. So much has happened lately—you got divorced and took back your company. Why don't I take you out to have some fun and ease your long-suppressed heart?"

Xiao Bufan wasn't interested at all and gave a lazy yawn. "I still have work. I'm not going."

"Don't be like that! I'm taking you out for food and fun and you're refusing? I specifically arranged for a great beauty to accompany you. You'll regret it if you don't come!"

"Besides, I'm already downstairs at your company. Do you have the heart to make me come all this way for nothing?"

"..."

Xiao Bufan didn't want to go at all, but he couldn't withstand Qin Yin's persistent wheedling.

So, he went downstairs to find Qin Yin.

As soon as he stepped out of the company building, he saw Qin Yin leaning against her car. She took off her sunglasses and whistled. "Hey handsome, you alone?"

Xiao Bufan gave a helpless smile. "Otherwise? If half a person came out, it would scare you to death!"

Qin Yin was successfully amused by him.

After arriving at Nightfall Bar...

Qin Yin ordered a glass of whiskey for each of them. "You have no idea how annoying that news was when I saw it today."

Listening to her vent, Xiao Bufan's mood gradually settled.

It had been a long time since Xiao Bufan had been to such a glitzy place. He downed glass after glass without changing his expression, as if he were drinking water.

"Handsome, drinking alone is so boring. Why don't I accompany you for a dance?"

A charming female voice jolted him from his slight tipsiness.

Hearing this, Xiao Bufan paused and slightly raised his head, his gaze landing on the woman who had approached him at some unknown moment.

The woman had narrow shoulders and a slender waist, her seductive peach-blossom eyes staring straight at him.

The bar lights made her look exceptionally beautiful.

Chairwoman Ze Shuang's appreciative gaze sized up the man before her with great interest.

Xiao Bufan.

Although they had only met twice, the first time she saw Xiao Bufan, his handsome face had already left an impression in Chairwoman Ze Shuang's heart.

Qin Yin stepped between Xiao Bufan and Chairwoman Ze Shuang, putting one arm around Chairwoman Ze Shuang and the other around Xiao Bufan. "Look how serious you both are. It's not like you don't know each other."

She broke the silence between the three of them with a playful grin.

"What a coincidence, we meet again."