Chapter 79 Shen Youchu's Phone Call

"You!!!"

As soon as these words were spoken, Liu Ruyan's beautiful face instantly flushed red with anger. How could Chen Yan's response possibly be the answer she wanted?

"Chen Yan, I'm giving you one last chance. I want you to think it through, make it clear in your mind, and then tell me!"

At this moment, feeling the roles reversed and that she was about to lose the initiative, Liu Ruyan gritted her teeth and spoke.

"No need, CEO Liu. You and I are just using each other. In private, you don't need to treat me as your husband, and I won't treat you as my wife. We don't need all this nonsense."

However, faced with Liu Ruyan's words, Chen Yan wasn't about to indulge her. Words like these, deliberately spoken by Liu Ruyan, were nothing more than an attempt to seize back the initiative.

If he were to truly follow the implications in her words and continue down that path, it would undoubtedly mean falling into her way of thinking. The Original Owner, Chen Yan, might or might not have done so—Chen Yan couldn't be sure—but he absolutely would not.

There are only three possibilities in this world for a man to yield to a woman: one is the familial love for a mother or daughter, another is romantic love for the woman he adores, and the last is when his immediate superior is a woman, and he does it for money.

The first two were automatically excluded. As for the third, Chen Yan didn't care at this point. If he could manage, he would; if not, he'd just leave.

After all, Director Mother's condition had stabilized considerably, and the money he had on hand could hold out for a while.

"You..."

As soon as these words were spoken, that fig leaf was mercilessly torn away, leaving Liu Ruyan stunned on the spot.

As for Chen Yan, he paid her no further mind.

He headed straight out from the underground garage without waiting for Liu Ruyan.

As the elevator doors closed, he saw her car's headlights still on, like an indecisive eye in the darkness. He didn't look for long, pressing the close button.

As the elevator ascended, he leaned against the wall of the car, watching the floor numbers climb.

As the main building, the elevator from the underground garage could go directly to all floors of the villa.

Soon, the door opened.

Chen Yan went directly to the second floor, heading back to his room.

With his steps, the motion-sensor lights in the corridor lit up in sequence, illuminating the path all the way to his room.

As soon as he entered the room, the phone in his pocket began to ring.

He released the doorknob, took out his phone, and with a casual hook of his foot, pulled the door shut.

On the screen flashed a number saved under the name Shen Youchu.

And he recognized this string of digits.

Eleven numbers. He had never deliberately memorized them. But his fingers knew. The moment his eyes saw this string of numbers, his fingers reacted automatically, his thumb hovering over the answer button for less than half a second before pressing down.

It was a kind of muscle memory.

He put the phone to his ear without speaking.

From the other end of the line came a very soft breath. Then a voice, even softer than the breath.

"Brother Yan."

Just three words.

Chen Yan stood inside the room, his back against the door. The sensor lights in the corridor went out one by one, like dominoes—*snap, snap, snap*—the last to go out being the one right outside his door.

At the same time, he hadn't turned on the light in the room.

In the darkness, he held the phone, hearing Shen Youchu's breathing.

"Mm," Chen Yan responded softly.

This phone call was within his expectations.

There was silence on the other end for a while. He heard Shen Youchu inhale, as if gathering courage.

"Brother Yan, have you... gotten home?"

"Yes."

"That's good." On the other end, Shen Youchu's voice relaxed just a little, like a tightly drawn string gently plucked. "I was afraid you might still be on the way, and I didn't dare call too late, worried you might be asleep."

Chen Yan didn't respond.

He walked to the bed and sat down. The mattress let out a faint creak, but he was used to it.

"Brother Yan, are you... angry with me?" Shen Youchu's voice dropped, so low it seemed squeezed from the back of her throat. "I shouldn't have called you that in front of them. I couldn't help it for a moment; I was just so happy to see you, and I..."

"No," Chen Yan interrupted her. "It's not your fault."

He was telling the truth.

Shen Youchu hadn't done anything wrong. She had merely called him "Brother Yan." She had called him that for over a decade, far longer than Liu Ruyan had even known him. What was wrong was the occasion, wrong was the identity—his identity within the Liu family.

A matrilocal son-in-law, publicly called "Brother Yan" by a young, beautiful woman—regardless of the caller's intentions, those listening would think the worst.

That was the logic of the Liu family.

It wasn't Shen Youchu's fault.

There was a long silence on the other end of the line. So long that Chen Yan thought she had hung up. He glanced at the screen—the call was still timing, the seconds ticking away one by one, already reaching forty-seven seconds.

"Brother Yan," she called again.

"Mm."

"Were you... happy to see me today?"

The question came too directly.

Chen Yan held the phone, silent for two seconds in the darkness.

He couldn't quite articulate what he felt the moment he saw Shen Youchu. That girl in the OL suit, holding a folder, standing in the living room of the Old Residence of the Liu Family, overlapped for an instant with the little girl in his memory—the one with a ponytail, wearing a faded school uniform, standing at the gate of the Orphanage waving and saying, "Goodbye, Brother Yan."

Just an instant.

In that instant, something did stir in his chest.

"Of course I was happy. That little girl who used to follow me around asking for candy has grown up in the blink of an eye."

Chen Yan said very seriously, feeling a touch of melancholy, a sigh for how quickly time had passed.

"Brother Yan... is it because of us, because of Director Mother's situation, that you..."

As she went on, Shen Youchu found it hard to continue. She didn't know what Chen Yan had been through all these years outside, what hardships he had endured, but she clearly knew that since starting work, Chen Yan had helped the Orphanage a great deal, contributing real money.

"Alright, let's not talk about this. It's not as serious as you think."

As soon as these words were spoken, Chen Yan immediately realized Shen Youchu had misunderstood. But this kind of thing couldn't be explained clearly in a short while, so he simply changed the subject.

After all, he couldn't very well tell Shen Youchu about Liu Ruyan mistaking him for the Original Owner—that would be nonsense. Even he wouldn't believe such words if spoken aloud.

"Brother Yan... I... don't worry. This matter is a secret between the two of us. I won't tell anyone."

However, Chen Yan's act of changing the subject, in Shen Youchu's eyes, was automatically interpreted by her into a different meaning...