Thud!
A sudden noise came from inside the house. Ye Zhiqiu turned her head and saw a figure. Then, she noticed the door to that room was open.
She immediately realized a thief had broken in.
“There’s a—”
Before Ye Zhiqiu could finish her shout, Chen Can rushed out from the room and clamped a hand over her mouth. “Don’t shout, it’s me!”
Ye Zhiqiu frowned deeply, confused about why Chen Can was here and why he was acting so sneakily.
“I’ll let you go if you stay quiet,” Chen Can whispered. “Nod if you agree.”
Ye Zhiqiu nodded. Just as Chen Can began to slowly remove his hand, Xu Wan appeared in the doorway.
“Wanwan!”
Chen Can felt a headache coming on. He must have forgotten to check the almanac before leaving home today to have such rotten luck.
“What are you doing here?”
Chen Can hurried forward, trying to take Xu Wan’s hand, but she dodged away. Her eyes red, she glared at him angrily. “I should be the one asking you! Why are you here?”
“And who is she? Why were you holding her?” Xu Wan pointed at Ye Zhiqiu.
“I… I wasn’t holding her, I… I was just…” Chen Can couldn’t think of a good excuse on the spot.
He had been restless and on edge ever since leaving the detention center yesterday.
Shen Liya’s words had made him deeply uneasy. He wasn’t sure if she really had any leverage over him, but with such matters, it was better to believe it existed than to assume it didn’t.
After thinking it over repeatedly, he concluded that if Shen Liya had kept any concrete evidence against him, it would definitely be kept here.
Because aside from this place, she had nowhere else to put it.
He had come over to search for it, never expecting Ye Zhiqiu to walk in right after him, and now Xu Wan had shown up to join the chaos too.
Why was there not a single woman around him who gave him any peace?
“Chen Can, you’re still lying to me! I saw you holding her!” Xu Wan stamped her foot in anger.
Chen Can found it hard to defend himself. “She and I were…”
“Were what?”
“He came over to…”
Although Ye Zhiqiu had never met Xu Wan before, she could guess her identity. To avoid further misunderstanding, she decided to tell the truth.
Chen Can cut her off loudly. “Wanwan, I know I was wrong. I truly didn’t know! It was her! She asked me to come here, and she threw herself into my arms!”
At this point, the only plan was to dump all the blame on Ye Zhiqiu.
The more Chen Can thought about it, the better this idea seemed. After all, Ye Zhiqiu’s reputation was already ruined. He could just say she had tried to seduce him while Yue Mingyuan was away.
“Wanwan, I’m sorry for hurting you. Please don’t cry.”
Chen Can wiped Xu Wan’s tears. “My heart breaks every time you cry.”
“I swear, I’ll never fall for her tricks again. No matter what she says, I won’t believe her!”
Chen Can raised three fingers, putting on a convincing act.
Once again, Xu Wan fell for Chen Can’s lies. She turned her furious glare on Ye Zhiqiu. “You’re Shen Zhiqiu, right? You really are a shameless vixen!”
“I won’t let this matter slide today. I’m going to make sure everyone knows what you’re really like!”
“Fine.”
Ye Zhiqiu sat down and gestured for Xu Wan to go ahead. “Go right ahead. I’ll wait here.”
Seeing Chen Can about to speak, Ye Zhiqiu provoked Xu Wan instead. “If you don’t deal with this now, I’ll just look for Chen Can again next time.”
“You!”
Xu Wan was infuriated. She turned, grabbed Chen Can’s hand, and pulled him away.
Chen Can glanced back at Ye Zhiqiu, a bad feeling growing in his gut. He quickly tried to calm Xu Wan. “Wanwan, calm down. Making a big scene out of this won’t do any of us any good.”
“You know it won’t do any good? Then why did you come here to see her!” Xu Wan yelled.
“Wanwan, I really didn’t know she would rush over and hug me. She asked to meet, saying she wanted to talk about helping me persuade Shen Liya to agree to the divorce. That’s the only reason I came.”
“I just want to get the divorce over with quickly. I can’t wait to be with you openly and properly.”
Chen Can took Xu Wan’s hand and placed it over his heart. “Wanwan, feel my heart. There’s only room for you in here!”
“Do you really not have any feelings left for Shen Zhiqiu?”
“Wanwan, think about it. How could I? Forget that she’s now married to Yue Mingyuan. Even if she were single, after what happened to her, how could I possibly still have any feelings for her!”
“You have no idea how much ridicule and scorn I endured because of that. Even now, just seeing her makes me feel like I’m wearing a cuckold’s horns.”
A thought suddenly struck Chen Can. “Wanwan, did someone say something to you?”
“You believe them, but you don’t believe me, is that it?”
“I tell you my heart belongs only to you, that you’re one of a kind, and you don’t believe me. But when others say I’m still hung up on her, you believe them!”
“Wanwan, you’ve really hurt me!”
“Fine. Since you don’t trust me, there’s nothing I can do. If you’re unwilling to believe me, even if I cut my heart out to show you, you still wouldn’t believe it.”
Chen Can put on an expression of utter disappointment and let go of Xu Wan’s hand. “Wanwan, let’s just end it here. I’m not worthy of you.”
He had barely turned when a panicked Xu Wan threw her arms around him from behind. “A-Can, it’s not that I don’t believe you. It’s because I love you too much that I act this way. Please don’t be angry.”
“I’m not angry. I’m just a little tired. I feel like nothing I do makes any difference.”
Chen Can sighed. “I was so afraid you might misunderstand. I tried my hardest not to make you sad or upset, but you still don’t trust me.”
“Lately, I’ve been subjected to so much mockery and sarcasm from people. They all say I’m just using you to climb the ladder through your father and brother.”
Chen Can snorted coldly. “I don’t care what they say, because I love you. I want to be with you. For your sake, a little gossip means nothing!”
“But I never expected that you would distrust me so much!”
“A-Can, I was wrong. It was my fault.” Xu Wan held onto Chen Can tightly. “Don’t leave me. I can’t live without you!”
“Wanwan, I think we both need to cool off and seriously think about our future. We can’t let ourselves be blinded by love!”
Chen Can grabbed Xu Wan’s hands. “Let me go.”
“No, I won’t! I’ll never let go of you, not in this lifetime!”
Xu Wan promised Chen Can, “A-Can, from now on, I’ll only listen to you. I absolutely won’t let my imagination run wild anymore, and I’ll never distrust you again!”
“Really?”
Seeing his goal achieved, Chen Can knew when to stop. He turned to face Xu Wan. “Wanwan, we’re not kids anymore. We can’t afford to play games. Are you really sure?”
“I’m sure. You should know by now that once I set my mind on someone, that’s it.”
“Then let’s put this matter behind us, alright?”
Xu Wan nodded vigorously. “Alright.”
“A-Can, but I don’t want to let Shen Zhiqiu off the hook. She needs to be taught a lesson.”
“You can handle that as you see fit.”
Chen Can’s mind was still preoccupied with the leverage Shen Liya had mentioned. He had no energy to deal with these women fighting over him.
After waiting a while and seeing that neither Chen Can nor Xu Wan returned, Ye Zhiqiu went to ask a neighbor to call the police for her. She reported that a thief had broken into their house and stolen many valuable items.
