Volume One, Chapter Three: Master Fei’s Obsession with Cleanliness

The waiter moved a chair over to Shen Yan’s side but hesitated, unsure where to place it since there were people on both sides of him.

Fu Chenghe didn’t overthink it and said to Lin Yuxia, “Little sister, scoot over this way a bit.”

Lin Yuxia, still sulking over being called “Brother Yan,” replied with a hint of anger, “Why should I move?”

Shen Yan affectionately flicked Lin Yuxia’s nose, the way an adult might say to their own child, “Be good and go play over there.”

Fortunately, the person sitting on Shen Yan’s other side was perceptive and immediately stood up to offer her seat.

“Come, come, beautiful, sit here.”

Shen Yan casually took the woman’s handbag and hung it on the back of his chair.

The woman in red glanced at Lin Yuxia, then twisted her waist and sat down on Shen Yan’s other side.

Her hand naturally rested on Shen Yan’s shoulder as she playfully complained, “Brother Yan, this place is so hard to find; it’s not even on the map.”

“My fault. Next time I’ll have the driver pick you up,” Shen Yan said as he filled the woman’s glass, then raised his own wine glass to clink with hers.

Lin Yuxia watched silently, her nerves tightening until a faint “ding” sounded—the sound of something breaking.

Shen Yan was too busy chatting with the woman to notice Lin Yuxia’s unusual behavior.

No one asked who the woman was; it was clear she hadn’t appeared by Shen Yan’s side for the first time.

Lin Yuxia was stunned. Could it be that during the years she was abroad, this person had been constantly by Shen Yan’s side? Had even her brother ceased to be only her brother?

The thought unexpectedly pained her heart. She grabbed her wine glass, intending to gulp it down.

Just as Shen Yan was laughing with the woman in red, as if he had eyes on the back of his head, he suddenly turned and grabbed Lin Yuxia’s wrist.

“What’s a little brat like you doing drinking wine?”

Lin Yuxia snapped back, “Who are you calling a little brat? Brother, look carefully—I’m twenty-two!”

Shen Yan was momentarily confused, seemingly not understanding why Lin Yuxia was upset.

The woman in red giggled, “Brother Yan, is this the Yuxia sister you always talk about?”

Shen Yan hummed in acknowledgment and took the glass from Lin Yuxia’s hand.

“Sister, let me introduce myself. I’m your brother’s girlfriend. Let’s have a drink together.”

The woman raised her glass with one hand and offered juice to Lin Yuxia with the other, speaking flattering words that might have been insincere:

“Brother Yan told me you studied at Yale. I thought you’d be a little bookworm with thick glasses, but you’re so pretty—I like you the moment I saw you.”

Though clearly just politeness, the words sounded especially harsh to Lin Yuxia’s ears.

She took the glass without waiting for the woman to drink, then tilted her head back and drank the juice down in one gulp.

Drinking quickly, a drop of juice spilled from the corner of her mouth. Shen Yan handed her a damp towel.

Lin Yuxia didn’t take it, wiping the juice off with her fingertip instead. She said, “I’m going to the restroom,” then left the private room with a cold expression.

The woman in red joked with Shen Yan, “Brother Yan, that little girl has such personality—so cute.”

Shen Yan sighed softly, “I’ve spoiled her.”

Lin Yuxia didn’t actually go to the restroom. Instead, she stormed out of the Elegant Ode and ran to the parking lot.

A life of drifting alone, a family that didn’t welcome her, a father’s love that was almost nonexistent, a lonely childhood—none of these had defeated Lin Yuxia.

Because in her heart, there was always a safe harbor open just for her.

But tonight, she realized that this sanctuary, once hers alone, was becoming crowded... and that was what truly scared her.

It was midsummer, and even the night breeze carried warmth, yet Lin Yuxia shuddered with chills.

She raised her hand and found it damp. Had she really been crying?

Her mind involuntarily pictured Shen Yan’s face, furrowed with frustration as he muttered, “So childish…”

But she was trying so hard to grow up. She was already an adult...

Why couldn’t Shen Yan wait for her?

Aimlessly wandering the parking lot, she noticed a flashy Bugatti parked nearby and plopped down on its hood. Using her phone as a mirror, she tried to fix her tear-streaked makeup.

She pulled out her lipstick, about to add some color to her pale lips, when suddenly the Bugatti honked loudly.

Startled, Lin Yuxia’s hand holding the lipstick trembled, leaving a long streak of red along the corner of her mouth.

Looking at herself on the phone screen, her sadness vanished, replaced by a burning fury.

She marched over to the car window, about to knock, when the dark glass rolled down on its own, revealing an extraordinarily handsome face—handsome to the point of seeming aggressive.

But Lin Yuxia had no mood to admire a handsome man. Irritated, she said:

“Why did you honk for no reason? Not before, not after, but right when I’m putting on lipstick. You did it on purpose, didn’t you?”

The man raised one eyebrow and replied, “Miss, aren’t you being unreasonable? You used my car as a seat cushion. I didn’t charge you, and now you’re blaming me?”

His gaze fell on Lin Yuxia’s smudged makeup, and the corners of his mouth twitched as if struggling not to laugh.

Lin Yuxia usually wasn’t unreasonable, but tonight her emotions unraveled. Running into such a spoiled rich kid only made her mood worse. She decided to argue back:

“So what if I sat down? I even wiped the dust off for you. Should I be charging you now?”

The man, probably surprised to meet someone who dared to argue like this, opened the door, got out, and stood before Lin Yuxia with his hands in his pockets.

Only then did Lin Yuxia realize just how tall he was.

Her brother was already a towering 1.85 meters, yet this man seemed two or three centimeters taller.

She had to tilt her head up to look at him, which instantly shrank her confidence.

She took a few secret steps back, stretching her neck as far as she could.

“Miss, that’s not how you bait a rich guy. Your method is really bad.”

“Bait…?” Lin Yuxia was too angry to speak.

The man pulled a hand from his pocket and rubbed the car’s surface. “Besides, look closely—I wash my car twice a day. Where’s the dust?”

He moved to the hood, pulled out a disinfectant wipe, and cleaned the spot where Lin Yuxia had sat.

“I’m a neat freak. Please, next time go cry sitting on someone else’s car, okay?”

Lin Yuxia had lived more than twenty years but had never lost a battle of words before.

What made it worse was that she couldn’t out-argue or out-pretend him. She was about to explode.

She pushed back her bangs, ready to argue harder, when her phone suddenly rang.

“Hello? Brother?”

“Where did you go? Taking that long in the restroom?” Shen Yan’s voice sounded.

Seeing the man about to leave, Lin Yuxia grabbed his arm to stop him.

Then she noticed the half-exposed arm under his rolled-up shirt sleeve, the skin prickling with goosebumps.

So he really was a neat freak, she thought.

“It’s stuffy inside. I’m getting some fresh air in the parking lot,” she said.

“Oh, perfect,” Shen Yan said. “Did you run into Fei Xun in the parking lot? He just arrived. Bring him to the private room.”

“Fei Xun? Who’s Fei Xun?”

The man Lin Yuxia held onto answered coldly:

“Me.”