Yan Huaian did not even bother looking at them after saying what he had to say. He turned to Yu Zi and quietly said, “Let’s go.”

The way he said those words was so gentle that anyone could tell that he cared about Yu Zi tremendously from that alone. No one could stand to continue watching the way he acted so delicately, it gave everyone goosebumps.

Yu Zi nodded and did not say a word. She allowed Yan Huaian to escort her to the Benz SUV obediently, not giving Yue Jingchen a second glance.

Yue Jingchen’s expression changed when he saw the Benz SUV. His eyes turned red.

That was the car he saw earlier in the morning!

So, Yan Huaian went to Autumn Garden early in the morning to pick Yu Zi up because he was courting her?

Or perhaps, he had stayed overnight at her house?

Yue Jingchen tried his best to remember the man’s voice he had heard over the phone last night but could not be sure if it belonged to Yan Huaian.

He could not help being suspicious about the whole thing. He had to find out the truth, or it would forever sting like ants were biting on his chest.

“Was it him at your house yesterday?!” Yue Jingchen clenched his teeth as he forced the question onto Yu Zi.

Yu Zi frowned. She was not willing to give him an answer.

Yue Jingchen interpreted Yu Zi’s reaction as guilt and no longer cared there were so many people watching them. He questioned her accusingly, “Was it him?! Did he stay overnight at your house?”

Yan Huaian could not allow anyone to defame Yu Zi that way. He gave pause on his own accord.

He turned to give Yue Jingchen a sarcastic look. “I did have dinner at Yu Zi’s house last night. Since you’re broken up, there is no need to question her as if she had cheated on you. Coincidentally, I did not stay overnight at her house. I stayed at my own house.”

Yan Huaian gave a wide, relaxed smile. “Because we are neighbors.”

Yue Jingchen’s face went pale as he felt his heart hit rock-bottom.

This man who now courted Yu Zi trumped him in every way. Even if they had not broken up and were still together, Yue Jingchen would not have the confidence to keep Yu Zi as a partner. He would constantly worry about Yu Zi choosing Yan Huaian.

This was even more apparent now that they were no longer together, and Yu Zi is now neighbors with Yan Huaian!

He lived so near to her and was such an accomplished man. Yu Jingchen did not have the self-confidence to compete with him for Yu Zi.

Yan Huaian opened the car door and made sure Yu Zi got in safely. He ignored Yue Jingchen as he got into his car and drove off.

Yue Jingchen was too ashamed to stay any longer and tried to persuade Pan Yunfeng to leave.

Pan Yunfeng did not listen to him and was too angry to resign to what had just occurred. Yue Jingchen could only say, “Mum, I have to return for my shift. I’ve only taken an hour’s leave. It’ll be considered an absence from work if I return any later. I’m just an intern rotating between different departments right now. Once this segment of the internship is done, the course supervisor would need to allocate marks for me.”

Pan Yunfeng immediately stopped everything when she realized this could heavily affect his future. She quickly left Yue Jingchen with an anxious look on her face.

Everyone could still hear her saying as she walked away, “What did you even bother applying for leave to come here?! Let’s just return quickly, right now!”

…

Yan Huaian did not drive far. He found a parking spot by the road and stopped his car.

He leaned towards Yu Zi to open the compartment in front of her. He took out a box of tissues and placed it in the compartment box between them. He pulled out a tissue and gave it to Yu Zi as he said gently, “Cry if you want to.”

His gentle voice pierced the already fragile barrier Yu Zi had built around her heart. She took the piece of tissue from his hand and broke down instantly.

Yan Huaian did not feel happy about it at all. It made him more upset just watching her cry than she was; actually crying.

He opened his mouth to say something but had no idea what to tell her. After all, this was her relationship issue. It might make her unhappy if he tried to say anything.

Yan Huaian struggled internally for a moment before leaning over to hug Yu Zi gently in his arms. He patted her on the back as he tried to console her.

His gentle demeanor made Yu Zi feel like an upset little child. She immediately sobbed uncontrollably as both her hands clasped onto Yan Huaian’s clothes tightly. She trembled intensely in his arms.

She cried so much that she could hardly feel a gentle pressure on the top of her head. She could not tell if it was just her imagination.

While she was crying, Yan Huaian could not help but give her a kiss at the top of her head. He got worried that she would realize he had just kissed her but lucky for him, she did not seem to notice it.

After Yu Zi had enough of crying, she realized that she was too near to Yan Huaian.

Not only was she wrapped in his arms, but her forehead was also rested right against his chin. He would only need to tilt his face a little to the side and he would be able to kiss her.

Yu Zi was so embarrassed that her face went bright red and her ears burned feverishly. She quickly squiggled herself out of Yan Huaian’s arms.

She lowered her head awkwardly as she did not dare look at him.

Yan Huaian acted as if nothing had happened and maintained a composed, natural expression as he asked caringly, “Do you feel better?”

Yu Zi relaxed a little at his reaction. She nodded sheepishly, “I’m sorry. I forgot my place.”

Yan Huaian shook his head. “That’s okay. I understand. However, would you mind explaining to me what happened with that lady just now?”

Yu Zi lifted her head in surprise and saw Yan Huaian smiling benevolently. His rich, warm voice said, “I think you have been keeping everything to yourself this whole time. You’ll feel terrible if things stay this way. You need to talk to someone about it, otherwise, you would just end up hurting yourself.”

Before she knew it, Yu Zi had been comforted by his warm, gentle voice. It was like sitting in a slow-moving stream which had brought her warmth and comfort, relaxing her even when she did not realize it.

“I’m actually a really good listener, and I can keep a tight lid on a secret,” Yan Huaian said gently.

Yu Zi’s heart beat a little faster. For some reason, she felt that she wanted to share all her thoughts with Yan Huaian whenever she was with him.

She was not someone who would willingly share her inner thoughts with another, even if they were people closest to her. It was not really in her habit to talk about her emotions. It was not because she was a reserved person, more so because she was shy about it.

To be quite honest, she was somewhat of an introvert.

She may appear to be a bright and open person, when in fact, she is someone who keeps to herself a lot. She has a personality that contradicts her outside behavior.

For some reason, she poured everything out to him without even thinking. She slowly told him about what had happened during the day of her engagement.

She had not expected herself to be so open with Yan Huaian. She told him every single detail about that day, even her unhappiness towards Yue Jingchen’s parents and dissatisfaction with Yue Jingchen. It made her feel better tremendously.

However, she cried again as she talked about it.

This time, it felt different than before. Previously, she cried because she felt upset about what happened. This time, crying lifted her mood tremendously after.

She began to realize that it was not just Yue Jingchen’s parents that she was unhappy with, but also Yue Jingchen himself.

If Yue Jingcheng was strong enough to stop his parents’ actions or let her parents know that he was determined to solve the problem, there would not be so many issues.

Even if she had married Yue Jingchen, Yue Jingchen would never be capable of defending her in front of his parents.

What kind of life would that be for her?

If Yue Jingchen wanted to reconcile with her, what would be the point of it all?

Yu Zi was able to foresee that they would end up breaking up a second time even if they decide to give each other another chance.

Now that Yu Zi felt much better. She said to Yan Huaian in embarrassment as she wiped away her tears with a tissue, “I’m really sorry that you had to witness all this and had to listen to me complain so much.”

However, Yan Huaian was quite content with everything.

Once he discovered the reason for Yu Zi and Yue Jingchen’s break up, he could not help but feel grateful for the ‘help’ from Yue Jingchen’s parents. If they continued whatever they were doing, then it would never be possible for Yu Zi and Yue Jingchen to be together.

On the surface though, he said in a cheerful and gentle tone, “It’s really nothing. Don’t feel embarrassed about it. Every household has its troubles. This was never your fault and you never did anything to embarrass anyone. The one that should feel bad about this is your boy… No, your ex-boyfriend’s family. By now, it’s obvious that his parents don’t think they’ve done anything wrong nor are they ashamed about the whole situation. Don’t punish yourself for their mistakes.”

Yu Zi noticed that he genuinely meant what he said. His eyes were bright and clear when he said the words. She knew he was not just consoling her, but he really did mean what he said. She could not help but feel grateful for him and it took away a lot of stress from her.

Her gaze unwittingly fell onto his shirt. She realized that she left a huge tear stain on his chest when she was crying before.

Yu Zi quickly pulled out a piece of tissue in embarrassment as she apologized profusely, “I’m so sorry about that. I cried all over you.”

It was not just the tears. She always put on light make-up at work and some of it had stuck itself onto his shirt along with her tears. There was a light dash of red and a little black stain on it. It was really quite a sight.

Yu Zi’s face blushed bright red as she quickly tried to wipe it off him.

However, all Yan Huaian did was take off his coat and throw it onto the backseats. “It’s fine. I’ll just send it to the laundromat later. Besides, it’s not really much of a stain.”

She did not have thick make-up on anyway.

Yan Huaian did not say it aloud in case it embarrassed her.

Yu Zi’s expression suddenly changed as she gave Yan Huaian a careful look. She turned away from him slightly as she faced the direction of the car window. Yu Zi took out a compact mirror from her handbag and opened it to check on her eye make-up.