CHAPTER 118: 117: I BROKE UP WITH HIM (2 UPDATES)

Quan Yu wrung the water from Ning Guiwan’s hair; it was so thick that it wasn’t easy to dry.

"Where did you put the hair dryer?" he asked, a smile on his lips and warmth in his eyes as he looked at the girl’s slightly embarrassed expression.

"I can do it myself. You go attend to your matters." Ning Guiwan found his attentiveness a bit much. If word got out, who would believe he would serve someone like this? He was the head of Ruiyin, a magnate far beyond the reach of countless others.

"Since I’ve started, I might as well see it through to the end." Quan Yu wiped his hands with the towel he had used to dry her hair, then bent down and turned on the faucet. The water, swirling with floating strands of hair, slowly drained away.

Ning Guiwan watched his natural movements, unable to quite pinpoint her feelings.

Intimate acts aren’t limited to skin-to-skin contact; they can be washing a piece of personal clothing for someone or draining their used bathwater...

"Not telling me?" Quan Yu didn’t press for an answer, only spoke slowly, "Then I’ll look for it. It will just take a bit more time."

"I’ll get it for you." Seeing he was genuinely going to search slowly, Ning Guiwan retrieved it herself from a drawer.

Amidst the hum of the hair dryer, Ning Guiwan sat on a small fabric stool. To accommodate her, Quan Yu crouched, his tall frame lowered, his left knee almost touching the ground. From Ning Guiwan’s angle, he looked as if he were proposing.

Ning Guiwan’s hair was not only thick but also long. After a while of blow-drying, she herself began to feel a little impatient, but Quan Yu simply changed his position with a calm demeanor.

His knee accidentally brushed against hers.

Ning Guiwan quietly drew her legs back a little, her hands resting on her knees. She sat very straight, all her senses focused on her head.

"Are you very nervous?" Quan Yu’s fingers threaded through her hair, the lustrous black strands slipping through his grasp again and again...

Ning Guiwan kept her head bowed, her eyes fixed on her own legs. The sound of the hair dryer was loud, but the man’s voice seemed to possess a penetrating quality; Ning Guiwan heard him.

"Anyone being served by you like this would be nervous," she said with a smile, her index fingers hooking together.

She thought back to the arrangement they had made at the Equestrian Club. At that time, she knew this man was interested in her, but she had assumed his interest was mostly the normal physical attraction a man feels towards a beautiful woman. It wasn’t until he bared his heart to her in the cruise ship’s private cinema that she realized this man might harbor different kinds of feelings for her. Ever since he confessed, "...I’ve never truly cared for any girl, only you. I’m inexperienced, often clueless. Sometimes I get impatient and don’t control my emotions well, or I don’t do enough, which causes your displeasure. Please bear with me; I’ve been trying to improve these days..." their verbal agreement had changed. Or perhaps, it no longer existed. He wanted more than just her body. He wanted her heart as well. He wanted her to be willing, not to be a reluctant recipient of his forceful advances.

"Others don’t receive this kind of treatment," Quan Yu joked, in a visibly good mood, his low voice resonating above her. "You should truly cherish it."

Ning Guiwan was speechless.

"That should do it." When her hair was about eighty percent dry, Ning Guiwan stood up. Facing the mirror, she parted her hair, combed it neatly, and applied some nourishing hair oil.

Quan Yu unplugged the hair dryer and set it aside. He put on his watch, rolled down his sleeves, and fastened his cufflinks, all with an unhurried air that exuded leisure. His deep gaze remained fixed on Ning Guiwan.

The girl wore no makeup, only lipstick. The vibrant color was the most striking touch on her already vivid features.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door.

"Miss Ning, lunch is ready." It was Aunt Zhang’s voice; she only called for Ning Guiwan, not Quan Yu. As expected of someone who had worked in the old residence for over twenty years.

"Coming," Ning Guiwan responded, sweeping her styled curls behind her. The large waves, strand by strand, looked somewhat tousled, yet added a touch of mature allure and languor.

Lady Quan was already waiting in the dining room.

Even if the servants saw Quan Yu and Ning Guiwan emerging from the same room, none dared to gossip.

"Xiaowan, come, sit here," Lady Quan beckoned Ning Guiwan to her side, her face wreathed in a loving smile. When she turned to Quan Yu, however, her expression changed. "Is the company not busy today?"

Quan Yu pulled out a chair and sat down, smiling as he replied, "I’ll leave after lunch."

Lady Quan paid him no further mind, smiling as she served Ning Guiwan food. "The New Year is almost here. You should invite your boyfriend over for a casual meal."

Ning Guiwan was stunned. It took her a moment to realize why Lady Quan would say such a thing.

Since returning from the cruise, Lai Yang had told Lady Quan she had a boyfriend. What boyfriend? There wasn’t any boyfriend; it was all a misunderstanding.

Ning Guiwan glanced at Quan Yu and found him looking at her as well.

The man’s eyes were somber, his thin lips pursed, emanating a cool indifference.

He reached out, picked up the Jade Cup on the table—half-filled with Fenjiu—and spoke in an ordinary, remarkably nonchalant tone, "You must be mistaken. I wasn’t aware she had a boyfriend."

Lady Quan glanced at him and said, "That can’t be. Xiaoyang told me herself. She spends every day with Xiaowan; it can’t be wrong."

"Oh, is that so..." The man sipped his drink, looked at Ning Guiwan with a slow smile, and adopted a theatrical expression. "Then it must be true. It’s good to bring him back for us to vet him."

Ning Guiwan looked at him, a slow, exceptionally brilliant smile also spreading across her lips. "I broke up with him."

"I’m sorry to disappoint you, Lady Quan. After spending some time together, I realized we were incompatible in many ways," Ning Guiwan said, a hint of sorrow in her eyes. She then added, "Fortunately, neither of us was too deeply involved, so we were able to withdraw in time to avoid too much pain."

Her words effectively cut off Lady Quan’s intention to meet her supposed boyfriend.

Lady Quan, not doubting her in the slightest, sighed and patted her hand, her voice filled with elderly sympathy. "My child, why is your love life so troubled?"

Ning Guiwan smiled. "I suppose fate hasn’t brought us together yet. I’m not in a hurry."

Quan Yu refilled his drink. The fine green jade cup made his slender fingers look even more handsome.

「In the afternoon, Ning Guiwan went to the office.」

When Song Changfeng and Tan Xi saw her, they looked like they wanted to hug her and weep. The higher their positions, the greater their responsibilities and burdens. Although they had experts guiding them from behind the scenes, they still seemed somewhat overwhelmed by their work.

Fortunately, both were ambitious. Complaints were complaints; after venting, they dived back into their busy schedules.

"You two look so pitiful. I’ll treat you to dinner tonight."

「Ning Guiwan also called Lai Yang, and at seven in the evening, the four of them sat down in a private room at Jinling Grand Hotel.」

Lai Yang was just dabbling for fun. Sunny guessed she was a relative of President Quan, so she naturally wasn’t assigned demanding tasks. However, after accompanying Quan Yu to numerous social engagements without seeing the person she hoped to meet, she was thoroughly disheartened.

Song Changfeng and Tan Xi both looked utterly drained, and Lai Yang was listless and quiet. Just as Ning Guiwan was wondering how to liven up the atmosphere, her phone rang.

Glancing at the caller ID, she excused herself from the private room.

She answered, and a sweet, childlike voice came through the receiver, "Mommy, Daddy said if I make a wish to the white-bearded grandfather, Mommy will come back to see me. But Mommy, I made my wish a long time ago. Why haven’t you come back yet?"

Her voice was thick with attachment and longing for Ning Guiwan.

While studying in Britain, Ning Guiwan spent most of her time outside of classes working part-time. However, finding a job wasn’t easy due to discrimination against Chinese people there. Fortunately, Song Changfeng had some connections and introduced her to a job playing piano at a hotel.

It was at that hotel that she met Winston and his daughter, Aila.

The first time Aila saw her, she became incredibly attached, clinging to her neck, calling her "Mommy," and refusing to leave her side no matter how anyone coaxed her.

Winston doted on his daughter, so he hired Ning Guiwan as her live-in nanny. Later, Ning Guiwan learned from Winston that Aila’s recently deceased mother was Chinese. She had strongly resembled Ning Guiwan and was also skilled at the piano. In fact, Aila had been drawn to Ning Guiwan by her piano playing that day.

Aila became very dependent on her, and gradually, Ning Guiwan also developed a deep affection for the little girl who had lost her mother.

Perhaps because... she herself was also a child who had just lost her mother.

"I’m sorry, baby." Ning Guiwan’s voice softened. After more than two years together, the bond was difficult to sever. "Mommy misses you too. Mommy promises I’ll come back to see you soon, okay?"

After soothing the little one for a while, Aila finally broke into a tearful smile. Ending the call, Ning Guiwan heaved a slow sigh. As she turned, Ning Rongyue was standing behind her, staring straight at her, a strange smile on her lips, as if she had found some leverage against Ning Guiwan.

Ning Guiwan couldn’t be bothered with her and tried to walk past.

Ning Rongyue sidestepped, blocking Ning Guiwan’s path. She smiled at Ning Guiwan. "Congratulations, you’ve finally obtained Tianchi Group."

Ning Guiwan looked at her for a moment, then smiled, her eyes and brows instantly taking on a brazen charm. "You stopped me just to say congratulations? Thank you, that’s thoughtful of you."

"Dad is sick," Ning Rongyue suddenly changed the subject.

Ning Guiwan’s gaze wavered slightly, the smile on her lips fading a little.

Ning Rongyue, noticing this subtle change, always knew how to strike where it hurt most. "I told Dad I’d call you and ask you to visit. After all, he’s your biological father. But he said he’d rather die than have you see him..."

"He’s just being stubborn because he’s getting old. I’ll help you persuade him."

The knuckles of Ning Guiwan’s hand gripping her phone turned white, but her smile had already returned, even more dazzling and provocative, tinged with undisguised mockery. "Can’t you do anything other than stir up trouble? Like... find a job quickly, for instance."

Ning Rongyue’s expression faltered. Being fired was an indelible stain on one’s career, and for a moment, she nearly ground her teeth. But she quickly recovered, a smug smile returning to her face as she said, "You don’t know, do you? Dad fell ill from rage because I was fired. Even while hospitalized, he was constantly calling his old friends, begging them to arrange a job for me. It was truly moving to watch."

HAHA... Ning Rongyue, finally seeing Ning Guiwan’s expression change, departed with a triumphant laugh.