CHAPTER 121: CHAPTER 121: AFRAID SHE MIGHT RUN AWAY

"If you and Dad are really bored, why don’t you go on a trip, enjoy some opera, or play mahjong! If you can’t help, then don’t make things worse! If you really don’t want to do the household chores, I’ll do them!"

The woman beside him was already crying so hard she couldn’t make a sound!

The live chat was filled with applause!

[Thank goodness this man realized his mistakes and corrected them. Otherwise, I would have been furious today.]

[Right, those men who blame women for being corrupted by so-called inspirational quotes—look at this. Women dream of marrying a CEO and being a young madam, while men, instead of aspiring to become CEOs, complain about women being too realistic!]

[I’m a woman, and I don’t dream of marrying a CEO. I just want to marry a man who can love me, cherish me, and be tolerant of me.]

[What I’m afraid of is that after sharing half a lifetime of hardship with him, he’ll treat you like a nanny for half a lifetime!]

[...]

After the live stream ended, An Yan checked the Bai Wu inside her mind. Although the slap was self-inflicted by the man, Yezi still appeared!

An Yan was shocked. So, if a scoundrel realized his own mistakes, the quantity of Yezi would double!

Ha!

Excellent.

Soon after, several more Yezi appeared.

An Yan didn’t know which viewer had an awakening, but after the live stream, her Yezi count had reached fifty!

An Yan quickly focused her attention on the ring.

The previously dimmed luster had reappeared, and this time, the spots of light were much more noticeable than before.

Striking while the iron was hot, An Yan started divining Li Tianyao’s situation.

The sliver of light had clearly widened.

She saw Li Tianyao in his study, a tall pile of documents beside him.

But in his hand, he held an ancient, thread-bound book!

Just as An Yan was getting engrossed, Li Tianyao suddenly raised his head. His hawk-like gaze startled An Yan, causing her to quickly withdraw her prying consciousness!

Although she couldn’t continue watching, An Yan was elated because she knew her efforts were effective.

After calming her excitement, An Yan once again began to deduce the ring’s past and present.

Then, well, besides discovering it was a key, she also learned that if she wanted to know more, she had to illuminate the entire ring!

And the only way to illuminate the ring was to disperse all the Bai Wu in her mind and fully reveal the entire tree!

「In the study.」

Li Tianyao sent a message on his phone.

Within a few minutes, Lin Ling arrived.

"Ninth Master, you said you might be on the verge of an episode? What do you mean?"

Sweat dampened the hair on Lin Ling’s forehead.

He carefully controlled his breathing, trying his utmost not to let any extraneous sound disturb the Ninth Master’s thoughts.

"I feel like someone’s watching me."

Li Tianyao toyed with the Buddha Beads on his wrist.

"In the past, whenever I’ve had this feeling, it meant that day was approaching."

Lin Ling was startled and quickly glanced at Li Tianyao’s eyes.

"You’ve said before that it was only after the color of your pupils completely faded that... well, although the color of your pupils has lightened somewhat, it hasn’t completely faded yet!"

Li Tianyao didn’t speak again. His gaze shifted to the light gray sofa to one side.

If the little girl were here, she’d be nestled on it, half-lying and half-sitting, either drinking milk tea, reading a book, or playing on her phone...

The study was dead silent.

The ticking of the clock on the wall sounded like a death knell.

"Master, are you perhaps overly anxious?" Lin Ling asked. "Anxiety can trigger deep-seated unease. Why not call Miss An Yan to keep you company?"

"No."

He had already upset the little girl by forcing her to register their marriage. If he pressured her into staying with him now, he was afraid she would want to run even further away!

"Master, perhaps you should have Miss Qingqing come over? She might have a solution."

"Hmm!"

The man leaned back in his chair, his long eyelashes drooping, veiling those amber eyes that were gradually losing their color!

「At the same time.」

「In a certain residential building.」

A water cup suddenly slipped from a man’s grasp.

It hit the floor and shattered into countless pieces.

He himself uncontrollably spat out a mouthful of blood!

His connection with the ring had been weakened by that mysterious force again!

Yet, he had seen that ring around An Yan’s neck during the day.

Li Tianyao hadn’t touched it at all!

So what exactly was this force?

"Dad!"

Qin Yaya’s voice, soft as a kitten’s, came from outside the door.

Qin Song quickly tidied up. "What is it?"

"I heard something fall, so I brought the broom."

"Leave it by the door. Dad will clean up later."

"Okay."

Qin Yaya obediently left the broom at the door and returned to her room.

Qin Song got up, cleaned the fragments of the teacup, then sat on the bed to meditate and regulate his breathing.

This time, the force was too overpowering.

Last time, he had managed to suppress it with Talisman Paper, but this time, he felt it was no longer possible.

It seemed he needed to retrieve the ring and have it recognize him as its master again.

「Early the next day.」

An Yan saw a construction crew enter the yard next door and begin digging.

Instantly, she suspected Li Tianyao was making preparations for their wedding.

She shuddered subconsciously.

His decision to marry was too sudden and too forceful. He hadn’t given her any right to object. This filled her with intense discomfort and reinforced her determination to leave!

Once I help him find Gu Shifang, I’ll leave! Whether he likes it or not, if it comes to it, I’ll just take the whole family abroad! An Yan thought.

「At the breakfast table.」

An Yaoluo received a call informing him that the production team couldn’t find a suitable replacement for An Duxuan.

There were too few artists in the industry willing to participate in survival-type variety shows.

They also said that if An Yaoluo couldn’t find a replacement for An Duxuan, this installment of the show would have to be postponed, and all costs incurred by the delay would be borne by the An family.

"It’s not a matter of a hundred or two hundred thousand, Mr. An. The losses due to postponement will be at least in the tens of millions! Moreover, if the delay is your responsibility, we won’t dare to work with An Duxuan as an artist in the future!"

A few tens of millions weren’t a problem for An Yaoluo. The crucial point was that if this incident cut short An Duxuan’s acting career, An Yaoluo would feel terrible.

"I’ll do it!"

An Yan put down her chopsticks.

"Big Brother, ask the director if a girl is acceptable. If so, I’ll fill in for Second Brother for this installment."

Just then, she had a sudden realization:

If I participate in the variety show, wouldn’t that be a way to avoid facing Li Tianyao for a while? Being out from under his watchful eye would make arrangements easier. And since this variety show is live-streamed, with an edited version to follow, if I could express my views on the show, wouldn’t I be able to earn more Yezi? Most importantly, I could ’lose’ the ring during the show! If the ring truly is useful to Gu Shifang, he would surely go looking for it! Wouldn’t that lure him out?

"No way!"

An Yaoluo disagreed.

"This director is notorious in the industry. For the sake of ratings, he’s capable of anything."