38 The Pain Felt Distinctly Clear (2/2)

Long Tianze laughed coldly. ”Naturally, I'm the one bringing her home. You have no right to do so. I've long wanted to lecture you — what do you take Mo Li for? Ye Xiaotian, who do you think you are?!”

Ye Xiaotian did not answer him. He looked over at An Xiaoning instead. ”Oh, isn't this Beicheng's Sister?”

An Xiaoning could not be bothered to talk to him. ”Please respect her wishes. If she wants to leave with you, nobody's going to stop her, but if she's unwilling, please let go of her. This is not a place where you can behave as you wish.”

Ye Xiaotian loosened his grip as expected. ”If that's what Young Mistress Jin wants, of course I wouldn't dare to not show face to Jin Qingyan and Beicheng.”

A smile full of significance lingered on his face. With one hand in his pocket, he turned away and headed towards the door.

When Mo Li staggered, An Xiaoning helped her to a chair.

”My head hurts, I want to sleep…” She leaned on the sofa and closed her eyes.

”Let her sleep here first. I'll bring her to my lounge later — I'm not sleeping here tonight,” Long Tianze instructed.

”Sure, Young Master Long. It seems like you have a close friendship with Mo Li?”

Long Tianze flashed her a smile. ”We grew up together. Her mother was our housecook, so we are good friends who grew up playing together.”

”Oh, I see.” An Xiaoning just finished speaking when her eyes landed on the balcony area on the second floor.

A familiar figure was back-facing them, and standing right beside this figure was Chi Rui'er. Long Tianze noticed that her stare was fixed above and saw the two figures as well.

Long Tianze was at a loss for a moment, then he suggested, ”Sister-in-law, should I call them down?”

”Don't,” An Xiaoning stopped him. ”We just came to let loose for a while, we'll leave soon.”

Long Tianze nodded and poured another glass for her and Mei Yangyang. The three clinked their glasses again. Mei Yangyang drank down her second glass — she was close to a state of unconsciousness at this point.

An Xiaoning saw that she could not drink anymore and said, ”Stop drinking and rest for a while. I'll send you back later.”

Mei Yangyang murmured a reply, leaned on the sofa, and fell asleep as well.

Amongst the four, only Long Tianze and An Xiaoning remained clear-minded at this point.

She raised her head again and realized that the two on the balcony area had disappeared.

It turned out they had come down.

An Xiaoning saw that Long Tianze was about to stand up, but she stopped him. ”Wait for a while.”

He nodded, then watched with An Xiaoning as Jin Qingyan and Chi Rui'er moved to the bar to sit.

Jin Qingyan had not realized anything, but at this point, Long Tianze was in a flurry of panic.

He wanted to get his phone out to send a text to warn Jin Qingyan, but seeing the look of calmness on An Xiaoning's face, he seemed to have understood something. Hence, he decided against doing it eventually.

”If he didn't see me, don't tell him I'm here,” An Xiaoning stated. ”I'm leaving in a while with Yangyang.”

”Okay.”

A moment later, Long Tianze carried a sleeping Mo Li towards Jin Qingyan's direction.

Long Tianze did not speak to him indeed as he carried Mo Li upstairs, but An Xiaoning was staring at him from a distance. Maybe because there was nobody around her looking, or because they were shrouded in darkness, she was able to look at his every move and facial expression fearlessly, even managing to interpret his words from the shape of his lips.

She was consciously reminded to leave, but her body seemed to be glued to the sofa. Finally, feeling uncomfortable in her posture, she even took off her shoes and hugged her legs as she watched.

Perhaps because she was watching too intensely, when Jin Qingyan turned around incidentally, his gaze landed on her direction.

His gaze met her eyes — even in the dark, the recognition of this familiar pair of eyes was something that came naturally to him.

An Xiaoning's heart sank the moment she was exposed, but she did not hide immediately. As their eyes met, the pain she felt at that moment was distinctly clear.