Chapter 60

After that day, Jiang Zhihuo didn’t talk to Yan Mu again.

Their relationship had been going well, caught in that sweet stage of unspoken feelings—both slowly opening up and testing the waters. But now, it suddenly came to a stop and even started moving backward.

That night was pretty messy.

After going home, Yan Mu sent Jiang Zhihuo a few messages.

He said he made it home safely and then apologized again. Sitting on the edge of his bed while holding his phone, he waited for a long time, but Jiang Zhihuo never replied.

In the end, Yan Mu sent one more message: Good night. Merry Christmas Eve.

The moment he hit send, the time changed from 11:59 PM to midnight. The message was marked as sent at exactly 12:00 AM.

He had wished Merry Christmas Eve too late—now it was already Christmas.

Yan Mu tossed his phone onto the bed, grabbed a towel and some clothes, and locked himself in the bathroom.

The water continued to run as he stood under the shower, hot water streaming over his head. Steam filled the room, forming droplets that trickled down the walls and glass.

Yan Mu didn’t try to make excuses. Everything that happened today was his fault. He didn’t blame Jiang Zhihuo for getting mad and kicking him out. He had gone too far—if Jiang Zhihuo left him waiting for days or even weeks, he would deserve it.

He was too insecure and never considered how Jiang Zhihuo felt. Whenever his jealousy flared up, he stopped caring about anything else.

The next day was Christmas. The shops along the street had already decorated early for the holiday, with snowflake stickers, reindeer ornaments, and everything painted bright red.

The night before, Qu Xiao had set up a Christmas tree at the bar. Next to it stood a one-person sleigh model, surrounded by a fence and sprinkled with foam pellets to make it look like snow.

The setup was festive and looked great. At the top of the tree, the word ‘Xiang Yao’ hung. Many girls took photos on the sleigh and shared them on their social media, which indirectly promoted the bar.

Qu Xiao was pulled over by a few girls to be their photographer. He chose some nice shots and posted them to his Moments along with pictures of the bar.

Boss Qu had many contacts on his account. The post received many likes—Jiang Zhihuo was one of them.

Jiang Zhihuo liked the post early that morning but didn’t reply to Yan Mu. Their chat was still stuck on Yan Mu’s “Good night” from the previous night.

Yan Mu sent him a “Morning.”

It had become a habit lately—whoever woke up first would send a “Morning.” They didn’t talk every day, but that one word brought warmth and closeness. Usually, it was Yan Mu who sent it first, and today was no different. After he sent the message, he got dressed and headed to school.

No. 1 High School had boarding students, and every day around 6 a.m., the school played music over the loudspeaker to wake them up. Today, it was ‘We Wish You a Merry Christmas.’ It was a cheerful holiday song with only a few lines, played on a loop. It sounded good but also a bit maddening. The boarding students were all complaining. No matter how lovely the song was, once it became an alarm, it lost its friendly feel.

On this day, the girls exchanged gifts with each other during the breaks between exams. A few who enjoyed ceremonies had bought a bunch of reindeer antler clips and handed one to everyone in the class to wear on their heads. The apples the class monitor handed out on Christmas Eve hadn’t all been eaten yet, so many students had them for breakfast when they came in that morning.

Yan Mu had brought a gift as well, something he had bought a while ago, planning to give it for Christmas. He waited all day, ready with the present and his apology but he never saw Jiang Zhihuo.

Jiang Zhihuo didn’t show up at school at all.

After the evening self-study, Yan Mu went to Class 1 to ask Chang Luo. A pile of freshly handed-out exam papers was sitting on Jiang Zhihuo’s desk. Chang Luo shook his head and said he didn’t know why Huo-ge hadn’t come.

Yan Mu stood by the window for a while, watching Chang Luo slowly pack up his things. When he finally placed the last paper into his bag, Yan Mu asked, “Can you give him a call?”

Chang Luo turned his head and blinked.

Those two were clearly in a relationship—on the forum, their CP thread kept growing, and people even photoshopped a marriage certificate. Anyone could see it. Given their close relationship and Yan Mu’s inquiry about Huo-ge‘s absence, it was clear that they must have had a fight.

Chang Luo might have been slow-moving, but he wasn’t blind. He didn’t ask any questions; instead, he took out his phone and called right away.

Jiang Zhihuo picked up, but after a few words, he hung up.

Chang Luo looked at Yan Mu and said, “Huo-ge said he’s sick. It’s pretty serious. He’s in the hospital on an IV drip and even isolated. He’s taking a few days off.”

You didn’t even need to hear it to realize it was nonsense. Jiang Zhihuo never gave a valid reason when he requested leave. Chang Luo was used to it by now, but he still looked helpless as he repeated it.

Yan Mu nodded, thanked Chang Luo, and went downstairs.

Jiang Zhihuo didn’t show up for Saturday’s self-study session either.

Yan Mu couldn’t focus on his papers. He opened WeChat and sent a message: Huo-ge.

However, it was as if Jiang Zhihuo had uninstalled the app. There was no reaction at all. The message sank like a stone in the sea.

After another day and night passed, Yan Mu could already tell something wasn’t right.

Given Jiang Zhihuo’s personality, he would never choose to hide like this. Even if they were about to argue, fight, break up, or go their separate ways, he’d still make a point to confront him face-to-face. Disappearing without saying anything wasn’t his style. Giving the silent treatment wasn’t Huo-ge‘s way.

While he was lost in thought, Qu Xiao came to find Yan Mu with updates about Jiang Zhihuo.

Qu Xiao: Young Master Yan, what’s going on?

Qu Xiao: Your Shin asked me for a few days off yesterday.

Qu Xiao: He looked pretty serious when he came… well, to be fair, he’s never not serious.

In front of Boss Qu, Shin’s persona hadn’t fallen apart yet; he still maintained the same aloof, cool-headed ice-face god.

Yan Mu: Why did he ask for leave?

Qu Xiao: He didn’t say, and I didn’t ask either.

Qu Xiao: Asking for a leave here is simple. I’ll approve it as long as someone covers the shift.

Between the lines, he was clearly saying: I took good care of your precious baby.

Yan Mu: Okay, thank you.

Just after finishing the chat with Qu Xiao, a message from He Miaomiao came in.

Yan Mu read the message, turned off the screen, packed up his test papers, and stood up.

“Yan-ge, you going out?” Xie Qiu looked up and asked.

He asked in a low voice, but the classroom was so quiet with everyone focused on their practice papers that Yan Mu heard him clearly. He replied, “Mhm, something came up.”

It was quicker to take the staircase on the Class 1 side to get to the school gate. Yan Mu walked through the corridor that way and passed by Class 1, where a few students stood at the door chatting during a break. That morning, Old Ding had mentioned that Jiang Zhihuo asked for a few days off because of a serious illness. He reminded everyone to work hard for their final year but also to take care of their health.

Now, the group was talking about maybe finding a time to visit Huo-ge.

Yan Mu walked past them and went downstairs.

It was the end of December. The air was so cold that it felt like frost was floating around, and the wind could cut right through your clothes and sting your skin.

He Miaomiao had been waiting at the school gate for a while. The car’s heater was turned up all the way, and as soon as Yan Mu opened the door, a wave of warmth hit his face.

He Miaomiao chose a random road and began driving ahead. Her expression was serious. “I found out—it’s a private detective.”

While waiting at a traffic light, she sent the digital file to Yan Mu. The appendix had several very blurry photos included.

“Someone really is investigating Jiang Zhihuo,” He Miaomiao said. “This guy has a lot of experience with this kind of work. He checked out the area beforehand and avoided the surveillance cameras. Even in the few shots we managed to get, most of his face was covered. We had to do some digging to find him.”

Yan Mu read through the report as he listened, his brows tightly furrowed.

Yan Mu had noticed this a few days earlier. Since he and Jiang Zhihuo had been going places together frequently, he quickly realized that someone was secretly watching Jiang Zhihuo.

Yan Mu had experienced being investigated himself. To the outside world, he was the only young master of the Yan Family. Many people had tried to dig into his life, hoping to find something they could use against his father. However, once they discovered that the father-son relationship was truly terrible, they all backed off.

Because of this, Yan Mu naturally had a knack for these things.

There was no way Jiang Zhihuo hadn’t noticed. Sometimes, his conversations would change direction suddenly—he might have been saying things intentionally for that person to hear. Even though he acted like he didn’t know, Yan Mu couldn’t directly ask him about it. So, after figuring out what was happening, he had He Miaomiao look into who that person was.

Once they had a name, everything else would be easier to explore.

The report stated that a private detective had been hired to look into someone’s daily life. This was pretty standard. People often used this method to catch a cheating partner. Typically, they didn’t dig too deeply, but the skilled ones could find out everything.

Yet why would anyone want to look into Jiang Zhihuo?

And who was behind it?

Yan Mu closed the file.

When it came to Bai Yujun, Jiang Zhihuo had admitted later that his pursuit was merely an act—he was gathering evidence. Yan Mu had also witnessed his skills during Feng Zhi’s incident.

He Miaomiao had said back then that she wasn’t the only one investigating Bai Yujun’s family—someone else was involved too.

All of this was only surface-level stuff, not too complicated. However, there were things that outsiders couldn’t ask about or investigate. Unless you were personally involved, you would never discover the truth.

If Jiang Zhihuo hadn’t told anyone, it meant he would rather not involve others.

The car abruptly fell quiet. The heater filled the space, making it stuffy.

Jiang Zhihuo hadn’t shared a single detail with Yan Mu about what he was up to. The only time he acted strangely was when Yan Mu brought up the man in the suit at the bar.

At that time, Jiang Zhihuo had said he couldn’t explain it yet and asked him not to go to the bar for the time being.

Yan Mu stayed silent, and He Miaomiao focused on driving without interrupting.

She looked at Yan Mu in the rearview mirror. The calm, quiet boy was leaning against the window, deep in thought. He looked really good—nice to look at.

As they drove through the underpass and the light grew dim, she recalled the first time she had seen Yan Mu—at her cousin’s funeral.

Her cousin was Qin Shi, who was Yan Mu’s mother, the only omega in the Qin Family.

The Qin Family was still considered a prestigious clan at that time. Many people had come that day, and she was one of them. She noticed a tiny child, maybe four or five years old. He stood quietly at the edge of the crowd, dressed perfectly, at an age when most kids didn’t understand death. He didn’t cry, and there wasn’t a single spark of light in his eyes.

Thereafter, more events unfolded. The Qin Family fell apart overnight. She never thought the seemingly lifeless little boy would grow up like this. He had changed a lot, but he was still cold. He once pushed her out the door and declared, “I’m changing my name. I’ll take my dad’s surname—Yan. We all have to endure. I won’t forget any of this. My eyes and skin remember everything.”

Her thoughts began to drift, but she kept her hands firmly on the steering wheel. She couldn’t let her mind wander too far. He Miaomiao pulled herself back, and after driving through the underpass, she saw another traffic light ahead. She pressed the brake and gradually brought the car to a smooth stop.

As the car came to a stop, she instinctively looked out the window. Her eyes suddenly narrowed, and she quickly called out to Yan Mu.

“Young Master Yan, look to the right.”

On the right side of the road stood a Western restaurant with clear glass walls on all sides, flooded with bright light. Several tables occupied the windows, but one stood out as particularly familiar.

It was Jiang Zhihuo.

The man sitting across from him was someone Yan Mu had seen before—he was the man in the suit from the bar.

The man wore a professional smile, his fingers interlocked under his chin, watching the person across from him in a calm, unhurried manner, as if he was waiting for a response.

Jiang Zhihuo looked troubled. He pressed his lips together and thought for a long time before finally nodding.

The man lowered his hands, and his smile became even wider.

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The author has something to say:

Just moving the plot forward a bit—it’s not a particularly complicated case.

By the way, Yan-ge‘s cover will be blown in a few chapters. I’ve already pictured the whole scene in my head; I just don’t have enough hands to write it all out, hahaha!

Please feed me some nutrient solution~