rose ashes

Luo Yang just glanced in the direction of Tian Tian's gaze, then quickly looked away, pulling Tian Tian away from the store.

Tian Tian was puzzled, "Why didn't you go in after seeing it?"
As expected, he still doesn't know the ways of the world. Luo Yang just shook his head and said concisely: "He is talking to someone else. It's not appropriate for me to go in and interrupt him. Besides, if I go in, he will ask me what I am doing here, won't I be exposed?"

Tian Tian seemed to be thinking about something, but still felt something was wrong. She muttered, "You trust him so much, why do you still worry about the unfounded Bai Yueguang from Bian Yao's unreliable mouth? I really don't understand you..."

Luo Yang was stunned, her eyes lost focus for a moment, and she was speechless to refute Tian Tian's words.
The two of them just walked towards the cake shop, and Tian Tian no longer dwelled on this issue, which only added to Luo Yang's worries.

Tuesday is Ye Gu's birthday. Few people can figure out this young master's preferences. Luo Yang didn't hesitate and gave the cake maker the pictures he had found in advance on his phone.

Luo Yang was a frequent customer of this store before going abroad. The cake chef also had a deep impression of Luo Yang. Looking at the pictures on his mobile phone, he smiled.
"Are you sure you want to order this style? Will it be... not suitable?"

Luo Yang understood what he meant and just chuckled, "No, just make this style and I'll come pick it up on Tuesday."

The baker thought for a while and said, "No problem. Come get it in the morning. That way you'll have more time."

/ / /
When Ye Gu arrived here, he had already seen Luo Ke standing in the corner waiting with a smile on his face.

Liu Min walked in front of him and stopped Luo Ke from getting closer.

Having failed but not learned any wisdom, Luo Ke looked at Liu Min angrily, as if he was a stumbling block every time.
Liu Min didn't care about her look at all. He just took out the things Ye Gu asked him to do and put them on the table as a routine.

Luo Ke didn't know the truth, she was so happy that she thought Ye Gu specially invited her out for dinner. When she heard the news, she knew that Ye Gu definitely had no feelings for Luo Yang, so the marriage was just a formality.

But now Ye Gu just sat opposite him with an indifferent expression, and even ignored the cup of milk tea on the table that she had specially ordered for him.

"Brother Ye Gu--" Before she could finish her words, Liu Min raised his eyes and interrupted her.

"Miss Luo, I asked you to come here today because there is something that requires your presence. Of course, if you don't want to, you can take a look at this document first and then make a decision."

Luo Ke had a premonition, but she still kept the curve of her lips, and looked at Ye Gu stubbornly with the face she couldn't let go of.
"What's going on?"

After a while, Ye Gu finally looked at her condescendingly, but only for a moment, and said, "Meet Xu Changhuan."
As soon as the name came out, Rocco's eyes suddenly changed and sank to the bottom, and the chair made a harsh sound because of being dragged.
She looked at Ye Gu with a serious expression, "I don't know the person you are talking about, why should I meet him?"

Ye Gu was neither in a hurry nor did he say anything. He just stretched out his hand, knocked on the table, pushed the document in front of Luo Ke, raised his chin slightly, and was as flamboyant as ever.

Luo Ke swallowed gently, looked at the brown paper document bag, hesitated for a long time, and then slowly sat down.

She has come to where she is today with great difficulty, and she cannot easily lose everything she has now, so she has to be cautious in everything she does, and she will completely eliminate any object or person that may pose a threat to her.

She pulled the cotton string of the file bag slowly and untied it, like Pandora's box. Rocco stared at the thing in his hand without blinking.

There were only two pieces of paper in the file bag. Just a few glances made Luo Ke's face turn pale, his fingertips trembled, and he looked at Ye Gu.
"I don't understand what this means. It has nothing to do with me."

Ye Gu raised his eyebrows, he was really stubborn.

He nodded nonchalantly and snapped his fingers.
"It doesn't matter if you don't understand. I understand. Today I have some free time, so I will explain it to you."

"You should be familiar with that DNA test. You were the one who had it placed in the mailbox at the entrance of Luoyang Consulting Center, right?"
Luo Ke didn't say anything, but when he wanted to shake his head, Ye Gu chuckled in his throat.

Liu Min stretched out two fingers and hooked it backwards, then quickly handed over two photos.

The photo is a little blurry as it was taken from a video, but the figure can still be identified. It is a man who put a document in the mailbox at the door of Zangxing Psychological Counseling Center.
The second photo shows Rocco meeting this man.

Ye Gu didn't like to make things too clear, so he just said lightly: "You just need to remember that I know everything I want to know. I don't think you are that stupid."

Luo Ke looked at the two photos on the table and had no words to refute, but he still forced himself not to admit it.

Liu Min was very sensible. He saw that Ye Gu didn't want to waste time with this woman here, so he pushed the bank statement document away.
"Ms. Luo, this document is the transaction details of the money you send to your father every three months. I think you should know it best, so there is no need for me to explain it in detail."

Luo Ke stared at Ye Gu. It was not without reason that this young and promising young master in front of him could make so many seniors give him some respect.

Ye Gu knocked his knuckles on the table three times in a measured manner, turned his head, and said, "See you? Or not?"

Luo Ke was unwilling, but now that he had such a handle in his hand, if she didn't go to see him, she had no idea where the documents in Ye Gu's hand would go.

She rolled her lips, her voice trembling slightly: "I'll see you."

Ye Gu stood up and was about to leave. Liu Min only asked Luo Ke to wait here for a while. She called Ye Gu with a hopeless look in her eyes.
"If I meet him, will you tell Luo Jiancheng everything?"

Ye Gu turned his back to Luo Ke, without looking back. He just sneered silently, said nothing, and walked away, leaving Luo Ke alone to guess without reason.

Liu Min didn't know what to do. Looking at Luo Ke, he felt helpless and advised kindly: "If you don't do anything to the young lady, your life will not change at all."

Luo Ke couldn't stand hearing these words and sneered, "Why should I trust you? Don't people like you always do whatever you want? Why would you change because of anything I do?"

Liu Min sighed and said nothing more, just thinking that he was meddling in his affairs.

"Xiao Ke."
Xu Changhuan's footsteps were so light that even when Luo Ke came to his senses, he had just noticed him and he had already sat down opposite him. The man's temples were covered with black and white hair, and the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes were expressionless but still lingering. His eyes were exactly the same as Luo Ke's, and he still had the elegance of his youth.

Luo Ke did not respond, but just turned his head away, his tone stiff and distant.
"We're not that familiar with each other, so it's not appropriate to call me that."

Xu Changhuan rubbed his hands awkwardly under the table, just smiling with the corners of his mouth. He wanted to ask something but hesitated, and his eyes never left Luo Ke.

"Xiao Ke, you've lost weight. Are you not eating well?"
After a long while, he could only utter such a pale greeting.

Luo Ke seemed to be suddenly detonated, and his whole body exploded instantly. He turned his eyes and stared at him.
Her tone was sharp and sarcastic: "You really don't need to be so hypocritical, but there's nothing more to say. We have no relationship at all now, so why do you need to come and see me? I have always transferred money to you. As long as you have money, you don't need to see me anymore."

Xu Changhuan was slow of speech and could not utter a word. He just let Luo Ke vent his anger.

It took a long time before Xu Changhuan was able to speak.
His voice was hoarse, and he didn't even take a sip of the new tea on the table. The tea looked very expensive, and it must have cost a lot of money.

"Xiao Ke, is your father treating you well now? Your mother... I feel sorry for her, but I really didn't want to go there to play back then—"
Luo Ke sneered, not wanting to listen to his explanations over and over again.

"I am doing well now, and my mother is doing well too. No one needs your apology, and I don't want to hear your explanation anymore. I came here today just to agree to other people's requests. Don't come to see me again in the future. I am now a member of the circle, and I no longer have a father like you. I hope you won't show up again, as I will feel embarrassed. If you are not satisfied, I will give you more money. That's it, we have nothing to say."

Xu Changhuan's tears flowed to his mouth, and the salty taste was overwhelming.
"Xiao Ke, you were not such a child before... You have always been very kind."

Rocco stood up, drank the cappuccino in front of him, and took out a piece of paper to wipe the remaining stains from the corners of his mouth.
"People change. I feel disgusted when I think of my past self. When I see you, I think of my past self and feel sick. Please stop being so self-indulgent."

After saying that, Rocco left without looking back. When he was at the door of the store, he threw a wet tissue from his drooping palm into the trash can.

/ / /
It took a long time for Xu Changhuan to leave the store, and he was taken away by a black car at the door.

In the car, Ye Gu said nothing. He just held his lips and stared out the window in the direction where Luo Ke had just left.

"Your eyes are exactly the same, Mr. Xu."
The words were so loud that Xu Changhuan, who was sitting next to him, suddenly shrank his back, concentrated and held his breath without saying a word.

They are all smart people, and Ye Gu can figure out some obvious things on his own even if Xu Changhuan doesn't say them.

For example, there is something called heredity.

After seeing Xu Changhuan off, Ye Gu returned home the same way he came, but did not find Luo Yang at home. When he asked Li Ma, she also said she didn't know where she was.

He searched room by room patiently and saw Luo Yang's cell phone on the watch display cabinet in the cloakroom, but he didn't find the person.

Ye Gu didn't want to stay, but his phone kept buzzing. Ye Gu lowered his eyes and looked at the name of the contact in his phone -
沈繁
It feels a little strange, but there is also an inexplicable sense of familiarity.

Ye Gu just watched the phone ringing quietly on the display cabinet without answering it. Until the call ended automatically, Ye Gu clapped his hands suddenly and realized something.

Oh, it's that younger brother.
Oh, it’s that younger brother again.

Ye Gufeng's eyes were stern, then darkened. She pursed her lips and tried to calm down, but her cell phone rang twice mechanically. It was the notification tone of a message.

This is Luo Yang’s cell phone.
He reminded himself to exercise restraint.

But the phone didn't know what was going on and rang twice again.

"I just saw it accidentally, yes, accidentally."
After brainwashing himself, Ye Gu quickly and smoothly picked up the phone.

Luo Yang doesn’t have the habit of setting a password, so he can see the message content as long as he opens his phone.

The content is quite long, and it seems like a short essay.
Although Ye Gu's performance in Chinese is weak, there is one thing that teachers always praise: he is good at grasping the key points.

I didn’t see anything else, just a few words——
"I like you", "regret", "missed", "can I still call you sister"

He sat on the display cabinet, full of anger and very irritable.

"Still regretful?! What regrets are you making?"
"Oh! You missed it? Did you miss it after you were familiar with each other? You still want to have it? What are you daydreaming about!"
"Like you, you big-headed ghost?!"
"Still calling me sister? You're relying on your youth, right? Don't think I don't know that people like you are called green tea nowadays!"
"You don't even know whose corner it is before you try to dig it up. I'll make your house collapse right now, believe it or not!"

I didn't know how long I kept mumbling to myself, and I didn't even know when Luo Yang came in.

Luo Yang had just finished taking a shower when he heard some rustling noises in the cloakroom. He felt very strange and came over to see Ye Gu sitting on the display cabinet like a lonely child, muttering to himself something.

Standing behind him, Luo Yang tapped his shoulder.

Ye Gu was still angry and waved his hand in a bad mood.
"Who is it?! Can't you see I'm busy?"

Luo Yang was stunned, but did not expose her. He just lowered his voice and imitated a male voice, saying, "What are you busy doing?"

Ye Gu didn't even think about it, and just said: "Busy getting my little brother to live in a suitable ruin as soon as possible!"

(End of this chapter)