The engagement was with the younger brother, but I've fallen for the older brother.

Upon hearing this, Yan Tingnan paused at his lips, raised an eyebrow, and put his wine glass to his lips.

"Not that kind of relationship?"

He scoffed, turned his head to look at him as if he were a dead duck.

"He Sichen, we're both old enough to stop pretending."

"Do you even believe what you're saying?"

He Sichen didn't reply, his hands in his pockets, gazing at a row of blurry lights along the distant mountain ridge.

Yan Tingnan had no intention of letting him off the hook.

"At Huo Siyue's birthday party, your eyes were practically glued to that little girl. Do you really think I'm blind?"

"Do you take me for a single-celled organism like Wen Jinxiao?"

He Sichen's lips twitched slightly.

"You have a pretty good eye for observation."

"As a married man, do you think I wouldn't see the look on your face that says you'd eat someone alive?"

Yan Tingnan scoffed.

"If you hadn't taken advantage of her that night, I'd change my name."

"I've thought through all the little tricks you're using."

He Sichen did not deny it.

Yan Tingnan wasn't in a hurry; he simply pointed the bottom of his cup in his direction.

Your silence basically tells you the answer.

"Furthermore, regarding Project Lighthouse, Yu'an invested hundreds of billions in the project and gave it away to the Si family for free."

"In all these years I've known you, He Sichen, when have you ever made a losing deal?"

He Sichen turned his head and glanced at him.

Why are you talking so much tonight?

"Ruan Ruan went to soak in the hot springs, so no one's watching me."

Yan Tingnan shrugged: "I'm just bored, so I'll take care of you."

"Don't change the subject."

"What benefit do you get from binding the exclusive rights to the Si family heir without a marriage clause?"

He Sichen slowly raised his eyes, his gaze calm.

"The contract itself is in Yu'an's favor."

"Yuan needs Chenxi's production capacity and distribution channels, while Chenxi needs Lighthouse's technology; it's a two-way match."

"I don't need to tie someone down to lock in a business deal."

After listening, Yan Tingnan suddenly laughed again.

"You can fool those old guys on the board with what you're saying."

"You're lying to me?"

He placed his wine glass on the railing, turned around and leaned against it, putting his hands in his pockets, as if he wanted to have a leisurely chat.

"Old Crane, I've been there."

"When I transferred those assets to Ruan Ruan back then, I also went through this route."

"Do you know what this is called? It's called males building nests at any cost during courtship."

He Sichen did not refute him.

Yan Tingnan continued, "Why didn't you intervene when He Nanxian was being held hostage by the tail?"

"It's easy to get past the old man; they're all grandsons of the He family, so it doesn't matter who gets replaced."

After a long silence, He Sichen finally spoke.

"First, I don't intend to tie her down through marriage."

"She is a free spirit at heart; she should be the one to choose the direction of her own life."

At this point, He Sichen paused for a moment.

"The relationship between her and me now, to put it nicely, is blurred; to put it bluntly, it's undefined."

"Only when she's figured things out herself and tells me what she wants will it be considered settled."

"Before this, any decision I made unilaterally was a form of coercion."

Yan Tingnan couldn't help but smirk.

"Are you waiting for her to choose?"

"Um."

"What if she doesn't choose you?"

He Sichen brought the wine glass to his lips and took a sip.

"That's what I deserve."

Yan Tingnan raised an eyebrow but didn't interrupt.

"Secondly, I have a psychological aversion to marriage, and you know why."

Yan Tingnan's expression softened slightly; of course he knew about He Sichen's parents' situation.

"Okay, I accept that reason."

Yan Tingnan nodded and asked again.

"And what about you? Have you thought it through?"

He Sichen slowly lowered his eyes.

"I'm addicted to her, physically, psychologically, in every way."

He paused, then added a sentence.

"But there's a path between addiction and love that I've never walked."

"I don't want to use her as a test case. She deserves a definite answer, not an attitude that I myself can't figure out."

A night breeze swept up from the valley, making the bamboo curtains on the terrace rustle.

"We need time."

He concluded by saying...

"Let her figure out what she wants, and let me figure out myself too."

Yan Tingnan patted him on the shoulder.

"You're like a fox with meat in its mouth, but unwilling to swallow it."

"Keep it in your mouth, the meat will fall off if you keep it in your mouth for too long."

"She's not a lame rabbit that can't run. Whether you let go or not, she has her own path to walk."

You should know how fast she can walk.

"By the time you figure it out, they've already run away."

He Sichen picked up his wine glass and drank the wine in one gulp.

"She has legs on her body, I would never pursue her."

Yan Tingnan stared at him, then chuckled.

"Do you think I believe you?"

Yan Tingnan raised his wine cup, signifying a truce.

"I used to pretend like that too, and I even went to a temple in the southwest to hide for a few days."

"And then?" Tsuru Sho asked.

"And then he almost killed someone."

He Sichen pressed further, "Did you think about these things back when you were with Su Ruan?"

Yan Tingnan put his hands in his pockets, took two steps toward the exit of the plank road, then stopped and looked back at him.

"I don't have as many twists and turns as you. If I run into something in the southwest, I'll just accept it."

"Remember this: young girls can't wait, and stubborn old men like you can't wait either."

Without waiting for He Sichen's response, he waved his hand and went down the plank road.

"I'm going down to find Ruan Ruan. Figure it out yourself."

Si Yimian stood behind the bamboo grove and listened to their conversation from beginning to end.

Suddenly, I felt the tightness in my throat that had been there for days ease.

She was still figuring out how to bring it up.

The Lighthouse agreement is signed, the shares are in hand, the plane tickets are booked, and the visa is tucked in my passport.

All that's left is to say goodbye to He Sichen.

She hadn't figured out how to phrase it.

It's not difficult to pull off something like this—but the psychological barrier is quite high.

After all, aside from being stubborn, this man had never wronged her in any way.

The bedding is top-notch, his character is top-notch, and even the way he cleared obstacles for her was incredibly cool.

Running away directly makes her seem a bit scumbag.

But now, after hearing these words, she felt completely relieved.

That bastard, you might say he doesn't understand, but he understands better than anyone else.

You might say he understands, but he gets stuck on the definition.

However, he wasn't sure if he loved her.

Actually, she wasn't sure if she had fallen in love with him.

He felt it would take time, but she felt that time should be spent on more valuable things.

She can gamble on stocks, projects, and trends, but she would never gamble on whether a man truly loves her.

She came here to live a fulfilling life for the original owner, not to continue being consumed by the original owner.

Her biggest task in coming into this world was to live out every day that the original owner of the baby didn't have time to live.

That's why she chose to study abroad.

She has no interest in mending uncertain relationships.

There are only two choices: either enjoy it or leave.

He Sichen was quite generous, so she took him for these three months.

He can't give a definite answer now, so he'll figure it out himself.

She has no obligation to give emotional enlightenment lessons to a thirty-year-old man.

There are so many things in life worth giving your all to; relationships are the last thing on the list. We'll talk about them after she finishes the previous chapters.

If fate allows, mountains may not turn, but water will.

If we're not meant to be, then let's each be awesome!

The world is so big, she still has a long way to go.