Nie Yixiao said, "Someone is tracking us. They probably figured it’s risky with a crowd, so they locked the door and set fire using gasoline while Miss Qiao was in the restroom at the amusement park. Luckily, it was a close call without any harm."

Huo Zhenyang’s eyes narrowed slightly.

Second Brother probably knew that Qiao Yongyong followed him back, and he might already know why Yongyong came to Yunling with him.

He couldn’t wait to make his move.

After pondering for a moment, he shifted his gaze and instructed: "George, contact the news agency and amusement park, spread the rumor that a tourist was trapped and seriously burned in today’s restroom fire at the amusement park."

George immediately understood Boss’s intention - to make the younger brother drop his guard, immediately responded, "Yes." Then, he turned around and went to handle it.

The living room quieted down.

Nie Yixiao said, "Today’s incident is my responsibility. Huo, if you have any complaints or penalties regarding the bodyguard industry, I will accept your decisions."

As tough as steel, with a hard spine indeed.

Huo Zhenyang’s lips slightly curled, just about to settle the score when the sound of footsteps came from the stairs.

The two looked upward in response, only to see Jiayi being carefully assisted by Auntie Li, slowly walking down.

This broke the slightly tense atmosphere.

Seeing that her presence interrupted their discussion, with both gazes turning toward her, she felt a bit awkward and paused:

"I was about to fetch the stewed soup from the kitchen... don’t mind me, continue, continue."

Huo Zhenyang’s face instantly softened, he stood up, glanced at Nie Yixiao, "Let it go this time, Nie. Take this as a lesson and be more careful in the future." Speaking thus, he followed Jiayi into the kitchen.

Nie Yixiao seeing Huo Zhenyang’s expression change from sharp like a knife to much softer the moment he saw Jiayi, and following her briskly, his eyes flickered slightly, pausing for a while, then turned and walked out of the villa.

In the kitchen, Auntie Li lifted the soup that had been simmered for hours off the stove, uncovered it, and smiled: "Miss Jiayi’s cooking skills have improved."

Jiayi walked over, bent down to smell, and nodded, "Hmm, smells good."

Auntie Li’s gaze shifted as she noticed the young master coming in, she was about to speak when he gestured for silence, understanding, she quietly left.

Jiayi was just about to ask Auntie Li to help her bring the soup upstairs when she turned and saw Huo Zhenyang standing in front of her, which startled her, almost causing her to spill the soup.

Huo Zhenyang quickly steadied the soup in her hand, set it on the countertop beside him, and nervously lifted her delicate hands, "Did you get burned?"

"No."

Despite her response, as if he hadn’t heard, he blew on her hand twice, with a tone of dissatisfaction, "Such tasks can be done by Auntie Li and the servants. Didn’t I tell you not to get out of bed? Didn’t you listen?"

"I can walk, though it takes effort. Auntie Li was helping me, so it’s fine. I can’t really stay in bed all day; I’d suffocate. Zaizai has a bit of a cough, so I made him some soup with Lo Han Guo and pig lung. He’s used to the soup I make, so I didn’t bother Auntie Li and the others." She felt ticklish as he blew on her hand and couldn’t help but retract it a little.

"Is it a bother to use our own servants?" he added with a hint of displeasure in his voice.

Our own servants...

Even though the misunderstandings with him had been cleared, she was now Miss Chu, not the young mistress of the Huo Family.

She withdrew her hand, changing the topic: "Weren’t you discussing matters with Brother Yixiao?"

"It’s settled, he’s gone." Every time she mentioned the name Nie Yixiao, he still felt a hint of vigilance.

It was like an animal spotting its natural enemy, instinctively protecting its food tightly.

Jiayi remembered something and timidly asked, "By the way, I saw Brother Yixiao holding a bandage on his hand. Was he injured? What happened?"

He lifted her chin, scrutinizing her, "You pay so much attention to him? Don’t tell me you have been watching him all this time!"

She responded exasperatedly, "His hand was wrapped in such thick white gauze, it would be hard not to notice. I am not blind."

He reluctantly accepted her explanation, but his gaze deepened inexplicably, as if an invisible force compelled him to lean closer to her, his breath a mess due to unease: "Tell me, in your heart, who is more important to you, me or him?"

This was the first time he had directly asked her this question.

And he staked his pride, which he always held in high regard.

Jiayi: "..."

All she wanted was to go downstairs to get some soup for Little Baozi to drink, why did she have to face this dilemma?

She began to speak: "I—"

Before she could say the next word, he interrupted, serious-faced: "Forget it, no need to say it, I don’t want to know."

She was at a loss for words.

What do you mean you don’t want to know? His face clearly screamed ’I want to know’ in big letters.

Could it be that he was afraid her answer would be Brother Yixiao?

Could he also have moments of avoidance? 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

Huo Zhenyang saw the slight curve at the corner of her lips and, with an embarrassed expression on his handsome face, picked up the Lo Han Guo pork lung soup she had stewed and walked towards the kitchen door: "Go on up."

"Wait a minute."

Her slender fingers curled, her palm inexplicably sweaty, she called out to him.

He turned around, looking at her in confusion.

"Actually, I started treating Yixiao like a brother a long time ago. He and I had a past, but the past is the past." She fidgeted with the hem of her shirt, too embarrassed to meet his eyes, "I help him not because I want him to be safe and unhurt just because he’s like family to me, and...it’s not for any other reason."

She didn’t know why she was confessing her feelings to him.

Especially when he had already decided not to ask, right?

For a long time, there was no response.

Her heart thumped violently, doubting whether he was listening, until she finally couldn’t bear it and looked up to see him approaching her in a few steps.

His eyes were calm like the sea, deep and generous, a tranquility and softness she had never seen before, as if pleasure was bubbling up from every cell.

It was only at this moment that he realized that what he had been waiting for might just be these words.

Although she didn’t directly answer that he was more important than Nie Yixiao, this answer was already a significant improvement.

"I understand." With these simple four words, he expressed his joy.

As long as she was willing to speak, he would believe her without reservation.

*

Zaizai moved back to his original room and settled in, freshly bathed and working on his homework.

After the two entered the room, Jiayi fed the cough syrup to Little Baozi and, seeing that it was getting late, sat by the bed and asked Huo Zhenyang to fetch a pair of pajamas from the cabinet for Little Baozi to change into.

In the wardrobe, Zaizai’s clothes remained untouched, tidied up by the servants every now and then, clean and neat.

Huo Zhenyang, seeing Jiayi busying herself for a good while and fearing it might affect the recovery of her foot injury, and anxious that Zaizai might insist on sleeping with Jiayi, hurriedly tucked Little Baozi into bed: "Alright, it’s time to sleep."

Jiayi also leaned down and kissed Little Baozi on the forehead: "Go to sleep early, so your cough will get better soon."

Zaizai, wearing a sky-blue cartoon pajama, his bright eyes fixating on the two asked, "Then, is Mommy going to sleep with Daddy?"