Finally, Nan Qi managed to convince Bo Ranying to abandon her decision. The heart that had been lodged in her throat finally settled, and the suffocating pain draining from her body slowly ebbed away. She could once again feel the steady, warm beat of her heart. The pallor on her face—which had been so gloomy and dim it made Bo Ranying’s own heart ache—gave way to a rosy flush, and a satisfied smile spread across her cheeks, like a glacier melting into a spring breeze.
Nan Qi loosened the fingers that had been clamped desperately onto the steering wheel. Five clear indentations marked the rubberized surface, a testament to just how tightly she had gripped it.
Bo Ranying took in every bit of her reaction.
She wanted to sneak a smile, but the moment hardly called for it. Little Qi was as easy to soothe as ever.
She hadn’t even needed the slightest bit of sweetness—just the assurance that Bo Ranying could keep caring for her, and Nan Qi was delighted.
Bo Ranying tamped down the feeling, tightening her cheeks in a show of restraint. She pretended to notice the business card on the center console by chance and pinched it between her index and middle fingers.
A soft hum escaped her nostrils, laced with teasing skepticism. She adopted an innocent expression as she asked, “When I was tidying up the mess in your car earlier, I accidentally found this business card. Tang Lian—is she a new friend of yours?”
Nan Qi leaned forward and peered at the card. She frowned at the unfamiliar name.
She couldn’t for the life of her remember how it had ended up with her. None of her clients went by that name, either.
After puzzling over it fruitlessly for a moment, Nan Qi shook her head and answered honestly, “I don’t know her.”
Bo Ranying blinked in surprise, realizing that Nan Qi’s account didn’t match what Tang Lian had shared.
Yet Nan Qi’s expression seemed utterly genuine.
Compared to Tang Lian—who was full of schemes, harbored designs on Nan Qi, and had deliberately provoked her emotions—Bo Ranying naturally trusted the woman she spent every day with.
Without missing a beat, she prompted her. “Tang Lian—the girl I met at the bar yesterday. She’s the one who called you for me, and she held the umbrella over us later.”
Her detailed reminder jogged Nan Qi’s memory.
An image flashed in her mind: a mature, glamorous woman in a red V-neck slip dress, leaning toward the car window to ask to borrow an umbrella.
Nothing else stood out.
“Oh, her~” Nan Qi murmured, her tone as casual as commenting on the nice weather.
Clearly, she couldn’t have cared less about Tang Lian.
“The card must have fallen out of her pocket by accident.”
“Is that so?” Bo Ranying drew out the words meaningfully, watching as Nan Qi’s confusion returned at the shift in her tone.
She needed to get the full picture.
“Didn’t you and Tang Lian arrange to swap contact info, get to know each other better, and even meet up today? She’s such a pretty young lady, with an amazing figure too… Without the owner’s permission, and with Tang Lian never even getting in the car, how did her business card end up wedged in Little Qi’s seat?”
Bo Ranying’s voice rose unconsciously, her questions tumbling out in a rush.
Her gaze burned with intensity, as if she were conducting an interrogation.
Nan Qi swallowed hard. Stunned by the barrage of questions, she froze.
It took her a full half-minute to untangle what Bo Ranying meant.
Once she did, the heart that had only just healed began to pound erratically again.
Thump—thump—thump.
The impacts left her chest numb and heavy.
Nan Qi could hardly believe it.
She pressed a hand to her chest and doubled over on instinct, struggling to control the wild heave of her breaths. Dizziness washed over her in waves.
With a voice thick with hurt, she asked, “Ranran, are you doubting me?”
Her ears rang with silence, as if she’d been trapped in some sealing spell. Even her own voice sounded distant and unreal, the words spilling out on pure instinct.
