Qi Nian, who had slipped away, bolted the door as soon as she returned to her room and then leaned against it to calm her pounding heart.
Later, she guiltily remembered that to her uncle, Yuran was a stranger, and yet she’d left him in the care of her ill-tempered uncle. Was that not too heartless?
But her uncle was so scary, she didn’t dare...
Qi Nian paced anxiously around her room, despising herself and gathering her courage.
After biting her lip, she thought, "If I die, so be it. I can’t betray loyalty . Yuran helped me so much; how could I be so shameless?"
Mentally preparing herself, she slowly cracked the door open.
She peeked her head out to find the hallway empty, which immediately threw her into panic. She dashed out to ask her uncle where he’d taken Yuran, only to see the study door tightly closed. Just as she approached, someone opened the door.
Seeing who emerged, Qi Nian froze in place, awkwardly smiling, "Little, little uncle..."
Qi Younian hesitated and didn’t look pleased. Qi Nian wasn’t sure if it was her imagination, but for the first time, she sensed a pleasure in his eyes.
She didn’t even worry about possibly being scolded and quickly asked, "Little uncle, did you send Yuran away?"
"No, she’s in the study, we have things to discuss. You go ahead with your stuff."
Qi Nian’s eyes brightened, but then she frowned and followed Qi Younian into the kitchen, "Little uncle, why can’t I hear what you’re discussing? I want to listen too."
Qi Younian stopped pouring water and turned to face her; Qi Nian tensed up, staring at her toes without speaking; Qi Younian sighed, "Some things aren’t suitable for you to hear. But thank you for bringing her to help."
Eh? Am I... being praised? That’s rare.
Qi Nian’s mood improved, and she tentatively asked, "So with this matter, little uncle, you’ve let it go and won’t hold it against me, right?"
"Yes, I won’t hold it against you, but don’t let it happen again."
Qi Nian’s spirits fell again, "I understand."
Qi Younian returned to the study and handed Yuran some warm water, feeling sentimental though it was hard to say whether it was nostalgia or something else, "You..."
"I’m sorry." Yuran accepted the water and apologized.
Qi Younian was taken aback, then shook his head, "There’s nothing to apologize for. I was a bit angry at the time, but later I no longer felt that way; I’ve regretted it until your death."
Yuran smiled slightly, "There’s nothing to regret. You did nothing wrong; it was my problem. If I had listened to you more, I wouldn’t have put myself in such a situation. I heard from Qi Nian you’ve been dealing with Yinchao."
Qi Younian’s anger flashed momentarily before he composed himself, "’Empress of a Generation’ was a script made especially for you. With you gone, they naturally don’t have the right to continue producing it using Fu Bairan. Mo Yue must not be awake yet."
Yuran chuckled at him, "Don’t dwell on it; I personally think it doesn’t matter."
"It doesn’t matter?" Qi Younian seemed angry, "To you, my efforts are just trivial, aren’t they?"
Yuran was taken aback, not sure how to explain, and sighed deeply, "Younian, you know what I mean. For the rights to ’Empress of a Generation,’ just have Yinchao pay up and sell all your shares in Yinran Entertainment. Are you interested in trying again with me?"