"Breakfast is ready, Mr. Qiao is downstairs, he asked me to invite you down for breakfast."
The inevitable was bound to happen.
"Alright, just wait for me a moment," Lin Xinlan closed the door and searched the room, finding only a hairpin encrusted with tiny diamonds.
She held the hairpin in her hand, hiding it in her sleeve, before following the maid downstairs.
The dining table was a small round one, just big enough for two people to sit at.
When Qiao Yiyang saw her coming down, he stood up like a gentleman to pull out a chair for her. She did not refuse and sat down gracefully.
The breakfast was not Western-style, but Chinese cuisine.
There were two delicate plates of Xiaolongbao, a bowl of Century Egg and Lean Pork Congee, along with some pastries and side dishes.
Qiao Yiyang sat down opposite her and smiled, "Xinlan, try these and see how they taste. If they’re not to your liking, I will have them prepare something else for you."
Lin Xinlan really wanted to ask him if he had caught Rong Shaoze. She held back but ultimately, she did not ask.
She was afraid to hear the answer.
"I don’t have much of an appetite..."
"Even if you’re not hungry, you should eat regularly," he interrupted her, placing a steamed bun in the empty bowl in front of her. "Eat it while it’s hot; it won’t taste good cold."
"Qiao Yiyang, just tell me, what has become of Rong Shaoze?" she suddenly asked, unable to hold back any longer.
Whether he was dead or alive, she would accept it.
She had worried all night, her heart suspended in fear. She didn’t want to go on being anxious.
Qiao Yiyang withdrew his chopsticks, his expression bland, "Eat your breakfast first, then I’ll tell you."
Lin Xinlan immediately picked up her chopsticks and ate the bun he had served her. It was a bit hot, but she felt nothing and swallowed it in two bites.
The man served her another, and she finished it just as quickly.
"Have some porridge," he said.
Lin Xinlan began to eat the porridge, taking a few spoonfuls before setting the spoon down and stopping.
"I’m full. Now tell me, how is he?" She asked urgently, but her eagerness was unappealing in Qiao Yiyang’s eyes.
Only matters related to Rong Shaoze could make her so concerned.
Leaning back in his chair, Qiao Yiyang crossed his legs, his hands folded on his knees, his face expressionless and unmoved.
Lin Xinlan stared at him, nervously awaiting his reply.
With a dark and profound gaze, the man remained silent for a few seconds before asking indifferently, "What if he’s dead?"
Lin Xinlan’s heart skipped a beat, and she instinctively argued, "Impossible! He can’t be dead!"
"Xinlan, he really is dead," Qiao Yiyang said coldly, his voice monotone without a trace of inflection, as if speaking of the most ordinary thing.
Lin Xinlan’s mind went blank for a few seconds, her eyes dull, "You think I would believe what you say?"
"Rome is my territory, my people are everywhere. No matter how capable Rong Shaoze is, he couldn’t escape fate," he said.
"Xinlan, he really is dead. If you don’t want to believe it, that’s fine. As long as it makes you feel better, you can think whatever you want."
"I need to see his body..."
"... Alright, I’ll take you to see him later."
Lin Xinlan suddenly stood up so quickly that she almost knocked the table over, and when she stepped back, she knocked over the chair as well.
She turned around in a flurry, unsure where to go.
After spinning in place, she saw Qiao Yiyang and threw herself at him.
"Take me to see him, now, right away..."
She spoke incoherently, her face pale, her composure completely gone.