Zhong Ziyan estimated that the second young miss’s livestream would take a while to finish, so she shut Ah Tao away and headed to the pool to pass the time.
Surviving in the infinite space required mastery of every skill, and swimming was child’s play for her.
Zhong Ziyan effortlessly swam two laps in the fifty-meter pool, emerging as if it were nothing.
When she heard Wei Hanyun’s footsteps, she had just finished the last few meters. She surfaced by the pool’s edge, pushing back her dripping wet hair as she turned to look at him. “You’re back early today.”
Wei Hanyun was still dressed in his shirt and vest, though his suit jacket was nowhere to be seen.
He walked along the poolside toward her. “Things wrapped up smoothly.”
“Hungry?” Zhong Ziyan asked automatically. “I’ll cook.”
Wei Hanyun stopped a step away from her and crouched down. “Let the head chef handle dinner today.”
Zhong Ziyan folded her arms on the pool’s edge, tilting her head up to study him for a moment before declaring, “You’re in a bad mood.”
Wei Hanyun smiled faintly.
Sometimes, Zhong Ziyan was so oblivious it seemed like her brain was wired differently. Other times, her perceptiveness was downright unsettling.
“So, do you want to talk about it, or find another way to vent?” she asked. “I’m very experienced at stress relief. You can trust me.”
“What would you do?” Wei Hanyun countered.
Zhong Ziyan almost blurted out high-altitude free-falling or monster-slashing to hone combat skills, but caught herself at the last second. “Extreme sports,” she said vaguely.
If Fang Nan were here, he’d be giving her that deeply disapproving look again, Wei Hanyun mused.
“But with me around, you won’t get hurt,” Zhong Ziyan raised her hand in solemn promise. “It’ll be super, super safe.”
“Like what?”
Zhong Ziyan rested her chin on her hand, mentally scanning through the map of City H.
No particularly high roller coasters, no skydiving spots likely open as night fell, and fighting zombies was obviously out of the question.
After a long pause, she suggested, “I’ll take you for a drive. Using your car, of course.”
The only car registered under her name—an NSX-R—was currently in the care of Wei Ziqian back in distant Yan Capital, while every vehicle at Tingshan belonged to Wei Hanyun.
Not that she minded borrowing one, as long as she got to drive.
Wei Hanyun reached out a hand to her. “Then I happen to know the perfect place and the right car for it.”
Zhong Ziyan took his hand and, with barely any effort, leaped out of the pool as lightly as if she weighed nothing.
“Or here’s another idea,” she shook the water off her feet and proposed, “Tell me what’s bothering you. Maybe I can think of a good solution.”
Solution (physical or magical).
Wei Hanyun shook his head. “Just a passing frustration.”
Zhong Ziyan hesitated between using mind-reading or respecting his privacy, then chose the latter out of moral principle.
“So I’ll just have to count on you to cheer me up with that drive,” Wei Hanyun wrapped a towel around her dripping form. “Go shower. Don’t let my chauffeur catch a cold.”
Zhong Ziyan wanted to remind him again that her constitution didn’t allow for illnesses, but decided actions spoke louder. Clutching the towel, she padded off to the sauna.
When she returned, she found Wei Hanyun still reclining on a lounge chair near the pool, eyes closed, his breathing steady like a man deep in sleep.
Zhong Ziyan tiptoed behind the chair and peeked over the backrest to check on him.
Thanks to his impeccable upbringing, even asleep on a poolside lounger, Wei Hanyun looked effortlessly elegant—hands clasped over his abdomen, head perfectly aligned.
Wei Hanyun naturally exuded an air of nobility, his most commanding feature being those penetrating eyes that seemed to see through everything.
With them closed, he looked almost boyishly innocent, like a fresh graduate just stepping out of academia.
Zhong Ziyan stared for a moment, then instinctively pulled out her phone and searched: Wei Hanyun, age.
Twenty-eight, as expected.
Putting her phone away, she rested her arms on the chair’s back and admired Wei Hanyun’s sleeping face for a while before quietly casting an elven spell for tranquility.
Just a few whispered syllables could bring profound calm and restful sleep—one of the elves’ specialties.
As the magic settled over him, his body visibly relaxed further.
Zhong Ziyan crept to the neighboring lounger, texted the butler to explain the situation, then checked her messages. Sure enough, there was a link from the second young miss.
Before opening it, she remembered to follow the girl back on Weibo.
Whatever speculation or chatter that might stir, Zhong Ziyan paid no attention.
Her following count merely increased from four to five—previously consisting of Luo Yin, Luo Yin’s fan club, Li Ye, and Wei Hanyan.
Swiping Weibo closed, she settled into a comfortable position and opened the charity foundation’s reports and documents.
She’d assumed charity work wouldn’t involve complex corporate-level paperwork. Though daunting, she’d planned to power through.
…Then the first spreadsheet appeared—dozens of pages crammed with data in varying font sizes.
Zhong Ziyan: “…” Heaven forsake me!
Taking a deep breath, she plunged forward, only to find her brain shutting down by the second page.
…Eventually, she dropped the phone onto her stomach and surrendered to sleep.
Outside, the sun dipped toward the horizon, its light shifting from white to gold, then red, spilling through the windows to warm Zhong Ziyan’s bare feet.
She curled sideways instinctively, undisturbed as she slept on—until the butler finally descended to rouse them.
The moment the elevator arrived, Zhong Ziyan’s instincts snapped her awake. Her eyes flew open, all drowsiness gone as she sat upright.
Recognizing the visitor, she relaxed again, stretching inelegantly before glancing at the minimalist wall clock.
Figuring Wei Hanyun had napped long enough (any more would disrupt his nighttime sleep), she signaled the butler for silence and leaned over to dispel the elven magic.
Normally, the spell lasted eight hours, ensuring a full night’s rest, but now she had to forcibly undo it.
—Which, in simple terms, meant Zhong Ziyan patted Wei Hanyun’s head.
The butler stood by, wearing that inscrutable smile unique to his profession.
Wei Hanyun stirred awake slowly. Meeting Zhong Ziyan’s gaze at close range, he murmured sleepily, “I dreamed of you… with golden hair.” His voice still carried the huskiness of sleep.
His eyes flickered briefly to Zhong Ziyan’s perfectly ordinary ear tips before discreetly looking away.
Zhong Ziyan: "……" This shouldn't be happening.
Could Wei Hanyun be referring to her appearance in the infinite space?
"But the you in my dream was a little different from how you are now," Wei Hanyun mused, recalling the fleeting fragments of his fading dream. "……This version is better."
In the dream, the golden-haired Zhong Ziyan wore not a trace of warmth in her eyes. Her breathtaking beauty, almost beyond human limits, radiated nothing but icy killing intent and obsession.
Yet the peculiar energy that enveloped Wei Hanyun felt like the complete opposite—warm and comforting, like a safe haven.
"Just a dream," Zhong Ziyan swiftly brushed off the topic with a raised brow. "Time for dinner."
Wei Hanyun hadn’t enjoyed such a refreshing nap in a long time. When he rose, he felt invigorated, as if all the day’s frustrations and fatigue had melted away, leaving him cleansed from the inside out.
Even the family infighting that had weighed on him earlier now seemed trivial.
Zhong Ziyan stole a glance at Wei Hanyun, relieved to see he wasn’t dwelling on the image of a golden-haired, pointy-eared elf.
After dinner, Wei Hanyun suggested they take a walk to digest before going for a drive. Just then, Fang Nan called to report something, so Zhong Ziyan took the opportunity to print out the documents Second Young Miss had sent earlier from the nearest printer.
Hua Shuangshuang was still on a business trip in London, so sending her the files wasn’t ideal. Fang Nan’s sarcastic tone made him an automatic skip. As for the money trees—though highly intelligent—they each had their specialties and were still growing, so she hesitated to involve them.
That left only one candidate.
Zhong Ziyan stuffed the printed documents into a kraft paper folder and glanced discreetly in Wei Hanyun’s direction.
She had seen him work many times—his efficiency was almost superhuman, processing lines at a glance and juggling multiple tasks effortlessly.
So her plan was simple: first, take him for a drive to put him in a good mood, then casually ask if he could help audit the files while he was feeling agreeable.
When they got into the car, Zhong Ziyan swiftly tossed the folder into the trunk before turning to Wei Hanyun. "Let’s take this one tonight—it has the best performance."
Though she didn’t know much about car models, she had test-driven every one of these outrageously expensive vehicles herself!
Wei Hanyun, walking a few steps behind, caught sight of her swift, dart-like motion. After a brief pause, he mercifully pretended not to notice, quietly taking the passenger seat, buckling up, and pulling up the navigation on his phone.
Well… everyone deserved their little secrets.
