CHAPTER 245: CHAPTER 245: GIVE UP STRUGGLING

"Don’t cry."

He reached out to wipe away her tears, kissed the corner of her eye, pulled her up, and embraced her tightly.

He thought he might really be about to fall ill. He couldn’t remember at all what had just happened, nor why he had made the little girl cry. Lu Feng wasn’t here; neither was Lin Ling! He couldn’t get any clues.

An Yan lay quietly in his arms. She didn’t know what else she could say. Growing up, this was the first time she had experienced a love confession. According to TV drama plots, either he would accept, and the two of them would sweetly start dating, or he would refuse, and they would part ways. But what did his silence and just holding her mean?

Twilight slowly descended, enveloping the villa in darkness. The courtyard lights flickered on.

Wen Ya came to knock on the door, "Ninth Master, Miss, dinner is ready."

Only then did Li Tianyao let go of An Yan and call out to the door, "Bring it in half an hour."

After speaking, he carried her upstairs, helped her wash up and change clothes. Once everything was ready, he carried her back downstairs.

Wen Ya had already set out the food. Seeing An Yan being carried down by Li Tianyao, Wen Ya grinned dopily, "Ninth Master, Miss, please take your time."

Li Tianyao never did respond to her "I’ve fallen in love with you," but An Yan didn’t care anymore at that moment.

Who cared? She liked him and wanted to be with him, so they should just be together. As for what he thought, what did that have to do with her? "I love you, and it’s none of your business! If you happen to love me too, then... good for you, you have taste!"

The meal was lavish. Li Tianyao, as always, served her food and ladled soup for her. It was as if the unpleasantness between them had never happened.

An Yan activated her X-ray vision and scanned his brain. It seemed no different from a normal person’s. The retina... Hmm? Was Li Tianyao wearing colored contacts? Underneath the contacts, the color of his irises was becoming grayish-white. So he was wearing colored contacts just to hide the color of his pupils, so she wouldn’t worry?

In an instant, An Yan understood why Li Tianyao had lost control earlier. He must have felt that he was about to fall ill. At that moment, he was worried that once he became ill, she would leave him. And that cooperation agreement had confirmed his suspicions!

Her heart ached inexplicably. She had unintentionally hurt him again.

"Li Tianyao, let’s go see my elder brother, shall we?"

Li Tianyao was startled. "Meet An Yaoluo? He’s come to Yuncheng?"

An Yan looked at him in surprise. Wasn’t it because of this that he had doubted her and argued with her?

Her reaction made Li Tianyao realize something was amiss. "Did I forget what just happened?"

"Then, what do you remember?" An Yan asked anxiously.

"I remember you saying you love me!"

An Yan: "..."

"Did I bully you? Because An Yaoluo came to Yuncheng, I suspected you of being unfaithful to me? Then what did An Yaoluo come here for?"

"You said he was with Mo Shiyan’s people," An Yan stated.

"Oh. I remember now. I’ll have Luolie take you there later."

"You’re not coming with me?"

"As long as I don’t appear, Gu Shifang won’t dare to make a move. He’ll be constantly worried and suspicious, afraid that I might already be at his door!"

An Yan nodded. This was the strategic game between Gu Shifang and Li Tianyao.

Li Tianyao picked up a shrimp and fed it to her. "As for the Golden Thread Worm, I’ll do my best to find it for you before I fall ill. You just need to wait."

An Yan nodded. "Okay."

"If I’m unfortunate enough to fall ill, go back to Luocheng Villa and focus on your research. At that time, Lu Feng and Luolie will return to Shangjing City to manage Li Group’s affairs, but everyone else will stay by your side."

An Yan nodded. "I understand. I’ll stay in Luocheng and wait for you to come back for me."

Li Tianyao nodded with satisfaction. "Don’t even think about running off to another country. Blackstone Group is mine too!"

An Yan: "..."

The shocked expression on the little girl’s face greatly pleased Li Tianyao. He couldn’t help but lean down and kiss the corner of her mouth. "There’s no escape; you can only wait obediently for me."

His voice was full of triumph. Next, his only mission was to capture Gu Shifang! Before he fell ill, he *had* to catch Gu Shifang and hand him over to the little girl for imprisonment. With Gu Shifang in her hands, his forces would naturally hesitate to act rashly, fearing they might harm their own interests. Given enough time, they would inevitably disintegrate!

"As for the rumors online..."

"Let them be!" This was the game between Feng Jingnian and Mo Shiyan; he couldn’t care less who won or lost! He had initially thought about intervening because he was worried about the little girl’s reputation. But now that she had said she wanted to use this opportunity to gain more fans, he would let her be. However, since Feng Jingnian had chosen to be Gu Shifang’s dog, that man could not be spared!

「Online.」

Rumors about An Yan and Mo Shiyan were rampant. Feng Jingnian directed his subordinates to clip all the footage of An Yan and Mo Shiyan together from that episode of "Escape from Desperate Island" and release it. They interpreted it from every possible angle, practically ramming it down everyone’s throats that An Yan was Mo Shiyan’s mysterious girlfriend.

Consequently, An Yan’s fan base skyrocketed once more. The short video’s view count quickly surpassed one hundred million.

An Duxuan, as the definitive male lead in the three short videos, also started to gain a following.

[Watching this makes me grind my teeth; I wish I could jump through the screen and slap him a few times!]

[Same here, An Duxuan really brought the scumbag character to life.]

[Boohoo, An Duxuan is so handsome, why does he have to play a scumbag? And one after another at that! As a pure ’face-value fan,’ I can’t even bring myself to ship the characters in the drama!]

[True acting makes you forget the actor themselves! An Duxuan, keep it up, looking forward to more of your works.]

[Please play a good role next time, please!!]

[If there really are no roles, An Duxuan, you could do a reality show, right? I want to see An Duxuan on a reality show!]

[I heard An Duxuan is going to be in the second season of that survival show, but why hasn’t it started yet? Hurry up and start, or you’ll lose a distinguished VIP member like me!!]

[...]

An Duxuan never expected he’d shoot to fame in the entertainment circle in such a manner. That very day, he received several audition invitations from film crews.

He had been worried his sister would be misunderstood by Li Tianyao because of this. However, after contacting An Yan and learning that she had cleared things up with Li Tianyao, he simply stopped worrying. Let the rumors spread as they will!

Meanwhile, the survival reality show seized the opportunity, immediately getting him to rejoin for the filming of the second season!

An Yan wasn’t bothered by the online rumors anymore. No, she *was* paying attention to them.

Even on her way to meet An Yaoluo, she checked it several times, watching her fan count steadily climb and the view count soar. It left her in high spirits.

Her tree seemed just as delighted, its leaves visibly becoming sleek and glossy.

An Yan had an idea and used the Divination Technique to try and locate Gu Shifang.

Hurry, hurry, hurry, good Yezi, tell me, where, oh where, is Gu Shifang?