Chapter 082: Early in the Morning, He Left Her

Shi Runrun stared at the computer screen in disbelief, certain she must be seeing things. Yet, after checking several times, she was forced to accept the truth. The debate draft she’d only half-finished had somehow been magically completed. Even the section on specialized knowledge that had stumped her earlier was now not only perfectly written, but the theoretical framework and analysis were all clearly and elegantly laid out.

She was stunned. Glancing around her bedroom, she confirmed there was nobody else there. If so, who on earth had written this debate script?

Could it be…?

Just then, Sister Li came in to clear away the sweet soup she’d brought earlier. Seeing Shi Runrun frozen in shock, she couldn’t help but laugh quietly behind her hand. “Young Madam, are you wondering who helped you with your draft? While you were in the bathroom washing up, Young Master came in and finished it for you in no time!”

Shi Runrun was speechless. It was actually Xiao Xuezheng…

She blinked in astonishment, but quickly voiced another question: “Where is he now? Why isn’t he here?”

Sister Li replied, “After he finished the draft for you, Young Master got a phone call and went downstairs.”

So that was it…

Shi Runrun’s heart fluttered uncontrollably. She immediately saved the debate draft and sent it to her group chat with Cen Huan. When she’d finished, she picked up her phone, intending to go downstairs and thank him, and perhaps apologize for having cursed him in her heart earlier.

But as soon as she stepped out of her bedroom, before she could even reach the stairs, she heard his cold voice drifting up from the living room.

“I made myself clear last time. If it isn’t important, don’t call me again!”

Standing at the top of the stairs, Shi Runrun was startled by the icy severity in his words. She shrank back, trembling slightly.

She cautiously craned her neck to peer downstairs and saw him sitting alone on the sofa in the living room. Who could have called him, she wondered, to make him speak in that tone?

Downstairs, Xiao Xuezheng ended the call and tossed his phone onto the sofa beside him. Leaning back, he closed his eyes and let out a long, weary sigh.

Just then, the phone he’d carelessly thrown aside chimed again—a text message. With a cold expression and furrowed brow, he opened it.

“Xuezheng, I’m really exhausted. I want to apologize and say I’m sorry. Back then, I framed Shi Runrun because I just couldn’t stand to see you treat her so well, to see you dote on her like that. But I realize now that I was wrong! Can’t you give me a chance to make amends? I know you still love my sister, and I know your feelings for Shi Runrun aren’t true love. Why can’t you give me a chance? By the way, my sister’s memorial day is coming up. When will we go visit her together?”

Reading this, Xiao Xuezheng’s brows knit even tighter, and the chill in his eyes deepened. He rose, took a cigarette from the pack on the coffee table, lit it, and took several slow drags.

Indeed, in just a few days, it would be Zaozao’s memorial day…

With a silent sigh, he deleted the message, took another drag on his cigarette, picked up his phone, and headed upstairs.

At the stairwell, Shi Runrun—who had been sneaking a look—hurried back to her bedroom and hid under the covers. She expected him to come in, but after a long wait, there was no sound at her door.

After a while, Shi Runrun crept out of bed, tiptoed to the door, and noticed the light was still on in the study next door.

He’d gone to the study?

She stood there in a daze, frowning as she wondered who could have called him to make him spend the night alone in the study… and he almost never smoked. She recalled him saying he only smoked when he was in a bad mood.

He had just smoked, which meant he must be upset…

But why?

Shi Runrun was full of questions, wanting to go ask him, but her feet felt like they were weighed down with lead and wouldn’t move. She couldn’t shake the feeling that he was keeping something from her.

The next morning, Shi Runrun woke to the sound of her alarm. Instinctively, she reached for the other side of the bed, but found only a cold, empty space—he hadn’t come back to the bedroom at all.

He’d spent the whole night in the study?!

The thought, combined with his strange behavior the night before, left her with a pang of disappointment.

Nevertheless, she got up, washed, and went downstairs. However confused or disappointed she felt, she still had to get to school on time—today she and Huanhuan were going to discuss the case competition.

But when she went downstairs, the living room was empty. Only Sister Li and two maids were in the kitchen preparing breakfast.

Shi Runrun searched the front and back gardens but saw no sign of him. Returning to the living room, she quietly asked, “Sister Li, where is he?”

There was no need to explain who “he” was.

Sister Li put down the breakfast she was holding. “Young Master left at five this morning—he’s on a seven o’clock flight to America, something urgent over there, I think.”

What?!

He’d gone to America?

He hadn’t mentioned a word to her.

“He left at five? So he barely slept at all last night?” Shi Runrun asked in surprise.

Sister Li nodded. “That’s right. And he didn’t even have breakfast. He told me to wait until you woke up to tell you he’d gone, but I see you’ve asked first.”

Shi Runrun listened silently, feeling her sense of disappointment and frustration grow. What she cared about most was that he’d gone so far away but hadn’t even told her in advance.

America…

Could it be that his grandfather’s health had taken a turn for the worse? Still, he should have told her—after all, she was his wife.

With this tangled, restless feeling in her heart, Shi Runrun absentmindedly ate breakfast, then rode to school in the family car.

At nine o’clock, she attended her first elective. Slumped over her desk, book in hand, her gaze wandered to the blue sky outside the window. She wondered where he was now, whether he was already in the air. From time to time, a plane streaked by; Shi Runrun found herself imagining he might be on board.

Class ended, and Cen Huan and two of their groupmates gathered around her.

Li Leilei, one of them, said, “Runrun, you’re amazing! I read the debate draft you sent last night—it’s fantastic! Especially the professional theory part, you explained such complex ideas so clearly!”

Cen Huan teased, “What’s the big deal? Do you forget who her husband is? President Xiao, CEO of Guangzheng Group! There’s nothing he can’t do! Runrun, fess up—did you get our campus god to write it for you?”