Chapter 49

The house had been renovated for over half a year, and his parents had never visited. Shen Youwei was the first person he had brought over.
Today was the first time they had “fired” here, and Shen Youwei had even used AI to calculate an auspicious time for him to do it.
To prepare for cooking later, Guan Shanyan went to change, not expecting Shen Youwei to secretly watch him at the door.
His movements paused slightly, then he calmly put on his T-shirt and walked toward her.
Shen Youwei, who had just been trapped in Chen Qing’s car, suddenly appeared in Guan Shanyan’s new home, probably because he hadn’t been able to reach her and used the in-phone recording.
Timing aside, well…
She casually put her phone away and smiled at Guan Shanyan: “Hi”
“…” Guan Shanyan looked down at her: “So you’re here secretly taking pictures of me changing?”
“Don’t put it so harshly,” Shen Youwei tried to defend herself. “It’s just my daily save.”
Ever since Chang Xin said their in-game “save files” only lasted 24 hours, Shen Youwei had developed the habit of saving daily. This came in handy now.
Unfortunately, Guan Shanyan wasn’t buying her excuse: “You really had to take pictures of me changing?”
“I said it’s for saving, and we’re close enough that ‘sneaky’ doesn’t matter,” she joked.
Guan Shanyan once again marveled at her audacity, but didn’t have the energy to argue. “What happened? I couldn’t reach you.”
Shen Youwei was furious: “Don’t ask, I was kidnapped by Chen Qing!!”
Guan Shanyan frowned: “Kidnapped? Where?”
“Near Mocha Complex. Chen Qing pretended to leave, but he didn’t!”
His eyes narrowed: “I told you to go straight home. Why did you go to Mocha Complex?”
“I wanted to check on Aunt Xu, who knew…” Shen Youwei pouted. Everything had happened so fast, and all her boxing training was useless. “I saw Xu Qairan get in his car and tried to pull her out, but Chen Qing shoved me in too and threw away my phone.”
“Did Xu Qairan reconcile with him?”
This made Shen Youwei even angrier: “He took private photos of her and threatened to post them online if she didn’t meet him!”
Guan Shanyan pressed his lips together. “Where is he taking you?”
“I don’t know. He’s acting crazy, really unstable,” Shen Youwei recalled. “But Jiang Peipei did call him during this.”
“Jiang Peipei?” Guan Shanyan was surprised to hear the name again. “He knows Chen Qing?”
“His roommate knows him. That’s why I suspected the anonymous posts on the forum!” Seeing Chen Qing’s phone display today still surprised her. “These two are working together, like some revenge alliance.”
Guan Shanyan remained silent. If they were indeed collaborating, Xu Qairan wasn’t their only target.
“Should we go to Mocha Complex to stop Xu Qairan from being taken?” Shen Youwei worried; if Xu Qairan was alone in Chen Qing’s car, who knew what could happen.
Guan Shanyan said: “If he has her photos, he can lure her out anytime.”
Shen Youwei frowned. He was right, they could only stop him once, not forever. “But the photos are in his hands. There’s nothing we can do.”
It was indeed a tough problem. Guan Shanyan had no immediate solution: “Let’s go to Mocha Complex first and deal with today’s situation.”
“Okay.” They prepared to leave, and Guan Shanyan changed clothes again, making sure the bedroom door hadn’t been opened secretly.
Shen Youwei, caught once before, behaved this time and waited in the living room. When Guan Shanyan came out, she stood: “Changed? I already called Aunt Xu. We’re going for lunch.”
“Mm.”
“Aunt Xu has been wanting to treat us, and today’s a perfect chance.”
“Then let’s go.” Guan Shanyan grabbed the car keys and gestured for her to follow. Shen Youwei glanced at her phone and stopped him.
“Wait a bit.”
He looked back. She smiled: “Two more minutes until the auspicious time. Let’s start the fire before leaving.”
Guan Shanyan: “…”
They waited two minutes in the living room. Guan Shanyan then turned on the stove and turned it off again.
He seriously questioned his own intelligence.
Shen Youwei was satisfied and finally willing to leave with him.
As they arrived at Mocha Complex, Shen Youwei immediately saw a car parked at the entrance. “It’s Chen Qing!”
Guan Shanyan saw him too. He unbuckled his seatbelt and said to Shen Youwei in the passenger seat, “Don’t get out. I’ll go deal with him.”
With that, he opened the door and got out. Chen Qing was arguing with the security guards, flaunting his status as a Chen family heir in an attempt to intimidate them.
“Mr. Chen, so it’s you.” Guan Shanyan walked up and addressed him. Though he normally wasn’t particularly warm when speaking to people, these words made Chen Qing shiver.
Chen Qing turned to see Guan Shanyan approaching with a cold expression. They had met before, and Chen Qing had already sensed Guan Shanyan’s hostility toward him. Being grounded earlier was surely because Shen Youwei had reported him to his parents.
“Oh, Designer Guan, you live here too?” Chen Qing scrutinized him, his smile forced and insincere.
“Aunt Xu invited us for lunch. I wonder what brings you here, Mr. Chen?” Guan Shanyan replied calmly.
“I’m here to see Xu Qairan. These security guards won’t even let me in.”
“Does Mrs. Chen know you’re bothering Xu Qairan again?”
Mentioning this made Chen Qing lose his temper immediately: “So it was you who reported me to my mom! Don’t think just because my mom likes you, you can meddle in our Chen family affairs!”
Guan Shanyan’s expression remained cold: “I have no interest in your family affairs. But Xu Qairan is my sister’s friend, so she’s like half my sister.”
The sister he mentioned, of course, was Shen Youwei, which only made Chen Qing angrier. He looked at the car behind Guan Shanyan, certain Shen Youwei was inside: “Shen Youwei, get out here.”
He raised his hand, pointing at the car glass as if to advance, but Guan Shanyan grabbed his wrist and stopped him: “Mr. Chen, I don’t have a very good temper.”
Chen Qing, caught by the wrist, felt the full force of Guan Shanyan’s grip. He didn’t know where Guan Shanyan got so much strength, his bones felt like they were about to be crushed. “Let go, ”
He gritted his teeth, his face turning red.
“I’m warning you, don’t lay a hand on my sister,” Guan Shanyan said, his voice low and filled with threat.
“I understand. Let go, ” Chen Qing felt as though he could hear his bones cracking. In a daze, he recalled a news story about a man who had knocked out a wild boar with his bare hands, wasn’t the protagonist Guan Shanyan?
Guan Shanyan glared at him for two seconds before finally releasing his wrist. Chen Qing gasped for air, staring at his now bruised and swollen wrist.
Is he even human? A moment later, he had no doubt he might have permanently injured his hand.
Guan Shanyan ignored him and returned to the car, driving it into the community. Outside, Chen Qing had also made the property contact Xu Qairan. Now, when someone knocked at the door, Xu Qairan immediately became alert: “Who is it?”
“It’s me” Shen Youwei’s voice came from outside. Xu Qairan cautiously checked through the video intercom before opening the door for Shen Youwei and Guan Shanyan.
Aunt Xu was preparing lunch in the kitchen. Shen Youwei and Guan Shanyan greeted her before sitting down in the living room. Xu Qairan brought them two bottles of drinks and sat beside them.
“Chen Qing has been dealt with. Don’t worry,” Shen Youwei said, twisting open her drink and thinking about how to bring up the photos. “If he contacts you again, don’t respond.”
“Don’t worry. I’ve already blocked all his contacts,” Xu Qairan said.
“He could still use a fake account.” Shen Youwei squeezed her drink bottle and glanced at Xu Qairan. “Does he have any leverage over you? I’m worried he might use it to threaten you.”
Xu Qairan shook her head: “I haven’t done anything illegal. What leverage could he possibly have?”
Then, she frowned slightly, as if recalling something. Shen Youwei noticed and asked, “Did you just think of something?”
Xu Qairan paused, then shook her head again: “No.”
She didn’t want to talk, and Shen Youwei didn’t press. But Chen Qing remained a ticking time bomb.
“Time’s tight today. I only managed to prepare some home-style dishes, don’t mind them.” Aunt Xu said gratefully to Shen Youwei and Guan Shanyan. She had planned a big meal, but they came suddenly and she didn’t have time.
“No way, Aunt Xu, your cooking is amazing! Just being able to eat what you make is a blessing!” Shen Youwei said immediately.
“You flatter me.” Aunt Xu placed a rib on her plate and said to the others, “Everyone, eat up.”
Guan Shanyan nodded politely and started eating. Xu Qairan picked up a bite, but seemed distracted. When Xu Qairan went to the kitchen, Shen Youwei followed her: “What’s wrong? Did Chen Qing contact you again?”
Xu Qairan pressed her lips together, then finally spoke with determination: “He contacted me through a fake account and sent some photos.”
Shen Youwei asked: “Private photos?”
“Yes, he said if I don’t meet him, he’ll post them online.”
Shen Youwei paused, then said: “Report it. The messages he sent can be used as evidence.”
“But if I report it, won’t he just spread the photos everywhere?!” Xu Qairan clutched the photos, afraid to act rashly.
“The police can make him delete them in front of them.”
“What if he has backups? You can’t trust a word he says.”
“True. Who knows how many copies he secretly kept? If the person threatened doesn’t care, the threat is meaningless, but who wouldn’t care? If it comes to that, we can just claim the photos were AI-generated. Many people would believe it.”
Xu Qairan: “…”
It wasn’t a perfect solution, but it was something.