Chapter 84 When is Another Day?

At eleven o'clock at night, Chu Yuxuan dragged his weary body back home.

As he stepped out of the elevator, he saw a burly figure sitting in the hallway.

"Big Brother!"

Third Brother quickly stood up, greeting him with a smile.

Chu Yuxuan frowned and reproached, "You know the password to my door, so why are you sitting here? Aren't you cold? Third Brother scratched his head and leaned closer to Chu Yuxuan, whispering, "Fifth Brother said Second Brother was shot. I was worried about Sister-in-law's safety..." Just then, Zhao Yanan's door suddenly opened. The elegant woman was fully dressed, standing at the entrance with a slightly awkward expression as she looked at Chu Yuxuan. She explained, "I let him in, but he insisted on sitting at the door."

Chu Yuxuan smiled faintly, patted Third Brother's arm, and said, "Let's go to my place."

"Okay..." Third Brother replied, greeted Zhao Yanan, and then went back to his room.

Chu Yuxuan took a deep breath, looking completely exhausted. He leaned against the wall and, as a habit, pulled out a cigarette and placed it at the corner of his mouth.

As he was about to light it, Zhao Yanan walked over, took the cigarette from him without any ceremony, and pointed at the "No Smoking" sign on the wall with her chin, saying, "Can't you see?"

Chu Yuxuan helplessly put the lighter back into his pocket. After a pause, he grinned and said, "You're still up this late, all dressed up... waiting for me?"

Zhao Yanan shot him a glance and replied, "I'm handling some company matters."

"Alright..." Chu Yuxuan said, lowering his eyelids as if he was about to fall asleep, showing no interest in small talk. He rested his head against the wall and looked at Zhao Yanan with a faint smile.

Zhao Yanan crossed her arms, her gaze somewhat distant.

After a long silence, Zhao Yanan spoke first, "Are you okay?"

"What could be wrong..." Chu Yuxuan laughed, "It's not like I haven't been to the Criminal Investigation Team before."

"Mm..." Zhao Yanan replied, falling silent again.

In fact, she wasn't referring to this, but rather about Xia Zhu.

He must be feeling terrible now...

"Yanan," Chu Yuxuan suddenly said, "Do you remember what I told you this morning?"

Zhao Yanan gave him a questioning look.

"Let's have a meal together when I get out."

Zhao Yanan hesitated for a moment before replying, "Mm, another day."

"When is another day?"

"After these next two days."

"When will you be done?"

Zhao Yanan:...

Chu Yuxuan continued, "How about I give you a day off tomorrow?"

Zhao Yanan pursed her lips, "The weekend."

"Deal!" Chu Yuxuan raised his right arm, making a fist-bump gesture.

Zhao Yanan asked, "What's that for?"

"It's a habit I picked up abroad. To reach an agreement, you bump fists," Chu Yuxuan smiled, "Or, according to Chinese etiquette, we could shake hands."

"No need." Zhao Yanan firmly declined.

Seeing that Chu Yuxuan still held out his fist, seemingly unwilling to give up, she lightly tapped it as a formality. Chu Yuxuan lazily said, "It looks like you're not fond of this foreign habit. Let's just shake hands." Zhao Yanan took a deep breath and suddenly remembered that her friend Zhou Xiaoruo had mentioned before that Chu Yuxuan asked her about her symptoms when he went for treatment... The beautiful CEO's expression grew complex, and she avoided making eye contact with Chu Yuxuan. She lowered her head, bit her lip, and slowly extended her hand.

Chu Yuxuan gently grasped her fingertips and naturally shook them up and down for about three seconds. When he sensed that Zhao Yanan wanted to withdraw her hand, he let go gently. From start to finish, he didn't make it seem deliberate, just a simple handshake.

But Zhao Yanan could see through his well-intentioned pretense, and her emotions started to shift subtly.

Gratitude? Awkwardness? Or perhaps a sense of shared pain and empathy?

Regardless of the emotion, Zhao Yanan unexpectedly wanted to ask, "What exactly is wrong with your mental illness? And why were you abused?" But the words were stuck in her throat, and she swallowed them back, instead saying, "You look very tired. Go get some rest." As she said this, Zhao Yanan anticipated that he would make a sarcastic comment like, "Concerned about me?" However, Chu Yuxuan merely nodded, said goodnight, and walked with heavy steps toward his own home.

Before closing the door, he reminded, "Yanan, lock the door."

Zhao Yanan responded softly, then turned and went inside, closing the door. She leaned against it, her mind replaying the image of their handshake.

In that moment, Chu Yuxuan's gaze had been truly gentle.

For this pair of pretend spouses, tonight was a rare calm encounter—no bickering, no unhappiness.

Instead, it felt a bit warm.

On the other side, Chu Yuxuan also stood behind the door, resting his forehead against it, smiling with satisfaction, murmuring, "Three seconds..."

Soon, a burp came from the living room, followed by Third Brother's muffled voice as he stuffed his mouth with food, "Big Brother, are you feeling dizzy?"

Chu Yuxuan:...

He turned to see that the clumsy fellow was sitting on the sofa, holding a can of craft beer in his left hand and a rolled-up steak in his right. Truly, wine and meat go through the stomach but leave their mark on the heart.

"Don't like using forks and knives? At least use chopsticks. Aren't you worried about burning your hands?"

Third Brother grinned, "This meat is chewy. Chopsticks don't work well."

Chu Yuxuan helplessly said, "Just eat. There's plenty in the fridge... Oh, right, isn't the bank card with you? When you have time, buy a car for Fourth Brother. It'll be more convenient."

Third Brother took a swig of beer and said, "I ordered a Raptor. He said it's convenient for carrying things..."

At this point, Third Brother shuddered and muttered, "Big Brother, that guy has too much negative energy. When we went to see the car, the salespeople's attitude was bad. I saw him directly holding the cross on his chest. He only does that when he's thinking of killing someone. You should keep an eye on him; otherwise, it could cause trouble."

Chu Yuxuan laughed, "He knows his limits. He won't act recklessly."

Just then, Fifth Brother called.

"Big Brother, that guy with the surname Jin seems to have disappeared. We can't find him anywhere."

Chu Yuxuan pondered for a moment and said, "No rush. Keep an eye on the Gao family. Since they want to deal with Chu Zhiqing, they will definitely contact us again."

"Okay... Big Brother, when you find him, you must hand him over to me. I owe Second Brother a bullet, and I want to return the favor."

Hanging up the phone, Chu Yuxuan thought about Chu Zhiqing, who was under the supervision of the inspection team, feeling a mix of emotions.

But he wasn't too worried—according to Gao Ning, the Gao family and the second branch were colluding to target Chu Zhiqing. But who was Chu Zhiqing? If the second branch had collected evidence of his crimes, wouldn't he have noticed? It didn't seem possible.

After thinking for a while, Chu Yuxuan sighed and called Second Brother.

"Big Brother, I was just about to call you. I found out that your dad is at the Ministry of Public Security."

Hearing the pained voice on the other end of the phone, Chu Yuxuan's face grew stern. "Hmm... Second Brother, rest well and don't worry about anything else... We have only five left, and none of us can afford any more accidents!"