Beside him, An Le, who had just crawled out from under the covers on Yan Huan, held her phone with a smile and lay back down. She handed the phone to Yan Huan and asked,

"Bai Yi... who is it?"

"..."

Suddenly, sweat poured off Yan Huan like rain.

He actually wanted to say:

Bai Yi is the fifth host, she’s your friend from before, you definitely know her!

But for some reason, saying this now made Yan Huan feel like he was giving a stupid excuse.

The key point was, this extremely stupid excuse was actually true!

"She..."

Yan Huan took a deep breath, suddenly remembered something, and wanted to call Meow from outside to explain.

But seeing this, An Le chuckled,

"Don’t worry, I replied to her for you... she didn’t get suspicious."

Saying this, she brought the phone a bit closer.

"..."

Yan Huan looked down, only to find that not just Bai Yi, but also Sakuragi Hitomi, Ye Shiyu, and Tong Yingying — she had replied to all of them for him with excuses for not being able to reply for now.

Not only was the format of the reply mimicking his perfectly, but even the tone was seamless.

So basically none of them were suspicious.

Basically...

Except for Sakuragi Hitomi.

"You... are An Le, right? Are you at the President’s place?"

"..."

Looking at the message from Sakuragi Hitomi, Yan Huan blinked.

Beside him, An Le, with a slight blush on her face, leaned on his shoulder, looking surprised,

"I don’t know how Vice President Sakuragi recognized me, it’s so weird... could it be there’s monitoring, or maybe there’s a barrier set up here?"

"...No."

Seeing this, Yan Huan didn’t know how to explain, so he said just that.

After speaking, he glanced at An Le beside him, opened his mouth, but couldn’t say anything.

About everything she just did...

Especially considering the things Little Thumb mentioned during dinner...

Somehow, even though she managed to steer him clear of a chaotic scene with her actions, Yan Huan didn’t feel relieved at all.

"Hmm? What’s wrong, Xiao Huan?"

Feeling Yan Huan’s gaze, An Le pursed her lips and sensibly looked at him.

"Nothing, I was just thinking about your parents."

Upon hearing this, An Le blinked, then she smiled and said,

"Ah, actually, I feel that Dad and Mom don’t ignore me because of my siblings, nor do they not love me.

"Otherwise, Dad wouldn’t come back worriedly to watch over me when I’m not at home, worrying I might do something wrong.

"It’s just, Xiao Huan, sometimes there’s no other way.

"Mom’s health isn’t good, she has to stay at the care center during the late pregnancy.

"The expenses there are high, Dad has to work and earn money and also go to care for her, so he’s inevitably overwhelmed. I actually understand."

Actually, all of this, in Yan Huan’s view, stemmed from their decision to keep the child.

But Yan Huan didn’t have the identity to judge whether their decision was right or wrong, so he could only help An Le in every other way possible.

Family matters can’t be helped, but what about painting?

"What about the painting?"

"Ugh, don’t listen to Little Thumb’s nonsense, it doesn’t understand anything..."

Upon hearing this, An Le sighed, reached out to touch Yan Huan’s face.

After thinking for a bit, she still explained,

"Actually, the problem isn’t with the Golden Lion Group’s contract, nor with the others in the studio... the problem is with myself."

"Yourself again?"

"Really..."

An Le puffed out her cheeks, sat up straight, and said with pursed lips,

"Because at the core, this issue is about my own career planning, about what I really want to do in the future."

"..."

"When it comes to drawing manga, whether it’s just a part-time hobby or if I really want to make it a career."

An Le’s mind has always been clear, although she appears soft and cuddly outwardly, she actually understands everything; many times, she just doesn’t say it.

Like now...

"I know I have a lot of potential in this field.

"Whether it’s the invitation from Golden Lion Entertainment or the great success of my recent work, my account followers on social media are also growing...

"Made quite a bit of money...

"But, if I really want to make it a career, it seems like..."

An Le held her phone, looked at Yan Huan and spoke softly,

"I still don’t dare tell Dad and Mom about what I’m drawing, nor do I dare let anyone else know...

"Moreover, I attend a place like Yuanyue Academy. Dad and Mom spent a lot of money, likely hoping I’d find a decent job...

"If I graduate from here and choose to draw manga instead... ugh..."

At the end, An Le smiled helplessly, looked at Yan Huan.

She opened her mouth, then gently reached out her arms, hugging Yan Huan, and whispered,

"If I hadn’t gone to this school, maybe I could pursue this path with peace of mind...

"But if I hadn’t come here, hadn’t met Xiao Huan...

"I would definitely regret it...

"Regret for the rest of my life."

Feeling the warmth of her body, Yan Huan opened his mouth.

At the moment, neither An Le nor Yan Huan had any trace of desire, only the hearts drawing closer to one another.

"Thump... thump... thump..."

It was only at this moment that Yan Huan felt her heartbeat, hidden beneath desire.

That was, her everything.

"Well, but anyway, things aren’t so bad..."

As she said this, An Le smiled and retreated a bit, looked at Yan Huan,

"Maybe now there’s no way, but in the future maybe there will be... right, Xiao Huan?"

"..."

Hearing this, Yan Huan smiled slightly.

But actually, he was not the kind of person who believed "everything will work out in the end."

Maybe he was before, but after going through so many modifier twists, he wasn’t anymore.

If this was An Le’s concern, he would rather do something immediately.

"...How about a shower?"

Expressionless, his eyes twinkled slightly, but when he spoke he extended the invitation.

"Sure..."

An Le nodded, happily got off the bed to look for slippers.

Before leaving, she tidied up Yan Huan’s scattered slippers and placed them neatly by the bed.