Five years after my wife's death, she came back!

At noon, the dark clouds in the sky dissipated, and warm sunlight streamed into the room through the window.

Shang Nian was tired from playing and fell asleep in Shi Ying's arms. Her little hand was holding Shi Ying's finger. Shi Ying tentatively pulled it away, but Shang Nian frowned and quickly grabbed it again.

She sighed, and could only let her fingers be pulled by her.

Shi Ying touched her soft hair, finding it unbelievable even to herself.

You see, in the real world she keeps her distance from children. Whenever relatives' little brats come to her house during holidays, they make a ruckus and leave a mess, which always gives Shi Ying a huge headache.

But she always felt a strange sense of closeness to Shang Nian; seeing her happy made her happy too.

Perhaps it's because Shang Nian is very well-behaved and polite, and Shang Chenyan has taught her very well, that's why she likes her.

It seems she doesn't dislike children, but rather annoying little brats.

Shi Ying yawned. The thick, soft carpet in the bedroom was warm and cozy, making her feel sleepy.

When Shang Chenyan came in, he saw the two of them squeezed on the carpet, with Shi Ying leaning against the sofa and Shang Nian lying on her lap.

This scene was something he had imagined countless times in the dead of night.

In the first year after she disappeared, Shang Chenyan felt as if he had lost the whole world.

He searched for her all over the world in vain, leading his men to search for her again and again. Each time he found nothing, he would lock himself in his study to drown his sorrows in alcohol and give up on himself.

Until Pei Yanchuan burst in carrying Shang Nian, pulled back the curtains, and shoved Shang Nian into his arms without a second thought.

Xiao Shangnian has a pair of very big, round eyes, just like hers.

He felt as if he were holding a warm little ball of flesh, and Shang Chenyan hadn't felt human body temperature and vitality in a long time.

Pei Yanchuan pointed his finger at him and cursed, saying that if he couldn't be a father, he would find Shang Nian another father.

Shang Chenyan stiffly held the child, staring at Xiao Shangnian. She seemed to smell the unpleasant odor of alcohol, and her little mouth twitched as if she was about to cry.

Shang Chenyan instinctively bounced up and down, coaxing her in a hoarse voice.

This is his and Shi Ying's child, with her blood flowing in his veins. Just thinking about it makes his heart tremble; an indescribable bond binds them together.

Even as the full moon hung high in the sky, he couldn't bear to put down the little bundle of flesh.

The year after she disappeared, Shang Chenyan had a feeling that the world was erasing all traces of her existence.

I first had this feeling at a university reunion.

He always kept to himself during his school years, and apart from his two friends Pei Yanchuan and Ji Huanzhou, he had no other friends.

Shi Ying was a ray of sunshine that broke through the darkness of his life.

He only attends those boring classmate reunions because of her.

At the reunion, someone brought out their graduation photo from back then and joked about how everyone had changed over the years.

The man paused, pointing at a girl's figure, and asked, "Who's this?"

The others crowded around, scratching their heads in confusion: "This is... I can't remember?"

Shang Chenyan stared silently at the person in the photo for a long time before finally uttering his first words of the day:

"That's Shi Ying."

"Oh!" The group slapped their foreheads. "Right, right, it's Shi Ying!"

"I don't remember her at all? Was she not very noticeable in class?"

Shang Chenyan wanted to say, no, she has a strong presence. She's like a little sun, always smiling at everyone around her.

Later, he contacted Shiying's roommates and classmates from her university, but their impressions of her were very vague.

Later, when he talked about Shi Ying with Ji Huanzhou, there was a moment when Ji Huanzhou looked confused.

He seemed to have a hard time remembering who Shi Ying was.

One day, Shang Chenyan sat at his desk, staring blankly at the group photo placed on the side of the desk for a long time.

"Yingying..." In the empty study, he called out Shiying's name in a panic, but only the room was silent in response.

"Shi Ying... Shi Ying..." He began calling her name over and over again, covering the wall with all their photos, and looking at them over and over again as if torturing himself.

He kept searching his mind for every little detail between the two of them, talking about the past with Ji Huanzhou and Pei Yanchuan every day, which made Pei Yanchuan scold him for being crazy.

He was so afraid of forgetting her.

A very soft rustling sound of fabric could be heard in the room. Shi Ying wasn't sound asleep. She fought against sleepiness for a few minutes before struggling to open her eyes.

The first thing that came into view was Shang Chenyan's face, which was very close to his.

His warm breath fell on her ear.

Shi Ying was so frightened that she pushed him away.

Shang Chenyan wasn't flustered or guilty. He lowered his voice and chuckled, "The ground is cold. I want to carry Niannian to bed."

Shi Ying looked down at Shang Nian in his arms and cursed himself for being narcissistic. He almost thought Shang Nian was going to steal a kiss from him.

Shang Chenyan bent down and picked up Shang Nian, then turned to look at her: "Do you need me to help you up?"

"No, no need, I can get up by myself." Shi Ying's legs were a little numb, so she supported herself on the sofa to stand up. "President Shang, it's almost two o'clock, and Niannian is asleep, so I'll head back now."

Shang Chenyan's hands, hanging by his sides, clenched quietly: "Aren't you going to have dinner before you leave?"

"No... I have something to do." Shi Ying declined.

Shang Chenyan smiled and didn't try to stop him: "Okay, I'll have the driver take you."

His polite and distant attitude made Shi Ying breathe a long sigh of relief; she still preferred her boss to be a bit aloof.

Shang Chenyan went downstairs first, and when Shi Ying followed her out, she suddenly remembered the underwear that had been drying in the guest room the day before yesterday, and she paused.

The man's figure disappeared around the corner of the stairs. Shi Ying peeked out, then quickly turned and went into the guest room, thinking of finding them as soon as possible and destroying them.

She searched the bathroom but couldn't find it, nor in the cabinet. Shi Ying knelt on the floor and peered under the bed.

"What are you looking for?"

The sudden sound startled her. Shi Ying instinctively straightened up and then heard a muffled groan from the man. Her head had bumped into his hand.

She had been lying down looking under the bed, but she got up in such a hurry that she almost bumped into the bed frame. Shang Chenyan blocked her with his hand.

"Mr. Shang, are you alright?" Shi Ying stood up awkwardly, her hands clasped together like a child who had done something wrong.

Shang Chenyan frowned slightly: "I'm fine. But what are you looking for?"

Shi Ying blushed with embarrassment, her voice barely audible: "I'm sorry, Mr. Shang, I didn't mean to, it's just... I lost a piece of clothing when I stayed overnight that day, and I wanted to look for it."

Shang Chenyan seemed puzzled: "Then you could have just said so, 'Have you found it?'"

Shi Ying shook his head.

Shang Chenyan, ever understanding, said, "Do you need me to help you look for it? Zhang Ma might have put it somewhere when she was cleaning the room. I'll ask her."

"No, no, no! It's not necessary!" Shi Ying was on the verge of tears. "Forget it, it wasn't anything important anyway. If it's gone, so be it..."

Shang Chenyan nodded coolly: "Alright, the driver is already downstairs."

Only after Shi Ying left by car did the smile on Shang Chenyan's face completely disappear.

Yingying seems to be avoiding him today. Ever since he helped her treat her wound, she has been intentionally or unintentionally avoiding him.

What did he do wrong? Why is Yingying avoiding him?