After returning home with the child, her ex-husband knelt down and gently coaxed her.

After a while, Anning poked half her head out of the bathroom door again.

"Good evening, west Yan."

This time, Lu Xiyan walked to the door, looked at her and smiled, "Good evening."

An Ning met his smiling eyes and couldn't help but curl her lips into a smile.

She just wanted to call out to him a few more times and hear him respond.

Otherwise, she would feel like she's dreaming.

After washing up and coming out of the bathroom, Lu Xiyan gently tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and asked, "Are you sure you don't want to change hotels, or maybe a suite?"

"No need." Anning wrinkled her nose. "We're going back in a few days anyway, so let's not waste the money."

Lu Xiyan stared at her fair and radiant face, which was free of makeup, and said, "You don't need to save me money."

An Ning looked up and met his clear eyes, her tone serious, "west Yan, I know you don't care about this money, it's even nothing to you. But this is my lifestyle, and I can't just enjoy this kind of luxurious life that doesn't belong to me just because I'm with you."

An Ning smiled, her eyes crinkling. "To me, you are my lover, not a stepping stone to the world of the wealthy. Whether you still have doubts or not, I want to tell you that getting back together with you is not because of your status, but simply because you are Lu Xiyan."

Lu Xiyan in Anning.

An Ning took his hand and said, "Whether you are the second young master of the Lu Group or not, it doesn't matter to me."

She said the same thing she did six years ago when they first got together.

Lu Xiyan lowered his eyes, his thick, long eyelashes fluttering slightly, his emotions complex.

A moment later, he grasped Anning's hand in return, "I believe you."

As their eyes met, An Ning's lips curved into a gentle smile.

The word "trust" is especially precious between the two of them as they reunite.

Just then, the screen of the phone placed to the side lit up.

An Ning looked over and saw a news push notification.

She slit her tongue and glanced at it; the smile on her face froze.

"What's wrong?"

Seeing that her expression was off, Lu Xiyan took her phone.

The news report was a public relations statement from the Lu Group, which stated that due to the sudden natural disaster in Qichuan City that resulted in the unfortunate deaths of some people, the engagement banquet of the second son of the Lu Group and the daughter of the Cheng Group would be postponed to another day as a sign of condolence.

His phone was always off; out of sight, out of mind, he didn't see these news reports.

"Don't worry about it."

Lu Xiyan deleted the news from her phone, raised his hand and touched her hair, "This kind of rhetoric is nothing more than a corporate public relations tactic."

An Ning put away her phone and asked uncertainly, "What about your engagement with Cheng Wanwan?"

"I left Jinghai on the eve of the engagement banquet, and Cheng Shao and Han Yun were extremely dissatisfied with me for that alone."

Lu Xiyan smiled lightly when he mentioned this, as if he wasn't the one who canceled the engagement banquet.

"Putting that aside," he tilted his head slightly to look at Anning, their fingers intertwined, "do you think I could get engaged to someone else like this? Or do you want me to get engaged?"

Even though she knew he was asking on purpose, Anning still took the bait and quickly replied, "Of course not!"

Since returning to Jinghai and learning about his engagement, Anning hasn't had a good night's sleep.

Hearing her eager reply, the smile in Lu Xiyan's eyes melted away.

Just as I was about to leave, there was another knock on the door.

An Ning hurried to open the door, and looked at the man standing outside with slight surprise, "Engineer Han?"

"Miss An, I heard you say you were resting at the hotel and didn't have dinner because I was worried you weren't feeling well." Han Lei stood at the door, holding up a takeout box. "I brought you some local rice noodles."

"Thanks--"

Before Anning could say "No need," a deep, gentle voice interrupted her.

"A colleague?"

Lu Xiyan strolled forward unhurriedly with his hands in his pockets, stood behind An Ning, bent down slightly and touched her hair, but his eyes were always on the man at the door.

Han Lei also noticed him. The man was very young, with excellent height and appearance. He had a gentle smile on his face, but his eyes revealed an unfathomable aggressiveness.

In particular, his demeanor was so composed, and there was an inexplicable sense of pressure about him, which made Han Lei feel that this man had an aura that kept people at a distance and seemed difficult to get along with.

An Ning seemed to sense the somewhat awkward atmosphere and quickly said, "Let me introduce you. This is Han Lei, the head of our R&D department."

After saying that, she introduced Han Lei, "This is me—"

When asked about her relationship with Lu Xiyan, An Ning paused for a moment, wondering how she should explain it.

Ex-husband?

Boy friend?

It just feels weird no matter how you look at it.

"gentlemen."

The person behind her spoke up for her.

The deep voice hovered in her ears, and An Ning's heart skipped a beat.

Her husband?

Anning repeatedly chewed on the word "Mr.", which was an admission that she and he were husband and wife.

"So Miss An got married?"

Han Lei seemed somewhat surprised, but he didn't show it too obviously. He politely extended his hand to Lu Xiyan, "Hello, I'm Han Lei. You can call me Engineer Han, just like Miss An."

"Lu Xiyan".

Lu Xiyan returned the handshake, his words simple and without a single superfluous word.

Han Lei felt that the name was somewhat familiar, as if he had heard it somewhere before, but he couldn't quite place it.

But judging from the man's demeanor, he didn't seem to be doing an ordinary job.

"Oh, by the way, Miss An, there's actually another matter I came here for."

Han Lei looked at An Ning and said, "I received a call from the company saying that if we have a report of results, we will rebuild the R&D lab and continue research and development; if we don't have any results, we will shut down this production line."

At this point, he sounded somewhat disappointed. "But all our equipment is destroyed, including the data you worked so hard to produce over several nights. If we want to keep this production line, we'll have to start from scratch, but President Dong doesn't want to waste any more manpower and resources."

An Ning quickly replied, "But your research and development has indeed made new breakthroughs."

"But President Dong wants to see the final report." Han Lei was also helpless; all their achievements had been destroyed by the natural disaster, and there was nothing they could do. If they shut down this production line, they would face layoffs, and many of their colleagues would lose their jobs.

"Isn't there any other way?" Anning asked.

Han Lei thought for a moment, "There might be only one way."

He looked at An Ning and said, "I've looked up some information. There's a couple in Dianhai who specialize in researching the anti-cancer properties of mushrooms. They used to be professors at the Dianhai Medical Research Institute. I heard that they independently developed an authoritative patent and a detailed report on the anti-cancer properties of mushrooms."

At this point, Han Lei's tone became somewhat excited, "Moreover, that couple used to do research in Qichuan, but I don't know if they've moved to Dianhai now."

"You mean Jiang Pei and Kong Yiyun, husband and wife?" Lu Xiyan asked.

Upon hearing this, Han Lei asked with some surprise, "Mr. Lu also knows about them?"

"I've heard of it." Lu Xiyan's eyes were indifferent, and his tone was calm. "But this couple never uses their patent to the public. Even though a company offered a sky-high price of over 100 million, they still couldn't buy it back."

He curled his lips slightly. "Mr. Han, what makes you so confident that you can acquire this patent report and save your production line?"

He was certain that Dong Chenghai wouldn't even pay five million, let alone one hundred million.

Upon hearing this, Han Lei sighed; the idea was indeed a bit far-fetched.

"If Mr. Han has nothing else to do, my wife and I will go have our meal first."

After Lu Xiyan finished speaking, he took An Ning's hand and strode out the door.