My online dating circle has millions of followers, why would she put a collar on me?

In the corridor of the Zhongshan branch, the motion-sensor light flickered on for a moment as Su Xiaoyue stood up, then went back to normal.

Su Xiaoyue stood on the steps outside the glass door, her phone screen still lit up. The last number she dialed to her "husband" in her call log was "not connected," marking the fifth such call.

She stared at the line of text for a few seconds, then swiped her thumb across the screen and tapped the location tracking software she had installed.

The loading icon spun twice, and a red dot appeared on the map, stopping on the street outside the east gate of Tsinghua and Peking Universities. The name marked was a fitness studio she had never heard of before.

"Ruifeng Fitness."

Su Xiaoyue frowned, wrote down the address, and then put her phone back in her pocket.

She stood at the edge of the road, turned her head to Li Zhenghua, and said, "Attorney Li, you can go back now. I have something to attend to."

Li Zhenghua followed her gaze, hesitated for a moment, and finally just nodded:

"Ms. Su, please contact me anytime if you need anything. Regarding Jiang Miaomiao's situation today, we can at least confirm one thing—someone has seen her. I'll try my best to find someone to help."

Su Xiaoyue hummed in agreement, saying nothing more. She hailed a taxi by the roadside, and when she gave the address, the driver frowned.

"That place is a bit out of the way, it's in an alley. Are you sure you want to go?"

"Sure."

The taxi drove through the afternoon streets and turned into a narrow alley.

The shop signs on both sides changed from milk tea shops to hardware stores, and then to the exterior walls of a row of gray residential buildings.

The driver stopped at the alley entrance and pointed to the dark gray glass door ahead: "That's it, Ruifeng Fitness. Be careful, there aren't many people around here."

Su Xiaoyue paid the fare, got out of the car, and stood at the alley entrance looking in that direction for a while.

A line of white text was pasted on the glass door, the font simple and neat:

"Ruifeng Fitness Private Training Studio," followed by a contact number. The door is dark gray, with semi-transparent glass that makes it almost impossible to see inside from the outside.

She walked over and pushed open the door.

There was no one at the front desk.

The foyer is small, with light gray flooring, a full-length mirror embedded in the wall, and a row of neat dumbbell racks next to it.

The air was filled with a faint smell of disinfectant and rubber mats, and the air conditioner vents emitted a uniform humming sound.

Just as she was about to walk in, the door at the end of the corridor was pushed open from the inside.

Jiang Yi leaned out halfway, and when he saw her, he was clearly stunned for a moment.

He was wearing a dark gray sports T-shirt, his hair was a little messy, and there was a thin layer of sweat on his forehead, as if he had just come out of some kind of exercise.

Jiang Yi finally managed to shake off Zhao Ran and was about to walk out when he ran into Su Xiaoyue. At that moment, he was extremely flustered.

Cold sweat poured down his back. He was glad he had taken a shower earlier, as the familiar scent on his body was gone.

Jiang Yi couldn't help but glance back, but didn't see Zhao Ran behind him.

With Zhao Ran out of the way, Jiang Yi breathed a sigh of relief. He just needed to fool Su Xiaoyue.

"Xiaoyue, what brings you here?"

Su Xiaoyue stood in the foyer, her gaze shifting from his face to the phone, and then back to his face.

She didn't answer immediately, but instead glanced at the corridor behind him.

The door was ajar, and a larger space could be vaguely seen inside, with the metallic outlines of machinery gleaming coldly under the light.

Why haven't you been answering your phone?

Jiang Yi glanced down at his phone and paused for a moment:

"Oh, I was inside just now, and I left my phone at the front desk, so I didn't hear it—you called several times?"

Five.

Jiang Yi cursed Zhao Ran in his heart; that person was like a lunatic.

However, on the surface, he still reached up and scratched the back of his neck, revealing a slightly apologetic and awkward smile:

"Sorry, Xiaoyue. I figured since I was already here, I might as well practice a bit, and I didn't keep track of the time."

Su Xiaoyue didn't reply. Her gaze passed over him and landed on the half-open door behind him.

Through the crack in the door, a silhouette could be vaguely seen—a figure standing against the wall, wearing a black sports vest, very thin, with short hair, seemingly looking down at a mobile phone.

Her gaze lingered on the figure for less than a second before returning to Jiang Yi's face.

"Did you get a card here?" she asked.

"Yeah, a friend gave it to me before—"

"friend?"

"Um... someone I know told me this place just opened and gave me a trial card. I figured I was just leaving it there anyway, so I came to ask if I could get a refund. But the owner wasn't there, so I've been waiting here for a while."

As he said this, his gaze habitually darted away, but he seemed to realize his habit and then looked directly into Su Xiaoyue's eyes.

Su Xiaoyue looked at Jiang Yi for a while, but she didn't ask him why he got the card, why he suddenly wanted to cancel it, why he chose today, and why he chose this place she had never heard of before.

She simply looked at him quietly for two seconds, then held out her hand to him: "Is the refund complete?"

"Not yet, they said they're waiting for the boss to come back and sign it."

"Let's go first then. I'll help you return it next time."

Jiang Yi glanced at her, as if he wanted to say something, but ultimately didn't.

He turned around and said to the half-open door, "I'm leaving now, I'll come back later."

There was no response from inside the door, only a very faint sound, like the sound of metal being struck.

Jiang Yi walked back, stopped in front of Su Xiaoyue, put his phone in the pocket of his sweatpants, and took her hand:

"Let's go home."

Su Xiaoyue didn't say anything, letting him lead her around, and the two of them walked side by side out of the dark gray glass door.

"Don't silence your phone anymore, I'll worry if I can't reach you."

"……good."

As Jiang Yi walked down the street lined with ginkgo trees, his pace slowed.

He turned his head to look at Su Xiaoyue. Her profile looked particularly serene in the afternoon light, her eyelashes casting a small fan-shaped shadow above her cheekbone, and her lips slightly pursed.

He opened his mouth, and for a moment, he wanted to tell Su Xiaoyue all this, but he was afraid.

He didn't know what awaited him if Su Xiaoyue found out.

If it's a breakup, that's easier to talk about.

Or perhaps it was imprisonment.

Or perhaps it's Su Xiaoyue's inability to accept things.

He didn't know, but based on his understanding of Su Xiaoyue, all of this was possible.

Su Xiaoyue felt the pressure of his fingers, turned her head to look at him, and asked, "What's wrong?"

"It's nothing." Jiang Yi smiled and asked, "Have you had lunch? What would you like to eat?"

Su Xiaoyue looked at him, her gaze lingering on his face for two seconds, and then she smiled.

"Let's have noodles. Tomato and egg noodles, the ones you made," she said.

"good."