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

The two remained silent the entire way.

The street view outside the taxi window changed from plane trees to high-rise buildings, then from high-rise buildings to low-rise residential buildings, and finally stopped on the street with ginkgo trees in front of my house.

Su Xiaoyue paid the fare, opened the car door, and a gust of cold wind blew in, causing her to instinctively shrink her neck.

Jiang Yi got out from the other side, walked around the back of the car, walked to her side, and naturally took her hand.

She felt that his palm was slightly sweaty and cool, sticking to his fingertips, and gently rubbed against them in the gap between their hands.

Su Xiaoyue didn't say anything, nor did she pull her hand away. She simply let him lead her, and the two walked side by side down the path paved with light gray tiles. They entered the elevator, went upstairs, opened the door, and changed their shoes, each completing this series of actions in silence. Neither of them spoke first to break the silence.

"Xiaoyue, go take a shower first, I'll go cook."

After Jiang Yi finished speaking, he went into the kitchen, rinsed the rice, opened the refrigerator and looked through the eggs and tomatoes, and then took out the half scallion that was left over from yesterday from the refrigerator compartment.

Su Xiaoyue stood in the center of the living room, not going to take a shower immediately.

She watched his back as he bent over, busy at the stove. His dark gray T-shirt stretched slightly with his movements, revealing the outline of his shoulder blades.

She looked at it for a few seconds, then lowered her head, picked up her phone from the coffee table, and opened the location tracking app.

The address of "Ruifeng Fitness".

She stared at the coordinates for a long time, lightly brushed her fingertip along the edge of the screen, then closed the app and put her phone back.

Maybe she really just wants to get a refund for the card, she thought.

I should trust Jiang Yi.

She shook her head, then suppressed those thoughts and turned to walk into the bathroom.

As the hot water poured down, she closed her eyes and let the water wash over her body from head to toe.

Steam filled the cramped space, blurring my reflection in the mirror and also blurring the images that kept swirling in my mind.

She opened her eyes and watched the water drip from the ends of her hair, slide down her collarbone, and disappear into the whirlpool at the drain.

She was thinking about that card again.

"Ruifeng Fitness".

She had never heard him mention it.

Fitness has never been a part of his life. He used to be too lazy to even run, so how could he suddenly think of getting a gym membership?

Even if it really was a gift from a friend, given his personality, he would probably just say "I don't need it" instead of making a trip to ask if he could return it.

Unless, of course, he can't refuse the person who gives him the card.

Or perhaps there's someone he can't refuse.

Su Xiaoyue turned off the tap and stood on the wet tile floor. Water droplets slid off her shoulders and gathered into a small, shallow puddle at her feet.

She looked at herself in the mirror; her face was flushed with a thin layer of red from the steam of the hot water, but the shadow under her eyes was still there.

"Forget it."

She muttered to herself.

"Even if there is a connection, as long as the visa is approved, I can leave."

Go to the United States, to a place where nobody knows them, and start over.

Once they got there, Xia Anmian was no longer there, and no one else bothered them; it was just the two of them.

That's fine.

She dried her hair, changed into clean pajamas, and came out. Her hair was still dripping wet, leaving a small dark wet stain on the light pink cotton fabric.

Jiang Yi had already placed two bowls of noodles on the table.

The tomato and egg noodles have a bright red broth, and steam rises from the bowl, carrying a sweet and sour aroma that swirls around the table.

Jiang Yi stood by the table, still clutching the chopsticks he used to scoop noodles. When he saw her come out, his gaze lingered on her wet hair for a moment before moving away.

"Eat it while it's hot," Jiang Yi said. "It won't taste good if the noodles clump together."

Su Xiaoyue hummed in agreement, sat down opposite him, picked up a piece of noodles with her chopsticks, blew on it twice, and put it in her mouth.

She finished the bowl of noodles, drank a few sips of soup, then put her chopsticks on the rim of the bowl and looked up at him.

Jiang Yi had finished eating and was wiping a small oil stain on the table with a tissue. His movements were serious and focused, as if he was using this action to escape something.

"Go take a shower," Su Xiaoyue said. "I'll collect the dishes."

Jiang Yi looked up at her, nodded, and stood up to walk towards the bathroom.

The sound of water soon began, gurgling and seeping out from the half-open door, blending with the quiet of the living room.

Su Xiaoyue collected the dishes, washed them in the kitchen, dried them, and put them in the cupboard.

After she finished doing all this, she sat down at the dining table and picked up Jiang Yi's phone to take a look.

No new messages.

Just as she was about to put down her phone, the doorbell rang.

Ding-dong-

The sound was exceptionally clear in the quiet living room.

Su Xiaoyue glanced in the direction of the bathroom.

The sound of water continued, but Jiang Yi probably couldn't hear it.

She stood up, walked to the entrance, and looked out through the peephole.

The motion-sensor lights in the corridor were on, their warm yellow glow illuminating the empty passageway clearly; no one was there.

She frowned, placed her hand on the doorknob, hesitated for a moment, and then opened the door.

There was indeed no one in the corridor.

The floor was covered in light gray tiles, which shimmered faintly under the lights, stretching all the way to the elevator at the end. It was quiet, without even the echo of footsteps.

She looked down and then saw the photo.

The photo was printed in color, with the back facing up, and the white paper looked particularly glaring in the light of the corridor.

She bent down, picked it up, and glanced at it.

The image is very clear, as if it were taken with a professional SLR camera. The angle was well chosen, capturing all the key elements in the scene within the viewfinder.

It was the staircase of a villa, the wooden handrail gleaming warmly under the soft lighting. Two people stood at the corner of the staircase.

One is Jiang Yi.

He was wearing a wrinkled white T-shirt and gray sweatpants, and his hair was a bit messy, as if he had just gotten out of bed.

He was facing the camera sideways, and you could see the curve of his jawline and the taut lines of his neck as he lowered his head slightly.

The other was a woman, with a face she had never seen before.

She had short hair, so short that it revealed her clean nape and earlobes, and wore a black sports vest that showed off her well-defined forearms and shoulders.

She stood next to Jiang Yi, very close, so close that her bare shoulder was almost touching his arm.

Her lips curved slightly, and her gaze was not on the camera, but on Jiang Yi's profile.

Su Xiaoyue's fingers tightened slightly. She didn't recognize the place or the woman.

She turned the photo over; the back was blank, with no words or signature, only the scene inside that villa.

Su Xiaoyue stood in the corridor, clutching the photo in her hand, for a long time.

The motion-sensor lights dimmed because she hadn't moved for a long time, plunging the corridor into darkness. Only the warm yellow light shining through the crack in the door behind her spread out a small patch of bright light at her feet.

She flipped the photo over and looked at it again.

She looked at the woman's face.

Young, very good-looking, with a more outward and aggressive quality that is completely different from Xia Anmian's.

Su Xiaoyue's chest heaved violently as her brain raced.

Who is that woman?

Jiang Yi had only recently worn that outfit, so the events depicted in this photo must have happened within the last few days.

The only times I could truly lose contact with him were the day he left his house and just now.

and so……

Su Xiaoyue tightened her grip on the photo, looking at the short-haired girl.

So, are you going to see her?

Why?

She stiffly closed the door, stiffly walked into the living room, and sat on the sofa.

The sound of water in the bathroom continued.

Tears silently streamed down her face.

She simply sat there, quietly waiting for the door to open.