Boyfriend's passive-aggressive behavior, she turns the tables and makes him her backup option.

Si Nian found Xie Jingyao's questioning inexplicable.

He even spoke in a tone as if he were checking up on someone.

"Is something the matter?" she asked.

The next second, Xie Jingyao initiated another video call.

Si Nian frowned slightly.

After hesitating for a moment, she answered the call. The first thing that appeared on the screen was a patch of fair chest muscle, with water droplets still clinging to it.

Xie Jingyao took his phone away, and Si Nian watched him shirtless, holding a towel in one hand, wiping his still dripping hair.

He looked like he had just taken a shower.

Si Nian's gaze couldn't help but fall on his beautifully sculpted abs.

Seemingly noticing her lowered gaze, Xie Jingyao deliberately leaned back, showing off his abs.

But at the same time, Si Nian saw what was below his abs...

Although no nipples were exposed, one couldn't guess that he was naked.

"Is it pretty?" Xie Jingyao asked with a smirk.

Si Nian couldn't help but retort, "Are you a pervert? You're not even wearing clothes."

"What clothes do I wear after taking a shower at home?"

Si Nian closed the car door, got out, and moved the camera aside. "What do you want?"

"I think I left my cufflinks in your bathroom. Could you keep them safe for me? I'll go get them tomorrow."

Si Nian recalled that Xie Jingyao did indeed seem to be wearing a sapphire cufflink on his clothes today.

"I left Yanshanting a long time ago. I'm home." Si Nian turned the camera around and pressed the elevator button to go upstairs.

Xie Jingyao sat on the sofa and tapped the coffee table with his fingers. "It doesn't matter whether I can find my cufflinks or not. I'm more worried about your husband seeing them. It'll be hard for you to explain."

Although Xie Jingyao's words sounded like he was thinking of her, his tone didn't carry a trace of worry; he seemed to be waiting to see what would happen.

What's more, how could such a perfectly good cufflink have ended up in the room where she was resting?

Si Nian was speechless. "Xie Jingyao, aren't you childish?"

"What's wrong with me?"

"Who would believe you when you say you accidentally left it behind..." Si Nian said as she reached for the fingerprint lock.

Suddenly, a muffled thud came from the entrance of the stairwell.

Si Nian subconsciously looked over and saw a man in a Zhongshan suit standing at the entrance of the building, his head covered in blood.

The next second, blood gushed out from the man's feet.

The man looked up; his face was ashen, not the color of a normal living person.

Immediately afterwards, the person stared straight at Si Nian and walked towards them in a strange manner.

"Ah!!" Si Nian screamed in fright and hurriedly pressed the fingerprint lock, but because she was too flustered, the fingerprint recognition failed several times.

Xie Jingyao's voice came through the phone, pressing, "What's wrong?"

Si Nian shook the door lock hard, and finally, just as the man came to her side.

The combination lock beeped.

Recognition successful!

Si Nian slipped into the room in almost a second and slammed the door shut.

"What's wrong, Si Nian?"

Si Nian seemed to be stunned, leaning against the door and slumping weakly to the ground.

Was she seeing things?

She seemed to see Zhou Lin, who had died five years ago.

That face, which she loathed so much in her memory, appeared before her, covered in blood, looking exactly like the bloody hole that had been punched in his head before he died.

Si Nian was breathing heavily.

She automatically blocked out all other sounds.

Xie Jingyao kept asking Si Nian on the phone what was wrong and what had happened.

Si Nian was finally brought back to her senses by Xie Jingyao's voice.

She took a deep breath, gripped the wall, slowly stood up, and looked out through the peephole...

The bloodstains on the hallway floor had disappeared, as if everything that had just happened was merely Si Nian's hallucination.

She too fell into deep doubt. Si Nian did not believe in ghosts or gods, but what had just happened had made the hairs on her body stand on end.

Was it too late, and she was hallucinating?

"Bang bang bang!"

A series of violent bangings on the door suddenly rang out.

There was nothing through the peephole.

"Ah—who is it!" Si Nian screamed, her voice almost cracking.

No one answered Si Nian outside the door, but the knocking continued.

Si Nian's legs went weak and she couldn't control them.

She picked up her phone, hung up the video call, and instinctively dialed 110 to call the police.

But the moment the call connected, Si Nian snapped back to reality and hung up in a second.

Si Nian forced herself to calm down, constantly telling herself, "It's fake, it's fake. Zhou Lin died five years ago. There are no ghosts in this world."

She can't call the police. If she does, what should she say to the police?

She said she seemed to see her stepfather, who had died five years ago, now banging on the door with his head covered in blood.

After calming down, Si Nian took a deep breath.

At the same time, the banging on the door gradually stopped.

Si Nian tried to calm herself down. She got up again and looked out through the peephole. It was still quiet outside, and there was nothing there.

She sat down on the floor, scratching her head in frustration. Was someone trying to scare her, or...?

A loud "bang" rang out from the kitchen, and Si Nian jumped up like a startled bird!

She cautiously glanced toward the kitchen and discovered that only the night wind had blown the window open.

After hesitating for a moment, Si Nian picked up her phone and called Lin Tinghan.

The phone rang for a long time, and just when Si Nian thought it was about to hang up automatically, Lin Tinghan answered it.

"Feed." Lin Tinghan's groggy voice came through, sounding like he had been woken up from a dream.

Si Nian clenched her fists and said, "I...I think I saw Zhou Lin..."

Lin Tinghan took a moment to react before replying, "Isn't he dead?"

"I don't know if it was a hallucination or a prank. I didn't dare to call the police because I was afraid they would notice something strange and reopen the old story."

"..."

"Could you send someone over to check if someone is playing a prank?"

Si Nian's rationality told her that there were no ghosts in this world, and she wanted to find out the human factors involved.

However, the only people involved in the incident that year, besides her and Feng He, were Lin Tinghan.

She could only seek help from Lin Tinghan.

Lin Tinghan yawned, "Niannian, are you still half asleep? Okay, don't be afraid, go back to sleep."

"Someone really knocked on my door just now..."

"Okay, I'll have someone go check it out tomorrow."

Si Nian wanted to say something more, but found that Lin Tinghan had already hung up the call.

She nervously put her phone away.

When it gets light tomorrow, Lin Tinghan's men will come and check, and then they'll know whether someone is playing a prank or not.

She turned on all the lights in the room and then crawled into bed.

However, Si Nian was not sleepy at all, and her mind was in a tense state.

About half an hour later, the knocking sounded again.

Si Nian's heart felt like it was being gripped tightly; she even held her breath.

"Niannian, open the door, it's me."