I'm sorry, but your fiancé loves me.

As dusk settles over Tokyo, lanterns light up one after another at the izakayas lining the streets.

Qin Qihan's car stopped at the entrance of a quiet alley. The driver got out and opened the car door for him. He stepped out first, turned around and stood by the car door, his right hand lightly blocking the top of the door frame, waiting for Yun Muqian to come out so that she wouldn't bump her head.

Yun Muqian didn't look at him. She carried her small bag and walked forward at a leisurely pace, without asking where she was going.

Qin Qihan followed half a step behind her, his gaze falling on a small patch of bare skin on the back of her neck, where there was a very faint mole. He remembered that mole; when they used to kiss, he would always rub that spot with his thumb, and she would shrink her neck away, saying it tickled.

This was a high-end Japanese restaurant. Qin Qihan had already had the place cleared beforehand. He stepped forward to lift the curtain for her and stepped aside to let her go in first.

Yun Muqian sat down and casually placed her bag on the tatami mat beside her. Qin Qihan sat opposite her. Dishes were served one by one, but she didn't have much of an appetite and ate very little. Qin Qihan kept watching her.

"Don't you like the food?"

He said softly, "How about we go somewhere else? A Chinese restaurant."

Yun Muqian put the teacup back on the table. "I have no appetite."

Qin Qihan tapped her fingers lightly on the edge of the table, then stopped. "Didn't you rest well on the plane today? Or—"

"I just can't eat." She interrupted him, her gaze falling on his face, a glance so faint it was almost indistinguishable from a look. "Seeing you makes me lose my appetite. Don't ask anymore."

After she finished speaking, she turned her head to look out the window again. Qin Qihan sat there, silent for a few seconds, then waved to call the waiter over, whispered something, took a few bills from his wallet and put them under the coaster, then stood up, walked to her side, and bent down to take her bag that she had put aside.

"Let's go," he said.

Yun Muqian let him pick up her bag, then stood up by supporting herself on the table, without looking at him the whole time.

He walked ahead and lifted the curtain for her. The night wind blew in from outside, and the car remained parked in the same spot.

When the driver saw them come out, he jogged over from a distance and opened the back door. The two got in and remained silent the whole way. This time the car drove for a longer time, and Yun Muqian figured they were probably going to their accommodation.

The car stopped in front of a three-story building with a wooden sign hanging above the entrance, inscribed with the Chinese characters "Shu Xiang Lou" in calligraphy.

There is also a line of small Japanese annotations next to it.

Yun Muqian paused for a moment when she opened the car door. She stood by the roadside and looked up at the sign for two seconds. Qin Qihan had already walked around to her side and was standing behind her, without urging her.

"This is a Sichuan hot pot restaurant," he said.

She likes spicy food, but Qin Qihan's taste has always been very bland. They may have only eaten it once when they were together before, and never again.

The interior of the shop is not as cold as it looks from the outside. There are warm-toned wooden tables and chairs, several ink paintings of Sichuan landscapes hanging on the walls, and a rich, spicy aroma of oil in the air.

The waiter led them to a booth further inside. Qin Qihan didn't go around to the other side, but sat down next to her, perhaps because she had said before that she lost her appetite when she saw him.

"What would you like to eat?" He picked up the menu, turned to the side, and handed it to her.

She leaned back slightly, creating some distance, and didn't take the menu. "Anything is fine."

Qin Qihan ordered the food, and it came quickly. A hot pot with bubbling red oil was placed in the center of the table. Although she didn't have much of an appetite, she could still eat a little when faced with something she liked.

Qin Qihan sat next to her, barely putting his chopsticks into the pot, but kept adding things to her bowl: blanched duck blood, cooked beef slices... He dipped each item in the oil dish in front of her before putting it into her bowl.

Sometimes she even wanted to tell him to give up and stop trying to please her.

But she just ate in silence, neither praising the dishes he ordered nor looking at him, and didn't even say "thank you".

She wanted to see how long he could remain stubborn.

Qin Qihan watched her eat; it had been a long time since he had seen her like this.

When they were together before, he liked watching her eat. She was very focused when she ate, her cheeks puffed out slightly, and she didn't play on her phone. She just ate seriously. He used to think it was because she valued the time they spent together, but now he realized that she simply didn't have the habit of playing on her phone while eating.

His bowl remained empty; all his attention was on her.

Whenever she reached for a dish with her chopsticks, he would quickly move it closer to her; when her bowl was almost empty, he would immediately boil something new to replenish it.

"Don't cook too much," she finally spoke, her eyes not looking at him. "I can't eat that much."

He responded and put the freshly scooped shrimp paste into his own bowl to cool before handing it to her, saying, "If you can't finish it, just leave it."

About ten minutes later, Yun Muqian put down her chopsticks, realizing she really couldn't eat anymore.

Afterwards, Qin Qihan took her to his residence to rest. She had been very sleepy on the plane during the day, and he wanted to take her back to rest as soon as possible.

The residence was a property owned by Qin Qihan in Japan. Yun Muqian was almost asleep when the car stopped.

Qin Qihan didn't wake her immediately. After watching her for almost two minutes, he gently said, "Mu Qian."

She didn't wake up.

He called out again.

Her eyelids twitched, and she mumbled a sleepy "hmm," her brows furrowing as if she was unhappy about being disturbed from her sleep. But this gave him a sense of intimacy between lovers.

Qin Qihan's lips twitched, almost curving upwards, but he forced them to close again.

He got out of the car, walked around to her side, opened the car door, leaned in, put one arm around her shoulder, and put the other arm under her knees to lift her out of the seat.

Her first reaction was to struggle; her heel slammed against the car door frame with a dull thud, and she pushed him away, her hands pressed against his chest. "Put me down."

"We're here," he said, without letting go.

The building in front of me is a detached Japanese-style mansion, meticulously maintained. In the courtyard, there is a cluster of hydrangeas in full bloom, their blue-purple flower balls swaying gently in the night breeze.

Qin Qihan carried her up the steps. Someone had already opened the door in advance. The light in the entryway was on, and the light spilled out from the crack in the door, casting long shadows of the two of them on the stone floor.

He put her down on the porch, and as soon as she steadied herself, she took a step back, changed into slippers, and went inside. From now on, she would not give him any kind looks.

The moment she pushed open the door, she stopped in her tracks.

The entire living room is decorated in a style almost identical to the living room of her previous house.

The sofa was a dark gray fabric model from the same brand, the coffee table had a solid wood tabletop, and even the floor lamp in the corner was exactly the same as the one she had chosen before.

The paintings hanging on the wall are exactly the same as the house they used to live in. He bought that house for her, but she chose the decorating style.

She stood in the center of the living room. "When did you prepare this?"

Qin Qihan stood behind her. "Last week, I had it decorated according to the layout of that house."

"...Why?"

He was silent for a moment. "You like it."

Yun Muqian turned to look at him. "Qin Qihan, this is pointless."

He stood there, his eyes cautious, yet filled with unwavering determination. "I know."

"What do you know?"

"I know you don't need these," he said softly, "but I don't know what else I can give you."

For the first time, Yun Muqian felt a little scared.

He's the most difficult person to deal with in this world. If she had known, she would have only focused on his body and not his heart when she got together with him. Once this man gets fixated on something, he'll never let go, no matter what.

She walked up the stairs and suddenly heard him ask behind her:

Where do you want to go tomorrow?

Yun Muqian didn't turn around, and remained silent for a while before saying, "Let's talk about it tomorrow."