Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
After White Tiger called Morales, White Tiger directly contacted Ye Ningyuan. To their surprise, Morales agreed to pay thirty percent of the costs upfront, which was about twenty billion euros. As Morales, given his financial ability, was unable to foot it, White Tiger was afraid that Morales would attempt to defraud Ye Ningyuan and reported to Ye Ningyuan first.
Ye Ningyuan did not expect things to progress this smoothly.
He pondered for a moment before saying, “Have Azure Dragon watch him closely. I want to see how he’s going to cough out all that money.”
“Alright.”
To put it differently, Ye Ningyuan had no qualms with Morales paying thirty percent upfront, and neither was he afraid that Morales would pull off a trick or two. Having seen and experienced much, there was nothing that Ye Ningyuan could not handle. Even if Morales attempted any shenanigans, it was not as though Ye Ningyuan could not handle them. Ye Ningyuan simply did not take Morales seriously.
“Boss, when do you plan to return to London?” White Tiger pushed up his glasses and plainly asked.
“A while more,” Ye Ningyuan said. White Tiger secretly wondered to himself: A while more? He had already asked Ye Ningyuan thrice, and he gave the same response every time. Any more ‘a while more’ and it would become an indefinite extension. How long was he planning to indefinitely extend his stay?
“Boss, is there something on your mind?”
“What can I be worried about?
“Cut the act. You’ve been brooding the whole day, and it’s not like you to remain indoors for a few days. Troubled by love?” White Tiger teased him. They grew up with Ye Ningyuan and were very good friends despite their positions in the organization. They had no reservations in conversation.
As Ye Ningyuan had long concealed his emotions very well, he was taken aback. Most people could not make it out. Was it so obvious to the point anybody could tell now? An Xunuo sure had affected him very badly.
He did not reply and White Tiger coughed twice. “Could it be because of An Xunuo?”
“Just shut up if you know!” Ye Ningyuan did not hide it. He was not one who shirked, but he was still uncertain as to how he ought to respond. Regardless, he would not deny what was the truth.
White Tiger smiled tastefully. So their boss had had his feelings stirred. He could tell from long ago. Ever since An Xunuo was unwell and like an idiot, his boss clearly liked An Xunuo. Even if one was nice toward a person, they could not be so nice to the point one ate and even slept with said person and remained with the person twenty-four seven. He clearly pampered her to the skies.
He had never seen Ye Ningyuan dote on any woman that much, except his mother and younger sister. To him, An Xunuo was a special person. When An Xunuo cried back then, he would tend to An Xunuo even if it meant allowing the sky to fall.
But he knew that Ye Ningyuan loved somebody else deep in his heart. While the person had passed away many years ago, a love-struck Ye Ningyuan still missed her even till today. It seemed as if Ye Ningyuan did not know that Vermilion Bird had liked him for many years. To put it differently, he knew but pretended he did not since he was smart enough to know what was on others’ minds.
Vermilion Bird, on the other hand, was one who went with the flow. While she once said that she could wait for Ye Ningyuan until he had forgotten Xu Nuo, many years had passed and Vermilion Bird eventually gave up. She learned that she could not out-wait Ye Ningyuan and gave up her unrequited feelings for him. Ye Ningyuan would never believe that Xu Nuo was dead despite what the Mo brothers told him. He never said that he believed that Xu Nuo would return someday but still waited for her. Despite knowing well that he was facing desperation, he was willing to wait as he was afraid that he would become weary of the world without this hope.
Nobody, in their right frame of mind, would wait year upon year for nothing.
He spent his youth and passions only to arrive at nothing. They were not like Ye Ningyuan who was willing to wait it out. Vermilion Bird hence gradually forgot the feelings she had for him and simply treated him as her boss and friend.
Today, An Xunuo became the exception.
White Tiger and all knew that Ye Ningyuan had a drawing album of Xu Nuo. They originally did not dare to touch this drawing booklet, but Vermilion Bird, in her bid to give up on him, was unwilling enough and wanted to know how the woman Ye Ningyuan loved looked like and hence secretly opened the drawing booklet. Azure Dragon, White Tiger, and all were curious enough and snuck a peek at that drawing booklet.
The woman looked exactly like Xu Xing, but nobody thought that it was Xu Xing. It was Azure Dragon who looked into Xu Nuo’s background and asked them whilst stroking his chin, “Doesn’t that woman look like the woman in our boss’ drawing album?”
Did she? Not in terms of looks, but how uncannily their mannerisms and wardrobe matched. Vermilion Bird once said that this woman might be the key to their boss walking out of his past feelings.
They all hoped that Ye Ningyuan would be able to let go of Xu Nuo and find happiness once again. Even if he did not completely let go of Xu Nuo, they hoped he would be able to love somebody again and find happiness.
Having followed him for years, they knew very well that Ye Ningyuan was not happy save the time where he had just returned from Paradise Island. While he was able to easily feign that happiness, given how good an actor he was, how did he really feel? To love a person who was no longer present meant that he was the only person holding onto all the past and all the memories of before. That felt terrible.
Whether Ye Ningyuan treated An Xunuo as a stand-in or really loved her, all worked as long as she was able to make Ye Ningyuan happy. They were actually very supportive of Ye Ningyuan getting together with An Xunuo.
“Boss, aren’t you tired after all these years?” White Tiger smiled and asked. “People will remain dead but you still have your life to live. You’re still young, and you can’t afford to live like the walking dead. If you find her that unforgettable, then remember her! But know that remembering her and loving somebody isn’t mutually exclusive. One is dead, and the other alive. Remember that the person who passed on is so special that not even somebody who’s living can substitute her.”
Ye Ningyuan was taken aback at how wise-cracking White Tiger was amongst the four. His armor-piercing statements cut to the crux of Ye Ningyuan’s struggles, and Ye Ningyuan was indeed afraid that spending time with An Xunuo would cause him to love An Xunuo even more to the point he would gradually forget about Xu Nuo.
He would never allow that.
He hoped that Xu Nuo would be the person he loved the most. As he said, whether he would love another person or not, he would reserve the deepest and most tender portion of his heart for Xu Nuo and nobody else.
Could the living really not be compared to the dead?
But to White Tiger, the living had opportunities to compete whereas the dead did not. What if the living managed to win over his affections?