The moment Xiao Yan heard Yao Wan use that thoroughly ambiguous form of address, his body could not help trembling slightly with it.
Even without turning to look at the beauty who had carried a trace of pride from beginning to end, Xiao Yan could tell perfectly well that something was off in her tone.
"Wan'er is different..."
There was a faint, almost imperceptible grievance in Xiao Yan's voice. If that was really how she wanted to put it, then he truly ought to cry injustice, because he had not thought in that direction at all.
"Ha... am I supposed to believe whatever you say?"
But Xiao Yan's words did not completely disperse the resentment in Yao Wan's heart. Although after receiving the obvious answer, the shame in the depths of her heart had melted away quite a bit like ice and snow in spring, that willfulness deep down was still not satisfied.
"Or does Wan'er think that in my heart, Wan'er's position has nearly slipped to the same level as those people?"
"You dare!"
A hint of flustered urgency, as if things had gone too far, appeared in that pleasant voice behind him.
"I don't dare, I don't dare. How would I dare?"
"—Speaking of which, is Wan'er angry?"
The instant the words left his mouth, Xiao Yan's expression stiffened. Naturally, he had not reached the point where he would turn around and forget everything he had just said.
Still, he could more or less guess the gist of it.
"...No."
Yao Wan folded her arms before her chest. Facing Xiao Yan, who had turned around at this moment, she could not help instinctively shifting her gaze away.
In Xiao Yan's eyes, the light cast from the fluorite in the large guest room fell on her flushed cheeks, as