What Exactly Is Your Relationship with Him?

"Ma'am... what is it?"

Xiao Yan asked instinctively.

"What is it? It's nothing, really."

As Yao Wan's mother drove, she said, "It's just that my daughter may be a little more cold-hearted than other children her age, so I hope you'll be understanding when you spend time with her."

"What are you saying, ma'am? She... she's wonderful in every way. There's nothing about her to worry over. If anything, she's taken very good care of me."

"Is that so? Could it be that I've misunderstood her?"

Yao Wan's mother raised her brows, a faint smile appearing at the corners of her lips.

Only then did Xiao Yan realize that he had said too much in the moment. Having misspoken, he naturally did not dare say anything more.

About ten minutes later, Yao Wan's mother parked the car in the parking lot and headed up the stairs with her younger daughter and Xiao Yan.

"You're back?"

A man who looked to be in his thirties or forties slowly stubbed out the cigarette in his hand. He then looked toward Yao Wan's mother, who was entering and changing shoes, their adorable younger daughter—and some punk in bizarre clothes standing between them, who looked more and more displeasing the longer he looked.

"Mm. Your daughter brought a friend home and said he'll be staying the night."

"Hello, sir."

Yao Wan's mother said this flatly, making the man frown. He instinctively wanted to shake his cigarette pack and take out another one, but when his gaze fell upon his adorable younger daughter, he fell silent for a moment and ultimately gave up on the idea. He turned around and opened the kitchen window, letting the wind disperse the suffocating smell of smoke in the house.

"—Oh."

The man's tone was equally flat, as