Chapter 221: I’m hear 

Pinned beneath An Qing, An Yu still felt not the slightest trace of fear. 

She stared fearlessly into the eyes of the girl in front of her, waiting for her to speak.

“An Yu… You really don’t care at all, do you?”

For some reason, An Qing—who had pinned An Yu down—smiled. 

However, that smile was incredibly bitter.

Does she think I won’t do anything to her? Or does she simply not care even if I do?

An Qing hoped it was the former rather than the latter.

But unfortunately, that wasn’t possible.

No matter what she did, it seemed An Yu didn’t care at all.

Facing this slightly mocking remark, An Yu said nothing. 

She chose to respond with silence.

After all, An Qing had something to say, didn’t she?

Once she finished, An Yu could leave.

An Qing’s cherry lips parted slightly. 

But the words reached her throat and refused to come out.

She shakily reached out her hand, placing it beside An Yu’s cheek. 

An Yu neither dodged nor avoided it. She simply continued staring at An Qing.

“An Qing, what are you doing?”

An Qing’s hand stiffened unconsciously. 

An Yu spoke softly, her cold yet soft and sweet voice reaching An Qing’s ears.

She only needed to hold her in place to stop her from escaping.

Seeing An Yu like this, An Qing finally withdrew her hand. 

She had lost all her courage. 

An Qing still couldn’t bring herself to touch An Yu. She merely gazed at those amber eyes. 

Even though… the person she once longed to touch was right in front of her.

But until she got things clear, An Qing couldn’t do anything.

“I have a few questions I want to ask you.”

An Qing spoke slowly. 

The longing in her eyes gradually turned calm.

“Mm.”

An Yu responded politely as always, even though the person she was talking to was An Qing.

“First question: Do you know Chen Yu?”

Hearing An Qing’s question, An Yu tilted her head in confusion.

She didn’t say she didn’t recognize the name, as it sounded somewhat familiar.

[System: Host, Chen Yu is the male lead’s older brother—that perverted lolicon!]

The System lady reminded her. 

She still remembered how that guy had only needed to appear to help An Yu complete her task.

He was definitely problematic!

“There is indeed such a person.”

With the System’s reminder, An Yu directly gave her impression of Chen Yu.

“A perverted lolicon?”

An Yu seemed to recall something as well.

Upon receiving the answer, An Qing fell silent.

Now she could be absolutely certain that the incident on the day of the Recognition Banquet had been a misunderstanding on her part.

An Yu’s reaction didn’t seem fake, and genuine confusion had appeared in her eyes.

The final impression she recalled was also a negative one…

“Second question: Have you had any contact with the other members of the Chen family?”

An Qing asked this question with some hesitation, because she already knew the answer.

The response would only be…

“No.” 

An Yu spoke softly, her eyes half-lidded. She looked somewhat drowsy.

“I don’t even know what the Chen family is.”

This answer was exactly as expected. 

Since An Yu had no connection with Chen Yu, it was even less likely she had any with the rest of the Chen family.

That meant Huang Ke Ling could be ruled out as well.

This was something An Qing had known from the beginning. 

The only reason she asked was out of fear.

Perhaps there was another reason—she wanted to drag this out a little longer. 

She wanted to know the answers, yet feared them. 

So An Qing asked questions that seemed important but which she already knew the answers to. She simply wanted to interact with An Yu a little while longer.

But obviously, An Yu’s replies were completely straightforward, without any dragging.

“Third question.”

An Qing paused mid-sentence, looking hesitant.

“Why did you leave home on your birthday?”

After speaking, An Qing bit her lip in irritation.

That wasn’t what she wanted to ask.

She should be asking whether An Yu still cared about the An family at all.

Or whether she had ever cared about the An family.

If she asked those two questions, there would be no need to ask about leaving home on her birthday.

“Mm?”

However, for some reason, An Yu seemed even more puzzled than before.

[System: Host! Host! The protagonist is acting strange. It seems like she’s noticed something off about you?!]

The System lady reminded her inside An Yu’s mind.

To be honest, if the plot hadn’t gone awry, An Qing should have noticed An Yu was different long ago!

She hadn’t done any green tea acts at all, just purely slacking off and going with the flow.

She had zero contact with the An family and Chen family members, as if she wanted to spend every day sleeping draped over Ning Wanciu.

What kind of villain was this? She was simply a cute little accessory.

An Yu paid no attention to the System. 

Instead, she stared at An Qing, who was trembling slightly for some unknown reason.

In those crimson eyes—was it nervousness, or some other emotion?

It was hard to understand.

However, there was nothing she couldn’t say about this question. 

An Yu chose to tell the truth.

“Because I wanted to spend it with Ning Wanciu and the others more.”

An Yu said Ning Wanciu’s name without any hesitation. 

This caused An Qing’s heart to tremble even harder.

Anxiety and irritation resurfaced in An Qing’s mind. 

She almost subconsciously asked:

“Why?”

Seeing the increasingly strange An Qing, An Yu answered without thinking.

“Because I wanted to.”

Because she wanted to?

So she had secretly sneaked away by herself and disappeared for two whole days, leaving her waiting alone like a clown the entire time?

An Qing gritted her teeth. 

Her eyes grew increasingly hollow.

Even though the most important question hadn’t been asked yet, it was almost the same as having the answer.

But she had no right to blame An Yu, did she?

No matter how she thought about it… the ridiculous one was herself. 

It wasn’t as if she could expect An Yu to abandon the company of someone important to her just to wait for her own mockery, right?

“Are you done asking?”

Since An Qing hadn’t responded for a long time, An Yu prompted her softly.

“Are you that impatient?”

An Qing didn’t even raise her head as she spoke subconsciously.

However, An Yu didn’t understand what she meant.

An Qing was saying… that An Yu was impatient to escape from her side.

She lifted her head. A faint, fierce glint appeared in her crimson eyes.

“Last question, An Yu.”

After speaking, An Qing stared fixedly at the girl beneath her, never shifting her gaze for even a second.

“Mm.”

However, even so, An Yu still looked completely indifferent.

“Tell me, do you care about the An family?”

As soon as the words left her mouth, An Qing unconsciously pressed down harder.

She pinned An Yu firmly beneath her, completely eliminating any possibility of struggle.

Feeling the sensation of the skin under her hands, An Qing’s heart was filled only with intense frustration.

As if remembering something, An Qing shook her head and stopped herself.

An Qing bit her lip. 

A trace of determination flashed in her eyes.

“Tell me, An Yu. Have you ever cared about the An family?”