It was Ye Mei.
She was astonished to watch An Yuxin cry.
An Yuxin wiped the tears away embarrassed.
“What’s wrong? Who picked on you?”
“It’s n-nothing.”
“Don’t lie. You’re crying too hard for it to be nothing. What’s with all these things? Did Li Mo kick you out? Did he made you cry?”
“N-no!”
“I never expected him to be like this. Humph, the saying is true. Any man with money is rotten. He just became the successor of the Li clan and now he threw you out after he played with you.
“Enough is enough. See how I set him straight!”
Ye Mei was about to go in, but An Yuxin stopped her.
“It’s not like that. I’m not crying because of Li Mo. He is a good man.”
“Fine, then tell me who made you cry.”
These past few days Ye Mei had hung out with An Yuxin and grew closer. They still had a lot to go before they reached tacit understanding, but they were quite the besties.
“I-it’s Huang Yao.”
An Yuxin felt embarrassed explaining it. Stopping after each sentence.
“Huang Yao is too much!”
“You can’t blame her. She and Li Mo are a couple and her behavior is normal. J-just that my heart is unwell.”
“A couple? Who told you that lie?”
“They aren’t together? And even Li Mo said he has a girlfriend.”
An Yuxin lowered her head, face as red as an apple.
“Not even blind will Li Mo like Huang Yao!”
“Don’t say that. T-their relationship is good, as well with Teacher Huang.”
“In the end, the fault lies with Li Mo. And I bet he knew Huang Yao would act like this too.”
“No way, Li Mo isn’t that kind of man!”
“You’re so foolish. A man’s cunning has no limit.”
“Not Li Mo. I believe him.”
Ye Mei shook her head. To her, An Yuxin was someone who could not see the truth even if she stared it in the face.
“Yuxin, it’s still early. Want to come to my place? Come, I’ll let you eat Häagen-Dazs.”
An Yuxin didn’t want to, but caved under Ye Mei’s enthusiasm.
At noon, Li Mo returned home. He opened the door and there was Huang Yao in a nightdress, slippers, and sprawled on the couch watching TV.
“Why are you here? Where’s Yuxin?”
“You’re back!”
Huang Yao got up and skipped like a swallow to Li Mo. Her now docile and demure behavior was a stark contrast from how she treated Li Mo before.
“I haven’t seen you for so many days. I missed you so much.”
Huang Yao gushed and wanted to take his hand, but Li Mo avoided her.
“Where’s Yuxin?”
“Are you tired? Let me give you chicken soup.”
“I asked you, where is An Yuxin?” Li Mo raised his voice.
Huang Yao deadpanned, “She went back. We decided that I will now take care of you. So she isn’t needed.”
“Who do you think you are? Who are you to make decisions for me?”
“I am your girlfriend, silly.”
“Huang Yao, how many times have I told you? There never will be anything between us!”
“I know you said that out of anger. I did the same. But the truth is, I love you the most.”
Li Mo called An Yuxin.
“Get over here now!”
Huang Yao grumbled, “Why have her back? A world for two doesn’t have room for more.”
“You, get dressed and leave.”
“What?” Huang Yao didn’t seem to hear.
“I said leave. You are not welcomed here.”
“Are you still angry? How can you be like this? See, I am not angry with you.”
“I am kind enough to ask you to leave. Do you prefer for me to yell you to beat it?” Li Mo was furious.
Huang Yao giggled.
“Fine, fine. You’re right. Can’t I be wrong sometimes? Sheesh.”
Huang Yao sat on the couch.
Li Mo’s mood sank dangerously low.
He was royally pissed. But Huang Yao still took it as nothing more than a joke.
“Oh, look who it is? The great young master Li.”
Ye Mei went right in to patronize Li Mo. An Yuxin was beside her, embarrassed.
Li Mo’s face was fierce, “When I’m gone, this is your house, its owner. No one can drive you out, did you hear me?”
“Yes.” Huang Yao smiled sweetly.
“I’m not talking to you, but An Yuxin!”
Huang Yao was flabbergast.
Huang Yao flew into a rage, “Li Mo, how long are you going to be this way? I already said I was wrong!”
“Huang Yao, this is the last time I’ll tell you. I, Li Mo, never liked you in my life. If not for your father’s sake, you would be thrown out by now for driving An Yuxin away!”
This time, Huang Yao understood it perfectly clear.
Ye Mei was beaming, prodding An Yuxin, “Didn’t I tell you? Li Mo isn’t blind. Look, was I wrong?”
An Yuxin was too embarrassed to speak.
Huang Yao left in a daze. She rocked left and right the whole time, unclear as what she was thinking.
The key returned in An Yuxin’s rightful hands and Li Mo warned her again and again in case this happened again.
An Yuxin was disgruntled, “When I asked if you had a girlfriend, you told me yes. I thought you meant Huang Yao, so I gave her the key.”
“I do have a girlfriend, but she is not Huang Yao.”
“Then who?” An Yuxin asked with a red face.
“You don’t know her.” Li Mo entered the study.
Ye Mei snorted, “Yuxin, why did you ask him? With his stinky temper, his girlfriend is sure to suffer from his foul mood.”
“He is good.”
“I don’t see it.”
Li Mo heard their talk clearly but didn’t give their chat any importance. He tuned off Earth Listening and focused on researching the item in his hand.
It was a key made of white jade, something he picked from Su Mingyuan’s body.
This was a rare spacial key.
Li Mo poured spiritual qi into the key and it lit up, releasing an eight trigrams in the air.
The eight characters on the eight trigrams lit up faintly.
Li Mo carefully touched a character and all eight dimmed.
The key would work only if he knew the right combination.
Li Mo tried scanning Su Mingyuan’s memories but was unsuccessful. Su Mingyuan’s true soul was still alive and erased many memories of his splinter soul. There was nothing in there saying anything about the spacial key, or his master.
Li Mo sent his spiritual qi in again and the eight trigrams reappeared.
Pressing another character, the eight trigrams dimmed again.
