Wen Qianyi understood, picked up the cup, washed it, and poured him a glass of water. She then laughed and said, "The wine you sent over is still with me. Want to drink it? Someone once said when slaughtering a fat sheep, that thinking about drinking a glass worth thousands feels very satisfying. Don’t you think it’s a waste not to drink it?"

"What’s there to waste? They say it’s just right for honoring our future... Hehe, let you offer flowers to Buddha!" 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

"Then I won’t be polite, I’ll finish it off tonight. But..." Wen Qianyi burst into laughter, "My dad won’t appreciate your kindness, he might think it’s no different from the dry red wine bought for a few dozen bucks at the supermarket, totally missing the point. If he knew the price, he’d definitely call it a waste!"

"Haha, doesn’t matter, he’s not my future father-in-law anyway, not my problem. Someday..."

"It won’t be your problem then either!" Wen Qianyi shook her head with a smile, then sat on the sofa with him. "You might as well start talking about you and Xiaodi!"

Speaking of Xiaodi, Li Yan nodded, pondering how to begin.

Seeing him like this, Wen Qianyi guided him to open up, "You said she hasn’t been around lately... you mean she’s not in City S? And you don’t have her contact information, so you don’t know where she is?"

Li Yan nodded, with a slight bitter smile, "That’s the headache. And I’m not comfortable using forceful means to get her whereabouts. Of course... maybe one day I’ll do it, but for now, I’m respecting her."

Wen Qianyi nodded, it was clear she was avoiding him. Something unusual must have happened between them recently!

"Did something happen recently that never happened before?" She guessed Li Yan didn’t want to bring it up, so she indirectly asked without delving into specifics, hoping he would just answer yes or no, allowing him to keep his privacy while still getting the relief of sharing.

Li Yan looked at her, slightly embarrassed, and said, "I can’t hide anything from you... Yes, two weeks ago. It was her birthday, and on the night before... or should I say, the early morning of her birthday, we... ended up in bed."

After saying this, he awkwardly glanced at Wen Qianyi, expecting she might chastise him for sleeping with a freshman girl or be displeased.

Unexpectedly, Wen Qianyi wasn’t surprised at all and instead said, "With Yu Xiaodi’s initiative towards you, and you not being a saint, it’s a surprise you held back until now."

"..." Li Yan was speechless, "I’ll take that as a compliment..."

"Haha, it is a compliment. Since you’re dating and she’s over eighteen, consenting adults, how could I criticize you?"

Li Yan gave a thumbs up, not expecting her to be so open-minded. Unexpectedly, she added, "...at most, I’ll just criticize her taste and teach her about having a firm will..."

Taste? Are you saying I’m unworthy?

Wen Qianyi didn’t continue discussing this and instead got to the heart of the matter: "After her birthday, you lost contact? After she went back, you couldn’t reach her?"

"Yes."

Wen Qianyi’s face darkened, "I see..."

"What do you understand?"

"She must be unwilling, and you used the excuse of celebrating her birthday to create some romantic atmosphere, to move her, and then half-coerced getting her into bed! So, afterward, she felt traumatized and didn’t want to see you, avoiding you!" Wen Qianyi’s gaze turned slightly disdainful. If it were mutual consent, she had nothing to say and wouldn’t interfere in others’ relationships, but if forced, it was every woman’s enemy.

Seeing her expression, Li Yan self-deprecatingly smiled, "Do you think I’m the type to get caught up in lust easily and lose control?"

Wen Qianyi countered, "Then who was just in the restaurant lust-driven, eager to rush back... for that?"

"This..." Li Yan smiled bitterly, recognizing the trap of his own making. "This is different..."

"Yes, different! Having it in hand loses excitement, what’s unreachable is thrilling. Coincidentally, today is my birthday too, a chance, no?" Wen Qianyi sneered softly.