Chapter 62: He Belongs to Zhou Yao

“Zhang Xiluo!”

The one hit was Li Mingye. He was covered in snow, his expression so dark it was terrifying, his tone even colder than the wintry air.

“I didn’t do it on purpose. How was I supposed to know you’d suddenly show up…” She was so aggrieved—she’d been having so much fun. That infuriating man was clearly her nemesis.

“Mr. Li, do you like snowball fights? Can we play together too?” Zhou Yao looked up at Li Mingye, her eyes full of hopeful anticipation and a bright smile on her face.

“A snowball fight sounds great! Brother Li, Ouyang, come on, let’s play,” Zhao Chengyi said excitedly, immediately crouching to scoop up a snowball.

Li Mingye stood rooted to the spot, his gaze locked on Zhang Xiluo. When he heard Zhou Yao’s suggestion, he turned to her, his eyes instantly softening. His face changed faster than the weather in June.

“You all play. I’ll take her back,” Ouyang Chen declined, beckoning for Zhang Xiluo to come to her side.

“Ouyang… what are you…” Zhao Chengyi stood up, completely baffled.

Ouyang Chen shot him a glare and said coldly, “Less talking.”

The atmosphere grew stranger by the second. Zhang Xiluo felt unbearably cold; she didn’t want to stay another moment. Just as she was about to leave, Li Mingye stepped ahead of Ouyang Chen, came to her side, and grabbed her hand.

“Let go!” Zhang Xiluo instinctively struggled. That infuriating man was pulling her in front of Zhou Yao—did he want her to fall into Zhou Yao’s schemes again?

“Zhang Xiluo, we’re not divorced yet,” Li Mingye warned in a low voice. She could hear his teeth grinding—he was furious beyond measure.

With a frown, Zhang Xiluo let herself be dragged away, utterly unwilling.

“Take me back to Milan International, thank you,” she said after getting in the car and buckling her seatbelt.

Li Mingye said nothing and drove straight toward the villa.

“I’m not going there. Either take me home or let me out,” she protested, resisting the idea. There were too many bad memories there—especially since he’d abandoned her there not long ago.

“Zhang Xiluo, haven’t you caused enough trouble?” Li Mingye was clearly dissatisfied. “Until we’re divorced, you’d best behave.”

“So when are we getting divorced?” Zhang Xiluo couldn’t wait any longer. The longer this dragged on, the messier it would get.

Li Mingye slammed on the brakes, making Zhang Xiluo nearly crash forward. The seatbelt bit painfully into her shoulder, and her face went deathly pale.

Frightened, she clutched her belly, and when she looked at Li Mingye, her gaze was icy, brimming with hatred.

Bastard!

“You refuse to divorce, and still hang around Zhou Yao. You really don’t see me as a person at all.”

With those words, Zhang Xiluo got out of the car, walked toward the roadside without a backward glance. Li Mingye hurried after her, shielding her from traffic and guiding her to the sidewalk.

She didn’t thank him, just kept walking away, not stopping until she’d gone a long distance.

At that moment, she made a decision. She would sue for divorce.

She took a cab back to Milan International, took a quick shower, and lay on the bed, scrolling through her phone.

Lin Yiming sent her a message.

“Sis, I had something come up and had to go home for a few days. Sorry I didn’t tell you sooner. I’ve tallied the café's revenue for the month and will send it to you.”

“Okay.” Zhang Xiluo replied with a single word, no longer caring about his whereabouts. She was a bit annoyed that he had been absent from the café at such a crucial time.

“Sis, are you upset? I brought you some local specialties from home.” Lin Yiming sent a photo—an array of snacks.

Zhang Xiluo wasn’t in the mood. She closed the chat.

Lin Yiming’s messages kept popping up. He was explaining everything that had happened over those days. His parents weren’t well; they’d taken out high-interest loans for surgery, but his father’s illness had relapsed. He’d been summoned home in the middle of the night, and in his rush, had forgotten to inform Zhang Xiluo. He hadn’t even requested leave from school and had been marked absent.

“Only Zhou Yao knew, right?” Seeing his lengthy explanation, Zhang Xiluo couldn’t help but interrupt.

The typing indicator hovered for a long time before he replied, “Yes.”

“Sis, my mom doesn’t know we broke up, so she reached out to her,” he continued.

“It’s fine, there’s no need to explain.”

“But I don’t want you to misunderstand, sis.”

“It’s alright. I won’t.”

Not wanting to talk further, Zhang Xiluo simply put down her phone and went to sleep.

Her mother called, asking her to come home and not to stay at Jiang Xueting’s place all the time.

Before returning to Qinyuan, Zhang Xiluo asked Xiao Zhao to take her to the hospital. She found Xu Xinyi to confirm her health status.

Xu Xinyi said everything was stable and told her to keep it up.

As she was leaving the hospital, she ran into Jiang Xueting in the corridor. Jiang Xueting wore a hat and a scarf over her mouth, sneaking into the elevator like a thief, completely unaware of Zhang Xiluo’s presence.

Worried, Zhang Xiluo memorized the floor and followed her.

This was the VIP ward of the orthopedics department. Zhang Xiluo checked each room one by one, and finally found Jiang Xueting in the middle room.

And there was Zhao Chengyi!

Zhao Chengyi’s arm was in a cast, and he leaned on the hospital bed, looking utterly aggrieved. Jiang Xueting was feeding him fruit, and his eyes were practically glued to her.

No wonder he’d been so secretive lately—he was with Jiang Xueting.

Zhang Xiluo was only concerned about Jiang Xueting and didn’t want to disturb them, so she quietly left, only to be blocked by Zhou Yao.

“Sis? Are you here to see Brother Yi too? Last night we had a snowball fight—Brother Yi fell, Mr. Li almost fell, too, but we had so much fun.” Zhou Yao held a fruit basket, Li Mingye following behind her, openly flaunting their closeness.

What kind of twisted fate was this, running into them everywhere?

After separating from her last night, Li Mingye had gone back to find Zhou Yao and even played in the snow with her.

No doubt it was true love—what she had begged for all those years, Zhou Yao had gained with ease.

“No,” Zhang Xiluo replied coolly. “I have other things to do, so I’ll be going.”

She walked past Li Mingye without sparing him a glance. Just as the elevator doors were closing, their eyes met for a brief moment.

Suddenly, she saw in his gaze a deep, desolate sorrow.

Even after returning home to Qinyuan, Zhang Xiluo was still preoccupied with that look. She was sure she hadn’t imagined it.

“Luoluo, when are you planning to divorce Li Mingye?”

Having changed her clothes, Zhang Xiluo heard her mother’s question as soon as she came out. She sighed. “Anytime. It should be soon.”

She hoped the lawsuit would go smoothly. She wanted to start a new life after the New Year.

“Li Mingye won’t agree?”

Zhang Xiluo nodded, unable to explain—she herself didn’t really understand. He and Zhou Yao were inseparable, and the Li family had already accepted Zhou Yao’s presence. What was he stalling for?

“Invite him over for dinner when he’s free. I’ll talk to him,” her mother said angrily, feeling that Li Mingye had gone too far.

“Forget it. I don’t want to see him.”

“This time you have to listen to me. Leave it to me—your father and I have only one daughter. Before, you were too stubborn, but now that you’ve come to your senses, it’s time to cut this off cleanly!”