Meeting Qin Beihou

However, before he could even take a step forward, he heard her say, "He stays here."

The boy turned around, looking between Xu Anyi and then Qin Beihou, wondering if she was talking about him.

"Yes, him."

"Bu- You-" The boy frowned, unwilling to leave without teaching Qin Beihou a lesson.

"Do you not understand my words?" Xu Anyi's smile disappeared as her voice deepened and took on a threatening tone.

The boys looked amongst each other and the boy in the middle looked conflicted as he pressed his lips together.

One of the boys standing behind whispered into the tallest boy's ear, "Mu Tu, I think we should go. The teachers and even the principal love Xu Anyi, and her father-"

"I'm not scared of her father," the boy named Mu Tu replied loudly, his face reddening slightly in embarrassment.

"I know, but. . . you know she's also friends with the upper grade people. And I think she is close with the senior boss, Yu Bai. I saw him walking with her a few days ago."

Hearing this, Mu Tu's face turned pale as Yu Bai was definitely not someone they could mess with. He was the "ruler" of the seniors not only in their school, but also in the whole neighborhood. He got into fights often and no one could beat him, but even so, the teachers loved him because he was smart.

Mu Tu immediately let go of Qin Beihou and pressed the palms of his hands together, "I'm sorry! I will leave right away!"

Then, he ran out of the alley and the group of boys behind him ran away immediately as well.

After they were gone, Xu Anyi took one last look at Qin Beihou before turning around, "Be more careful if you walk home alone."

Then, she flipped her hair around and walked out of the alley.

Qin Beihou stared at her back for a while, and just as she was about to turn the corner, he suddenly ran after her, stopping next to her.

Xu Anyi turned to look at him in confusion, her eyebrows furrowed together as she took a step back, "What are you doing?"

"Thank you for saving me," he responded.

Xu Anyi eyed him from head to toe and slowly replied, "You're welcome."

Then, she quickly rushed off.

However, after that day, Qin Beihou would always follow her around at school and outside of school, and would walk her home after school each day and be at her house early the next to walk to school with her.

In the beginning, Xu Anyi was very annoyed with him and would try to get him to leave, but after a while, she got used to his presence and the two of them slowly became close friends.

They remained close friends even after high school all the way until two years before the incident happened. . .

After graduating high school, Qin Beihou focused on his career as an actor and he eventually left the country to go to Country A to develop as an actor.

There, he lost contact with Xu Anyi for a while, and he stayed there for three years until he heard about what happened to Xu Anyi one year after the incident happened and she had entered prison.

Once he heard about what happened, he rushed back, but it was too late. . .

— Present

Xu Anyi sat down in the chair and leaned forward, crossing her arms together with a smile, "Qin Beihou!"

His eyes shot up when he heard her voice, and he stared at her in shock for a moment before he looked around and then cautiously took off his sunglasses and mask.

Xu Anyi's smile widened when she saw the familiar face emerge from under the mask.

He still had ink black hair, and his long bangs brushed against his eyes as it was pressed down by the baseball cap. After seven years of not seeing him, he seemed to have gotten skinnier, especially on his face.

The black sweater and hat really highlighted his pale skin, which seemed to glow in the dim coffee shop lighting, and he stared at her in surprise with his large and sparkling eyes, his most popular facial feature.

Xu Anyi smiled as she gave him a once-over, "You seem to have grown taller."

He immediately jumped up from his chair, and his head bumped into the pendant light hanging from the ceiling. Xu Anyi burst out laughing as she watched him.

"Ah!" He hissed in pain as he grabbed onto his head and then stepped to the side, straightening his back, "See, I grew a lot."

He did indeed grow much taller from the last time she had seen him seven years ago, and he was definitely at least a head taller than her now.

"Sit down, sit down," Xu Anyi said, afraid that he would attract too much attention if anyone noticed him.

"How are you?" She asked, taking a sip of the warm coffee he had already ordered for her. She smiled when she realized what it was, "You remember my favorite coffee."

Qin Beihou grinned softly, "I am fine of course, but what about you? What happened five years ago?"

Xu Anyi's expression turned serious, "I didn't do it."

Qin Beihou looked at her annoyedly, "Of course I know that, I'm asking what actually happened?"

Xu Anyi smiled, both surprised and glad that there were so many people who believed her, "It was Xia Yiwei."

Qin Beihou immediately scrunched his face up in distaste as he clenched his fists together, "That ungrateful b****! You treated her so well in the past!"

Xu Anyi thought back to when they were young, and she smiled bitterly, "I just mistook a dog as a person."

Qin Beihou grinned softly as he took a sip of his coffee and pressed his baseball cap down when he saw another person enter the room. They were both silent for a moment before he asked, "So what are you going to do now?"

Xu Anyi thought about it, not responding immediately.

"Do you have anywhere to go? If you don't," he patted himself on the chest, "My house is really big and there are a lot of empty rooms! You can come live with me!"

Xu Anyi burst out laughing, "Live with you?"

"Yeah! We can play games together and party! I've been playing this new game recently and I can't pass this level, you can help me look at it," he said excitedly, leaning forward against the table.

Xu Anyi smiled and took another sip of the coffee, looking around to make sure no one noticed them because he was too loud, "It's okay, I have somewhere to stay."

The disappointment was evident on his face, "Are you sure? I have an empty house too, I can rent it out to you for free!"

The warmth of the coffee seemed to warm her entire body up as she lifted a hand up and slapped the edge of his baseball cap, pushing it down further, "Qin Beihou, can't you have more of a business mindset? Rent it to me for free? You have a lot of money, hm?"

Qin Beihou frowned, pursing his lips out as he straightened his cap, "I just want to help. . ."

Xu Anyi smiled, "I know, but it's okay. I have somewhere to stay, and I'm planning to get into modeling."

Qin Beihou's eyes lit up when he heard that, as he knew that she always liked modeling, "Really?! Well, I can help you with that! I'm in Xinhua Entertainment right now, I can introduce you."

Xinhua Entertainment. . . The name sounded familiar, and Xu Anyi remembered seeing this company on the list Si Mu had shown her. It was a very prestigious entertainment company in the country, definitely one of the best.

After doing some research, it seemed like only Ruyi Entertainment was above it, and the two companies often fought a lot over resources.

Xu Anyi's eyes narrowed slightly as she remembered that Xia Yiwei was in Xinhua as well. If she went to Xinhua, Xia Yiwei would definitely find ways to press her down.

"It's okay, I am far from being eligible to enter Xinhua." She smiled, "Houzi, I know you are trying to help me, but don't worry. I will be fine. And if there is anything I need, of course, I will ask you first!"

Qin Beihou felt a little better after hearing that and nodded, looking down at his coffee cup as he let out a long sigh. One of his biggest regrets was that he wasn't able to be there for her when she was in trouble and needed him. . .

Now that he was more powerful and she had lost her support, he wanted to do everything he could to help and protect her.

Xu Anyi stirred her cup of coffee, looking around the large shop. She had never been in this coffee shop before, and it probably opened sometime in the past five years.

"There aren't a lot of people here," she commented as she looked around.

"Yeah. And I know the owner of the shop, so I'm safe here."

Xu Anyi chuckled, "Yes, big celebrity."

She continued to look around, as she really liked the design of the shop. She turned her body around to look at the images on the wall near the front door, and as she looked, she heard the bell that hung at the door ring. Her gaze quickly moved over to the front door, which was pushed open from outside.

A tall man stepped into the shop and when she saw who it was, her mouth fell open in shock.