9.Sleep again

In the spacious and quiet cabin of the cruise ship, Tang Qian sat quietly by the bedside. The surrounding air seemed to freeze because of her presence. She slightly raised her right hand and her fingers slid lightly across the screen of her mobile phone. With a soft unlocking sound, the screen of the mobile phone lit up instantly.

Tang Qian's mobile phone was extremely special, equipped with a dual-system setup. At this moment, when the interface of the secondary system came into view, the icons indicating missed calls densely covered the screen, and the number of unread messages was astonishingly large, like a surging tide that seemed to drown the entire screen.

The moment she just opened the secondary system, a phone ringtone from Xizi City suddenly rang out. The sharp ringtone was particularly harsh in this silent cabin. Tang Qian knew in her heart that presumably Chen Guang couldn't hold back any longer and had informed the Tang family about the relevant matters.

Facing the constantly flashing call reminders and the mountain of unread messages, there was not the slightest trace of panic or hesitation in Tang Qian's eyes. With a calm expression, she gently tapped on the screen with her fingers and quickly switched the system, turning the mobile phone back to the primary system.

Then, she stood up and quickly scanned the cabin with her eyes. Everything here seemed to have nothing to do with her. Her luggage was extremely simple, just a small hand-carried travel bag. She reached out and easily picked it up, then resolutely stepped out of the cabin.

This cruise ship could be regarded as a luxurious palace on the sea, with a huge scale and extremely luxurious decorations. In the past three days, Tang Qian had been closely watched by Chen Guang and was constantly under his surveillance, and she had no chance to take a good tour of this cruise ship at all.

At this moment, she strolled to the lobby of the cruise ship, her eyes full of confusion. The space in the lobby was extremely open, and there were various unique and invaluable large-scale expensive ornaments placed everywhere. Those ornaments were like artistic elves that had traveled through ancient times, exuding a mysterious and charming aura.

On the walls of the lobby, world-famous paintings were hung in an orderly manner. Each painting contained the unique artistic souls of the painters and was of great value.

Tang Qian slowly paced and finally stopped in front of a painting. She stood there quietly, her eyes fixed on the painting, and time seemed to stand still at this moment. One minute, two minutes... A full ten minutes passed, and she was still like a statue, immersed in the artistic world created by this painting.

Just as Tang Qian was immersed in the painting, on the spiral staircase not far away, Ye Fan, who was about to go down the stairs, suddenly stopped in the middle of the staircase as if his feet were fixed by an invisible force. The group of bodyguards following behind him also quickly stopped. Their movements were uniform, like well-trained machines.

Jiang Song, who was walking behind, didn't fully focus his attention on the front. He didn't notice the change ahead for a moment and walked in a hurry, almost bumping into one of the bodyguards.

He managed to stop just in the nick of time, his face full of confusion. He couldn't help but turn his head to look at Ye Fan and softly called out, "Brother Fan?"

Ye Fan's eyes were fixed on Tang Qian's figure in front of him, and his eyes revealed an indescribable complex emotion. He slowly raised his hand and made a gesture in the air.

Seeing this, those well-trained bodyguards quickly and silently retreated, like phantoms, and soon disappeared around the corner of the staircase. When Jiang Song saw this scene, he became even more puzzled. He pointed at himself and silently asked Ye Fan with his eyes if he needed to retreat as well.

Ye Fan's gesture hadn't completely dropped yet. His two fingers moved slightly. Jiang Song immediately understood and quickly retreated. His steps were even quieter than those of the bodyguards, like a stealthy night cat, and he silently retreated upstairs.

This was the highest-level silent retreat gesture of the Ye family. Usually, it was only used in extremely dangerous and tense negotiation situations. Jiang Song quickly entered a state of high alert. His right hand even subconsciously touched the small of his back, where his weapon was hidden.

At this moment, there was a cold murderous look in his eyes, and he was like a taut bowstring, ready to shoot a deadly arrow at any moment. Although he didn't know exactly what was going on, the loyalty and tacit understanding cultivated by following Ye Fan for many years made him understand that he must always maintain the best state of readiness for battle. As long as Ye Fan gave an order, he would rush out immediately to eliminate all dangers for Ye Fan.

Under the extremely serious atmosphere of such a group of people, Ye Fan slightly lowered his head and reached out to adjust his collar. His movements were elegant and calm.

Then, he lifted his foot and slowly walked down the stairs step by step. At this time, Tang Qian was still standing in front of the painting, fully focused. Deep in her heart, she was marveling at the subtlety of this world-famous painting in front of her and didn't notice at all that someone was quietly approaching.

Ye Fan stood quietly behind Tang Qian for a while, but Tang Qian was still immersed in the painting and didn't notice anything strange behind her at all. After a while, as if she had finished admiring it, she moved her feet and was about to walk towards the next famous painting to continue admiring it. Just then, Ye Fan raised his right hand...

"Pop!"

A crisp and loud snap of the fingers suddenly sounded in the lobby, breaking the original silence. When Tang Qian heard this sound, she instinctively turned around and looked back, a look of surprise on her face. What came into her sight was that person...

Today, Ye Fan was different from the image she had seen before. He wasn't wearing that familiar bathrobe, but his attire wasn't very formal either. Under a collarless suit jacket was a simple T-shirt. Such a combination not only didn't lack a sense of fashion but also showed a casual temperament.

His hair was obviously carefully styled, combed into a handsome Hong Kong-style pompadour, and his full forehead was completely exposed, allowing people to clearly see his beautifully lined and extremely superior frontal bone. He seemed to have full confidence in his facial features. When he met Tang Qian twice, he didn't cover his face at all and fully showed his appearance.

From his every move, Tang Qian could deeply feel the casualness and arrogance emanating from him. That unique temperament seemed to be inborn, making her heart ripple slightly. She knew very well that there was something she couldn't obtain in him...

The corners of Ye Fan's mouth slightly turned up, with a faint smile, and there was a trace of an elusive meaning in his eyes. He also didn't expect that he would meet Tang Qian in such an occasion and at such a place.

This wasn't Xizi City, but on the vast high seas, on his luxurious cruise ship. Looking at Tang Qian's stunningly beautiful face, Ye Fan didn't speak for a moment. He just stared quietly into her bright and deep eyes, as if he wanted to read something from her eyes.

It was Tang Qian who broke the silence first. Looking at Ye Fan with a strange scrutiny in her eyes, she opened her mouth and asked, "Single?"

When Ye Fan heard this question, he slightly raised his eyebrows, and a trace of amusement flashed in his eyes immediately. He asked back, "What else?" In his heart, he was secretly thinking that he had specially come to find her.

Tang Qian didn't seem to care about Ye Fan's inner thoughts. She then continued, "Sleep with me again?" Her words were straightforward and bold, without any reservation.

When Ye Fan heard this, he couldn't help but frown slightly. They hadn't seen each other for three months, and when they met again, she went straight to the point as soon as she opened her mouth, without even a bit of small talk or chatting.

His eyes scanned Tang Qian, and finally landed on the travel bag in her hand. For some reason, a terribly bad feeling suddenly welled up in his heart. However, he quickly adjusted his emotions and a smile appeared on his face, but there was a hint of mockery in this smile.

"Okay!" He uttered a single word, then reached out his hand, just as forcefully as he did three months ago, and pulled Tang Qian away.