He Jinxing watched Gou An get in the car to go to He’s hospital before he turned back to the police station to see his nephew who was currently being held in solitary confinement.

The moment the door opened and He Ran appeared in view, to be honest, even a ‘well-informed’ person like He Jinxing couldn’t help but be stunned. He stood by the door and paused for a while. 

He sincerely commented, “How miserable.”

Fighting was one thing.

Fighting and then losing was quite another matter.

At this time, curled up on a stool in the far corner, He Ran had already calmed down. He tried to open his swollen eyes and looked at his young uncle. The obvious mockery in his young uncle’s eyes made him feel even more frustrated.

He had heard a lot about his young uncle’s ‘glorious past’ from his parents, and when it came to things like street dog fights, he might really have the ‘experienced’ authority to speak from a superior position.

But at this moment He Ran didn’t want to compete with him in these matters. He was even too lazy to explain what happened. It was the bastard Zhou Yanji who held him down, and Gou Xun who rode on him and attacked him… 

So it wasn’t a three-way fight at all but a pure two-on-one beat down.

Otherwise, how could those two people have dealt with him so easily?

One on one, He Ran could also be the top boss of a wild dog squad that could occupy several trash cans in the alley all by himself.

Enduring the aches and pains all over his body, He Ran changed his sitting position and was only concerned about one question, “Where is Gou An?”

He Jinxing hooked a chair with his foot, placed it in front of him, and sat down. “Hospital.”

He Ran raised his eyelids and flinched as if he had been punched by someone again.

This tiny movement did not escape He Jinxing’s eyes. He raised his chin and said calmly, “It was just a collision. It’s not a big problem… You’re regretting it now? Tell me what you’re thinking.”

“I don’t want to cancel the engagement.” He Ran bent towards his legs and buried his face in his knees again. He sighed deeply and then said in a sad and helpless tone, “Do I still need to say this?”

“It’s too late.”

The man’s voice was extremely cold.

“What did you do before? Didn’t I remind you that you can’t stick to one and still eye the other?”

He Ran frowned slightly, not having the patience to listen to such sermons.

But He Jinxing obviously didn’t care about the feelings of Young Master He.

“In the time of danger, you abandoned Gou An and only brought Lu Wan out.”

“…”

He really got lectured.

And the stupid mistakes that he didn’t want to be mentioned were directly brought up.

He didn’t know why, but He Ran’s thoughts were a little off track at this moment. When he heard his young uncle say the name ‘Lu Wan’, he suddenly had a very strange feeling.

That ordinary college student from the lower city was someone who should have had nothing whatsoever to do with the most powerful person in the He family.

… yet his young uncle took her to the hospital.

… on the night when Endless Night had that incident, he heard from his minions that they found Lu Wan in the SVIP lounge on the fourth floor. That night, his young uncle was also in Endless Night, also in the fourth floor.

… the scratch marks on his young uncle’s hand that he had seen at He’s Building that morning were obviously made by a woman.

He Ran’s whole body was in pain, but his brain had suddenly come to its senses, revived from its alcoholic stupor. He asked a question, “Lu Wan— back then, we found her on the fourth floor… Was she brought to the fourth floor by Young Uncle?”

He Jinxing paused, but his expression remained calm, as if he was not at all curious why his nephew asked this question. “Yes, she seemed to have encountered some trouble at that time.”

He Ran was now very curious why He Jinxing was acting completely out of character and doing various good deeds for Lu Wan—

He even wanted to ask boldly: when his young uncle told him not to think about Gou An and stay in contact with Lu Wan at the same time, was he teaching him morality and responsibility or…

Or was it simply out of concern for the person ‘Lu Wan’?

He Ran’s thoughts were a bit far-fetched, but such thoughts made him a little excited for no reason, as if he had seen that there was still room to maneuver in this situation. He raised his face from his knees and looked at the man who was sitting leisurely not far away.

“Young Uncle, if I promise to never care about Lu Wan again and give her some compensation to settle the matter of her saving me back then, can you restore my engagement with Gou An?”

Maybe he has lost his mind.

In fact, he had been wavering even before.

But he probably just lost his mind.

After having thought of the possibility of He Jinxing and Lu Wan being together, He Ran found that he was not only no longer angry—he also felt relieved…

He immediately thought that if his young uncle was willing to compromise, could he use this as an exchange and get what he wanted from this elder in front of him who had a lot of influence in the family?

He Ran was not a fool either.

In contrast, he immediately realized that he might have already been wavering in his interest in Lu Wan. She was pretty, good at studying, had a good personality, and had saved his life…

Yet somehow, don’t ask why, he just couldn’t seem to let go of Gou An. He wanted to get back this person who had been his fiancée for twenty years.

He Ran desperately wanted everything to get back on track.

“I mean, if you think that Lu Wan should just know you.”

He looked at He Jinxing with hope. The hint was no longer a hint; it was so obvious that it was practically laid out on the table.

Just when he thought that the man before him would give him a symbolic lesson using a few words and then easily agree to his request, the other party paused.

After a while, He Jinxing spoke, and his voice had no trace of surprise or offense.

“Can I understand what you said as you are trying to exchange Lu Wan, agreeing to leave her to me, for a chance to get Gou An back?”

Just a simple inquiry.

It was just that the statement was a bit strange.

But that was exactly what He Ran meant.

He Ran nodded honestly.

The light bulb in the solitary confinement room was old and too dim—or maybe he had been beaten to the point of being dizzy—but in his blurry vision that was filled with a strong smell of blood, he seemed to see He Jinxing slowly revealing an ambiguous smile.

For a moment, He Ran’s heart beat faster.

Just as he was trying to open his eyes wider, trying to see clearly what was going on with the expression on his young uncle’s face, he saw him slowly unfold himself and change his sitting position.

The surface of the handmade leather shoes was smooth and shiny under the dim light.

“How can a living person be exchanged for an opportunity… And I’m curious, why do you have such an idea?”

There was a note of indifference and relaxation in He Jinxing’s voice. He was not angry at having his thoughts exposed. Instead, he smiled and asked He Ran why he thought he would be interested in Lu Wan.

He Ran couldn’t say anything; it was just his guess.

He Jinxing didn’t ask any further questions.

“You can have a chance to talk to Gou An. After all, to officially break off the engagement, there still needs to be a formal occasion.”

He Ran breathed a sigh of relief.

His young uncle still agreed.

Completely without resistance.

He Ran didn’t even have time to show a surprised expression.

“But you have to understand one thing. Whatever conversation you will have is based on the current situation: Gou Yu’s daughter no longer belongs to you.”

From the Day the Engagement was Broken translated by Maela @ whitemoonlighttranslations.com

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Chapter 27.1 — Use Lu Wan to Exchange for Gou An
Chapter 27.2 — Use Lu Wan to Exchange for Gou An
Chapter 27.3 — Use Lu Wan to Exchange for Gou An