He Jinxing’s voice was slow, and it was hard to tell whether it was a casual warning or a gentle reminder that didn’t matter at all.

“You’d better restrain yourself and stop trying to do something that would embarrass your parents.”

“…”

The heart that had just been flying high in the air and jumping vigorously about suddenly fell to the ground. A cold confusion spread in his heart. He Ran had always been the most outstanding among the younger generation of the He family. It was rare for him to show such a confused expression as he was sporting at this moment—

His mind had gone blank.

This was a cruel warning from He Jinxing.

He Ran tried to ask in a last-ditch effort, “What if I start pursuing her again?”

“…” 

He Jinxing seemed to have heard something interesting, “Then no one can stop you.”

“You agree?”

“It doesn’t matter whether I agree or not. What you should consider is—what if you find out that no matter how hard you try, you can’t get Gou An back. Will you get angry and embarrassed?”

“…”

“Again? Get angry at everyone around her?” He Jinxing asked, “And then embarrass yourself like you did tonight?”

But He Ran no longer cared about his own face.

He knew that he had been like a rabid dog tonight. He had messed it up utterly and completely, and it was clearly his own problem, but he still vented his temper against Zhou Yanji.

His lips moved, and after he calmed down from the chaos in his heart, he couldn’t help but ask, “Then what if what happened tonight really happens again?”

He Jinxing was sitting about three meters away from him.

At this moment, the man did not answer him immediately but gazed at him with a look of neither joy nor sorrow…

That cold gaze that looked so superior, as if completely detached from human affection, made He Ran subconsciously frightened.

A long time passed.

He finally heard the man’s voice.

“If you insist on making the same mistake over and over again, it means that there is indeed something wrong with the current education system in the He family. As elders, we have no choice but to take responsibility—”

He Jinxing maintained his usual friendly demeanor.

“Maybe I will send you away regardless of Eldest ge‘s wishes, to the United States, Italy, Japan, or New Zealand… There you will receive a more suitable education.”

At this time, the man paused again, and then continued in his usual light tone—

“It’s just that you can never come back.”

As if he was explaining something utterly unimportant.

… …

The conversation that night was so confusing that when He Ran woke up the next morning, he realized that he didn’t even understand what promise He Jinxing had given him for Lu Wan.

… After all that, it seemed that his young uncle has not promised him anything at all except indirectly admitting that he had some special feelings for Lu Wan.

He Ran scratched his head in annoyance, but before he could sort things out in his mind, he realized he that he had to hurry up. He was informed that the He family had agreed with Gou family to have dinner together to discuss the formal breaking off of their engagement. It would be held the next day.

—It sounded like Gou An couldn’t wait to kick him out.

With his face swollen like a pig, He Ran was in a bad mood. He took a quick shower and went downstairs. He Jinxing was sitting at the dining table eating breakfast and reading an old-school morning newspaper.

This man who was in charge of the He family seemed to be in a good mood today. Even though the newspapers did not report any good news about the A-shares¹ market, the corners of his lips remained raised as he read these bad news.

He Ran sat down next to him, and He Jinxing asked the servant to bring him a glass of orange juice, along with a handful of medicine with various anti-swelling and anti-inflammatory effects.

“Young Uncle,” He Ran couldn’t help it.

“Mm?”

“That day at He’s, the person in your office,” He Ran pointed to his young uncle’s wrist, “was it Lu Wan?”

His curiosity overwhelmed everything.

He Jinxing raised his eyebrows and looked up from the newspaper, then showed a half-smile and stared at him for a long time.

He Jinxing looked at him until He Ran was truly terrified, but then he shook his head and said, “No.”

He Ran was convinced that he was lying.

… … translated by Maela @ whitemoonlighttranslations.com

There was not much time left for He Ran.

After He Ran had breakfast, he heard that Gou An was selecting bodyguards from the He’s security personnel, so he rushed over without stopping.

You could say that he did it on purpose, but he didn’t do much to clean up his reddened face. He even looked at his swollen face in the mirror when he reached the lobby of He’s and nodded with satisfaction, then he confidently pressed the elevator to go upstairs.

Once before, he had been injured while playing a game. As he was competing for a rebound with someone, he didn’t stand firmly when he landed and his foot buckled under him, so he sprained his leg. At that time, Gou An had rushed up with an ice pack, and she was even faster than the team doctor.

Thinking back to that time, he only thought that she was in the way.

He Ran was still thinking about this as he pushed open the door of the office. He heard the person inside saying, voice full of impatience, “Why not just install an anti-lost dog tag on me? Why stop at getting me a bodyguard? Will he follow me into the women’s restroom? Oh, no, that can’t be, what if I get beaten or kidnapped in the women’s restroom?”

The voice was sarcastic and muttering.

But it sounded unusually intimate.

He had already decided to start over, and he believed that Gou An would not ignore their twenty-year-old relationship… 

At this time, He Ran’s mentality had completely changed. He found that he had developed tremendous patience for this person who he had once turned a blind eye to and was now about to lose.

Even her nonsense sounded nice.

Just think that he was really cheap, so what? This was the nature of men. They only knew how to cherish something after they lose it. There was nothing to be embarrassed about admitting it.

When he opened the door, he saw Miss Gou, with her chin propped on her hand, flipping through a folder full of employee information with an impatient look on her face. Next to her was a phone connected on a WeChat call with Gou Yu.

When she heard the door open, she looked up and was shocked to see a bruised and swollen person behind the door. 

Damn it, am I the only one in the world who’s afraid of going to jail? Aren’t Zhou Yanji and Gou Xun afraid at all?? How could the be this cruel??

Perhaps it was the dazed look on Miss Gou’s face that gave He Ran hope. He shouted in his heart: Come on, ask me, ask me what’s wrong with my face!

However, Gou An did not ask. 

After the initial shock, her eyes immediately returned to normal. When she saw the young man sneaking in through the door, she simply threw away the folder in her hand, hung up the WeChat call, and then spoke to him calmly and slowly, “Why are you here?”

Her tone was calm. She didn’t ignore him or get angry at him like she would have done in the past. She just spoke normally, as if she was talking to an ordinary acquaintance who she was not very familiar with.

This tone made He Ran feel a little sad.

Even if she didn’t care about his injury, then she could at least mention what happened yesterday. It was not common for someone to go to the police station in the middle of the night. Last night, there were hundreds of messages in the group teasing him and Zhou Yanji…

How could she not say a word?

He Ran suppressed his disappointment, moved closer to Gou An, and said in a very good-natured manner, “I came to see you, how is your back?”

He Ran took the initiative to bring up the injury she got last night, which surprised Gou An a little. She stared at his pig-swollen face for a while but eventually lost interest in complaining to him. 

After a while, she simply said with a quirk of her lips, “It just hurts a little.”

He Ran: “…”

Young Master He was stunned.

He had already brought up the topic, but she choked it back with a fierce blow from mid-air.

But still, when he heard her say it hurts, he subconsciously stood up, stretched out his hand to Gou An, and muttered “Let me see,” intending to reach out to pull her towards him—

But before his hand touched her, he saw her brows furrow in resistance.

His heart felt like it was hit by a hammer. He Ran suddenly felt timid.

He retracted his hand as if he had been burned by unexpected fire.

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

---

Author’s Note: He Jinxing was serious about sending He Ran away, but it wasn’t entirely to remove obstacles for himself. 95% of it, he really felt that if this kid continued like this, there would be big problems in the future, so it would be better to send him away for development.

The young uncle didn’t think that he liked An’an at this point. He just thought that she was a junior and so he paid special attention to her. It was just instinct to keep the engagement open.

T/N: I think Gou Yu was right: He Jinxing is too interested in Gou An. But at this point in time, he himself probably doesn’t know why.

If you’re enjoying my translations, do consider buying me ko-fi and get access to advance chapters as reward. Thank you for your support! ☺️
Chapter 27.3 — Use Lu Wan to Exchange for Gou An
Chapter 28.1 — Even if He was to Die, She Would Not Care
Chapter 28.2 — Even if He was to Die, She Would Not Care

FOOTNOTE:

1. A-shares are Chinese domestic shares denominated in RMB. In contrast, B-shares are denominated in foreign currency and H-shares are denominated in HK dollars. ↩︎