"It's fine."

Wong Qifu hesitated. "Will you blame me?"

"No, it's just a card," Xu Ke replied, shaking his head.

"I'm not talking about the card, I'm talking about Wong Liqing," Wong Qifu said. She knew Xu Ke wouldn't care about the Black Card, but she was afraid that a rift might form between them if she didn't deal with Wong Liqing for insulting his parents.

Xu Ke smiled. "You don't trust me on this? I'll get my revenge on him, but I don't want you to do the same."

"Okay..." Wong Qifu murmured.

"What's wrong?" Xu Ke frowned; her response felt a bit odd.

Wong Qifu was silent for a moment. "My aunt just told me something, and I'm considering it."

"What is it?"

"She suggested I hold a press conference to clarify my relationship with you."

As she finished speaking, Xu Ke's pupils constricted. He felt an inexplicable tightness in his chest as he asked, "What did you say?"

"I didn't give her an answer. I'm considering it... I'm wondering if not holding a press conference before was a mistake," Wong Qifu said quietly. "After all, your life has been severely affected."

Xu Ke fell silent as well.

Hearing that Wong Qifu wanted to clarify their relationship was an instinctive blow to Xu Ke. He felt a suffocating pressure but forced himself to calm down and think about whether it was truly necessary. When their relationship had first been revealed, they both felt they had done nothing wrong and naturally saw no need for clarification.

Now, however, Wong Qifu felt she had severely impacted Xu Ke's life. He was even ambushed by reporters in the urban village, an incident that was only resolved when his classmate helped him by pretending to be sick.

Meanwhile, Xu Ke knew that with Wang Tianlu lurking within the Wang Family Corporation and the Huang and Ye families lying in wait, his existence would inevitably become Wong Qifu's primary vulnerability.

These facts reminded them that their relationship seemed to have become a mutual burden.

We promised to walk this path together, but does that mean we have to push forward so relentlessly? Maybe a strategic retreat to a secret relationship wouldn't be a bad choice after all?

Thoughts grew like tangled weeds as they both fell silent on either end of the line.

After a long while, Xu Ke finally spoke. "I don't think that's necessary."

"Why not?"

Xu Ke chuckled. "Why do you think it's necessary?"

Wong Qifu pondered for a moment. "I believe if I deny it, your life could return to normal. If I just announce publicly that we have no relationship, at least you won't be accosted every time you go out, right?"

Her idea of a clarification wasn't just a simple statement; it included a series of PR maneuvers. For instance, the PR department could issue a press release claiming Xu Ke was an innocent victim caught in the crossfire between several large corporations. They could buy online comments and fabricate articles from so-called "inside sources" asserting that Xu Ke was just an innocent fitness coach and that her real fiancé was someone else entirely. That he had been unfairly labeled a good-for-nothing "freeloader" simply because he'd had a few encounters with her.

In this entertainment-obsessed era, such a dramatic reversal might even turn Xu Ke into an internet celebrity or a star.

But hearing this, Xu Ke just laughed. "These netizens are all talk online. In reality, they wouldn't dare say a word to my face. If someone actually curses me in person, they're one hundred percent one of our enemies, and I'll just take care of them. Who's going to insult a stranger for no reason?"

Wong Qifu said nothing.

"Besides," Xu Ke continued, "even with a clarification, my life can't go back to normal. I'm already a marked man for the Ye and Huang Families, not to mention Wong Ting. So, it's unnecessary!"

Hearing this, Wong Qifu was taken aback. "...That's true."

"Are you feeling hesitant because of what happened to my parents yesterday?" Xu Ke asked with a laugh.

Wong Qifu sighed. "A little, I guess."

It had to be said that some truths were glaringly obvious. But when you were in the thick of it, it was easy to lose perspective. Everyone has moments of confusion and self-doubt, and Wong Qifu was no exception, especially after witnessing her future in-laws being humiliated in her own hotel.

"It's okay..." Xu Ke smiled. "To be honest, a moment ago I also wanted you to clarify our relationship. I thought it would free you from the worry of having me as a liability. But then I realized, as long as we're together, they will never stop using me to attack you. Wang Yu used the Black Card, and the Ye and Huang Families tried to kidnap me to threaten you."

So the answer isn't to leave you. It's to slap them all in the face until they shut up.

"Rather than clarifying and retreating, it's better to let me shut everyone up with my own strength," Xu Ke continued. "I don't believe parting ways is how I'm supposed to protect you."

When he finished, Wong Qifu smiled. "Alright. Last time I was the one cheering you up, and this time it's you cheering me up. I didn't realize how much you've matured."

Xu Ke chuckled. "Of course."

"Go pack your things. I'll head over to your place in a bit," Wong Qifu said.

"Okay," Xu Ke nodded.

「...」

After hanging up, Xu Ke began to pack. He hadn't just been consoling Wong Qifu; he had been consoling himself. The events of the past day had left him feeling genuinely suffocated and angry. Whether it was Wong Liqing blocking his door, Wang Yu taking back the Black Card, or Chang Xiujuan causing a scene at the corporation's entrance—it had all caught him off guard.

But thinking about it calmly, some of these problems were destined to happen from the moment he and Wong Qifu decided to be together. He couldn't expect a smooth ride forever. After this setback, he had a much clearer idea of how to face the future with her.

「...」

After Xu Ke finished packing and eating, a message arrived from Zhang Qiming.

He opened his phone screen. "Dr. Xu, Qin Ya saw you on the news today. She's furious and wants to help, so she asked the Wang Family and me for your contact information."

Xu Ke was taken aback. "What news?"

Zhang Qiming replied instantly. "...You should check the local Tianhai news." The message came with an awkward emoji.

Startled, Xu Ke opened the news app.

The blood-red headline and the photo of a hysterical Chang Xiujuan immediately made his expression darken. He'd forgotten. Of course Chang Xiujuan's spectacle at the Wang Family Corporation would make the news. However, the stir this incident caused was a tempest in a teapot compared to the storm when his relationship with Wong Qifu was first exposed.

He messaged Zhang Qiming back. "Dr. Zhang, I saw it. Please tell Miss Qin that she doesn't need to help. There's no reason for her to waste her energy on something like this."

After he sent the message, there was no reply for a long time. Zhang Qiming was probably talking to Qin Ya.

Xu Ke put down his phone, lost in thought.

In reality, he wasn't rejecting Qin Ya's help. It was just that the Qin Family stood behind her. Favors from the Qin Family were a finite resource, and there was no need to waste one on such a trivial matter.

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