The person who answered the phone was the maid of the house. Since Song Qingchun would always call home to ask whether Su Zhinian was home to avoid running into him, this time, before she said anything, the maid offered the information. Young Master Su was playing chess with the Old Master Song, and she asked whether she was coming home for dinner.

  Song Qingchun said that she was before hanging up. She called for a cab and raced home. Pushing open the door, there was no one in the living room. Song Qingchun rushed upstairs to change into a more casual outfit. When she came down, she wandered into the kitchen, where Fang Rou was in the middle of dinner preparation with the maid. She greeted them before moving toward the study. Just as the maid had said, Su Zhinian was playing chess with Song Menghwa.

  When Song Qingchun saw Su Zhinian, the fury from being locked up against her will at his home reignited. However, she could not do anything about it on the account of Song Menghwa. While her father was not looking, she would glare fiendishly at Su Zhinian, but the man, even if he met her death gaze, did not react in any way. His expression was as blank as a piece of water.

  The calmer Su Zhinian was, the angrier Song Qingchun became. She even started to kick his shin underneath the table. Her kicks were powerful, but the man did not seem to contain any pain receptors as he stared at the chess board in thought before making his next move.

  His imperviousness made her feel even more suffocated.

  Song Qingchun kept trying to search for some alone time with Su Zhinian, but the man seemed to have read her thoughts because he stuck to Song Menghwa like glue. Eventually the maid came to call them for dinner, and Song Qingchun still had not had one minute with him alone.

  On the table, Song Qingchun sat across from Su Zhinian. The girl, who had nowhere to vent her fury, kept doing little tricks to annoy him. She either kicked him under the table or purposely stole the food that he was trying to take.

  He did not have much for dinner and was the first to put down his chopsticks. Song Qingchun saw that and followed suit. She prepared to stand up and follow him should he leave the table, but the man sat where he was and pulled out his phone to play.

  No matter how dull Song Qingchun’s senses were, she knew Su Zhinian was trying to avoid being alone with her. She glared at him angrily. The man could feel her eyes on him but did not even raise his head once to look at him. After a while, Song Qingchun pulled out her own phone and started typing.

  "Su Zhinian, you bastard!"

  Su Zhinian’s phone across from her sounded with alert. He merely glanced at the popped-up message before continuing to play his game.

  Pretend not to see it?

  Song Qingchun bit her lips and typed rapidly on her phone. She sent many messages out, causing Su Zhinian’s phone to cry endlessly. Song Qingchun’s messages were incoherent; they were random words meant to annoy Su Zhinian. In the end, Su Zhinian switched his phone to airplane mode and put it inside his pocket.