Chapter 5 — My Best Friend's Older Brother Took Responsibility for Me

I leaned down to look. Hecheng was truly a small world. The person in the photo was none other than Miss Wen, the client I had casually photographed at the studio this afternoon. And her blind date target happened to be Ye Zhiyi's eldest brother.

I offered a few compliments. "She's beautiful, very elegant—a true grand beauty." This was genuine. Miss Wen was inherently pretty with good fundamentals; through my lens, she looked even better. I just didn't know if Ye Zhiyi's eldest brother deserved her.

Having visited the Ye house for years, I had never met this legendary eldest brother. I had only pieced together a vague image from Ye Zhiyi's rants: Workaholic, control freak, face cold as ice, woke up at six every morning to jog, managed his siblings like a military instructor, issuing standing penalties and leapfrog punishments regularly. I automatically imagined a rigid, stubborn, unmarried older man who exploited employees at work and exploited his sister at home.

"See? Everyone says she's beautiful—approved!" Li Yingqiu said happily, tidying up the photos. "I'll call him to arrange a time to meet. He's over thirty and still refuses to date—look at my second son, his romance scandals make hot searches every day."

Ye Zhiyi chimed in sarcastically, "Eldest Brother's temperament is strict, boring, and totally unromantic—who could stand him?" "Nonsense, people care about conditions, not temperament!" "With a terrible personality like that, no matter how good his conditions are, nobody wants to get close. What advantage does he have in dating? What emotional value can he provide?" Li Yingqiu corrected her daughter, "His face looks decent enough." "Can good looks be eaten? Nowadays, handsome men aren't enough—they have to know how to coax and empathize." "Not necessarily," Li Yingqiu said slowly. "Nowadays it's popular to marry into the family for the parents-in-law, while the bad-tempered husband better not bring his face home." "..."

This whole family was sharp-tongued, loving to roast people behind their backs. I wondered what the eldest young master of the Ye family was really like—was he truly as bad as they claimed? I had met Ye Zhihang, Ye Zhiyi's second brother. Extremely handsome, with a lazy, casual demeanor and magazine-cover looks. That was why Ye Zhiyi had desperately insisted I go on a blind date with him. Supposedly, last year she watched an idol drama he starred in, became a fan, and embarked on the dark path of trying to push her best friend onto her brother as a sister-in-law.

Pity... I slept with the wrong husband.

...

After dinner, I carried my cat back to my room. Ye Zhiyi sneakily slipped in and lay stomach-down on my bed. "About what you asked me to look into this morning, I still haven't found anything." Her eyes rolled, coming up with another idea. "Call that husband of yours on video so I can personally evaluate him."

In my mind appeared that exquisitely handsome face again—perfect bone structure, cold lines, so beautiful it seemed unreal. Frankly, I wanted to look at him again too. Opening the chat, I sent a text: *Are you busy?*

A few seconds later came a reply: *Off work?* *Yes! Can we video call?*

On the other side, Li Hangzhi had just finished an international conference call and was taking a shower in his hotel bathroom. Hearing the text chime, he reached out a hand to type a single character. Seeing her message, he looked down at himself—water running down his chest. He remained silent for a long moment; video calling right now wasn't convenient. Before he could think of how to reply, another voice message arrived. He casually tapped it open, and a sickly sweet, whiny voice rang out: "Hubby~~~ I miss you so much, I just want to see your handsome face! Video call with me, pretty please~"

Li Hangzhi nearly threw his phone into the bathtub. Without listening to the end, he knew—it was Ye Zhiyi causing trouble with his wife's phone again. He muted the voice message, exited the chat, and sent back a text line.

I didn't get a video call. Instead, I received a text message.

Zhi: *Showering. Returning tomorrow.*

He was showering? Then it really wasn't convenient. Though... what was wrong with a little peak? We were an old married couple after all! Ye Zhiyi leaned over to inspect the chat history and pouted. "See? Doesn't dare video call—guilty conscience! Must be ugly." I protested, "He's very handsome!" "Show me the proof." "Proof was confiscated by him." "..."