Su Muxian’s appearance was quite pitiful, and if it were the past Ye Tiancheng, he might have felt a bit of pity. However, the current Ye Tiancheng instinctively took half a step back.
Just as Su Muxian’s expression showed a hint of surprise, Ye Tiancheng stopped retreating.
He replied to Su Muxian, “I’m sorry, you can find me if you have something to discuss, but I might not be very convenient for private conversations. If you can say it directly, please try to say it directly. There’s no one else here, is there?”
Su Muxian’s mouth opened slightly, her expression showing some unwillingness. She glanced at Fatty. For Ye Tiancheng, Fatty was indeed not an outsider. She then shifted her gaze to the little fox. First, she was struck by the little fox’s appearance, and then she felt that this feeling of being struck by beauty was somewhat familiar.
What followed was curiosity. Who was this? She had never seen such a person by Ye Tiancheng’s side before, and moreover, someone who could be considered not an outsider by Ye Tiancheng.
Ye Tiancheng might not be unsociable, but in Su Muxian’s memory, the friends or brothers who were on such good terms with him in the past were only Fatty and Ye Tiancheng’s stone, Nuwa Stone. Others were fewer.
Moreover, Nuwa Stone always stayed within Ye Tiancheng’s body and could not be seen by the naked eye.
She hadn’t seen the little fox. Su Muxian suddenly remembered who had given her that feeling of being struck by beauty the last time.
She didn’t see the little fox by Ye Tiancheng’s side, but considering Ye Tiancheng’s past attitude towards the little fox, Su Muxian wasn’t particularly surprised. This was because Ye Tiancheng had been very defensive and suspicious of the little fox in the past, even refusing to keep the person by his side and sending them to her.
Su Muxian didn’t know that Ye Tiancheng had later made peace with the little fox and their relationship had grown stronger. Even less could she imagine that the adult man in front of her, who had also given her a shock of beauty, was the adult version of the little fox.
However, it was true, who could have imagined that a child could grow up by more than ten years in such a short period and become an adult?
The little fox noticed Su Muxian’s attention shifting to him, and felt a little uneasy under her gaze. Remembering how Ye Tiancheng and the others had teased him about his past claim of liking Su Muxian, he felt even more uncomfortable.
He couldn’t help but think, could Su Muxian have recognized him?
But then he thought again, it didn’t make sense. Normal people wouldn’t think that he was a child not long ago and had suddenly grown so big. Except for people whose faces didn’t change much from childhood to adulthood, most people’s appearances would have some differences between childhood and adulthood.
The little fox had seen photos of his childhood appearance, and it wasn’t a proportional enlargement. Therefore, Su Muxian probably hadn’t recognized him.
After thinking this, the little fox relaxed a bit.
Their gazes only met for a moment. The little fox immediately averted his gaze when he felt Su Muxian looking at him. Su Muxian, realizing that the little fox was also looking at her, found that staring at someone like this was rather impolite, and finally, she suddenly realized that she shouldn’t keep staring at the little fox.
Su Muxian asked Ye Tiancheng, “This person looks a bit unfamiliar?”
Ye Tiancheng paused slightly, looked at the little fox, and after thinking for a moment, replied, “This is my younger brother, his name is Ye Li.”
The name Ye Li hadn’t appeared in a long time. It was perfect to use it to fool Su Muxian. After all, it was just a verbal exchange, and as long as she didn’t inquire further, Su Muxian wouldn’t know that the Li in Ye Li was the Li from fox.
“Oh…” Su Muxian mused, her eyes showing confusion, “His surname is Ye? I don’t think I’ve heard of you having a brother before?”
Ye Tiancheng had no intention of explaining. “Because you haven’t met him before, you haven’t asked me about him, so I haven’t mentioned it.”
Su Muxian fell silent for a moment. However, she also knew that she couldn’t keep blocking him here and wasting Ye Tiancheng’s time. So, she finally asked again, “Tiancheng, can you really not talk to me privately about something?”
“I know you are probably with Hou Mingzhu all the time now. If you are afraid Hou Mingzhu will mind, you can inform Hou Mingzhu. She can be present when we talk.”
Ye Tiancheng, to be honest, didn’t want to accept this proposal. Even in front of Hou Mingzhu, if Su Muxian suddenly had a change of heart, she would still provoke Hou Mingzhu. Su Muxian had done so even when her situation was very bad and she came to Ye Tiancheng for help, which caused Hou Mingzhu great dissatisfaction before she was willing to show weakness and apologize.
Ye Tiancheng didn’t want this to happen again. Moreover, Ye Tiancheng felt that if it were something truly life-threatening and very important, there would be no need to be so particular, at least no need to avoid Fatty and the little fox.
If Su Muxian insisted on meeting him privately, then Ye Tiancheng had reason to suspect that Su Muxian’s intentions were not pure.
Although they had a past relationship, if she truly needed help, Ye Tiancheng could help. However, he would never accept being tricked. Facing Su Muxian, he didn’t feel any debt now. Since he had decided to settle down, not helping was also his right.
Therefore, Ye Tiancheng frowned tightly and shook his head at Su Muxian, saying, “My attitude is very clear. You actually know the situation, and I don’t need to cause myself so much trouble. So I must say, no matter what you say, I will not talk to you privately.”
“For the sake of our past relationship, if you truly have some unavoidable difficulties, and if I can help, I won’t completely ignore it. But with your attitude, I will greatly suspect whether you are truly in trouble and need my help.”
Su Muxian lowered her head and eyes, pursed her lips slightly, her eyes filled with unwillingness.
She truly realized what Ye Tiancheng’s current attitude meant.
Ye Tiancheng was now distinguishing so clearly that there was truly no possibility between her and Ye Tiancheng. Ye Tiancheng had chosen Hou Mingzhu, and his feelings were clear. Perhaps no one could intervene between him and Hou Mingzhu.
Did she really have no chance at all?
Ye Tiancheng couldn’t see Su Muxian’s obsessive gaze. He waited for a while. Just as he was getting impatient and thinking about whether he should leave, Su Muxian finally responded.
Su Muxian said, “Tiancheng, you promised to help me before. That matter hasn’t been resolved yet, has it?”
“That matter is still bothering me, but would you still be willing to help me?”
Ye Tiancheng paused at this, and suddenly remembered.
The situation on Su Muxian’s side at that time, it couldn’t really be said to be understood. It had only temporarily settled down, but it was definitely not completely resolved. They hadn’t quite figured out the specific situation.
Moreover, the shaman who offered to help halfway also met with an accident because of it.
Later, due to the accident of that shaman and the discovery of the little fox’s abnormality, and the matter that troubled Su Muxian had temporarily subsided, Ye Tiancheng’s attention was diverted, and he put this matter aside for a moment.
Thinking of this, Ye Tiancheng couldn’t help but frown and hesitate.
If Ye Tiancheng were to stand by and watch, Ye Tiancheng definitely couldn’t do it. After all, no matter what, he had a close relationship with Su Muxian in the past. Ye Tiancheng was not such a heartless person and absolutely could not stand by and watch Su Muxian.
However, Ye Tiancheng was not without reservations and suspicion.
Because of this matter, Su Muxian had no reason to insist on talking to him privately.
Even if Su Muxian had ulterior motives and chose to act this way for some selfish reasons, given Su Muxian’s personality, after Ye Tiancheng’s persistent stance, there should be no reason for her to continue to be stubborn, because there would be no benefit to her.
Repeatedly doing this and pestering would only make Ye Tiancheng more annoyed, and he might even stop caring about Su Muxian altogether.
This was not something that needed to be discussed privately. It was so urgent, and it was not something that involved personal privacy. In short, it was not something that needed to be hidden from people. Continuing to insist on this was of no benefit.
Moreover, there was a more important point: Ye Tiancheng also remembered some of the situations at that time. Although some time had passed, Ye Tiancheng’s memory was still good, and he could remember.
Although the shaman at that time had failed and suffered a backlash and died, it did not mean that the shaman was incompetent.
The reason why the shaman met with an accident was partly because she overextended herself, wanting to gamble for herself and her family, and partly because her belongings were tampered with.
Ye Tiancheng had suspected the little fox at that time, and the little fox was indeed very suspicious. However, Ye Tiancheng had later verified his innocence.
Therefore, the judgments made by the shaman at that time were basically not a big problem.
This meant that, combining all the events, Ye Tiancheng and the others suspected that Ouyang Xinnuo, even after death, had not given up on Su Muxian and harbored obsessions towards her, which led to the subsequent events.
Under such obsession, the matter was not truly resolved. Then the problem arose.
Due to various reasons, Ye Tiancheng and the others had overlooked this factor for a time. Moreover, Su Muxian herself had not shown any other problems later, as if everything was fine.
If the problem truly continued to trouble Su Muxian, it would be very strange.
If Su Muxian had been living without the protection of Ye Tiancheng and the others for such a long time, and this hidden danger had not been resolved, then how had Su Muxian managed to survive until now?
If Su Muxian could invite other powerful figures to help suppress the situation, then what reason would Su Muxian have to insist on finding Ye Tiancheng?
Fatty couldn’t think of so many things. The little fox had amnesia now and didn’t have enough information, so he couldn’t analyze so many situations. However, the little fox could see it. He felt that Su Muxian’s attitude was very strange.
Moreover, the little fox could also hear that what Su Muxian finally said later did not seem to be a reason that would make her insist on talking to Ye Tiancheng privately.
The little fox also found it very strange.
However, after noticing Ye Tiancheng’s expression and reaction, the little fox could see that Ye Tiancheng was not being deceived or showing any softheartedness. He seemed to have some doubts, so he felt relieved.
Since Ye Tiancheng would not be fooled, the little fox had nothing to worry about.
Ye Tiancheng was so powerful, capable, and intelligent. He could figure out many things. He would definitely be able to solve the current problem and didn’t need his reminder. If he needed his help, Ye Tiancheng would definitely tell him, so the little fox didn’t need to rush.
After a series of analyses in his mind, Ye Tiancheng became certain that Su Muxian had something going on.