Chapter 2：When Have You and Young Master Mo Become So Close?

The moment she exited the washroom, a handsome face appeared in her line of sight.

Li Hanchuan.

Ye Banxia's legs froze for a few seconds, though her nonchalant expression had not changed. She then walked right past him without even eyeing him for a split second.

At the moment their shoulders brushed past each other, she felt a grip on her wrist and a strong pull force.

"Ye Banxia, what are you doing here?"

The man's deep voice sounded cold and harsh.

Ye Banxia tried to shake his grip off but failed. She looked into his eyes. "What has that got to do with you?" Her tone was curt. "Young Master Li, do I know you well?"

"Ye Banxia!" That man sounded as if he was cursing her.

Ye Banxia shifted her eyes to her wrist—there was a faint red mark on her fair skin, indicating the areas in which he'd exerted force on. Meanwhile, the large hand that circled her wrist had once held her hand in it, as they walked on countless streets and alleys…

But now, it no longer belonged to her.

She looked down slightly and smiled insincerely. "Young Master Li, the way you're holding me, does Youran know about it?"

Her intentional smile deepened as she felt him releasing his grasp of her.

She'd thought he'd let her go the next second, but Li Hanchuan pinched her chin and tipped it upwards, forcing their eyes to meet.

Ye Banxia's chin hurt and she tried turning away, but his strength was overpowering.

An inexplicable sense of humiliation rose inside her.

"What exactly do you want?"

Li Hanchuan glared at her coldly. "You're willing to sell yourself at a place like this just for money?"

"I sell alcohol!" Ye Banxia's eyes went red, but she didn't look away.

"What's the difference?" The man looked at her. "I'll give you the money, leave this place at once!"

Perhaps he'd let his guard down since she hadn't been struggling, Ye Banxia was able to shake his hand off when she swiftly moved all of a sudden.

She took two steps back and straightened up. "Young Master Li, you can keep your money for yourself."

It was not as if she'd never begged him—she had put her dignity aside when she pleaded with a man who'd just abandoned her, but what had he done then?

He wasn't even willing to give her anything, for fear that Ye Youran would be unhappy.

Ha.

Ye Banxia looked away, straightened her thoughts and was ready to leave.

"Ye Banxia!"

Li Hanchuan frowned, strode forward and regained his grasp on her wrist.

He growled. "Do you have to be this cheap?"

She felt as if her heart had been wrenched. Ye Banxia's face went a few shades paler.

"I'm cheap?"

She smiled and held his gaze. "I'm here to sell alcohol, not my body. Talking about cheap, would I be any cheaper than Young Master Li and Ye Youran?"

Li Hanchuan wavered a little when he saw her expression. But when she finished her sentence, his expression changed.

"Don't you insult her!"

"Am I wrong to say that?"

One was her ex-boyfriend and the other was her half-sister of a different mother. When her Ye family went bankrupt, this man here told her that the one he'd always liked was Ye Youran and that he got together with her in the first place just so that he could get closer to Ye Youran.

Two years, two years of relationship just for Ye Youran. He seemed a devoted man, but this turned out to be a joke.

Ye Banxia suddenly chuckled, her slightly hoarse voice mocking him.

Seeing how stubborn she was, a strange emotion flashed in Li Hanchuan's heart.

He frowned and said quietly, "Banxia, I mean it." He was already less harsh than before. "I'll give you the money. Just don't come to places like this again. You're the Second Miss of the Ye family, don't cheapen yourself this way."

Ye Banxia was still looking at him with relative calmness, but her hands had clenched into fists.

She spoke slowly but curtly, "Li Hanchuan, you probably don't know this yet, but from the moment you rejected me because of Ye Youran, you'd already lost that right."

Although it was a lot easier to just get the money from him, and she wouldn't have to tolerate humiliation from customers like she did tonight, she'd rather earn the money on her own than accept his and Ye Youran's ridicule.

There was still about a month before Han Fan's surgery was scheduled to take place, she could find her own way.

This was all the dignity she had left.

Li Hanchuan knitted his brows together, his expression darkening.

A short moment later, before either of them did or say anything more, a tall figure suddenly appeared before them and pulled Ye Banxia towards him, hanging his arm around her affectionately.

"What were you doing out here for so long, hm?"

The deep voice shocked the two of them.

Li Hanchuan narrowed his eyes at this cold-looking man and frowned even harder.

The way both of them were holding each other was… infuriating.

He scoffed. "Ye Banxia, why don't I know about this, when have you and Young Master Mo become so close?"

There was fury in his voice.

Ye Banxia turned towards Mo Chenyan and was greeted by his pleasant side profile.

Hearing the ice-cold words coming from behind her, she snapped back to reality.

Following the force of Mo Chenyan's pull, she ended up having to hold onto his chest for support. She was just about to push him away when she decided to take advantage of that intimate position to put her body against his.

Mo Chenyan could sense the subtle change in her movement as well. He raised a brow slightly before going on to size her up discreetly.

"We've always been close," said Ye Banxia casually.

She didn't even look back as she maintained that pose, a half-embrace in Mo Chenyan's arms.

She looked up, only to meet his unreadable gaze. Ye Banxia looked away awkwardly.

After she regulated her breathing for a while, she went on, "It's just that Young Master Li has been busy, and I don't have to report anything to him. So, it's pretty normal that you don't know about it, isn't it?"