Chapter 180 - 179: The Wallet Was Stolen

Hearing Lin Aoxue’s words, Ye Xuan furrowed his brows even tighter.

He wondered, "Why does it have to be right at this moment?"

If the Lin Family had waited just two more days to look for Lin Aoxue, they would already be in Jingcheng.

"Then think it through carefully, Xue’er. No matter what, I respect your choice."

Although he strongly disliked the idea of Lin Aoxue returning to the Lin Family and getting entangled with them again, Ye Xuan still chose to respect her and let her make her own decision.

"Do you want me to go with you, or stay?" Lin Aoxue asked, her bright eyes fixed on Ye Xuan as she waited for his answer.

"Naturally, I hope you’ll come back with me," Ye Xuan said affectionately, taking her hands in his. "We’ve missed out on far too much. I don’t want to waste any more time. I just want to be with you every single day from now on."

These words came from the bottom of his heart. He and Lin Aoxue had indeed lost too much time. Despite being married for years, they had never truly had a heart-to-heart conversation. Once they finally laid their feelings bare, he had ended up entangled with Yang Bingyu. Now that everything with Yang Bingyu was cleared up, they really couldn’t afford to miss out on each other any longer.

"Then... then I’ll go to Jingcheng with you." Lin Aoxue’s brows knitted tightly. After several minutes of hesitation, she finally spoke as if having made a monumental decision.

She had been incredibly reluctant to abandon the Lin Group, but upon hearing Ye Xuan’s heartfelt words, she made up her mind immediately. She never wanted to be separated from him again.

"Silly girl. If you can’t let go of the Lin Group, I can wait for you," Ye Xuan said, his face full of doting affection as he gently rubbed her hair, easily seeing through her reluctance. "I’m only returning to Jingcheng to handle some past affairs. Once everything is resolved, I’ll step down."

"But I don’t want to be apart from you. I’m afraid that if we separate, we’ll miss each other again due to various misunderstandings." Lin Aoxue’s heart was torn.

It was true that she couldn’t let go of the Lin Group, but it was equally true that she worried about their relationship hitting another snag once Ye Xuan returned to Jingcheng.

Hearing this, Ye Xuan let out a helpless laugh. He wondered, "Does this girl really have so little faith in me?"

"Don’t worry. No matter what happens, I will never leave you again."

Lin Aoxue gave a soft hmph and pinched him on the waist. "You always say that, but weren’t you and Yang Bingyu..."

She trailed off upon noticing the slight shift in Ye Xuan’s expression, realizing she had misspoken. After a brief pause, she added, "Let’s not bring this up ever again. I’ll just pretend it never happened."

Although the incident between Yang Bingyu and Ye Xuan was still a bit of a sore spot for her, it had already happened, and it wasn’t even Ye Xuan’s intention. Dwelling on it was pointless. Rather than holding onto it, it was better to be open-minded and move forward.

"Mhm. I swear, something like that will absolutely never happen again," Ye Xuan promised earnestly, pulling her into a gentle embrace.

"Then you go to Jingcheng first. Once I have everything arranged here, I’ll come find you." Even though it pained her immensely to part with him, Lin Aoxue ultimately chose to stay in Jianghai City.

The Lin Group had consumed so much of her energy and lifeblood; she simply couldn’t stand by and watch the company fall into ruin.

After resting in the hospital for three days, Ye Xuan boarded the flight back to Jingcheng alone. He left both White Snake and Yu Ling behind in Jianghai City, entrusting the two most important women in his life into their capable hands.

At Jingcheng International Airport.

Ye Xuan pulled his suitcase out of the exit. He had barely taken a few steps before someone slammed into him hard. Instantly, he felt his wallet being swiped from his pocket.

Without a second thought, Ye Xuan grabbed the person who had bumped into him, clamping down on the man’s arm. With a cold expression, he demanded in a low voice, "Hand it over!"

The man was clean-cut and decent-looking. At first glance, he didn’t look like a thief at all. He froze for a moment, a flash of panic quickly darting through his eyes. However, he swiftly composed himself, furrowing his brows as he looked at Ye Xuan with feigned suspicion. "What are you doing?"

"My wallet. Hand it over." Ye Xuan wasn’t going to waste words on him and directly demanded his property back.

Since they were right at the exit, their altercation quickly drew a crowd of onlookers.

"What nonsense are you spouting? Why are you asking me for your wallet? I didn’t steal anything from you! Don’t you dare slander me!" The man didn’t back down in the slightest; he even played the victim, turning the tables to accuse Ye Xuan of framing him.

The surrounding bystanders took the man’s side one after another.

"Hey, young man, did you misunderstand him? He looks so clean-cut and decent. He doesn’t look like the type to steal."

"Exactly! Besides, look at the clothes you’re wearing. Even if you did lose your wallet, there probably isn’t much money in it anyway. Just let the poor guy go."

"The outfit he has on is worth ten of yours! Why would someone like him steal your wallet? Stop making baseless accusations."

...

Ye Xuan frowned as he listened to the crowd passing judgment. What kind of logic was this? Since when was a person’s character determined by their appearance? Since when was guilt based on how wealthy someone looked? Could good-looking people not be bad? Could rich people not be thieves?

Seeing the crowd defending him, the man grew even more emboldened. "Hey, brother, I understand you lost your wallet, but you can’t just grab a random person and call them a thief. You’re lucky you ran into me today; I’ll let it slide. But you can’t go around pulling these underhanded tricks next time."

Look how righteous he sounded! He was clearly the one who had stolen Ye Xuan’s wallet, yet now, the victim was being made out to be the bad guy, while the thief had morphed into an understanding and benevolent saint.

"You..."

Ye Xuan was just about to say something when his phone suddenly rang in his pocket. He took it out and saw it was a call from Lin Aoxue. Pushing the thief to the back of his mind for a moment, he answered her call first.

"Hello, Ye Xuan? You should be off the plane by now, right?" Lin Aoxue’s sweet voice drifted through the receiver, instantly soothing Ye Xuan’s irritated mood.

"Mhm, I just got off. I was just about to call you." A smile tugged at the corners of Ye Xuan’s mouth. It felt truly wonderful to have someone worrying about him.

Noticing that Ye Xuan’s attention was diverted, the thief quickly seized the opportunity to slip away. But the moment he turned and took half a step, a hand clamped down firmly on the back of his collar.

"Hold it. Who said you could leave?"

Even while talking to Lin Aoxue, Ye Xuan had kept the fleeing man in his peripheral vision. Tilting his head to pinch the phone against his shoulder, he had easily snagged the thief.

"What are you doing? I told you I didn’t steal your wallet! Why are you being so unreasonable?" the man roared loudly, feigning righteous anger as he tried to shake off Ye Xuan’s grip.

"What’s wrong? Did something happen?" Lin Aoxue asked worriedly, having heard the commotion through the phone.