Back in the office, Ye Yuning immediately noticed the milk tea and small cookies on her desk.
No doubt, these must be from Xiao Linye. Such a thoughtful gesture on his part. It only strengthened Ye Yuning’s resolve to continue keeping her secret from him.
Manager Zhang came over, glanced at the milk tea and snacks before Ye Yuning, and smiled knowingly.
Upon seeing her, Ye Yuning instinctively sat up straight. "Am I late again?"
Manager Zhang shook her head. "No, your timing is just perfect!"
She wasn’t late, but she had cut it close. Ye Yuning had been quick during lunch; glancing at her wristwatch, she saw she’d managed to rush back just in time.
Manager Zhang said nothing more and simply turned and left.
Having been too busy all noon to even drink water, Ye Yuning was now starving. Xiao Linye’s gift was truly heartwarming.
She opened the box of cookies and tried one. Delicious! The milk tea is also very tasty...
Just as she finished a small cookie, the phone on her desk buzzed.
It was a WeChat message from Xiao Linye: "I went out for lunch and brought you back some food."
"Mm, I’ve eaten. It’s delicious!" Ye Yuning replied, adding a heart emoji at the end.
Xiao Linye replied with a cute, blushing emoji.
That emoji made my heart melt; it’s so unlike his usual serious demeanor. , he seems cute, heartwarming, and has such a down-to-earth vibe.
After his meeting, Xiao Linye returned to his office to find Qin Jinchuan sitting on the sofa, smoking.
He loosened the tie constricting his neck and approached. "Aren’t you worried your old man will skin you alive?" ᴛʜɪs ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ɪs ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ʙʏ novel•fire.net
He threw Qin Jinchuan’s words from noon right back at him.
The relationship between the elders of their two families was now so heated it was practically at ignition point.
Only Xiao Linye could manage such an encounter. If it had been Xiao Lin, meeting with the Qin family would have undoubtedly earned him another tirade from the family patriarch.
Qin Jinchuan scoffed, "Do I still need to be afraid of them now?"
The Xiao Family was different from the Qin Family; the Xiaos had always been rather harmonious. Even if unfairness occurred, it wouldn’t lead to serious conflict. The Qin Family, however, was another story entirely. There, seizing the inheritance rights was a matter of capability. For years, the Qin Family’s internal dynamics had been a vicious whirlpool.
Now that Qin Jinchuan controlled everything in the Qin Family, Old Master Qin naturally no longer had any say.
"After lying low for so many years, I can finally stand openly in the sunlight," Xiao Linye chuckled. He sat down directly opposite Qin Jinchuan.
Qin Jinchuan tossed him the cigarette case. Xiao Linye caught it, pulled out a cigarette, and lit it.
Seeing Qin Jinchuan’s troubled expression, Xiao Linye frowned slightly. "Isn’t it all over now? Why the long face?"
He was referring to the Qin Family’s affairs. The family had been in turmoil for years, and Qin Jinchuan’s successful takeover marked the culmination of a long-laid plan.
Qin Jinchuan took a drag from his cigarette. His brow, shrouded in smoke, seemed even more heavily clouded with worry.
He said, "This noon, I let that woman go."
Xiao Linye’s eyelids twitched. He chuckled softly. "How surprising. That’s not like you at all."
For years, Qin Jinchuan had operated from the shadows. Given the chance, he would invariably leap out and metaphorically bite off his opponent’s neck. The words ’let go’ had never been part of his vocabulary.
And he was notoriously vengeful. Considering the Ye Family’s adopted daughter had put him in the hospital, it was astonishing he’d let her off today!
And speaking of the Ye Family’s adopted daughter... Xiao Linye recalled his grandfather’s outrageous accusation—that he and that woman were having an affair!
Me, involved with *that* woman? What was Grandfather thinking? And Xiao Shuo, is he blind or just an idiot? For him to go back and tell Grandfather such things... is he implying I’m picking up his castoff fiancée?
Considering all the conflict during their collaboration, and now Qin Jinchuan actually let that woman go...
"Why did you let her go?" Xiao Linye asked, raising an eyebrow.
With her personality, shouldn’t she have infuriated Qin Jinchuan enough for him to want her dead?
But when it came to why he’d let Ye Yuning go, the worry on Qin Jinchuan’s brow morphed into clear indecision.
He glanced at Xiao Linye, a hint of unease in his eyes. "She looked just like a kid at first glance. I couldn’t bring myself to do it."
Xiao Linye was momentarily speechless. He thinks the owner of Manlang looks like a child? Is he serious?
An image flashed through Xiao Linye’s mind: the woman he’d previously seen with Ye Yuning. While not massively built, her height alone meant she was no child.
His Yuning, on the other hand, standing next to that woman, truly did look like a little girl.
He shot Qin Jinchuan a strange look. "Do you even have a basic understanding of the difference between an adult and a child?"
"What?" Caught off guard by the sudden question, Qin Jinchuan was clearly baffled.
Xiao Linye pressed, "She’s the owner of Manlang, for crying out loud. How could she look like a child?" Forget height; her ability to build Manlang into Upper City’s top studio alone proves her maturity is far from childlike!
A muscle twitched in Qin Jinchuan’s cheek. "So, sometimes you really can’t judge a book by its cover!"
Xiao Linye fell silent.
"Can’t judge a book by its cover," indeed. Take my Yuning, for example. She seems like just an odd-jobber at Manlang, but who would guess her design talent rivals the owner’s? And speaking of looking like a child, no one fits that description better than she does.