After seriously responding with a “yes,” Luo Xiao lowered his eyes, focusing on the messy table where wine glasses lay scattered, still containing traces of wine that reflected the lights. His expression was unreadable, “If Zhiyuan Tech can establish itself in Beijing, the path ahead for Jinlin and me will be easier.”
After speaking, he crossed his arms and pondered for a moment.
Discreetly glancing across the dining table at Yan Cheng, who had always been smooth sailing in love, and receiving his barely concealed look of schadenfreude, Luo Xiao quickly lowered his eyelids and wrinkled his nose. No matter how mature he tried to act, he was still a young person who hadn’t been weathered by society. His concerns were written all over his face as he tentatively asked, “At least, uncle and auntie won’t oppose us too much in the future, right?”
Yan Cheng couldn’t help but laugh softly.
The sound wasn’t loud, and in the private room where someone was still belting out “Everyone with a dream is extraordinary,” only Chen Jinyao, who was closest to him, heard it.
The schadenfreude in his eyes was now completely unconcealed, showing no sense of “we’re all in the same boat, why torment each other?” From afar, it was clear that life had been too kind to him.
Not discussing business, Yan Cheng relaxed considerably, leaning back lazily with a toothpick in his mouth, his right arm draped over Chen Jinyao’s chair back. As an observer, he was clearly enjoying the show.
Only when Chen Jinyao pinched his thigh under the table and shot him a fierce glare did his typically punchable expression somewhat subside.
The man slowly withdrew his gaze, his long black eyelashes trembling slightly. Soon after, the tip of his tongue peeked out a bit, licking his lips, “Hmph.”
“…”
Chen Jinyao pressed her lips together, too lazy to deal with him, only shifting her gaze back to Luo Xiao, “Don’t worry, as long as you treat Jinlin well, I’ll definitely speak up for you.”
She had wanted to say her parents weren’t that unreasonable, but the words stopped at her lips. Although such words would be comforting, they weren’t very credible.
After a moment of silence, she asked, “Does Jinlin know about your plans?”
Luo Xiao shook his head, “I haven’t told her.”
“But she knows about my entrepreneurship.” He had mentioned this to her, and at the time Chen Jinlin had insisted on helping, but he had put her off with various excuses. “Though she’s smart, she can probably guess something.”
As he said the last sentence, his clear and bright eyes carried a faint smile.
Chen Jinyao was stunned for a moment, then smiled too.
She then lightly kicked Yan Cheng, who immediately came to his senses, turned to look at her, blinked, looking somewhat confused.
“Look at Luo Xiao,” she leaned close to whisper in his ear.
Finally catching an opportunity, she had to let Yan Cheng see a role model and learn from him.
To enhance the effect of her lesson, Chen Jinyao deliberately sighed with envy, “Ah, Jinlin really has good taste in boyfriends.”
Yan Cheng was too smart not to understand the implications in Chen Jinyao’s words. He glanced at the so-called troublemaker, pursed his lips, and just as he had organized his thoughts to argue for himself, he found Chen Jinyao had already looked away, completely ignoring him, as if she had just made a symbolic comment while trying to make him look bad.
“……………”
Chen Jinyao: “Starting a business will be very tiring and busy, I understand that, but I’m still somewhat on Jinlin’s side, so my thoughts might be a bit selfish. No matter how busy the career growth period is, you must make time to accompany Jinlin.”
“Girls think differently from boys, they’re more sensitive in their thoughts. While your working hard for your future together might make her feel loved, honestly, being too busy to accompany her or not replying to messages can easily make her feel insecure.” Chen Jinyao tried her best not to sound preachy, but no matter how casual she tried to be, it eventually became quite serious. Obviously, she realized this issue the moment she finished speaking. Chen Jinyao ran her hand through her hair, laughing dryly, “Don’t think I’m nagging.”
Yan Cheng tilted his head to gaze at her, listening intently to her long speech, then slightly furrowed his brows, pressing his lips together thoughtfully.
Luo Xiao’s cheeks moved slightly, “I won’t.”
“I’ve considered everything you said.”
“…”
Since the other party had already reached this level of understanding, Chen Jinlin really had nothing more to remind him of beyond keeping quiet. These obviously somewhat selfish words, no matter how understanding the other party might be, would only become annoying if said too much.
Moreover, in others’ relationships, as an outsider, it’s better to interfere less.
Knowing when to stop was enough, understanding moderation.
But, as for her own relationship…
Chen Jinyao ground her back teeth, suddenly turning to look at Yan Cheng.
She used a fierce gaze, trying once again to tell him “look at how others are!”
Women are sometimes strange like this, not unreasonable or pretentious.
It’s just that after making comparisons, they’ll act up a bit, inexplicably putting on such a show.
What was the purpose?
Yan Cheng pondered for several seconds, suddenly enlightened.
This was testing a man’s emotional intelligence.
His right arm was still draped over Chen Jinyao’s chair back, his long index finger tapping up and down lightly on the wooden corner. The conversation seemed to have ended, with only the drunk and crazy still speaking seriously. Silence imperceptibly spread, and honestly, Yan Cheng was quite confident in his emotional intelligence.
So, overflowing with confidence, Yan Cheng simply turned sideways, leaning towards Chen Jinyao, encircling or rather locking her in that small space. When Chen Jinyao looked up, all she could see was his beautiful neck with its smooth, attractive lines. As he blocked the light with his back, his sexiest Adam’s apple, which would slightly bob up and down, was hidden in the shadows, visible only to her. Chen Jinyao maintained her composure, looking straight ahead.
Fortunately, at this moment, except for Luo Xiao who showed obvious surprise and quickly looked away, no one else noticed their movement. Chen Jinyao breathed a sigh of relief, while mentally strategizing: at times like this, she should remain unchanged in the face of change, not speak, not even utter a reproachful “what are you doing.”
Unexpectedly, Yan Cheng was too shameless.
His eyelashes half-lowered, staring directly into her startled eyes, he raised his left hand to tap her nose tip, his voice as soft as a sigh, then using an indulgent tone learned from somewhere, his thin lips parted: “You ungrateful little one.”
“…” Chen Jinyao’s body shook three times.
It was too sudden, and with the close distance, her nose was surrounded by his scent. A sense of embarrassment arose spontaneously, and her cheeks instantly turned red.
Yan Cheng had also had a few drinks, and now there was a faint smell of alcohol.
Chen Jinyao gritted her teeth, reminding him: “Mind the occasion.”
Unfortunately, Yan Cheng seemed not to hear. His curled eyelashes were fine and dense like two small brushes; when he blinked, it was as if they could brush across one’s heart, tickling it.
He seemed to become aggrieved, spitting out words one by one, very clearly accusing her: “Am I not good to you?”
The grievance disappeared, and Yan Cheng learned the face-changing of Peking opera, dangerously narrowing his eyes, “Think long-term, what’s the point of copy and paste?”
“…”
Chen Jinyao finally couldn’t resist, reaching out to press her palm against Yan Cheng’s handsome face, then pushed him away without changing her expression or showing mercy.
“You’re right,” she looked around uneasily, speaking softly.
After a pause, she added half-jokingly, half-seriously, “Okay, okay, okay, you’re the best.”
With that, Yan Cheng was satisfied.
Looking like he could raise his tail to the sky again.
One compliment, and he became smug.
Luo Xiao silently witnessed all this, and suddenly understood the complex feelings Chen Jinlin had described when staying at her sister and brother-in-law’s home.
It really was very complicated.
…
About fifteen minutes later, the singers were tired of singing, and the braggarts were tired of bragging.
As if suddenly drained of spirit, they slumped down abruptly. After lying there for a while, consciousness slowly returned. They stared at the ceiling blankly for a long time before finally finding their rationality and sobering up.
After another five or six minutes, Yan Cheng, timing it well, stood up, got Chen Jinyao’s bag, held her hand to help her up, exchanged contact information with Luo Xiao after some small talk, then kicked the still spaced-out Chai Yue, preparing to leave.
The dinner party ended with everyone happy.
Most importantly, they had settled the matter of the investment.
After sending Chai Yue home, only the two of them were left in the car.
Chen Jinyao was driving, while Yan Cheng sat in the passenger seat, his forehead leaning against the car window, quietly feeling its coolness.
His dim gaze passed through the windshield as he remained silent, lost in thought.
The scenery on both sides of the road kept receding.
The colorful neon lights made the city appear extraordinarily lively.
Yan Cheng closed his eyes, and after a long while, yawned, his voice lazy: “I really didn’t expect Zhiyuan’s person in charge would be Jinlin’s boyfriend.”
“I didn’t expect it either,” Chen Jinyao eased off the accelerator and slowly began to press the brake, “What do you think of Luo Xiao?”
“Oh, you’re asking me this?” Yan Cheng suddenly opened his eyes, sat up straight, staring unblinkingly at Chen Jinyao’s profile, his tone becoming somewhat sour when he spoke again, “Didn’t you just praise him to the skies earlier?”
Coincidentally at a red light, the car stopped steadily.
Chen Jinyao clicked her tongue, turning to look at him: “You can’t say it like that, women and men see men differently, from different perspectives.”
“Men seeing men will be more thorough,” she had to admit this, “Women seeing men tend to be more superficial.”
“…”
Yan Cheng pursed his lips, thinking: You’re quite self-aware!
“If you’re considering this for Jinlin’s sake, whether it’s good or bad should be for Jinlin to judge. In matters of love, only they themselves know.”
“That’s true,” Chen Jinyao nodded, finding it reasonable.
Yan Cheng: “I can only say the impression is not bad.”
Chen Jinyao: “Indeed, look at his ambitions.”
“…” Yan Cheng laughed with a bite in his voice, “I have ambitions too. Now that I’m a shareholder in Zhiyuan, his ambitions are equivalent to my ambitions.”
Chen Jinyao secretly rolled her eyes, “Sophistry.”
“So stop going on about looking at him.” To this, Yan Cheng just pretended not to hear and continued speaking, stretching his legs and raising both arms to his neck to stretch his muscles. Then, his gaze swept over Chen Jinyao as he curved his lips, saying leisurely: “Just look at me.”
Chen Jinyao: “……………”
…
Originally, he was just interested in Zhiyuan Tech, wanting to try branching out beyond managing Er Restaurant, like the principle that it’s good to have multiple skills.
But unexpectedly, while being interested was one thing, after learning that Zhiyuan’s person in charge was Luo Xiao and their potential future family connection…
Yan Cheng thought, if not for the monk’s sake, then for Buddha’s sake.
Although he was relentless in his words and took pleasure in Luo Xiao’s current situation, he actually had a sharp tongue but a soft heart, especially towards such a positive young person. He would help when needed, or rather, wanted to help.
So this time, he wasn’t simply investing for future dividends.
Yan Cheng tossed and turned, thinking it over, and finally decided to become Luo Xiao’s strategist.
When Luo Xiao found out, he was naturally delighted and agreed, saying: “This is great, exactly what I wanted.”
“????”
Chen Jinyao was skeptical: “Can you do it?”
Yan Cheng hummed: “Don’t underestimate me.”
“I majored in management in university.”
After a few seconds of silence, he raised his eyebrows, lifting his chin: “Your husband has hidden depths.”
“…” Chen Jinyao was stunned for a moment, and when she realized, curved her eyes and smiled brightly. After smiling enough, she pursed her lips teasingly: “Look who’s getting cocky.”
Yan Cheng: “……”
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