Under the not-too-harsh fluorescent lights, Father Chen sat with a stern face and narrowed eyes, showing no particular expression. Years of being in a position of authority naturally commanded respect without needing to show anger. This terrified Chen Jinlin so much that the moment Luo Xiao finished speaking and was about to stand up, she grabbed his hand and looked up at her father with clear, bright eyes filled with pleading, “Dad!”
“Dad what? I’m not going to eat your little boyfriend.” Seeing his carefully raised daughter being so protective of an outsider who wasn’t even family yet, Father Chen was deeply unhappy. His nostrils flared as he let out a cold snort. Raising a daughter was such a headache – once their wings were strong, they turned away from their own family.
“You think I didn’t know about your secret dating?”
“Your father has eaten more salt than you’ve eaten rice. You’re blinded by love right now, what’s wrong with your father helping you check things out?”
Chen Jinlin shrank her neck, stumped. After thinking for a moment, she gathered her courage to try to explain, but before the words could leave her throat, Luo Xiao stopped her.
After Luo Xiao left with Father Chen, Chen Jinlin quietly followed them to the door, trying to peek through the small glass panel to catch any news from the front. She stamped her feet, wanting to rush out and stand in front of Luo Xiao.
“My sister still puts her boyfriend above everything else,” Chen Jinyao said while standing by the cabinet, organizing clothes to take home tomorrow after discharge. “This kind of thinking is dangerous. Women shouldn’t only see love in their eyes.”
Yan Cheng glanced at Chen Jinlin who was pressed against the door, then turned his face and nodded, agreeing with Chen Jinyao’s words, “You’re right, but what are you trying to say?” After speaking, he rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
Her fair fingers touching the cabinet door, Chen Jinyao gestured for him to come over. When Yan Cheng approached with a puzzled expression, she motioned for him to bend down. She whispered in his ear, “For example, just as an example – if Luo Xiao was secretly two-faced or a hidden scoundrel, meaning he’s deeply affectionate now but might not be later… How do I put this? Your Zhiyuan company is growing bigger now, and they say men often change when they get rich. Money brings more temptations and makes it easy to forget one’s original heart. You understand what I mean? At that time, my sister’s current devotion might just become an excuse for him to take advantage. That’s how my sister would get hurt.”
“Of course, this is just a baseless hypothesis.” Chen Jinyao shrugged, “These examples are everywhere in society.”
She then secretly looked up to meet Yan Cheng’s gaze. Under his complex stare, she remained frank, “You know me, I always consider the worst possible outcome of everything.”
Whether Luo Xiao was a scoundrel or not couldn’t be determined by assumptions. Time would prove it, but she just didn’t quite agree with Chen Jinlin’s view of “love” – both terrified yet recklessly devoted. From another perspective, it showed a lack of confidence in Luo Xiao.
There were many issues, but none were major problems. As long as they got past her parents’ approval, things would go smoothly, and these concerns wouldn’t cause much trouble. However, Chen Jinyao still hoped Chen Jinlin would understand the art of flying a kite when it came to dealing with Luo Xiao.
Yan Cheng: “…”
“I feel like you’re hinting at something,” the man frowned, catching unusual information, realizing things weren’t so simple.
Chen Jinyao tilted her head, her bright eyes blinking twice, “What?”
Yan Cheng: “That men will turn bad once they get money.”
Chen Jinyao lowered her eyes, saying nothing.
Though it varies by person, this saying was quite credible. Throughout history, there were many examples, like Chen Shimei.
Yan Cheng: “Good thing I’ve always been rich.”
Yan Cheng: “So how I am now is definitely how I’ll be in the future.”
Chen Jinyao: “…”
You and your twisted logic.
“But seriously,” Yan Cheng lifted his chin, looking towards Yan Chi’s direction, suddenly speaking with a tone of having survived a disaster, “It’s fortunate we had a son.”
“If it were a daughter, when she gets a boyfriend, I’d probably break her boyfriend’s legs,” he said, squinting his eyes. “A son is different, he’ll be the one stealing someone else’s daughter.”
Chen Jinyao’s mouth twitched as she reached out to pinch him, fiercely defending their potential future daughter, “Do you even want your daughter to be happy?”
Yan Cheng didn’t care: “Hmph.”
Time passed minute by minute.
Someone gradually became anxious.
Chen Jinyao couldn’t stand watching anymore. She handed the clothes to Yan Cheng and slowly walked behind Chen Jinlin, patting her back, “Be more reserved.”
“…” Chen Jinlin quietly blushed.
At this moment, Yan Cheng told her: “Don’t worry, Dad has known about Luo Xiao’s existence for a while, and has a good impression of him. He won’t break you up.”
After pondering for a few seconds, he suddenly hissed, “No, wait – what gave you the impression that Dad would interfere with your relationship?”
The issue of being from different places was resolved when Luo Xiao started his business and bought a house in the capital.
Luo Xiao was now very successful. Speaking of good son-in-law standards, two years ago, Luo Xiao was definitely ten or twenty times better than him…
Their parents weren’t completely unreasonable people either.
Looking at Chen Jinlin from all angles, she shouldn’t have these worries.
Hearing this, Chen Jinlin puffed her cheeks and thought carefully for a while.
She said: “Because of you all.”
Speaking of this, she felt somewhat embarrassed, “Dad and Mom insisted on getting my sister together with you, making me feel like I’d also be forced into marriage in the future.”
“My situation with your brother-in-law was different,” Chen Jinyao almost laughed, “At that time, Huo Qidong and Zhou Xue had just gotten married…”
The cause didn’t need much explanation, but several results were important.
No wonder, Chen Jinlin was in school then and didn’t understand the specific situation.
“The blind date later was my choice.”
“Marrying your brother-in-law after we fell for each other was my choice.”
“Mom and Dad only acted as matchmakers, the decision was still mine.”
“They respect me.”
“Understand now?”
Yan Cheng stood aside listening happily.
The string of statements caught Chen Jinlin off guard.
She just blinked, numbly said “Oh” and nodded.
In fact, it was indeed as Yan Cheng and Chen Jinyao said.
Even if she still felt somewhat unsatisfied.
But Father Chen didn’t give Luo Xiao a hard time.
He wanted to talk to Luo Xiao alone just to understand what kind of person he was.
As parents, they care most about their children’s lifelong happiness.
Fortunately, Luo Xiao didn’t disappoint him.
…..
“Jinlin has been spoiled by the family since she was young, she’s quite willful.”
Luo Xiao: “It’s fine, she can continue being willful.”
Father Chen nodded. Although he lowered his eyes without saying anything more, it was obvious that he was satisfied with Luo Xiao’s answer.
After a long while, he continued: “I hope you can keep your word.”
“The most important thing about being a son-in-law of the Chen family is being good to the Chen family’s daughter,” Father Chen said exaggeratedly, “You can learn this from Yan Cheng.”
The previously serious questioning had created a somewhat tense atmosphere, but unexpectedly, Father Chen could now make a joke, breaking the frozen air in a second, making everything around them relax.
Luo Xiao naturally agreed with a smile.
“By the way, you can come to Chen Corporation in the future to help Jinlin.”
“As for Zhiyuan Technology, you can keep some shares then.”
Luo Xiao was stunned.
Then, he politely declined, “I can help Jinlin appropriately…”
“I can be her advisor when she encounters difficulties, be her strategist, be her support, but joining Chen Corporation, forgive me for being frank, I won’t do that.”
“You know, I have Zhiyuan Technology.”
Father Chen raised his eyebrows, gesturing for him to continue.
“When I first got together with Jinlin, to be honest, many people called me a pretty boy, saying I was trying to climb up through Jinlin.”
His Adam’s apple bobbed as he choked up slightly, “They called me a phoenix man.”
Actually, he came from a family that owned demolished properties, but nobody cared about that.
He smiled, “I had strong self-esteem then, almost broke up with Jinlin over this, but later it was Jinlin who kept persisting, she didn’t give up on me, that’s how we got to where we are now. Half of Zhiyuan’s establishment was because of her, I can’t betray her trust in me, don’t you agree, Uncle?”
“And it wasn’t just me being talked about, Jinlin was too. Those people said she was stupid, saying she wouldn’t stay with proper rich second-generation guys but insisted on being with me, an outsider, saying she was being used and still helping me count money…” These words, Luo Xiao had never told anyone else, including Chen Jinlin, he planned to keep them buried in his heart forever, but since Father Chen mentioned joining Chen Corporation, he licked his lips and continued, “I like Jinlin, really like her, but in this world there will always be people who look at others with dirty eyes, and when they see others as dirty, they really believe others are dirty.”
“Now Zhiyuan, my position as vice president at Zhiyuan, is all about slapping those people’s faces. Moreover, Zhiyuan is my blood and sweat, just like Chen Corporation is your blood and sweat, we can’t casually hand over our life’s work to others, right?”
…..
“Then are you the kind of person they say you are?”
“No.”
“Then that’s fine, people don’t need to care too much about what others think, it’s too tiring.”
Luo Xiao curved his lips into a smile, “Uncle, Jinlin said the same thing back then.”
It was when he proposed breaking up with her because of his pitiful self-esteem.
Father Chen sighed knowingly.
Then he raised his hand and patted Luo Xiao’s shoulder.
“Have you thought about it, both you and Yan Cheng are at Zhiyuan, if you two really become relatives…”
“Relatives in the same company are the most likely to fall out.”
The office politics between relatives would be even more cruel.
“For example, if your relatives want to join Zhiyuan, and Yan Cheng’s relatives also want to join Zhiyuan, it’s simple, but there might be resentment over differences in the number of people who get in, these trivial matters are very common.”
“That won’t happen,” Luo Xiao answered Father Chen decisively.
Father Chen raised his eyebrows, somewhat surprised.
Luo Xiao: “That wouldn’t be the Zhiyuan we want.”
Zhiyuan isn’t a place for nepotism.
“Besides, without Yan Cheng, there wouldn’t be today’s Zhiyuan.”
“Zhiyuan is also Yan Cheng’s blood and sweat.”
“We both have the same goal, to make Zhiyuan go further.”
Two years later.
Zhiyuan Technology successfully went public.
The enterprise’s own value was outstanding, coupled with high credibility.
After going public, they raised two billion in funding.
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