Ye Qiu’s heart tightened.
A call from Ninth Thousand Years in the dead of night must mean something significant.
What could it be?
“Lin Jie, don’t move. I need to take a call. We’ll continue in a bit,” Ye Qiu said, pressing the answer button. “Ninth Thousand Years, you’re looking for me?”
Ninth Thousand Years got straight to the point. “Ye Qiu, I just received news—your grandfather’s not going to make it.”
Ye Qiu let out a sigh of relief and asked, “You’re calling me this late just to tell me that?”
“What else would it be?”
“I thought it was something major. I’ve got things to do, so I’ll hang up now.”
With that, Ye Qiu ended the call. He couldn’t care less about his grandfather’s life or death.
Back when Ye Wushuang met with misfortune, Qian Jinglan had taken the infant Ye Qiu back to the Qian family in Suzhou-Hangzhou. Instead of receiving care, they were cast out of the family.
For over twenty years, the Qian family had shown no concern for the mother and son, utterly indifferent to their survival.
So why would Ye Qiu care about his grandfather’s fate?
Lin Jingzhi noticed Ye Qiu’s expression sour after hanging up and asked, “What did Ninth Thousand Years want?”
“Nothing much,” Ye Qiu replied, unwilling to elaborate.
Lin Jingzhi was a perceptive woman. Seeing he didn’t want to talk, she didn’t press further. Instead, she expressed her understanding through action.
Soon, Ye Qiu succumbed.
The room filled with delightful sounds once more, lasting until three in the morning.
The next day.
When Ye Qiu woke up, Lin Jingzhi was still asleep. He quietly dressed and left the room.
As he descended the stairs, he spotted a steaming bowl of tomato noodles on the dining table.
Topped with a heart-shaped fried egg and sprinkled with tender green chives, it was a feast for the eyes and nose.
Ye Qiu didn’t hesitate, picking up the bowl and digging in.
Just then, Sun Mengjie emerged from the kitchen. Seeing Ye Qiu eating the noodles, her eyes flared with anger. “Who said you could eat that?”
Sun Mengjie was livid.
“I saw this bowl of noodles sitting here with no one claiming it. It’d be a shame to waste it, so I reluctantly ate it,” Ye Qiu said, ignoring her fury. “Is this yours?”
“I made this breakfast for President Lin with my own hands,” Sun Mengjie’s voice was nearly a growl.
She was furious!
She didn’t normally cook. To make this bowl of noodles, she’d bought a recipe book and studied it for days before attempting it.
Who’d have thought that just as she finished, Ye Qiu would eat it?
“Good thing I ate it. If Lin Jie had, she’d probably scold you,” Ye Qiu said. “It looks and smells great, but the taste is off.”
“The noodles are overcooked, the tomato broth is too thick, and you added too much salt—it’s so salty…”
“Do you know how to fix it when there’s too much salt?”
It was Sun Mengjie’s first time cooking, and she had no grasp of culinary techniques. Suppressing her anger, she asked, “How do you fix it?”
“Simple, add some water.”
“With more water, the saltiness dilutes.”
“See, water’s essential everywhere in life. That’s why roses need watering too.”
Ye Qiu’s words carried a deeper meaning.
Sun Mengjie’s brows shot up. “What are you getting at?”
Ye Qiu said, “Sun Mengjie, you’re not getting any younger. It’s about time you found a boyfriend. There are plenty of quality single guys at our hospital. Want me to set you up?”
“No need,” Sun Mengjie shot back flatly.
“How could you not need it? A man’s touch beats any toy, doesn’t it?”
“Are you looking to die?”
Sun Mengjie’s eyes glinted with cold fury, her tone menacing.
“Fine, pretend I said nothing. Tell Lin Jie when she’s up that I’ve gone home.”
Ye Qiu set down his chopsticks and strolled off.
Sun Mengjie approached the table, staring at the half-eaten bowl of tomato noodles, her face ashen with rage.
“Ye Qiu, you bastard, I hope you drop dead!”
She cursed, picking up the bowl to dump the leftovers in the kitchen. As she turned, she saw Lin Jingzhi standing behind her.
Lin Jingzhi’s gaze was chillingly cold.
Sun Mengjie jumped, startled, and stammered, “President Lin, w-when did you get up?”
“Just now,” Lin Jingzhi replied, her face expressionless. “Why are you cursing Ye Qiu?”
“I-I made you noodles, and he ate them,” Sun Mengjie said. “I got mad.”
“He’s even eaten me, so what’s a bowl of noodles?” Lin Jingzhi asked sharply. “You want to kill him?”
“No—”
Before Sun Mengjie could finish, Lin Jingzhi cut in, “Last night when Ye Qiu came back, you knew we wanted to be together, yet you kept interrupting us over and over. Why?”
“I didn’t mean to,” Sun Mengjie mumbled, head lowered, avoiding Lin Jingzhi’s eyes.
“So it was intentional?” Lin Jingzhi’s voice grew even icier, like unmelting frost. “If you don’t explain this clearly, starting today, you won’t need to stay by my side.”
Sun Mengjie’s head snapped up, staring at Lin Jingzhi in disbelief, her voice trembling. “President Lin, y-you’re kicking me out?”
Lin Jingzhi said, “Ye Qiu is my man. If you want to harm him, I have no choice but to send you away.”
Sun Mengjie hurriedly explained, “President Lin, don’t kick me out! I don’t mean to harm Ye Qiu. I just hate him.”
“Why hate him? Give me a reason.”
“Ye Qiu, that bastard—”
Before she could finish, Lin Jingzhi’s icy glare silenced her, and she quickly corrected herself.
“President Lin, you’re so exceptional. For Ye Qiu to catch your eye is like smoke rising from his ancestors’ graves, a blessing earned over eight lifetimes. But he doesn’t cherish it. He’s out there flirting around—having Bai Bing isn’t enough, now he’s after Qin Wan, and it looks like he’s got something going with Tangtang too.”
Sun Mengjie fumed, “President Lin, you’re so good to him, yet he can’t stay faithful. I just want to beat that jerk up.”
“That’s it?” Lin Jingzhi’s tone remained cold, but her expression softened slightly.
She realised Sun Mengjie’s dislike for Ye Qiu stemmed entirely from her own sake.
“That’s it,” Sun Mengjie said through gritted teeth. “If Ye Qiu ever dares to betray you, I’ll stop at nothing to take him down with me.”
“It’s not that serious. I trust Ye Qiu won’t let me down,” Lin Jingzhi said. “Besides, I, Lin Jingzhi, don’t need a man who stays put. I need one with ambitions as vast as the world.”
“If one day he rules the heavens, I’ll stand by him and watch the storms unfold.”
“If one day he falls into hell, I’ll join him through mountains of blades and seas of fire!”
“He’s the man I’ve chosen for life!”
“So, from now on, don’t curse Ye Qiu in front of me, or don’t blame me for turning against you!”
…
After leaving Lin Jingzhi’s villa, Ye Qiu headed straight home.
What he didn’t expect was to find two uninvited guests waiting for him as he walked through the door!
