Chapter 108

Wen Ling heard that and only then lifted her head to glance at Zhou Yinhe; Zhou Yinhe explained, "My place is near my manor, tomorrow I can quickly take you to see the wolves."

"Oh." His little thoughts were all written on his face; Wen Ling couldn't fail to guess, so she went along with him.

But Zhou Yinhe has a flaw: he always pushes for more.

Wen Ling couldn't fall asleep until nearly two in the morning; angry, she pounded Zhou Yinhe with several fists before bed.

As expected, when she woke it was already noon; she lifted her leg and kicked Zhou Yinhe hard, snapping, "Zhou Yinhe, you're getting full of yourself."

But her angry voice had no deterrent power at all—hoarse, soft and gentle; hearing it, Zhou Yinhe felt a tingling in his heart, and, thick‑skinned, he lunged at her again.

"Get lost, I'm annoyed." Wen Ling shoved him several times but couldn't move him; fortunately, Zhou Yinhe's conscience kicked in and he let her go, getting up to attend to her washing up—though his hands weren't exactly honest, he didn't dare do anything more.

Wen Ling hadn't had a chance to properly look at Zhou Yinhe's Building 7 villa when she arrived last night; now she finally had spare time to examine it carefully.

Facing outward was a full wall of glass, the decor in a minimalist, cold style; Wen Ling furrowed her brows, walked around once, then returned to the living room. Seeing her expression, Zhou Yinhe knew she surely disliked it.

"Like this, anyway I'm also staying at your place; I'll have people redecorate mine just the way you like."

Wen Ling glared at him: "I'm not even going to live at your place, why decorate it to suit my taste?"

"What if I want to come later?" Zhou Yinhe moved in to hug her, but she shoved him away with a palm slap to his face.

"Don't cling to me, eat, then I'm going to see the wolves."

Zhou Yinhe pursed his lips, stood up, took her hand, and they went out together.

What a coincidence—just as they got out of the car and were about to enter the restaurant, they ran into Qin Yuchen and Qin Yuyang, who were also coming, plus an unfamiliar beautiful woman.

"Cousin Yuchen." Wen Ling smiled and greeted him, ignoring Qin Yuyang, and gave the woman a gentle nod.

Qin Yuchen grunted, looking at their joined hands, and said lightly, "Grandfather has been wanting to see you lately; when do you have time?"

Wen Ling stared for a moment, then after a pause said, "If Grandfather doesn't mind, I can visit the Qin family tomorrow."

Qin Yuchen felt somewhat at a loss over her aloof remark, but still nodded, turned to look at Zhou Yinhe, who seemed to be protecting Wen Ling, and said with a teasing tone, "How come you've been so hard to pin down lately?"

Zhou Yinhe shrugged, "I favor beauty over friends."

"……" Qin Yuchen sighed helplessly, "Fine, shall we eat together?"

Zhou Yinhe knew Wen Ling didn't want to, so he shook his head and refused.

Qin Yuchen didn't insist, bringing along an awkward Qin Yuyang and the woman who was curiously sizing up Wen Ling as they walked into the restaurant.

Wen Ling said goodbye to them, then gave the woman a friendly smile.

The three of them entered the private room first; the woman sat beside Qin Yuchen, who personally poured her juice, attending to her with utmost care.

The woman frowned slightly and asked him, "Was that just now another of your cousins?"

"Yes, Wen Ling, the daughter of my maternal aunt's family; her father is the sole son of Wen Lao of the Wen Family in M Country."

The woman nodded, propping her chin as she mentally compared Qin Yuchen's two cousins, then shook her head: "They really are worlds apart—Ruan MiaoMiao looks like a classic green tea at first glance, with a silver tongue but a head that can't keep up."

She lifted her juice, took a sip, her gaze sweeping over the already silent but awkward Qin Yuyang, and chuckled lightly: "This cousin looks different—she has an outstanding bearing, and though she comes from the Wen Family, she has none of the airs of a wealthy young lady."

"That's because you didn't see her when she was little; every time she came to the Qin Family, she brought over a dozen servants—housekeepers, nannies, chefs, pastry chefs—quite an entourage." Qin Yuchen smiled and continued, "Back then her temperament wasn't like now; she was even more spoiled."

The woman felt it was only natural, gave Qin Yuchen a sideways glance, pursed her lips, and said, "With her status, she ought to be a bit more spoiled." She directly reached out and grabbed Qin Yuchen's ear, using some force, and asked, "What? You think being spoiled is a bad thing?"

Qin Yuchen hissed in pain, his ear instinctively moving toward the woman to ease the pain, and explained, "I don't think that."

Qin Yuyang, sitting opposite, saw his brother—who usually seemed like a mountain in his heart—humbly begging for mercy before his sister-in-law, and couldn't help but shiver.

The woman indeed swept over with a stern gaze and coldly said, "And you—stop learning all those messed-up young master tempers from me. If you do this again and I find out, I won't let you off as lightly as they would."

Qin Yuyang nodded vigorously, looking obediently at his sister-in-law.

The woman let out a cold snort, released Qin Yuchen's ear, and slowly lifted the juice to take a light sip.

Wen Ling hadn't expected that after seeing the woman just once, she would leave such a good impression; as soon as she entered the private room, she asked Zhou Yinhe.

"Who was that woman just now?"

Zhou Yinhe said, "She is Qin Yuchen's fiancée, the sole daughter of the Liu Family."

Wen Ling knew this Liu Family, "Then her grandfather wouldn't be......"

Zhou Yinhe nodded, finding it natural to attend to Wen Ling more than anyone else, got up to pour her juice; there was a fresh fruit platter on the table that the server had brought when they entered the private room, so Zhou Yinhe picked up a fork and fed her piece by piece.

Wen Ling, while looking at her phone, asked his opinion: "What do you think I should bring when I go see my maternal grandfather tomorrow?"

Zhou Yinhe fell silent for a moment, then advised, "Maybe you shouldn't go; I'm afraid you'll suffer injustice."

Although the rumors had lessened considerably, Zhou Yinhe still worried that Qin Lao harbored resentment in his heart and would treat Wen Ling poorly.

Wen Ling lifted her gaze to him and turned to comfort him: "Don't worry, I'm not stupid; if anyone gives me a hard time, I'll call you right away and you'll come help me get back at them."

Seeing Zhou Yinhe still looking worried, Wen Ling had to intensify her efforts, continuing to coax: "Everyone in Sijiucheng knows your temper, Young Master Zhou; who would dare bully me? Don't worry."

Zhou Yinhe could only temporarily set aside his worries, and once the dishes were served, he began another round of attending to Wen Ling's meal.

If Ning Qing were present, she would surely be furious to the point of gritting her teeth—her son is twenty-six and has never once been so considerate toward her.

After finishing their meal, the two headed out to the suburbs to Zhou Yinhe's estate.

Because of the heat, the pack of indulged adult wolves were resting in the air-conditioned indoor enclosures, while the wolf pups were placed in another enclosure, receiving the same treatment.

As soon as Wen Ling entered the enclosure, she saw how well Zhou Yinhe treated them—not only were the keepers cleaning the pens, but several caretakers had been assigned, a large forest area had been fenced off for them to play in, and the caretakers would often train them in wilderness survival skills, so that if they ever escaped, they would at least have the ability to survive.