Chapter 111

While waiting for Madame Jiang and Wen Ling to walk forward hand in hand, Jiang Jibai finally lowly joked: "How did you become a bag‑carrying lackey?"

"I'm happy to." Zhou Yinhe gave him a sideways glance.

Jiang Jibai laughed even more wantonly at the words, raising his eyebrows and saying: "Hey, you're annoyed into anger now; before, I don't know who it was, but when they advised you to stay away from Wen Ling you weren't happy, and when they urged you to make up you were still unhappy—now look, you've become a twenty‑four‑filial‑piety model boyfriend, doing whatever you're told, and it's downright scary how obedient you are."

"…" Zhou Yinhe was choked by his words, and only after a long while did he lift his chin and repeat: "I'm happy to."

"Fine, fine, you're happy to." Jiang Jibai clapped his hands, pulled out his phone from his pocket and sent a message in the group, and while Zhou Yinhe's hands were full he openly took a photo and posted it in the group.

Zhou Yinhe gave Jiang Jibai a gloomy look, then suddenly called out to the two people walking ahead: "Auntie, Jiang‑ge says women are the most troublesome, and they've got a lot of business."

Madame Jiang gave a hehe smile, turned, and strode over in her high heels to Jiang Jibai's side, lifted her hand and grabbed his ear, twisting it hard, and said word by word: "You think your old lady is a hassle, huh? You think she's got a lot of business, huh?"

"Damn, Mom, don't listen to Xiao Wu's nonsense—how could I possibly say that?" Jiang Jibai snapped angrily: "He's just deliberately making things up about me."

"Even your honest little Xiao Wu could make that up—surely you said it first and then he told me." Madame Jiang gritted her teeth: "Fine, you've grown up—tomorrow you start going on blind dates for me, and you'll stop only when you succeed. Little Xiao Wu is two years younger than you and already has a girlfriend, while you don't even have a female mosquito around. If you keep this up, I'll send you off to become a monk!"

"…"

Zhou Yinhe pressed his lips to hold back laughter; Wen Ling saw his expression and knew it was his doing, so she leaned close to his ear and whispered: "Was it you who pulled this trick?"

"Yeah." Zhou Yinhe admitted without reservation, speaking softly: "Who let him mock me? The key is, mocking me alone would've been fine, but he posted it in the group so everyone could join in mocking me."

Wen Ling really wanted to praise him, but felt it wasn't appropriate at the moment.

While gripping her hand tightly, Madame Jiang laughed at Wen Ling and Zhou Yinhe: "Xiao Wu, Ah Ling, you two go ahead and stroll; I'll take this unfilial son of mine ahead for a bit. Ah Ling, later come spend more time playing with Xiao Wu."

Wen Ling nodded and said obediently: "Okay, Auntie."

Zhou Yinhe secretly added fuel to the fire: "Okay, Auntie, don't be angry—maybe Jiang‑ge's sexual orientation is just different from ours; we should respect that."

Upon hearing this, Madame Jiang flew into a rage, no longer bothering with pleasantries; she forced a laugh, grabbed Jiang Jibai's ear, and dragged him toward the elevator.

Even after walking far away, the two could still clearly hear Madame Jiang's scolding of Jiang Jibai.

On the way home, Zhou Yinhe was driving, his phone kept ringing nonstop, so he had Wen Ling open it to take a look.

Wen Ling looked and saw that it was all sixty‑second voice messages from Jiang Jibai, plus posts in the group accusing him and being mocked by others.

Wen Ling opened the voice messages, and a jumble of vulgar insults poured out from the phone's earpiece.

"*&%￥# Zhou Yinhe I *&%￥#"

"You *&￥…" The audio hadn't finished playing when Zhou Yinhe told Wen Ling: "Quick, turn it off—dirtying your ears."

Wen Ling could no longer hold back; she burst out laughing hysterically, tears streaming from her eyes.

"How interesting."

Zhou Yinhe stole a glance at her and asked: "What's interesting? Is it fun that I got scolded, or that Jiang Jibai got set up?"

Wen Ling sincerely replied: "Both are interesting."

Zhou Yinhe snorted, thinking he'd bring it up later at home, when he could properly ask Wen Ling just what was so interesting.

If Wen Ling found out what Zhou Yinhe was thinking, she would surely ask him: "Is it me being petty, or you being petty?"

After arriving home, Zhou Yinhe first carried up the things Wen Ling had bought; once she had unpacked and arranged them, he forcibly hugged her back to the room.

Even though Wen Ling was soaked through from being bullied, she still had to answer Zhou Yinhe's relentless questioning.

"Come on, tell me—is it fun that I got scolded, or that Jiang Jibai got bullied?"

"Don't use this as an excuse to bully me."

"If you don't speak up, I'll bully you even harder."

Wen Ling choked back a few sobs, then yielded to him, stammering: "Jiang Jibai being bullied… is interesting."

Zhou Yinhe grunted, still not letting her go, and whispered: "You said it too late."

"You…"

Before Wen Ling could finish her sentence, Zhou Yinhe clapped his hand over her mouth, gazed into her helpless eyes, curled his lips in a light smile, increased the pressure of his bullying, and actually made her faint from the ordeal.

Wen Ling woke once in the middle of the night, lowered the air‑conditioner temperature a bit, then flung herself into Zhou Yinhe's open embrace, and fell asleep again within two minutes.

While adjusting the temperature, Wen Ling also thought: Zhou Yinhe is like a little stove every day—why isn't he afraid of the heat, whereas I, whose hands and feet turn icy in winter, am so scared of heat?

——

Zhou Yinhe set Wen Ling down at the Qin Family's gate, got out of the car, tidied her hair and collar, and urged: "Remember, if anything happens you must call me."

Wen Ling nodded, stood on tiptoe and patted his shoulder: "Don't worry, hurry back—it's too hot out."

Zhou Yinhe had her go in first while he lingered; only when Wen Ling reached the villa's entrance and glanced back did she see him still standing there, motionless, worrying over her.

"Hurry back." Wen Ling mouthed the words to him, signaling him to leave quickly.

Only after Zhou Yinhe got into the car did Wen Ling feel at ease; the steward beside her smiled and said: "Miss Qin and the Zhou Family's Fifth Young Master really have a good relationship."

Wen Ling grunted in assent and followed him inside.

Qin Lao sat at the living‑room tea table, his fingers constantly turning the cup; Wen Ling pressed her lips together and softly called him: "Grandfather."

"Hmm." Qin Lao lifted his gaze to her; his weathered eyes were a little moist at that moment.

He rose to his feet, his voice choked with reproach: "You ungrateful little wretch, do you only have your grandfather in your heart and no place for me, your grandfather? After listening to that brat Qin Yuyang's nonsense, you still haven't come to see me."

Wen Ling hurried forward, embraced Qin Lao, and cried: "I'm afraid that because of what others said, you'll no longer dote on me."

Qin Lao patted her back and sighed: "To be honest, I did believe it at first, but later I somehow figured it out and realized just how muddle‑headed I had been."

Wen Ling shook her head, then finally let go of Qin Lao, wiped the tears from under her eyes, and coquettishly said: "It's all your fault—my makeup's all ruined from crying."

"My fault, my fault."

Yesterday, hearing Qin Yuchen say that Wen Ling had been distant toward him, with words and tone suggesting she wanted to cut ties with the Qin Family, Qin Lao now, upon hearing her affectionate, coquettish words, felt a weight lift from his heart.

He undoubtedly dotes on this granddaughter the most—she has a little princess's temperament, a bit spoiled yet kind‑hearted, and shows goodwill toward everyone.

A doubt had long weighed on his heart, leaving him unable to figure it out.