Chapter 182

She didn't speak, Fu Huahua spoke for her.

"That's pretty laughable, right."

Wen Ling hesitated, then nodded and admitted it; Chu Yao let out a yell and shoved Wen Ling onto the sofa.

"How can you two be like this? Can't you help me think of a solution?"

"What can we do? Can we even take you away from under your brother's nose?" Wen Ling curled her lips, "Otherwise, you could just call him with our phones."

"……" Chu Yao said helplessly, "Since your phone entered the Chu family, do you still have a signal?"

Wen Ling froze, picked up her phone and glanced at it; the message she had just been about to send was still spinning.

"Your brother, awesome." Wen Ling praised sincerely.

Fu Huahua said, "Give us her contact info, and after we leave the Chu family we can help you get in touch, right?"

Chu Yao got up, loosened her hold on Wen Ling, blinked her eyes innocently, and said, "But I don't want him to know my brother is stopping us from being together; that would hurt him."

Wen Ling, Fu Huahua: "……" No hope.

Wen Ling didn't want to play with Chu Yao anymore, got up to leave, and Fu Huahua, seeing her about to go, followed along.

Chu Yao blocked them, pleading, "Alright, then help me tell him: just say I'll go find him in a few days, but you can't tell him I'm being locked up by my brother; say… say I'm in closed-door training, yes, closed-door training."

Wen Ling rolled her eyes, but still agreed; Fu Huahua left first, having arrived much earlier and already having had enough of Chu Yao's bizarre thought process.

After saving the other's phone number, Wen Ling walked down the stairs slowly; having just taken a few steps, the voice she had just heard in the parking lot sounded again from behind, calling out to stop her steps.

"Miss Wen, how about a chat?"

Wen Ling stood on the stairs, turned back, and lightly laughed, "No, I should be going."

"It won't take long." Chu Lin said while going downstairs, until he and Wen Ling were on the same step, he lowered his gaze to look at Wen Ling, his voice slow and flat: "If Miss Wen isn't willing, we can just walk and talk."

Wen Ling frowned, the feeling of being forced wasn't pleasant, and her face gradually grew cold.

Chu Lin pretended not to see, stepped down ahead of Wen Ling, but his steps were slow, always keeping a step's distance behind her.

He said, "Miss Wen, are you preparing to marry Fifth Young Master Zhou?"

"What does it have to do with you?" Wen Ling's mood worsened, her tone unfriendly.

"There's nothing to it, I'm just curious; even if you don't tell me, I can guess." Upon reaching the first floor, Chu Lin stopped, blocked Wen Ling on the stairs, quietly gazed into her eyes, and said seriously, "Fifth Young Master Zhou only has his current position by relying on the Zhou family; the Zhou family's future will ultimately lie in the hands of the eldest son, while the Ning family lies with the second son; aligning yourself with Fifth Young Master Zhou brings you no benefit."

Wen Ling scoffed, not stirred by his belittling of Zhou Yinhe, after all, in her eyes and heart, no one could compare to Zhou Yinhe.

She met Chu Lin's gaze without flinching, coldly saying, "Do you think I'm after the Zhou family's status? Or do you think Zhou Yinhe could help me, who already stands at the highest position, gain a bit more support?"

Without waiting for Chu Lin's answer, Wen Ling curled her lips in a cold smile: "Wrong—I'm after him as a person; whether he's the Zhou family's Fifth Young Master or the same person Chu Yao likes, I love him, so I won't care about his status."

Chu Lin didn't understand, a puzzled expression on his face, he tilted his head and asked, "Why?"

He had seized the Chu family from his own uncle's hands; power and status were most important to him, even more than the sister he raised; even now in a high position, he still wanted to climb higher, so he couldn't understand why someone in a high position would have such a lack of ambition.

"There's no why; not everyone is like you."

Chu Lin lowered his eyes, thinking seriously; Wen Ling pushed him away, strode out downstairs, and after walking about two meters away, she turned back and said to Chu Lin, "Oh right, regarding the inheritance issue you brought up about the Zhou family, you probably don't know yet? Even though the Zhou family's current executive director is Zhou Shuanglin and the Ning family's is Zhou Congyu, actually all five of them hold equal shares, with none higher or lower."

Chu Lin had been motionless, but upon hearing that he turned back, silently gazing at Wen Ling.

Wen Ling tossed out a sentence before leaving, then ignored him completely.

"For Chu Yao's sake, I won't hold it against you; don't show up in front of me again."

Chu Lin was unmoved by her words, watching Wen Ling's retreating back, he stood in place for a long time before going upstairs to find Chu Yao.

Chu Yao lay bored on the bed watching TV; now even the internet at home was cut off, she couldn't watch online TV, only live broadcasts.

Upon seeing Chu Lin arrive, Chu Yao snorted and turned her face away, refusing to look at him.

Chu Lin wasn't so obtuse with his sister; standing at the doorway, he said lightly, "I know you want those two to help you contact that guy; to be frank, after you sent your message, I had my secretary look for him, and he should be back by now."

Chu Yao's eyes widened in shock, she sprang up and glared fiercely at Chu Lin, unable to believe it: "Brother! Why would you do this?"

Chu Yao, the Chu family can't compare to other clans in Sijiucheng; no matter how hard I try, I'll never catch up to them. If you keep being willful, you'll surely understand the Chu family's situation later.

"Brother, isn't the Chu family already pretty good? At least, when I used to go out, those noble daughters would indulge and pamper me." Chu Yao shook her head in panic, disbelieving.

"That's now; what about later?" Chu Lin's face darkened, evidently seeing his sister's lack of ambition, somewhat angry, he intensified his tone: "If I ever make a misstep in the future, the Chu family could collapse at any moment; we have no one behind us but ourselves. Chu Yao, calm down a bit—I'm not stopping you from hanging out with Wen Ling and Fu Huahua, but you must figure out whether you want lifelong wealth and honor or just fleeting pleasure."

Chu Yao stumbled back a step, hit the table leg, and fell hard to the ground, her face blank.

Chu Lin didn't wait for her response, pulled the door shut, and ordered the bodyguard: "Watch her."

The bodyguard lowered his eyes in acknowledgment, standing like a stone statue on either side of the door.

——

After leaving the Chu family, Wen Ling parked the car by the roadside, a flicker of disgust crossing her face.

Before, it was only said that the head of the Chu family was a lofty flower, a person who could single-handedly lift the Chu family to its current status.

Having seen him a few times, Wen Ling had never felt the rumors were off, but she never expected him to say something so disgusting this time.

She rested her forehead on her hand, quietly gazing out the car window; the weather, which had been fairly clear moments ago, suddenly began to rain.

Wen Ling's mood grew worse and worse.