Chapter 185

I don't mean to be angry with you." Wen Ling crouched beside him, reached up to wipe the tears from his eyes, and said softly, "I just feel a bit uncomfortable; thinking that you might marry someone else to forget me makes it hard for me to accept."

Zhou Yinhe shook his head, leaned forward and embraced Wen Ling, his voice a little choked: "I won't marry anyone else; I only want you."

Wen Ling returned the embrace, asking, "Am I being too selfish? Clearly I abandoned you, yet I don't want you to be with anyone else, and for a mere possibility I've shut you out."

No, no." Zhou Yinhe's vision blurred; he lowered his head, burying his eyes in her shoulder, dampening Wen Ling's shoulder.

Wen Ling felt a sour ache in her heart, and rubbed his hair.

To compensate for his grievance, Wen Ling leaned on him all night; no matter how unreasonable he was, she remained compliant.

After Wen Ling fell asleep, Zhou Yinhe quietly left the room and went to the living room on the first floor.

He stood by the floor-to-ceiling window drinking water; Hehe came over to rub against his leg. Zhou Yinhe lowered his head and chuckled lightly: "Heartless, why didn't you come open the door just now?"

Hehe had long known how to open the room door; hearing Zhou Yinhe's words, he pretended not to understand, stood up, grabbed Zhou Yinhe's pants, and stretched.

Heng Heng was still sleeping upstairs.

Zhou Yinhe reached out to pat Hehe's head, narrowed his eyes, and gazed at the dim yellow courtyard lamp lit outside the window.

At this time, Ning Qing and Zhou Shuanglin were asleep; he didn't want to disturb them, and a text wouldn't be clear enough, so he waited until morning to call. Right now he felt irritable, and his anger hadn't faded.

At this hour, probably only those people in the group chat were still awake.

He sent a message asking if anyone was there; no one replied, so Zhou Yinhe sent a red packet.

Ten of them, each worth one cent, totaling one dime.

Ke Chengyu, after receiving it, sent: 【When will you stop being so stingy?】

Zhou Yinhe sent a grinning-with-teeth emoji, and then tagged Jiang Jibai, who had taken the red packet without saying anything.

Jiang Jibai: 【Honestly, I think you owe me for wasting my time over this one-cent amount.】

Zhou Yinhe didn't continue joking with them, only asking: 【Does the Zhai family currently have some kind of cooperation in your hands?】

Jiang Jibai saw this, immediately opened a group call, adding Ke Chengyu as well; only the three of them were in it.

Although he was in the first-floor living room, Zhou Yinhe still feared waking Wen Ling, so his voice was very soft and low.

How did the Zhai family offend you?" Ke Chengyu asked curiously.

Mainly, Zhou Yinhe isn't particularly interested in the relationships and entanglements among the aristocratic families of Sijiucheng, so his sudden question must have a reason.

Zhou Yinhe curled his lip coldly and said lightly: "His family's old matriarch, in front of my wife, brought up the matter of our former verbal engagement with Zhai An."

Jiang Jibai snorted: "What do you mean 'my wife'? You two aren't even engaged and you call her wife—does Wen Ling know that?"

Mind your own business." Zhou Yinhe frowned: "Is the Zhai family's cooperation in your hands?"

It's with me." Ke Chengyu interjected, flipping through papers in his hand, obviously reviewing documents; he chuckled lightly: "How about it, want to cancel it?"

Cancel it then; I'll cover any losses, and I'll have the Ning family take over the cooperation.

Although Zhou Yinhe doesn't usually handle family company affairs, he still has a say in the company; a single cooperation is nothing, let alone one with the Ke family, and the elderly directors of the Ning clan would certainly not object.

Ke Chengyu naturally agreed; compared to the Zhai family, the Ning family is far stronger—after all, it's in the hands of Zhou Yinhe's second brother. Originally he had intended to pursue this cooperation with the Ning family himself, but he hadn't expected the Zhai old matriarch to approach his grandmother, who then decided on it.

With Zhou Yinhe intervening in this cancellation, he also has a reason to go back and deal with the old matriarch.

After saying that, Zhou Yinhe hung up, not giving them a chance to pull him into idle chat; he put his water cup on the table and went back to the room to find Wen Ling.

Wen Ling was still asleep; probably exhausted, so Zhou Yinhe had left once without her noticing, and she slept straight through until the next morning.

When she came downstairs, Wen Lao and Qin Lao were actually waiting for her to have breakfast; Wen Ling felt a bit surprised, and only upon sitting down did she learn what the two elders wanted from her.

At this moment, Zhou Yinhe was washing up, and he also gave Ning Qing a call.

Wen Lao asked in a low voice: "I heard from the steward that yesterday Xiao Wu's car was smashed, and the other party came to apologize—so why are you still at odds?"

Wen Ling let out an "ah," thinking to feign ignorance and brush it off, but the two elders weren't so easily fooled; Qin Lao asked directly: "Is it because of the earlier verbal engagement between the Zhou and Zhai families?"

You know about that?" Wen Ling asked in surprise.

Qin Lao said: "I know; when it was called off back then, it also caused quite a stir—the Zhou family even gave the Zhai family several sizable projects as compensation. Who would have thought greed wasn't satisfied, and they still wanted her granddaughter to be the phoenix, daring to come before you to stir up trouble."

As he spoke, he was about to make a call; Wen Ling guessed what Qin Lao intended and hurried to stop him.

Grandfather, please don't intervene in this matter; Zhou Yinhe will handle it well. If you get involved, I'm afraid the Zhai family will target the Qin family.

Afraid of her?" Qin Lao said with utter disdain, sneering: "Back then she took in a son-in-law who moved into her home, but she cheated on her husband less than half a year into the marriage; her son still doesn't know who his father is. Her husband couldn't tolerate it and divorced her. Seeing that someone else remarried happily, she went to that person's house and caused a scene, trying to break them up—yet the other's wife is also a lady from a prominent family, who could tolerate such behavior? She only gave up after seizing many of the Zhai family's collaborations."

Wen Ling widened her eyes, thinking it utterly unbelievable—what a thick-skinned old woman.

Qin Lao glanced at her and said, "In your eyes, does the Qin family not even measure up to such a clan?"

Wen Ling quickly shook her head in denial, forcing a smile: "How could that be? I'm just afraid she'll come after me in secret."

Ah Ling, although the Wen family isn't in Hua Guo, we won't let you suffer injustice. When something happens, don't endure it—tell me and your grandfather, and we'll help you handle it." Wen Lao said earnestly.

I know." Wen Ling said to the two in a coquettish tone: "Don't be so serious; it's not a big deal—just letting me know about that earlier verbal engagement, and we didn't do anything else. Besides, you also need to trust Zhou Yinhe; he said he'll handle it well, and I believe him."

After hanging up, Zhou Yinhe went downstairs and happened to hear Wen Ling's last sentence; he could also guess what the two elders had said before, his steps paused slightly, feeling a bit uneasy, but upon hearing those four words from Wen Ling, his heart involuntarily softened.

He stood in a spot where the restaurant couldn't see him for a long time, only continuing forward after the three changed the topic.

Seeing him, Wen Ling urged: "Why are you so late? I've been waiting for you forever."

Zhou Yinhe sat beside her and chuckled: "I just chatted a bit longer with my mom."

Having said that, he smiled and looked at the two elders.