Chapter 236: Because he helped me

Wen Zhuo's meeting ended and he returned, seeing this scene.

Wen Ling held their joint photo in her hands, her expression gentle.

He stepped forward softly and said in a gentle voice, "Sister."

"You're back?" Wen Ling lowered the photo frame and looked at him, seeing the dark circles under his eyes, she sighed and said, "You ought to take good care of yourself."

Wen Zhuo, however, shook his head indifferently, smiling as he said, "Once I'm done with this, sister, give me a proper day off, and then I'll laze around at home every day."

Wen Ling nodded in agreement and continued, "I don't have much going on either; I just hadn't come yesterday, wanted to drop by to see you, but I didn't expect you to be in a meeting."

"They've been watching that side closely lately." Wen Zhuo pressed his lips and rubbed his forehead.

Wen Ling patted his shoulder and said softly, "Don't rush; we can take our time, they can't stir up any big waves yet."

"Mm, you too, sis."

After leaving Wen Zhuo's office, Wen Ling returned to her own office; she had just sat down when Lu Zhaoye called.

Wen Ling only answered the phone after she had settled into her office chair.

"I haven't settled the score with you yet, and you're the one who called first."

Lu Zhaoye snorted with a laugh: "What? Are you blaming me for making your precious Baobao jealous?"

"Why are you provoking him? You know he's petty." Wen Ling resignedly put the phone on speaker beside her, asking while handling documents.

"I'm provoking him precisely because I know he's petty, and besides, you and he broke up, didn't you? Why do you care whether I'm angry at him or not?"

Wen Ling was momentarily speechless at his words, frowned, and said, "If you have nothing to say, I'll hang up; I'm busy."

Lu Zhaoye hurriedly said, "Don't hang up, I really have something I want to tell you."

"Zhou Yinhe called my father, specifically asking me to be the Cruze representative expanding business in Hua Guo, and promised to look after the Cruze family."

Wen Ling was taken aback; before she could answer, Lu Zhaoye continued, "Since he's said that, the Zhou, Ning, and Jiang families—those on good terms with the Zhou—will give me the green light out of respect for the Zhou when Cruze enters the Hua Guo market, even those with only average ties, relying on the Zhou's backing, wouldn't dare to refuse, so my father agreed."

Wen Ling was a bit confused; Zhou Yinhe had no reason to help Lu Zhaoye, and how did he even know Lu Zhaoye wanted to go to Hua Guo?

Lu Zhaoye fell silent for a moment, then said, "I suspect he's doing this out of respect for you."

Wen Ling gave an affirmative hum and then said, "Got it, I'm busy."

Before Lu Zhaoye could say anything, Wen Ling had already hung up; she sat quietly for a while, then took out her phone and dialed Zhou Yinhe.

His phone number hadn't changed, and the call connected quickly.

"Ah Ling, what's up?"

There was some commotion on his end; hearing it, Wen Ling frowned and asked, "Why is it so noisy over there, what are you doing?"

"Ah, I'm not doing anything." Zhou Yinhe hemmed and hawed, apparently not intending to tell Wen Ling.

Wen Ling gave a light cough and asked calmly, "Lu Zhaoye just called me, saying you specifically asked Cruze to have him go to Hua Guo."

"Mm-hmm, he does want to go, I was just mentioning it in passing."

Wen Ling bit her lip and asked, "Why are you helping him?"

Zhou Yinhe fell silent for a moment, the surroundings growing quiet, and he said, "He's not your childhood friend? You grew up together, and he's helped you so much."

"He helped me, I'll repay him; what about you?" Wen Ling lifted her gaze, eyes fixed on the void, and whispered, "What's your reason, then?"

"Because I love you." Zhou Yinhe lowered his eyes, a reddish tint appearing in his gaze, his voice soon turning muffled: "Because he also helped me."

"Helped Zhou Yinhe? If Wen Ling remembers correctly, Lu Zhaoye and Zhou Yinhe first met when Lu Zhaoye went to M Country to find him—how could Lu Zhaoye have helped him then?"

Wen Ling's heart jolted as she recalled the conversation she had with Zhou Yinhe when they met again after several months apart.

She first asked, "When you first saw me back then, why did you react that way?"

Zhou Yinhe let out an "ah," about to feign ignorance, when Wen Ling warned, "Don't play dumb, Zhou Yinhe—how could you possibly know all this now?"

"Hmm..."

He hesitated about whether to speak, but Wen Ling cut in directly, "Come to my company and tell me face to face." She didn't believe Zhou Yinhe could still pretend ignorance and avoid telling the truth in front of her.

Zhou Yinhe hesitated again, and Wen Ling tossed out two words before hanging up.

"Hurry up!"

Zhou Yinhe resignedly put away his phone, looked at the group opposite him, and said lightly, "Let's wrap up for now; I'll find you later."

He strode off quickly, leaving the others utterly bewildered, anxious about how he could have run off midway and yet it's still him.

Zhou Yinhe reached the entrance of the Wen Family Group's office building in just over ten minutes; Wen Ling's secretary was standing at the first-floor lobby door, spotted him from afar, and hurried over.

"Fifth Young Master."

Zhou Yinhe had never met him before; he raised an eyebrow and asked, "Have you seen me?"

"No, but Little Wen Director showed me your photo."

The secretary, of Chinese descent, looked smiling and seemed to have a good temperament, and was not bad-looking; Zhou Yinhe quietly sized him up.

The secretary knew this Fifth Young Master was a petty person, and his stare was probably due to jealousy; so he bluntly said, "My girlfriend is also in Hua Guo, now working at the Jiang Group."

Zhou Yinhe relaxed, gave a calm nod, and offhandedly remarked, "Your long-distance relationship must be tough too."

"It's fine; Little Wen Director knows, so he often gives me extended leave."

"Mm." Zhou Yinhe lowered his eyes, a faint tenderness flickering in them; his Wen Ling always looks fierce on the outside, but inside she's actually a very good person.

Together they took the elevator up; the transparent elevator walls made it easy for the secretary to give Zhou Yinhe a general overview of each floor of the group.

"This is General Manager Wen's office; General Manager Wen is the younger brother of Little Wen Director—you should know that, right?"

Zhou Yinhe followed his glance and looked; the elevator was fast, so he didn't see much.

Upon reaching the top floor, the secretary led him into the office and said softly, "We're here."

Zhou Yinhe nodded, pushed the door open and entered alone; Wen Ling stood by the floor-to-ceiling window, a slender cigarette still pinched between her fingers, smoke curling around—even with the air purifier on, it couldn't stop Zhou Yinhe's highly sensitive nose.

His nostrils twitched, and he let out a hard sneeze; Wen Ling frowned, turned back, saw he was suffering, and hastily stubbed out the cigarette.

"I didn't expect you to come so quickly." Wen Ling opened the window and said, "Let's wait a moment before you come in."

Zhou Yinhe covered his nose, shook his head, stepped forward, and stood about a meter away from Wen Ling.

What do you want to ask me?

Wen Ling looked at his action, rolled her eyes and said: "You'd better wait a moment before saying it."