Chapter 51

The security guard immediately walked briskly outward; as the host, Chu Lin naturally also had to follow to greet the distinguished guest, and before leaving he gave Wen Ling a meaningful look.

Upon receiving his gaze, Wen Ling's sixth sense told her that the person arriving was Zhou Yinhe.

She had a slight urge to sneak off, but wondered if sneaking off would be too cowardly, so she could only secretly take a deep breath; Chu Yao, standing close, saw her abnormality and regarded her with puzzlement.

Zhou Yinhe stood outside Chu Jia Zhuangyuan with downcast eyes, still wearing the shirt and trousers he had put on when leaving Lang Po Wan that morning.

Chu Lin wasn't familiar with Zhou Yinhe, but he knew Zhou Yinhe's elder and second brothers; given the Zhou family's status, Chu Lin had to go up and greet him regardless.

"Fifth Young Master, long time no see."

Zhou Yinhe slowly lifted his eyelids and said lightly, "Long time no see; why wasn't I invited to Miss Chu's birthday banquet? I hope Mr. Chu doesn't mind my uninvited arrival."

Chu Lin replied, "I knew Fifth Young Master doesn't like attending such banquets, so I didn't bother you."

Zhou Yinhe nodded and said to Chen Yu beside him, "Please give the gift to Mr. Chu; I thought Young Master Chu wouldn't like me."

His arrival boded ill, his tone full of sarcasm; Chu Lin's eyes turned cold for a moment, after composing himself he said, "How could that be, Fifth Young Master? Please."

Zhou Yinhe curled the corner of his mouth into a smile at him, then followed Chu Lin into Chu Jia Zhuangyuan.

His arrival sparked murmurs among the guests, who then cast furtive glances at Wen Ling.

This Fifth Young Master of the Zhou family dislikes crowded places, let alone attending banquets; his presence made those present vaguely guess the reason.

Wen Ling kept her head down, pretending nothing had happened, until Zhou Yinhe slowly approached her; his dark, icy eyes exuded an invisible pressure, and even Chu Yao standing nearby could feel the chill emanating from his whole body.

"Lingling." His voice was soft and lingering; even the simple-minded Chu Yao sensed something was wrong, stepped forward to block Wen Ling and asked, "What are you doing?"

Zhou Yinhe narrowed his eyes, a hint of hostility flickering in his brows; seeing his sister foolishly rushing forward, Chu Lin frowned and pulled her back.

"Brother, why are you pulling me? Don't you see he's going to bully Wen Ling?"

Chu Lin whispered a reprimand: "Mind your own business."

Chu Yao opened her mouth, but seeing her brother's face darken, she reluctantly closed it.

Wen Ling pressed her lips and looked at Zhou Yinhe; he stepped forward and gently took her hand, the tender gesture making her feel weak inside.

"Lingling, why is your phone off? Is it out of battery?" he asked softly, "I thought something had happened to you, which startled me, but it's fine—I came to find you."

Wen Ling involuntarily stepped back; as their eyes met, she clearly saw sickness and madness in his gaze, instinctively tried to pull her hand away, but Zhou Yinhe gripped it tightly, causing her some pain.

"It hurts." Wen Ling bit her lip and struggled, but the more she struggled, the tighter Zhou Yinhe's grip became.

"Lingling, let's go back; there are too many people here." Zhou Yinhe pulled Wen Ling to leave, but she was jerked forward and staggered; Chu Lin quickly stepped forward and steadied her, preventing her from falling.

At that moment Zhou Yinhe seemed to snap back to reality; looking at Chu Lin, he was like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, and he snapped, "Don't touch her!"

He shoved Chu Lin aside and pulled Wen Ling into his embrace, lowered his head to look into her eyes, and anxiously asked, "Are you hurt? Sorry, I was too rushed."

Wen Ling, however, shoved him away fiercely, her eyes red with anger, and exclaimed, "Zhou Yinhe, are you sick?"

Seeing that she was about to cry, Zhou Yinhe froze for a moment, then moved to hug her again, flusteredly explaining, "I, I didn't mean to, don't be angry."

"Get lost." Wen Ling shoved his hand away, strode past him toward the exit, and Zhou Yinhe hurried after her, forcibly embracing her, his voice tinged with grievance: "Don't be angry with me; I just couldn't get through on the phone and panicked, afraid you'd left—I'm sorry, it's my fault."

"Let's not talk here, let go." Wen Ling pried his hand open, turned to the Chu siblings and said, "Sorry, we're leaving first."

Chu Yao frowned and said, "Shall I—"

Wen Ling curled her lips and said: "No need, I can handle it myself."

She turned to look at Zhou Yinhe, coldly said: "Do you still want to keep causing a scene here?"

Zhou Yinhe shook his head, Wen Ling let out a deep breath, turned and walked out, and Zhou Yinhe hurried to follow her steps.

As they walked away, Zhou Yinhe suddenly turned his head, his gaze sweeping past others to meet Chu Lin's; unlike when facing Wen Ling, a dark, fierce emotion lurked in the depths of his eyes.

Chu Lin's gaze calmly returned his, the corner of his mouth slightly raised, silently uttering two words: "Childish."

Zhou Yinhe pressed his thin lips into a straight line, restraining himself because Wen Ling was beside him, so he did not erupt.

He followed Wen Ling out of Chu Jia Zhuangyuan, the surroundings fell silent, then Wen Ling stopped, turned to look at him, and lightly said: "What exactly do you want to do?"

"I didn't want to do anything." Zhou Yinhe shook his head, embraced Wen Ling, aggrievedly said: "I thought you didn't want me anymore, I was scared, so I came to find you."

"You're talking nonsense! It's easy to check whether I've left based on your identity; why must you come to someone else's birthday banquet to cause a scene?" Wen Ling interrupted his words, bluntly exposing: "You did it on purpose."

Yes, he did it on purpose; tonight he caused this scene to tell the people of Sijiucheng that Wen Ling and he have reconciled, and also to warn Chu Lin to stay away from his Wen Ling.

But he couldn't admit it, innocently saying: "No, I have no reason to do that."

Wen Ling took a deep breath, calmly said: "You've changed too much; I don't like you anymore, I don't want to maintain that kind of relationship with you."

Zhou Yinhe's arm suddenly tightened, choking Wen Ling into a muffled groan; while scolding and struggling to hit him, he had already been overwhelmed by surging anger, unable to control his strength, he harshly said: "Don't even think about it."

"I was originally willing to let you go, but you came to provoke me again." His arm even trembled violently, his tone tinged with madness; Wen Ling was startled by him, the hand striking his body gradually lessened.

Zhou Yinhe turned his face to kiss Wen Ling's earlobe, biting hard, then seemed to become another person, aggrievedly saying: "I can comply with you and maintain that kind of relationship, but you can't bully me like this; I can't stand it."

Wen Ling regretted it; this time she truly regretted it, regretting having provoked Zhou Yinhe again.

Mainly because she didn't expect Zhou Yinhe to become like this; clearly three years ago he wasn't like this, and clearly when she just returned he wasn't like this either.

The shell is still the original shell, but the inside has been completely changed.

She had no way to deal with him; since regret was useless, she could only soften her tone.