Chapter 59

Zhou Yinhe leaned against the edge of the table, languid and unhurried, slowly turning the short dagger in his hand; two bodyguards stood far away, heads lowered, silent.

The gaunt man sat in the chair trembling, Chen Yu glanced at the expressionless boss, stepped forward and said to the man, "Mr. Xia, hello."

The man furtively glanced at the dagger in Zhou Yinhe's hand, his voice trembling as he said, "You... you hello."

"Mr. Xia secretly photographed our Fifth Young Master; I wonder if you could tell us who you sent the photo to?" Chen Yu chuckled lightly, raised an eyebrow, and said, "Rest assured, if you speak, you'll at most suffer some minor flesh wounds, but if you keep hiding it, I can't guarantee anything."

Mr. Xia swallowed his dry, itchy throat; cold sweat beaded densely on his forehead, a drop of sweat slid into his eye, making him uncomfortable, he blinked but dared not lift his hand to wipe the sweat.

After the hot search was taken down for a day, seeing no reaction from the Zhou Family, he thought nothing was wrong, but while heading to X Country, at the airport he was forcibly dragged here by black-clad bodyguards.

"I'll talk, I'll talk." He looked toward Zhou Yinhe, panicked, and said, "Fifth Young Master, I'm willing to talk, if only you could spare my life; I fear his retaliation."

Zhou Yinhe snorted at the words, flung the dagger in his hand upward, then let it land in the man's palm; he set the knife on the table, leaned slightly, and smiled faintly, saying, "Are you trying to negotiate terms with me?"

"No, no, Fifth Young Master, I..."

Zhou Yinhe couldn't be bothered to listen to his stammering explanation, and told Chen Yu, "Just take care of him."

Chen Yu nodded, Zhou Yinhe sauntered out; seeing him leave, Mr. Xia widened his eyes and said, "Fifth Young Master, Fifth Young Master, I'm talking— it's Lu Zhaoye, that Mr. Lu from the Keluos family."

Zhou Yinhe turned, walked backward out the door, and as he went he asked Chen Yu, "Did you record it? Send me a copy of the video."

"Recorded, Fifth Young Master." Chen Yu nodded.

"Alright." Zhou Yinhe turned, flung open the meeting room door, and left without looking back.

Mr. Xia trembled as he looked at Chen Yu; Chen Yu told the two bodyguards, "Take him away, let him suffer a bit before releasing him."

The bodyguards stepped forward, each grabbing one of Mr. Xia's arms and dragging him away, openly passing through the same-floor secretaries' office into the elevator.

Chen Yu walked out of the meeting room, saw the secretaries all pale-faced, and chuckled lightly, "You're not the ones sneak‑photographing, so what are you afraid of?"

A bolder secretary stepped forward and asked, "Secretary Chen, previously when someone secretly photographed the boss they just deleted the photos and gave a warning; why this time such a huge outburst?"

Chen Yu replied mysteriously, "Because the boss fears his wife."

"Huh?"

Leaving the bewildered secretaries behind, Chen Yu entered Zhou Yinhe's office alone; Zhou Yinhe had his legs propped on the desk, lazily playing with his phone.

"Boss, what should we do next?"

"Using his own methods against him, there are plenty of this young master Lu's achievements over in M Country; just organize them and send them out." Zhou Yinhe kept tapping the screen, then glanced up at Chen Yu.

A flicker of coldness flashed in his eyes, which Chen Yu caught; he withdrew his gaze and replied, "Then I'll go handle it now."

"Mm, remember to send a clarification." After saying that, Zhou Yinhe thought a moment and added, "Just say, don't put any stumbling blocks on my road to pursuing a girlfriend."

Silence.

"Okay."

He finished a round of the game in one go, slipped his phone into his pocket, stood up, and headed to that hot pot restaurant for the meal.

When he arrived, Jiang Jibai and Qi Zhan were chatting casually with the boss; seeing him come, they openly mocked him.

Qi Zhan said, "Getting on the entertainment gossip hot search with your own older sister— is that fun or not?"

Zhou Yinhe didn't mind either, and jabbed with a soft jab: "Is Elder Sister Qi Qi coming back soon? When she returns, I'll help you and her get together once?"

Upon hearing that, Qi Zhan promptly shut his mouth and gave Zhou Yinhe a fierce glare.

Jiang Jibai gloated at his misfortune, laughing that he was overreaching and asking why he bothered to provoke Xiao Wu for no reason.

Qi Zhan gritted his teeth and said, "He can't afford to play around right now."

"Men who have women usually can't afford to play around." Jiang Jibai stood up, opened a bottle of beer to pour for Zhou Yinhe, but Zhou Yinhe covered the cup's rim and said lightly, "I'm not drinking; I'll go find Wen Ling later."

"It's just beer, you won't get drunk from it; later I'll have the driver take you." Jiang Jibai frowned, "You really aren't that desperate, are you?"

"I won't drink." Zhou Yinhe coldly refused.

The boss took the beer bottle from Jiang Jibai's hand, smiling, and said, "Forget it if you don't drink; we'll drink."

They chatted and drank, while Zhou Yinhe just kept his head down eating his meal, paying no attention to whenever the trio's conversation drifted to him.

After finishing his meal, he stood up and said, "You all take your time eating; I'm leaving."

He hurried out, and in the blink of an eye he was out of the private room before the three even realized he had left.

Ke Chengyu had just stopped his car when he saw a familiar vehicle drive out of the parking lot, and he raised an eyebrow.

That car of Zhou Yinhe's was custom‑ordered by a manufacturer found by his elder brother Zhou Yanqiu on his birthday; it's extremely rare, every detail screaming "expensive," and even in this Sijiucheng teeming with young masters, you'd hardly see one like it.

He walked into the private room and asked, "How did Xiao Wu leave?"

"What do you think?" Jiang Jibai retorted.

Ke Chengyu opened a bottle for himself, pouring as he spoke, "I originally thought he was heading to the company, but then I realized our Xiao Wu is a qualified capitalist; he normally wouldn't rush off like that."

He took a sip of wine and added, "Besides looking for Wen Ling, there shouldn't be anything else, right?"

"Mm, our Xiao Wu is a qualified love‑brain."

"Agreed."

The four of them clinked their glasses together.

When Zhou Yinhe arrived at Lang Po Wan, he saw several people in work clothes walking out of the villa, and he entered, puzzled.

Beside the villa's floor‑to‑ceiling windows stood a natural‑wood‑colored Chinese tea table, completely at odds with the villa's overall design, making it very conspicuous.

Aunt Zhou was wiping the table and setting out the tea ware; seeing his puzzled expression, she carefully explained, "Wen Ling learned tea art while she was with our old master, and after waking up today she had me arrange this."

Zhou Yinhe nodded, glanced around without seeing Wen Ling, and Aunt Zhou then explained again, "Wen Ling is changing clothes upstairs."

No sooner had the words finished than Wen Ling stepped down the stairs at a leisurely pace.

She had changed into a light‑colored cheongsam, her hair loosely twisted up at the back and held with a hairpin; upon seeing him she curved her lips.

Aunt Zhou, being perceptive, led the other servants away, leaving only the two of them in the vast villa.

Wen Ling took the seat of honor, placed her palm upward and pointed to the opposite chair, saying, "Please have a seat."

Zhou Yinhe gave a light laugh and complied by sitting down.

"My grandfather may have grown up in M Country, but he doesn't like coffee, only tea; when I was sick he kept me indoors, and finding myself bored I studied tea art for a while, forcing my grandfather and Zhuo to watch me every day until I'd mastered it, by which time they'd drunk so much tea they felt like vomiting."

She curved her beautiful eyes and gave him a sweet smile.

Zhou Yinhe's heart stirred slightly, and he heard Wen Ling continue speaking.