Zhang Xian hadn’t noticed that Yang Zhizhi was interested in Su Lingyue, but she did when she had agreed to eat hot pot. Yang Zhizhi’s half-finished pain medicine was still on the coffee table, but she was already fine?

It was obvious that her intentions were not that innocent.

If it were someone else, perhaps she would have turned a blind eye.

But Su Lingyue…

With Ji Zhiyi gone, she had to protect her best friend’s happiness!

She definitely couldn’t let Su Lingyue be alone with Yang Zhizhi. That’s why she had said that they would go to the movies together this weekend. After putting down her phone, Zhang Xian asked Su Lingyue, “Lingyue, your relationship with Miss Yang has been good recently, huh?”

Su Lingyue recalled that after that night, Yang Zhizhi’s attitude toward her hadn’t changed a full 180 degrees, but she was definitely a lot kinder and more approachable than before. She nodded. “I helped her with a favor.”

Zhang Xian didn’t ask what it was, but nodded. “A big favor.”

Su Lingyue thought about it, “Yeah, a big favor.”

Zhang Xian thought, that makes sense.

Who wouldn’t like her after that?

She just didn’t know what Su Lingyue thought.

She struggled with her wording, “Are you going this weekend?”

Su Lingyue replied, “I don’t know, if I’m free, I’ll go.”

Zhang Xian said, “If you do end up going, give me a call.”

Seeing Su Lingyue turn her head,

Zhang Xian added, “Take me along.”

They lived so close anyway.

Su Lingyue didn’t object, “Okay.”

Zhang Xian relaxed. When they arrived at the company, Su Lingyue said, “You go up first, I’ll go back to change.”

Zhang Xian looked at her. “Change?”

Su Lingyue: “The Su Qi reception.”

Zhang Xian asked, “You’re going?”

Usually, wasn’t it Meng Jiu who would go?

But Qi An had just arrived, and was unfamiliar with the place. Perhaps it was better to let Su Lingyue go, so she nodded. “Then be careful on the road.”

Su Lingyue hummed, watching Zhang Xian go up.

Back in the car, she called Ji Zhiyi.

She had received a message from Ji Zhiyi while driving, but it had been inconvenient for her to check. That’s why she only called Ji Zhiyi now.

It was very quiet on Ji Zhiyi’s side.

The beeping of the medical equipment was particularly prominent. Su Lingyue asked, “Are you still at the hospital?”

Ji Zhiyi replied, “Yeah, I’m on night duty tonight.”

As she spoke, she looked at Jiang Yunlu who was lying on the bed. Since she had opened her eyes, she hadn’t made a sound. Although she knew that she had been in bed for so many years, asking her to speak or do anything right away would be expecting too much, but the problem wasn’t that she didn’t make any noise, it was that she didn’t seem to want to at all.

If it were someone who had just woken up, and was working hard to recover, trying to speak, or struggling to do something, that urgency would be completely absent in Jiang Yunlu.

She was like a porcelain doll sleeping on the bed.

If her physiological functions weren’t recovering, and if the doctors hadn’t confirmed that she was conscious, Ji Zhiyi would think that this was a dream.

But the doctor had said that it would take time to slowly recover, so she planned to take turns with Ji Zhis to stay with her at night. As for Jiang Ya, she was older, and couldn’t stay up all night.

Hearing this, Su Lingyue hummed.

She asked, “Have you talked to her?”

Ji Zhiyi smiled, “No.”

Su Lingyue fell silent.

Ji Zhiyi, hearing that she wasn’t saying anything, asked, “Are you working?”

“No,” Su Lingyue replied, “I’m driving.”

Ji Zhiyi: “Did you go to find Yang Zhizhi earlier?”

Su Lingyue: “Did Zhang Xian tell you?”

Ji Zhiyi: “Yeah, she told me.”

Su Lingyue: “She gave me a gift before, so I was just returning the favor.”

Ji Zhiyi didn’t say anything else, she didn’t even ask about the gift. She just smiled. Su Lingyue’s ears tingled. She pinched her earlobe and said, “Then I’ll hang up first.”

Ji Zhiyi: “Okay, we can talk again after you’re done with work.”

Su Lingyue: “Aren’t you sleeping?”

Ji Zhiyi: “I’m not very sleepy today.”

Su Lingyue: “Then you still have to sleep! I don’t want to see you looking gaunt when you get back.”

Ji Zhiyi laughed.

Her voice was soft and gentle.

The sound traveled through the Bluetooth headset, and into Su Lingyue’s ears. Su Lingyue had the urge to hold her, but the distance was too great, so she could only think about it.

After hanging up, she still felt uneasy, so she sent Ji Zhiyi a message, telling her to rest. Ji Zhiyi looked at the screen, leaning on the sofa, replying with an “Okay”, before putting the phone aside. She turned to look at the bed.

Jiang Yunlu on the bed was staring at the ceiling.

She tried calling out, “Sister Yunlu?”

Jiang Yunlu didn’t respond to her.

Her eyes didn’t even move.

Ji Zhiyi fell asleep on the sofa.

Su Lingyue, after receiving her message, finally relaxed a little. She returned straight to the apartment. The reception was set to start at 3:30. It was still early. After changing and putting on some makeup, she saw a black car parked not too far away when she exited the apartment.

It was Shen Yuan’s car.

She had seen Shen Yuan driving this car to work this morning.

Had she finished work so early?

Su Lingyue didn’t overthink it. When she arrived at the hotel, she heard greetings from behind. She turned her head to see Shen Yuan getting out of her car. They had arrived one after the other. She was also attending the reception.

After attending the past few receptions, Su Lingyue had become familiar with most people, especially since she was representing Yilin today. Even if she stood still, a line of people would come to greet her.

Shen Yuan also saw Su Lingyue as soon as she entered the building.

She was wearing a beige dress. It was sleeveless and high waisted, which accentuated her long and slender legs. She was wearing white high heels and stood there, like she had her own spotlight. She was radiant and beautiful. Those who wanted to approach her didn’t know if it was because of Yilin’s status, or because of her as a person.

But Su Lingyue was used to such displays.

In the past, at Su Qi’s annual meetings, there had been a continuous stream of people trying to strike up conversation. She was always surrounded by three layers upon three layers of people. She was far more outrageous than she was now. So, she wasn’t intimidated at all. She was graceful and composed.

With that, there were quite a few people who were eager to approach her.

Including some older businesspeople.

“Isn’t your second son still single? This Miss Su seems like a good candidate.”

“She’s good, but who would dare to let her into their family? She’s too fierce.”

“Wasn’t she only fierce when her dad was still around? Isn’t she just acting up now that she has some backing?”

“I guess…”

Shen Yuan, listening to their conversation, pursed her lips, and took a sip of her drink.

Her phone vibrated. She took it out of her bag. She saw that Ye Qiuyun had sent a message: 【What do you mean by this? You just skipped lunch, didn’t you?】

Shen Yuan frowned as she looked at the message.

Ye Qiuyun: 【You are being too disrespectful to Director He!】

The He family’s young master had invited her for lunch, and she had not gone, which had made Ye Qiuyun this angry. She had thought that after what had happened last time, Ye Qiuyun would have been more restrained, but she was still just as incessant.

Shen Yuan felt annoyed.

She sat on a chair and drank several glasses in a row.

Her hand was filled with empty glasses.

She saw that Ye Qiuyun had sent: 【Fine, if you don’t like the He family, then how about the Qi family? You should be able to choose from one of these two families, right?】

What did she think she was?

Choose one.

What an eye-piercing message.

She stuffed her phone back into her bag. She saw that Su Lingyue, who was not too far away, had just finished her reception.

Su Lingyue looked at Shen Yuan.

After coming inside, she had wanted to greet Shen Yuan, but people had kept coming to greet her. Now that she had finally finished, she quickly walked over to Shen Yuan.

Shen Yuan, seeing her standing still, calmly asked, “Want to have a drink?”

Su Lingyue said, “Sure, it’s my honor to have a drink with President Shen.”

Shen Yuan, while holding her glass, turned her head to look at her.

Su Lingyue felt puzzled.

Shen Yuan said, “You’ve learned a lot since you’ve been with President Ji.”

She seemed very different now.

Su Lingyue said, “President Ji taught me a lot.”

“Really?” Shen Yuan picked up her glass again. “Then did President Ji teach you that you shouldn’t make your intentions so obvious before negotiating with someone?”

Her intentions were too obvious.

So obvious that Shen Yuan had already noticed it yesterday. She had only held back from saying anything. But after seeing Su Lingyue acting like a seasoned professional, speaking carefully and using precise wording, she couldn’t help but ask her.

Su Lingyue, whose mind worked quickly, immediately said, “It’s not that I’m obvious, President Shen, it’s just that you’re smart.”

Shen Yuan had never imagined that she would hear Su Lingyue brown-nosing her.

It was new.

She nodded, taking another sip, looking at Su Lingyue. “What is it?”

“Yuan Yuan.” A voice sounded from behind them. Shen Yuan turned her head. It was Mrs. He. She was the one who had been trying so hard to set up the marriage between the He family and the Shen family. Shen Yuan smiled, “Auntie.”

Mrs. He smiled and walked to her side. “Your mother said you’ve been busy lately. I didn’t believe her, but now I do. You’ve lost so much weight.”

Her words were very intimate.

The people around them started to send glances.

Everyone knew that the He and Shen families were going to be joined by marriage. Mrs. He’s attitude made it all too obvious.

Everyone understood tacitly.

Shen Yuan secretly gritted her teeth, but her expression didn’t change. She was still as calm as ever. “Auntie is joking, I’ve even gained weight recently.”

Mrs. He said, “It’s better to be a bit plump. It looks better when you’re plump. Your mother said you don’t have much to do this afternoon, so you should come to our house for dinner after this?”

Shen Yuan said, “Auntie, I still have some work to do this afternoon.”

Mrs. He: “More work?”

Shen Yuan: “Yeah, I’m negotiating a project with Yilin.”

Mrs. He looked at Su Lingyue who was standing beside her.

She was indeed from Yilin.

She nodded, smiling. “Okay, you get back to work then.”

Although she was smiling, she looked a little unhappy.

Shen Yuan didn’t try to appease her.

Ye Qiuyun had clearly seen that she was unyielding, so she had sent Mrs. He, thinking that she had to show her some respect. It was only because Su Lingyue happened to be here that Shen Yuan had dragged her down with her.

After Mrs. He left, she walked to the entrance, where she met Ye Qiuyun who had just entered the door.

Judging from her expression.

Mrs. He had been rejected.

Ye Qiuyun’s face instantly darkened. She walked into the venue wearing her high heels. She immediately saw Shen Yuan and Su Lingyue who was standing beside her.

Why was Su Lingyue always here?

She had bumped into her so many times recently.

Ye Qiuyun was already displeased, and was now even angrier. Her gaze was like a sharp awl, stabbing at Su Lingyue. Su Lingyue felt cold all over. She sensed the gaze and looked over. Ye Qiuyun’s gaze, even from afar, seemed to be full of fire.

She glanced at Shen Yuan, and just as she was about to take the opportunity to move a little to the side.

Shen Yuan said, “Don’t you want to collaborate anymore?”

Su Lingyue: …

She moved her toe a little closer to Shen Yuan. Compared to a cold knife, collaborating was nothing. She could completely accept it. Shen Yuan, noticing her small movement, smirked. She raised her head and looked at Ye Qiuyun.

Her eyes were very calm.

But it gave people the impression that they were about to clash.

Su Lingyue had a feeling that they were about to start fighting the next second!

She was wondering how she should advise Shen Yuan once they started fighting when Ye Qiuyun turned her head and walked away.

The air instantly cleared.

Su Lingyue relaxed her entire body.

Shen Yuan asked, “Are you afraid of my mother?”

Su Lingyue thought for a moment. “A little.”

Shen Yuan: “Weren’t you not afraid before?”

Su Lingyue said politely, “I was ignorant before.”

“Then you can continue being ignorant now,” Shen Yuan said. “When it comes to collaborating, I still prefer your old personality.”

Her old personality?

A rampant, unreasonable personality? Someone actually liked that awful personality?

Su Lingyue hesitated for two seconds. “Does that include how I treated you?”

Shen Yuan nodded.

Su Lingyue was curious. “Does President Shen have a masochistic tendency?”

Shen Yuan: …