Chapter 13: Dinner or Red Roses

Zhou Yinhe watched the messages in the group chat scroll up one by one. Too lazy to continue reading their sarcasm, he simply muted the group.

He scrolled to the emoji sent by Wen Ling, looking down at it for a moment before the driver brought the car to a halt.

"Fifth Young Master, we've arrived."

Zhou Yinhe instructed, "Take the car for maintenance. Send the repair bill to me."

"Understood. I'll switch to another car to pick you up," the driver nodded.

"No need, just head back directly." After saying this, Zhou Yinhe got out of the car.

Jiang Jibai and Qi Zhan had been waiting for him at the Cloud Club for a long time. During that time, they had seen the group messages and were just waiting for Zhou Yinhe to arrive so they could interrogate him properly.

Zhou Yinhe pushed the door open listlessly. Without even lifting his eyes, he sat down opposite the two of them, leaning against the back of the sofa to look at his phone, ignoring their teasing gazes.

Seeing him like this, Jiang Jibai teased, "Didn't you say you didn't like her? Yet there you were, tangling with her in the middle of the road."

Zhou Yinhe lifted his eyelids to look at him, his face full of exasperation. "You call that 'tangling'?"

"If that isn't tangling, then what is?" Qi Zhan asked in surprise. "What exactly counts as tangling?"

"Her car just rear-ended mine," Zhou Yinhe explained flatly. Hearing this, Qi Zhan let out a meaningful, drawn-out "Oh," which made Zhou Yinhe frown. He looked at him with annoyance, "Are you sick?"

"Getting angry out of shame?" Jiang Jibai said with a laugh.

"I said no. It was just a rear-end collision and we were discussing compensation," Zhou Yinhe said coldly, turning his head away to avoid their expressions.

"Fine, fine, there wasn't," Jiang Jibai went along with him.

The manager led the waiters to serve the food. Once the three of them were seated at the table, Qi Zhan said, "Xingtang will be here soon."

Jiang Jibai raised an eyebrow at him. "Why? Did you catch up to her?"

"As if it's that easy," Qi Zhan shrugged.

Zhao Xingtang had suddenly taken the initiative to message him, asking where he was and who was with him. Qi Zhan didn't bother thinking about the reason and simply sent over the address, telling her that Jiang Jibai was there and Zhou Yinhe would arrive shortly. Immediately after, he received a reply from Zhao Xingtang saying she would be there soon.

Zhou Yinhe watched his phone in silence. Wen Ling had sent a new message.

Lingling Buling: 【I thought about it, and I still have to treat you to dinner, after all, I crashed your car.】

Zhou Yinhe let out a cold sneer. His fingers moved across the screen a few times before he replied.

Friday: 【No need.】

Seeing his refusal, Wen Ling thought for a moment and continued: 【It affects your use of the car regardless. Let me treat you to a meal to express my apologies. You wouldn't be that stingy, would you? It's just a meal, it's not like we're going to do anything.】

She added a cat-head emoji for good measure.

Zhou Yinhe was so angered by her two sentences that he frowned deeply, wanting to stop replying altogether. Just as he was about to put his phone down, Wen Ling sent another message.

Lingling Buling: 【If you don't agree, I'll have no choice but to go to your company to wait for you. I'll stop waiting once you agree to have dinner with me. Or, I could go to the bottom of your office building every day to deliver flowers to you. Do you like red roses?】

Friday: 【Wen Ling, what exactly do you want?】

Lingling Buling: 【To express my apologies! Don't overthink it ^_^】

Zhou Yinhe pursed his lips. Wen Ling had always been a person who acted without regard for consequences; she really might actually show up at his building with flowers to corner him. He had no choice but to reply: 【When?】

Lingling Buling: 【Tomorrow evening. See you at Qingjiang Yuege.】

Upon receiving Zhou Yinhe's "Mm," Wen Ling beamed, pumping her fist and letting out a tiny "Yay!" which caused Auntie Zhou, who was beside her, to look over in confusion.

Wen Ling shook her head to signal she was fine, then leaned her body against Auntie Zhou, watching the variety show playing on the TV together.

Auntie Zhou said, "I just heard Old Wang say there was a car accident. Are you hurt?"

"No, do I look like I'm hurt?" Wen Ling shook her head, fiddling with Auntie Zhou's fingers and speaking listlessly.

"Did you make him hit you?" Auntie Zhou asked, looking down at her with a somewhat solemn expression.

"Why is Uncle Wang tattling?" Wen Ling blinked.

"As soon as I saw him acting all hesitant, I guessed it was something like that," Auntie Zhou huffed lightly. "You can't always use your personal safety to do these things."

"I know. A light bump won't cause any trouble," Wen Ling said softly. "I know my limits; I won't joke around with my own life."

"You said the same thing last time you jumped into the lake, and you're saying it again now." Auntie Zhou tapped the tip of Wen Ling's nose, saying helplessly, "It's a good thing you're alright, otherwise how could we face Old Mr. Wen?"

"I know, I won't do it again," Wen Ling said with a smile, nuzzling against Auntie Zhou's shoulder.

***

On Zhou Yinhe's side, Zhao Xingtang arrived quickly. She sat beside Qi Zhan, who was obsequiously pouring her wine and serving her food.

Zhao Xingtang glanced at the expressionless Zhou Yinhe, who was radiating an aura of irritation, and suddenly let out a light laugh. She said to Qi Zhan and Jiang Jibai, "Guess who I just saw?"

Qi Zhan followed her gaze toward Zhou Yinhe and asked, "Who?"

"Wen Ling and Ruan Miaomiao." Zhao Xingtang put down her chopsticks and rested her chin on her hand, her eyes drifting suggestively toward Zhou Yinhe, whose chopsticks had momentarily paused.

Jiang Jibai said indifferently, "Really? Don't they have a bad relationship? How could they be together?"

"Exactly. Ruan Miaomiao even wanted to hit Wen Ling," Zhao Xingtang said with a slight frown. "Even the always 'little white flower' Ruan Miaomiao has a fierce side. Even I felt scared for Wen Ling when I saw it."

She deliberately only mentioned the first half. Sure enough, Zhou Yinhe lifted his eyes to look over. Zhao Xingtang smiled at him. "Both of these people like you. Which one do you think is better? That way, when we see them in the future, we can greet them properly and not be rude."

"What does that have to do with me?" Zhou Yinhe put down his chopsticks and said nonchalantly.

"Ah, I thought you liked Ruan Miaomiao. After all, you give her resources, and she's appeared at our gatherings several times. I even helped Ruan Miaomiao scold Wen Ling a few times," Zhao Xingtang spread her hands. "Consider it my meddling."

Zhou Yinhe's gaze swept toward Zhao Xingtang. Although his dark eyes were indifferent, Zhao Xingtang still caught a hint of hostility in them. She suddenly laughed and said, "I'm joking. I didn't interfere; I just watched for a bit. Wen Ling didn't get hit."

Zhou Yinhe wasn't worried about Wen Ling being bullied; he was only afraid that Zhao Xingtang would blindly side with Ruan Miaomiao to bully Wen Ling.

His voice finally turned cold, carrying a hint of a threat: "Don't joke about Wen Ling."

Zhao Xingtang burst into laughter. Qi Zhan and Jiang Jibai also put down their chopsticks, the three of them looking at Zhou Yinhe simultaneously. Zhou Yinhe narrowed his eyes and set his chopsticks down.

"I'm not eating. I'm leaving."

Jiang Jibai chuckled, picked up his chopsticks again, and said soothingly with a smile, "Eat, why wouldn't we eat?"

He looked at the other two, his tone full of teasing, "You two, eat quickly. If you keep watching, our Little Wu is going to get angry, and then you'll have to be the ones to coax him."

"Alright, alright, alright." The two lowered their heads, stifling their laughter.

(End of Chapter)