Chapter 10: Falling Out with Qin Yu

Lin Xi despised the feeling of being deceived.

Even knowing the other person’s intentions were good, she still couldn’t accept it.

Especially when the one who deceived her was Qin Yu.

She had trusted him most of all.

Perhaps Qin Yu hadn’t expected her to discover the truth so soon, for he gazed at her, offering no explanation. Lin Xi rested her elbow on the table, her palm to her forehead, and exhaled slowly.

Her long hair fell over her shoulders, concealing her expression.

Mostly, Lin Xi felt vexed with herself.

There had been signs—she simply hadn’t looked closely enough. Cheng Si was just an excuse; suddenly she felt as if she’d fallen into Qin Yu’s trap the moment she’d returned to the country.

It was as if everything had been under his control, under his watchful eyes—she wandered endlessly within the high walls he’d built, never able to draw a clear line between them or sever their connection.

Qin Yu idly rolled the string of beads between his fingers for a long time before replying, “Feiyun Technology was merely a small company I invested in back then; it’s not under my direct control. I admit, I was the one who reached out to Cheng Si.”

Hearing his words, Lin Xi nodded weakly. “No wonder. So I shouldn’t be thanking Cheng Si—I should be thanking you.”

“Your entry into Feiyun can hardly be called using connections. Your academic record is stellar, your abilities outstanding—you deserve it.”

He adopted a formal tone. “Setting aside our personal relationship, letting a talent as rare as you slip abroad would be a loss for us. Keeping you here is the best course.”

“In business, such methods are perfectly reasonable.”

Businessmen are, by nature, driven by profit—what tricks aren’t they capable of? Besides, he hadn’t resorted to anything extreme; throughout the process, he had maximized her benefit, striving for the best of both worlds.

Simply put, Feiyun Technology had been prepared for her alone from the very start.

He knew of her achievements overseas, and that she’d have no shortage of job offers upon graduation. But he, too, was a businessman; he understood that ability wasn’t everything.

She was the only girl of her generation in the family, the youngest, doted on by elders since childhood, unversed in the ways of the world, never learning to be shrewd.

Rather than let her be bullied elsewhere, it was better to keep her at Feiyun, where she could display her talents and remain unharmed.

Most importantly, she would be near him.

He would no longer need to travel back and forth each month for a distant glimpse of her.

Nor would he have to worry, day after day, about her discomfort abroad—he’d even arranged for shops to open near her school and residence, just for her convenience.

“Thank you for the lesson.”

Lin Xi’s voice sounded again, and if one listened closely, there was a soft laugh in her tone, without a hint of mockery.

She had already straightened her back, her hand that had supported her forehead now carelessly flicking her long hair behind her, revealing her clean, delicate face.

“As expected, I always learn something from you, Third Brother.”

She truly sounded as if she were praising him.

“But next time, you could just tell me directly. Why beat around the bush when you’re doing a good deed? Otherwise, how am I supposed to remember the favor?”

Qin Yu’s brows twitched. “If I’d told you, would you have agreed?”

“Why not?” Lin Xi cocked her head in puzzlement. “You were generous enough to give me shares—who would turn down money?”

He stared into her eyes in silence for a long time, and finally voiced the question he had wanted to ask since their first meeting after her return.

“You don’t resent me anymore?”

Bringing up the past—since the day she’d returned to Beijing, the last thing Lin Xi wanted to hear from Qin Yu was any mention of those old affairs.

In an instant, the curve of her lips faded; her gaze shifted to a wall painting, her voice flat as she replied, “I’m not a child anymore. There’s no need to talk of resentment.”

“Then why, ever since you came back, are you still so uneasy around me? Before…” Even when she couldn’t speak, the joy in her eyes upon seeing him had always been plain as day.

She suddenly turned to face him, meeting his eyes. “Must you really mention the past?”

Her tone said more than words: “I’ve already spared you embarrassment—must you insist on tearing off the last bit of civility?”

Before she’d finished speaking, there was a sharp snap from across the table. Qin Yu’s fingers pinched a bead so hard it left a pale scratch on its surface—he was on the verge of losing control.

His lashes quivered, but when he looked up again, his expression was once more calm and composed.

“They’re still waiting for me. Let’s talk another day.”

Without waiting for his reply, Lin Xi rose and left.

Behind her, he made no sound, nor any move to stop her.

As she opened the door and stepped out, she had barely drawn a breath when she was met by the astonished gaze of Qin Yu’s mother.

“Hello.”

Lin Xi nodded to her, with no intention of lingering.

Anyone watching would find it odd. She’d grown up in the compound, adored by all the elders—everyone saw her as their own child. Yet with Qin Yu’s mother, she was unusually distant.

“Xi Xi, you’re back?” Qin Yu’s mother forced a smile. “I’ve been out of town these past few days—I didn’t know you’d returned.”

She glanced at the private room behind Lin Xi, probing, “Were you and Qin Yu…”

Lin Xi doubted Song Ning hadn’t mentioned seeing her. “Don’t worry, Auntie. Third Brother and I just ran into each other by chance. I’m dining next door with my colleagues.”

“That is quite a coincidence.”

“You…”

Catching the unease in Qin Yu’s mother’s eyes, Lin Xi cut her off smoothly, stepping aside to make way. “Third Brother is inside. I won’t disturb you.”

Qin Yu’s mother clearly had no wish to converse either, hastily replying, “Alright, you go ahead. We’ll talk when I get back to the compound.”

Lin Xi agreed and walked away without looking back.

Footsteps sounded behind her—leather shoes on the floor, not heavy.

Qin Yu had come out.

She soon heard his mother’s voice, lowered as if afraid she would overhear, though a few barbed words still drifted to her ears.

Lin Xi didn’t care what they were arguing about. As she reached her private room, the attendant opened the door for her.

Whether by design or chance, she suddenly heard:

“Did I ever agree to the marriage with the Song family?”

“If you think she’s the best candidate for a daughter-in-law, you can use the solution I suggested before—just go to the welfare home in the east of the city and find an obedient son. Is there really no one who would marry her?”

“If you’d accepted this earlier, today wouldn’t have turned so ugly. You wouldn’t have come here demanding answers.”

“…”

Not far away, Lin Xi’s lips twitched violently as her figure vanished down the corridor.

Catching a glimpse of her entering, Qin Yu pressed his thin lips together.

“What’s so wrong with Song Ning? All these years and she still doesn’t measure up in your eyes?”

A moment later, as if struck by a sudden thought, Qin Yu’s mother lost control of her voice: “You’re still in love with Lin Xi, aren’t you?”

“I knew it! What does Song Ning lack compared to Lin Xi, that you insist on her alone?”

With his hands in his pockets, Qin Yu’s gaze sharpened. “I’d like to ask you—how is Song Ning even worthy of being compared to her?”