Who the hell does your brother think he is?

Hearing this, Lin Xi curved her lips and gave a faint evaluation, "You're not very old, but you sure like to poke your nose into other people's business."

"It's my freedom to like whoever I want, and by the same token, there's no rhyme or reason to who I hate."

"Hate? Who do you hate? My brother? But you two haven't even met."

"No," Lin Xi looked at her with a serious expression. "Your brother doesn't deserve to take the blame for this. The one I hate is you."

"..." Su Ran let out a wail, "What you just said is really hurtful."

"If I weren't considering the fact that you're just a young girl, I'd have much harsher words for you." Lin Xi was already showing her plenty of restraint.

"Can't you figure out why I hate you?"

"Right."

Su Ran truly had no idea why.

"You really do think quite highly of yourself."

Lin Xi listed them one by one: "Your appearance over the past few days has caused varying degrees of disruption to my life and work. On top of that, you've been stalking and investigating me, which has already threatened my privacy and personal safety."

"I could completely let the police take you away right now. The only reason I haven't done that is out of consideration for your family's standing."

"Fine, fine." Su Ran was still somewhat afraid of going to the police station, mostly because it would be too humiliating. "Give me your number, and I'll leave."

She was still attempting to bargain with Lin Xi.

Lin Xi put down the goblet in her hand, looked at the figure striding over from a distance, and said softly to Su Ran, "Very well. If he agrees, I have no problem with it."

"Who?"

Su Ran froze. The next second, hearing footsteps approach, she raised her head, and her gaze collided directly with Qin Yu's from across the space.

The man's pitch-black pupils stared intently at her, looking like a storm was brewing.

Panic welled up in Su Ran's heart, and she wanted to slip away, but unfortunately, it was already too late.

Seeing Qin Yu return, Lin Xi picked up her bag and stood up. "There's something I need to handle at the company, so I'll be heading back first."

"Third Brother doesn't need to walk me out." Feiyun was just a three-minute walk from here.

She had specifically chosen a restaurant close to the company.

She settled her bag on her shoulder, glanced at Qin Yu with a smile, and said, "Thanks for your hard work."

Lin Xi didn't need to spell out what "hard work" referred to, and Qin Yu understood completely.

As soon as she left, Su Ran tried to sneak away as well, but she was still caught by Qin Yu.

"Miss Su, care for a chat?"

It was not a consultative tone at all.

Su Ran's mouth twitched. "Let's not, shall we? I wasn't looking for President Qin anyway. I won't disturb your meal any longer, I'll just be on my way—"

At these words, she turned and bolted, but the next second, several men in black suits who materialized out of nowhere directly blocked her path.

"..."

Su Ran was forced to sit back down.

"What is this?" One of the men in black placed a mobile phone in front of her, playing a video on the screen.

"This is surveillance footage of you stalking Lin Xi over the past two days." Qin Yu leisurely unbuttoned his suit jacket. "All the evidence is right here."

"What does President Qin mean by this?"

Su Ran had a lingering sense that things were taking a turn for the worse.

"You have two choices: Huancheng, or the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau. Pick one, and I'll have someone escort Miss Su there."

Su Ran: "..."

"I—I'd rather just go home." Su Ran gave a light cough, deciding it would be best to offer some explanation. "I didn't mean anything by it, I really just wanted to make friends with the pretty lady."

"Who doesn't like beauties? Since you like her so much, a mortal like me naturally couldn't resist her charm either."

Qin Yu's dark eyes darkened slightly as he looked at her expressionlessly.

"Okay, I'll shut up." She finally understood the difference between Lin Xi and Qin Yu.

Lin Xi had a sharp tongue and would simply tell you to shut up. Qin Yu, on the other hand, threatened you with just a look.

His aura was simply too overwhelming.

She had originally thought she wouldn't be afraid of Qin Yu, but once she sat down, a single glance from him made her lose all her nerve.

It reminded her of the phrase "crushing her to death would be easier than crushing an ant." It sounded a bit exaggerated, but if it came from Qin Yu, it wasn't outside the realm of possibility.

Su Ran knew that the two families had business partnerships, otherwise Qin Yu probably wouldn't have "invited" her back, but would have sent her straight to a detention cell instead.

"Well, um, I have one last question."

"That is, your relationship with Lin Xi is real, right? Does my brother still have a chance?"

Far away, Su Ran's brother sneezed.

Hearing this, Qin Yu suddenly let out a soft laugh. "What kind of thing is your brother?"

Su Ran: Oh, snap.

---

Back at the company, Lin Xi saw Engineer Chen and the others playing cards.

"Engineer Lin is here! Care to join?"

"No thanks," Lin Xi shook her head. "You guys have fun."

"Oh right, Engineer Lin, wait!" Engineer Chen called out to stop her.

Engineer Chen handed his cards to someone else, stood up to catch up with Lin Xi, and pulled her into the office.

"Take a look at this post." Engineer Chen opened the forum and pointed at the screen for Lin Xi. "I accidentally came across it around noon. I usually chat with other experts on this forum. Since I was bored and scrolling through it during lunch, I happened to see it."

"I originally wanted to call and let you know, but I was afraid you had family matters to deal with and didn't want to disturb you. So I just waited until you came over."

Lin Xi leaned forward, brought her face closer to the computer screen, and scanned the contents from top to bottom in a glance.

"Judging by this, it must have been posted by Xu Li."

"Look, it even leaks things that happened back when you were in high school. It's eighty percent him."

The post detailed some of Lin Xi's personal information, quite thoroughly.

[Calling someone out! Brothers must stay away from Feiyun Technology! Especially Lin X from the R&D department, whoever works under this person is completely out of luck! Notoriously difficult, arrogant, and loves to make things difficult for employees! Rumor has it she was already ostracized by classmates back in school! What kind of good person could possibly be collectively ostracized!]

"Look at this, should we contact someone to handle it?" Engineer Chen watched Lin Xi's expression cautiously.

To his surprise, after reading it, the other person didn't even frown, her expression remaining entirely normal.

"We can leave it alone for now. It's just someone venting some grievances."

Lin Xi didn't take it to heart.

After Xu Li was fired, he had tried to reach out to her privately, but none of his attempts succeeded. She heard that the day he received his termination notice, he happened to be at a class reunion, and someone—apparently also in the industry—brought the matter up right on the spot, causing Xu Li to be mocked and lose all his face.

Naturally, Xu Li was furious and needed an outlet for his emotions. Since he couldn't find her, he could only stir up trouble on the forum.

However, a couple of lines like that meant nothing at all to Lin Xi.

Engineer Chen thought for a moment and said, "I'll ask Old Gao to keep an eye on it. Just in case any more negative remarks about the company pop up later, we'll have a way to contact him then."

"Alright." Lin Xi had no objections.

Engineer Chen closed the computer and changed the subject. "Engineer Lin, your little assistant has got some real talent."

"Is that so?" Lin Xi smiled.

Engineer Chen nodded and lowered his voice, "Didn't Xiao Liu go out this morning? So I had her come into the lab with me. I thought she'd be like the others, but she turned out to be quite reliable."

"Her academic grades are quite good; she won the scholarship three years in a row." Lin Xi had carefully reviewed the assistant's resume. "If she didn't have some substance, why would I have hired her?"

"Did you think I run a charity?"

Engineer Chen: "You look like it."

Lin Xi: "..."