Chapter 172: He Has Been Watching You

"Good morning, Engineer Lin!"

When Lin Xi woke up, she was surprised to find that Nange was already up as well.

She nodded. "Morning."

"Your uncle said you usually wake up late, so I was planning to wake you in another half an hour."

Nange chuckled. "I was too excited to sleep last night. Before my alarm even went off, I was already up. I just couldn't fall back asleep!"

The two seemed to have swapped roles; the one who usually slept soundly had tossed and turn all night, while the one who typically struggled with sleep had slept deeply until dawn without a single dream.

"Let's go. We'll grab a bite downstairs and then head out."

"Bring your things with you. We won't be coming back up later."

Nange acknowledged cheerfully, "Got it!"

Opening the door, Lin Xi was startled by a figure standing in the hallway.

"Engineer Lin." Dou Yangyang stood up straight, behaving impeccably.

She was staying next door, rooming with a female colleague from the R&D Department Two.

Lin Xi nodded. "You're all up so early."

Dou Yangyang smiled shyly. "I guessed you'd be up early, so I set my alarm half an hour ahead."

"There's no need to specially cater to my schedule," Lin Xi said as she walked toward the elevators. "The set time is the set time."

"You can just follow the designated schedule."

"It's fine, I usually wake up very early anyway! I don't need that much sleep," Dou Yangyang replied.

Hearing this, Lin Xi said nothing more.

She walked in front, with Dou Yangyang and Nange trailing obediently behind her.

The hotel breakfast was mediocre. Lacking appetite, Lin Xi took a couple of bites and gave up, quietly sipping her coffee.

Dou Yangyang noticed this and offered, "Engineer Lin, should I go outside and buy you something else to eat? When we arrived yesterday, I saw a Chinese restaurant nearby!"

"Or should I go check if they have steamed buns or something similar?"

"No need." Lin Xi appreciated the gesture and lifted her gaze to look at her a little longer.

People always said Dou Yangyang was introverted, far too honest, and lacked social savviness. In reality, she was quite observant.

After all, her previous assistant had never cared about what she liked to eat, nor paid attention to such details.

Of course, that was normal, as it wasn't strictly part of their job description.

Still, the fact that Dou Yangyang noticed and cared made for a distinctly different impression.

Nange finished her last piece of bacon and quickly chimed in, "Why don't Yangyang and I go look around outside? Engineer Lin, you have to eat a good, hearty breakfast! With such a heavy workload today, we're all counting on you!"

Lin Xi glanced sideways at her and smiled. "Want to go out, do you?"

Nange's eyes darted away. "No, no."

Though she claimed otherwise, her desire to go sightseeing was written all over her face.

"If we finish early the next two days, I'll take you both out to look around. But not today."

Setting off early meant they wouldn't return until seven or eight in the evening at the earliest, and dinner would push past nine. She didn't recommend going out at that hour.

Strolling outside the entrance to look at the night view was fine, but clearly, Nange wanted more than just a glance at the doorway.

"Haven't you been here before?" Lin Xi asked.

"Not here. But I've been to New York."

"Ah, the two places are quite close."

At this, Nange suddenly remembered something and put down her knife and fork. "That trip to New York was a huge coincidence. I hitched a ride on someone else's private plane."

"Engineer Lin probably knows him."

Lin Xi's mind immediately went to her uncle. "Cheng Si?"

"No, no." Nange suddenly grinned at her, her dark pupils rolling in a mischievous, elfin way.

"Actually, it was Uncle Qin Yu."

"..."

Lin Xi was momentarily stunned because this was the first time she had ever heard anyone call Qin Yu "Uncle."

Talk about instantly elevating someone's seniority.

Yet, strictly speaking by family relations and normal etiquette, calling him uncle wasn't wrong at all.

It was entirely reasonable.

Lin Xi gave a faint hum of acknowledgment and continued sipping her coffee without any particular expression of surprise.

Seeing her reaction so flat, Nange felt a bit disappointed.

Why was this completely different from what her uncle had described???

Where had she gone wrong?

"I arrived right in New York, but Uncle Qin Yu didn't. It seemed his destination back then was actually right here."

Lin Xi: "..."

Noticing the subtle shift in the depths of her eyes, Nange's eyes lit up, her soul of gossip burning fiercely. "I heard that Uncle Qin Yu came here back then to visit his girlfriend."

"He used to come every single month, you know."

"That's why my uncle let me hitch a ride on his plane."

"Come to think of it, it's strange. I've had dinner with these uncles a couple of times, but I've never laid eyes on Uncle Qin Yu's girlfriend."

"Have you ever seen her, Engineer Lin?"

The young girl looked at her with pleading, hopeful eyes.

Lin Xi lowered her gaze, looking at her impassively. After a few seconds, she withdrew her look and softly replied, "I've never seen her either."

"Ah..."

"So... does that mean this person doesn't even exist? Did my uncle lie to me?"

"The person exists."

Lin Xi compromised helplessly, "It's just as you think."

"It's me."

"It really is you!" Nange had actually guessed it long ago, but hearing Lin Xi admit it still thrilled her.

"Back then, I was just so, so, so curious!"

"How much did Cheng Si tell you?"

"Actually... it wasn't my uncle who told me. At first, I guessed it myself. Only later did I ask my uncle."

"Don't worry though, my uncle didn't give me a straight 'yes' or 'no.' He just told me that Uncle Qin Yu indeed had someone he loved very much."

"You're quite clever." Lin Xi smiled.

Praised by a beauty, Nange couldn't help feeling proud. "Just intuition."

"So... should I call Engineer Lin 'Auntie'?"

"..." Lin Xi nearly choked on her coffee. "No need."

That was entirely unnecessary.

"I can't possibly accept that title; it would make me sound old."

"Besides, we aren't quite in that kind of relationship yet."

"Oh well, it'll be soon anyway," Nange said with an expression that screamed *I know everything*.

Must admit, some of her subtle habits and expressions were the spitting image of Cheng Si.

They truly were uncle and niece.

"When I saw Uncle Qin Yu before, I kept wondering what kind of person someone as terrifying as him would fall for."

"Did it exceed your expectations?" Lin Xi asked.

"No, no."

Nange shook her head. "If it had exceeded my expectations, I wouldn't have guessed it was you right from the start."

"On the contrary, the first time I saw you two standing together, I thought you matched each other perfectly!"

"Oh right, Engineer Lin, you probably don't know this. I secretly watched from upstairs when Uncle Qin Yu came to pick you up from work."

"At the time, it looked like you didn't really have a verbal exchange, like you weren't even talking? But the atmosphere was still amazing. Just through those little physical gestures..."

"Hold on," Lin Xi interrupted. "I don't think we had any physical gestures to speak of."

Hearing this, even Dou Yangyang widened her eyes, her imagination clearly running wild.

Nange belatedly realized her phrasing sounded ambiguous and hurried to clarify, "No, I just meant... I meant that every time, he would always walk on the outside to shield you from the wind. And he walked very slowly, keeping pace with you the whole time."

"And he was always lowering his gaze to look at you."