Chapter 70: Couple's Set

"......"

Large and small beads scattered across the jade floor, sounding like pearls falling onto a jade plate.

Lin Xi stared wide-eyed as the beads bounced wildly on the ground, still clutching a piece of string in her hand, frozen in place.

After a long moment, the beads had already settled, most of them having rolled under the bed.

She looked up, bewildered, to Qin Yu. "Third Brother, I was just trying to help you up."

Qin Yu had not slept all night; just now, he’d taken a brief nap, but stood up too quickly and felt a bit dizzy. He steadied himself swiftly, but hadn't expected Lin Xi's reaction to be even faster, reaching out so abruptly.

Lin Xi bent down to pick up the beads on the floor. The gap under the bed was narrow, and she wasn’t sure if she could retrieve them even kneeling.

She didn’t know the exact value of Qin Yu’s bracelet, but anything he wore certainly wasn't just a string of numbers—it had to be precious.

The accident had come too suddenly, and with this little mishap, she was now wide awake.

"No need to pick them up," a hand reached out just in time to stop her from bending further, gripping her arm and pulling her upright to face him.

Lin Xi was an outsider to this kind of thing, utterly clueless. Judging by their color, the beads were certainly no match for the ones on her wrist now, but the two sets were so similar that unless you looked closely, it was hard to tell them apart.

If placed together, she could easily have worn the wrong one if she wasn't careful.

Such things were hard to replace; finding a set so closely matched was already quite rare.

How could she not try to pick them up? She couldn't possibly compensate him with an identical one.

Unless...

Lin Xi glanced at her own wrist. "How about you take this one back, Third Brother?"

That was all she could offer as compensation, though it had originally been his as well.

But there was nothing else she could do.

This was no longer just about the money.

Qin Yu pressed his lips together helplessly. "Go wash up. I’ll pick these up."

Lin Xi hesitated, unmoving.

"Go on."

"...Alright."

Ten minutes later, when Lin Xi came out of the bathroom, Qin Yu was no longer in the master bedroom. She searched the floor but didn’t see the beads; he really had picked them up.

In the dining room, Qin Yu heard footsteps. Without looking up, he said, "Come eat. You need to take your medicine soon."

She walked over and sat in the chair he'd pulled out, taking the spoon he handed her. "Where are the beads?"

"They’re on the coffee table."

"Oh. Are you taking them back, Third Brother?"

"Why?" Qin Yu didn’t answer, but asked her in return.

He hadn’t retrieved all the beads; two or three were still deep under her bed. So he hadn’t intended to take them, just put them away to prevent her from stepping on them and getting hurt—her ankle had already been twisted before.

"How about I restring them for you when I have time?" Lin Xi put down the spoon, propping her elbow on the table and tilting her head to look at him. "I should be able to fix it—if, of course, you don’t mind."

"You?" Qin Yu was surprised.

Lin Xi grew a little self-conscious under his gaze, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

"I’ve done similar crafts before; it shouldn’t be much different."

After a few seconds, Qin Yu nodded toward the black phone charm on the table. "This one?"

"Mm." Lin Xi replied softly, not giving him a chance to continue the topic. "I'll fix it and bring it to you later."

——

That afternoon, Qin Yu left.

Lin Xi’s fever had subsided. She took her medicine and napped, only returning to work the next day.

Her cold hadn’t fully cleared, and her voice still held a thick, soft nasal quality.

During lunch break, she ordered some string and tools.

Her handcraft skills weren’t outstanding, but not terrible either, and her sense of aesthetics was decent—the end result was presentable.

She spent the entire midday in her office stringing beads. Upon inspecting them, she realized a few were indeed missing.

She figured they were still under the bed, but moving the bed would be troublesome.

The easiest solution was to remove a few from her own bracelet to make up the difference.

Hers was a bit loose anyway.

Stringing beads wasn’t difficult; the hardest part was picking the ones that matched best.

"Engineer Lin, you didn’t nap?" When Engineer Chen and the others returned, they didn’t walk in directly. They peeked in, saw she was awake, and then entered.

Lin Xi nodded. "Had something to do."

"Oh, who are these for?" They placed the fruit they’d brought on her desk and immediately noticed the two similar bracelets, their faces almost spelling out the word "gossip."

"They’re even a matching set!"

"No way, I noticed you wearing that one before and thought you’d found some treasure somewhere. Turns out, it’s a pair!"

"Just one day away, and something’s already happened?"

She was used to their teasing and knew there was no malice. Lin Xi didn’t get angry; she even smiled.

She kept working. "You’re overthinking it. It’s for a brother."

Since there was still one bead short, she replaced it with an inconspicuous little charm to avoid it being too tight.

She had asked Qin Yu that morning, and he didn’t mind—she could do as she liked.

As long as it was fixed.

He wasn’t picky.

Lin Xi also repaired her own. "I broke it, so it’s only right I fix it."

The others just smiled, assuming she was too shy to admit the truth.

With two bracelets so similar, who would believe they weren’t a couple’s set?

After the lunch break, there was an important R&D department meeting.

Lin Xi hurriedly took a photo of the bracelets and sent it to Qin Yu before grabbing her laptop to follow Engineer Chen and the others upstairs.

This time, besides the top executives, the main R&D team was also present.

Worried about a repeat of the previous debacle, Engineer Chen had even called in two extra people.

Lin Xi sat at the end of the table. When everyone was settled, the deputy general manager coughed lightly, officially starting the meeting.

"I’d like to hear your opinions on the current domestic and international AI robotics market. Engineer Lin?"

"Me?" Lin Xi raised her brows. "I don’t have any opinions."

"Come on, share your thoughts," the deputy GM winked at her.

"Is Feiyun planning to enter the AI market?"

"Not exactly," the deputy GM replied ambiguously.

Lin Xi frowned. "Right now, domestic robotics technology is already extremely advanced, even leading internationally, and the golden period has long passed.

Product updates come quickly; what was once rare and novel has now penetrated every industry, even every household. People have gone from curiosity to indifference. If Feiyun tries to get involved now, it’s far too late."

"I don’t think this market is for us. Even as an oddity, I don’t believe we can surpass the leading domestic companies."

(End of chapter)