Invitation

What followed was also quite straightforward.

After giving his statement, the rest involved Ye Shuang entrusting a lawyer to directly sue those individuals. At the police station, the middle-aged woman had lost her earlier bluster and was honestly trying to settle privately.

But Ye Shuang did not choose to settle, merely stating that all proper procedures would be followed.

After all, with people like that, there's no need for the slightest courtesy, because once you give an inch, they will inevitably take a mile, baring their greedy fangs.

They can never be satisfied, and they certainly won't be grateful.

It was nearly noon when Ye Shuang returned to the parking garage. He walked to his car and finally spotted the corgi underneath it.

"Come here, come on out," Ye Shuang called.

The corgi lying under the car twitched its ears. Seeing it was Ye Shuang, it slowly crawled out and then returned to its spot to lie down again.

"Thanks for watching the car. Here, this is your reward." Ye Shuang took a meat sausage from the car and tossed it on the ground. The corgi immediately began gobbling it up.

"Wangcai, interested in coming home with me?" Seeing the dog devouring its food, Ye Shuang felt the urge to adopt it.

After all, Yiyi must get pretty bored at home alone; having some company would be nice.

The corgi seemed to understand, yet not quite, but it still looked up at Ye Shuang.

After a moment, however, it lay down, turned its head away, acting all aloof and proud.

"Alright then." Ye Shuang smiled and didn't press further. He just got into the driver's seat and drove to the company.

Since he arrived at the company close to noon, Ye Shuang checked the time and decided to grab something to eat in the cafeteria.

The variety was rich, and being an employee meal, you could basically get three meat dishes and one vegetable for just 5 yuan, with various drinks and rice freely available in unlimited supply.

Ye Shuang could have gone to the dedicated executive cafeteria, but he felt it wasn't necessary—just a simple meal to fill his stomach would do.

"One portion of stuffed tofu, fermented black bean spare ribs, beef brisket, and some choy sum," Ye Shuang said.

"Coming right up!" The cafeteria lady dished out the food, giving generous portions without the slightest tremble in her hand.

You could even come back for refills anytime.

"Quite a crowd." With his tray in hand, Ye Shuang initially wanted to find a more secluded spot but found them almost all occupied, giving him a feeling of being back in high school—but soon, he seemed to spot something and headed in a certain direction.

"Chen Hai."

"Huh?" Chen Hai, who was currently gnawing on a large chicken leg, turned around and saw Ye Shuang behind him. "Why are you eating in this cafeteria? I thought the management had a separate one?"

"I don't mind that. Either is fine." Ye Shuang placed his tray next to Chen Hai's. Chen Hai was eating alone, and Ye Shuang could see his plate piled high with meat, including three or four fried chicken legs alone.

"You should lose some weight. It can easily affect your health."

"Compared to extending your life by being desireless and eating bland, tasteless food, I'd rather eat more good stuff happily before I die." Chen Hai seemed completely unconcerned. "Turtles live long, but what's the fun in that? I'd rather die a well-fed ghost."

"Alright then." Ye Shuang didn't want to dwell on that topic. He glanced at Chen Hai's employee badge and asked, "How's work been these past few days?"

"Heh, you know what? Work's been going pretty well for me lately." Once Chen Hai started talking about work, he immediately became enthusiastic. "And you know what? That Chen Qin has been looking at me differently recently. She must have changed her opinion of me."

"Is that so?" Ye Shuang looked somewhat surprised. After all, what did a changed look from Chen Qin even feel like?

"Yeah, that kind of look. Like she wants to say something but holds back, holds back but wants to say something. You know what I mean?" Chen Hai said. "Like she wants to praise me but is too embarrassed to."

Ye Shuang tried to imagine it for a moment.

"Maybe, perhaps." Ye Shuang wasn't sure of the reason either. Maybe Chen Qin really had changed her opinion of Chen Hai a bit, just didn't want to say it to his face.

At that moment, Chen Hai suddenly said, "You sitting next to me, I bet the other employees nearby saw. Who knows, they might start saying I'm some relative of the management."

"You are one."

"True, since you're my brother-in-law." Chen Hai went back to gnawing his chicken leg.

Ye Shuang didn't argue, instead saying, "Being on the front lines, you can actually see a lot of the group's issues. You can tell me about them later."

"It's okay for now. I'm also getting the hang of the things I want to learn." Chen Hai said, then suddenly fell silent as if remembering something. "Hmm."

"What's wrong?" Seeing Chen Hai suddenly become downcast, Ye Shuang thought he might be thinking about his wife and Qiaoqiao.

"The chicken leg's gone cold." Chen Hai said.

"Dammit."

"Just kidding. But Zhou Min is about to give birth soon, almost at the due date." Chen Hai added.

"Do you really not want to deal with Qiaoqiao and them anymore?"

“Of course I want to! But what can I do if they ignore me?” Chen Hai sighed, his expression also a bit irritated. “Sometimes it’s not that I want a cold war. It’s just that I feel the effort to appease her once is too great, and sometimes it doesn’t even work. Before, a little coaxing would do, but later, coaxing for a whole day and night wouldn’t calm things down. Gradually, I felt a cold war was more comfortable.”

"Honestly, I really think sometimes the bathroom is the most comfortable place. Sitting there, lighting a cigarette, playing on my phone—it's better than being next to my wife."

"You... probably got married too early?" Ye Shuang said. After all, it was the result of a one-hit wonder. Ultimately, Chen Hai wasn't prepared for marriage.

Back then, because the woman was pregnant, the Chen family hurriedly got the marriage certificate and held the banquet. Not many people were invited, just about a hundred tables at the hotel.

"So, I'm actually quite envious of you and Chen Qin." Chen Hai said. "Chen Qin's personality, in front of you she's like a little lamb. Of course, I can't guarantee she'll stay that way after marriage, but at least it looks like you'll be very happy in the future."

Ye Shuang just smiled without saying anything.

After chatting with Chen Hai during the lunch break for a while, it was about time for Ye Shuang to return to his office.

An Shiyu hadn't followed him today; she seemed to have other things to do, or maybe she just couldn't be bothered to come along since Ye Shuang was at the police station earlier.

"......" Ye Shuang sat in his chair, staring at the ceiling, letting his mind go blank for a moment.

But soon, the phone ringing beside him interrupted Ye Shuang's thoughts.

It was a message from Bai Yuyou.

Bai Yuyou: (。•ω•。) Ye Shuang, are you free on Christmas?

Christmas?

Ye Shuang thought of his arrangement with Chen Qin and was about to reply when another message notification popped up on his phone—this time from An Shiyu.

An Shiyu: Oi, wanna hang out on Christmas?

Ye Shuang: "......"

What a coincidence, both asking him out for Christmas?