With these thoughts in mind, Jiang Qing re-entered the CEO's office.
"President Su," Jiang Qing feigned ignorance, "Young Master Lin left in such a hurry earlier, and it's been so long, yet he still hasn't returned. I wonder what urgent matter he had to attend to?"
Su Hua's gaze froze for a moment.
She lifted her eyes, her cold stare piercing Jiang Qing. "You seem very concerned about him?"
That look in President Su's eyes—like she was sizing up a romantic rival...
Jiang Qing couldn't help but shiver.
Had President Su remembered that novel about a secretary climbing the social ladder that she had shown her?
This was not a misunderstanding she could afford!
Jiang Qing wished she could slap herself twice.
She never should have given that novel to President Su in the first place!
"President Su, I just noticed how late it was getting, and since Young Master Lin still hadn’t returned to accompany you, I thought I’d ask," Jiang Qing replied with a forced chuckle.
Though she already knew what Young Master Lin was doing, she couldn’t let President Su find out that she had privately contacted him beforehand. Otherwise, she’d be finished.
She had no choice but to play dumb and ask.
Su Hua pinched the bridge of her nose and said, "The director of his orphanage passed away. He’s handling the arrangements."
"President Su, Young Master Lin spent several years at that orphanage. The director was practically family to him. Since he’s passed, shouldn’t you accompany Young Master Lin to pay your respects?" Jiang Qing ventured carefully.
At this, Su Hua’s eyes brightened slightly.
That’s right.
She could go find Xuan. That way, Chen Ling wouldn’t have a chance to be alone with him.
Su Hua abruptly stood up.
Jiang Qing asked, "President Su, are you going to see Young Master Lin?"
"Yes," Su Hua replied indifferently. "Prepare the car."
"Right away, President Su."
Jiang Qing immediately carried out Su Hua’s orders.
Rather than asking Lin Xuan for the address, Su Hua called the bodyguards who were secretly protecting him.
By the time Su Hua arrived, the orphanage director’s remains had already been cremated.
Chen Ling walked out of the funeral home, cradling the urn of ashes.
Her eyes were red and swollen. "Brother Lin Xuan, Dad has gone to another world… He’ll be happy there, won’t he?"
"Yes," Lin Xuan nodded. "Don’t worry. Dean Wang has just gone to enjoy his peace in another world."
Chen Ling wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes. "Brother Lin Xuan, I don’t have a father anymore. The person I know best, the one I’m closest to now… is you. You’ll take good care of me, won’t you?"
Her eyes brimmed with tears as she gazed pleadingly at Lin Xuan.
Lin Xuan thought of Dean Wang’s dying wish.
He nodded. "Of course. I’ll take care of you in Dean Wang’s place."
It was just a matter of providing for her materially and helping her out if she ran into trouble.
"Thank you, Brother Lin Xuan." Chen Ling’s face lit up with a sweet smile. "I don’t know what I’d do without you."
Su Hua’s car pulled up just then.
The window rolled down.
At a glance, Su Hua saw Chen Ling and Lin Xuan sharing what looked like an intimate, tender moment.
Jiang Qing could feel the temperature in the car plummet.
Right now, Su Hua’s eyes burned with a dark, violent intensity.
She wanted nothing more than to lock Xuan away—somewhere only she could reach him.
That way, he’d never be able to comfort another woman, let alone speak to one.
Jiang Qing stole a glance at Su Hua’s expression.
Yikes…
Terrifying. Absolutely terrifying. The look on President Su’s face was downright chilling.
Young Master Lin was only talking to Chen Ling. Nothing more.
President Su really was a yandere—getting jealous over something so trivial.
Su Hua forcibly suppressed the fury rising in her chest.
She opened the car door and stepped out.
Her face was now perfectly composed, betraying none of her earlier jealousy.
She strode straight toward Lin Xuan and Chen Ling.
"Brother Lin Xuan, could you stay at the orphanage with me tonight? With Dad gone… I’m scared," Chen Ling pleaded pitifully.
Lin Xuan knew Su Hua’s possessive nature all too well.
If he stayed overnight with Chen Ling, Hua would definitely misunderstand. And if she decided to lock him up, he’d be done for.
There was no way he could agree.
"I—" Lin Xuan was about to refuse when Su Hua’s voice cut in from behind him.
"He can’t," Su Hua said coldly.
Her again!
Chen Ling glared at Su Hua in outrage.
Why did this woman have to show up everywhere?
Wherever Brother Lin Xuan went, she followed.
Was she really that afraid he’d be stolen away?
Hah.
Did she think clinging to Brother Lin Xuan like this would keep him under her thumb?
Before Dad passed, he made Brother Lin Xuan promise to take care of her. That meant she’d have plenty of chances to get close to him.
Once she spent more time with him, he’d surely fall for her.
Su Hua stepped up beside Lin Xuan and, under Chen Ling’s envious gaze, took his hand.
"Miss Chen, Xuan has to sleep with me tonight. So he won’t be staying at the orphanage with you."
Chen Ling scowled. "I was asking Brother Lin Xuan. He hasn’t even refused yet—who gave you the right to speak for him?"
"Besides, if you keep monopolizing Brother Lin Xuan like this, never letting him have any personal space, don’t you worry he’ll get sick of you?"
Su Hua ignored Chen Ling and turned to Lin Xuan instead.
"Do you dislike me being so clingy?" Su Hua arched a delicate brow. To a keen ear, her voice carried a dangerous edge.
"Of course not! How could I ever get tired of you?" Lin Xuan shook his head emphatically, his survival instincts kicking in. "Hua, even if you stuck to me every second for the rest of our lives, I’d never grow weary of you."
Chen Ling bit her lip.
There was no way Brother Lin Xuan meant those words.
Who in their right mind would want to be glued to their girlfriend 24/7?
He was only saying this to placate her.
Yes.
That had to be it!
"Brother Lin Xuan, you’ll stay at the orphanage tonight, won’t you?" Chen Ling pressed, her eyes wide and hopeful.
Lin Xuan replied, "I have to be with my girlfriend tonight. Even if Hua hadn’t refused for me, I would’ve said no."
Chen Ling clenched her fists.
Brother Lin Xuan had promised her dad he’d look after her.
Yet on the very first day after Dad’s passing, he wouldn’t even stay with her…
She shot another hateful glare at Su Hua.
It was all because of this woman. If not for her, Brother Lin Xuan would’ve stayed.
"Brother Lin Xuan, I’m really scared. If you won’t come to the orphanage… can I stay with you instead?" Chen Ling refused to give up.
Yan Xi reminds you: Due to Tomato’s request for over 3 million daily visits straining server capacity, we now recommend using alternative sources provided by other esteemed authors.
young master of the Shen family—a figure of immense power and wealth beyond measure—and awakened the "Destined Ultimate Villain System"! His starting scenario? Running into his icy fiancée who shows up with a mountain-descending divine doctor to break off their engagement. The divine doctor arrogantly taunts: "What does your Shen family have besides a bit of stinking money? You're not even worthy of tying Qingxue's shoelaces!" Shen Fei just smiled. He completely defied the usual script: "Fine, I agree to break off the engagement. Also, notify the finance department to withdraw all investments from the Su family." Minutes later, with its capital chain severed, the Su Group teetered on the brink of bankruptcy! The once aloof and proud ice queen CEO was thrown into utter panic. That very night, she went to Shen Fei's villa, casting aside all dignity to beg and plead desperately... From then on, in this world teeming with Sons of Destiny, Shen Fei embarked on a path of extreme dimensional suppression! A mountain-descending divine doctor? Peerless medical skills? Shen Fei: "Reporting you for practicing medicine without a license! I'll gladly take your ancient medicinal cauldron and twin sister assassins." The Crooked-Smiling Dragon King? Commanding a hundred thousand soldiers with a single order? Shen Fei: "Illegal assembly and suspected treason! Let a fleet of attack helicopters sanitize the area and teach you what the state apparatus really means!" A reborn tycoon? Knows all the golden opportunities of the next decade? Shen Fei: "A trillion in capital to reverse and pump the stock market, making you blow your margin and jump on the very first day of your rebirth!" What Chosen Ones? What bearers of Heavenly Fortune? In Shen Fei's eyes, they're all just chives (i.e., suckers/marks) waiting to be harvested! Shen Fei: "Sorry, but as the Destined Ultimate Villain, I don't play by the rules of honor. I only play the game of dimensional suppression."
rowess are unmatched, commanding a million-strong army! Yet, the Emperor wants to depose him for the sake of a false prince? Hold on, are you throwing me into some female-oriented romance plot? How can I tolerate this? With a grand wave of his hand—the Nine Clan Extraction Technique! Slander the Emperor? Very well, all of you shall die! ... The False Prince: "Although I am not the biological son, Father and Mother love me more. The throne should be mine!" The Female Lead: "Qin Xiao, you are the Emperor, and I am a commoner. If you wish to marry me, you must abdicate. Otherwise, you will never have me!" The Empress: "After we divorce, you must give me half the empire!" The Transmigrator Consort: "You worthless Emperor, why should I kneel to you? All men are equal—I advise you to be kind!" The Great General: "The enemy general is my childhood sweetheart. For her sake, I willingly abandon the frontier defenses!" The Retired Emperor: "Although Yu'er was adopted, I prefer him. Qin Xiao, you should abdicate and let him become Emperor!" ... Very well! So this is how you want to play? Facing this twisted world of female-oriented tropes, Qin Xiao grins and raises his hand to unleash—the Nine Clan Extraction Technique! I am the Emperor. Why would I bother reasoning with you? Seal the gates! Leave none alive!
lan, the Luo family, tracked him down - along with the babies in their arms. Mo Xuan stared pensively at the paternity test results from over a dozen top institutions, both domestic and international, showing a 99.99% match between himself and the two baby girls. At 23, Mo Xuan, a doctoral student, had become the father of two three-year-old children. The kicker? The mothers weren't even the same person! He gradually realized he was being lured step by step into an elaborate trap designed by these two yandere sisters. "Be good, little Xuan. Sister's life belongs to you entirely." "Brother, if you try to run away, I'll have no choice but to tie you up." Mo Xuan: "Do whatever you want, ladies. I give up."
e bizarre and supernatural had descended. The previous emperor was a thoroughgoing tyrant; no longer satisfied with human women, he had set his sights on a stunningly beautiful supernatural entity. He met his end in his bedchamber, drained of all his vital essence. As the legitimate eldest son and crown prince, Wang Hao was thus hastily enthroned, becoming the young emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty. No sooner had he awakened the "Imperial Sign-In Intelligence System" than he was assassinated by a Son of Destiny—a classic villain's opening. The Great Zhou, ravaged by the former emperor's excesses, was in national decline. The great families within its borders harbored their own treacherous schemes, martial sects began to defy the imperial court's decrees, and border armies, their pay and provisions in arrears, grumbled incessantly against the central government. Fortunately, the central capital was still held secure by the half-million Imperial Guards and fifty thousand Imperial Forest Army who obeyed the court's orders, along with the royal family's hidden reserves of power, barely managing to suppress the realm. As the Great Zhou's finances worsened and supernatural activities grew ever more frequent, the court sat atop a volcano. Ambitious plotters everywhere dreamed of overthrowing the dynasty, and even some reclusive ancient powers emerged, attempting to sway the tides of the world. At the first grand court assembly, the civil and military officials nearly came to blows, fighting tooth and nail over the allocation of fifty million taels of silver from the summer tax revenues. The spectacle opened Wang Hao's eyes—the Great Zhou's bureaucracy was not only corrupt but also martially proficient, a cabinet of all-rounders. Some officials even had the audacity to suggest the emperor release funds from the imperial privy purse to address the emergency. Wang Hao suddenly felt weary. Let it all burn.
