Lin Chu"s heart trembled as she heard Yan Beicheng said, "The situation you mentioned, is a prerequisite for us being together. You"ve considered the possibilities, and you"ve thought a lot about them. This means that you felt something for me and want to be with me. You say you don"t wish for anything impure to come between us, then you shouldn"t have these worries. Even if there were something that came between us, you don"t need to worry about them because I"m here. I want to be your man, not to be your burden. If I wasn"t capable of handling these problems, I wouldn"t have come after you."

Yan Beicheng held Lin Chu"s hands the moment he finished talking.

Lin Chu"s immediate reaction was to pull away but she was not able to as Yan Beicheng held on to her tight. Her snow-white hands were almost completely encompa.s.sed within his perfect hands.

Lin Chu could not deny the joy she felt at him finally understanding her, and felt greatly relieved. However, she was still not confident about their relations.h.i.+p.

"I… This is too sudden for me. I need time. Can we start with being friends? We haven"t known each other long enough to understand each other. You may be able to investigate everything about me but for someone like me, you would still need time to get to know me," Lin Chu bit her lip as she looked up at Yan Beicheng.

Yan Beicheng did not reply. All he did was pulled her along and said, "We"re going to be late."

Lin Chu followed silently. She was not sure if Yan Beicheng had agreed to it.

For no reason, Yan Beicheng suddenly said, "Ningbai is just shorter than most. He"s already 6 years old, just in time for his first year."

Lin Chu was taken aback but later realized that he was answering the question she had posed to him while trying to make conversation.

She was so deep in thought with Yan Beicheng"s words that Lin Chu did not realize that they were holding hands all the way to the office.

Yan Beicheng did not let go of her hand. He spotted Yan Ningbai sitting beside the office table. The chair was quite high, and his two short little legs were hanging in the air.

A female teacher of about 40-years-old sat beside him. She looked quite helpless, which Yan Ningbai did not seem to care much.

"h.e.l.lo, I"m Yan Ningbai"s…" Yan Beicheng was holding Lin Chu"s hand. He did not finish the sentence, not knowing how to continue.

In regard to both their statuses, it did not seem suitable to say that he was a parent.

Little Yan Ningbai climbed down from the chair and pointed at Yan Beicheng while announcing proudly to the teacher, "Teacher Liu, this is my big nephew. My parents aren"t home, so they can"t make it here while it"s not convenient for my elders to visit, so I"ve no choice but to get my big nephew to come instead."

Yan Beicheng, "…"

Teacher Liu, "…"

Lin Chu felt that Yan Beicheng would never again want to step into Yan Ningbai"s school.

Yan Ningbai"s big, dark eyes fell upon Lin Chu and Yan Beicheng"s holding hands, and a smile spread across his face as he cheekily said, "This is my big nephew and my niece-in-law!"

Lin Chu, "…"

She did not think twice and pulled her hand away. That was careless of her to forget that she was still holding Yan Beicheng"s hand all the way here without letting go.

Yan Beicheng snuck a look at the blus.h.i.+ng Lin Chu and looked over at Yan Ningbai approvingly. Little Yan Ningbai smiled in delight.

Teacher Liu, "…"

There were serious matters to discuss, was this the time for both of you to exchange glances?

"Teacher Liu, what has Ningbai done?" Yan Beiching ignored Yan Ningbai and asked calmly.

As a teacher of Jixia Academy, Teacher Liu was not a stranger to Yan Beicheng as everyone from the Eight Dominant Families attended Jixia Academy.

Teacher Liu took out three sets of exam papers, "These are the results of Yan Ningbai"s exams. Mandarin, Maths, and English. He failed them all. While Jixia Academy prioritizes an all-rounded development for students and is not that particular about written exams such as these, it"s still unwise to be so blasé about results. If he is looking to study overseas, good schools would still prioritize good academic results. First years don"t have a lot of homework and the syllabus is quite easy to understand. The student with the lowest mark apart from Yan Ningbai was 96, with only one mistake in a word problem. With results like Yan Ningbai"s, it"s really…"

Yan Beicheng did not care about Yan Ningbai"s results at all. He was not his son anyway. It would be better for his granduncle and grandaunt to handle this. All he needed to do was to let them know about the matter.

Teacher Liu next took out a small piece of crumpled paper for Yan Beicheng, "Yan Ningbai was pa.s.sing this paper to the prettiest girl in cla.s.s during today"s lessons."

Yan Beicheng took it from her and read the stringy words on top, "I like you. Can you be my girlfriend?"

Yan Beicheng calmly kept the paper, "I"ll inform his parents about this, they will educate him accordingly."

After speaking with the teacher, Yan Beicheng brought Yan Ningbai out of the office. Yan Ningbai took out a phone from his coat pocket and made a call, "Dai Siming, the teacher has shown my big nephew the note. I didn"t rat you out, isn"t that good of me?"

"How"re you going to repay me?" Yan Ningbai"s lifted his chin, looking very much like an old, rich landlord.

"How about this, why don"t you get a lousier result than me in the next exam? That way, I won"t be the last in cla.s.s and the teacher would have no reason to call my parents."

"What do you mean it"s not easy to have a worse result than me? Just answer a few questions less on the paper! All you need to do is fill up only a few objective questions and you"ll definitely have worse results than me!"

"If you don"t agree, I"ll show the note to your parents. They"ll recognize your writing."

"Then it"s agreed. Let me tell you this, I"ve recorded our conversation, so you can"t back down on this!"

After that, Yan Ningbai hung up in satisfaction. The school would not call his parents again.

He spotted Lin Chu looking at him with a dark expression. Yan Ningbai thought that it was because Lin Chu did not know who was Dai Siming and took the initiative to explain, "Dai Siming is the scholar of our cla.s.s. He is always first in cla.s.s. He was the one that pa.s.sed the paper to the prettiest girl in cla.s.s during lessons to express his love."

Lin Chu, "…"

As his parents were not around, Yan Ningbai had been staying with Yan Beicheng during this time. Lin Chu drove both of them back to Ding City. On the way, there was a call for Lin Chu, but she did not have her earphones with her, and she was not that good a driver to drive with one hand and talk on the phone with the other. It would distract her driving.

It was also quite embarra.s.sing to allow her phone to continue ringing, so she said to Yan Beicheng, "Could you take out my phone? You don"t need to pick it up, just hang up."

Yan Beicheng reached towards the backseat for Lin Chu"s purse and took out her phone. He looked at the screen and hung up, "The call is from Lin Zhenghe."

Lin Chu nodded. She did not say anything but her expression was not as relaxed as before.

Back in Ding City, Yan Ningbai went to his bedroom to play with this computer. His parents were p.r.o.ne to be absent at the same time quite often, and they usually hand him over to Yan Beicheng, which was why he had a bedroom here.

Lin Chu walked into the kitchen with her phone and closed the door. She was returning Lin Zhenghe"s phone call.

The call was picked up after a few rings. Lin Zhenghe"s unhappy voice could be heard, "So, you do know to return my call."

"I"m sorry. I was busy with something. It wasn"t convenient to pick up the phone," Lin Chu replied casually.

"What more can you be busy about when you"ve been fired by your company?" Lin Zhenghe"s tone was unfriendly.

Lin Chu frowned. She did not expect Lin Zhenghe to find out about the news so fast, "The company didn"t fire me. I quit."

The kitchen door suddenly opened at this point and Yan Beicheng walked in. He did not bother to lower his voice, "I"m here to get a gla.s.s of water."

He put on the act of getting a gla.s.s with a lemon slice and walked towards the water purifier. A stream of very thin water flowed. Lin Chu could not watch any longer.

She did not forget that there was still a kettle of water in his bedroom.

"What"s the sound, why is there a man? What indecent matters are you involved with out there?" Lin Zhenghe questioned.

Lin Chu went red in the face. Lin Zhenghe"s voice was loud and the sound leaked badly from her phone. One would be able to hear a conversation from her phone with a normal voice, what more from such a loud voice like Lin Zhenghe"s.

As expected, Yan Beicheng gave her a look while still pretending to fill up water in his gla.s.s. Lin Chu was embarra.s.sed and turned her back towards him, "It"s just a colleague."

"You"ve just been fired from your company, what job are you talking about? What colleague are you talking about? Lin Chu, don"t play games with me. You"re leading an indecent lifestyle and you think you can lie to me about it? Your tricks are useless against me," Lin Zhenghe fumed at her.

Lin Chu was stuffed with anger but she could not be bothered to argue with Lin Zhenghe about whether she had quit or had gotten herself fired. Lin Zhenghe would continue to be unreasonable anyway and accuse her of being improper with anything she did. He would not listen to her nor believe her, thinking he is right about everything. He would find fault in her even if she did nothing.

"I can find another job even after quitting. It"s a company recommended by a friend," Lin Chu said coldly.

She could hear a sarcastic snort from Lin Zhenghe at the other end of the phone. He obviously did not believe her, "Then do tell me which company you are working at. I might know the boss and get him to take care of you."

Lin Chu laughed at the irony. Lin Zhenghe had thought that she treated him as a stupid person, evidently, he was the one treating her like she was stupid. If he really wanted to take care of her, he would have immediately arranged for her to work in Lin Mao. Even if she could not be a team leader like Lin Yuwen, she would have been contented to work as a regular employee.

Although, to be honest, even if Lin Zhenghe had offered, Lin Chu would never agree to it. All she wanted was to get away from the Lin family. There was no way she would dive into Lin Mao and allow the Lin family to stand guard over her constantly.

Anyway, she knew that Lin Zhenghe would never allow her to step foot into Lin Mao. He would not give her a high position there and would not even take her on as a regular employee. In the eyes of the Lin family, she has never been part of the family. She was unworthy of any high positions in Lin Mao and would never be able to gain their trust.

If she was just a regular employee, the public would pick at her and think that the Lin family has no room for an adopted daughter. The Lin family had built an image of themselves as being selfless and kind. To the public, they were known to be charitable and they loved using their adopted daughter to enhance that image. They would never give anyone a chance to pick on them, so they forbade her to join Lin Mao.

Lin Chu had long been aware of this, so she was not bothered to mention it. After graduation, she went job hunting on her own. She did not ask for Lin Zhenghe"s help nor would he give her any a.s.sistance.

This way, the Lin family would be able to tell others that their adopted daughter was independent and had plans to carve out a career on her own without depending on her family. The Lin family had garnered praise by supporting this decision of hers.

Lin Zhenghe"s proclamation of wanting to take care of her were just empty words. If he had wanted to take care of her, he would have done so when she was working in Jing Wen. If he had done so, she would not be bullied by You Weiwen and ended up resigning.

Jing Wen cannot be compared to Lin Mao. Lin Mao was considered a huge company to Jing Wen. It was a company that could not afford to offend Lin Mao. One word from Lin Zhenghe and Jing Wen would be warned.

"Why are you calling me, Uncle Lin?" Lin Chu asked.

When she first came to the Lin family at age seven, Lin Zhenghe had woken up. She had tried calling Lin Zhenghe "dad" and wanted to belong to this family.

But as she called out "dad" for the first time in her life, it was overheard by Su Changxin. Su Changxin had hit her hard on the head without hesitation. She still remembered the pain. Her sight turned dark for a moment and could not see anything. She had suffered a shock, thinking that she was about to go blind. Lucky for her, the darkness slowly subsided and her eyesight returned to normal, but her face was still very pale.

She still remembered the Su Changxin"s hysterical screaming, "Who allowed you to call him dad?! We only have one daughter and that is Yuwen. Don"t you dare think that you can replace Yuwen! We"re not your parents, so listen carefully, you are out of our league! Don"t let me hear you call us mum and dad again!"

At the time, Su Changxin was pointing at her between the eyebrows. It looked like she wanted to poke at Lin Chu but at the same time, she was disgusted, as if touching Lin Chu would dirty her fingers, so she did not poke her in the forehead.

From then onwards, Lin Chu had never referred to them as mum and dad.

For more than once, Lin Chu had wished that she still stayed in the orphanage. Their meals may not be great nor the clothes nice, and sometimes the children would argue among themselves, but they always patched things up after fighting with each other. Everyone was each other"s playmate and they did not look down on one another. Some teachers might like a certain kid more, but they would never be like Su Changxin and Lin Zhenghe, both of whom hit and raged at her.

She had the loving princ.i.p.al from the orphanage who treated her well, always hoping that they would find a real home. The day she left the orphanage, the princ.i.p.al cried. She was happy that Lin Chu finally found a home, and it was a home with privileged conditions. She had wished for Lin Chu to find happiness.

She also had that little big brother whose name she did not know. He would climb over the walls every weekend just to see her. They had always met beneath the old Locust tree. She did not know that she would suddenly be taken away by the Lin family and was not in time to let the little big brother know about it. She wondered if he continued to return and look for her.

Lin Zhenghe paused at the other side of the phone. He did not continue with the issue of Lin Chu"s job. All he said was, "Make a trip back tomorrow. Old Lady Lin says she misses you."

Old Lady Lin…

Lin Chu went blank for a moment. She was the only one in the Lin family who cared about her. She might not care for her as much as she did Lin Yuwen as Lin Yuwen was her true granddaughter after all, but Lin Chu had never felt that she should receive the same treatment as Lin Yuwen. Loving your blood relation is human nature after all.

However, Old Lady Lin had still treated her well. When she got beaten by Su Changxin, Old Lady Lin would bring her medicine and even took her to the hospital.

"Okay," Lin Chu gave Yan Beicheng a look. He was still filling up his gla.s.s, so she walked out of the kitchen.

Yan Beicheng saw her walk away and quickly turned off the tap to follow behind.

Lin Chu, "…"

"You don"t need to come to the house, we"ll just meet at Sheng Yue," Lin Zhenghe said.

Lin Chu frowned but continued, "Okay."

Lin Zhenghe hung up without even saying goodbye.

Lin Chu stared at the phone for a few seconds and finally put it away with mixed feelings. She turned around but nearly knocked into Yan Beicheng, who was standing behind her.

She looked at the half-full gla.s.s in his hands, which took him all day to fill. Lin Chu thought that Yan Beicheng had done his best with it.

However, this man was acting as if nothing had happened. He had an expression that said that he was only taking a cup of water to his room, nothing more.

Lin Chu was about to give a sarcastic remark to reveal his unabashed eavesdropping when Yan Beicheng gave her a reserved nod. He took the half-filled cup up into his room upstairs, as if he just wanted to get some water.

Lin Chu, "…"

She walked back into the kitchen, speechless, and started to prepare dinner. Even though Yan Beicheng probably had not much of an appet.i.te due to his fever and could only eat congee, she still prepared the congee with some side dishes. There was also Yan Ningbai. Yan Ningbai could not be having congee along with Yan Beicheng.

Lin Chu searched the fridge and found quite a lot of ingredients. So, she made Yan Ningbai an omelet fried rice and defrosted the lamb chop to grill. She next whipped up a vegetable salad and a fruit salad, using corn, cuc.u.mber, carrots, red bell peppers, etc. and stir-fried them with some honey. The carrots and red bell peppers were prepared in a way that covered up the flavor that most kids detest. With the use of honey, it would not be easy to detect the vegetable taste.