Lin Xi's expression was utterly calm, making Ye Huan feel as though he had thrown a punch at a cotton ball—he was beyond disappointed!
"Aren't you surprised at all? Not the least bit shocked?" Ye Huan asked, puzzled.
"Pardon me for disappointing you. I am extremely satisfied with this outcome!"
Lin Xi looked at Ye Huan with a radiant, brilliant smile plastered across her face—blazing and blinding!
Ye Huan: "..."
Seeing Ye Huan look like a frost-bitten eggplant, Lin Xi was suddenly overcome with joy. She thought to herself that this time, she had completely won against Ye Huan!
In truth, the exact moment Lin Xi learned the truth, her anger had indeed spiked to the absolute limit. Especially when she recalled how Ye Huan had used the declaration of intent as an excuse to steal a kiss, her lungs had practically burst with fury, and she had almost gone berserk to scratch Ye Huan to death.
Yet the rage vanished in a split second!
She had chosen to enter into a marriage agreement with Ye Huan for two reasons: first, to use the marriage contract as a way to exact revenge on him; and second, to reject the marriage candidate her grandfather had arranged for her.
Now that she confirmed Ye Huan was one and the same person as the candidate her grandfather had arranged, her objective had been achieved.
With that stranger of a marriage candidate out of the picture, all she needed to do going forward was focus entirely on using the marriage agreement to exact revenge on Ye Huan!
"It's destiny!"
Li Meiya slapped the table, excitedly exclaiming:
"Who would have thought that Dad arranged for Xixi's marriage candidate to be none other than Xixi's own boyfriend? This is far too much of a coincidence—not even TV dramas would write something so coincidental. Destiny, this is absolute destiny!"
"Waitress!"
Lin Canglan shouted at the top of his lungs. Once the waitress entered, he urged her:
"Serve the dishes, bring out the food immediately! This afternoon, I am going to drink until I'm completely drunk with my fine son-in-law!"
With that, noticing that Ye Huan, Lin Tai, and Lin Xi were still standing, he said:
"Dad, why are you all still standing? Sit down, quickly sit down! Good son-in-law, sit right next to me."
The three of them immediately sat down. Lin Tai took Ye Huan's hand and asked:
"What kind of work did you do abroad before? Let me see about arranging the exact same position for you at Lin Group."
Lin Xi, Lin Canglan, and Li Meiya were just about to answer on Ye Huan's behalf, but before any of them could speak, Ye Huan had already said:
"Butchery!"
His actual line of work was butchery, only he didn't slaughter livestock—he slaughtered men!
Lin Xi: "..."
Lin Canglan: "???"
Li Meiya: "???"
Upon hearing this, Lin Xi panicked. She inwardly cursed Ye Huan for being an absolute fool, failing to stick to the occupation she had fabricated for him. Now her cover was blown!
Yet she genuinely hadn't expected Ye Huan to actually be a pig butcher!
"Xixi, what is the meaning of this?"
Li Meiya glared furiously at Lin Xi, demanding:
"Didn't you say Ye Huan was the founder of a multi-billion-dollar New York Stock Exchange-listed company in Wall Street? How did he end up in the butchery trade?"
Lin Xi's pretty face instantly burned red with heat. She was so mortified she wished she could dig a hole in the ground and bury herself.
Just as she was about to explain, her peripheral vision caught Ye Huan looking at her with a playful smirk. She mistakenly assumed Ye Huan was deliberately exposing her lie to humiliate her.
An idea struck her, and she said:
"Dad, Mom, I'm sorry. I lied to you;
Grandfather forced me to marry a stranger, so I thought about simply finding any random man to get a marriage certificate with, and concocted an educational background, a career, and a relationship with me that would make you fond of him. My goal was to get you on my side so you would persuade Grandfather to give up on making me marry that stranger. I just never expected that the random man I found happened to be the exact same marriage candidate Grandfather sent me to pick up at the airport."
As she spoke, she sneered inwardly: *You wanted to expose my lie? Fine, I'll just tell the absolute truth and team up with Mom and Dad to deal with you!*
Lin Xi inwardly praised herself for being utterly brilliant. Not only had she effortlessly unraveled Ye Huan's scheme, but she had also conveniently brought two formidable enemies down upon him!
*Heh heh, you cheap bastard, just wait to face the wrath of my father and mother!*
"Xixi, you..."
When Lin Canglan and Li Meiya heard Lin Xi's words, they were so furious they nearly exploded on the spot.
Naturally, what enraged them wasn't that Lin Xi had lied to them, but the sheer humiliation of remembering all the sweethings they had previously whispered to this pig butcher.
"You pig butcher, how dare you play games with my daughter!"
Li Meiya lunged forward in a rage, aiming to scratch Ye Huan.
Ye Huan quickly dodged. "How did I play games with Lin Xi?"
"You still won't admit it? You—you're driving me crazy!"
Li Meiya swelled with indignation, shouting:
"Xixi didn't know you, but you had seen the video Dad sent you, so you knew who Xixi was! If you had just told Xixi the truth, she would never have registered for marriage with you. If this isn't playing games with Xixi, what is?!"
Lin Canglan chimed in, "I see right through you. You just coveted Xixi's beauty and the Lin Family's wealth, so you deliberately kept the truth from her."
Ye Huan was just about to explain when he noticed Lin Xi looking on with a gloating, smug expression, treating the whole thing as a spectacle. He asked:
"Lin Xi, should I tell your mom and dad the real reason why you and I got our marriage certificate?"
"Shut your mouth!"
Lin Xi was just enjoying the show, never expecting Ye Huan to be so devious as to threaten her with the fact that he had once gotten intimate with her. She inwardly cursed him for being full of malicious tricks while hurriedly explaining:
"Dad, Mom, Ye Huan didn't play games with me. Even if he had told me the truth back then, I still would have registered the marriage with him. In this lifetime, I will marry no one else!"
Smack!
Lin Canglan and Li Meiya felt as though they had just been slapped across the face.
They had originally thought that by using "Ye Huan tricked Xixi" as a breakthrough point, they could make Lin Tai realize Ye Huan had a defective character, thereby forcing Ye Huan and Lin Xi to divorce.
Never had they imagined that at the critical moment, Lin Xi would actually turn her back on them and take Ye Huan's side!
"Dad, not only does this pig butcher have a lowly occupation, his character is rotten too. Xixi will never find happiness marrying a man like this."
Lin Tai shifted his target, aiming straight at Lin Tai, and forcefully expressed his firm stance:
"Anyway, as Xixi's father, I firmly object to Xixi marrying this pig butcher!"
Echoing her husband, Li Meiya chimed in, "I don't agree to Xixi marrying Ye Huan either! If he dares to set foot in our house, I'll break his dog legs!"
Lin Tai had been watching the commotion with a beaming smile. Seeing that it was finally his turn to state his position, he chuckled cheerfully:
"Personally, I feel that Ye Huan and Xixi are a match made by fate. Otherwise, they wouldn't have stumbled into registering their marriage by pure accident!"
Hearing Lin Tai's declaration, Lin Canglan and Li Meiya were so angry they nearly peed their pants.
The two of them were just about to press their stubborn stance further when Lin Tai's aged face turned frosty, and he said in a cold voice:
"Whoever dares to object to Xixi marrying Ye Huan can get the hell out of the Lin Family."
As soon as those words dropped, Lin Canglan and Li Meiya instantly dared not say another word. In their hearts, however, they resolved to properly lecture Lin Xi once they got home and make her take the initiative to divorce Ye Huan!
Lin Tai saw right through the thoughts of his son and daughter-in-law. Reaching into his bag, he pulled out a pre-prepared agreement, a neutral-ink pen, and a red ink pad, saying:
"Xixi, come over here and sign your name and press your thumbprint on these documents!"
"Okay!"
Without thinking much of it, Lin Xi assumed it was just a corporate project contract—her grandfather often made her do this sort of thing—so she signed and pressed her thumbprint without even glancing at the contents.
Once finished, she asked, "Grandfather, which project's documents are these?"
"These aren't corporate project documents."
A foxy, calculating smile spread across Lin Tai's face as he replied:
"I have also signed and pressed my thumbprint on this agreement. From now on, if you take the initiative to propose a divorce to Ye Huan, not only will you walk away with nothing, but all your assets—both pre-marital and post-marital—will belong entirely to Ye Huan, and my assets will go to him as well!"
Lin Xi was stunned!
She had just used a marriage agreement to trap Ye Huan, only for her grandfather to turn around and trap her with an agreement of his own!
Still, her grandfather's agreement was entirely invalid to her because she held the marriage contract; she could simply coerce Ye Huan into initiating the divorce himself, and incidentally strip him of everything!
"Buzz..."
Meanwhile, Lin Canglan and Li Meiya felt as though they had been struck by lightning, their heads ringing and buzzing!
Just as they were plotting to persuade Lin Xi to initiate a divorce with Ye Huan upon returning home, Lin Tai had unleashed this counter-move, which was essentially a direct slap to their faces!
They absolutely could not let Xixi initiate the divorce!
Otherwise, all of Xixi's and the Old Master's wealth would end up cheaply lining the pockets of this pig butcher Ye Huan!
They would just have to find a way to force Ye Huan into initiating the divorce instead; that way, Lin Tai's agreement would be rendered void!
"Old Master, I've seen plenty of gamblers, but someone like you is a first for me. Weren't you afraid of losing the bet?"
Ye Huan looked at Lin Tai in shock and asked.
At this moment, profound confusion filled his heart. Lin Tai didn't know he was the King of Hell; aside from knowing his name, his understanding of Ye Huan was virtually zero.
Yet Lin Tai had forced his beloved granddaughter Lin Xi to marry him, even going so far as to wager his and Lin Xi's entire family fortune to prevent Lin Xi from initiating a divorce.
Wasn't this far too reckless and hasty? Weren't they afraid of losing the gamble?
"You are a man who keeps his word!" Lin Tai smiled faintly.
Ye Huan chuckled mirthlessly: "You're betting entirely on the certainty that I keep my word and won't divorce Lin Xi, which is why you dared to play such a heaven-shaking gamble. But are you truly so certain that Lin Xi will find happiness marrying me? Aren't you worried I might decorate Lin Xi's head with a green hat of betrayal?"
Lin Canglan and Li Meiya flew into a rage, frantically signaling Lin Xi with their eyes, as if to say: *Xixi, you heard him! This pig butcher is no good, full of devious schemes. He isn't even married yet, and he's already plotting to cheat! If you actually go through with this marriage, what will become of you?*
Lin Xi pretended not to understand her parents' signals. She couldn't care less if Ye Huan cheated; in fact, she would welcome it. She hoped he would cheat ten or eight times a day until he died of kidney failure.
"A tired bird will always return to its nest!" Lin Tai smiled gently.
*So you're letting me play around until I've had enough before sending me back to Lin Xi, huh? You certainly have a generous heart...* Ye Huan had to hand it to Lin Tai!
At that moment, the waiters arrived in succession with the dishes and wine, and Lin Tai promptly invited everyone to eat.
Ye Huan, Lin Xi, and Lin Tai were in high spirits, relishing the food with great zest. Ye Huan and Lin Tai even exchanged toasts, drinking with immense delight.
Lin Canglan and Li Meiya's moods had plummeted to the absolute abyss, rendering this meal no different from eating dirt.
"Dong, dong, dong..."
Three rounds of drinks and five courses of food in, a sudden knock sounded at the door!
"Come in!" Lin Tai said.
A young man wearing a chunky gold chain and a gold watch, dressed in flashy, slippery clothing, radiating an air that was both sultry and roguish, pushed the door open and walked in.
The moment this person stepped into the private dining room, Ye Huan's gaze locked onto Lin Xi. His pupils abruptly constricted, though they returned to normal the very next second. He looked cheerfully at Lin Tai and said:
"Hello, Grandpa Lin. I came to Sangyang Restaurant to dine, and hearing that you were here too, I thought I'd drop by to say hello."
Upon catching sight of the youth, every member of the Lin family immediately stood up, as if the young man's identity was extraordinary.
Lin Canglan and Li Meiya's expressions grew exceptionally ecstatic.
*He's here, he's here—Xixi's suitor has arrived.*
If this fellow found out that Ye Huan had used cheap, low-handed tricks to register his marriage with Xixi, he would undoubtedly fly into a rage and beat Ye Huan until he was forced to initiate a divorce from Xixi!
"Ah, if it isn't Young Master Jin. You're far too polite; I'm simply here for a casual meal, I never expected to disturb your esteemed presence."
Lin Tai said with a cheerful smile.
Ye Huan furrowed his brows. What on earth was the background of this "Young Master Jin" to make an influential tycoon like Lin Tai treat him with such cautious reverence, not even daring to put on elder airs and addressing him respectfully as "you"?
"Grandpa Lin, please stop calling me Young Master Jin like that. Before you, I am just a junior; just call me Feiyu."
Jin Feiyu was immensely satisfied with Lin Tai's attitude, though his words adopted the tone of a respectful junior treating an elder with utmost deference.
"Since you put it that way, then I'll pull rank and call you Feiyu."
Not daring to go against Jin Feiyu, Lin Tai offered a flattering, awkward smile as he said:
"Feiyu, I'm genuinely happy that you knew I was here and came to say hello. I know you're a busy man; you must have brought many friends here to dine. If you stay in my room for too long, your friends might grow impatient. You should go attend to them. Whenever you have time another day, I'll host a gathering so we can properly catch up!"
This was essentially a polite dismissal, albeit phrased with extreme tact.
"Grandpa Lin, I just got in, why are you chasing me away already?!"
Adopting the persona of a junior, Jin Feiyu unceremoniously pierced through Lin Tai's intentions and said:
"I'm not busy at all today, nor did I bring any friends along—I came here to dine alone. Since we've run into each other by chance, Grandpa Lin, let's just eat together. This meal is on me."
Lin Tai cursed Jin Feiyu's shamelessness inwardly, yet lacked the courage to refuse. He could only offer an awkward laugh:
"Since you don't mind our leftover scraps, Feiyu, then pull up a chair and join us."
With that, he turned his gaze to Ye Huan and instructed:
"Ye Huan, go tell the waitress to bring an extra set of cutlery!"
His intent was to dispatch Ye Huan elsewhere to prevent Jin Feiyu from discovering the relationship between Ye Huan and Lin Xi, which would only trigger chaos!
"Wait!"
Before Ye Huan could respond, Jin Feiyu looked directly at him and asked, "Grandpa Lin, who is this?"
A sense of foreboding struck Lin Tai, and he hastily prepared to claim Ye Huan was a distant relative.
At that moment, Lin Canglan chimed in: "Young Master Jin, his name is Ye Huan, and he's Xixi's partner. They just registered their marriage at the civil affairs bureau this morning."
A surge of fury washed over Lin Tai, who cursed Lin Canglan as a wretched scoundrel for intentionally exposing Ye Huan's identity. This was clearly an attempt to leverage Jin Feiyu's hands to deal with Ye Huan.
Lin Xi furrowed her brows, a look of anger washing over her face. She had never imagined that her father would resort to any means necessary—deploying such a despicable and shameless low-handed trick—just to tear her and Ye Huan apart.
At the same time, a sliver of worry welled up in her heart for Ye Huan. Although she desperately wished for Ye Huan to drop dead, she didn't want him to perish at someone else's hands—and Jin Feiyu was precisely the kind of person who could make Ye Huan die.
Li Meiya shot Lin Canglan a look that said *well done*, and then settled in with an air of eager anticipation to watch the show.
"Partner? Registered their marriage?"
The smile froze on Jin Feiyu's face. He whipped his head around to glare at Lin Tai, raging:
"Grandpa Lin, what is the meaning of this? Everyone in Pengcheng knows Lin Xi is single. I've gone to the Lin Family to propose marriage multiple times, and you've always fobbed me off with excuses like 'Xixi is still too young, Lin Group needs Xixi, we can talk about marriage in a few years.' How did a partner suddenly pop up today, and why have they already registered their marriage?!"
Ye Huan was taken aback. *Well, well, well—so this little punk is actually my romantic rival!*
"This..."
Lin Tai was at a loss for how to reply.
At this juncture, Li Meiya chimed in with a toxic tone:
"Young Master Jin, Ye Huan is the marriage candidate Dad chose for Lin Xi. Today was actually the very first time Lin Xi laid eyes on Ye Huan. Originally, Xixi was utterly opposed to marrying him, but we never expected Ye Huan to use underhanded schemes to trick Xixi into registering their marriage with him."
Upon hearing this, both Lin Tai and Lin Xi were consumed with blazing fury. Li Meiya's maneuver was clearly designed to instigate Jin Feiyu into targeting Ye Huan; this tactic was vicious beyond measure, and her intent was utterly detestable!
Finally catching on to the underlying dynamics, Ye Huan realized that Lin Canglan and Li Meiya would pull out all the stops to pry him and Lin Xi apart, completely unconcerned about whether driving him away would leave them stuck with Jin Feiyu instead.
Lin Canglan flashed Li Meiya a look of approval to encourage her performance.
The couple was well aware that their actions had provoked Lin Tai's wrath, but with Jin Feiyu present, they were confident Lin Tai wouldn't dare blow his top. To split up Ye Huan and Lin Xi, they were willing to endure Lin Tai's reprimands afterward.
"So that's how it is!"
Jin Feiyu's expression turned glacial in an instant. He strode over to Ye Huan, grabbed him by the collar, and spoke in an icy tone:
"Listen here, punk. I don't care whose blown-out car tire shat you out onto the street, but while I'm still feeling somewhat patient, you better take Lin Xi and get your asses down to the civil affairs bureau to annul this marriage immediately."
*You're courting death!*
Seized by the collar, Ye Huan's fists hardened instantly, and he prepared to blast this idiot who dared provoke the King of Hell right between the eyes.
"Don't be reckless!"
Lin Xi suddenly shrieked, grabbing Ye Huan's right wrist as she warned in a tense whisper:
"Let me remind you, Ye Huan—some people in this world can be crossed, but others cannot. Young Master Jin is someone you can't afford to provoke. If you throw that punch, the one whose life you'll be burying is your own!"
Though Lin Tai wanted to dissuade him as well, he held back. A daring notion suddenly struck him: he would use this opportunity to test Ye Huan's capabilities and see whether he truly matched the lethal ruffian he suspected him to be!
"Oh ho, Ye Huan, are you actually thinking of laying a hand on Young Master Jin?"
"Young Master Jin, don't let your guard down—Ye Huan is a pig butcher, he's got brute strength."
Stirring the pot with zero regard for the consequences, Lin Canglan and Li Meiya fanned the flames from the sidelines, inciting Jin Feiyu and Ye Huan to come to blows.
Once a fight broke out!
Regardless of who threw the first punch, Ye Huan was a dead man!
"Thinking of fighting back?"
Prompted by Lin Xi, Lin Canglan, and Li Meiya, Jin Feiyu finally realized Ye Huan's intent to retaliate, and sneered dismissively:
"You still won't submit, huh? Well, what a coincidence—my family has a proud tradition of a fiery temper, and we specialize in curing all kinds of stubbornness!"
With that, he grabbed a teacup from the nearby table and smashed it onto the floor!
Instantly, the private room door was slammed open as a dozen blade-wielding youths poured in one after another. Fortunately, the room was spacious enough to accommodate them all.
At this sight, Lin Xi inwardly blamed her parents—were they trying to get Ye Huan killed?!
A sudden wave of tension gripped Lin Tai. If Ye Huan wasn't the man he suspected him to be, then even if Ye Huan escaped death today, he would undoubtedly be beaten to a cripple by Jin Feiyu.
Excitement surged in Lin Canglan and Li Meiya. With Young Master Jin's subordinates here, Ye Huan was done for.
"Interesting!"
Suppressing the murderous impulse to squash Jin Feiyu on the spot, Ye Huan offered a cold sneer and said:
"Before, I only had my suspicions, but now it seems my suspicions were entirely correct!"
This remark left everyone in the private room with question marks floating over their heads.
"You pig butcher, have you lost your mind? What kind of nonsense are you babbling about?" Li Meiya taunted.
Ignoring Li Meiya entirely, Ye Huan turned to Lin Xi and stated:
"Those twelve men who blocked your car on the road to kidnap you were sent by Jin Feiyu."
Lin Xi's pretty face shifted dramatically. She whipped her gaze toward Jin Feiyu just in time to catch his pupils contracting sharply and a look of shock flashing across his features, though he managed to mask it in a split second.
At that, Lin Xi believed Ye Huan's words, and numerous pieces of the puzzle clicked into place in her mind.
A jolt of shock went through Jin Feiyu; he couldn't fathom how Ye Huan had gotten wind of that matter.
Lin Tai was thoroughly astonished. He hadn't even known that Lin Xi had encountered kidnappers on her way to pick up Ye Huan.
Lin Canglan and Li Meiya froze for a brief moment before derisive smiles spread across their faces.
With utter disdain, Lin Canglan scoffed: "Ye Huan, seeing so many of Young Master Jin's men here and realizing you're trapped with no way out, you've resorted to framing Young Master Jin just to trick our Lin family into taking your side, haven't you?"