Naked-eye X-ray?!
Doesn't that mean standing in front of him would be no different from being completely naked?!
"You... turn around!" Lin Qingrou said, utterly terrified, her face flushed as she bit her lip. "Ask your master how to cure it!"
Only then did Ye Nan withdraw his gaze, brushing it off casually. "Fine, I'll ask when I have time."
[Is a trivial matter like this even worth asking?]
[Two qian of *Yinlingzi*, one qian of *Chaihu*, three qian of refined valley flower, four qian of *Songxiangzi*...]
Before Lin Qingrou could prepare herself, a long string of medicinal ingredients echoed in her mind.
"Hey, wait! I can't remember all that!"
Anxious, Lin Qingrou blurted out instinctively.
"Huh?" Ye Nan looked at her in confusion.
[What the hell, who is this old woman talking to? A split personality? Or is the car haunted?]
Coming back to her senses, Lin Qingrou quickly said, "Nothing, nothing. I just... spaced out."
Ye Nan shot her another strange look, couldn't be bothered to pursue it, and closed his eyes to rest again.
Only then did Lin Qingrou let out a long sigh of relief.
That was close!
She almost gave herself away!
Yet she hadn't remembered any of those professional medicinal names at all.
What a loss!
Even if she asked again, that jerk might not necessarily think them in his mind a second time.
Whatever, she'd deal with it later!
Ten-odd minutes later, the car stopped at the entrance of Jiangling's premier sanatorium.
At that moment, Elder Lin was comfortably listening to Peking opera in a VIP sanatorium suite.
Standing beside him was a young, stunningly beautiful woman with the face of a femme fatale.
She bore a seventy to eighty percent resemblance to Lin Qingrou, save for the absence of a beauty mark below the corner of her eye.
She wore a white shirt on top, a tight, hip-hugging mini-skirt below her slender waist, black silk stockings, and high heels, radiating a bewitching charm.
Most outrageous of all, this woman's figure was a good three points more explosive and "ferocious" than Lin Qingrou's!
"Oh, if it isn't my dear sister! Well? Who's this handsome young man with you?"
Lin Qingrou's biological younger sister, Lin Qingxuan, had a personality completely opposite to her sister's.
If Lin Qingrou was cold and proud, Lin Qingxuan was burning and fiery.
Lin Qingrou held no affection for this sister who had always been favored by their parents, couldn't be bothered to entertain her, and walked straight toward Elder Lin.
"Grandpa, how are you feeling?"
"Qingrou's here! Don't worry, the old man is doing great!" Elder Lin beamed with joy upon seeing his granddaughter.
While the grandfather and granddaughter exchanged pleasantries, Lin Qingxuan stared straight at Ye Nan, her seductive eyes sweeping over him from top to bottom out of apparent curiosity.
[Holy crap! I thought the old woman was big enough! I never expected there'd be someone even higher than the highest peak!]
Ye Nan was also sizing up Lin Qingxuan, genuinely shaken by her astonishing figure!
Hearing Ye Nan's inner voice, Lin Qingrou mentally cursed him for being shameless while simultaneously glaring resentfully at Lin Qingxuan.
All she ever knew how to do was flaunt her sex appeal—what's so great about being a little bigger!
"Grandpa, this is Ye Nan," Lin Qingrou introduced.
Ye Nan stepped forward and smiled. "Hello, Elder Lin!"
"Ah! Good, good! Indeed a man of exceptional talent, truly a worthy disciple of the Taoist master!" Elder Lin nodded repeatedly at Ye Nan, beaming with delight.
Lin Qingrou listened in speechless silence nearby.
What on earth was so good about this guy? Isn't he just decent at some medical skills?
"Qingrou, are you satisfied with Ye Nan?" Elder Lin asked, looking up.
Lin Qingrou fell silent.
Of course she was a hundred percent dissatisfied.
Yet how could she voice that now?
"Sigh, young people have their own minds; Grandpa won't force you either," Elder Lin sighed, perceiving Lin Qingrou's thoughts. "Fortunately, I have two granddaughters, so I certainly won't let down the Taoist master's good intentions."
At these words, both Lin Qingrou and Ye Nan were stunned.
"Grandpa, what do you mean by that?" Lin Qingrou harbored a bad premonition.
"Qingrou, Ye Nan's master has instructed that Qingxuan is also destined to be with Ye Nan."
"If you aren't willing, this marriage can fall upon Qingxuan instead!"
"Of course, the final choice rests on who Ye Nan wishes to choose."
Ye Nan was dumbfounded.
So that's what the old bastard meant on the phone earlier!
Holy crap, if the older sister won't do, bring on the younger one!
Old man, you sure play games quite wildly!
Lin Qingrou was frozen as well, instinctively glancing at Lin Qingxuan. "Grandpa, this... isn't right. My matters—how can I force Qingxuan to stand in for me..."
"Sis, you're being too formal!" Lin Qingxuan giggled like silver bells, swaying her water-snake waist over to Ye Nan's side, and unhesitatingly wrapped her arms around Ye Nan's arm. "Besides, Sis, if you're not satisfied with this handsome young man, I am more than satisfied!"
One of Ye Nan's arms was sandwiched against her chest, and feeling that astonishing softness while his nostrils filled with Lin Qingxuan's clean fragrance, his mind went blank for a moment.
Lin Qingrou stood stunned for a moment before a nameless fire surged up in her heart.
Since childhood, the parents' favoritism belonged to you; in the future, the Haiqing Group that I build up will also belong to you.
And now you're even snatching away a lousy bodyguard right from my hands!
How could you?!
"When did I ever say I wasn't satisfied?" Lin Qingrou demanded with a frosty expression, glaring at Lin Qingxuan as she bit out every word. "Let go of your hand!"
Lin Qingxuan burst into another bout of flirtatious laughter, completely ignoring her and pressing her body even closer to Ye Nan.
"Alright, stop bickering!" Elder Lin chuckled helplessly, completely at his wit's end with these two granddaughters. "You still need to ask for young Ye Nan's opinion!"
With that, the three remaining pairs of eyes in the room snapped toward Ye Nan.
Ye Nan blinked and asked Elder Lin, "Um, Grandpa, no matter which one I pick, am I expected to marry into the family as a matrilocal son-in-law?"
Elder Lin nodded. "Ye Nan, our Lin family lacks male heirs, so I have to wrong you. This was also agreed upon between me and your master."
Ye Nan was utterly speechless.
[Damn it, since it's marrying into the family either way, of course this lord will pick the bigger one!]
Lin Qingrou: ? ? ? ! ! !
Chapter 4: The Old Woman Wept
Hearing Ye Nan's inner voice, Lin Qingrou knew she had lost again.
When that scumbag Ye Nan said "bigger," he certainly didn't mean older.
In an instant, Lin Qingrou's heart turned icy cold.
She didn't care about Ye Nan.
It was just that losing to her younger sister Lin Qingxuan yet again made her feel a profound sorrow for her own life.
"Elder, may I go out and have a word with Miss Qingxuan?" Ye Nan glanced at Lin Qingxuan and suddenly spoke up.
Elder Lin nodded knowingly, assuming Ye Nan was using this tactful way to make his choice.
"Alright, do as you please."
As Ye Nan and Lin Qingxuan walked out the door, Lin Qingrou finally lost her footing and slowly squatted down.
Elder Lin looked at this granddaughter with immense heartache, not knowing how to comfort her, and could only let out a helpless sigh.
...
Ye Nan and Lin Qingxuan walked out the door and made their way all the way to the sanatorium's garden.
Lin Qingxuan remained silent along the way, yet still wore a smiling, beaming expression as she clung to Ye Nan's arm.
"Miss Lin, your sister can't see us anymore. There's no need to hold on quite so tightly," Ye Nan said coolly after stopping in his tracks.
Lin Qingxuan started, looking at the man with a trace of surprise before flashing a seductive, teasing smile. "What? Is it uncomfortable to hold you? You insincere little man!"
Ye Nan was no fool; he could naturally see that the two sisters had a poor relationship.
Nor was he narcissistic enough to think Lin Qingxuan had fallen in love with him at first sight.
It was obvious she was using him to piss off her sister.
Ye Nan smiled and said nothing more, suddenly shooting out his right hand to grab Lin Qingxuan's left ear.
Before Lin Qingxuan could react, the earring on her left ear was snapped off by Ye Nan and pinched between his fingers.
"What are you doing?!" Lin Qingxuan finally flew into a rage, shoving Ye Nan away and reaching up to cup the chain hanging from her left ear.
"You stinking bodyguard, are you out of your mind?! Do you have any idea that this is a rare breed of sapphire? Selling off your entire family wouldn't cover the cost! Give it back to me right now! Give you an inch and you take a mile! You actually think this young lady would take a fancy to a poor loser like you?!"
Calmly casting her a glance, Ye Nan raised a hand and slapped the plump flesh below her waist. "Shut up! Be quiet!"
Instantly, a wave rippled outward.
How bouncy, how springy those waves were!
"Ah!" Caught off guard, Lin Qingxuan let out a yelp of alarm, both embarrassed and annoyed. "Bastard, how dare you hit me... hit me there!"
Ignoring her, Ye Nan pinched the sapphire pendant lightly between his right thumb and middle finger.
"Crack!"
The tiny sapphire instantly split in two.
Furious, Lin Qingxuan's two large melons heaved up and down as she prepared to hurl abuse all over again.
Yet she saw Ye Nan fish a miniature, delicate device out from between the two halves of the sapphire.
"What is this? How could there be something like this inside my earring?" Lin Qingxuan asked in astonishment.
"A bug," Ye Nan said in a low voice. "RK800, decent model, pretty new."
"A bug?!" Lin Qingxuan's seductive eyes widened as she covered her mouth in fright. "How could..."
Ye Nan said calmly, "You'd better thoroughly investigate the person who gave you those earrings."
Lin Qingxuan's delicate body trembled. "It's him..."
Before she could recover her wits, she was once again struck dumb with helplessness by the sight before her.
She watched as a wisp of golden-yellow flame materialized out of thin air in the center of Ye Nan's palm, reducing the micro-bug to ashes with a sizzle, scattering the residue into the wind.
"You... you..." Lin Qingxuan pointed at Ye Nan, utterly at a loss for words.
What kind of ability was this?!
Was he even human?!
"Miss Lin, I'm helping you out for Elder Lin's sake," Ye Nan said calmly, looking into her eyes. "As for the relationship between you and your sister, it has nothing to do with me. I don't like being used as a tool."
With that, Ye Nan turned and walked back toward the sanatorium building, leaving Lin Qingxuan standing stupidly in place, practically petrified.
...
In the driver's seat of the Lamborghini, Lin Qingrou rested her head on the steering wheel and wept silently.
She felt desperate and lonely, having already cried for over an hour.
To avoid worrying her grandfather, she had no choice but to put on a brave face and sneak into the car to cry in secret.
Suddenly, a car door clicked open, and someone climbed into the passenger seat.
Startled, Lin Qingrou let out a cry of alarm. Recognizing Ye Nan, her suppressed anger flared up uncontrollably, and she yelled, "Get lost!"
Ye Nan didn't speak, simply gazing at her with burning eyes.
[Sigh... this old woman is truly pitiful!]
[Judging by her mother's intent, she's going to be used for a commercial marriage, and the company she built with her own hands is about to be snatched away and given to her sister.]
[That sister isn't any good either, constantly giving her grief day in and day out.]
[Even the grandfather who dotes on her most is making her marry a total stranger she's never met.]
[Sigh... fine, fine, marrying into the family it is. I'll play the matrilocal son-in-law for a couple of days and divorce later!]
[Who told me I have a soft heart and can't bear to watch a woman cry!]
Hearing Ye Nan's sequence of inner thoughts, Lin Qingrou froze.
She never expected that the stinking bodyguard she looked down upon would be the one who best understood her grievances.
Yet Ye Nan's understanding at that moment provided her with an immensely precious outlet for her emotions.
No longer able to hold back, she buried her face in the steering wheel and burst into loud sobs.
"Hey, stop crying. Autumn's first cup of milk tea—you want some or not?" Ye Nan handed over a paper bag.
Lin Qingrou raised her head, tear-stained and pitiful, her long eyelashes still clinging to droplets of water, truly a heart-wrenching sight.
Snatching the milk tea from his hand, she thrust a straw into it and said coldly, "Didn't you choose Lin Qingxuan? What are you coming back to me for?"
"When did I say I chose her?" Ye Nan stretched lazily and drawled with casual indifference.
"Heh, she's bigger than me, sexier than me, softer than me, more charming than me! Isn't that what you men all like!" Lin Qingrou sneered.
"What good is being big!" Ye Nan blinked and smiled. "Can she grow a twenty-plus-millimeter lump like you? So you're the truly awesome one!"
Lin Qingrou almost choked to death all over again, gritting her teeth.
Oh, I just can't thank you enough for the compliment!!
The next moment, realization hit her hard.
Ye Nan had let it slip!
Earlier, Lin Qingrou had only mentioned that a friend of hers had a chest ache; she hadn't mentioned lumps at all!
Well, well, you jerk, and you still dare claim you don't know medicine?!
Fine, keep playing dumb! One of these days, I'll expose your true colors, you bastard!
Biting down viciously on the straw, Lin Qingrou took a fierce gulp of the milk tea.
"Mmph... cough cough cough cough..." The immensely bitter taste of the first mouthful almost made Lin Qingrou spit it right back out.
"Ye Nan! What the hell is this stuff? Is this meant for humans to drink?!"
Ye Nan had already slipped back into his meditation-like state of repose, speaking offhandedly, "Take it or leave it, don't regret it if you don't drink it."
Furious, Lin Qingrou was just about to smash the wretched concoction right into Ye Nan's face when a voice echoed in her mind.
[You ungrateful old woman, this master personally gathered the herbs, personally used inner qi to quickly brew it for you, and personally delivered it into your hands. Is there any all-inclusive service more professional than mine?!]
[Don't drink it then, keep that twenty-plus-millimeter lump as a family heirloom!]
Lin Qingrou fell silent.
She gripped the cup tightly, looking at Ye Nan with shimmering, autumn-water eyes, her emotions deeply complicated.
How was it that a trace of long-absent warmth had unexpectedly surfaced in her heart...
Without another word, Lin Qingrou endured the intense bitterness and drank the "milk tea" down to the last drop.
"Where are you going next?" Lin Qingrou asked suddenly.
"What kind of question is that?" Ye Nan sneered with a sarcastic, mocking tone. "I'm your Lin family's matrilocal son-in-law, where we go is entirely up to you to decide!"
Listening to the heavy resentment in his tone, he was clearly still brooding over marrying into the family.
For some inexplicable reason, seeing him displeased actually brought Lin Qingrou a tiny sliver of joy.
Just then, Lin Qingrou's phone suddenly rang.
"President Lin, where are you? Zhao Chuanping has come to the company, saying there's a problem with the land in the southern suburbs!"
Lin Qingrou frowned slightly. "I know, I'm heading back right now."
Hanging up the phone, Lin Qingrou pondered for a moment. "Come back to the company with me first."
Chapter 5: Being Incompetent Is a Sin!
The Haiqing Group.
This was a major enterprise founded single-handedly by Elder Lin in Jiangling City, now handed over entirely to Lin Qingrou for management.
"Qingrou, you're finally here!" Zhao Chuanping stood up from the sofa in the reception room, his eyes blazing with heat the moment he saw Lin Qingrou.
Ye Nan clearly saw this fellow rapidly scanning Lin Qingrou's curvaceous body up and down, feasting his eyes to the full.
[Holy crap! Where the hell are your scumbag eyes looking?!]
[The old woman is this lord's wife, keep staring and I'll gouge your dog eyes out!]
Lin Qingrou rolled her eyes in speechless silence.
Who's your wife!
Still, this feeling of being protected wasn't half bad.
"President Zhao, please address me by my full name, or call me President Lin." Frost coated Lin Qingrou's pretty face as she refused to give Zhao Chuanping a pleasant look.
Zhao Chuanping smiled. "That's too formal! Qingrou, both of our fathers and mothers give their strongest support to the two of us; we'll be a family soon enough!"
"My parents are my parents, and I am me!" Lin Qingrou said with a solemn expression and a raised voice. "President Zhao, I am only here to discuss business with you, and nothing more!"
[Oho, the old woman looks sharp!]
[With an aura like that, she's starting to look a bit like the 'Dark Emperor's Wife'!]
Hearing Ye Nan genuinely praising her in his mind for the first time, Lin Qingrou couldn't help feeling a little smug.
Yet, what was the "Dark Emperor"?
"Qingrou..." Seeing Lin Qingrou's resolute tone, Zhao Chuanping grew anxious, stepping forward to close the distance.
"Hey, hey, hey, back up, back up!"
Unable to stand it any longer, Ye Nan stepped directly in front of Lin Qingrou to block him. "Sorry, our President Lin has a delicate constitution and is allergic to unclean things. If you have something to say, stay right there and say it!"
Already displeased by Lin Qingrou's cold indifference, Zhao Chuanping flew into a rage at this. "What kind of onion are you?! Just a bodyguard talking to your master—is there any place for you to interrupt?! Get lost!"
Ye Nan's gaze instantly turned icy, a hint of murderous intent flashing across his brows.
How long had it been since he encountered someone daring to speak to him like that?
He had thought his enemies were all wiped out...
"President Zhao!" Lin Qingrou flared up as well. "He is a member of our company, please show some respect! State clearly what you came here for today!"
With Lin Qingrou speaking up, Ye Nan found it hard to act further and could only let her handle the formal business first.
Seeing Lin Qingrou's anger, Zhao Chuanping reined himself in slightly, smoothed out his emotions, and said with a cold face, "I'm here to inform you that the plot of land you bought in the southern suburbs—our Zhao Group cannot develop it!"
"Why?" Lin Qingrou frowned and asked.
That plot of land was the premier zone in the southern suburbs, which Lin Qingrou had spent countless amounts of energy to secure.
Afterward, a contract had been signed with the Zhao family, making them responsible for building a large commercial district on the land.
"Why? Heh, go see for yourself!"
Zhao Chuanping sneered inwardly, thinking to himself: *You hypocritical bitch, acting all chaste while giving me attitude every day—this time I'll make you crawl over and beg me to sleep with you!*
Without a word of nonsense, Lin Qingrou took Ye Nan and drove to the southern suburbs.
Naturally, Zhao Chuanping followed behind in his own car.
"President Lin, President Zhao, you're finally here!" The engineering supervisor at the construction site was immensely excited upon seeing Lin Qingrou and Zhao Chuanping.
"Master Zhang, what on earth happened?" Lin Qingrou asked.
"President Lin, this land... it's haunted!" Master Zhang said with a bitter expression. "You have no idea, on the very first day we broke ground, our men dug up a whole nest of venomous scorpions with a single shovel!"
"The next day we moved to a different spot and started digging again, and goodness me, a dozen green snakes came slithering straight out!"
"On the third day, we invited an experienced master to take a look. He pinpointed a location, and with one strike of the mattock, we broke straight into a massive termite nest!"
"Now all the workers think this land is jinxed; nobody dares to touch it anymore!"
Shocked and suspicious, Lin Qingrou asked, "How could this be? Before this land was auctioned off, a Feng Shui master specifically inspected it. The Feng Shui is exceptionally good—you couldn't find a few places in the entire Jiangling City to match it. It shouldn't be like this!"
"Right, I'm baffled too!" Master Zhang said, looking distressed. "The workers are on strike now, so you see..."
Lin Qingrou fell into silent contemplation.
Beside her, Zhao Chuanping sneered, "President Lin, our two companies' contract is written in black and white. Now that construction can't proceed because of the land issue, all losses incurred by the Zhao Group must be borne by your Haiqing!"
Lin Qingrou's heart sank.