Chapter 6

She was only thinking about canceling the contract as soon as she made her comeback, completely failing to think about this from another perspective! [Yet how on earth can I bring this up to the old woman?] [Sigh... the old woman isn't very bright, she reacts slowly, she's petty, and she holds grudges forever. If I tell her not to cancel the contract with Zhao Chuanping, she'll probably go crazy with anger!] [Whatever, whatever, let her do as she pleases. It's not my company anyway; I'm just a kept husband, I can just focus on living off a wealthy wife. Why bother sticking my nose into all this!]

In an instant, Ye Nan slipped right back into his slacking mindset, though his face assumed an earnest expression as he gave Lin Qingrou a thumbs-up. "President Lin is brilliant! Long live the cancellation!"

The corners of Lin Qingrou's mouth began to twitch again. Her ladyship holds grudges?! Her brain isn't bright?! She reacts slowly?! You just wait, you son of a bitch!

"Tang Min, forget everything I just said," Lin Qingrou suddenly spoke, her tone grave. "Notify the Business Department: that's it, we are not canceling the contract!"

"Huh?" Tang Min was startled. What on earth was going on? President Lin had never had such a bad habit of changing her mind on a whim! Why was she acting so impulsive all of a sudden? Didn't the guy named Ye Nan just support that decision? Could it be... were the young couple having a domestic spat? *You say it's good, so I'll just do the opposite?*

Grief gripped Tang Min's heart as she mentally filled in a whole melodramatic romance trope. *Oh, President Lin, we simply cannot be a love-struck fool! That's the stuff of eight o'clock soap operas!* *Business is business!*

She decided to offer frank counsel. "President Lin, is this really a good idea? Given the current situation of the Zhao Group, canceling the contract genuinely aligns with our best interests. Why have you suddenly changed your mind?"

Ye Nan was somewhat bewildered as well. *Is this old woman playing ping-pong with me over here?*

Facing Tang Min's question, Lin Qingrou remained unruffled and cleared her throat. "I naturally have my reasons."

With that, she repeated the contents she had just overheard from Ye Nan's inner voice, using her own words. From beginning to end, not a single meaning was altered. One might call it a flawless "Chinese-to-Chinese" translation.

As Lin Qingrou recounted the reasoning, Tang Min's expression gradually shifted. Her initial doubt and dissatisfaction slowly gave way to astonishment and deep thought, culminating in a sudden flash of complete understanding, profound admiration, and a deep sense of her own inadequacy.

"What a brilliant idea, President Lin!" Tang Min wasn't trying to curry favor; she raised her thumb in genuine sincerity. "Not canceling the contract truly brings us a hundred benefits without a single drawback! How on earth did I fail to consider this earlier? As expected of President Lin—your foresight is profound, your vision long-term, and your macro perspective grand!"

This string of praises made Lin Qingrou feel somewhat lightheaded, a smile blooming at the corners of her mouth. She knew very well that Tang Min was a pragmatic doer who never excelled at flattery; these words just now were her irrepressible, heartfelt truth.

*This feeling is fantastic!*

What? Was this plagiarism? The old woman made it clear she didn't care at all. Her ladyship fed him and provided for him; even if you raise a pig, you eventually slaughter it for meat. Right now, she was just taking a single idea from him—that was entirely fair!

Ye Nan was also somewhat surprised, casting a new look of appraisal at Lin Qingrou. [Huh? Did this old woman suddenly get a flash of insight?] [She actually managed to think along the same lines as me!] [Though she was a beat behind, it's still pretty rare.] [Fine, good performance this time. I'll add ten points for you!] [Out of a total of one hundred, old woman—you still have a long way to go, keep working hard!]

Lin Qingrou was left speechless once more. Her ladyship could score a hundred points purely on her looks and figure, thank you very much!

After giving Tang Min a few more instructions, Lin Qingrou dismissed her to handle her tasks. Having wrapped up the day's work in a routine manner, she turned her head to look at Ye Nan, only to find that this fellow had already slumped over his desk and fallen asleep!

Lin Qingrou flicked her wrist and hurled a document right at him! "Smack!"

Without even lifting his head, as if he possessed a heavenly third eye, Ye Nan reached out and caught the folder with absolute precision, placing it right back on the desk. "Cut it out, let me sleep for a bit. I was busy all night..." Ye Nan mumbled hazily.

Lin Qingrou felt her teeth itch with anger. *Were you busy all night with my affairs? You must have been busy with some other woman!* "Do I pay you a salary just for you to come here and sleep?!" Lin Qingrou demanded angrily.

"You don't have to pay me, and I can just go home and sleep," Ye Nan said lazily. "I'm a kept husband anyway, you support me."

Lin Qingrou's face darkened again. What you said... makes an awful lot of sense!

Just as she was about to explode, the intercom phone on her desk suddenly rang. After answering it, she discovered the person on the other end was none other than Lin Qingxuan. "Sis, is Brother-in-law with you?" Lin Qingxuan's tone sounded rather urgent.

Lin Qingrou paused, then recovered and glanced at Ye Nan, who was still slumped over sleeping. "What nonsense are you shouting? Who is your brother-in-law?!" "Sis, I have an emergency, I'm begging you!"

Lin Qingrou frowned. This good younger sister of hers had never spoken to her in such a submissive tone before. After a moment of thought, Lin Qingrou still called out to Ye Nan, "Come over and take the call!" "Me?"

Ye Nan raised his head, looking somewhat surprised, and walked over to pick up the receiver. "Hello, who is this?" "Brother-in-law, save me!"

Ye Nan narrowed his eyes. Lin Qingxuan? "What's going on? Tell me slowly," Ye Nan said calmly. "It's... Wan Jiukui!" When Lin Qingxuan uttered that name, her tone was steeped in terror. "He... he wants to see you, or else he won't let me leave! Brother-in-law, please hurry over..."

Wan Jiukui? Ye Nan had been in Jiangling for a good few days now, and he had indeed heard that name. This man was the notoriously formidable underground overlord of Jiangling, and even the entirety of Zhongzhou! He had actually kidnapped Lin Qingxuan and specifically demanded to see him? In that case, were those punks from last night his men as well?

"Where are you right now?" "The Riverside Club on Lakeside Road!" "Wait there. I'm on my way!"

Ye Nan hung up the phone. Lin Qingrou had already overheard Ye Nan's inner thoughts and roughly understood what had happened. She was both furious and anxious. She assumed this younger sister of hers, who never accomplished anything and only ruined things, had provoked someone as dangerous as Wan Jiukui and dragged Ye Nan into it as well!

"I'm going out for a bit." Ye Nan's tone remained calm and casual. Lin Qingrou panicked. "Don't go! You should just call the police!"

Ye Nan gave her a strange look. This woman seemed to know what he was about to do... Realizing that in her panic she had almost exposed her ability to hear Ye Nan's inner voice, Lin Qingrou stammered hurriedly, "I... I just heard it in Qingxuan's tone, it sounded like something major happened..." "It's nothing, a small issue. I'll go bring her back."

With that, Ye Nan walked straight out of the office. Lin Qingrou grew even more frantic and worried. That was Wan Jiukui! And you call it a small issue? If you're going to put on a tough act, this really isn't the time for it!

In her anxiety, Lin Qingrou used the intercom to summon Tang Min.

...

Downstairs, just as Ye Nan stepped out of the company's front doors, a familiar voice echoed from behind him. "Secretary Ye! Wait for me!"

He looked back to see none other than Tang Min, the assistant with the explosive figure. Running desperately to catch up with him while wearing high heels and taking quick little steps, those two majestic assets instantly surged with magnificent waves—truly a spectacular sight!

"Hah..." Panting heavily as she reached Ye Nan, Tang Min patted her chest to catch her breath. "Secretary Ye, President Lin told me to drive you."

Tang Min found it rather strange, too. President Lin had told her to drive Ye Nan and instructed her to report his exact destination back to her at any time. What on earth was the relationship between these two?

Ye Nan, however, only smiled helplessly. *That old woman...* What good was sending a woman to tag along with him?

"Sorry to trouble you, then." Ye Nan didn't refuse. In his mind, Wan Jiukui was nothing more than a slightly more successful hoodlum; it didn't amount to any real danger.

The Riverside Club was quite a distance from the Haiqing Company. Tang Min drove the company car while Ye Nan sat in the passenger seat, closing his eyes to rest. Halfway through the drive, Tang Min's phone suddenly rang. Glancing at the caller ID, Tang Min frowned and directly rejected the call.

However, the caller was remarkably persistent, ringing right back up a moment later. Just like that, Tang Min rejected the call five or six times in a row.

Ye Nan was starting to lose his patience. He hadn't slept well last night and was hoping to catch up on some rest during the ride. "Assistant... Tang, is it?" "Yes, Mr. Ye!" Unsure of Ye Nan's exact relationship with President Lin, Tang Min kept her tone strictly official and polite. "Phones nowadays actually have quite powerful features," Ye Nan said indomitably.

Tang Min was somewhat baffled. "Huh?" "For example..." Ye Nan took out his phone and opened his contacts. "If you tap here, and then tap here... well, look at that! The person you don't want to deal with gets added to your blocklist! Don't you find that magical?"

Tang Min froze for a moment before she realized he was taking a jab at her! Instantly, she was torn between amusement and anger. She was already in an irritable mood because of the person calling her, and here was Ye Nan making sarcastic remarks! "Heh, well I'm terribly sorry for disturbing your precious sleep!"

Annoyed, Tang Min got into the car, threw her head back, and closed her eyes. *What do you take me for, your personal chauffeur?!* "It's fine, I don't hold grudges," Ye Nan chuckled, closing his eyes again.

Tang Min felt another surge of stifled rage. It was her first time encountering someone this thick-skinned.

Yet the caller remained relentless, bombarding her with call after call for several minutes straight! Driven to the edge of distraction, the next time the phone rang, Ye Nan snatched it right out of her hand and hit answer. "Hello, who the hell is this? Are you ever going to finish, won't you let a guy sleep?!" Ye Nan snapped, his temper flaring. "What are you doing?!" Tang Min cried out in shock and anger, too late to stop him.

The person on the other end fell silent for a second before a man's voice rang out, gnashing his teeth, "You the pretty boy that bitch found? Where's that bitch Xiao Min?" "Damn it, giving me a green hat! If you've got the guts, tell me where you are, or my name isn't Zhang if I don't hack you to pieces!"

Ye Nan was left speechless. So it really was a young couple having a lover's quarrel. Still, this guy had zero class—picking fights and shouting threats before even getting his facts straight. As it happened, Ye Nan wasn't in the most pleasant of moods either, so...

"Oh, Xiao Min? She's taking a shower!" "Sorry, buddy, my pace was a bit too intense just now, she's kind of tired and fell asleep. We'll talk about other things later!"

With that, Ye Nan hung up right on the spot, added the number to the blocklist for good measure, and tossed the phone to the side.

Tang Min was utterly dumbfounded! *Taking a shower??* *The pace was a bit too intense?!* *What kind of wild, brazen words were those?!*

"Are you out of your mind?!" Tang Min exploded. "What right do you have to snatch my phone! What right do you have to answer my call!" "Do you know that based on what you just said, I can sue you for sexual harassment?!"

Ye Nan remained completely unbothered. "I was helping you out." "Get lost!" Tang Min's pretty face flushed red with fury. "I'm going to report this word-for-word to President Lin! Just wait to pack your bags and get fired!"

Ye Nan chuckled instantly. "I couldn't wish for anything more! Thank you, kind stranger!" If the old woman fired him so he didn't have to work, that would be absolute bliss! Ah... ideally, she'd kick him out completely so he wouldn't even have to be a kept husband anymore. Perfect!

Unaware of his inner thoughts and assuming he was just trying to provoke her, a furious Tang Min picked up her phone and called Lin Qingrou directly. After recounting the situation in detail, she expected President Lin to uphold justice for her, but instead...

"All right, I know. I'll reprimand and educate him." "Remember what I told you—report the situation to me at any time!"

After a couple of perfunctory remarks, Lin Qingrou hung up. Tang Min was once again struck dumb. President Lin, who had always appreciated and favored her, wasn't going to back her up this time?! *Reprimand and educate?* *Just like that?!*

With a belly full of anger and nowhere to vent it, Tang Min could only slam her phone down hard.

Ye Nan was also somewhat disappointed. He had underestimated the old woman's infatuation with him!

For the rest of the trip, the two of them exchanged not another word. Half an hour later, the car pulled up in front of the Riverside Club. "You can head back first," Ye Nan said casually as he stepped out of the vehicle. "I'll wait here for you. Call my number if anything happens." With a cold face, Tang Min handed Ye Nan a business card printed with her phone number.

Even if she had ten thousand objections in her heart, she couldn't disobey President Lin's orders. Accepting the card with an indifferent shrug, Ye Nan walked straight into the club.

...

Inside a VIP private room at the Riverside Club. "President Zhou, come, let me toast you once more!"

Dressed in a sharp business suit, Wan Jiukui wore an expression entirely mismatched with his fierce, scar-tissue-laden, menacing face. He raised his glass, smiling ingratiatingly at the dignified, imposing middle-aged man sitting opposite him. "Mhm." The middle-aged man gave a slight nod, raised his glass, and took a polite, minimal sip.

Judging by his demeanor, he looked down upon a figure like Wan Jiukui. "President Zhou, please sit for a moment, I have a tiny matter to take care of!" After finishing his drink, Wan Jiukui said cautiously.

The middle-aged man waved a hand dismissively without uttering a single syllable. Only then did Wan Jiukui stand up and back out of the private room.

"Lord Kui, a mere president of the Chamber of Commerce Alliance—at the end of the day, he's just a stinking businessman. Do we really need to pander to him like this?" Right outside the door, one of Wan Jiukui's trusted subordinates looked puzzled.

"Shut your trap!" Wan Jiukui glared at him fiercely. "What the hell do you know!" "On the surface, Zhou Ruhai is merely the president of the Chamber of Commerce Alliance, but his actual background is extraordinary. It's possible..." Lowering his voice with a grave expression, Wan Jiukui pointed northward. "...that it's connected to *that* side!" "The Capital?!" the subordinate gasped in shock.

"Keep your voice down!" Wan Jiukui rebuked, then instructed, "Treat him with the utmost care! Where is that Lin Qingxuan?" "In private room A3!" Hesitating slightly, the subordinate added, "Lord Kui, we were entrusted by Lin Zhenghai to deal with Ye Nan, but now we've gone and kidnapped Lin Zhenghai's daughter to handle business instead. Is that..." "As long as the job gets done, it doesn't matter!" Wan Jiukui said dismissively. "A Lin Zhenghai is worth squat; the only reason I'm willing to help him out is to give him face!"

Right at that moment, a series of screams suddenly echoed from not far away. "Private room A3!" Wan Jiukui's subordinate cried out. "Let's move!" Wan Jiukui, being a seasoned boss, didn't panic in the face of trouble.

Meanwhile, inside private room A3, Ye Nan had dropped two guarding thugs with a pair of punches and kicked the door wide open. His sense of smell was exceptionally sharp, and he still remembered the scent of Lin Qingxuan's perfume. Following the trail, he had tracked it straight to room A3.

Several of his senior martial sisters used to tease him about it. The old bastard had soaked Ye Nan in various medicinal herbs since childhood to strengthen his physical faculties; a ten-year-old Ye Nan could match the tracking capability of eight police dogs all by himself!

"Ah!" As the door was kicked open, a startled scream rang out from within. "Brother-in-law!"

Spotting Ye Nan, Lin Qingxuan leaped up in joyful surprise, transforming into a fragrant breeze as she threw herself straight into his arms. "Wuuu... Brother-in-law, you finally came! You scared me to death!"

Ninety-nine percent of Ye Nan turned to mush on the spot. The remaining one percent, however, surged with hyperactive excitement! *Good grief, you're charging with your two melons—that's a foul!* With those two massive melons crashing into him, Ye Nan experienced a bout of severe cardiac arrhythmia... *Internal injuries!*

"Uh... Miss Lin, according to the script, our relationship doesn't seem to be set up like this!" Ye Nan said somewhat helplessly. With pearly tears on her cheeks, Lin Qingxuan looked up at Ye Nan, blinking her large eyes with a pitiful expression. "Brother-in-law, you're so petty, still holding a grudge!"

Ye Nan was left crying and laughing. *Great, this wicked woman's character design has completely collapsed as well...* "Let go of me first," Ye Nan said helplessly. "Not letting go!" Like a beautiful serpente, Lin Qingxuan wriggled in Ye Nan's arms. "I'm scared!" "I'm going to have to fight in a moment!" Ye Nan didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "You do your fighting, I'll do my hugging, it doesn't interfere." "My whole body's gone soft, what am I supposed to fight with?!" Exasperated, Ye Nan gave her a light tap on the head.

As if sensing something, Lin Qingxuan let go of Ye Nan in a flurry of panic. "Who says my whole body... you pervert brother-in-law!" Her pretty, vibrant face flushed crimson as she cast a deeply bashful, sideways glance at Ye Nan.

Ye Nan was speechless. That one percent of "stubbornness" definitely wasn't meant for fighting men...

Right at that moment, a flurry of footsteps sounded. Wan Jiukui had arrived with his subordinates! Terrified, Lin Qingxuan hurriedly hid behind Ye Nan's back.

"So you're the damn Ye Nan?" Wan Jiukui pulled out a pack of cigarettes, shook one out into his mouth, and had a lackey smartly step forward to light it.

Catching sight of the brand of cigarettes Wan Jiukui was smoking, Ye Nan's eyes lit up. That was a grade higher than the pack he'd snatched from Brother Qiang last time! Redhead, who had previously been educated by Ye Nan's iron fists, was cowering in the crowd; seeing Ye Nan fixate on Lord Kui's cigarette, his body involuntarily gave a little tremor.

"Originally, someone paid a price to buy your four limbs," Wan Jiukui exhaled a stream of smoke in a suave manner, narrowing his eyes into a gloomy glare. "But since you've beaten up my brothers twice, this matter isn't going to be so easy to settle!"

With a faint smile, Ye Nan asked playfully, "Then what do you want to do about it?" "Four limbs plus one more!" Wan Jiukui laughed coldly. "Besides, once your four limbs are crippled, that thing of yours won't be of any use anyway. Being kind-hearted, Lord Kui here is just helping you cut off all vain hopes once and for all!"

Hiding behind Ye Nan, Lin Qingxuan muttered under her breath upon hearing this, "Perverted brother-in-law, now my whole body really has gone soft..."

Ye Nan didn't know whether to laugh or cry. How could this sister-in-law of his be such an absolute one-of-a-kind specimen? Her looks and figure were top-tier, and her personality was just as extreme. "Brother-in-law, what are you waiting for? Do something!" Lin Qingxuan tugged at Ye Nan's sleeve. "Do you want my sister to live as a widow?!"

Ye Nan rolled his eyes. *How can this girl love watching the world burn so much!* "There are so many of them, how do you know I can beat them?" Ye Nan retorted irritably. "With how strong you are, how could you possibly lose!" Excitement flashed in Lin Qingxuan's large eyes. "Brother-in-law, use your little flame to toast their faces!"

Last time, Ye Nan had generated fire in his palm and burned the bug hidden inside her earring, leaving her deeply shocked and endlessly fascinated.