Only a few wall lamps were turned on in the room.
The warm yellow light cast a soft filter over the otherwise cold-toned décor.
Xie Peijin had already taken off his coat and was wearing only a neatly pressed dark blue shirt.
He lounged casually in the main sofa, long legs crossed, his slender fingers holding an exquisite teacup—
yet the cup contained dark red wine.
His posture was far too relaxed, far too natural.
So much so that he looked more like the true master of the villa than Zhou Wangye, who had just entered.
Zhou Wangye’s gaze swept across the coffee table.
It paused briefly on the already opened bottle of Romanée-Conti, then fell on the cup in Xie Peijin’s hand.
His brows moved almost imperceptibly.
Maintaining the politeness expected of a junior, he said,
“There are wine glasses in the study. A brand-new limited edition set from last year’s auction. If you don’t mind, Uncle, I can have someone bring them.”
At that, the corner of Xie Peijin’s lips curved faintly.
He lifted his eyes and glanced at Zhou Wangye.
“Who says red wine must be drunk from a wine glass?”
Without waiting for an answer, he raised the cup to his lips.
He didn’t look like someone savoring an expensive wine—
rather like someone casually drinking an ordinary cup of black tea.
But the movement of his throat as he swallowed, along with the calm authority surrounding him, gave this improper act an undeniable sense of power.
With a crisp tap,
the porcelain cup holding the expensive wine was set back on the table.
Zhou Wangye looked at the cup and felt an inexplicable tightening in his chest.
He sat down silently on the single sofa across from him, swallowing all his questions and waiting for his unpredictable uncle to speak first.
The air filled with the rich scent of red wine—and silent confrontation.
Xie Peijin didn’t keep him waiting long.
His fingers tapped lightly against his knee before he spoke bluntly,
“Tell me. What’s going on with that female secretary?”
Zhou Wangye’s heart tightened, but his expression remained calm.
“You noticed, Uncle?”
Xie Peijin didn’t answer. He merely raised an eyebrow.
Under the dim light, those deep eyes seemed to smile faintly, as if saying—
Do I look blind to you?
The silent pressure spread through the air.
Zhou Wangye carefully chose his words.
“I asked He Sheng to keep an eye on her because she’s carrying my supplies in her spatial storage. Everything else can be dealt with once we return to the Beijing base.”
Xie Peijin chuckled softly, his fingers slowly rubbing the rim of the teacup.
“What a big heart you have.”
Those words pierced through the calm Zhou Wangye was trying to maintain.
He hadn’t even mentioned Lin Ran, yet his uncle seemed to have already seen through the entire situation.
Zhou Wangye opened his mouth, wanting to say something.
He wanted to say that Lin Ran was his… sister, and ask his uncle not to set his sights on her.
But the words stopped in his throat.
Instead, he chose a safer reason.
“Uncle, Lin Ran’s mother once saved my mother and Yi’an’s lives. I hope that for the sake of that favor, you won’t…”
He suddenly stopped, realizing how ridiculous his words sounded.
His uncle had only glanced at Lin Ran.
What could that possibly mean?
This was Xie Peijin, a man who wasn’t even interested in the daughter of the U.S. president.
How could he possibly be interested in a girl like Lin Ran—so naïve she was almost foolish?
That glance earlier…
was probably just his own imagination.
A faint smile lingered on Xie Peijin’s lips.
“Why did you stop?” he asked in a low voice, filled with amusement, as if he saw through everything. “I was just getting interested.”
Zhou Wangye lowered his eyes, hiding the emotions surging inside.
“There’s really nothing,” he said calmly, as if trying to convince both the other person and himself. “When we return to Beijing, Lin Ran will naturally understand my arrangements. Right now she’s just throwing a childish tantrum.”
The explanation sounded reasonable.
Even he himself believed it.
Xie Peijin didn’t pursue the matter further.
He lifted the teacup elegantly and casually shifted the conversation to the latest movements among the various powers in Beijing.
Names and political schemes flowed between his words, every sentence hiding deeper meaning.
Zhou Wangye sat upright, listening carefully to every analysis, not daring to miss a single detail.
But deep inside, the tightly wound string in his heart loosened slightly.
It seemed he had overthought things.
Someone as noble and distant as his uncle—how could he possibly develop a special interest in Lin Ran?
After thinking about it carefully, there was an 11-year age gap between them.
Even Zhou Wangye himself sometimes thought of Lin Ran as nothing more than a troublesome child.
Let alone someone like Xie Peijin, who stood above the world and had seen everything.
Looking back now, his earlier worries seemed almost laughable.
Morning came.
Lin Ran finally stopped training.
Thanks to the spirit spring water, she hadn’t slept all night but didn’t feel tired at all.
Instead, she felt energetic.
The only pity was that although her control over her abilities had improved, her levels hadn’t increased.
No one ate breakfast together.
Instead, everyone ate casually in their own rooms.
Lin Ran took out the hot pot ingredients she had collected earlier in RDC from her space and started cooking hot pot directly in her room.
She chose a spicy hot pot base.
Feeling it wasn’t spicy enough, she even added double the chili.
Beef rolls, lamb slices, shrimp paste, all kinds of seafood—
everything went into the pot.
Who said you couldn’t eat hot pot in the morning?
Before transmigrating into the book, she hadn’t eaten hot pot for half a year.
She had been craving it desperately.
If it weren’t for returning too late last night, she would have eaten it earlier.
Besides, everyone already knew she had a spatial ability.
There was no need to hide it.
She could openly use the supplies in her space.
Zhou Yi’an’s room was right next door, and the smell of hot pot drew him over.
The two of them began eating together.
While fighting over the food, Zhou Yi’an warned her again to stay away from their uncle.
Lin Ran nodded absentmindedly—she had already planned to do that anyway.
“Hey! Why did you eat all the sweet shrimp while I was talking?”
“You’re one to talk! Didn’t all the shrimp paste go into your mouth?”
“Don’t be so stingy. I know you still have plenty in your space. Ran-jie, put in more shrimp paste.”
“Beg me and I will.”
“Good sister, please—add two more packs!”
When Zhou Wangye passed by, he saw the two of them fighting over food and shook his head with a smile.
Still children.
So what exactly had he been worrying about all night?
He reminded them,
“Eat quickly and prepare to board the plane. Don’t be late.”
Lin Ran ignored him completely.
Zhou Yi’an had no choice but to answer,
“Okay, brother. We’ll clean up soon.”
After finishing her meal, Lin Ran lay down on the sofa and had no intention of moving.
She left all the cleaning to Zhou Yi’an.
The boy had never done chores before, so he fumbled around awkwardly.
At one point he even knocked over the bowl of sauce and had to return to his room to change clothes.
After Zhou Yi’an left, Aunt Lan personally came to Lin Ran’s room to wait for her so they could board the plane together.
Naturally, she repeated another long series of warnings, afraid Lin Ran might accidentally anger Xie Peijin.
Lin Ran obediently promised,
“From now on, I’ll stay two meters away from my brother, and double that distance from uncle—four meters. That should be enough, right?”
Xie Jilan sighed.
“Silly child. You only need to stay away from your uncle. You don’t need to stay that far from your brother. Didn’t you want to marry him since you were little?”
Lin Ran opened her mouth, wanting to talk about what happened at the harbor last night.
But after a moment, she swallowed the complaint.
She wasn’t the original Lin Ran.
She wasn’t that foolish.
Aunt Lan loved her, but she was still Zhou Wangye’s biological mother.
It wouldn’t be appropriate to complain about her own son.
So Lin Ran acted coquettishly.
“Aunt Lan, I already told you. I don’t like my brother anymore. I just misunderstood before. Now I only think of him as a real brother.”
Aunt Lan said aloud,
“Alright, alright. Our Ranran doesn’t like your brother anymore.”
But in her heart, she didn’t believe it at all.
After all, she had personally seen how deeply Ranran used to like her eldest son.
She simply thought the girl was acting out of anger.
Lin Ran knew she didn’t believe her, but she didn’t bother explaining further.
After more than ten years of entanglement, a few words from her wouldn’t clear everything up.
After everyone boarded the plane, they found their seats.
When Lin Ran saw Zhou Wangye approaching, she snorted coldly and switched seats, moving far away from him to sit beside He Sheng.
He Sheng: …
My young lady… what’s wrong with you now?