The security guard cleared his throat, his tone softening considerably. “It’s not that I won’t open the gate for you. The system has put you on the blacklist, and I don’t have the authority to override it.”
“Either you find someone higher up to fix it, or you can just walk out yourselves.”
After saying that, the guard waved his hand, signaling Zhou Jinyuan to move the car aside so he would not block others.
With no other option, Zhou Jinyuan reversed the car and parked it by the roadside.
Lin Wangxi glanced at him. “What do we do now?”
She had not expected that after coming to give a lecture, they would end up unable to drive the car out.
Zhou Jinyuan was probably the only one in this situation.
“It’s fine.” Zhou Jinyuan took out his phone and began scrolling through his contacts.
He made a call and explained the situation.
Lin Wangxi faintly heard an elderly man on the other end scolding him, saying he had embarrassed him by doing something sneaky like this.
She guessed it was probably his teacher.
But in the end, the man still agreed to help.
After hanging up, Zhou Jinyuan suddenly looked at her.
His direct gaze made Lin Wangxi’s scalp tingle. “Why are you looking at me like that?”
Zhou Jinyuan said, “Why haven’t I heard you speak in that voice before?”
Lin Wangxi froze for a moment, then realized he was referring to the cutesy tone she had used earlier.
That was a voice she used when begging for items in games, dealing with difficult elders in the Lin family, or sometimes just to annoy people. She normally did not use it.
And in front of Zhou Jinyuan, she had never needed to.
A mischievous thought stirred again. She leaned closer to him with a grin. “What? You want to hear it? Then let me kiss you.”
Zhou Jinyuan’s body stiffened slightly.
Lin Wangxi grabbed his arm and said in a sweet, affected tone, “Let me kiss you, darling.”
“…”
Zhou Jinyuan stared at her sly eyes for a long moment, then suddenly turned his head away.
“I’ll go check if they’ve arrived.”
After saying that, he pushed open the car door and got out without looking back.
Lin Wangxi loved seeing him like this—flustered and awkward. It was especially amusing.
She followed him out of the car and went up beside him, continuing, “Why are you running? Are you shy?”
“Stop messing around.” Zhou Jinyuan looked elsewhere, as if waiting for someone, or as if he simply did not want to deal with her.
Lin Wangxi looped her arm through his and smiled. “Who’s messing around? You were the one who asked first.”
Zhou Jinyuan acted as if he had not heard her.
Finding it boring, Lin Wangxi dropped the act and returned to her normal voice. “What are we eating later?”
This time, he responded. Turning to her, he asked, “What do you want to eat?”
Lin Wangxi tilted her head and thought for a moment.
Countless restaurant names flashed through her mind, but when her gaze fell on the pilled sleeve of Zhou Jinyuan’s shirt, she swallowed the words.
“Aren’t you the one treating me? How would I know? I just want something good.”
Zhou Jinyuan looked at her smiling eyes, paused briefly, and said, “Let’s go to the place you mentioned last time.”
“Which one?”
“Imperial Kitchen.”
Lin Wangxi froze, then quickly shook her head. “No, that place requires a reservation. You didn’t book it, so what’s the point? Let’s go somewhere else.”
Zhou Jinyuan watched her silently, catching the fleeting panic in her expression.
His lips moved slightly, but in the end, he only pressed them together more tightly.
Just then, a Bentley slowly pulled up and stopped in front of them.
The driver’s door opened, and a man in a suit and white gloves stepped out, jogging to the back seat to respectfully open the door.
A man wearing a vest and shirt, with sunglasses on his face, stepped out of the car.
He walked toward them leisurely.
When Lin Wangxi saw him, the smile on her face froze, and she instinctively moved behind Zhou Jinyuan.
But the man had already noticed her and continued walking toward them.
“Hm?” The man lowered his head slightly and pulled down his sunglasses. “Isn’t this my fiancée?”
Lin Wangxi froze. Zhou Jinyuan, standing beside her, also froze and instinctively looked at her.
Lin Wangxi looked at him with disdain. “Shen Che, what nonsense are you talking about? Who is your fiancée?”
Shen Che pushed his sunglasses back up and slipped his hands into his pockets. “If your family hadn’t run into trouble, we’d already be engaged by the end of this year. If not fiancée, then what?”
“I never agreed!” Lin Wangxi retorted irritably. “Besides, you said things changed, so obviously it doesn’t count anymore.”
Shen Che said lazily, “They didn’t say they’d stop recognizing you as their daughter. I think it still counts.”
“Who asked what you think? Who do you think you are?”
While the two of them bickered back and forth, Zhou Jinyuan stood to the side, completely ignored.
“Alright, alright, you’re right.” Shen Che waved his hand casually, as if surrendering, ending the pointless argument. Then his gaze shifted to Zhou Jinyuan.
“And this is?” he asked, raising his chin slightly, his tone carrying a hint of condescension.
Zhou Jinyuan was about to speak when Lin Wangxi answered first, “He’s my boyfriend.”
Zhou Jinyuan froze again and cast a deep glance at her.
Shen Che’s expression remained calm, as if he was not surprised at all. He let out a soft laugh.
“I’ve heard about your little boyfriend for a while. Finally get to meet him today.”
Lin Wangxi did not refute him. Instead, she asked suspiciously, “What are you doing here?”
“Old Qin told me one of his students got stuck at the school gate and couldn’t get out. I happened to be passing by, so I came to handle it. Don’t tell me it’s this boyfriend of yours?”
Zhou Jinyuan pressed his lips together and said nothing.
He simply did not know what to say.
If he had known Qin Zhengguo would send this man, he would rather abandon the car altogether.
Lin Wangxi cut in, “Stop chatting. Aren’t you here to help? Hurry up then.”
Shen Che looked at her with amusement. “Look at you, so eager to defend your boyfriend. Have you considered how your fiancé feels?”
“You—”
Lin Wangxi was about to snap when suddenly, her hand was grasped.
She looked down—it was Zhou Jinyuan.
She froze. As far as she remembered, this was the first time he had been so主动.
For a moment, she forgot what she was about to say.
Zhou Jinyuan did not look at her. His gaze met Shen Che’s directly, without any avoidance.
Shen Che naturally noticed the gesture and let out a soft laugh, though there was a trace of disdain in it.
Zhou Jinyuan said, “Thank you, Mr. Shen, for making the trip. There’s no need to trouble yourself.”
A faint smile lingered on Shen Che’s lips as he looked at him through his sunglasses. “Mr. Zhou, Xixi is still young and doesn’t understand things. She tends to act impulsively. But you, I believe, are someone reasonable.”
The implication was clear—she might not understand, but he should.
Zhou Jinyuan replied calmly, “Mr. Shen is right. A reasonable person would not call himself someone’s fiancé without that person’s consent.”
The smile on Shen Che’s lips stiffened slightly.
The playful curve of his mouth sharpened.
“Besides, this is a matter between her and me. Since you’re not engaged yet, isn’t Mr. Shen overstepping a bit?”
Shen Che slowly withdrew his smile and let out a soft scoff.
“You do have quite a sharp tongue. No wonder this girl is so taken with you. You must use that silver tongue on her quite a bit.”
Zhou Jinyuan said, “Mr. Shen’s eloquence is no less impressive. You must have many admirers.”
His words were polite, but the implication was clear.
If Shen Che was so good with words, why had he not managed to win Lin Wangxi over?
And Shen Che understood it perfectly.
Maintaining his smile, he ignored Zhou Jinyuan and turned to Lin Wangxi. “Xixi, I hope you won’t regret this.”
Lin Wangxi glared at him and tilted her chin defiantly. “Don’t worry. That day will never come!”
Shen Che smiled without responding and turned to walk back to his Bentley.
After he got into the car and it slowly drove away from the school gate, Lin Wangxi suddenly remembered something.
She turned to Zhou Jinyuan. “Wait! Didn’t he forget to fix the gate access for us?”
Zhou Jinyuan released her hand and said softly, “We don’t need his help. We’ll go out and take a taxi.”
“You’re just leaving your car?”
“I’ll come back for it later.”
Zhou Jinyuan crouched down in front of her. “Get on.”
Lin Wangxi responded with an “Oh,” climbed onto his back, and wrapped her arms around his neck. “Your car only cost ten thousand anyway. It’s not a big deal if you leave it. Next time, get a better one—like a twenty-thousand one!”
Zhou Jinyuan said nothing and carried her toward the exit.
“Zhou Jinyuan.”
“Mm.”
“Don’t take what he said to heart. You’re going to be amazing in the future—way better than him.”
Zhou Jinyuan replied casually, “How amazing?”
“Have you seen that ‘crooked-smile war god’ trope? Like, ‘the three-year agreement is up, the Dragon King returns’—that kind of thing.”
“…Why does the smile have to be crooked?”
“Maybe it looks cool. Try it—let me see if it’s handsome.”
“…”