Yun Sheng also stood up: “Brother Yanchuan.”
Qin Yanchuan looked at her with a deep gaze, his handsome and stern features sharp and severe.
Yun Sheng felt as if needles were pricking her back, the pressure even greater than when facing Qin Cisui’s homeroom teacher.
Yun Sheng turned to Ji Beicun and Lin Xi: “Then I’ll go first…”
“You go ahead, you go ahead, we’re full too,” Lin Xi and Ji Beicun immediately said.
Only then did Yun Sheng take slow steps to walk out.
Qin Yanchuan swept a cold glance over Ji Beicun, who swallowed hard and instinctively straightened his posture.
Qin Yanchuan turned and walked out of the restaurant, with Han Zhiying quickly following his steps.
Yun Sheng trailed behind.
As Qin Yanchuan left, the tense atmosphere finally eased a little.
Lin Xi patted her chest: “Oh my, that scared me to death.”
Ji Beicun plopped back into the sofa chair, lowering his voice: “Why didn’t you remind me Brother Yanchuan was here?!”
“I forgot to mention it, and you kept interrupting as soon as you arrived, making me forget too.”
Lin Xi took a sip of red wine to calm her nerves, then became bold again: “Is it really necessary for you to be so scared?!”
Ji Beicun immediately stiffened his neck: “When was I scared?! Don’t joke, would I be scared?!”
Lin Xi rolled her eyes, too lazy to bother with him.
She turned her head and saw the door of the private room from earlier open again, and three or five executives walked out, discussing matters with their heads lowered as they made their way out.
Lin Xi was taken aback: “Was Mr. Qin’s meal today a business dinner?”
Ji Beicun stabbed a piece of steak with his fork and ate it, then resumed his casual demeanor: “Why do you care so much?”
Lin Xi clicked her tongue: “The way Han Zhiying spoke earlier, I thought she and Mr. Qin were on a date alone.”
“You mean Brother Yanchuan and Han Zhiying?”
Ji Beicun clicked his tongue: “That’s unlikely.”
“What? Do you know something inside?” Lin Xi immediately grew curious.
“I just returned to the country, what inside information could I know?” Ji Beicun leaned back in his chair, one arm resting on the armrest, still holding a glass of red wine.
Lin Xi snorted coldly: “Then why did you say it like it was true?”
He looked out the floor-to-ceiling window, where Wen Yunsheng had just followed Qin Yanchuan out of the restaurant.
He swirled the red wine glass, brought it to his lips for a sip, and said leisurely: “A man’s intuition, you wouldn’t understand.”
Qin Yanchuan finally stopped by the roadside after walking out of the restaurant.
Yun Sheng also quickly halted her steps, about to step forward. Qin Yanchuan turned around, his tall figure enveloping her, and Wen Yunsheng instinctively took a step back.
His voice was cold and stern: “What’s going on between you and Ji Beicun?”
Yun Sheng: “We were just having a meal together, nothing else.”
Qin Yanchuan looked at her, his dark eyes revealing no emotion, yet an invisible pressure washed over her.
Yun Sheng opened her mouth to say something more, but Han Zhiying stepped in to smooth things over.
“It’s probably just friends gathering. Besides, Lin Xi was there too, right? Yun Sheng is an adult; she surely knows what she’s doing. Don’t be angry.”
Qin Yanchuan turned to Han Zhiying, his expression indifferent: “I have matters to attend to today, so I’ll take my leave first. I’ll have Assistant Chen bring you the detailed cooperation agreement for the project.”
Han Zhiying’s face stiffened slightly. Qin Yanchuan’s distant attitude was clearly a reminder that she had overstepped.
Was it that she couldn’t interfere with his affairs, or that she couldn’t interfere with Wen Yunsheng’s affairs?
The driver opened the car door.
Qin Yanchuan glanced at Wen Yunsheng and got into the car.
Yun Sheng obediently followed.The silver-gray Maybach smoothly merged into the traffic flow, its windows rising to completely isolate the clamor outside.
Inside the car, it was so quiet you could hear a pin drop, the atmosphere so oppressive it felt suffocating.
Yun Sheng took the initiative to explain: “There’s really nothing between us anymore. We broke up before returning to the country. Today was just a coincidence—we ran into each other and had a meal together.”
The Qin family was extremely dissatisfied with Ji Beicun, this “ex-boyfriend.”
During the four years Yun Sheng studied abroad, they couldn’t control her. Now that she had returned to the country, she didn’t dare to continue defying her family.
Nor did she want to implicate Ji Beicun.
So, before returning, they had agreed to “break up” upon coming back, which would avoid most of the trouble.
After all, Ji Beicun’s reputation wasn’t exactly stellar. If Uncle and Auntie found out she was still “entangled” with him, they would likely be upset too.
Seeing that she wasn’t lying, Qin Yanchuan’s expression softened slightly, though his voice still carried a chill.
“Since you’ve broken up, don’t get entangled anymore. Don’t act willfully and make your family worry about you.”
Yun Sheng lowered her head. “I understand.”
Qin Yanchuan asked calmly, “How was work today?”
Relieved that this topic was finally over, Yun Sheng replied, “It was good. My colleagues took good care of me, and the team leader values me highly. He even gave me a special opportunity to prove myself.”
The words “team leader” caught Qin Yanchuan’s ear, so unfamiliar that he paused for a moment.
He turned to look at her and saw her eyes still sparkling, a smile lingering at the corner of her lips, as if she had received immense encouragement.
He pursed his lips. “Then do your best.”
“Mm.”
“If anything comes up, let me know.”
Yun Sheng hesitated for a moment, suddenly thinking of Lin Yanke. She wondered if Qin Yanchuan had spoken to someone at Xinqi, which was why she received so much preferential treatment and care?
Seeing her pause without responding, Qin Yanchuan added, “Dad asked me to look after you.”
Yun Sheng could guess as much. Uncle Qin was never at ease with her working outside on her own and must have instructed Qin Yanchuan to take care of her.
Back when Yun Sheng was still in school, Uncle Qin would similarly tell Qin Yanchuan that Wen Yunsheng was gentle and slow to act, worrying she might be bullied at school, and asked Qin Yanchuan to look out for her there.
Yinghang was a combined primary, middle, and high school, divided into three sections but interconnected.
Thus, when Yun Sheng was still in primary school, every day after school, as she walked out of the primary school building, she would see Qin Yanchuan, then a junior high student, waiting for her outside. The handsome young man in a white shirt, his eyes cool and distant.
When he saw her come out, he would naturally take her schoolbag, holding it in one hand, and tilt his chin slightly. “Let’s go home.”
When Qin Yanchuan was in high school, he would wait for her outside the junior high building.
It wasn’t until Qin Yanchuan was admitted to Jingda University and left Yinghang that he finally stopped picking her up from school every day.
But every Friday after class, he would still drive to the school gate to wait for her. Upon seeing her, he would habitually take her schoolbag, the most dutiful older brother one could ask for.
And now, just as before, he was a good older brother.
Four years were enough to completely bury that year they had crossed the line, allowing everything to return to its rightful place.
Yun Sheng nodded. “I know.”
Seeing her calm expression, Qin Yanchuan furrowed his brow slightly.
The driver asked, “Mr. Qin, shall I take Miss Yun Sheng back to the old house?”
Qin Yanchuan glanced at his phone. “To the company.””Yes.”
Yun Sheng asked blankly, “What are we going to the company for?”