The living room lights were off, the only light coming from the small candlestick Lin Xi held.
Feeling a heavy weight on her waist, Lin Xi reached out and pressed her hand against Duan Yiheng's back, asking softly, "What's wrong?" "Something I can't figure out." Duan Yiheng's breath brushed against Lin Xi's abdomen, making her instinctively tense.
A faint woody scent filled the air. After a moment, Lin Xi pressed her hand on his shoulder, pushed him away, turned around, and placed the scented candle on the coffee table. Then, she sat down beside Duan Yiheng, her dress piled high at her feet like a lake ruffled by the wind.
At the charity gala, others might not have noticed Duan Yiheng's actions, but she sensed that he seemed particularly attentive to Duan Zheng. As Duan Zheng left, Lin Xi caught a glimpse of Qin Yang. Although only half his head was visible, Lin Xi recognized him.
"Are you investigating Uncle Duan?" Lin Xi thought for a moment, then asked. Duan Yiheng nodded. "He hid someone in Lanyue Manor. If I hadn't threatened him with this at the banquet, he would have sold you directly to Duan Mingxuan."
Lin Xi's expression shifted from surprise to calm in just three seconds, making Duan Yiheng chuckle. "What's with that expression? You don't believe he'd cheat on you?" Lin Xi: "...No."
She genuinely didn't mean that. Duan Zheng being with Chen Baiwei was cheating, but Chen Baiwei had the means to get Duan Zheng to marry her. Over the years, the two seemed very much in love, and she hadn't thought Duan Zheng had any of those messy affairs.
Lin Xi suddenly remembered Duan Yiheng's joke about "catching them in the act," which must have been about Duan Zheng hiding someone in Lanyue Manor. "You found out?" Duan Yiheng shared his suspicions, seeing the same astonishment on Lin Xi's face. "Ke Yu?
Besides being the board secretary, she's also…" Lin Xi paused, "...a founding member of Yin Fan from its early days, and Zheng Xianlin's daughter-in-law." "So initially, I didn't suspect her," Duan Yiheng said. "Tonight was truly an unexpected gain."
According to the plan, he was supposed to test Duan Zheng, but Duan Zheng was uncooperative, unable to control his eyes. After a while, Lin Xi said, "Ke Yu is very capable." Duan Yiheng glanced sideways and hummed, "I'm very capable too." "I'm serious."
Lin Xi flicked his ribbon, "If they're really together, it'll be very disadvantageous for you."
Duan Yiheng naturally understood. Although Ke Yu was Zheng's daughter-in-law, she held power. Zheng Xianlin's son had died, and he treated Ke Yu like a daughter. She had Zheng Xianlin's connections and had a lot of say in company decisions, which would lead shareholders and management to favor her and Duan Zheng. "The only thing you can use is their improper relationship," Lin Xi said, worried about him and unable to resist adding more. "But I heard that the Zheng family's daughters have always been very dissatisfied with Ke Yu; you could start there too."
As soon as she finished speaking, Lin Xi heard Duan Yiheng chuckle and couldn't help but turn and glare at him. "What are you laughing at?" "Laughing at how every word you say is for my sake." Duan Yiheng probed at the end, "Is it because you're my secretary, or something else?"
"Naturally, I'm your secretary." Lin Xi crumpled her thin veil, feeling a little flustered, and abruptly changed the subject: "Did the ginkgo trees in the manor survive?" "They survived." Duan Yiheng raised an eyelid and said, "I'm not sure, I've been very busy these past few days." Lin Xi:
"…" Should she change the subject again? Or maybe not, it's getting late. Just as Lin Xi was about to subtly hint that he should leave, her phone in the entryway started ringing incessantly. Duan Yiheng stood up, handed Lin Xi the bag he'd left in the entryway, and said,
"I just carried you back and put it in the entryway." Lin Xi took out her phone, saw Duan Mingxuan's name, and hung up immediately. Duan Yiheng ruffled the back of her head: "It's getting late, I'll be going now." Lin Xi was about to reply when her phone rang again; this time it was her housekeeper.
Lin Xi swiped to answer, and the housekeeper subtly described the scene of Duan Mingxuan being drunk and unreasonable downstairs. "..." Duan Yiheng noticed her unusual expression and asked, "What's wrong?" Lin Xi looked up at Duan Yiheng:
"Duan Mingxuan is drunk and causing a scene in the lobby downstairs, demanding to see me." Duan Yiheng took Lin Xi's phone and told the butler, "Wait a moment, I'll go down and take him away." Lin Xi was a little worried: "He's difficult to deal with whether he's drunk or not. Are you sure you want to take him back?"
Duan Yiheng: "What else? Let him come up?" Lin Xi: "...You should take him back." "Get some rest." After saying this, Duan Yiheng turned and left. Downstairs, he indeed saw Duan Mingxuan. The driver came up and asked Duan Yiheng:
"Shall we go now?" Duan Yiheng gestured for him to take Duan Mingxuan with him. Duan Mingxuan tried to resist, but the security guards and driver of Tiandu Yuxi helped him into Duan Yiheng's car. After passing two intersections, Duan Yiheng suddenly told the driver to stop.
The driver, bewildered, simply did as instructed. This wasn't a strictly controlled road. He drove forward about a hundred meters and then slowly stopped. Duan Yiheng said coldly, "Get out."
Duan Mingxuan wasn't surprised that he'd been seen through as feigning drunkenness. He laughed self-deprecatingly, unconcerned about being exposed, and instead asked Duan Yiheng, "Why are you still at Xiao Xi's place so late?" Duan Yiheng, with an air of condescension, replied:
"So late, and why are you going to see her?" "What did you say to my father at the banquet?" Duan Mingxuan's eyes held a powerless resentment. Duan Yiheng turned his head, his cold gaze fixed on Duan Mingxuan: "Forcing someone in public, is this what you call 'liking'?"
Duan Mingxuan, unusually, didn't refute. He suddenly leaned forward and grabbed Duan Yiheng's arm, his face pleading: "Give Xiaoxi back to me, okay? I promise, as long as you give her back to me, I'll immediately call Dad and tell him to stop fighting you.
The Duan family is yours, the company is yours, everything is yours, I only want Xiaoxi." Duan Yiheng closed his eyes, abruptly pulling his hand away, his cold tone carrying an imposing pressure: "Get out of here, don't make me say it a second time."
"You have everything, why aren't you satisfied?" Duan Mingxuan glared angrily, "I only want Lin Xi, Lin Xi who grew up with me." "Because without you and your mother, Lin Xi might have grown up with me."
Duan Yiheng's tone was mocking. Duan Mingxuan was slightly taken aback, and was asked to get out of the car by the driver. He watched helplessly as Duan Yiheng's taillights disappeared from his sight. He lost, utterly and completely. Duan Mingxuan punched a tree by the roadside twice in frustration. Why?
Why didn't he realize his feelings for Lin Xi sooner? Duan Mingxuan, are you an idiot? With his hand injured, Duan Mingxuan walked alone along the roadside, a faint smile appearing on his lips as he thought of Lin Xi.
He didn't know where to go. As he hesitated at the intersection, a white car suddenly stopped beside him. "Second Young Master?" Duan Mingxuan was startled, then his face darkened. Chen Liangyi!