When Lin Xi emerged, her back was drenched in sweat.
The moment her phone rang, she tripped over her own feet—her left catching on her right—and nearly fell. Seeing that it was a call from Duan Yiheng, she waited until she had gotten into her car before answering: "Hello?" "What's wrong? Your tone sounds a bit off; you seem really nervous," Duan Yiheng asked. Lin Xi replied:
"…I only said one word, and you could tell?" Duan Yiheng chuckled: "Weren't you supposed to go back and have dinner with the Old Master? I was worried, so I called to check in." Lin Xi let out a relieved breath:
"Grandpa actually *did* ask. I just told him that you were going to have me work alongside the Sales Department on the Likang project." After their first round the previous night, Lin Xi had grumbled, "I knew all that talk about working overtime was just a lie." Little did she know, Duan Yiheng immediately proceeded to discuss the project with her at length.
Once this project was concluded, he would focus his full attention on the Group; Silver Sail Technology would become something he could only oversee remotely. He had also mentioned his intention to transfer her to the Sales Department. And upon joining the Sales Department, the first order of business would be dealing with Chen Liangyi. When the Old Master asked about it that evening, she simply repeated exactly what Duan Yiheng had told her—and sure enough, he didn't press the matter any further.
It wasn't until she had driven out of the villa grounds that the tight knot of anxiety Duan Yiheng had been feeling finally began to loosen. Driving along, Lin Xi asked, "Did Grandma talk to Grandpa about us today?" Duan Yiheng replied:
"I was the one who asked her to go. This outcome was to be expected; Grandpa has been a domineering figure his entire life—he can't stand having anyone tell him his decisions are wrong. It's not going to be easy to get him to accept the situation."
Lin Xi didn't feel particularly comforted by his words; instead, she simply felt a pang of guilt—thinking how her grandmother was getting on in years, yet still had to worry and fret over the younger generation like them. "Alright, I'm still driving, so I'd better let you go."
Lin Xi signaled a left turn. "Video call me again when you get back home; I've got something to attend to—" Lin Xi's voice cut off abruptly. Duan Yiheng's expression turned grave: "Lin Xi?"
Startled by a small figure that had suddenly darted out, Lin Xi quickly got out of her car, pushed the door open, and walked over. "Are you okay?" The little girl shook her head. "I'm fine." "Where are your parents?"
Lin Xi looked at the five-or-six-year-old girl in disbelief. "How are you all alone out here?" The little girl pouted. "Can you help me find my mom?" Lin Xi glanced around, then reached out her hand to the girl. "Get in the car; I'll take you to find a police officer."
"I don't want to go." The little girl abruptly shook off her hand. "The police won't be able to find my mom." Lin Xi crouched down and asked her, "Then tell me: what is your mom's name? And where do you live?" The little girl's eyes dimmed:
"I don't know where she lives, but *I* live at Tianhong Mansion." Lin Xi was just about to say something when a middle-aged woman came running from a distance. The little girl immediately tried to hide, but Lin Xi quickly stepped in front of her, shielding her behind her back. The woman was slightly stout; when she finally came to a halt in front of Lin Xi, she was panting heavily:
"I'm her nanny. Thank you for stopping her." Lin Xi asked, "How can you prove that?" The nanny replied, "She lives right across the street at Tianhong Mansion. I also have my domestic service contract and work records, as well as surveillance footage from the house." Lin Xi turned to the little girl:
"Is this lady telling the truth? You have to be honest." The little girl hesitated for a moment, then nodded. "She is my nanny." Lin Xi handed the little girl over to the woman. "Make sure you keep a close eye on her."
The nanny nodded profusely, and a faint trace of color finally returned to her pale face. Lin Xi got back into her car; checking her phone, she saw that Duan Yiheng had called seven or eight times. Startled, she immediately called him back. "What happened?"
Duan Yiheng's voice was laced with urgency. "Did you get hit?" Lin Xi replied, "No, I nearly hit a little girl, but her nanny has already taken her away." Duan Yiheng let out a massive sigh of relief. "You scared me half to death! When will you get here?" Lin Xi paused in surprise:
"Are you coming to find me?" Duan Yiheng said, "I'm just around the corner from Tiandu Yuxi." Lin Xi laughed, "What a coincidence—I'm just around the corner, too!"
Five minutes later, the two met in the parking garage. Duan Yiheng closed his car door, walked over to Lin Xi, and scrutinized her from head to toe several times over. "I'm fine; *I* was the one who nearly hit someone else." Duan Yiheng wrapped an arm around her shoulders and guided her toward the elevator.
"Where did that child come from all of a sudden?" Lin Xi explained, "I have no idea. She said she was looking for her mom and that they live nearby at Tianhong Hall; I figure she must have slipped away while her nanny wasn't looking." Duan Yiheng didn't press for further details; instead, he ruffled Lin Xi's hair and said, "As long as you're safe, that's all that matters."
Once they were upstairs, Lin Xi smiled. "Well, this works out perfectly—no need for a video call now; we can just talk face-to-face." Duan Yiheng asked, "What did you want to tell me?" "Have you forgotten?"
Lin Xi sat down on the sofa. "Didn't you say that Tan Qi would contact you within three days? Well, it's officially been three days now." This turn of events truly caught Duan Yiheng off guard. He pondered the matter for a moment, then his eyes suddenly lit up as he turned to Lin Xi and said:
"Tomorrow, contact her assistant and tell them I want to see her." Lin Xi looked at him with a flicker of suspicion. "Didn't *you* say that the person who initiates the meeting first ends up in a passive position?" Duan Yiheng smiled and pulled her into an embrace. "I never said I was seeking her out to discuss the project." "Then what *is* it for?"
Lin Xi pushed away his head as he tried to nuzzle into the crook of her neck. "Spit it out!" Duan Yiheng proceeded to recount to Lin Xi everything Meng Huaishan had uncovered regarding Ke Yu, adding:
"Ke Yu had been married to her husband for only a year when he passed away. His three sisters assumed that since their only brother was gone, the Zheng family's assets would naturally fall to them—but to their surprise, the old patriarch handed the reins of power over to Ke Yu instead." "How could those three women possibly accept that?
They went from squabbling amongst themselves to banding together..." "Ke Yu's eldest sister-in-law is named Zheng Jiayi, and her daughter happens to be friends with Tan Qi." Lin Xi caught on immediately: "So, you're using Tan Qi as an intermediary to team up with Ke Yu's eldest sister-in-law and dig up dirt on her?" Duan Yiheng shook his head:
"To be precise, I'm collaborating with *all three* of Ke Yu's sisters-in-law; it's just that I need to use one of them to relay messages. Do you follow?" Lin Xi thought for a moment, then said:
"Each of Ke Yu's three sisters-in-law has a powerful in-law family backing her. They all want a slice of the Zheng family's pie—and you want to take that single slice and divide it into three, thereby diluting the Zheng family's influence within the corporation?" Duan Yiheng gave her nose a playful, affectionate flick:
"Not bad at all." Lin Xi grasped his fingers, voicing her concerns: "True, it's a case of 'new emperor, new court,' but the Zheng family has stood by your grandfather's side for decades; their network and foundation are rock-solid. If you don't have a compelling enough justification, the other shareholders will quickly realize that if the Zheng family falls, they could be next—that they share a common fate." Duan Yiheng chuckled:
"Who says I don't have a justification? Old Man Zheng is content to let an outsider—a daughter-in-law from a different clan—wield power, yet he refuses to distribute that authority among his own three daughters. I have every reason to suspect that *he* was the one who instructed Ke Yu to seduce Duan Zheng, in a calculated attempt to seize control of Yin Fan." Lin Xi was momentarily stunned:
"Really?" Duan Yiheng replied:
"...Well, there's no concrete evidence yet; it's just a theory of mine." Lin Xi gave him a thumbs-up: "And as a bonus, you get to gauge Tan Qi's attitude toward a potential alliance between the two families. That's brilliant."
He truly was a man not to be trifled with; with just a casual little stratagem, he had managed to outmaneuver multiple parties at once. Seeing that she was still lost in thought, Duan Yiheng's hands began to wander mischievously: "So... are you staying the night?" Lin Xi gave him a tight, insincere smile, then stood up and began nudging him toward the entryway.
The very next second, the heavy solid-wood door slammed shut right in Duan Yiheng's face.