“Aiya! So what if you have a partner? Zhang Shao just wants you to keep him company, nothing more. You’re making it sound so serious, it’s just not fun anymore.”

Seeing the atmosphere turn awkward, Yu Jishu quickly stepped in. He kept saying things like “Zhang Shao isn’t a bad person,” while pushing Lin Can towards Zhang Shao.

On the other side, Lin Can’s younger brother finally realized something, his brows furrowing high, a mix of alertness and hostility creeping into his eyes. “Yu Ge, what do you mean by that?”

Yu Jishu didn’t say anything, just gave him an awkward smile.

Lin Can was pushed in front of Zhang Shao, and upon seeing the towering height of nearly 1.9 meters, his first reaction was a sense of danger and discomfort. But then, looking at Zhang Shao’s handsome face and helpless expression, a thrill of conquering a high mountain followed closely behind.

“Your partner,” he raised his chin slightly, asking playfully, “is he richer than me? More powerful than me?”

Lin Can didn’t know much about their circle, but thinking of Qi Yuan’s usual arrogant demeanor, he conservatively estimated, “Should be about the same…”

How many people in Jing City could stand on equal footing with them? Everyone thought Lin Can was just putting on a brave front, and they all burst into laughter.

After Zhang Shao finished laughing, he waved his hand generously. “I won’t waste time talking to you. Come upstairs with me now, I’ll give you whatever you want.”

Lin Can showed a troubled expression; if Qi Yuan heard this, he would definitely go crazy.

“What are you hesitating for?” Yu Jishu was anxious, pulling Lin Can’s arm to urge him, “Quickly say thank you to Zhang Shao!”

This was a connection he had worked hard to establish!

“Yu Ge…”

“Lin Xun, don’t say anything,” Yu Jishu, with interests at stake, didn’t care about pretending to be the big brother anymore. “If your brother succeeds this time, your family’s good days will come!”

Zhang Shao watched the farcical scene, finding it amusing. Before he could order another drink to liven things up, someone next to him called out.

“Zhang Shao, someone is calling you.”

Only then did Zhang Shao notice his phone screen lighting up, which he had left aside. He picked it up, and upon seeing the caller ID, he immediately shouted.

“Everyone shut up!”

Everyone fell silent at once.

Once the private room was completely quiet, Zhang Shao dared to press the answer button.

“Hey, Qi Shao, what made you think to call me?”

Hearing the name, Lin Can and Yu Jishu reacted differently. Lin Can let out a sigh of relief, while Yu Jishu panicked.

No way, no way… Could it be that Lin Can really got together with Qi Yuan?!

“You’re at Qingyue now?”

A cold voice came through the phone, making Zhang Shao’s breath involuntarily lighten.

He didn’t dare to think too much and hurriedly replied, “Yes, I’m at Qingyue. Are you also at Qingyue, Qi Shao?”

“I’m not,” Qi Yuan said slowly, “but my people are there.”

“Put it on speaker.”

Zhang Shao, confused, pressed the speaker button, noticing Yu Jishu’s pale face.

“Lin Can.”

The calm tone reached everyone’s ears. Although it sounded casual and lazy, the firmness in the words declaring ownership was impossible to ignore.

“I just didn’t keep an eye on you, and you’re already getting cozy with someone else?”

“!”

Lin, Lin Can?!!

Under the shocked gazes of everyone, Lin Can helplessly explained, “I came out to pick up my brother…”

“Your brother is here?” The voice on the other end seemed to pause for a moment, then changed from its previous dominance to a very familiar tone. “Then you definitely need to pick him up.”

“You’re at Qingyue, right? I’m coming over now, just wait there obediently.”

After giving the instructions, Qi Yuan hung up the phone, not giving Lin Can a chance to object.

Zhang Shao’s mouth twitched as he asked Lin Can, “The partner you mentioned is Qi Yuan?”

Lin Can nodded.

Everyone present felt darkness cloud their vision.

They had aimed their calculations at Qi Yuan’s head, and now they were a hundred percent going to pay for it today.

“Yu Jishu, where are you going?” someone suddenly shouted.

Only then did everyone notice that Yu Jishu had snuck to the back door of the private room and had his hand on the doorknob.

Seeing everyone looking at him, Yu Jishu awkwardly smiled, “I, I want to go to the restroom.”

“You better go to the restroom. If it weren’t for you, we wouldn’t have met Lin Can,” someone pointed out sharply.

“Run? You think Qi Shao can’t find you?”

If they could run, would they still be waiting here like targets?

Yu Jishu’s cold sweat dripped down his forehead. Looking at Zhang Shao’s expression, it was clear he wouldn’t let him off the hook.

He could only push the blame onto Lin Can. “Lin Can, why didn’t you tell me you were with Qi Yuan? We’re supposed to be brothers…”

Lin Can seemed not to understand his meaning, looking puzzled. “Wasn’t Qi Yuan introduced to me by you?”

As soon as he said this, Zhang Shao’s face turned even uglier.

So this guy really was a professional matchmaker, and the number one customer wasn’t even him.

Yu Jishu’s face turned pale, devoid of any color, his eyes blinking unnaturally as he tried to think of something to salvage the situation.

But Lin Can’s younger brother, Lin Xun, delivered the final blow. “What’s going on? Wasn’t it Yu Ge who introduced you to your sister-in-law?”

Lin Can answered honestly, “It was all him who introduced.”

After a brief silence, someone sneered, “If you didn’t know better, you’d think Yu Jishu was a matchmaker, wrapping up Lin Can’s partner all for himself.”

“Haha…” Yu Jishu couldn’t even manage a laugh, his whole body drenched in sweat. If it weren’t for the wall behind him, he probably would have collapsed to the ground.

Qi Yuan arrived quickly; less than five minutes after the call ended, he pushed the door and walked into the private room.

Everyone stood up, “Qi Shao.”

“What’s everyone so nervous about?” Qi Yuan said cheerfully while taking off his sunglasses, as if he were strolling in his own garden. “I’m not here to cause you trouble.”

Though he said he wasn’t here to cause trouble, the look he gave Zhang Shao was anything but friendly.

Zhang Shao didn’t even dare to lift his head under that gaze, and then he heard Qi Yuan ask, “Why didn’t you tell me you were coming out? Do you know how worried I was when I got home and saw you weren’t there?”

“Worried?” Lin Can didn’t understand.

“Of course, I was worried you’d get taken away by some blind fool.”

Lin Can couldn’t tell if it was just his imagination, but he felt like Zhang Shao shivered slightly.

“Are you okay?” Qi Yuan asked.

Lin Can nodded.

Qi Yuan understood and then turned to the line of rich second-generation kids standing opposite him. “I’ll take him away first?”

Before Zhang Shao and the others could nod, he looked at Yu Jishu. “Thanks for taking care of my little brother.”

“Y-yeah, it’s nothing…” Yu Jishu forced out an ugly smile.

Qi Yuan gestured to Lin Can and Lin Xun, “Let’s go. I’ll personally send over a thank-you gift for taking care of your brother.”

After he said that, the silence in the entire private room deepened.

Lin Can followed Qi Yuan out of the private room, still confused.

“Is he your real brother?” While waiting for the elevator, Qi Yuan suddenly asked.

Lin Can came back to his senses and pulled Lin Xun’s arm to introduce, “Yes, this is my real brother, Lin Xun.”

“Lin Xun, say hello.”

“Hello, Qi Shao.” Lin Xun hurriedly said after being nudged.

Qi Yuan chuckled, “You don’t need to call me Qi Shao, just call me Yuan Ge.”

After the earlier incident in the private room, Lin Xun felt a lot of fear towards Qi Yuan. Looking at the man’s imposing aura, he didn’t dare to say much and obediently changed his address.

“Yuan Ge.”

Qi Yuan responded with a casual “Mm.”

The elevator arrived, and it was empty. The three of them walked in, and Lin Can asked Lin Xun if he had left anything behind with Yu Jishu.

Lin Xun shook his head, indicating that he had everything in the backpack he was carrying. “I got it all.”

Lin Can said, “I’ll get a hotel room for you later, you can stay there.”

Lin Xun was about to agree when the imposing Yuan Ge said, “What hotel? There are plenty of rooms at home.”

“Won’t it disturb you?” Lin Can worried.

“I have nothing to do anyway.” Qi Yuan said as he took out his phone.

He initially intended to call Xie Jun to arrange for someone to clean up another guest room, but seeing Lin Can looking a bit nervous, he changed his mind.

“It’s getting late; how about we go out for dinner?” After sending a text, the elevator just happened to stop at the first floor. Qi Yuan walked out and asked again.

Lin Can said he could go back to cook.

“Your brother came all this way; why eat at home?” Qi Yuan said, “At least let’s go out for a meal.”

Lin Can felt that Qi Yuan’s enthusiasm had increased significantly.

It was quite puzzling.

This time, Qi Yuan didn’t drive his sports car but had the driver bring the Maybach to wait downstairs. The three of them got in, and Qi Yuan rarely took the passenger seat.

“What does your brother like to eat, spicy or light?” he asked Lin Xun.

Lin Xun, who had visibly tensed up since getting into the car, straightened his back upon hearing the question, like a student being called on by a teacher.

“I, I can eat anything.”

“Anything?” Qi Yuan showed a troubled expression.

“Let’s go with something light; your throat isn’t well yet, right?” Lin Can suggested.

“Alright then.” Qi Yuan gave the driver a look.

The driver didn’t even need him to say the destination; he already knew where to go.

After driving for twenty minutes and passing four or five intersections, they stopped in front of a restaurant.

Seeing that it was Qi Yuan, the restaurant manager greeted them warmly, saying the owner was upstairs and he would go call him down to greet Qi Shao.

“Forget it, I’ll go find him; I happen to have something to discuss.” Qi Yuan said, pointing to the two brothers behind him, “You take them to my private room.”

“Okay, okay.” The manager agreed.

Qi Yuan went upstairs first, while Lin Can and Lin Xun were led to the innermost private room on the third floor.

“We know what Qi Shao usually eats; you two can see if there’s anything else you want to order.” The manager poured tea and handed over a menu that looked expensive just from its cover.

Lin Can took a look and thought, wow, none of the dishes were under a thousand!

“No, just bring what Qi Yuan orders,” he closed the menu and returned it to the manager.

The manager maintained a calm expression and said okay before exiting the private room.

Once the door was closed, Lin Can awkwardly explained to Lin Xun, “I’ll take you to eat something else later.”

Lin Xun nodded, not saying much.

Lin Can took a sip of tea, savoring the rich aroma, and squinted his eyes in satisfaction.

“I came this time to ask you for money,” Lin Xun suddenly said.

Lin Can was taken aback. “Money?”

Lin Xun’s little face pulled down, resembling the original character’s memory of him, “Did you send the living expenses home this month? If you don’t send money soon, Feifei’s school expenses won’t be covered.”

Lin Can scratched his head, thinking back. Yes, the original character had indeed promised to send a thousand in living expenses home every month after graduating from university.

However, while the original character was generous with himself, he was stingy with his family, and if Lin Xun didn’t push him, he would forget and never send anything.

Sometimes when Lin Xun came to urge him, he would even scold him.

“You changed your phone, and I couldn’t reach you, so I had to come find you,” Lin Xun looked at him warily. “You’re not going to say you don’t have money again, are you?”

Lin Can…

Lin Can really didn’t have money.

He could only pull out a few dozen from his pocket.

But facing Lin Xun’s eyes that seemed to say “I’m waiting to see what excuse you’ll come up with,” he could only swallow the bitterness.

“I’ll get it to you later.”

No need to play mind games anymore, Lin Xun visibly relaxed.

He looked around the private room, realizing it was much more upscale than the Qingyue that Yu Jishu had described as a place only the wealthy could enter, and he lowered his voice to ask Lin Can.

“Are you really dating that Qi Shao?”

Lin Can opened his mouth but didn’t say anything.

Lin Xun sighed deeply, “I still think your sister-in-law is better than Qi Shao. Can’t you two reconcile?”

As soon as he finished speaking, the door creaked open.

Someone walked in from outside.