“He made a move.” When Meng Suihuan heard the news, her mind went blank for a moment. By instinct, she asked, “Who?”

“Shen Jin.”

During this time, she had been so busy with the state-owned enterprises and the next project for the company that she had completely lost track of Shen Jin. After a moment, the joy spread from her heart to her mind, wrapping her entirely in excitement. She exclaimed, “Really! Finally, the day has come! Your grudge with Shen Jin can finally be settled. By the way, now that everything is almost settled, could you tell me about the grudge between you two?”

She didn’t know much about the feud between Shen Jin and Lu Linshen. Perhaps it wasn’t detailed in the original book, or maybe Lu Linshen was just a minor character with little screen time, so she didn’t remember it. She was curious—what kind of grudge could make Shen Jin hold onto it for so many years?

Suddenly, she remembered what he had said when he was drunk last time. Tentatively, she asked, “Is it related to Wan Hui Network?”

It was as if a breeze lightly brushed across his heart, and his voice immediately tightened. “You know about that?”

“Yes, you mentioned it when you were drunk.” She answered honestly.

There was a brief silence on the other end of the phone. His mind was flipping through memories, but he couldn’t recall anything relevant. “When did that happen?” He suddenly remembered that when he was drunk, he seemed to have kissed her. His heart skipped a beat, and his tone became a little awkward. “I… didn’t say anything I shouldn’t have, right?”

“It was on the day Wan Hui Network launched,” she replied.

After she spoke, her tone, which had been relatively calm, suddenly shifted. It became somewhat ambiguous, as if she was trying to hide something. “As for whether you said something you shouldn’t… hmm, that’s hard to say.”

She could feel his breathing getting heavier on the other end of the phone. Just as she was about to explain and not tease him, the phone beeped.

He hung up on her!

Meng Suihuan stared at her phone, still shocked. She couldn’t help but find it amusing. On stage, he spoke confidently without hesitation; he was unfazed by her provocations; he had remained calm and composed when facing malicious schemes, waiting for the right opportunity. Yet, here he was, losing control after a few of her words!

She had no idea that her teasing had such an effect on Lu Linshen.

After hanging up instinctively, he stood on the rooftop, feeling the cool breeze, and his mind began to wander. He kept going back to one question: Did he confess his feelings to her when he was drunk? Did he?

He really wanted to call her and ask directly, but whenever his fingers touched the phone, he couldn’t bring himself to press the dial button. His fingers kept sliding over the numbers on the screen, and a name caught his eye.

He quickly returned to the lab and walked straight to Qin Yu. With a dark face, he said, “Come out with me. I need to ask you something.”

Seeing his grim expression, Qin Yu wondered if the company’s project was facing difficulties, or if there was a problem with Shen Jin’s plan. His mind raced with ideas until he heard Lu Linshen’s question. Qin Yu stared at him wide-eyed and blurted out, “What did you just say?!”

Lu Linshen, without a change in his expression, said, “On the day Wan Hui Network launched, I was drunk and called Suisui. Can you think of whether I confessed to her?”

Qin Yu: “???” His gossip-loving heart was immediately ignited. “You two kissed, hugged, exchanged sweet words, gave each other medicine, learned to drive together… Oh, right, and stayed over late at night. I thought you two were already at the stage of talking about marriage…”

A cold stare shot over. Qin Yu, seeing the look, quickly finished his sentence. “But you still haven’t confessed?!”

“Lu Ge,” he said with a slightly reproachful tone, “Although we’re friends, I have to say something for Meng Jie. You’ve been a little irresponsible. If this were in our village, your behavior with feelings would get you drowned in spit.”

Lu Linshen suppressed his furrowed brow, his voice cold as he said, “I didn’t play with her feelings. We have a proper and legitimate relationship.”

“…Proper and legitimate?” Qin Yu wanted to ask more, but then heard a cold voice cutting him off.

“Enough nonsense, get to the point!”

Understanding that Lu Linshen had reached his limit, Qin Yu calmed his gossiping mind and replied seriously, “I don’t know what exactly happened, but based on my long experience with women, I can tell you one thing: whether or not you confessed, this situation points to one conclusion: Meng Jie is interested in you.”

Bang.

Lu Linshen stopped walking without warning. Qin Yu’s nose slammed into his back, and it hurt terribly.

“Lu Ge, your back is like stone. You almost killed me…”

“What did you just say?”

“Your back is as hard as stone?”

“The previous sentence.”

“Oh. I said that whether or not you confessed, it still shows that Meng Jie likes you.”

This statement pleased Lu Linshen, and the coldness surrounding him seemed to melt away in an instant, turning into a gentle stream that enveloped him with warmth.

“How did you figure that out?” The sudden warmth made Qin Yu feel like his skin was covered in goosebumps. Men in love are truly scary. Not only does their intelligence fluctuate, but their personalities are unpredictable too.

“Hmm? Tell me.”

“Well, if you had confessed and Meng Jie wasn’t interested, she would have distanced herself from you. But the relationship you two have now is incredibly close. As for the other possibility, since you didn’t confess, as I just mentioned, from my point of view as an observer, it makes me angry. I think you’re being irresponsible and playing with her feelings like a ‘Chen Shimei’ (a man who tricks women into marriage). Think about it—if Meng Jie didn’t like you, would she have tolerated you playing with her emotions like this?” Under his intense gaze, Qin Yu quickly corrected himself, “I mean, her feelings.”

To increase his credibility, Qin Yu hurriedly added, “This is the conclusion I’ve reached after years of experience. You can’t go wrong!”

“Hmm, I trust you.” Lu Linshen’s mood lifted, and he even complimented Qin Yu seriously. “After all, you’ve been mixing with women for years.”

“Experienced.”

Qin Yu: “…”

Could he take back his previous words? With an answer in mind, Lu Linshen’s dark expression softened into a smile that he couldn’t hide. He took out his phone, lightly tapped a number he was very familiar with. His movements were smooth, and there was no hesitation as he dialed the number.

The phone rang, and a head soon leaned over from the side, almost pressing against the screen. Taking advantage of the busy signal, Lu Linshen casually shooed Qin Yu away. “Why are you still here? Did you finish handling that system bug? Have you run the program and recorded the data?”

“Lu Ge, that can wait. I’ll handle it later!” Qin Yu was reluctant to leave. After all, it was rare to have such a juicy gossip opportunity and a great vantage point, so he wasn’t about to give it up. He might as well take root and sprout where he stood!

“If you don’t leave, don’t come crying to me when your salary gets docked.”

Before Lu Linshen finished speaking, a clear, pleasant voice came from the phone. “Lu Linshen, you’re such a mess. You’re the boss now and still worried about your salary being docked?”

“So, do you want to come back to Xuyu? I promise I won’t dock your salary. In fact, I’ll double it for you!”

As soon as the call connected and the topic of salary deduction came up, the teasing words immediately turned into an offer. Qin Yu’s face turned sour at the mention of the salary deduction. When he thought about the long nights of overtime at Xuyu, even ten times the salary couldn’t make him endure that kind of hardship again. He shook his head vigorously.

Lu Linshen smiled and spoke in a spoiled tone, “Suisui, stop messing around.”

Meng Suihuan scoffed and muttered, “Boring.”

Lu Linshen mouthed the word “Leave” and saw that Qin Yu remained still. He smiled at his phone and said, “Otherwise, I’ll reconsider?”

“Alright, alright.”

“You take your time to think it through. When you’re ready, come back anytime!”

Faced with the blatant threat, Qin Yu didn’t just leave quickly but also thoughtfully closed the door behind him.

“Mm.”

“If the company goes under, I’ll consider coming back.”

Meng Suihuan: “…”

This response was even more uncomfortable than a direct rejection.

There was no sound on the other end of the line. Lu Linshen tentatively called out, “Suisui?”

“What?” Meng Suihuan responded irritably.

“Earlier, the new program we developed had a serious bug. I didn’t have time to tell you before I hung up the phone.” He quickly found an excuse, gripping the edge of his phone and trying to stay calm. “So, tell me, what did I say when I was drunk? I’ll judge for myself.”

“You said you were going to come back to Xuyu and work for me for the rest of your life!”

“I never said that, Suisui.” Lu Linshen smiled gently, his voice full of patience. “Apart from that, what else did I say?”

Meng Suihuan made up some nonsense, claiming he had drunkenly yelled at her, insulting her terribly.

Lu Linshen smiled helplessly.

“Suisui, I don’t curse, and I certainly wouldn’t curse at you. The excuses you’re making are even more surprising than me confessing to you while drunk.”

All her emotions froze when she heard these seemingly joking words. She didn’t know whether he was teasing her or if it was just something he casually said.

Thinking about the way he looked at her, unable to hide his feelings, she felt that the first possibility seemed more likely.

She panicked.

Her voice shot up, “Yes, those words were all made up! You kept repeating that Wan Hui Network launched when you were drunk. I heard it so much, my ears were about to calluses!”

“Is that all I said? Nothing else?”

Afraid that he would continue to probe her, Meng Suihuan spoke urgently, “You really only said that, I swear to heaven!”

“No need to swear.”

“I believe you, Suisui.”