“Are you feeling heartache?” Ye Linhan smiled faintly, but he soon laughed self-deprecatingly. “In that case, are you willing to show me some tenderness? Just treat it as though you pity me, and promise that you’ll give me a chance?”
Shen Qi murmured, “Ye Linhan, you—”
“Just call me Han in the future. What you’re calling me sounds so distant, so I’d rather you call me Han.”
Ye Linhan was direct with his words, and he poured his heart out to Shen Qi. He knew that he just had to wait for his chance in silence after revealing his piece of mind to allow the idea to sink in. Thus, there was no rush for him, and he backed off straight away before Shen Qi had the chance to reject him.
“You don’t look well today. Do you want to take a day off?”
He changed the topic straight away, and so Shen Qi did not have the chance to refute him. “That’s alright. I’m fine,” Shen Qi replied instead.
I just didn’t have a good night’s sleep. I’m not ill anyway.
“The journey to the company takes 20 minutes, and it’s still early now. I will drive slower, so you’ll have the chance to nap in the car. I will wake you up once we arrive.”
Shen Qi thought that it was a rather good idea, and so she nodded quietly before leaning backward and closed her eyes.
Her thoughts were all jumbled up; initially, when Ye Linhan told her those things, she assumed that he was just trying to get her involved in the fight between the two brothers. Nevertheless, Shen Qi was confused the moment he made that vow.
If he wasn’t sincere earlier, why would he say that?
Even if he was just trying to gain my trust, why would he curse himself in such a horrible way?
Shen Qi’s mind was in a tangled mess, but her eyelids were heavy with exhaustion, and she was soon fast asleep.
Very soon, her breathing became slow and steady.
The traffic lights turned red, so Ye Linhan took the chance when the car was parked to look to the side while observing Shen Qi, who was deep asleep.
Shen Qi’s facial features were very delicate indeed, and her eyelashes looked especially thick and curly with her eyes closed. The dark greenish tinge around her eyes was especially pronounced under her fair skin. Her eyes appeared as though they were set deeper compared to when she just married into the Ye family.
Her weight seemed to have decreased steadily ever since she got married, and her chin looked prominent, which accentuated her small face.
Ye Linhan sighed, and he couldn’t help but reach out to swipe away a strand of stray hair on her forehead. “I will protect you well in the future,” he claimed in a quiet voice.
Shen Qi felt as though she was asleep for the longest time, and it was most probably due to the fact that she was worried about work, for the first thing she blurted upon waking up was whether they had arrived at the company. After asking, she realized with a start that the car was already parked in the car park, which further shocked her.
“Have we arrived?”
Ye Linhan smiled at her faintly. “We just arrived. There is no rush since we still have time.”
Shen Qi was about to grab her mobile phone from her bag to check the time, but Ye Linhan handed her a bag while advising her, “Eat this before going upstairs.”
“What is this?” Shen Qi asked curiously while peeking into the bag. She noticed that the bag was still warm to the touch when she accepted it, and she found out with a start that inside the bag was a packet of warm milk, an egg tart, and a bun.
These are all my favorite foods. Shen Qi’s brows shot up in surprise.
“Thank you, Linhan,” Shen Qi thanked him while accepting the bag. “But it’s best that I eat this upstairs. It’s not too convenient having it here after all.”
This is his car, and if someone were to see me eating in it, it would become the company’s gossip.
“Don’t refer to me as Linhan. I thought we’ve agreed on you calling me Han,” remarked Ye Linhan with a chuckle, and his comment seemed harmless enough, but Shen Qi felt extremely embarrassed. How could I possibly call him Han? That’s a bit too affectionate. Hence, she lowered her eyes without answering him.
“Forget it.” Ye Linhan surrendered in the end while sighing loudly in defeat. “I should not force you. On the contrary, I should give you time to adjust to the situation. You should go on and head up now.”
“Mm-hmm, thank you.” After thanking him, Shen Qi got out of the car with the bag in her hands.
When Shen Qi arrived at her department, she bumped into several people who were shifting things from her desk, whereas the others surrounding them were deep in discussion. She stood rooted to the spot for several seconds before approaching them while asking, “What are you guys doing? This is my desk.”
Several men in suits answered her monotonously, “Miss Shen, this is Young Master Ye’s orders.”
Young Master Ye’s orders? Ye Moxuan?
That’s right, he mentioned to me last night that he wants me to return to his side and work for him. I thought that he’d forget about it completely since he left in the middle of the night. Who would have thought he’d ask someone to shift my things straight away the next morning?
Shen Qi’s expression changed for a bit, and anger came boiling in her chest.
He got me all hot and bothered in the middle of the night, and he looked so irritated when the phone kept ringing, but he left straight away after answering that phone call. He even asked me to wait for him to return, but in the end, he was nowhere to be seen despite me staying awake while waiting for him the whole night.
He is still missing now, so how dare instruct these people to clear my table?
Who does he think he is?
Honestly, what gave him the right?
“Stop shifting my stuff. I am not going back,” announced Shen Qi.
The men paused for a while, but they ignored her while repeating that this was Young Master Ye’s orders. After that, they were making their way out of the department, but Shen Qi blocked the entrance straight away to stop them from leaving.
“I am not giving you permission to shift my table. You claim that you are taking orders from Young Master Ye, then where is he now?”
“I merely received his orders, so—”
“That means that you didn’t meet him. Since he did not order you in person, how would you know that the order is real? Stop touching my things, and return them to their original positions before leaving right now.”
“Well…”
The men looked at each other while exchanging glances, and in the end, they claimed the same thing. “I’m sorry, Miss Shen. This is Young Master Ye’s orders, and if we do not obey his instructions, we would be severely punished.”
With that, one of them came forward to pull Shen Qi to the side by force. The rest of them then lifted the table with all its contents and left the department swiftly.
Shen Qi was rendered speechless at the turn of events.
Does he have to be… so domineering?
The man finally let go of her after they completed their task. He apologized in embarrassment to Shen Qi. “I’m so sorry for offending you, Miss Shen. We will be leaving now, and please feel free to clarify everything with Young Master Ye in person later.”
Shen Qi was stumped and at a loss for words.
After they left, her colleagues from the department gathered around her in a hurry.
“Whoa, what was that? Didn’t Vice President Ye switch your job position yesterday? Why did Young Master Ye shift your entire table away today? Where are they shifting your things to?”
“Oh, my god. They can’t be shifting everything upstairs, can they? Shen, have you been reinstated again?”
“But if Young Master Ye were to go through with this, isn’t that like a smack in the face for Vice President Ye?”
“That’s right, Vice President Ye ordered for a position transfer yesterday, and today, Young Master Ye reinstated her. What is wrong with those two brothers?”
“Shen, what is your relationship with them? Are both Young Master Ye and Vice President Ye pursuing you? Aren’t you a lucky girl? They both are considered the ideal partner for every female staff in the company. Although Young Master Ye is a cripple and requires a wheelchair, he has a breathtakingly handsome face! It would be just perfect if he were able to stand up!”
“I doubt he’d be able to stand up. I am guessing that Young Master Ye would remain disabled for the rest of his life. Sigh… Shen, I think you had better choose Vice President Ye; at least he is an able-bodied person.”
