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He had done a good deed without leaving his name.

Was he really that cold on the outside and warm on the inside?

"Qin You, if you still can't let this go, we're all family. Tell me how you want them punished, and I promise they won't have a word of complaint!"

Qi Hailiang still wouldn't give up.

Qin Hua was right. Compared to saving face for the moment, real money in hand was what mattered most!

Qin You was riding high now, so there was no harm in humoring him. Who knew what the future held?

"What do you say?"

Qin You looked back at him and smiled. "Sorry, Xinwei's affairs have nothing to do with me."

Qi Hailiang nearly lost his composure at those words. Only after meeting Qin Hua's eyes did he manage to keep the eagerness on his face. "Qin You—"

Qin You took a small sip of wine and raised his glass to dismiss him. "Please, go ahead."

Under the mocking gazes of everyone in the room, Qi Hailiang clenched his fists.

That damned bastard! He was an elder, and he had lowered himself to beg like this, yet Qin You still refused to give him any face!

"Oh, come on, don't let unpleasant things spoil the mood!"

Across from them, a man stood up as if to smooth things over. He walked around the long table and raised his glass to Qin You. "There aren't many people your grandfather approves of. Come on, Qin You, let me drink to you!"

At his move, several people across the table exchanged glances and stood up with their glasses too.

Qin You watched them coldly, a smile on his lips.

Putting on airs.

False sincerity.

This banquet, held in the name of a family dinner, had been full of people pursuing their own ends from beginning to end.

The room was filled with endless attempts to sound one another out and greed for the fat prize that was the Qin Group.

This was the so-called familial affection of a prosperous household.

Perhaps there had once been a trace or two of genuine feeling, but none of it could stand against their ever-growing interests.

Qin Hengzhong, who had built the family up and brought it prosperity, was already old. They were eager for the Qin Group to be left without a leader and to find out just how much weight Qin You carried as general manager.

In the original story, the original Qin You hadn't been born someone who squandered his ambition on pleasure, either.

When he first returned to the country, the enormous responsibility weighed on his shoulders, and he too had possessed some fighting spirit.

Unfortunately, he was surrounded by jackals and dogs with ulterior motives. He had been completely unguarded, and his wits had been limited. It was understandable that he couldn't resist the instinctive human pursuit of pleasure.

"That's right, Qin You. Your grandfather told us all about it. He kept praising you, saying you take after your father!"

Qin You's smile remained unchanged.

When the wine was offered to him, he went along with it, refusing no one.

He had come to this family dinner today to put an end to Qin Hengzhong's expectations and act more like the original Qin You. The more indulgently he behaved, the more effective it would be.

Besides, a few drinks for social purposes were harmless.

Only when he noticed that the original Qin You's tolerance for alcohol was different did Qin You raise two fingers to cover his glass lightly, waving the waiter pouring the wine away.

The others immediately broke into a commotion.

When Qin Hengzhong returned and saw what was happening, he frowned.

"What are you making such a fuss about?"

At the sound of his voice, the crowd around Qin You quickly dispersed.

Seeing the empty bottles held by the waiter behind Qin You, Qin Hengzhong's face darkened again. "Don't you know Qin You has an injury on his hand? And you let him drink?"

Someone hurriedly said, "Eldest Uncle, Qin You didn't drink all of it. We were welcoming him home, weren't we? We all offered him a couple of toasts to show how we felt."

Only then did Qin Hengzhong's expression ease. "Even so, don't drink any more."

He looked at Qin You. "How do you feel?"

"I'm fine," Qin You said.

Qin Hengzhong nodded.

Returning to the seat at the head of the table, he added, "In a couple of days, go to the company and sign the contract for the Kaiqiang acquisition."

At those words, everyone at the table exchanged glances, each with different thoughts.

Everyone knew Qin Hengzhong had personally overseen the Kaiqiang acquisition. It was already in its final stages; signing the contract meant the deal was settled.

Sending Qin You over at this point was as good as giving him face and handing him an accomplishment he could show off.

Qin You smiled.

Almost tangible envy and resentment came from every direction, impossible to distinguish.

Afterward, when the banquet ended, he used drunkenness as an excuse to take his leave of Qin Hengzhong.

Qin Hengzhong frowned. "If you don't feel well, stay here for the night."

Qin You declined with the simplest of reasons. "I can't sleep in an unfamiliar bed."

Qin Hengzhong paused, then made no further effort to keep him.

He saw Qin You to the door and instructed the driver, "Drive slowly on the way."

The driver assented.

Behind Qin Hengzhong, the rest of the Qin Household also came out to see Qin You off.

"Be careful on the way." "Get some rest when you get back."

Qin You said goodbye with a smile, accepted the coat the butler handed him, and turned to get into the car.

As the car started, the false warmth of the crowd was still reflected in the window.

Qin You leaned back against the seat and slowly closed his eyes.

In his previous life, he had been surrounded by the same kind of scheming and deceit.

His friends were false.

His family was false.

But he had been a little better off than the original Qin You.

False affection had been his choice; he hadn't been at its mercy.

Keeping every relationship superficial made it easier to withdraw at any time.

Just like the distorted closeness today, which he found repulsive, this was the fundamental reason he didn't want to get involved with the Qin Group.

If he had to become like them to gain wealth and status, he would rather be an ordinary person.

He was capable enough to live without worrying about food or clothing, so why should he strive and scheme?

Once the mission was over and he regained his freedom, if his luck wasn't good enough, growing old alone was one option;

If he was lucky enough, he could find an equally ordinary partner and start an ordinary family together.

Living out his life in such an ordinary way wouldn't be bad either—

[Host!]

The system's voice suddenly broke the silence. [Don't sleep! Look at the countdown. If you go back and sleep another night, you'll only have half the time left. You're not planning to drag this mission out until the last second again, are you, host?!]

Qin You took off his glasses and pressed the bridge of his nose helplessly.

The original Qin You had clearly never done much social drinking and had a low tolerance. Qin You had stopped after only a few glasses, but although his mind was clear, he was still somewhat affected.

[Host, the longer you wait, the more things can go wrong! Look at the last two times: you failed the Emergency Contingency Mission, and saving the wrong person on the node mission nearly caused trouble too! Even on the first node mission, if you'd arrived a little later, the target would have rolled straight down the mountain...]

The system pleaded desperately. [I'm begging you, host, do the mission! You have to do it sooner or later anyway. There's no point putting it off for a day or two!]

Qin You said, [I'll think about it.]

The system was overjoyed. [Okay, okay, okay!]

Then it began to wait.

It waited until the car stopped and the driver opened the door.

"Young Mr. Qin? Young Mr. Qin?"

[Host, how did you fall asleep?!]

The system was indignant. [We're home!]

Seeing Qin You open his eyes, the driver asked cautiously, "Young Mr. Qin, you're awake?"

Qin You raised his wrist to check his watch, then looked at the snow drifting outside the car. He got out and said to the driver, "Thanks for your hard work. Head home early."

The driver nodded. "All right."

Qin You walked through the snow and went inside.

It was late, so he didn't ring the bell.

Perhaps because of the alcohol, he took off his coat and loosened his tie as he went upstairs, only then letting some of the heat dissipate.

On his way back to his room, he passed Yan Tingshen's door.

Qin You glanced at the tightly closed door, and the system's words seemed to come back to him unbidden. He paused briefly.

That was right.

He had to do the mission sooner or later. Even if he put it off for a day or two, what was the point?

Inside the room.

At the desk.

Yan Tingshen was listening to Pei Sheng's report through his headphones and opening an email when a knock sounded at the door.

It was Qin You.

No one else would knock in that manner at this hour.

Yan Tingshen pressed the space bar and said to Pei Sheng, "Wait."

Pei Sheng didn't know what had happened, but he muted himself as instructed and heard Yan Tingshen speak the next second.

"Come in."

But there was no movement afterward.

Yan Tingshen frowned.

A moment later, he rose from the desk.

When he opened the door, he saw Qin You turning away.

Hearing the sound, Qin You stopped.

He turned back and saw Yan Tingshen's face. After thinking for a moment, he still couldn't bring himself to say certain things.

Yan Tingshen looked at him and smelled the alcohol on him. The crease between his brows deepened. "You've been drinking? There are things you need to avoid while your injury heals."

At that, Qin You chuckled and held up one index finger.

Yan Tingshen watched the coat slip from the crook of his arm. His gaze swept over Qin You's wrinkled shirt and disheveled collar, then returned to his smiling face. "What?"

Qin You smiled. "Just a little. It's nothing."

Yan Tingshen turned slightly to the side and said mildly, "Come in."

Qin You paused, then said seriously, "Forget it. Whatever it is, we can talk tomorrow."

Yan Tingshen looked at him, raised a hand to grip his wrist, and led him to the sofa. Once Qin You was seated, he rang for the butler and instructed him to have the kitchen make a sobering soup.

Qin You watched the whole time, a hint of helplessness in the smile on his lips. "There's no need to make such a fuss. I'm really fine."

Yan Tingshen said, "Finish the soup, then go back to your room and rest."

Faced with such untainted concern, Qin You had no reason not to appreciate it.

He said, "All right. I'll listen to you."

Yan Tingshen was about to return to the study when the butler hurried over with the sobering soup.

"Mr. Qin, the old residence called earlier to give instructions. The sobering soup has been kept warm."

Qin You stood and reached out to take it. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." The butler glanced at the two of them, then turned and left, closing the door behind him.

Under Yan Tingshen's gaze, Qin You finished the bowl of warm soup. With no table nearby, he simply walked over to the bed and set the bowl on the bedside table.

As he withdrew his hand, he saw out of the corner of his eye that Yan Tingshen was still standing where he had been, his seemingly cold face as expressionless as ever, giving no hint of how attentive he actually was.

Qin You smiled. He didn't notice the bowl beside his hand and brushed against it as he straightened up, hearing it clatter as it spun halfway around on the tabletop.