Independence / Pleading

But she still finished the orange Lin Che had given her.

Ye Mingyan thought the young man in front of her was rather interesting.

Chapter 53: Independence

"Ma'am, did you come to negotiate with me?"

"That's right. I hope you'll take down the trending topic."

"But why didn't Song Mu come? He was the one who hurt me. He should be the one to apologize to me in person!"

"..."

Ye Mingyan fell silent.

Lin Che's words made Ye Mingyan think of her good-for-nothing son again.

He'd caused such a huge mess.

Yet he'd spent the whole night partying at a bar.

Meanwhile, she'd barely slept, and now she had to come apologize on his behalf herself!

A flicker of anger rose in Ye Mingyan's heart.

A layer of irritation clouded her cold, beautiful face.

Lin Che naturally picked up on her mood.

He'd looked into Ye Mingyan and knew that the female CEO's family life was far from harmonious.

Perhaps a little provocation was all it would take to bring it crashing down.

"I get it. Song Mu clearly doesn't care about this at all. In his mind, no matter what kind of mess he makes, you'll always clean it up for him."

Ye Mingyan fell silent.

Because Lin Che was telling the truth.

Song Mu was a good-for-nothing, throwing his weight around everywhere just because he was rich.

"Ah..."

Ye Mingyan sighed.

Her eyes looked a little forlorn.

"Ma'am, I noticed... You've applied more makeup under your eyes to cover the dark circles, haven't you? This trending topic must have had a huge impact on your company. You must've stayed up all night dealing with the company's affairs, and then you still had to come to the hospital first thing in the morning to apologize to me..."

"You noticed all that..."

The contrast was striking!

When her husband saw Ye Mingyan wearing a new makeup look, all he did was suspect she was going to meet another man.

But Lin Che, whom she'd met for the first time today, had seen the exhaustion beneath her carefully applied makeup at a glance!

Ye Mingyan's heart gave a hard thump.

She felt that this young man understood her!

"You're right. Song Mu has no idea what he did wrong..."

Ye Mingyan hadn't even realized that a note of complaint had crept into her voice.

She was a CEO. Normally, she weighed every word carefully, and she would never complain about her child or husband in front of someone else.

But in front of Lin Che, she didn't feel the need to pretend.

Perhaps Lin Che's sincerity had affected her, and her true thoughts had slipped out before she could stop them.

To her surprise, Ye Mingyan felt a weight lift from her heart, as if a boulder had been taken off her chest. Her normally cold heart even fluttered with a hint of joy.

"You're wrong!"

"Ma'am, you're an independent person, not anyone's accessory!"

"You shouldn't have to take the blame for Song Mu's mistakes."

"You've done so much for him, but what about him? He probably doesn't even know how much you've done!"

Lin Che's words were incredibly persuasive!

While Luo Xue had been asleep the previous night, he'd secretly downloaded Little Red Book and copied its Declaration of Independence word for word!

Use the enemy's strengths to defeat the enemy!

"But what choice do I have? Song Mu has damaged the company's reputation. I can only help him make the problem go away."

Ye Mingyan had been swayed.

She was about to awaken, too!

Though she'd asked a question, an answer was gradually taking shape in her heart.

Perhaps all Lin Che had to do was spell things out a little more, and the answer would surface completely.

"Ma'am! You founded the company yourself. You're a strong, modern woman! You deserve a happy family, not one that drags you down!"

"You mean..."

Ye Mingyan's resolve wavered hard!

She stared at Lin Che, hoping he would say the one thing she wanted to hear: that she was right.

But...

Lin Che stopped there.

Today was the first time he and Ye Mingyan had met.

She wasn't stupid. If he told her to abandon her family at their very first meeting, she wouldn't just do as he said.

So Lin Che only wanted to plant a seed in Ye Mingyan's heart.

He didn't even need to water or fertilize it himself.

Lin Che believed that Song Mu and Song Qi's behavior would bring Ye Mingyan's independent spirit to life!

Lin Che peeled another orange and handed it to Ye Mingyan.

Ye Mingyan looked at the half orange in her hand.

She pulled off a small segment, then handed the rest back to Lin Che.

Ye Mingyan was truly exhausted.

But after Lin Che finished speaking, she suddenly felt incredibly light.

"Lin Che, you're a young man with plenty of ideas. Come on, let's exchange contact information..."

Lin Che and Ye Mingyan added each other as friends.

The friend request had only just gone through.

[Transferred 100,000 yuan!]

Lin Che stared at the transfer notification on his phone, then looked at Ye Mingyan in shock.

"Ma'am, I told you, I won't accept your apology. Unless Song Mu apologizes in person, I'm not taking down the trending topic."

"This isn't an apology..."

A hundred thousand yuan was nothing to Ye Mingyan.

"I got a lot out of talking with you today. Think of this as a little gift~"

"But... a hundred thousand yuan is way too much!"

"Young men like you must have lots of things you want to buy, right? Limited-edition sneakers, concert tickets, a cool motorcycle... Didn't a popular new game come out recently? What was it called, Black Wukong? Doesn't that game cost 2,000 yuan?"

Lin Che fell silent, too.

No wonder she was rich.

Her idea of spending money was completely different from his.

The top-tier edition of the game, which cost over 2,000 yuan, came with a gift box.

For most players, though, the 268-yuan version was enough.

But in Ye Mingyan's eyes, only the most luxurious, highest-end version existed!

Lin Che awkwardly scratched his head.

He'd guessed that Ye Mingyan might be up all night.

To win a few points with her, he'd even ordered her a cup of coffee through a delivery app.

A cheap coffee for 9.9 yuan.

Lin Che had thought it was pretty decent.

But now Ye Mingyan had just handed him a hundred thousand yuan!

The 9.9-yuan coffee suddenly seemed a little shabby.

But just then...

The delivery rider arrived right on time.

"Is this an order for Mr. Lin?"

Lin Che had been about to take it from him.

But before he could even sit up in bed, Ye Mingyan had already taken the delivery.

"Do you want some coffee?"

"No, I don't drink it..." Lin Che said through gritted teeth. "I thought you might be up all night, so..."

"So you ordered this for me?"

Ye Mingyan blinked.

She'd never had a drink this cheap in her life.

But now, she felt almost overwhelmed by the gesture.

"Forget it, ma'am. Don't drink it. You gave me so much money, so I'll order you something more expensive..."

"No need. Thank you, Lin Che~"

Ye Mingyan sipped through the straw, her icy eyes curving into a gentle smile.

The ice had melted.

An exuberant tide of spring warmth swept over them.

Chapter 54: Pleading

When Ye Mingyan returned home.

The atmosphere on the first floor of the mansion was oppressive. Song Mu, Song Qi, and Song Mu's Grandmother were all in the living room.

Song Qi in particular wore a dark expression. When he saw Ye Mingyan, he looked ready to grind his teeth.

He'd been brooding over it since morning.

When Ye Mingyan came home, Song Qi even saw a hint of delight on her face!

Ye Mingyan was known for her icy beauty.

It was rare enough to see a smile on that cold face of hers!

What made Song Qi even angrier was that he knew Ye Mingyan had never smiled because of him.

The flames of jealousy burned in his eyes.

"Tell me, which man did you go to see!"

He blocked Ye Mingyan's way.

"You're asking too much. We're only married in name. Whoever I choose to see is my business."

Ye Mingyan's voice was cold.

Ever since she'd heard Lin Che's words, she'd felt uncomfortable as soon as she returned home. The enormous villa felt like a cramped cage to her!