Not a single thought in my head was fit for polite company

Lu Yuanqing hurried over and whispered to Ye Yizhou, "Talk it out. No fighting."

Ye Yizhou: ...

He made it sound like Ye Yizhou was some kind of thug.

"Oh, then call an ambulance if it comes to that!" Ye Yizhou snapped.

Lu Yuanqing even answered in all seriousness, "Okay."

"Move along, move along." Ye Chongli, on the other hand, shooed Lu Yuanqing away without a trace of concern and followed Ye Yizhou into the room outside.

"What is it, young master?"

Ye Chongli was so delighted that he could no longer hide the smug look on his face.

"Seriously, are you that vindictive? Huh?"

Ye Yizhou was so annoyed he laughed. "First, you had to arrange for Yan Qingdu to come here, then deliberately leave the documents at home this morning. You pretended you wanted me to deliver them, but really, you just wanted to watch me die of embarrassment. You've been planning this for ages, haven't you?"

Ye Yizhou reached out and touched the dark circles under Ye Chongli's eyes. "Those bags are so bad. Don't tell me you stayed up all night plotting this!"

"Hardly. With my social standing and connections, getting someone to come over only takes a word. People will at least do me that favor."

Ye Chongli irritably swatted Ye Yizhou's hand away and straightened his suit, his tone rather smug.

"Then I'll go ask." With that, Ye Yizhou started back, only for Ye Chongli to catch him.

Ye Yizhou looked at the hand gripping his arm, then raised his eyes to Ye Chongli and scoffed.

"He's right over there. Why are you bullshitting?"

"Given our bond as father and son, can't you at least let me save that much face?" Ye Chongli was thoroughly annoyed.

But he noticed that Ye Yizhou seemed distracted, as though he had not been listening at all, and asked tentatively,

"Are you even listening?"

Without even looking at Ye Chongli, Ye Yizhou shook his head and answered perfunctorily, "No."

Ye Chongli: ...

"What are you looking at?"

Ye Chongli followed Ye Yizhou's gaze.

"Yan Qingdu..."

Yan Qingdu's official height was 191 centimeters. Dressed in an all-black suit, he stood straight before the floor-to-ceiling window with one hand in his pocket, tall and elegant, restrained and refined.

As though sensing Ye Yizhou's gaze, he turned to look over. His face was handsome, his black eyes deep and still, with a chill hidden in their depths that gave him an aloof, inscrutable air.

"What about Yan Qingdu?" When Ye Yizhou failed to follow up after that opening for quite some time, Ye Chongli could not resist asking.

"Better not say it."

Ye Yizhou withdrew his gaze, a glimmer in his narrow eyes as a sly smile appeared on his face. "Without a shred of modesty, not a single thought in my head is fit for polite company."

Ye Chongli was speechless.

"Wait, there's something very wrong with your attitude right now!" Ye Chongli suddenly picked up on something amiss.

"Hmm?"

Ye Yizhou folded his arms and leaned lazily against the wall, looking utterly innocent.

"Weren't you furious just now? How did your temper just disappear like that? Are you putting on another act for me? Are you setting me up?"

Ye Chongli's brows furrowed deeply. The more he thought about it, the more something felt wrong, and the implications were terrifying.

"What are you talking about? You're my dear old father. How could I bear to be angry with you?"

Ye Yizhou tilted his head cutely, his voice a little arch and a little coquettish.

Ye Chongli's undisguised eye roll said everything about his disdain at that moment.

Ye Chongli glanced toward Yan Qingdu, then back at the expression on his unfilial son's face. His own expression turned rather strange. "You..."

"Yes, exactly what you're thinking."

Before Ye Chongli could even voice his thoughts, Ye Yizhou admitted it outright.

"Dad, haven't you always wanted to build a deeper partnership with the Yan family? Nothing could be more solid than a business marriage."

A sudden wave of sorrow swept over Ye Yizhou, as though he had made a momentous decision and was ready to march heroically to his death at any moment.

"Say no more, Dad. As long as our family's corporate group can grow bigger and stronger, I'm willing to marry Yan Qingdu."

Clearly, Ye Yizhou really did love acting.

Ye Chongli did not know whether to laugh or cry and was utterly speechless. "You couldn't make your scheming any more obvious. You want it all, don't you? In your dreams. Does he look like someone who needs a business marriage?"

"He's right here. Why not ask him whether he needs one?"

Ye Yizhou shrugged, speaking with complete nonchalance, then walked straight toward Yan Qingdu.

"Calm down."

Although Ye Chongli said that, he knew his son well.

Ye Yizhou really did dare to do anything. Once he made up his mind, no one could talk him out of it.

Ye Chongli could only follow behind Ye Yizhou with one hand hovering over his ear and his gaze darting away, terrified of seeing or hearing something embarrassing.

"What's wrong?"

Seeing Ye Chongli's strange behavior and the odd look on his face, Lu Yuanqing muttered, "Did Yizhou really tear into you that badly this time?"

"He didn't yell at me, but this feels worse than if he had."

Ye Chongli's feelings were complicated right now. That little menace of a son.

Huh? Lu Yuanqing was rather bewildered.

"It's lunchtime. Would you do me the honor of joining me, Mr. Yan?" Standing before Yan Qingdu, Ye Yizhou curled his lips into a light smile and extended the invitation without reservation.

Yan Qingdu glanced at Ye Chongli and Lu Yuanqing before lowering his eyes to Ye Yizhou. His thin lips parted slightly. "All together?"

Ye Yizhou smiled. "They're not hungry."

Ye Chongli: ...

"Right, right, we're not hungry. We don't need to eat." Ye Chongli kept smiling as he played along, then secretly rolled his eyes at his son.

"I'm so hungry."

Ye Yizhou lowered his head and rubbed his stomach, murmuring pitifully.

"Let's go," Yan Qingdu said quietly.

Ye Yizhou's eyes lit up with delight. "Okay."

Yan Qingdu gave Ye Chongli and Lu Yuanqing a slight nod before leaving with Ye Yizhou.

"What's going on?" Lu Yuanqing still had not figured it out. He had not dared speak earlier either, afraid of saying the wrong thing.

"That unfilial brat said the only thing standing between him and marrying Yan Qingdu was an introduction. Now they've met. Do you still not understand what that means?"

"What does it mean? Are you saying Yizhou really likes Yan Qingdu? Didn't they only meet today?"

Lu Yuanqing could not hide his confusion. Why did this feel even harder to understand than a reading comprehension test?

"I don't know. I thought it was just a joke he made to mess with me, so I figured I'd turn the tables. Instead, he played me!"

Ye Chongli sat on the sofa and pinched the bridge of his nose, growing angrier the more he thought about it. "Tsk. After all that planning, I ended up being his wingman???"

"What a flimsy bond you two have. You just can't stand seeing your son do well, can you?" Lu Yuanqing shook his head helplessly.

"No, it's mainly that he anticipated my counterplay. It's infuriating! I lost this round completely."

Ye Chongli closed his eyes and sighed.

It looked like...

His unfilial son seemed to have been plotting this for a long time.

Still, Yan Qingdu was no pushover either.

Surely it would not end up turning into, "The weather's turned cold. It's time for the Ye Family to go bankrupt."

He was doomed!

The corner of Ye Chongli's mouth twitched. He sprawled on the sofa, scrolling through videos on his phone with a look of utter despair.

A voice came from a video. "Step one of collecting scrap: first, get yourself a large sack. Then you can start rummaging through the bins. Remember, you need to stake out your spot early every day, or you won't even get any of the good trash..."

"What are you doing?" Lu Yuanqing asked in confusion.

Ye Chongli sounded despondent. "Learning tips for collecting cardboard boxes, plastic bottles, and other scrap in advance. They might come in handy very soon. Better safe than sorry."

Lu Yuanqing: ??

"I'd be better off booking you a brain scan." Lu Yuanqing picked up his phone to make a call.

The two of them began worrying about their own separate concerns.