The twenty-second scoop: What kind of gossip takes twenty bites...

"I still prefer the atmosphere in Chinese restaurants," Ye Mo told Ye Lin. "The bustle, the warmth of everyday life."

She did not know how others felt, but Ye Mo did not like eating in Western restaurants. They always felt cold to her. A meal or two for the novelty was fine, but if she had to eat all three meals a day in Western restaurants, she would definitely get indigestion.

"You like Chinese food." Ye Lin nodded. "All right, I'll remember that."

A server led the three of them to the private room Secretary Huang had reserved. When they arrived, the Qi Family's eldest young master was already there, sitting at the dining table.

When he saw Ye Mo and the others enter, he immediately stood and came over to greet Ye Lin warmly.

"President Ye!" He smiled as he shook Ye Lin's hand. "I really didn't expect you to invite me to dinner."

Ye Lin smiled and looked at the person beside him. "I'm not the one who wanted to invite you. It was my younger sister..."

Surprised, Qi Yuheng followed Ye Lin's gaze and immediately saw the person standing beside him.

"This is your sister, President Ye?" Qi Yuheng hesitated, then understood. "I heard about your family's situation. Miss Ye is your biological sister who was found, isn't she?"

Although the Ye Family had yet to formally introduce Ye Mo to the public, as the saying went, there was no wall that did not let the wind through. A prominent family like the one behind Ye Corporation had countless eyes watching it. Thus, in a very short time, word had already spread through their circles that Ye Baozhu was not the Ye Family's biological daughter, and that their biological daughter was someone else.

They simply had not heard who this newly found biological daughter was.

Qi Yuheng had naturally heard about the Ye Family's situation as well, so his gaze held a measure of curiosity and scrutiny as he looked at Ye Mo.

"Mr. Qi." Ye Mo held out her hand. "Hello, I'm Ye Mo, Ye Lin's younger sister... This is my manager, Shen Yan."

She introduced Shen Yan to Qi Yuheng as well.

Hearing the distinctive word "manager," Qi Yuheng could not help giving Shen Yan a few extra looks.

"Hello, Miss Ye. I'm Qi Yuheng... Hello, Mr. Shen." His manner was courteous and polite without feeling distant or overly formal. He struck the balance exceptionally well.

Ye Mo glanced around and said with a smile, "Why don't we

sit down to talk?"

At that, Qi Yuheng slapped his forehead and said apologetically, "Look at me, keeping you standing while I talk so much. I'm terribly sorry! Come, come, let's sit down first..."

Once everyone was seated, he warmly poured water for Ye Mo and the others. Only after he finished did he ask curiously, "President Ye, you said Miss Ye wanted to invite me to dinner... Is there something you need from me, Miss Ye?"

Qi Yuheng had enough self-awareness. He and Ye Lin had only met a few times and were not close. Without something to discuss, Ye Lin would never have invited him to dinner so suddenly and without reason.

So tonight's dinner might have been written as "dinner," but it was read as "business."

However, since Ye Lin had said his sister wanted to invite him, the person who needed something from him was not Ye Lin, but this Miss Ye.

Qi Yuheng's gaze settled on Ye Mo.

He had only heard that the Ye Family's biological daughter, who had been lost outside the family, had been found. He had also heard she was a country girl, so he had imagined someone more plain and timid. Never had he expected the genuine Miss Ye to be as vibrant and radiant, poised and sly as the woman before him.

She was different from what everyone said, not at all like a country bumpkin. In fact, she was entirely different from the image everyone had conjured up-the complete opposite. The others would probably be quite surprised when they saw her, too.

That was what Qi Yuheng thought.

"I do indeed have something to discuss with you, Mr. Qi."

Since Qi Yuheng had asked, Ye Mo answered directly, her tone frank and without concealment. She asked, "I hear you have a younger brother, Mr. Qi."

"Yes." Qi Yuheng nodded, then frowned as he ventured, "Has Yuwen offended you somehow, Miss Ye?"

Ye Mo nodded. "Yes, he has."

Having never expected Ye Mo to break with convention and admit it so readily, Qi Yuheng froze for a moment. But he reacted quickly and asked a second later, "May I ask how Yuwen offended you, Miss Ye? If he was in the wrong, I'll certainly make him apologize!"

In other words, if Qi Yuwen was not in the wrong, that would be another matter.

Ye Mo caught his implication, but she was not angry. She even found it somewhat amusing-if Qi Yuheng knew what Qi Yuwen had been doing behind the scenes, would he still be able to maintain this attitude?

With a peculiar sense of mischievous delight, Ye Mo felt an impulse to tell Qi Yuheng everything.

Blinking, Ye Mo smiled. "Before that, let me introduce myself properly, Mr. Qi. I'm an actress, and Mr. Shen here is my manager."

"A few days ago, I auditioned and landed a role... Unfortunately, your younger brother seems to have taken a fancy to that role as well. He threatened to withdraw his investment and demanded that the director reserve it for him!"

Ye Mo looked at Qi Yuheng with a bright smile. "Would you say that makes your younger brother the one in the wrong, Mr. Qi?"

Looking embarrassed, Qi Yuheng said, "Something like that actually happened? Yuwen was indeed in the wrong here. Let me apologize to you on his behalf, Miss Ye..."

He assured Ye Mo, "I'll give him a proper scolding when I get back. As for the role you wanted, I'll make him return it to you! I won't let him put you in a difficult position again."

Hearing this, Shen Yan felt greatly reassured and could not help turning to Ye Mo with a smile.

Ye Mo raised an eyebrow and lifted her teacup in a toast to Qi Yuheng across the table. "That's very gracious of you, Mr. Qi... With your assurance, I can rest easy."

She sighed, toying with the teacup in her hand. "To be honest, this really isn't such a big deal. After all, things like this happen all the time in our industry. I've had opportunities snatched away several times before, with no way to pursue the matter. What could I do? I was a nobody whose words carried no weight."

At this point, she sweetly played up to her eldest brother. "Luckily, I have you this time, big brother!"

Qi Yuheng gave an awkward laugh at that. "It's all my younger brother's fault. I'll give him a proper scolding when I get back."

Since sitting down, Ye Lin had barely spoken and had not interrupted Ye Mo and Qi Yuheng's conversation. Only now, seeing that the two seemed to have settled matters, did he speak:

"I hear your younger brother intends to withdraw his investment in Chase. If he wants to withdraw, that's no problem. As it happens, I'm rather interested in investing in films... If your younger brother isn't interested in this film, I'll invest in it instead."

His tone was casual, as though he were discussing a few yuan or a few hundred rather than an investment of tens or hundreds of millions.

Ye Mo looked at him. "You want to invest in Chase, big brother? Why?"

After asking, something occurred to her. A hint of hesitation appeared on her face, and she asked uncertainly, "...It wouldn't be because of me, would it?"

Ye Lin looked at her, curved his lips into a smile, and spoke.

Chapter 22: The twenty-second scoop: What kind of gossip takes twenty bites...

It was not that Ye Mo was being conceited. It was simply that Ye Corporation had never ventured into the entertainment industry before. Now that Ye Lin actually wanted to invest in a film, she could hardly help wondering.

"Surely it's not for me?" Ye Mo grew a little uncertain.

Ye Lin looked at her, smiled leisurely, and uttered two words:

"You guess?"

Having expected him to say something, Ye Mo stared at him in utter bewilderment.

"Big brother, you've turned bad!" There was a hint of accusation in her voice.

Ye Mo still remembered the first time she had seen Ye Lin a month ago. What a young man he had been then, like carved and polished jade, handsome and distinguished, gentle and approachable. But now? Why did his personality seem a little mischievous now?