However, when a young man and woman walked over, Xu Yan's expression suddenly changed.
The man looked to be in his twenties. He wore a dark red suit with a subtle pattern, and every strand of his hair had been carefully styled. At a glance, he was clearly a
The woman behind him wore a business suit, her hair tied in a ponytail. It should have been a very capable-looking outfit, but her eyes revealed the crystal-clear stupidity of a college student.
The change in Xu Yan's expression lasted only an instant before she smiled again. "A-Chen, you're back."
The man smiled too. "Sis, I heard you're divorcing Fu Ruiming, so I was worried about you and came back especially to see you. After all, without the Fu Family's help, who knows where your company will go from here?"
His words expressed concern, but his tone held no sympathy whatsoever, and even carried a hint of schadenfreude.
Hearing their conversation, Ye Jin immediately understood. This was Xu Yan's younger brother, Xu Chen, who had inherited the family business, and the two clearly had a very poor relationship.
Xu Yan's expression remained unchanged. "Really? But your concern is unnecessary. Although I'm getting divorced, the businesses and assets I'm receiving this time are worth more than what I got when I married. Don't worry, your big sister won't be reduced to coming back and asking you to support her. Rather, I'm worried that if you keep going like this..."
Xu Chen's expression immediately changed. Others might not understand, but he knew perfectly well that she was alluding to his several recent failed investments.
Back when they were in school, this older sister of his had always earned better grades than him, earning him countless dirty looks from their parents, who scolded him for not even studying as well as his sister.
After graduation, she had been even more impatient to join the company and secure a position early. Thus, when he joined the company, he discovered that a group of people had long since gathered around Xu Yan.
Naturally, he refused to accept this and began squaring off against Xu Yan. Yet over the course of several projects, he had lost to her every time.
Xu Chen did not believe he was inferior to a woman like Xu Yan. It was only because he was a few years younger and had a little less experience.
But no matter how capable Xu Yan was, she was ultimately only a woman. Once she reached the right age, she would naturally have to marry.
He had merely mentioned it to their parents, and successfully married Xu Yan off, also managing to kick her out of the Xu Group.
Of course, he knew Fu Ruiming too. Although the man was something of a womanizer, he was indeed quite talented. If he were Xu Yan, he would definitely have held on tightly to that man.
Besides, Fu Ruiming controlled Fruit Video, which was also greatly beneficial to their Xu Group, so he had been very satisfied with the marriage.
He simply had not expected her to divorce Fu Ruiming before even two years had passed!
Wasn't Xu Yan usually so capable? How could she fail to hold on to even one man?
So, after hearing the news, he had flown back from abroad especially to warn her not to agree to divorce Fu Ruiming. Yet barely had he opened his mouth before Xu Yan snapped back at him.
He sneered. "Since you're so confident, Sis, with a finished bamboo already in your mind, there's not much more I can say. I just hope you handle your relationship with President Fu properly. Don't open your mouth like a lion and ruin our cooperation with the Fu Family."
Xu Yan sneered inwardly. This younger brother of hers was still as useless as ever. Instead of thinking about how to develop his own strengths so others would beg to work with him, he only hoped to maintain business partnerships through marriage alliances.
"Naturally, the agreements already signed will continue according to their contracts. But going forward, I won't be the Fu Family's daughter-in-law, nor will I be working at the Xu Group, so cooperation between the Xu Group and the Fu Group will naturally have to become strictly business over time. Still, I'm sure that with your abilities, little brother, you'll be able to maintain a good partnership with the Fu Group, won't you?"
"You!" How could Xu Chen fail to hear Xu Yan mocking his incompetence? If he reacted too strongly, though, people might instead think he had a guilty conscience and lacked confidence.
He took several deep breaths to comfort himself. Xu Yan merely had a sharp tongue. Ultimately, she still had to rely on the Xu Family, and he was the one who would hold power over the Xu Family in the future.
Once he had complete control and Xu Yan had to scrape out a living under him, he would see how she could keep being so arrogant!
So he declared, "Sis, I hope you can keep holding your head that high forever and never have a day when you need to beg anyone."
With that, he turned and walked toward the other end. But after a few steps, he realized his secretary had not followed him, and shouted again.
"Lu Xiaoye, what are you standing there for? Are you my secretary or hers? Get moving!"
That roar finally snapped the somewhat dazed woman beside them out of her stupor, and she hurried after him in a fluster.
Ye Jin, who had been watching the siblings argue with relish while eating melon, suddenly paused.
[Wait, those two names, Xu Chen and Lu Xiaoye! Could this be that novel, "
Tyrannical CEO
and His Naughty Little Secretary"!]
Chapter 20
Standing nearby, Xu Yan heard Ye Jin's thoughts, and her brow twitched. Could this good-for-nothing brother of hers also be a novel's protagonist?
The corner of her mouth could not help twitching. Then, never one to mind a bigger spectacle while eating melon, she began making introductions.
"Sorry you had to see that just now. That was my younger brother, Xu Chen. He's never gotten along with me. We may be siblings, but in reality, we're practically enemies. As for the girl with him, she's probably his newly hired secretary. She doesn't look very reliable. I have no idea what he's thinking."
"His previous secretary was pretty good. What was her name again? Lu Qinan, I think. Now, she was talented. She arranged Xu Chen's work perfectly. If she hadn't been covering for him, I would have beaten him into the ground ages ago. I even considered offering her a high salary to poach her, but she refused no matter what."
Then, as though she had remembered something, Xu Yan's eyes lit up, and she looked at Ye Jin. "Miss Ye, now that Xu Chen has transferred Lu Qinan to another position, do you think I could succeed in poaching her?"
She said it jokingly, but in reality, she hoped to glean information about Lu Qinan from Ye Jin's thoughts.