Chapter 297
Chapter 297
Early the next morning, we got up and washed.
Meng Yifan was still talking about the previous night.
“Anning really is quick-witted. At first, I thought she got scared and went back to hide in the car.”
“Seriously, without those two bricks of hers last night, all of us would have been buried alongside President Pan.”
“Ah, brothers count for less than a woman. The moment President Pan was in danger, the rest of us were doomed too.”
Given the situation last night, he was right.
If Anning had not struck with those two bricks, Song Xiaotian would have dropped his batons when Four-Eyes threatened Pan Xiaorou.
“How can you even say that out loud?”
Song Xiaotian glared irritably at the two of us. “You two useless pieces of trash. Two grown men put together were less useful than one Anning. Becoming your brother must be the result of eight lifetimes of terrible luck.”
“I’d be better off becoming sworn siblings with Anning!”
“Bah!”
Meng Yifan shrank back, too embarrassed to retort.
When we reached the living room, we suddenly heard movement in the kitchen.
“Who’s up this early and making breakfast? Could it be Anning?”
“No. Anning doesn’t have that kind of refinement. She usually gets up around noon.”
“Then is it your Xiaorou?”
We entered the kitchen. Instead of Pan Xiaorou or Anning, we saw Lin Yin bustling around.
“Miss Lin?”
“You’re awake.”
When Lin Yin saw us, she smiled like sunshine in winter. “I’ve been here for a while, but none of you were awake. The breakfast had gone a little cold, so I’m reheating it.”
“The timing is perfect. You can eat now.”
With that, she hurriedly carried everyone’s breakfast outside.
I found it hard to imagine a pampered daughter from a wealthy family looking after us like a housekeeper.
“How strange. How did such a gentle and gracious woman ever take a liking to you?”
Song Xiaotian could not resist teasing me again. “She must have come this early to make breakfast because you’re here. You couldn’t find a woman this good even if you searched with a lantern.”
“That’s exactly the kind of woman I like. Too bad I don’t have the good fortune. Ah!”
I glared at him without answering, then went to wake Seventh Master and Anning for breakfast.
Anning looked as though she had only just fallen asleep. Dark circles ringed her eyes, and she was still nodding off at the dining table.
“Can’t you go to bed earlier? I got up to pee in the middle of the night and still heard you playing games. Anyone who didn’t know better would think you were on drugs.”
Song Xiaotian could not resist complaining. “Miss Lin already made us breakfast. Look at her schedule. It’s so healthy and regular.”
Anning snorted and turned away, apparently unhappy that Song Xiaotian had compared her with Lin Yin.
Song Xiaotian talked more than anyone among us, like an auntie gossiping at the village entrance. Even Seventh Master did not speak as much as he did.
Lin Yin smiled. “I don’t need much sleep, so I wake early. Young people should still get enough rest, especially women. Otherwise, their skin will suffer.”
Anning snorted again. She seemed to dislike Lin Yin intensely.
I assumed that because Lin Yin came from a rich family, Anning felt somewhat resentful and inferior.
Afraid the atmosphere would become awkward, Pan Xiaorou smiled and asked, “Xiao Yin, it’s rare for a young woman from a wealthy family to be so good at caring for others. But the holiday is over. Don’t you need to return to the company?”
Lin Yin looked embarrassed. “Sister Xiaorou, I’m only a junior supervisor at the company. Missing another couple of days won’t matter. Seventh Master was injured because of my family’s affairs, so of course I have to take good care of all of you.”
Pan Xiaorou was surprised. “Don’t you work at your family’s own company?”
Lin Yin blushed. “I do work at my dad’s company, but he doesn’t give me special treatment. He makes me earn everything myself.”
Seventh Master said approvingly, “People say wealth never lasts beyond three generations. Your father is doing the right thing. Only by gaining experience and learning while young can you preserve the family business. Endure some hardship now, and one day we won’t be able to call you Xiao Yin anymore. We’ll have to call you President Lin. Ha ha.”
Lin Yin carried herself like a refined young lady from a distinguished family. She blushed again. “Not at all. I still have a very long way to go…”
After breakfast, Song Xiaotian prepared to drive Pan Xiaorou to the airport.
The holiday was over. The rest of us earned little money and could return whenever we liked, but Pan Xiaorou was different. She headed a corporate group, and many matters at the company awaited her attention.
After taking her to the airport, Song Xiaotian would return to the hotel and collect all our belongings.
Anning went back to bed after breakfast, while Seventh Master and Meng Yifan rested in their rooms.
Once again, only Lin Yin and I remained in the living room.
She asked me many more questions. I could tell she was deliberately trying to draw closer to me.
I felt extremely awkward and suddenly began to understand why Song Xiaotian found it so difficult to reject Pan Xiaorou.
At around eleven, Song Xiaotian called. He had already returned to the residential complex and asked me to come outside and help carry our belongings.
Only after leaving the villa did I breathe a sigh of relief, as though a great weight had been lifted from me.
Song Xiaotian had parked by the entrance. He leaned against the car door, smoking, with a strange expression.
I asked what was wrong.
After hesitating, he said, “When I took Xiaorou to the airport, she told me we should be careful around Lin Yin.”
The warning made no sense to me. “Why?”
Pan Xiaorou had met Lin Yin only once, that very morning. What could she mean?
“I don’t understand either.”
Song Xiaotian frowned. “But she said… she’s never wrong about people.”
I voiced my doubts. “Then how did she get you so wrong?”
That must have struck a nerve. He glared at me. “You… you’re an awful person. Completely awful! What the hell does this have to do with me?”
“Anyway, she said Lin Yin isn’t as simple as she appears. But since she hasn’t spent time with Lin Yin, she didn’t say much more. She only told us to be on guard.”
I found the whole thing absurd.
I would have considered the warning more credible if she had told us to be careful around Boss Lin.
Lin Yin merely looked after our meals and daily needs. When Seventh Master was in the hospital, she had personally delivered every meal.
Besides, did she not like me?
“When you think carefully about what Xiaorou said, it isn’t entirely unreasonable.”
Song Xiaotian glanced at the villa and lowered his voice. “She’s the daughter of an incredibly wealthy family, yet she’s so perfect that… it doesn’t seem normal.”
“She woke this early and came here to make breakfast instead of sleeping. Even a housekeeper wouldn’t be this attentive.”
I sighed. “That’s a little cruel, isn’t it? I think your Xiaorou was overthinking things. Lin Yin is simply well-bred, polite, and good at taking care of people. Why must everything be abnormal? And… she likes me.”
Song Xiaotian turned solemn. “Suppose Xiaorou is right and everything Lin Yin does has a purpose. Can you guarantee that her feelings for you aren’t an act too?”
I froze, suddenly feeling a chill crawl over my body.
If that was true, what did Lin Yin want from me?