Lin Zhiyi widened her eyes at the man beside her and blurted out, "He’s my uncle, a distant relative."
"Even distant relatives are relatives. Third Young Master is actually your... uncle?"
Sister Zhou almost lost her grip on the plate of dumplings she was holding.
Lin Zhiyi reached out to take the plate, "Yes, he was just passing by, and now he’s leaving."
As she spoke, she gave Gong Chen a nudge with her elbow, signaling him to leave quickly.
Gong Chen was as steady as a rock, his gaze falling on the plate of dumplings.
Sister Zhou, with sharp eyes, asked cautiously, "Third Young Master, would you like some? I made a lot."
Lin Zhiyi continued to intercept, "He won’t eat! He’s already eaten with someone else! I’ll join you."
"You haven’t eaten with someone else?" Gong Chen looked faintly at Lin Zhiyi, his gaze sweeping over her.
The air suddenly froze.
Sister Zhou’s gaze hovered between the two, it’s an uncle-niece relationship, right?
Their conversation sounded somewhat childish, didn’t it?
Seeing the atmosphere growing tenser, Sister Zhou said decisively, "Then let’s sit down and have a bit together. You two go ahead; I’ll boil some more."
Before Lin Zhiyi could stop her, Sister Zhou had swiftly gone back to boil more dumplings.
She could only glare at Gong Chen, gritting her teeth.
He showed no expression, walked in with gentlemanly grace, and even hung his coat on Lin Zhiyi’s coat rack with familiarity.
A moment later, Sister Zhou brought two plates of steaming dumplings to the table.
Gong Chen nodded, thanked her, and gestured for Sister Zhou to sit and join them.
Sister Zhou didn’t stand on ceremony and sat next to Lin Zhiyi, sharing a plate with her.
Lin Zhiyi, who had already had her dinner, lacked appetite and chewed on her chopsticks while staring at the man across from her eating dumplings.
How can he still eat?
After eating two dumplings, Sister Zhou couldn’t keep her mouth shut and admired Gong Chen, "You know, all the men from the Gong Family are handsome."
"Zhiyi, the elder brother who brought you back, if you didn’t say so, everyone would definitely think he’s your boyfriend. He’s so considerate and gentle, much better than the last boyfriend who brought you home..."
Talk about hitting a sore spot!
Lin Zhiyi quickly fed her a dumpling.
"Sister Zhou, eat and don’t talk."
Sister Zhou chewed for a moment, then spoke in a tone of someone who had seen it all, "Zhiyi, I mean well. That boyfriend of yours is unreliable. He only brought you home once, and with you working overtime lately, he’s not even a shadow around, doesn’t care about you at all. Don’t believe me? Ask your uncle. Can you really count on a man like that?"
The man opposite grew increasingly grim.
Lin Zhiyi rubbed her forehead, murmuring, "Ha, why don’t you ask him."
Sister Zhou indeed dared to ask, even feeling it was natural.
She looked at Gong Chen, "Third Young Master, right? Zhiyi is so pretty, what kind of boyfriend couldn’t she get? That kind of man, no good. If she’s to find someone, it should be someone gentle and handsome like her elder brother..."
"Sister Zhou!" Lin Zhiyi raised her voice to interrupt, "The dumplings are getting cold."
Sister Zhou hummed in agreement, bowed her head to pick up a dumpling and dipped it in vinegar, only to realize she had forgotten to serve them vinegar.
"Look at my memory, here, let me pour some for you two as well."
After pouring the vinegar, she passed the vinegar dish to Gong Chen, "Third Young Master, have some vinegar."
Gong Chen’s expression cooled by several degrees, his eyes narrowing slightly at the vinegar.
Sister Zhou, ever the hospitable one, urged, "This vinegar is different from what we have here, I brought it from my hometown, it’s really good. Try it, you’ll get used to it after a few bites."
Gong Chen grew even more somber.
Lin Zhiyi, unable to hold back for a moment, twitched her mouth, finding Sister Zhou’s words inexplicably funny.
But when she looked up, she caught Gong Yan’s piercing gaze.
His eyes seemed to be vines reaching out to her, carrying a dangerous aura.
Lin Zhiyi coughed softly and quickly reached out to take Sister Zhou’s vinegar dish.
"Sister Zhou, he never has vinegar. Give it to me instead."
But before she could touch the dish, Gong Chen reached out and took it himself.
"Who says I don’t have vinegar?" ƒrēewebnoѵёl.cσm
"Thank you."
After closing the door, Lin Zhiyi looked down to check the business card.
She noticed Sister Zhou might have given her the wrong one; in her hand was a card with a handwritten phone number.
Looking at the numbers, she felt oddly familiar with them.
But before she could recall, a sense of pressure suddenly surged from behind. Before she could turn around, her back pressed against a warm chest.
With a hint of displeasure, the man cornered her against the door and secured her hands behind her back.
"Why did you have dinner with Gong Yan?"
Lin Zhiyi moved her body and retorted, "What business is it of yours who I have dinner with, Uncle? Can’t you just stop interfering with me?"
She shouted the last sentence.
Silence surrounded them.
Lin Zhiyi couldn’t see the man’s expression, but could feel his chest heaving conspicuously; then her wrists suddenly ached as if about to break.
But the next second, the man released her.
Lin Zhiyi rubbed her sore wrists angrily, "You can go! I don’t want to see you!"
Having said that, she turned and walked towards the house.
But as she turned around, her neck suddenly hurt, and Gong Chen pulled her back.
He clenched her nape, forcing her to raise her head to meet his gaze.
As she fell into his dark pupils, her breath inexplicably hitched; she had never seen such a tumultuous mix of emotions in him.
His eyes were as cold as ice, his face tense as a drawn bowstring.
"He’s lying to you, and you still have dinner with him? Lin Zhiyi, there’s no sense in that!"
Their breath intermingled; Lin Zhiyi could even feel his heavy breathing.
She was about to argue when he forcefully kissed her. When she was unwilling to cooperate, he pinched her chin and overwhelmingly pried her lips apart.
"You... bastard."
"I can be an even bigger one. If you see him once, I’ll do this once. Try me!"
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