Chapter 140 My Heart Is Soaked in a Sauerkraut Jar

Lin Xiyin was driving, her phone was on a holder, and she wasn't wearing headphones, so she answered the call directly on speakerphone.

"Still not off work?"

Chi Tianlin's voice came through the phone, casual and natural, with a familiar warmth.

Pei Muye looked over with icy eyes, and sure enough, the name on the note was Chi Tianlin.

"On my way," Lin Xiyin said. "What's wrong?"

“I’ll go pick up Youyou,” Chi Tianlin said. “I ordered from your favorite restaurant, and they’ll deliver it to your door.”

Lin Xiyin was silent for two seconds, then said, "Okay."

Because Pei Muye was nearby, she couldn't say much.

Chi Tianlin added, "You can go home first, take a shower, and then wait for Youyou and me to come back for dinner."

Lin Xiyin responded again.

The other end said they were hanging up, and the call was over.

The carriage fell silent.

Pei Muye felt as if his heart had been clenched in a fist.

What exactly is the relationship between Chi Tianlin and Lin Xiyin?

Why are they so close?

He could go to her house at will, pick up the children, and even dine at the restaurant she ordered.

Those who don't know him would assume he's the male head of the household.

Pei Muye also thought that when they went to the amusement park before, to others, he, Lin Xiyin, and their child looked like a family of three.

But who knew that he couldn't even get into Lin Xiyin's house?

Chi Tianlin, however, could do it easily.

In comparison, he suffered a crushing defeat.

Pei Muyi felt like his heart was soaking in a jar of sauerkraut; he couldn't have felt more miserable.

He opened his mouth to say something, but found his throat dry and hoarse, as if it were glued shut, and he couldn't open his mouth.

Today, all the lights were green, and it only took about ten minutes to get to the outside of Linxiyin Community.

Lin Xiyin didn't intend to drive any further, so she stopped the car and said, "President Pei, we've arrived."

Pei Muye was so caught up in his prepared words that he didn't get a single word out because of a phone call from Chi Tianlin.

If he were to ask at this point, "What is your relationship with Chi Tianlin?", it would probably only make things worse.

This was the first time Pei Muye had ever struggled with such inner conflict.

But he quickly made a decision, unbuckled his seatbelt, and said to Lin Xiyin, "Thank you."

Lin Xiyin didn't expect him to agree so readily.

Pei Muye got out of the car, walked to the driver's seat, and said, "Go back and get some rest. Go to bed early tonight."

Lin Xiyin hummed in agreement, said goodbye, and then started the car.

Pei Muye stood there for a few minutes before getting into the luxury car that had been following behind.

When Lin Xiyin arrived home, there was indeed no one there.

She took a shower and wore very conservative loungewear.

Even though her relationship with Chi Tianlin was initially quite hostile, she never intended to develop a deep friendship with him.

But over the three years they spent together, she noticed his care for her, especially his care for the children.

Now, she considers Chi Tianlin a friend, and sometimes she even feels that Chi Tianlin is like family to her.

Over the course of three years, he took on part of the role of a father to his child, ensuring that Lin Youxing's upbringing was not marred by many regrets.

Lin Xiyin was filled with gratitude towards him.

The restaurant delivered all of Lin Xiyin's favorite dishes and even prepared a special children's meal for Lin Youxing.

Through this period of contact, Aunt Zhao and Chi Tianlin have become acquainted.

Chi Tianlin is a person who sometimes does things that are infuriating and make people grit their teeth.

But if he wanted to please someone, it would be a piece of cake for him.

In just a short time, Aunt Zhao changed her opinion of him and praised him to Lin Xiyin more than once.

He is said to have a good temperament, good looks, good manners, and patience with children.

If someone had praised Chi Tianlin like this three years ago, Lin Xiyin definitely wouldn't have believed it.

But now, she has nothing to say.

Chi Tianlin is such a smooth talker.

After dinner, he played games with the little boy and finally put him to sleep before leaving.

He had done these things frequently during his three years abroad and had long since become quite adept at them.

After Lin Youxing fell asleep, he said goodbye, and Lin Xiyin stood in the entrance hall to see him off.

"You've spent too much tonight," Lin Xiyin said. "I'll treat you to dinner another day."

"Don't say 'see you another day'," Chi Tianlin said. "'See you another day' is just a lie."

Lin Xiyin smiled and said, "You can tell me which day it is."

Chi Tianlin said, "Ask Xiao Ruoyi when she's free, so we can go together."

Lin Xiyin really enjoyed this kind of interaction; it felt very comfortable.

She continued smiling, "Okay."

One of the most important reasons she was willing to be friends with Chi Tianlin and let him into her life was that Chi Tianlin had a great sense of propriety.

Such an unconventional and self-aware man would never do anything to make things difficult for Lin Xiyin.

He was mistaken for a family of three when they were abroad before, and after returning to China, he would always invite Xiao Ruoyi when they went out to eat.

Lin Xiyin was very grateful for this.

As for Pei Muye...

Today, Lin Xiyin specifically put the phone on speakerphone to answer Chi Tianlin's call.

Whether it's to make Pei Muyi misunderstand or to make him give up, she did it on purpose.

She didn't know what her future love life would be like.

But she will definitely have her own friendships.

Chi Tianlin is not only his friend, but also Lin Youxing's godfather.

Pei Muye and Chi Tianlin remain mortal enemies.

It wasn't that she deliberately wanted to make things difficult for Pei Muye; it's just that she herself didn't expect that three years would be enough for her to change her opinion of Chi Tianlin.

I really considered him a friend.

Lin Xiyin made an appointment with Xiao Ruoyi, but unfortunately, the beautiful Xiao is quite busy lately and will only be free to have dinner on Sunday.

Lin Xiyin started working on the project.

Li Xingzhi and Wu Xinyue are both very professional, and they work well together.

The three of them got so busy that they forgot about mealtimes, and several times when they went to the cafeteria, they found that there was no food left.

There was no other way but to make do with a place near the school.

As a result, on Friday, someone delivered the meal directly to Lin Xiyin's office.

It was a large food box containing four dishes, a soup, and three bowls of rice.

It's clearly not the amount for one person.

Lin Xiyin initially thought it was Chi Tianlin, but she had a strange premonition.

Chi Tianlin only cares about her, not about the lives of her colleagues.

But Lin Xiyin didn't want to be narcissistic and guess that it was sent by Pei Muye.

And it was a gift for three people.

However, Pei Muye came to claim it himself.

He messaged Lin Xiyin: You guys get so busy you forget to eat, I'll have someone bring you some food so you can eat together.

A little while later, he sent another message: Including your male colleague.

Lin Xiyin was momentarily stunned upon receiving the message.

Pei Muye wasn't jealous at all; in fact, he even brought food to Li Xingzhi so they could eat together.

Has the sun risen in the west?

Lin Xiyin didn't have time to think much and hurriedly typed a thank you message.

Pei Muye is an investor, and this project will make him money in the future.

It's reasonable for him to treat his staff to dinner now.

Lin Xiyin just didn't expect that Pei Muyi would invite her to dinner more than once or twice.

Every day at noon, he would have someone deliver food, enough for three people.

Li Xingzhi had been to this hotel and knew that they did not offer delivery service at all.

Anyone who can do this must be rich and powerful, and may even own hotel shares.

The only person he could think of was Pei Muye.

But he didn't say anything.

He could sense that Lin Xiyin only saw him as a colleague, friend, and younger brother, but not as a lover.

This is the first time in his life he's liked someone, and he's not going to give up so easily.

Now, he feels that simply being by her side is enough.

On Sunday, Xiao Ruoyi finally had time, so she called Chi Tianlin and went to a restaurant with Lin Xiyin and her son.

At the dinner table, Xiao Ruoyi didn't have much of an appetite. She picked at the dishes she usually liked but couldn't eat them.

"What's wrong? Are you too tired?" Lin Xiyin put another piece of fish on her plate. "The fish is cooked well, it's very tender. Try it."

Xiao Ruoyi shook her head: "I don't want to eat."

Lin Xiyin had no choice but to put it on her own plate: "You must be exhausted. Have you been to several places this week?"

"I've flown to three countries," Xiao Ruoyi said. "Doing business in the domestic market is tough, so I had no choice but to expand into the international market."

Chi Tianlin served the baby a bowl of soup and wiped his mouth, saying, "There's a big tree right here for you to rest under, you don't need it."

He had always wanted to cooperate with Xiao Ruoyi, but she ignored him.

She would rather be busy on her own than live off Chi Tianlin's business.

Otherwise, it will be even harder to tell her apart from Huo Xianyang in the future.

Huo Xianyang couldn't do anything about this, and Chi Tianlin couldn't force her to cooperate.

She has an inherent stubbornness that prevents her from asking for favors or compromising.

So she still remembers that incident from her youth.

After dinner, Xiao Ruoyi went straight home with Lin Xiyin.

She can rest for half a day today, and she doesn't want to go anywhere, so she just lies on Lin Xiyin's bed and sleeps.

Chi Tianlin brought the person back and then left.

Lin Xiyin wanted to ask her if she had contacted Huo Xianyang again, but seeing that she had her eyes closed, she was obviously exhausted, so she didn't bring it up.

Xiao Ruoyi slept for the entire afternoon, and when she woke up it was already dark.

The bedroom was quiet. She looked at the light coming through the crack in the door, lay down for a while, rubbed her eyes, and got up from the bed.

In the living room, Aunt Zhao was bringing out the food, and Lin Xiyin was about to take Lin Youxing to wash his hands.

She took his hand and said, "After you wash your hands, go call your godmother for dinner."

"Godmother is lazy," Lin Youxing said in a childish voice, "piggy."

Sometimes when he doesn't get up in the morning, Lin Xiyin calls him a little piggy.

My godmother slept for so long during the day, she's such a pig.

Xiao Ruoyi leaned against the door frame: "I overheard them talking badly about me."

"Godmother!"

The little one ran over, hugged her leg, and looked up at her, exclaiming, "You're awake!"

Xiao Ruoyi squatted down and kissed his fair and tender little face: "Who's the piggy?"

He giggled and threw himself into her arms.

Xiao Ruoyi picked him up: "I'll take him to wash his hands."

"Let him wash it himself," Lin Xiyin said. "Don't spoil him."

Aunt Zhao placed the soup on the table: "Yiyi, this is your favorite soup tonight."

But Xiao Ruoyi still had little appetite tonight and ate very little.

Lin Xiyin asked worriedly, "Is your stomach upset? Have you been eating poorly lately?"

Xiao Ruoyi said, "It's probably because of jet lag, and the food abroad isn't very good either."

Aunt Zhao felt sorry for her: "Then you can stay here for the next few days, and I'll treat you to something nice."

Just then, Xiao Ruoyi's phone rang.

She picked it up and glanced at Lin Xiyin: "Pei Muye sent me a message."