Ye Yingying closed the book, and, unable to bear listening any longer, smiled and said, "I'm going to school."

Without giving Jiang Jianian and Ji Shuli a chance to speak again, Ye Yingying put the book in her bag and went straight out the door.

Ji Shuli was stunned for a moment, then looked at Jiang Jianian, "Xiao Jiang, did I say something wrong? I felt that this girl glared at me unhappily before she left."

Ji Shuli finished the last mouthful of congee, put down his chopsticks, fastened his cufflinks, glanced at Ji Shuli, and said coldly, "His temper has probably grown. He was never a likable person to begin with."

After saying that, he left the Ye family home and prepared to go to the company.

Ji Shuli was the only one left in the family, sitting there wondering why Ye Yingying had suddenly changed her expression. Wasn't this girl the most understanding, gentle, and considerate? But she didn't seem to have a kind look towards him either.

Tsk tsk tsk, as expected, girls' thoughts are the hardest to guess. No matter how hard you try, you can never figure out what they're thinking.

There wasn't much going on at the company today, and a project we were working on had come to an end, so Ji Shuli didn't need to come to the company. He leisurely finished his breakfast, lay on the sofa, and calmly started reading financial newspapers to get some information. Sometimes he would take out his phone to reply to messages from employees.

He already had a pretty peaceful life with nothing to do, but there were others who knew how to enjoy life even better than him.

If it weren't for Ye Qingcheng's requirement, Miss Ye wouldn't have gotten up at 10 a.m. the earliest. But due to Ye Qingcheng's strictness, Ye Zhiwei could only get up before 10 a.m. every day. She had just woken up and was a little groggy. She yawned as she went downstairs and her mind was blank. It took her a while before she started eating breakfast.

About half an hour later, she regained consciousness.

Seeing her tired face, Ji Shuli asked, "Why do you look so tired? Did your little cousin steal a chicken yesterday?"

"Who stole the chicken?" Ye Zhiwei retorted, rubbing her hands and coughing. "My hands are just a little sore."

"Your hand is sore?" Ji Shuli was quite surprised. "Why is your hand suddenly sore? I haven't seen you doing any exercise lately, and you hardly write anymore."

"Ahem." Ye Zhiwei forced herself to remain calm and said seriously, "I did some knuckle exercises in my room, and it's a bit tiring for my hands."

What kind of exercise can make your arms sore?

"It's just some yoga-like exercises; I'm working on my finger dexterity." Ye Zhiwei's head throbbed even more. She really hadn't been prepared since waking up early, and had actually told her cousin her hands were sore. She was truly—

Ji Shuli was still wondering what was wrong when Ye Zhiwei's phone vibrated.

It was a message from Qin Manshu about the surveillance, meaning she could go to the Qin family's research center to find the surveillance footage she wanted.

Ye Zhiwei thought the matter was going to be forgotten, but unexpectedly Qin Manshu asked her to come over.

Qin Manshu is the eldest daughter of the Qin family and their only daughter. Behind her is the Qin family's entire medical industry, which almost monopolizes most of the medical industry. A young lady like her should have been raised in seclusion and pampered since childhood. There should have been countless boys pursuing her. But strangely, Qin Manshu took a fancy to Ji Shuli, whom she didn't seem to have much contact with.

Not only did she have her eye on him, but she also began a one-sided pursuit of Ji Shuli. During their last meeting, Qin Manshu deliberately tried to please Ye Zhiwei. She didn't mind being discovered, and immediately paid a visit after Ji Shuli dropped his watch, seemingly hoping to make everyone realize that she had reserved Ji Shuli for her.

Since they exchanged contact information last time, Qin Manshu would chat with Ye Zhiwei whenever she had free time, but most of the conversations revolved around Ji Shuli. It seemed that as long as Ji Shuli was mentioned, Qin Manshu would have endless things to say.

Even after helping Ye Zhiwei this time, she continued to message Ye Zhiwei to ask: "Little cousin, will your cousin come over with you?"

This is yet another indirect attempt to probe Ji Shuli's situation.

Although the other person asked in a questioning tone, Ye Zhiwei immediately understood what they meant: they wanted Ji Shuli to come along as well.

Qin Manshu allowed Ye Zhiwei to access the research center's video feed. Ye Yingying definitely owed Qin Manshu a favor here. Although Qin Manshu didn't say anything explicitly, the moment he told Ye Zhiwei that she could access the surveillance video, he asked if Ji Shuli would come along. That was tantamount to telling Ye Zhiwei that he hoped she could repay this favor.

Ye Zhiwei took a deep breath and turned to look at Ji Shuli, the "tool person".

Although she didn't want to interfere in Ji Shuli's relationship, the girl's advances had already reached this point, and the two of them still had a favor to do for each other, so Ye Zhiwei really couldn't refuse Qin Manshu's request.

Ye Zhiwei took a deep breath and tentatively asked Ji Shuli, "Cousin, is there anything... going on today?"

"Take a day off today. A project I've been working on has been finalized. All other company matters will be sent to me. What's up?" Ji Shuli didn't realize that her younger cousin had already put a price tag on her and was about to give her away.

"Since you're free, cousin, how about we accompany your lovely little cousin to the Qin family's research center today? I have some surveillance video that I'd like to retrieve from her." Ye Zhiwei looked at Ji Shuli hesitantly.

Ji Shuli's expression turned subtle upon hearing the name "Qin family." He coughed forcefully and said, "If you want to retrieve the surveillance footage, why don't you go yourself? We can have a driver pick you up and drop you off. Do you need me to make some arrangements for you?"

How much must someone dislike this to keep pretending to be stupid?

Seeing that Ji Shuli seemed to have reached the point of rejection, Ye Zhiwei had no choice but to awkwardly put aside her thoughts and pitifully said, "Okay, then I'll just tell Miss Qin that you're busy. But if you're busy, I don't know if she'll allow me to access the surveillance footage from their research center."

Ji Shuli smiled and said, "Maybe I just want to do you a favor and get to know you."

"What good would it do me to do you a favor and befriend me?" Ye Zhiwei gave Ji Shuli a deep look. "Isn't it just to chase after men? A male beauty is a curse."

Ye Zhiwei got up to contact the driver.

Ji Shuli sat there and stared at the newspaper for a few more seconds. He was not comfortable with Ye Zhiwei having any private relationship with Qin Manshu, especially since his uncle had mentioned that the Qin family's situation was rather complicated.

Just a second ago, Ji Shuli firmly refused to express his opinion, but the next second he picked up his car keys, walked in front of Ye Zhiwei, and snorted, "I'll go with you, so you won't get scammed, you silly girl."

Ji Shuli didn't call a driver again, and drove herself and Ye Zhiwei to the Qin family's research center.

Ye Zhiwei had informed Qin Manshu in advance that she was almost there, so Qin Manshu was already waiting at the research center. After Ye Zhiwei and Ji Shuli got out of the car, Qin Manshu looked at her watch and smiled, "Little cousin, I thought you would arrive around this time, but I didn't expect you to arrive right on time."

Although the woman was speaking to Ye Zhiwei, her gaze went past Ye Zhiwei and landed on Ji Shuli beside her.

In this subtle atmosphere, Ye Zhiwei keenly noticed that the watch on Qin Manshu's wrist was the same model as the one worn by Ji Shuli.