Chapter 60: Draw a clear line with the Cheng family.

Xie Huaiming was so bluntly refused to have lunch, but he did not show any embarrassment or intention to back out.

He still had that impeccable gentle smile on his face, and he even pulled a chair over from the side and placed it naturally opposite Chu Yi.

"Since Teacher Chu has a conference dinner, I won't force it." He said in a relaxed tone, as if he wasn't the one being rejected. "But, do you mind if I sit here for a while and chat? It's tiring to stand for so long."

Chu Yi raised his hand and made a "please go ahead" gesture, then turned his gaze back to the window. He was obviously not in a good mood and was just maintaining basic politeness.

Outside the window, the huge LED advertising screen of the Yinmao Building across the street is playing various advertisements in a loop.

As the scenes switched, an extremely impactful face suddenly caught Chu Yi's eyes - it was Zhou Ai.

The photo seemed to be a global endorsement photo for a high-end brand. Zhou Ai, with his neatly cropped black hair and sharp, intense eyes, stood tall in the interplay of light and shadow, wearing a beautifully tailored dark-patterned suit. He exuded a powerful aura that blended wildness and luxury.

It was the new look he had seen in a video a few days ago, and he praised it as "pretty handsome".

Chu Yi's gaze unconsciously lingered on the screen for a few more seconds.

Just at this moment, the waiter brought Xie Huaiming a cup of hot tea, and the misty hot steam temporarily blocked Chu Yi's sight to the window.

Xie Huaiming picked up the teacup, blew on it gently, and casually started the conversation with a homely and friendly tone: "Come to think of it, when my mother and Aunt Chu were playing mahjong together a few days ago, she mentioned that our two families should have a meal together and get together when we have time. The older generation always cares about these things."

Upon hearing this, Chu Yi withdrew his gaze from the window, but did not look at Xie Huaiming. He simply picked up his glass of already cold water and asked in a flat tone, as if it was just a casual remark: "Boss Xie must be very busy with work, right?"

He cleverly diverted the topic from "two families' dinner" to unimportant work.

Xie Huaiming paused while drinking tea, then put down the teacup in his hand and looked at Chu Yi, but the other person's eyes were still fixed somewhere outside the window, and the lines of his profile were calm and distant.

He smiled and answered along with Chu Yi's words, but deliberately brought the topic back again: "Yes, I'm quite busy. I just took over the group not long ago, and there are many things that need to be sorted out from scratch. There are so many things to deal with."

Staring at Chu Yi's distant profile, Xie Huaiming suddenly changed the subject, his gaze becoming somewhat deep, and added meaningfully, "But... in my opinion, no matter how busy you are at work, it shouldn't be a reason to delay finding a significant other or cultivating a relationship. After all, work is work, life is life, and love... is love. What do you think, Teacher Chu?"

He finally threw the question back, with a gentle but unavoidable temptation.

Chu Yi's gaze finally returned completely from the window. He raised his hand and slowly took a sip of the already cold water in the cup. The icy liquid slid down his throat, giving his voice a distinct chill.

Then he slowly raised his eyes, looking directly at Xie Huaiming calmly. His tone carried the aloofness he usually used to treat people, like a soft knife, precisely drawing a line between the two.

"Actually, I don't quite understand why Mr. Xie suddenly told me all this about your personal views on love."

Chu Yi tilted his head slightly as he spoke, his eyes showing no provocation, only pure confusion. "After all, I'm not your significant other, so it seems... I don't need to know all this?"

These words were spoken directly and frankly, like a basin of cold water, which immediately extinguished the ambiguous atmosphere that Xie Huaiming had deliberately created.

The smile on Xie Huaiming's face froze for a moment. He subconsciously looked up, following Chu Yi's gaze, out the window, trying to find a clue. However, the Yinmao Building's advertising screen had switched to a dazzling jewelry ad, but without the person he imagined.

He retracted his gaze and looked at Chu Yi again. The look behind the lenses deepened a little, but the smile on his face became impeccable again, even with a touch of desperate straightforwardness.

Xie Huaiming leaned forward slightly, lowering his voice a little, with a gentlemanly earnestness, yet pressing forward step by step:

"Then, Mr. Chu," he stared into Chu Yi's clear yet cold eyes, "could you, considering the friendship between our two elders and my sincerity, give me a chance... to pursue you?"

Chu Yi listened to Xie Huaiming's almost straightforward "pursuit request" and did not answer immediately.

He first laughed very lightly. The laughter was very faint, almost without any temperature, but it was like a feather gently scratching the air, causing Xie Huaiming's expression, which was ready to press on with his victory, to pause slightly.

Then he slowly raised his head, but there was indeed a smile on his face, but there seemed to be a thin layer of ice in his clear eyes.

"Mr. Xie," Chu Yi's tone could even be described as gentle, "I feel like you've been somewhat misled by my mother."

The smile on Xie Huaiming's face remained unchanged, but his eyes flickered slightly, as if he was trying to judge the intention of Chu Yi's words.

Chu Yi didn't need his response and continued speaking calmly, his tone objective and calm, leaving no room for ambiguity: "If your and the Xie family's real consideration is to seek a strong business alliance, or to pave the way for a future career and accumulate more solid connections..."

He leaned forward slightly, looking directly into Xie Huaiming's eyes behind his glasses, and word by word, he hammered at the other party's most realistic calculations: "Then, shouldn't the person you really spend your time trying to understand and pursue be my brother, Cheng Yanqing?"

"He is the future helmsman of the Cheng family. He holds real power and can provide resources and support far beyond what a mere doctor like me can provide."

Chu Yi spread his hands, his gesture relaxed, but every word cut like a knife. "To you, or to the future that the Xie family wants, I can be said to be... useless."

He watched as the perfect mask on Xie Huaiming's face finally showed a crack, then he slowly leaned back in his chair and made a final summary. His tone even carried a hint of regretful "kindness": "Having said that, I think... Mr. Xie, you should understand what I mean, right?"

"Being obsessed with me is probably a major strategic mistake. It will not only waste your precious time, but also disappoint the expectations of the elders of both families."

Chu Yi pronounced the word "expectation" at the end of his words in an extremely delicate manner, even clearly with a hint of sarcasm.

These words were flawless, completely rejecting Xie Huaiming himself, and lightly distorting the matter of "pursuit" into a pure balance of interests and family strategy, as if Xie Huaiming's feelings were nothing more than a calculated misjudgment.

Not only did he clear himself of the matter, but he also accurately kicked the "ball" and pressure back to the other party and his own elders who were pushing this matter behind the scenes.

Xie Huaiming's smile was completely gone. His hands tightened slightly on his knees, and the look behind his glasses became complicated, filled with surprise, embarrassment at having his intentions seen through, and perhaps even a hint of anger at being so completely rejected.

He opened his mouth, but couldn't find the right words to refute this "reasonable" analysis.

When they first met, he did have some special feelings for Chu Yi, but as a businessman, it was obvious which was more important, this "love" or interests.

Chu Yi had said everything he needed to say, and stopped there. He stood up calmly, straightened the non-existent wrinkles on his suit, and nodded slightly: "The meeting is about to start. Excuse me, Mr. Xie." After saying that, he turned around and left.

———

Chu Yi knew that what he said was undoubtedly a slap in the face of the Xie family, but he did not expect that Chu Ruoyin would call him so quickly to accuse him and inform him to go to the old house immediately.

After the meeting, Chu Yi took a taxi to the old house at a leisurely pace.

Just as he stepped through the heavy black iron gate of the Cheng family's old house, and before he could even see who was sitting under the century-old locust tree in the courtyard, a glass filled with half a cup of leftover tea exploded not far from him.

The sharp and piercing sound of breaking broke the oppressive tranquility of the old house, and the flying glass fragments and cold tea almost stained his trouser legs.

Chu Yi's footsteps didn't even pause for half a second. He just lowered his eyes slightly to glance at the mess at his feet, then raised his eyes and looked calmly at his mother, Chu Ruoyin, who was sitting on a rattan chair with her chest heaving violently with anger.

Chu Ruoyin's well-maintained face no longer had the usual elegance and composure, only the iron-blue and coldness that came from offending authority.

She didn't even stand up, but stared at Chu Yi with her beautiful eyes, her voice becoming even sharper and harsher as she tried to suppress her anger:

"Chu Yi! Are you going to turn the tables?!"

Chu Yi did not answer, but just stood there silently, as if the thrilling scene just now had nothing to do with him.

This silent confrontation further angered Chu Ruoyin.

She suddenly stood up from the rattan chair, her finger almost poking Chu Yi's nose. Years of pent-up dissatisfaction and disappointment poured out like a flood.

"When you were little, I told you to study hard and strive to inherit the Cheng family. But you didn't even say hello and went off to study medicine abroad! For so many years, I've been holding it in my heart and never said a word to you. Now, you've got what you wanted. You're going to the hospital and earning that meager salary. Are you satisfied?"

Her voice rose higher and higher, filled with the pain of being let down and betrayed: "I really didn't expect you to be so rebellious that you even want to decide your own marriage! You don't give your all to the Cheng family, you only care about your own peace of mind."

Chu Ruoyin's words became increasingly harsh, mercilessly scraping at Chu Yi's choice and dignity. "The only thing that's valuable to you right now is this marriage, and you still took the initiative to reject it!"

Chu Ruoyin took a deep breath, as if pouring all her resentment and anger into her next words. Each word was pierced with an icy chill. "Do you know that you're marrying above your station by having the Xie family agree to a marriage? Xie Huaiming is the definite successor of the Xie family, young and promising, with a bright future! What about you? You don't even have the surname Cheng. Besides this decent-looking face, what else do you have? Why would you refuse? Huh?!"

She approached Chu Yi step by step, as if she would not give up until she had exhausted the last bit of affection between mother and son.

"You're not refusing a meal, you're not refusing a person! You're slapping the Xie family in the face, and severing the relationship we've worked so hard to maintain! How can I explain this to your Aunt Xie? How can your father hold his head up in front of Uncle Xie? Chu Yi, the entire Cheng family will pay the price for your willfulness!"

Facing Chu Ruoyin's fierce rebukes and those cruel words that personified and valorized him, Chu Yi did not even raise his eyelids. Facing such a hysterical mother, his eyes only became clearer and calmer, even revealing a calmness that was almost indifferent.

It was not until Chu Ruoyin gasped slightly due to excitement and paused for a while that Chu Yi slowly spoke.

His voice did not rise, and was even a little deeper than usual, but it clearly penetrated the anger that had not yet dissipated in the air and the slightly astringent smell of tea.

"Are you done?"

Chu Ruoyin was stunned by his calm attitude, and then her anger intensified: "What kind of attitude is this?!"

Chu Yi slightly turned sideways and took a big step forward, avoiding the densest glass fragments on the ground. He raised his eyes and looked directly into his mother's angry eyes, his tone still calm.

"First, I'm a doctor by profession. I save lives and heal the wounded. My income is legal and clean, not meager at all. I don't need anyone else's approval. My own approval is enough."

"Secondly," he paused, his eyes sweeping over the debris on the ground, "I can decide my marriage myself. This isn't rebellion; it's the most basic right of an adult."

"Third," his voice grew colder, "your so-called value and ambition are undoubtedly based on viewing me as a commodity to be sold. I'm sorry, but I have never accepted and will never accept that definition."

"As for the Cheng family's reputation and the Xie family's connections," Chu Yi said with a slight sneer on his lips, "if the relationship and future of the Cheng and Xie families are so fragile that they need to be maintained by sacrificing the marriage of a 'worthless' son, then such a relationship and future are better off gone."

Chu Yi finished what he wanted to say, and the only thing left in the air was his mother's rapid breathing and the sharp silence of the remaining glass fragments on the ground.

He did not leave immediately, but stood there calmly, with the ironed suit jacket draped over his arm, his eyes slowly looking around the old house where he had grown up but never felt warmth.

The courtyard is deep, ancient trees with twisted branches, and every carved beam and painted building exudes the majesty and oppression accumulated over the years. Every inch of the land here seems to be soaked in the Cheng family's complex conflicts of interest and unspeakable past.

But Chu Yi's impression of this place has never been good.

His mother, Chu Ruoyin, was married to his father Cheng Zhi after Cheng Yanqing's biological mother passed away.

Even though, as the outside world said, she "worked hard" and gave birth to a boy, Chuyi, words like "second wife" and "filling the house", as well as those inquiring, pitying or slightly contemptuous looks, have never really left her.

When Chu Yi was little, the words he heard most often were from the guests who came to visit. Sometimes they would touch Cheng Yanqing's head and say half-jokingly, "Yanqing, look, your father has given you another handsome brother. He will compete with you for the family fortune in the future!"

The speaker may not mean it, but the listener may take it seriously.

Those words were like tiny needles, piercing the young Chu Yi's heart again and again, and undoubtedly hurt the strong-willed Chu Ruoyin even more deeply.

Many times, Chu Yi could actually understand his mother's almost paranoid sense of urgency.

Marrying into such a family at such a young age, facing the eldest son left by the previous wife, who was already the tacit heir, she was walking on thin ice. No matter how well she did, she would inevitably be criticized.

She needed to prove herself so badly, and she needed to fight for a place for her son and herself, and win some real dignity that would not be looked down upon.

Therefore, Chu Ruoyin poured all her hopes and pressure on Chu Yi, forcing him to move forward, forcing him to fight and compete.

But what about their father, Cheng Zhi? The man who seemed to be the head of the family, actually didn't have much deep affection for his second son, Chu Yi.

Chu Yi clearly remembered that when he was eight years old, he was punished by Chu Ruoyin to stand under the old locust tree outside the yard because of a trivial matter.

In the evening, he heard his father Cheng Zhi bringing Cheng Yanqing back from outside. Standing in the corridor not far away, he said to Cheng Yanqing in a gentle tone that he had never used to himself before: "Yanqing, don't worry about what others say. Everything in the Cheng family will be yours in the future."

On that summer evening, Chu Yi's sweat kept dripping from his temples to the ground, but he still remembered it clearly. At that moment, he felt cold from head to toe.

It was also from that moment that the young Chu Yi became more determined than ever: he did not want to be a tool used by his mother to fight for power, nor did he want to fall into the suffocating vortex of inheritance.

He wanted a completely different life, one that he could control.

This is also what Chu Yi later realized. The reason why he fell in love with Zhou Ai at first sight was: Zhou Ai had an "invincible" and flamboyant youthful aura that Chu Yi had never possessed in his youth. That was also the freedom that Chu Yi had always pursued and yearned for.

Chu Yi withdrew his gaze and looked once more at his mother, whose face was pale with anger and yet also pitiful. He felt no triumph in his heart, only a deep sense of exhaustion and understanding.

He said no more, just nodded slightly, slowly put his suit jacket on his arm, then turned around without hesitation, stepped over the mess that symbolized rupture and anger, and walked towards the heavy door of the old house.

With his back as straight as ever and his steps steady, he gradually isolated himself from the gorgeous cage behind him that had imprisoned his entire childhood, as well as his mother's gaze that was a mixture of disappointment, anger and unwillingness.

Deep in the inner courtyard, there seemed to be a faint sound of porcelain shattering, but Chu Yi seemed not to hear it. He simply took a deep breath of the free and slightly cool air outside the door and left without looking back.