Shen Lin deliberately emphasized the last few words, and Ye Xinning knew that this was Shen Lin's way of reminding her.

They are husband and wife, and it's never too much for them to be close.

But……

Ye Xinning forced a smile and said, "Chen Lin, I'm feeling really confused right now. Can you give me some time? I need to think things through."

That was the truth. She knew clearly that there were many problems between her and Shen Lin. From what Shen Lin had just said and his attitude, it was clear that he was sincerely apologizing to her and seriously thinking about what she had said.

However, so many problems cannot be solved in just a few simple words.

There are still many things she cares about; these are very important issues.

Shen Lin frowned, his expression complex.

"What else do you want to think about?" He couldn't understand.

“I have things I care about, and these are the things that I still can’t completely convince myself. Give me some time, I need to sort out our situation again.”

Shen Lin suddenly felt a little anxious. "I've already said that, what more do you want from me?"

He couldn't control his emotions, and even he himself didn't realize that his tone was somewhat cold at that moment.

Ye Xinning was stunned. Shen Lin's words made it seem as if she was the one who had been making trouble all along.

She suddenly found it somewhat amusing. She tilted her head slightly, staring intently into Chen Lin's eyes. "Chen Lin, do you think that the fact that you're willing to lower yourself to say these things to me is already a great favor, and that I should just take this opportunity to back down, instead of refusing the chance you're given?"

Shen Lin placed his large hand on her waist, wanting to explain, "That's not what I meant. I just don't understand what you're doing. To be honest, from the beginning until now, I have no idea what you're doing."

The light in Ye Xinning's eyes gradually faded. She nodded and smiled, but her expression was bitter. "Yes, I should have thought of that sooner."

She slowly removed his hand, not letting him touch her at all.

“You never really care about my feelings. What is a raging storm in my heart is just affectation in your heart.”

Shen Lin felt that this wasn't what he meant, and he didn't understand why Ye Xinning was thinking in that direction.

He patiently tried to explain a second time, but before he could say anything, the phone in his pocket rang.

Having no other choice, Shen Lin had to take out his phone to check.

The call was from the old lady. Shen Lin had no interest in answering the phone at that moment, so he hung up without hesitation. But the person on the other end was very persistent; every time he hung up, she would call back.

Annoyed by the noise, Shen Lin frowned as he answered the phone.

As soon as the call connected, the old lady's anxious voice came through, "Chen Lin, where are you now? Come to the hospital quickly, Jiang An is in trouble."

When Shen Lin heard that it was about Jiang An, his first reaction was to hang up the phone.

But the old lady had already anticipated his thoughts. "Chen Lin, let me tell you, Jiang An fell very badly this time. If you dare not listen to me and come to the hospital immediately, then you can wait to collect the corpses of me and Jiang An's unborn child tomorrow morning. Anyway, you don't care about the child in Jiang An's belly, so I certainly don't care either."

The old lady finished speaking in one breath and then hung up the phone.

Shen Lin stared at the disconnected phone, his face filled with hostility.

Ye Xinning was standing close by, so she heard everything the old lady said.

She smiled bitterly. Even on New Year's Eve, things weren't peaceful. These people really went to great lengths...

She didn't say anything, turned around and prepared to leave, but Shen Lin noticed that she was about to leave and took her hand.

"where are you going?"

Ye Xinning laughed sarcastically, "Mr. Shen is so busy, he has important matters to attend to. I would be so sorry if I delayed him any longer."

How could Shen Lin not understand the meaning behind her words?

He forcefully pulled her back to his side. "You said you needed to calm down and have time to think, and I'll give you that. But my bottom line is that you stay at Ming Mansion. I'll have Nanxing stay with you. I'll be right back."

Ye Xinning lowered her head and sneered, "Why should I listen to you?"

“You don’t have to listen, but Ye Xinning, my patience has its limits. You like that house so much, you don’t want me to turn around and have it razed to the ground, do you?”

Ye Xinning stared wide-eyed at Shen Lin, "Are you threatening me?"

"Whether it's a threat or something I'm truly capable of doing, you decide for yourself."

Ye Xinning, "..."

She knew perfectly well that Shen Lin had that ability.

This man is always a man of his word.

Shen Lin breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that her arrogance had subsided and she was no longer shouting about leaving.

"Remember this, my going to the hospital has nothing to do with Jiang An. It's just because of Grandma. Don't think too much about it. Stay at Ming Mansion with Nanxing. I'll be back soon."

Shen Lin gave some instructions before leaving.

Ye Xinning stood there, and after a while, Shen Nanxing came in to find her.

Seeing her standing there in a daze, Shen Nanxing took her hand and asked, "Sister-in-law, what are you thinking about?"

Ye Xinning snapped out of her thoughts, looked up, and shook her head at Shen Nanxing. "Nothing. Why did you come in?"

"My brother said he has some business to attend to and needs to go out temporarily, so he asked me to come and keep you company."

Something came up? Why didn't he say he was going to the hospital to see Jiang An?

Ye Xinning thought to herself that even if Shen Lin said it had nothing to do with Jiang An, she knew that the old lady had scared Shen Lin so much because she wanted him to go see Jiang An.

As for why Shen Lin didn't leave, would the old lady really do something?

Ye Xinning lowered her eyes and smiled silently. If the old lady could really do such a thing, she probably wouldn't have waited until today.

Those involved are often confused, while bystanders see things clearly. Shen Lin couldn't see this clearly, perhaps because concern leads to confusion.

"Hmm, where are Chen Ting and Chi Zhao?"

Ye Xinning didn't want to talk about Chen Lin anymore, so she changed the subject.

"They've gone back to the living room; they're probably drinking right now."

Ye Xinning nodded and said to Shen Nanxing, "Then let's go in too."

"Um."

The two went inside together. Shen Ting and Chi Zhao were indeed drinking. Ye Xinning asked Aunt Ning to go upstairs to tidy up the guest room.

After arranging all of this, I sat down and chatted with them.

Her phone kept ringing with text messages and calls, all wishing her a Happy New Year. Ye Xinning picked out a few important people to reply to and occasionally chatted with Shen Nanxing and the others.

When Ji Jianshen's text message came in, Ye Xinning was listening to Shen Nanxing explain tomorrow's arrangements. She was multitasking, reading the text message while listening to Shen Nanxing.

Happy New Year! May you have peace and joy.

Ye Xinning stared at the sentence on the screen; it was Ji Jianshen's personality—concise as always.

A smile crept onto her lips as she recalled saying the same thing at the dinner table that evening.

—I thought I'd never receive your text message again, Ji Jianshen, Happy New Year.