Chapter 40: Innocent Landlord and Black Tenant 08 [I... don't want him...

In the studio on the top floor of the Ye family mansion, the smell of turpentine is as strong as ever.

Ye Ling was still painstakingly studying painting techniques. Her hands were colorful, and her sleeves and the edges of her apron were covered in oil paint.

[Beep! Important plot point reminder!] 778's electronic voice rang out.

[Host! Cheer up!] 778's virtual screen flickered wildly before his eyes. [Detected: Key plot point, 'Golden Sparrow Feather Charity Dinner', is about to begin! Tonight at 8:00 PM, XX International Hotel Banquet Hall!]

Ye Ling looked hopeless: [Dinner? Wasn't that French dinner last time embarrassing enough... and the 'Wildcat Dolls'...]

[Host, this dinner is crucial!] 778 said passionately, [According to the original novel, Shao Ye will be serving as a waiter at the dinner, and the villain Zhao Mingxuan will also appear to cause trouble! And you, as the 'elegant pervert artist', will show your elegant yet perverted side when your 'wildcat' encounters Zhao Mingxuan's difficulties...]

Ye Ling: […Speak human language.]

778 cleared his throat: [Ahem, to put it simply, Shao Ye will take a part-time job delivering alcohol, and Zhao Mingxuan will cause trouble for Shao Ye. You tried to help him out and take advantage of him, but...don't worry, it didn't work out!]

In the International Hotel's banquet hall, dazzling crystal chandeliers illuminate the space like daylight. Elegantly dressed guests gather, clinking glasses.

Ye Ling was wearing a perfectly tailored dark grey velvet suit, which made his skin look even fairer. His light golden hair was carefully groomed, with a few strands casually hanging in front of his forehead, adding a touch of lazy artistic atmosphere to his delicate face.

He held an untouched glass of champagne, trying hard to look like an "elegant, noble and discerning" artist, but in fact he was extremely panicked and just wanted to find a corner to hide himself.

[Host! Left front! Target Shao Ye appears!] 778 real-time navigation.

Ye Ling looked in the direction indicated by 778.

Shao Ye, dressed in a fitted black and white waiter's uniform, stood tall and straight as a pine tree, carrying a silver tray laden with crystal glasses as he shuttled between the guests. His expression was indifferent, his movements smooth and steady, and even while serving, he didn't seem awkward at all.

[Wow! Uniform temptation!] 778 let out an inappropriate exclamation.

Ye Ling: [……] He forced himself to look away, fearing that if he continued to look, he would be led astray by 778’s imagination.

[Host! Right front! High-risk target approaching!] 778 suddenly sounded the alarm.

Ye Ling's heart tightened and he looked in the direction indicated.

Zhao Mingxuan, wearing a flashy bright purple velvet suit and holding a glass of red wine, looked like a cheap peacock spreading its tail. He staggered through the crowd and walked towards Shao Ye, who had just delivered the wine.

"Oh my! What a lousy carpet!" Zhao Mingxuan screamed exaggeratedly, staggered, and raised his arms fiercely due to inertia!

“Crash!”

The glass of red wine in his hand, like a blood-red waterfall bursting through a dam, splashed all over Shao Ye's chest with incredible precision!

The glaring crimson spread, smudged, and dripped wildly on the snow-white shirt.

The strong smell of alcohol slowly spread.

All eyes present were focused on them.

"You're walking without paying attention! Country bumpkin!" It was obvious that Zhao Mingxuan did it on purpose, but the dog-legged armor behind him joined in arrogantly and unreasonably, spitting everywhere.

The lackey put his hands on his hips and said arrogantly, "Do you know what kind of wine this is? I can't even afford to pay for it even if I sell you off!"

"Dare to offend our Brother Zhao... Look at how miserable you are! Just wait to be fired!"

Obscene words came crashing down.

Shao Ye stood there, his body tense, the red wine sliding down his neat jawline, dripping onto the collar of his tightly buttoned white shirt, and slowly spreading.

There was no expression on his face, not even his eyelashes trembled, only his bottomless black eyes were fixed on Zhao Mingxuan's face full of pride.

Seeing all this, Ye Ling felt as if his throat was strangled.

He saw with his own eyes the vicious cup of wine being poured towards Shao Ye, watched his tall figure instantly covered in filth, watched him silently endure the unwarranted accusations and the gazes from all directions...

[Host! We can start executing the plot now. Heroes saving beauties and all that isn't important. The key is—the target's clothes are wet!] 778 encouraged in his sea of ​​consciousness, but unfortunately, Ye Ling was completely detached from the perversion at this moment.

Ye Ling frowned slightly and fell into deep thought.

Charge forward? He looked at the group of eager lackeys around Zhao Mingxuan and felt that two rounds would not be enough to defeat four hands.

Curse back? He couldn't even pronounce "Wildcat" clearly, and his mind was completely blank.

Moreover, Shao Ye will continue to work here in the future, and he cannot let Shao Ye offend the hotel or be hated by Zhao Mingxuan, resulting in losing his job.

No! You can't force it!

At this critical moment, Ye Ling was quick-witted. He quickly scanned the entire field and locked onto his target.

Hotel manager Wang was wiping his cold sweat not far away, and several senior waiters were closest to him.

He took a deep breath, straightened his back, and walked over with his head held high.

"Manager Wang." Ye Ling stopped in front of Manager Wang, frowned slightly, put on a calm expression, and pointed his finger at the mess.

"It seems your hotel's carpet maintenance really needs to be improved." Ye Ling's tone was steady. "It caused Mr. Zhao to slip... and this diligent waiter suffered an undeserved disaster."

Hearing the word "waiter" from his mouth, Shao Ye was stunned for a moment, and subconsciously followed his gaze, but found that he deliberately tilted his head to avoid looking at him, as if he was pretending to be a "chance acquaintance" with him.

Since they had only just met, it was natural that he would be more convincing when he was doing justice. Not to mention that Ye Ling was a well-known artist with elegance and wealth.

Looking at the timid look on Manager Wang and the others' faces, Ye Ling's intimidating power was evident.

As the person involved in the accident and the center of the storm, Shao Ye curled his lips as if nothing had happened, his eyes focused on Ye Ling's delicate profile.

Ye Ling shook her head regretfully, and sighed pretentiously, "A good bottle of 1945 Mu Tong, and the waiter's uniform, are ruined just like that. What a pity."

[Throwing the blame on the hotel and the accident? Host, well done!] 778 excitedly scrolled through the screen in his mind, [This way, Zhao Mingxuan won't have any legitimate excuse to retaliate against Shao Ye in the future!]

Manager Wang nodded quickly and said, "Yes, yes, yes! Mr. Ye is right! It was our negligence! I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry!"

"Take this waiter to the staff lounge immediately." Ye Ling's gaze finally turned to Shao Ye, and she nodded to him as a gesture, her eyes conveying silent comfort. "Provide him with a new, clean uniform. Be sure to handle it properly, understand?"

Ye Ling paused for a moment and turned to Manager Wang again: "As for the cost of this bottle of wine and the compensation for the uniform cleaning..."

His eyes swept over Zhao Mingxuan's face again, which turned from blue to red and then from red to purple.

"...put it on my account." Ye Ling's voice was clear and firm. "After all, this 'accident' happened in front of me. As a guest, I feel very sorry."

At this point, he changed the subject, his gentle tone hinting at pressure: "Finally... I hope this incident won't affect the work evaluation of this excellent waiter. Manager Wang, what do you say?"

[Sure kill! Host, you've completely mastered it! !] 778 was extremely surprised, [Host! How did you do it?]

Little did he know that Ye Ling's face was calm, but his palms were covered in cold sweat. It was the first time he had done something like this, and many of his words were blurted out in a hurry.

When 778 asked him about this, his tense emotions finally found an outlet. He breathed a sigh of relief and said in his mind: [Shao Ye... is very good and works very hard. Very, very hard.]

He recalled the scenes of Shao Ye studying late into the night in the basement, and a trace of pity appeared on his face. His usually timid voice became extremely firm: "I... don't want him to be insulted like this."

The situation on the scene was going smoothly. Manager Wang nodded rapidly, "Of course, of course! Absolutely not! Mr. Ye, don't worry! Xiao Liu! Xiao Li! Quickly take this... gentleman to the locker room!"

As a manager, he even used the same honorific title of "Mr." as Ye Ling to treat a small waiter like Shao Ye.

Several well-trained waiters immediately stepped forward and respectfully took the silent Shao Ye away.

Zhao Mingxuan was left standing there the entire time, like a clown. Ye Ling never once criticized him, never even looked him in the eye. It was as if his carefully planned humiliation had been a ridiculous "accident" on the hotel carpet, unnoticeable.

The whispers around him, the playful and contemptuous looks, all the things he used to target Shao Ye, all turned into boomerangs and stabbed him.

Shen Yuqiu, who was not far away, happened to have a panoramic view of all of this.

He was well aware of the power of the Zhao family, and he was even more aware of Zhao Mingxuan's vengeful nature.

Seeing Shao Ye being maliciously splashed with wine, he naturally felt sorry for it, but he had already offended Zhao Mingxuan once for Shao Ye, and he was afraid that defending him again would cause more trouble to his family and even Shao Ye himself.

When he hesitated, Ye Lingxian stepped forward resolutely.

There wasn't any of the sanctimonious or...stupid reactions he had expected.

The young artist with light blond hair intervened with a calmness and efficiency that he could not have imagined.

Every word he said was precise and effectively resolved the crisis, protecting Shao Ye cleanly and neatly, and even defeating Zhao Mingxuan!

At that moment, he felt ashamed of his previous dark speculations.

After the waiters escorted Shao Ye away, Shen Yuqiu took a deep breath and walked towards Ye Ling, who had just calmed down a storm and was standing alone by the corridor column.

"Mr. Ye."

Ye Ling looked up when she heard the voice and saw that it was Shen Yuqiu. A hint of surprise flashed in her eyes and she subconsciously took a half step back: "Student Shen?"

Shen Yuqiu stood in front of him, his expression extremely serious: "Thank you very much for what I said just now." He paused, his voice becoming more serious, "You handled it...very well."

He looked into Ye Ling's clear yet somewhat confused hazel eyes, took a deep breath, and finally said the words that had been weighing on his heart: "And... I'm sorry."

Ye Ling was stunned, her eyes widening slightly: "Huh?"

"I'm sorry for my previous misunderstanding and prejudice against you." Shen Yuqiu's voice was clear and sincere, and he looked directly at Ye Ling with an open gaze. "I sincerely apologize for my narrow-minded and arbitrary thoughts. I was wrong about you."

He lowered his head slightly and kept a low profile.

Ye Ling was completely stunned. He had imagined that Shen Yuqiu might come to question him, or perhaps to test him, but he had never thought that he was coming to apologize.

He was at a loss, his cheeks slightly hot, and he could only wave his hands awkwardly: "Student Shen, you are too serious, it's really nothing... I just... uh... can't stand it."

Seeing this, the last shred of doubt in Shen Yuqiu's heart vanished. He raised his head and smiled sincerely, "By the way, Mr. Ye, a friend of mine asked me to help find someone to restore a classical oil painting. This is your specialty, I wonder if you'd be interested?"

"It just so happens that I have some experience in art history and a fairly comprehensive database." He took out a business card and respectfully handed it over with both hands. "If you don't mind, I can do my best to assist you with the restoration. Just consider it... my apology and a small token of my gratitude. Please give me this opportunity."

The 778 in my head screamed: [Plot! Key plot!]

Ye Ling's head was buzzing from the noise. He took the business card before listening to 778 continue: [This is the key plot about the restoration of the ancient painting...]

Ye Ling panicked: [My painting is a complete mess... and you're asking me to fix it!?]

[No problem, I'll help you, and the main character will help you too!] 778 said confidently, [And...fixing paintings, fixing plumbing...whatever it is! It doesn't matter what it is! The key is - to facilitate contact and foster a relationship between the main character and the main character at the Ye Family Mansion!]

Ye Ling understood.

"Really? That's great. You're so kind, Su! I'm always welcome!"

At this time, in the shadow of the employee passage, Shao Ye had already changed into a brand new uniform, looking neat and upright.

The running water washed away the alcohol residue on his skin, and his clothes looked brand new. But every word Ye Ling said in defense of him still echoed clearly in his ears.

The feeling of being firmly protected by others was strange and warm, like a weak warm current that melted the ice around him that had not melted all year round.

He carefully adjusted his collar before re-entering the bustling, glittering scene. His eyes habitually searched the crowd for the pale golden figure. A smile had barely begun to form on the corners of his lips when it froze instantly.

Ye Ling was smiling brightly at Shen Yuqiu.

Shao Ye had never seen that kind of smile before. It wasn't the satisfaction of eating a sweet, nor the relaxation after completing a task, but a kind of pure joy.

Ye Ling gestured excitedly, his light blond hair dancing with light. Shen Yuqiu stood beside him, leaning slightly forward to listen, his face showing undisguised concentration and appreciation.

There was an invisible, highly compatible aura between the two of them, a resonance of their common language and professional field, which completely isolated him, an outsider.

Shao Ye paused.

The warmth that just emerged was like a fragile soap bubble, which shattered without a trace with a "pop" in front of the dazzling harmonious picture before my eyes.

A more unfamiliar sour feeling surged from the stomach to the heart, worse than the stomachache and more unbearable than Zhao Mingxuan's humiliation.

The bright and dazzling crystal light fell on him, but it could not dispel the frost that instantly condensed between his brows.

Ye Ling was still excitedly discussing a detail of the ancient painting with Shen Yuqiu, completely unaware that the gaze falling on him had become dark and deep.

Ye Ling was completely unaware. She pointed at the oil painting photo on her phone and said to Shen Yuqiu with sparkling eyes, "When are you free? You can come to the mansion and talk to me in detail..."