Out of line

There is too much gossip and noise in the world of fame and fortune, and the wine glasses always arrive before the people.

However, no one dared to toast Miss Liu today. They pushed a patient aside, and the person they met was Hua Lin, the current person in power who was second only to the emperor. Everyone could see that Xinfeng and Hua Lin would cooperate in the future.

As for how to cooperate, it’s hard to say.

"Mr. Xu, Mr. Gao." Liu Rui's smile was calm and intellectual. She greeted them and then stepped back, not wanting to steal the show.

Although Geng Guangsong was in a wheelchair, no one looked down on him. Even Xu Zhiyuan bent down to listen to him.

"Zhiyuan, you're here so early." Geng Guangsong smiled kindly, "Have you seen Xiaonan? That kid is so disobedient. He didn't even answer my calls."

"I don't know, he went out to play with Jiaze." Xu Zhiyuan lied with his eyes open.

Geng Guangsong didn't expose her. He patted the wheelchair armrest and motioned Liu Rui behind him to take a half step forward: "Ms. Liu, you two have seen the project of the new city museum three years ago."

Xu Zhiyuan nodded in greeting, very coldly. Geng Guangsong did not force it, and his smile deepened: "Miss Liu is not close to the Lin family, so I ask you to take good care of her today."

Xu Zhiyuan couldn't refuse the elders' request. He had no ill feelings towards Liu Rui, so he simply agreed.

Geng Guangsong was about to push his wheelchair away when his real target suddenly walked into the trap and emerged from the crowd, "Uncle Geng, your legs are still not working properly?"

"You're still recovering, so you shouldn't walk around for long periods of time." Geng Guangsong took Jinnan's hand and patted it gently. "I won't bother you young people anymore. I'm going to go find Lao Lin."

The elders left, leaving Liu Rui behind, standing very close to Xu Zhiyuan.

"Hello again, Mr. Jin."

Jinnan became alert instantly.

Xinfeng Real Estate started operating real estate business in Lido 20 years ago. It has a small amount of Hong Kong capital background. In the wave of leverage in recent years, Xinfeng withdrew bravely and established a firm foothold when the wave of bankruptcy came, but it was also seriously damaged.

Xinfeng is now in more urgent need of transformation than the Lin family. It can be considered a fat sheep with money but nowhere to spend it.

Manufacturing accounts for more than half of Hualin's business, and its online platform has also performed well in the past two years. While all aspects of its operations are complete, it also has sufficient experience in overseas development.

For Xinfeng, it is obviously wiser to cooperate directly with the financial backers behind technology companies than to dive into the cutting-edge technology industry that it knows nothing about.

Solid cooperation requires more than just profit.

Xinfeng had been headed by women for many years, and the new generation was predominantly girls. The eldest daughter of the first wife had already married the eldest son of the Lin family, so marrying into the Jin family would be a good option for the third wife. It just so happened that the two families were closely related.

Xu Zhiyuan was a good choice. He held a high position in Hualin, and his relationship with Young Master Jin was somewhat awkward. A marriage with him would allow for discussions about whether to marry into Young Master Jin's family, thus resolving both Young Master Jin's precarious position and Xinfeng's need for a female head of household.

The best of both worlds.

Jin Nanyue's thinking was becoming more and more reasonable. She had already squeezed next to Xu Zhiyuan, shielding him from view like a protective child, and still had to put on a fake smile: "Haha, what a coincidence, Miss Liu."

"Boss Xiao Jin, are you afraid I might eat you?" Liu Rui chuckled. "I'm a good person. If you don't believe me, ask Chief Chai."

"Chai Xing?" It took Jinnan a while to remember the name of the man he saw during the day.

Liu Rui nodded: "He couldn't come tonight because he had a performance. I heard him say that you like watching Swan Lake?"

"I wouldn't say I really like it." Jinnan finally remembered where he had seen Chai Xing.

In recent years, he has never given up various hobbies that can increase his status. One of the parts of this game of "playing a rich man" is to spend thousands of dollars to buy the first row of a ballet and watch the ballet dancers spin in circles on tiptoe.

Turn to him falling asleep.

Jinnan really doesn't have that kind of artistic talent.

"That song is nice and easy to fall asleep." Jinnan was a little embarrassed.

Liu Rui: "If Lao Chai knew that I could help you sleep, he would be happy too."

Jinnan: ...

Xu Zhiyuan, who was watching from the sidelines, said nothing, having already seen through the essence of the situation.

Geng Guangsong personally introduced Miss Liu to Jinnan, one to introduce him to a marriage, and the other to warn him, the scavenger.

There were people in the company gossiping about his relationship with Jinnan, and Geng Guangsong might not be completely unaware of it.

If Xu Zhiyuan was smart, he would stop now.

He walked further and further away, but Jinnan kept following him, which made Gao Min, who was traveling with him, laugh and cry: "BB, we're going to smoke, do you want to come with us and inhale the secondhand smoke?"

"I'm going too." Jinnan took out a cigarette box, but he didn't expect Miss Liu to do the same thing as him.

The four of them stood at the terrace railing and fell into an eerie silence.

Gao Min: "I thought I would never have the chance to fall into a love triangle in this life."

The other two burst out laughing. Xu Zhiyuan was trying to laugh, but it was hard for him to laugh at all, so he also puffed out a puff of smoke.

Jinnan was a little embarrassed.

Miss Liu had grasped the truth first. To be with Xu Zhiyuan, she had to get over him as her younger brother. To be honest, if Jin Nan hadn't fallen in love with Xu Zhiyuan, he would have been happy to have Liu Rui as his sister-in-law.

Liu Rui was smart, pretty, and had an interesting way of speaking. Her personality was even more lively than his, and once you got to know her, she'd probably be a real show-off. It was fun to be around someone like her; it made life seem more vibrant.

But if this kind of person is your love rival, especially a love rival that you cannot talk about, then it doesn’t feel good.

"It's fine if you want to tarnish my reputation, but don't make up stories about my brother Xu." Jin Nan opened his cigarette case and took a cigarette from his mouth. "He has been so clean since he was a child that even female mosquitoes wouldn't get close to him."

Gao Min said happily: "When the little devils fight, the mosquitoes suffer."

Xu Zhiyuan happened to light a cigarette at the same time as Liu Rui. They looked at each other with cold eyes.

Jinnan searched for a lighter but couldn't find one, so he leaned over to try to get a puff of Gaomin's light. Gaomin immediately extinguished the lighter and dodged, saying, "Minors are not allowed to smoke."

Before Jinnan could retort, a hand passed the cigarette to him, and Xu Zhiyuan brought the cigarette he had just lit closer to him, using paper to pass the fire over it, and easily helped him light it.

The man's deep brows were close at hand, his eyelashes lowered, and there was no trace of a smile at the corners of his lips. Jinnan could see the slight frown on his brows and the final, fierce, threatening look he gave him.

Once, twice, Jin Nan's heart beat violently. He took a deep breath and sparks ignited.

The distance was neither too close nor too far, much farther than when they kissed, but Jinnan's lack of resistance spoke volumes - he had long been accustomed to closer distances.

There was a moment of silence, no one said anything, and everyone who needed to know was already known.

Xu Zhiyuan couldn't contain himself and forcefully announced his presence. He had been a law-abiding man his entire life, but in nearly thirty years, this was the most outrageous time he had taken.

Jinnan's mind was completely occupied by the smoky kiss. He didn't notice the undercurrent between the three of them. He only remembered Xu Zhiyuan's last look.

So fierce. What had he done wrong? Did he keep pestering Liu Rui, preventing her from talking to Xu Zhiyuan, and make Xu Zhiyuan unhappy?

Xu Zhiyuan fell in love with Miss Liu at first sight?

No, it's not.

Is he...jealous? Because he asked Gao Min for a lighter?

Yes, Xu Zhiyuan bought all the Jinnan cigarettes and lighters. When there was no fire, Xu Zhiyuan would naturally light it. No one else was allowed to touch it.

Jinnan had reaped another rare treasure: Xu Zhiyuan's possessiveness. He didn't show it on his face, but his heart was pounding. He hurriedly put away the cigarette case, searching his pockets three times.

Xu Zhiyuan never regretted what he had done. His eyes fell openly on Jinnan, and he was finally amused by his busyness.

Miss Liu felt much more genuinely as she rubbed the cigarette. She looked at the evening stars hidden in the lights outside the bushes, feeling a little confused for a moment.

An unknown amount of time passed before the two brothers left. Mr. Gao, surprisingly, stayed behind. He held a small portable ashtray in his hand and handed it to her: "Miss Liu, do you grow flowers?"

The roses in the garden downstairs were in full bloom. Liu Rui didn't understand Gao Min's incoherent conversation and thought he wanted to start a conversation with her. After hesitating for a moment, she nodded.

"Anyone who has ever grown flowers should know that if you cut one of the two flowers, the other will die." Gao Min put on the mask of smile he had maintained all night. "Goodbye."

The ashtray remained on the woman's fingertips, still warm.

The temperature in the venue also dropped with the air conditioning, the atmosphere was warm, and the birthday boy had already started cutting the cake.

Gao Min sat next to Xu Zhiyuan, while Jin Nanyuan sat at the Lin family's table and was a neighbor of Lin Jiaze.

"So in, Mr. Xu, fuck my little brother."

Xu Zhiyuan said nothing and brought him a bowl of Buddha Jumps Over the Wall. The meaning was very clear: shut up and eat.

Jinnan sat in the bustling crowd. The elders of the Lin family took pity on his difficult fate and had always been very considerate of him. A crowd of young people, both from their own family and those from other families, surrounded Old Man Lin and divided up the five-layer cake. Chen Chen and Bai Yi, who had made the cake, each received an extra piece, and no one objected.

When the party was over, Lin Jiaze was drunk and was helped upstairs. He was still waving to Jinnan and asking him to come and play tomorrow.

Although Jin Nan wasn't drunk, he had drunk quite a bit. The Lin family sent a driver to take him home, but before Jin Nan could even get his hands on the keys to his car, Xu Zhiyuan had already carried him into the car.

The tailgate was pulled up, and the back seat became quiet. Jinnan closed his eyes, and all he could hear was the darkness, the sound of breathing.

There was a knock on the window. He slowly lowered the glass and looked out. It was Gao Min, holding his coat. Seeing it was Jin Nan, he was startled and immediately bent down to look inside.

"Mr. Xu, don't be late tomorrow."

Xu Zhiyuan waved his hand without saying anything. Jinnan smiled warmly, said goodbye, and unceremoniously closed the window. The Maybach quickly left, leaving Mr. Gao alone with the Lamborghini in the other parking space, staring at each other in bewilderment.

In his pocket were Jinnan's car keys, which Xu Zhiyuan had given him.

Gao Min suddenly realized one thing, Xu Zhiyuan might not be wishful thinking.

That's even worse.

It started to rain as the car entered the elevated road. Jinnan looked out the window at the rain, his head resting on Xu Zhiyuan's shoulder, feeling drowsy.

"Zhiyuan."

"Um?"

Jin Nan was silent for a while, then made up his mind: "What do you think of Miss Liu Rui?"

"She's beautiful, resourceful, and ruthless," Xu Zhiyuan said. "She's someone who can accomplish great things."

"Then..." Jin Nan was inexplicably nervous, "How about marrying her?"

"For this kind of thing, we should ask Miss Liu whether she is willing or not." Xu Zhiyuan had plenty of ways to make her unwilling.

Jin Nan misunderstood, frowning and looking extremely aggrieved: "What if she is willing? If she is also interested, do you really want to..."

A phone call interrupted their argument. Jin Nan picked up the phone and saw that it was the technician he had commissioned to decrypt the encrypted file.

Jin Nan glanced at Xu Zhiyuan guiltily and whispered, "Hello? What's wrong?"

"Mr. Jin, the file you requested has been decrypted. The contents... uh, may be a bit serious."