Some people had talked about this in private before, and considering that the two were not related by blood, the conversation always carried a hint of ill-intentioned ambiguity.

He couldn't silence people for no reason unless they brought their private conversations to Xia Wensheng's attention.

But if you say it to his face, the nature of the matter is different.

Everyone was stunned, and surprisingly no one stopped them.

"I think it's fake. Your sister is so pretty. If she really likes you, it wouldn't be bad to keep the good stuff in the family."

The room was so quiet you could barely hear someone breathing.

After a suffocating silence, there was a sudden sound of shattering glass. Everyone instinctively looked towards Xia Wensheng, only to find that he was holding a beer bottle perfectly fine in his hand.

Lin Shen, sitting next to him, said calmly, "Sorry, my hand slipped."

For a moment, everyone was a little confused.

Xia Wensheng lowered his head, his expression unreadable. Balu had been thinking about saying something to ease the tension, since he had organized the gathering today. He had spent a long time rehearsing what he wanted to say before he was about to speak, but the words were swallowed back down before he could even get them out.

Because Xia Wensheng suddenly raised his hand and smashed the beer bottle in his hand in front of the person who had just spoken.

With such a commotion, no matter how much they drank, they should have sobered up by now. Once they're a little more sober, they'll realize what a stupid thing they've done.

"I'm sorry, Wensheng, I tend to talk nonsense when I'm drunk. I apologize."

After the man finished speaking, he picked up the bottle in front of him and started chugging.

Xia Wensheng sat with his arms crossed, watching him finish the bottle before speaking: "There's no need for that. If you drink yourself to death, everyone here will be responsible."

Xia Wensheng stood up, gave the man a deep look, and said, "Farewell."

Xia Wensheng left, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief. No matter what happened afterward, it was good that nothing serious happened and no blood was spilled tonight.

No one knew that after Xia Wensheng left, he didn't immediately call a designated driver to leave. Instead, he got into his own car and quietly sat in the passenger seat, waiting for something.

Unfortunately, ten minutes later, the person he was waiting for didn't arrive; instead, Lin Shen showed up instead.

Xia Wensheng stared at Lin Shen outside the car window for a long time. The car window was covered with privacy film, so people outside couldn't see inside the car, but Lin Shen still came over and accurately knocked on the passenger side window.

"I really hate smart people."

Xia opened the car window upon hearing the sound, and asked knowingly, "Did Mr. Lin need something from me?"

"Perhaps Mr. Xia needs a companion."

As Lin Shen spoke, he loosened his shirt cuffs and took off his wristwatch, putting it in his pocket.

Xia Wensheng reached out and unlocked the car door. Lin Shen walked straight to the other side, opened the driver's side door, and got in.

He didn't drink tonight. Except for necessary occasions, Lin Shen rarely drinks outside.

Xia Wensheng kept staring at the back door of the bar, and couldn't resist saying cheekily, "I'm Xia Wenxi's brother, what's yours?"

"My answer might not be what Mr. Xia wants to hear."

Xia gritted his teeth; he had asked that one unnecessary question.

Finally, he couldn't hold back any longer, "Let me tell you, no matter how you behave in front of me, I won't say a good word for you. In our family, marriage is a matter of personal choice."

Lin Shen suddenly blurted out, "Helping others is a traditional virtue of the Chinese nation."

Xia Wensheng was stunned for a moment before realizing that Lin Shen was answering the previous question.

Xia Wensheng couldn't help but laugh and curse, "You're really sick."

————

On a quiet street at midnight, with few cars on the road, a black Audi sped past.

Xia Wensheng, rubbing his aching fist in the passenger seat, said to Lin Shen, who was driving, "Regardless of whether Xia Wenxi likes you or not, I consider you my friend."

Lin Shen pursed his lips and remained silent.

Xia Wensheng understood his meaning and teased, "I never knew President Lin was such a romantic. And don't forget your nephew, that little brat has a really nasty way of speaking."

"Um."

At six in the morning, Xia Hengyuan, who was determined to lose weight because his wife had complained about his recent belly fat, came downstairs to go for his morning exercise.

Before he even reached the end of the road, he saw someone sitting on his own sofa in the distance, which nearly made his old heart stop beating.

"Dad? You're up so early?"

Xia Hengyuan then recognized his son, took a few steps down the stairs, and scolded, "Are you out of your mind? Sitting here so early in the morning scaring people."

"Who knew you'd be so diligent today?"

"Stop talking nonsense."

Xia Hengyuan walked over and sat down on the sofa. He knew his son wouldn't come to the house so early in the morning for no reason.

When did you arrive?

"I don't remember, maybe two or three o'clock, three or four o'clock? I was too lazy to go upstairs, so I just slept on the sofa for a while."

Those eyes, so similar to Xia Wensheng's, narrowed, and Xia Wensheng was looked up and down. "What happened? Financial crisis?"

Xia chuckled upon hearing this, "Your imagination is quite rich. The economy is currently stable and improving, so there's no problem."

"So you pulled this stunt?"

Xia Wensheng turned on his phone, opened a WeChat chat history with someone, and then handed the phone to Xia Hengyuan.

It's not the chat history with Xia Wenxi, but everything about what happened yesterday afternoon in front of Jindi Plaza, including their exact words.

"Dad, this isn't the first time."

After a long silence, Xia Hengyuan finally spoke, "Don't let your mother know."

After saying that, he stood up and went out for his morning exercise as usual.

"This old man has even started to pretend he doesn't show his emotions."

Xia Wensheng stood up, stretched rather unceremoniously, then took out his phone and sent a message to his assistant, telling him that he wouldn't be going to the company today.

Xia, the only working person in the Xia family, decided to take a vacation.

When Xia Wenxi got up to eat breakfast, she didn't see Xia Wensheng, Xia Hengyuan, or Ke Shurong. She didn't even know that Xia Wensheng was sleeping upstairs.

However, this is the norm in the Xia family. During the day, everyone goes about their own business in an orderly and harmonious manner.

After finishing her meal, Xia Wenxi went to the study room by herself, studied until noon, ordered her favorite takeout, and continued studying until sunset. Then she rode her bike home in the evening glow.

But today, when she came out of the building with her schoolbag on her back, she saw a car drive up to her from the parking space next to her.

A familiar car.

"Xia Wenxi, I'm taking you home today."

Xia Wenxi stopped in her tracks, her first reaction was panic.

"Has something happened at home?"

Xia looked at her strangely, "Why would you think that?"

"Why did you come to pick me up if there's nothing wrong?"

"Today is International Good Brother Day, get on the bus quickly, or you'll miss this opportunity!"

Xia Wensheng spoke so earnestly that Xia Wenxi couldn't even tell if there really was such a strangely kind older brother in this world.

Xia Wenxi got into the car with suspicion, and then found that Xia Wensheng was actually driving home in good condition.

She just searched and there's no such random holiday at all!

Xia Wenxi quickly turned off the search engine and ignored the news pushed to her.

The second son of Ausen Technology was hospitalized with injuries; the cause of the injury is unknown.