Chapter Eleven

  "Can't sleep."

  Jingxiang wiped her hair and casually placed the towel beside her. Su Lan flipped a page of her book, saying: "Use a blow dryer, it'll dry faster."

  He turned his head and looked at her calmly, then asked another sentence: "Where is it placed?"

  Su Lan said: "Bathroom, go find it."

  He lazily got into bed and lay on his side, looking at his son and saying, "He's so big now, he should go to sleep by himself."

  "It won't bother you either."

  It's just that I'm a bit old and should be independent now.

  Jing Yang also said: "Did you call Yue Fei today?"

  Su Lan pursed her lips and blinked her eyes, recalling what had happened during the day. She closed the book and said: "Sister-in-law..."

  He chuckled and said, "I knew you wouldn't look for me if nothing was wrong. Didn't Director get promoted?"

  Su Lan nodded.

  It's like this, everyone is happy and celebrating the new year, who still remembers this matter? Lu Yu is a person who would rather die than lose face, now with Jing Xing around, she's even more afraid of being laughed at. She takes on everything herself, previously in order to be promoted to director, she worked extremely hard, but because of her young age, she was worried that she wouldn't have enough persuasive power. Her efforts were no less than others, it seemed like she had it in the bag, but in the end, someone else took it away. She doesn't say anything out loud, but in her heart, she's still feeling unwell. But again, she's afraid of being laughed at by everyone, so she's desperately trying to cover it up. If Su Lan hadn't overheard it unintentionally that afternoon, this matter would have been covered up by her.

  "What did she say?"

  "She didn't say anything, just looked unhappy. You know her temper, she swallows everything and is afraid that others will look down on her. I only knew about it today when I heard her on the phone."

  He turned over and lay down, commenting: "Her job isn't great either."

  "But!"

  "You've been waiting until now just to tell me this?"

  Su Lan didn't say a word, closed the book and put it on the bedside table, saying "You don't want to is fine." She reached out and turned off the lamp on the bedside table.

  Jingyāng opened his eyes, and the snow outside the window reflected a bright light into the room.

  "He said: 'She won't make much money as a doctor for the rest of her life, it's hard work that doesn't pay off well. Why not change to a lighter job? The burden on her is not light.'"

  Jing Yang never wanted Lu Yu to be a doctor, and had always hoped to steer her towards an official career path. Su Lan was still unaware of his thoughts. Hou Qin was a cunning person who couldn't bring himself to genuinely help him; if Jing Xing were in good health now, it would be their brothers' world - one in business and the other in government.

  Jing Xing couldn't take it anymore, so he thought of pushing Lu Yu up, after all, it was still for his own convenience.

  Su Lan didn't interrupt him, and continued: "I know, Dad is a straightforward person, he wouldn't do something like going through the back door. Lu Yu has a stubborn temper too, if you're not convenient, just forget it. I just think she's being too strong on her own, our family owes her a lot, you as...

  "Stop!" Jing Yang leaned against his arm and looked at her: "Su Lan, didn't you find that you are also a character?" Without waiting for her response, he said: "Sleep."

  She didn't respond.

  "Why aren't you saying anything?"

  "What did you say?"

  The voice is soft and sticky, not coquettish but with a few flavors.

  Admiringly listening, he leaned in a bit closer and chuckled: "What are you talking about? When have I ever taken advantage of you?"

  Su Lan's brain heated up and she retorted: "Isn't this a loss?"

  He was amused and smiled: "Can't lose out, come on, I'll give you a supplement."

  She didn't think that saying a sentence could cause trouble, fortunately there was a little person in between who quickly hid under the quilt and stopped talking.

  The next day, she saw Lu Yu again, still acting as if nothing was wrong, laughing and chatting like a normal person. Su Lan thought of her previous efforts and felt that it would be unfair to let someone else get away with it. She didn't bring it up, nor did Su Lan want to reopen old wounds.

  Lu Yu was afraid of being discovered by others one moment, and felt ignored the next, neither feeling comfortable in her heart.

  Su Lan saw it with her own eyes, always feeling that this woman was in a difficult situation, but wanting to help yet unable to do so. Jing Yang didn't speak up, and everything seemed like empty words.

  Mr. Ke was busy, and after seeing off the visitor, Professor Mei went out with May to have some fun. May intentionally made things difficult for him, but didn't mention anything about the technical issues. However, even without that, he had enough to keep him busy - the factory had just been built, and he was busy purchasing machinery everywhere. Those machines required extremely high precision, and he couldn't afford to be even slightly careless.

  Qiu Lin is a decent young man, he has established a relationship with the old professor, but not too close. Jing Yang only allowed him to be just right, this academic mind is not easy to change, Jing Yang worried that he would become impatient and reckless.

  After finishing that meal, there's another dinner appointment on the other side, with only a few proper words spoken at the table, but it can't be declined. After responding to this and that, I'm busy like a spinning top.

  There are many banquets during the New Year, and later he met Hou Kun again. He drank heavily and spoke bluntly: "Second Brother, you must help me bring down Jiang Wei."

  I've heard that Hou Qin has been keeping his distance from women lately, and seeing him grit his teeth when mentioning Jiang Wei, it seems the rumors are true. This kid has finally learned to swallow his pride and nurse his grievances, but in my heart, I still cursed him with a "serves you right".

  Smiling on his face and speaking kindly, "You're drunk, what nonsense are you talking about? What's it to you whether it's Tang or Sui? If you have something going on, I'll of course help you."

  Hou Qin patted his shoulder and said, "Second brother, don't joke with me. Who am I afraid of? Who do I respect? Only you. I admit that I'm a stubborn person, not used to listening to flattering words, and doing things absolutely. I've offended many people. In terms of being a person and doing things, I'm not as good as you. This time, that scoundrel Jiang Wei is setting up traps for me everywhere, and except for you, I couldn't find anyone who can compare with him in cunning."

  "Admiring Heart said: 'If you knew your own abilities, you wouldn't have ended up in this situation. A man's reputation is gone, and he still doesn't dare speak.' But now that he has found an opportunity to develop his career, it's the perfect time to make a breakthrough. He can't afford to offend Houqin on one side or Jiang Wei on the other. His father is about to retire, and he can't drag him down either. This muddy water, he absolutely cannot wade through, so he pretended to be stupid and said: 'Alright alright, I'm your brother, I won't harm you.'"

  Otherwise, Ren Houqin would not have agreed no matter how much he said.

  Drunk words, no writing, who takes it seriously?