Chapter 173: Attitude Shift (Part 1)

Inside Qingyun Martial Arts Hall.

Zhu Xiaozhu pushed open the door and walked into her bedroom alone, sitting on the bed, staring blankly at the night scene outside the window, continuously recalling the conversation she had with Ling Chen, feeling extremely conflicted inside.

"Xiaozhu."

Suddenly, a voice arose from the bed, startling the unprepared Zhu Xiaozhu. She quickly turned her head, only to see Little Hua crawling out of the quilt, grinning at her.

"What are you doing in my room?" Zhu Xiaozhu asked with dissatisfaction, pretending to spank her.

Little Hua quickly dodged her gentle slap, smiling sweetly, "Sister Xiaozhu, I thought you weren’t coming back tonight, so I wanted to spend the night in your room."

"Who said I wasn’t going to spend the night, you..." As soon as she spoke, Zhu Xiaozhu immediately grasped the hidden meaning in Little Hua’s words, her face turning pink with embarrassment, "You little girl, your thoughts are getting more and more impure."

"Okay! Okay! Sister Xiaozhu, my bad." Seeing Zhu Xiaozhu’s raised hand, Little Hua quickly begged for mercy. After saying that, she affectionately wrapped her arms around Zhu Xiaozhu’s arm, batting her big, round eyes, "Sister Xiaozhu, how was your date with big brother? When can I start calling him brother-in-law?"

"What brother-in-law? You’re talking nonsense again." Zhu Xiaozhu could barely stand her anymore; her speech was always about this topic.

Xiaozhu’s eyes darted around, "Then... then have you made your relationship official?"

"No."

"Why? Sister Xiaozhu, big brother likes you and you like him too, such a simple thing, can’t you make it clear?"

Zhu Xiaozhu shook her head gently, "It’s not for that reason. It’s just... him and I might not be suitable."

Little Hua puzzledly asked, "Why?"

Zhu Xiaozhu answered with a bitter smile while stroking her head, "Little Hua, sometimes relationships aren’t just about two people; we have to consider many external factors. There are some unresolved issues between your big brother and me, so we can’t be together for now."

"External factors?" Little Hua grasped her own pigtails, a look of puzzlement on her face.

"Alright, hurry back to your room and go to sleep." Zhu Xiaozhu patted her little bottom, shooing her out of the room.

Back in He Ziyun’s room, Little Hua sat on the edge of the bed, pouting unhappily, arms crossed, looking quite upset.

Seeing her expression, He Ziyun, who was reading a book, couldn’t help but smile, "Girl, what happened? Who made you angry?"

"Humph! It’s Zhu Hong, that annoying villain."

"What? Did he bully you?"

"He didn’t bully me, but he’s too despicable, sabotaging big brother and Sister Xiaozhu’s relationship."

"So that’s what you’re talking about." He Ziyun gave a faint smile.

Little Hua, struck by an idea, clapped her hands, "Old man, I have a good idea. Why don’t you sneak into Zhu Hong’s house, stuff him in a sack, and throw him into the river, making him silently disappear from this world? That way, big brother and Sister Xiaozhu wouldn’t have to worry about him anymore."

He Ziyun chuckled, "You and your wild ideas. We can’t touch Zhu Hong for now; he’s just a visible chess piece. We need to find out the forces behind him, so we must keep him around. Just be patient."

"What about Sister Xiaozhu then?"

"Fated people will end up together, don’t worry needlessly." Pausing a moment, He Ziyun then changed the topic, "By the way, keep an eye out recently; someone has installed cameras in our house, and we’re under surveillance. Make sure you don’t expose yourself."

"Who did it?"

"Who has been to our house?"

"Zhu Hong! Again, that villain. He better not fall into my hands, or else I’ll make him regret it." Little Hua put on a fierce expression, but no matter how one looked at it, it still seemed somewhat cute and mischievous.

The next day.

Ling Chen got up bright and early, exercised for half an hour, then returned to the villa and ate the nutritious breakfast prepared by Nanny Wang.

Just then, Nanrong Wanqing and Su Lin, rubbing her sleepy eyes, came down from upstairs.

"Wanqing, you guys are up just in time; Nanny Wang just made breakfast. Come eat while it’s hot."

Ling Chen smiled. He had taken Zhu Xiaozhu back to the Martial Arts Academy last night, and by the time he got back it was already past ten, and Nanrong Wanqing and the others had already gone to rest, so he hadn’t run into them.

Nanrong Wanqing spoke in a cold tone, "I’m not hungry; you take your time eating. I’m heading to the company now." Saying this, she pushed her wheelchair directly outside.

Feeling the chilly attitude from her, Ling Chen was momentarily stunned. Strange, wasn’t everything fine just a few days ago? Why has it suddenly reverted back to before?

Without the time to ponder, he hurriedly stuffed the bread into his mouth and followed Nanrong Wanqing outside.

At the front door, Ling Chen was about to get into the Rolls-Royce, but Zhong Wei, standing in front of the car, closed the door.

"Captain Zhong, what’s wrong?"

Zhong Wei glanced at the car window and discreetly pointed to the side. Ling Chen immediately caught on and followed him to the rear of the car.

"Ling Chen, did you upset the Chairman?"

"No, not at all."

"Well, she told me last night that you don’t need to follow her car anymore; she wants you to drive your own car to work."

"This..."

Ling Chen was baffled, not having done anything to offend her; why the sudden change?

"Hey, let’s head to the company first. You drive and follow behind; we can talk more about it when we get to the company."

"Alright."

Watching the convoy slowly drive into the street, Ling Chen turned and walked towards his own car.

Just then, carrying a bag, Nanrong Hao walked out from the house.

"Brother Chen."

Ling Chen nodded at him, about to sit in the driver’s seat, but Nanrong Hao rushed in front of him and asked, "Brother Chen, where did you go last night? You didn’t even come to my cousin’s birthday party."

"Su Lin’s birthday?" Ling Chen was surprised; he was unaware of this. That’s right! He suddenly remembered that yesterday at the company, Nanrong Wanqing had asked if he was free in the evening, probably to invite him to the birthday party, and he had ended up declining.

Could it be because of this incident that Nanrong Wanqing gave him the cold shoulder?

That shouldn’t be the case, right?

"Where did you guys hold the birthday party last night?"

"Xiyuan Restaurant, it’s newly opened, the environment is pretty good; I’ll treat you there next time."

Ling Chen’s eyes widened; what a coincidence?

"So it was you guys at Xiyuan Restaurant last night."

At the time, he vaguely heard Nanrong Hao calling for 'Sister', but when he went out to look, he didn’t see anyone. He thought he had misheard, not realizing they were all at Xiyuan Restaurant last night.

Over the course of one night, Nanrong Wanqing’s attitude towards him had drastically changed. Maybe it was because of... Thinking about this, he quickly asked, "Haozi, did your sister have any strange reactions last night?"

"Which sister are you talking about?"

"Nonsense, of course your older sister." Ling Chen anxiously watched him, "Think carefully."