Chapter 22

Cheng Yuelin took three days of medicine in a row to recover. But he would rather wear a turtleneck sweater to the company every day than miss his work. Ruan Zhiyin was moved by his diligence.
Compared with a few years ago, he has changed a lot now.
In high school, Cheng Yuelin always stepped on the critical point of her good temper, but now, Ruan Zhiyin can feel that Cheng Yuelin is also trying to get along well with her.
Ruan Zhiyin used the leftover crabs to make fried crabs with sauce and scallion oil crab ovary noodles, but this time they all went into her own stomach. Cheng Yuelin eats bland noodles every day, but he is not too picky.
/ / /
In the company, the Beicheng project has been proceeding in an orderly manner.
According to the final contract signed by the two parties, Lin Heng contributed 65% of the capital. Ruan family was fully responsible for the rest of the development work, and the subsequent profits would be divided into 50-50.
The conditions of the contract were too good, but Ruan Zhiyin was a little confused, and even speculated on Cheng Yuelin's intentions. After all, apart from cooperating with him to shape his identity and image, she doesn't seem to do anything else.
So far, in this marriage, she has benefited more.
Lin Cheng has been silent since Qin Jue was injured and hospitalized, and the medical cooperation case that was going well before has also been put on hold.
Although Ruan Zhiyin didn't want to admit it, Qin Jue's recent move to separate the relationship with Lin Jingfei really made Lin Cheng have to restrain his actions.
Even if the Lin family did not want to see the Beicheng project proceeding so smoothly, they were careful not to act in this situation.
It's just that this made Ruan Zhiyin more and more disgusted with Qin Jue. She really didn't need to passively accept his so-called 'help'.
In the conference room, Ruan Zhiyin and the person in charge of Lin Heng were making final decisions on the contract.
"Vice President Ruan, do you have any other terms you would like to supplement?"
The person Lin Heng sent to connect with Ruan was named Zhong Yi, the director of the development department.
She thought that as the investment party, this director Zhong might put on airs in the advancement of the work. It turned out that she was wrong. This director Zhong was good-natured and even respected her more.
Thinking that she had won the Beicheng project from the team of Director Zhong, Ruan Zhiyin felt a little embarrassed at the moment.
After a cursory glance at the contract, Ruan Zhiyin raised her eyes and looked at the other party, "Xiang Bin added the details that need to be added before. I will check and confirm it later. And tomorrow I will go over to sign the contract in person."
"OK.” Zhong Yi responded with a smile, hesitated for a while, and then asked tentatively, "Are you going to mention the ribbon-cutting event to President Cheng in person?"
Ruan Zhiyin was stunned when she heard the words. This was the first time someone pointed out her personal relationship with Cheng Yuelin in a straightforward manner.
During these days, although Cheng Yuelin had shown their “devoted love” in front of Qin Jue and others, Ruan Zhiyin also understood that they would not really believe that she and Cheng Yuelin were a couple with a normal relationship.
But Zhong Yi's question made her realize clearly that in the eyes of many people, she and Cheng Yuelin are indeed husband and wife and have the most intimate connection.
This feeling is indeed a little subtle.
When she was studying abroad, she had shared roommates, but Cheng Yuelin was different.
Although they live under the same roof and get along more and more naturally, they are not ordinary roommates.
Ruan Zhiyin suppressed the strangeness, caught a glimpse of Zhong Yi's eyes, smiled calmly, and nodded, "Well, I will mention it to him."
The government's planning licence has been issued. The detailed planning and design of the planning department have also been drafted. The construction will begin soon.
Even if the previous work is all connected by the employees, the ribbon-cutting work really requires Cheng Yuelin to attend.
/ / /
"Boss, the entanglement between Lin Zhe and Mrs Ruan...that's probably all."
In the president's office, Bai Bo had just finished reporting what Cheng Yuelin had previously explained to him to investigate, and then silently sweated for Lin Zhe in his heart.
Seeing that Cheng Yuelin's brows were knitted together and his face became more solemn, Bai Bo paused slightly, and added, "Although the Lin family is impure, they have thought about designing Mrs Ruan. But Mrs Ruan seemed to have taught Lin Zhe a lesson, and Lin Zhe kept avoiding her."
The Lin family is really too greedy. When the legitimate lady of Ruan goes home, they even schemed to let Lin Zhe approach Ruan Zhiyin and marry her back home.
Didn't this get in the boss’s line of fire?
Cheng Yuelin tapped his fair and slender knuckles on the table, his tone condensed, "Go and make Lin Zhe's shady deals public. Don't forget to add his identity to him."
Between the words, there was a cold look in the bottom of his eyes.
Bai Bo instantly realized that although Cheng Yuelin didn't want to affect his wife, he wanted to ruin Lin Zhe's reputation.
It should blame Lin Zhe himself for having a lot of bad debts, falsifying his academic qualifications, and organizing cheating on important exams when he was in school. Lin Cheng spent his time smoothing it out for him.
Lin Zhe is Lin Jingfei's cousin. As long as someone wants to protect his reputation, the marketing account must be very willing to receive this big-traffic event. Under the covert operation, Lin Zhe can be sent to prison and locked up for a few years.
In addition to Lin Zhe, Lin Jingfei's reputation, which had already plummeted, may also be implicated again.
After all, Lin Zhe's matter was settled by Lin Cheng, and Lin Jingfei was probably the insider as well.
The boss kills two birds with one stone!
Bai Bo nodded in response, and was about to get up to go out when Cheng Yuelin seemed to remember something, suddenly stopped him, and said casually, "Do you know what the employees are talking about recently?"
He frowned at Bai Bo and asked about Qian Fan's strange reminder at noon—
"Brother Lin, after all, it's in the office. So you still need to pay a little attention to some things. Don't get teased by the employees."
Cheng Yuelin didn't know what to do at the time, and now he couldn't help asking Bai Bo.
When Bai Bo met his gaze, his expression was very tangled. He hesitated for a long time before he said politely, "Boss... or you should stop wearing high-necked clothes tomorrow."
Cheng Yuelin frowned for a while, as if he had finally thought of something, raised his brows slightly, pursed his thin lips lightly, and paused for a moment, "Well, I see."
He didn't expect that changing into high-necked clothes because of allergies would produce this kind of misunderstanding in the company.
Seeing that the boss was in a good mood, Bai Bo was relieved and finally turned around and walked out of the office.
After he left, Cheng Yuelin rubbed his brows, and chuckled lightly. It took a while to clear the disturbed and uncomfortable thoughts.
Just as he was about to see the contract documents sent by Zhong Yi, the mobile phone on the table rang——
He reached out and connected the phone.
Officer Ye's voice was filled with indelible joy, "Mr. Cheng, your father's assistant back then, turned himself in at Lanqiao."
/ / /
Cheng Yuelin received a call from Mr. Ruan after Officer Ye’s call and came to the old house of the Ruan family alone.
He happened to meet Ji Yijun who was about to leave after visiting Mr. Ruan.
When the two looked at each other, Ji Yijun greeted him with a smile, "Mr. Cheng, long time no see."
"Mr. Ji." Cheng Yuelin nodded slightly, but didn't call him 'uncle' as he did last time.
Ji Yijun didn't care, nodded lightly, and replied, "Uncle Ruan has been waiting for you. I'll go first."
After speaking, he walked towards the door.
Walking to the door, he turned his head and glanced in silence again, just in time to see Cheng Yuelin's half-way figure disappearing into the stairwell.
Ji Yijun remembered that when he first met Cheng Yuelin eight years ago, he was still a young teenager, told him about what happened to Ruan Zhiyin at school, turn around and left.
Going around in circles, he can be regarded as getting what he wants.
/ / /
When Ruan Zhiyin returned to the villa, the huge living room was pitch black and there was no light.
The moment she turned on the light, she frowned, and also smelled the bitter smell of smoke wafting in the air.
Looking at the man in the living room, Ruan Zhiyin paused and said, "Cheng Yuelin, why don't you turn on the light?"
The other side sat on the sofa without any expressions. His eyes were light, and there were a few cigarette butts in the ashtray on the coffee table.
Cheng Yuelin didn't speak, but she was sensitively aware of his low mood.
Ruan Zhiyin got up and walked to him, lowered her voice and asked, "What's the matter?"
Cheng Yuelin seemed to come back to his senses, slowly met her gaze, then smiled and shook his head lazily, "Oh, it's okay. I just smoked a few cigarettes."
When going out, Ruan Zhiyin said that she would go shopping with Gu Linlang after knocking off work. He didn't expect her to come back so early.
Facing his indifferent appearance, Ruan Zhiyin sighed, "Smoking hurts the body, so you'd better smoke less in the future."
This was the first time she saw Cheng Yuelin smoking.
Cheng Yuelin raised his eyebrows. His eyes were playful, and he laughed, "Ruan Zhiyin, why are you so concerned about my affairs recently? Are you keeping me from smoking?"
Ruan Zhiyin choked slightly, took the cigarette case on the coffee table, and frowned back, "I'm afraid that I will be forced to smoke your second-hand smoke and die young."
Then, she pointed to the words on the cigarette case and said, "It's clearly marked that smoking is harmful to your health. If you don't have any addiction to smoking, you should stop it."
During this period of time, she has not seen Cheng Yuelin smoking. She thinks that even if he is addicted to smoking, it will not be very serious.
They got along pretty well recently, and she didn't want to watch him fall into the addiction.
Cheng Yuelin responded casually, "Well."
When the words fell, he caught a glimpse of her eyes and shook his head, "I see. I won't smoke in the future."
He is not very addicted to smoking. He rarely smokes cigarettes at ordinary times. At most, he smokes two cigarettes when he is socializing.
Now that she was talking about smoking, his bad feelings dissipated a lot.
But just after he finished thinking, he heard Ruan Zhiyin lowered her eyes and asked him, "So, why did you smoke here just now?"
Cheng Yuelin raised his eyes to look at her, with faint scrutiny hidden in his eyes. After a while, he chuckled lightly, looked out the window, and his voice was a little vague, "Probably, I finally solved some things, but I found that it was not as liberating as I imagined."
In that case, the most crucial witness was Xu Xin, an assistant beside Cheng's father. He handled the funds, but Xu Xin disappeared after Cheng's father was imprisoned.
When Officer Ye called, Xu Xin, who had surrendered to Landbridge because of his father's death, had already explained everything he knew.
Although other evidence is still needed, Cheng Yuelin has almost pieced together the whole story.
Thinking of this, Cheng Yuelin leaned on the sofa sloppily, the corners of his lips hooked slightly, and looked back at Ruan Zhiyin.
"Ruan Yingying, in fact, you said that I was arrogant and flamboyant, which is not wrong."
His father did business too aggressively back then, and he scrambled for too many benefits from others, so he would end up like that step by step.
Cheng Yuelin knew very well in his heart that the interests came first in business, and were even unscrupulous. If it were him, wouldn't he be quiet to blend in?
When he thought of this question, he instantly felt that the obsession of helping his father to reverse the verdict all these years became empty.
Ruan Zhiyin didn't expect that when Cheng Yuelin was still introspective, she felt that he must be stimulated, and comforted slowly, "Don't think so. In fact, you have many advantages."
"Oh?" Cheng Yuelin raised his eyebrows and looked at her, as if waiting for the next sentence.
Ruan Zhiyin pursed her lower lip, "I mean it. You are much better than before."
Cheng Yuelin said lightly, "For example?"
Ruan Zhiyin thought that he was in a bad mood, so she had to search her mind to deal with his obsession—
"For example...you take the initiative to do the housework to do the dishes every time, which many men can't do.
"You pick me up to and from knocking off work every day, and you never bothered."
"You have helped me a lot recently, but you have not made excessive demands." At least so far.
After saying that, she looked at the man and smiled again, "Although you were a little arrogant in high school, you are also clean. And you don't bully your classmates, indulge in puppy love and change girlfriends like other playboys."
This proves that his nature is not bad.
Otherwise, she would not have chosen to call Cheng Yuelin at the wedding.
But as soon as he finished speaking, the man smiled lightly, "This is wrong."
Ruan Zhiyin looked at him blankly.
Wrong? Where is it wrong? She was clearly praising him, but why didn't he recognize it?
Cheng Yuelin met Ruan Zhiyin's clear eyes, and knew that she was unaware, so he retracted his mind and said in a timid tone, "I bullied you, didn’t I?"
Ruan Zhiyin choked slightly when she heard the words, but she was suddenly stunned, shook her head and smiled and said, "I'm not talking about that kind of bullying, and I've already returned, so I don't care about you anymore."
At most, he tortured her to give lectures, do his homework, or to mess around with trivial things when she wanted to ask someone for advice.
She would really be disturbed by him at the moment, but she silently made him be punished by standing and watched him read a repentance draft in front of all the teachers and students in the school, and she lost her temper.
Cheng Yuelin looked at her face, and then changed the subject, "Are you free on the weekend?"
Ruan Zhiyin glanced at him, and after thinking for a while, nodded, "What’s the matter?"
"Well, accompany me to a dinner party."
Cheng Yuelin didn't say it clearly, but Ruan Zhiyin had already realized from the other party's demeanor that she was going to cooperate with him to 'show affection' in public.
But this was originally negotiated in the marriage agreement, Ruan Zhiyin never thought of rejecting it, and responded casually, "Yes, I will free up the time."
The man's eyes turned slightly, then stood up, took out a bunch of keys from the drawer of the coffee table, and handed them over.
Ruan Zhiyin took it hesitantly and said, "What is this?"
"The second cabinet on the left side of the study has a lot of jewelry. You can choose one.” Cheng Yuelin looked at her leisurely, seeing that she seemed to refuse, and continued, "It's Mrs. Yan's birthday banquet. Just help me pick and see if there are any suitable gifts."
He said so, Ruan Zhiyin was really hard to refuse. She nodded, and took the key to the study on the second floor.
The decoration of the study is the same simple. The shelves are neatly filled with books, and the desk in the middle is large and neat.
Although she didn't come here often, she also knew which cabinet Cheng Yuelin was referring to on the second floor on the left.
Using the key to open the heavy safe door, even Ruan Zhiyin couldn't help but be surprised when she saw the dazzling array of belongings piled up inside.
Fortunately, the security of the villa area is good enough, otherwise the thief would really be able to make a fortune by stealing his jewels in the safe.
After thinking for a while, she chose from among these jewels a necklace of rubies with a dazzling lustre.
Ruan Zhiyin had dealt with Mrs. Yan, the daughter-in-law of Mrs. Yan several times, and she heard that the old lady's favorite jewelry was ruby.
The grams of rubies on this necklace are not too heavy, but they are expensive because of their transparency, which is quite rare.
Just as she was about to close the safe, she suddenly caught a glimpse of a bracelet in the corner.
It was a hot-selling model from the T brand in the early years, and Ruan Zhiyin also bought one when she was a sophomore.
It's just that she was unlucky. Before she had time to wear it, she met a pickpocket on the way back to school, which means she never owned it.
During that time, Ruan Zhiyin was always thinking about discussing with her grandfather about breaking the marriage contract and going abroad to study.
This bracelet was the best-selling one in the t brand that year, and the price is not expensive.
Ruan Zhiyin would notice it, in fact, because it is too inferior among the many jewels.
The preciousness of other jewels seems to have come from auctions, but this one is obviously not.
So, why did Cheng Yuelin put such a bracelet in the safe?
Just as the thought came up, a voice came from behind—
"Have you chosen?"
Cheng Yuelin put one hand in his pocket and leaned against the door. His eyes fell on the chain in Ruan Zhiyin's hand, raised his eyebrows, and said lightly, "Ruan Yingying, you don't want to choose this, do you?"
"That, you can't choose."
The man's tail was soft and his tone was leisurely.
"why?" Before she thought about it, the voice has already come out.
After returning to her senses, she was about to explain that she did not want to choose this bracelet, but Cheng Yuelin had already crossed his arms and walked over slowly.
He was tall and looked at her condescendingly, with deep eyes, "What do you think?"
Ruan Zhiyin's brows moved slightly, and she pursed her lips as he said, "What's the special meaning?"
Otherwise, he wouldn't have put such an ordinary bracelet in this pile of jewels, and deliberately vacated the place.
Cheng Yuelin hooked his lips loosely, laughed lightly, stared at her with deep eyes, and said casually, "You just said that I didn't have a puppy love in high school, but you were wrong--"
He hesitated for a moment, then recalled the conversation he had with Grandpa Ruan today.
He raised his eyebrows, and his low voice was neither heavy nor light, "This bracelet was left to me by my first love. I can't just give it to you."