"Uncle, Auntie, I think you can perhaps trust me a little more."
As Lin Zhihua's words landed, everyone turned to look at him simultaneously.
Especially Cheng Shuo, who felt somewhat embarrassed after being seen through.
To think his small company could ever hope to rival the Lin Corporation in the future...
Lin Zhihua tightly held Xue Jiao's hand, his voice firm: "Jiao Jiao is the person I care about most in this life, my everything. I would never allow anyone to mistreat her. How others treat me is how they must treat Jiao Jiao!" With even more respect and reverence.
Cheng Shuo was momentarily stunned, but eventually pursed his lips and said, "What you do is your business, what I do is mine!"
After a pause, he added, "But this is the least you should do. I hope you keep your word."
Lin Zhihua nodded with a smile. Some promises are meant to be fulfilled through actions in life, not through empty vows now.
Xue Jiao turned to look at him, her eyes slightly moved.
Cheng Mingze only said, "As long as you understand clearly in your heart. Don't think the Cheng family is powerless. Even if we can't match your Lin Corporation, if you ever wrong Jiao Jiao, we'll fight you to the death!"
Lin Zhihua continued smiling and nodding, showing no sign of being troubled.
Jiao Jiao was a priceless treasure. To take away a family's priceless treasure, this little hardship was only to be expected.
Finally satisfied, Cheng Shuo smiled and poured him a drink. They clinked glasses and downed it in one go.
From then on, Lin Zhihua truly kept his promise.
Especially after marriage, rumors about President Lin and his wife circulated among everyone who knew Lin Zhihua.
At that time, almost everyone knew she was President Lin's cherished wife—it was better to offend the president than to offend his wife.
By the end of the evening gathering, Cheng Shuo and Lin Zhihua were deep in their cups, with Cheng Mingze joining them for quite a few drinks. Xue Jiao and Li Sitong only had a little, not daring to drink more.
"Lin Zhihua! Another round!" Cheng Shuo's face was flushed red, his eyes half-squinting.
Lin Zhihua's face wasn't red, but he was squinting and half-slumped over.
"Dad, stop drinking. You're drunk," Xue Jiao said helplessly, looking at Cheng Shuo.
The man grinned at her in response: "Not drunk. My face just turns red when I drink. I'm perfectly sober."
Cheng Mingze stood up and supported him: "Alright, alright, Dad's not drunk. Let me help you freshen up."
As he guided Cheng Shuo toward the room, Li Sitong stood and looked at Xue Jiao: "Jiao Jiao, help Zhihua to the guest room to rest. I'll clean up the dishes first."
"Okay," Xue Jiao agreed.
She supported Lin Zhihua, who cooperated enough to follow her to the guest room.
Xue Jiao dropped him onto the bed and muttered, "How is he going to wash up now...?"
"Zhihua, get up and wash up!" Xue Jiao nudged Lin Zhihua, who had closed his eyes the moment he hit the bed.
He mumbled, "Mm."
Xue Jiao leaned down to help him sit up.
Suddenly, the world spun as she was flipped onto the bed.
The supposedly drunk man pinned her beneath him, chuckling softly, his eyes clear and alert.
Xue Jiao froze, then blurted out stupidly, "You're not drunk?!"
He had drunk nearly as much as Cheng Shuo, who was a capable drinker. How could Cheng Shuo be drunk while Lin Zhihua remained completely unaffected?
This defied logic!
Lin Zhihua smiled and replied, "I have a high alcohol tolerance. I don't get drunk."
Xue Jiao's eyes widened slightly in disbelief.
There are people who can't get drunk?!"Little one," Lin Zhihua leaned in close, his face mere inches from hers, his voice laced with intimacy. "Instead of worrying about whether I'm drunk, shouldn't you be more concerned about your own situation?"
Xue Jiao: "..."
With her stunned expression still frozen, he captured her lips—his technique... practiced.
Soon, Xue Jiao grew pliant, passively accepting his advances.
Fortunately, Lin Zhihua didn’t intend to go too far. He soon released her, lying beside her and taking her hand. "Jiao Jiao..."
Just those two words, husky and deep, seemed to emerge from the depths of his heart, carrying an indescribable tenderness.
Xue Jiao took a deep breath, her cheeks still faintly flushed, like lingering twilight.
She glared at Lin Zhihua, annoyed. "You tricked me! You were pretending to be drunk!"
Lin Zhihua blinked innocently. "I’m wronged! If I hadn’t pretended, your dad might have kept drinking. I couldn’t let him continue!"
"So I should thank you for that?!"
Lin Zhihua smiled. "No need. Your father is my father too—it’s only right."
Xue Jiao: "..."
"Besides, if I weren’t ‘drunk,’ how could I have ‘gained entry’?" he added, glancing around the room with satisfaction.
Before marriage, this room would be his long-term residence. After marriage, returning would naturally mean sharing Xue Jiao’s bedroom.
Xue Jiao: "..."
After a moment, she kicked him lightly, her voice still tinged with anger. "Go wash up already! I’m going back to my room!"
With that, she fled, leaving Lin Zhihua sitting there, grinning broadly.
Cheng Shuo had almost accepted him. Now, the only hurdle left was Jiao Jiao’s youth...
This was Lin Zhihua’s first night staying at the Cheng household—but it certainly wouldn’t be his last.
－
Love and family were now somewhat balanced. The remaining issue was work.
The project had progressed smoothly into its mid-phase. The team was diligent, hardworking, and reasonably talented.
Professor Jin occasionally dropped by to check in. Though he couldn’t predict the project’s future, as a physics professor, his expertise was formidable.
A single pointer from him was often enough to spark breakthroughs.
The early struggles of the project had eased by the mid-phase.
But as the semester neared its end, the project entered its final stretch—only to grow difficult again.
"...So we’re stuck again today?" Zheng Jiakun frowned.
Chu Sheng nodded. "The senior’s approach failed. The junior’s failed too. Even Yang Zhan’s attempt didn’t work. Now, it’s all up to Senior Zhang Han. If her solution works, we’re nearing the finish line. If not... we’ll have to start over."
Zheng Jiakun’s brow furrowed deeper.
Xue Jiao sighed. This project was truly grueling.
Nearly a year in, and they could only see the faintest glimmer of hope. Where was the dawn? There wasn’t even a hint of it yet.
"Finals aren’t far off. Let’s skip the lab today and go study," Zheng Jiakun said, removing his glasses to rub his temples.
It was Saturday—no classes for anyone.
"Alright, let’s all go review. Senior Zhang Han’s results should be ready in a few days anyway."
"Okay," Xue Jiao agreed, shouldering her bag as she left the lab.She planned to go to the library first to study, but even on a Saturday, the library was packed.
Xue Jiao thought for a moment and sent a message to Lin Zhihua:
[Are you busy today? Are you at the company? Can I come over to study?]
The reply came quickly—a voice message from Lin Zhihua:
"Absolutely delighted. Jiao Jiao, should I come pick you up?"
His voice sounded cheerful.
Xue Jiao replied:
[No need. I’ll go home first to grab some more books and then take a taxi over.]
Lin Zhihua refused her suggestion: "Then I’ll have Tan Qi pick you up, take you home, and then bring you here."
After a brief consideration, Xue Jiao agreed.
While Xue Jiao waited for Tan Qi, Lin Zhihua hung up the phone, his lips curling into a smile as he pressed the intercom.
Chen Yan entered promptly. "Boss."
"Chen Yan, order a desk set for Jiao Jiao right away—pink. The material should be safe and clean, not too big but not too small either. Have it delivered as soon as possible," Lin Zhihua instructed.
Chen Yan was momentarily stunned but quickly responded, "Understood."
Forty minutes later, a truck carrying the desk arrived at the Lin Corporation building, and the furniture was unloaded and carried inside with little fanfare.
The desk and chair were unwrapped, made of wood and painted pink. Clearly, they had been aired out for a long time, so no packaging was needed.
They were simply covered with a white cloth and sent up via the employee elevator.
Soon, private group chats across the company exploded—
"Big news!! Big news!! Secretary Chen bought a pink desk for the boss and had it delivered upstairs!!"
"What? Pink???"
"Does our company lack desks?"
"Lack my ass—didn’t you see it was sent to the boss’s floor?"
"Could be for someone else…"
"Does the boss have a daughter???"
"...Xiao Gu’s lost it. Even if the boss had a daughter, would she need a desk of that height?"
"Holy shit!! Holy shit!! Is it the boss’s young girlfriend?"
"Unlikely. I saw his girlfriend last time—she looked young, but surely not still in high school?"
"...College students have a lot of homework too..."
"Given the boss’s personality, I doubt his girlfriend would be a bookworm. Probably not a student."
"Maybe the desk isn’t for studying?"
...
Gossip about the boss was something the entire company took an interest in.
Receptionists Su Qian and Xiao Yue scrolled through the group chats while chatting cautiously.
"The boss’s girlfriend does look really young—seventeen or eighteen, maybe."
"I think so too. The others only saw her photo. That day, she dressed maturely, but her face looked young on closer inspection."
"Agreed. Maybe just graduated high school? Or still a senior?"
"Could even be a college freshman!"
As they spoke, they noticed someone approaching the entrance. Recognizing the person at the front, they immediately straightened up, put away their phones, and plastered on polite, practiced smiles.
Tan Qi pushed open the door with an air of authority, his expression cold as he scanned the lobby—then immediately broke into a grin, turning to usher the person behind him inside. "Please, come in..."
Xue Jiao smiled and nodded before stepping inside.
She first gave Su Qian and Xiao Yue a friendly smile, then walked toward the passageway. Before she could get close, a figure emerged from the side.
The man whose mere presence could make people break into a sweat strode forward, startling Su Qian and Xiao Yue so much that their smiles froze, their eyes darting nowhere but straight ahead."Jiao Jiao..." The man whose mere presence could freeze others in their tracks called out softly, his voice brimming with tenderness.
Xue Jiao smiled and walked over, only to have Lin Zhihua gently tug at her ponytail before taking her hand and leading her toward the elevator with quiet affection.
She turned back to wave at Su Qian and Xiao Yue. "Bye, girls!"
"B-bye..." they stammered, their heads swiveling stiffly to watch.
It was then they noticed Xue Jiao's outfit—a high ponytail, a mid-length down jacket, and a backpack clearly stuffed with textbooks.
She was absolutely still a student!!
Their boss was robbing the cradle!!!
The two stood dumbfounded as the "old cow" naturally took the "tender grass's" backpack, holding her hand as they walked inside, his expression softening whenever he leaned down to whisper something to her.
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