Chapter 22: Cooperation

The red sedan slowly pulled out of the villa district. Ye Fan sat in the passenger seat, glancing at the beautiful woman beside him. Chen Shuting, wearing sunglasses, kept her expression calm.

"What are you staring at? You’ve ruined my makeup!" she suddenly pouted, a playful reproach that nearly made Ye Fan lose his balance.

One moment she was grim and bitter, and the next she was flirting?

"I say, sister, isn't this shift a bit too drastic?"

"Is it?" Chen Shuting stretched her neck, puffed out her chest, and pressed a button on the car's ceiling. A partition rose, shielding the three beautiful women in the back seat from view.

She took off her sunglasses and looked straight at Ye Fan. "I wonder who it was that saved my contact name as 'Do It Later'..." She locked eyes with him. "Little brother, is that what you want?"

"Uh..." Ye Fan stammered, embarrassed. "I actually wanted to write 'Ri Ri Sheng Antique Appraisals Manager Chen'! It was completely an input method error!"

"Ri Ri Sheng Antique Appraisals" was the name of Chen Shuting’s shop. While his explanation held water, she clearly didn't believe him.

"Alright, I’ll stop teasing you. What do you think about today’s events?" She set aside her charm and asked seriously.

"What do I think?" Ye Fan tilted his head. "I usually use my brain!"

"I’m talking about business! What is your take?"

"It’s a good thing! You saw how the old man was so incensed by that grandson Lin Zhenjie that he actually stood up! His blood pressure spiked—maybe it even cleared his cerebral thrombosis, who knows?"

Chen Shuting snorted with laughter and rolled her eyes at him. "I’m being serious! We may seem to have won today, but there are still a few hidden threats we haven't cleared."

"You mean Old Luan?"

Ye Fan scratched his head. His rational guess was that Old Luan had betrayed Chen Shuting and leaked the news about the jade pendant to Lin Zhenjie. But watching the aftermath, Old Luan looked completely dejected, and Lin Zhenjie’s side showed no signs of treating him like a turncoat—in fact, they had beaten him quite severely. It didn't look like a case of betrayal.

"Those are trifles," Chen Shuting interrupted his thoughts. "I’m talking about Lin Junqiang and his brother, Lin Jiaxing!"

"Them?" Ye Fan pondered.

Lin Junqiang suffered from cerebral thrombosis and trembled at everyone he met. This incident had made him realize Lin Zhenjie’s incompetence, cleared the family of a toxic element, and ultimately earned him the approval of his daughter-in-law—a happy ending for all.

Lin Jiaxing was loyal, supported his brother wholeheartedly, and doted on his nephew. Even though Lin Zhenjie was a piece of work, Jiaxing had always defended him. He was a tireless, selfless workhorse.

"What’s wrong with them?"

"Naive!" Chen Shuting shot him a look. "There’s a lot more to it than that!"

She began to analyze. "I married Lin Zhenqian because our families needed to cooperate. It was a marriage of convenience, a political alliance. Lin Junqiang never truly saw me as a daughter-in-law. If he had, why wouldn't he tell me when he found out about Zhenqian’s whereabouts?"

"So that’s how it is!" Ye Fan thought to himself. No wonder Chen Shuting never called Lin Junqiang "Father."

"Years ago, the cooperation between the Lin and Chen families fell apart, and then Lin Zhenqian went missing. My status in the Lin family hit rock bottom. Why did he confiscate Lin Zhenjie’s assets and give them to me this time?"

"Why?"

"Because Lin Zhenjie is pathetic, and he wants his eldest son back! Raising my status is just a move to resume cooperation with the Chen family."

"Oh! I get it!" Ye Fan chimed in enthusiastically. "Then he can find your father and say, 'Look, you wouldn't want your daughter to be a widow, would you?'"

"You're annoying!" Chen Shuting reached over and gave his waist a sharp pinch.

"Ow, ow, ow! That hurts!" Ye Fan grabbed her small, cool, smooth hand and gently moved it aside. She glared at him and continued, "And then there's Lin Jiaxing!"

"What about him?"

"Let me tell you, he’s an old fox! I suspect that eighty percent of today’s scheme was his idea, not Lin Zhenjie’s! You need to be careful around him in the future."

"Why would I need to be careful?" Ye Fan laughed. "I won't have any dealings with him anyway."

"That’s not necessarily true!"

Chen Shuting pulled the car over to the side of the road. Ye Fan realized they had driven to a secluded mountain pass. She turned toward him, her delicate face flushed slightly. "Ye Fan, come work for me?"

"Huh? What?" Ye Fan was stunned. "Right now?"

"What are you thinking!" Chen Shuting realized what he meant, her face turning even redder. She snapped at him, "I mean seriously! Come work at my company!"

"Be my executive assistant. I’ll give you an annual salary of 200,000!"

Ye Fan hesitated. He had just lost his job, his supermarket wasn't making much, and Li Yaoyao needed time to sell her antiques. A 200,000-a-year job didn't sound too bad.

"That’s fine, but I’m telling you now: if I have something to take care of, I’ll need to take leave whenever I want!"

"No problem! Honestly, you just need to drive me around and help with some basic chores!" Chen Shuting beamed, started the car, and drove on as the sky began to darken.

"Sister Chen, there’s something I still don’t understand."

"What is it? Tell me."

"If you knew Lin Junqiang could make the final call, why didn't you go to him sooner?"

"Did you not understand what I said earlier?" She rolled her eyes at him again. "I wasn't valued at home, and Lin Junqiang never saw me as a daughter-in-law... After the cooperation between the Lin and Chen families fell apart, there was a bit of bad blood. If it weren't for those videos of yours, he never would have sided with us today!"

"Besides..." She paused, her brows furrowed, biting her lip as if she had reached a decision. "Actually, my position in the Chen family is also awkward. To put it bluntly, I was cast aside by the Chen family when I married into the Lin family..."

"So, I’ve been bottling up a lot of resentment."

As the car passed through a tunnel, the flickering lights played across her face.

"Lin Junqiang once said that whoever holds the jade pendant is the head of the Lin family. Even though I didn't know the pendant was connected to Miyunjian, I wanted it just to see if he would hand over the leadership to me if I had it!"

"If he doesn't, he’s a man of broken promises and his reputation is ruined. If he does... hehe!"

Chen Shuting’s face relaxed, and she winked playfully at Ye Fan. "Would he really give it to the 'little witch' of the Chen family?"

Listening to her light laughter, Ye Fan suddenly understood. Chen Shuting was like a blade of grass growing between mountain rocks; the winds of fate toyed with her, yet she stood firm, resisting, hoping one day to grow into a towering tree and push away the stones weighing her down.

At that moment, Ye Fan felt a sense of admiration for her. He truly began to see her as a friend—the kind you could confide in.

At 7:00 PM, the car stopped at the alley entrance where the Xiao Runfa Supermarket was located.

"Is this where you live?"

"Yeah!"

"Then why not move into my villa? Let me take care of you!"

"That won't do! I’m a grown man; I don't need you to take care of me!"

"You have a 200,000-a-year job now! How can you say you can't afford it?"

"You're joking! I’m a man of means now, alright?" Ye Fan pointed to the partition behind him, where the three beauties were sitting.

"Hehe! Why don't you let them stay at my place? It’ll lighten your load, at least!"

Under the dim streetlights, Chen Shuting’s face was hidden in shadow, save for her red lips, which curved into a smile. Ye Fan paused for two seconds, raised an eyebrow, and nodded.

"Whatever works! I’m off!" He opened the door and stepped out briskly.

"Hey! It’s so late, aren't you going to invite me in for a meal?"

"There’s no food here! Go home and eat!"

Ye Fan turned to leave but suddenly circled back to the driver's side.

Chen Shuting lowered the window, her bright eyes shining in the streetlight. "What’s the matter, little handsome? Decided to invite me to dinner after all?"

"Sister Chen, I need to be clear about one thing. My friend’s jade pendant looks exactly like the one you’re talking about, but it really is a fake. I can't explain the details, but please, believe me!"

A mix of disappointment flickered in Chen Shuting’s eyes. "It really is a fake! And here I thought you were actually going to invite me to dinner!" She said something illogical, then added, "Fine, I know now! The real one has its uses, and the fake one has its own. Go on home!"

"If there’s a chance, I’ll definitely treat you to dinner!" Ye Fan said with a grin, waving his hand as he turned and disappeared into the depths of the alley.

The engine roared as the car sped away.