In the CEO’s office at Yan Corporation building, Meng Ting sat in Yan Sui’s usual chair. A steady stream of executives entered to report on their work, but whether they came bearing concern or merely curious for a show, they all left with stunned expressions.
It wasn’t Meng Ting’s recklessness that shocked them, but his decisiveness and sharpness, which completely defied their expectations. Is this really Meng Ting? The CEO’s wife who’s still in his final year of high school? The youngest son of the Xiao Family who always seemed slightly lacking?
At last, half a day passed, and Meng Ting finally could take a break. Yet, even in his office, with only himself present, he was still talking.
“Yan Sui, you should eat.”
“Alright, I’ll go now,” Yan Sui replied from the other end. Although he wasn’t injured, Meng Ting had been treating him like a wounded person these past few days, and compared to usual, he had become two shades more assertive.
They both wore earpieces. All morning, Meng Ting had been relaying Yan Sui’s instructions. He might not fully understood the implications of every decision, but he trusted Yan Sui’s judgment more than anyone.
His tone, when relaying the decisions, was firm and concise, which had undoubtedly stunned those who had underestimated him.
“Mm,” Meng Ting’s tone softened slightly at Yan Sui’s response. Still, he added, “Be good, and I won’t be so fierce.” He actually felt he had been a bit too fierce these past few days.
“Alright,” Yan Sui replied, a gentle smile curving his lips.
Zhen Han, who had brought the meal in, glanced at Yan Sui and rolled his eyes in exasperation. Obviously, neither Yan Sui nor Meng Ting were typically talkative, so how could they seemed to talk more than he was when they were together? They’d been chatting all morning and still hadn’t finished.
Of course, Zhen Han wasn’t referring to Yan Sui’s directives during the reports, but rather the endless conversations, concerns, and reminders they shared whenever they had a moment, asking about each other’s well-being. But Yan Sui wasn’t actually injured, was he? Were they perhaps too deeply immersed in their act?
Zhen Han, who had never been in love, couldn’t possibly understand. He inwardly scoffed but dared not show it.
“Have you eaten?” Yan Sui asked casually as he took the meal from Zhen Han.
To avoid trouble, Zhen Han had been staying at this private hospital these past few days, assisting Gu Li instead of going to the pet hospital. Whether Zhen Han acknowledged Gu Li as his father remained uncertain, but he certainly recognized Gu Li as his half-Master.
“Not yet. I came in to eat with you,” Zhen Han replied. But now he felt it was a wrong decision. Yan Sui and Meng Ting were still on the phone, clearly not lonely at all. His presence or absence made no difference.
Hearing Zhen Han’s words, Meng Ting’s cheeks puffed out slightly. He also wanted to eat with Yan Sui…
But for the next few days, Meng Ting had to remain in the company, holding down the fort. He could only hear Yan Sui’s voice and talk to him, but couldn’t see him, touch him, or kiss him.
While Meng Ting was willing, he couldn’t help feeling a little frustrated. Meanwhile, the employees of the Yan Corporation were stunned by his performance, convinced he was a business prodigy whose talents had been buried. They believed he was even more decisive and insightful than Yan Sui had been when he first took over the Yan Corporation. If that wasn’t a prodigy, what was?
***
Equally shocked were Yán Yunsheng in Licheng and many other family patriarchs watching the unfolding drama. Yán Yunsheng found it hard to believe he had misjudged Meng Ting so severely. Moreover, even if he now recognized his error, it was too late—his previous decisions had already been set into motion.
Yán Yunsheng steadied the inexplicable panic in his heart and continued to listen to reports. “Is this… cutting off the tail to survive?”
There weren’t many people Yán Yunsheng couldn’t see through in his life, and Yan Sui was one. Now, Meng Ting was another. Meng Ting’s decisions were too swift, too precise. Although it seemed like he and the Yán family still had a chance to win, Yán Yunsheng couldn’t shake the feeling that he had been outmaneuvered long ago.
“Proceed as planned, and speed up!” Yán Yunsheng controlled those inexplicable emotions. He was still gambling, and he had no choice but to gamble; the situation left him no room to retreat!
However, from the third day onward, he began receiving bad news one after another. It wasn’t ‘cutting off the tail to survive’; these projects had already been abandoned by the Yan Corporation, they were merely empty shells. The true talent and innovative ideas had long since been cleverly repurposed and repackaged into new ventures, and they were all being launched sequentially at this very time. This was a direct, devastating blow against him.
“Get… get Su Siyu here!” Yán Yunsheng’s voice trembled as he spoke, the expression on his face was extremely ugly.
Half an hour later, Su Siyu arrived at Yán Yunsheng’s study, a faint smile still lingering on his face. He assumed Yán Yunsheng had summoned him to fulfill his promised share of the projects.
“Grandpa Yán, as agreed, I’ll take twenty percent of the shares in those projects…”
“Bang!” Before Su Siyu could finish, Yán Yunsheng smashed a teacup at his feet.
“Tell me, did you conspire with Yan Sui to set me up? Did you?!”
Otherwise, how could it be such a coincidence? How could the Yán family’s entire investment have gone down the drain? How could all those so-called confidential information have been a trap laid for him? If Su Siyu, who provided the information, wasn’t Yan Sui’s person, then Yán Yunsheng had been thoroughly outmaneuvered by Yan Sui.
“This… how could this be possible!” Su Siyu’s eyes were wide with astonishment, but Yán Yunsheng’s uncontrollable rage was genuinely frightening. His foot had been scalded by the spilled tea, but he could only grit his teeth and bear it. He softened his tone slightly as he repeated what he had previously told Yán Yunsheng.
“I’m just his ex-fiancé. He wants to imprison me for that bitch. I’ve already severed all ties with him.”
In Su Siyu’s narrative, he and Yan Sui once had a connection—one deep enough for him to know many of the Yan family’s secrets. However, Meng Ting had interfered, leading to Su Siyu being framed and sentenced. Unwilling to accept such a fate, he fled to Licheng, determined to bide his time and exact revenge.
“What… what exactly went wrong?”
Under Yán Yunsheng’s scrutinizing gaze, Su Siyu’s voice grew progressively softer, the volume of this last question barely audible.
“The Yán family is finished, and so am I!” Yán Yunsheng declared, slowly sinking back into his seat. But his gaze remained fixed on Su Siyu, sinister and eerie, sending chills down Su Siyu’s spine.
“I, I know one more thing. I’m still useful…”
Su Siyu was acutely sensitive to this kind of gaze and atmosphere. He knew that if he failed to satisfy Yán Yunsheng, his fate would be no better than being thrown into prison—perhaps death, or suffer something even more terrifying than death.
***
On that same day, far away in the Yan Corporation building in Haicheng, Meng Ting announced the good news to everyone: Yan Sui had awakened and been moved to a regular ward. Along with this came the joyous news of the Yan Corporation’s numerous successful acquisitions of Yán family’s enterprises. A net that Yan Sui had laid long ago was now beginning to close.
However, after handling some matters, Meng Ting also went to the reception room to meet with a few elders from the Yan family’s collateral branches. One of them had officiated his and Yan Sui’s wedding; while Meng Ting could avoid seeing the others, he couldn’t avoid this particular elder.
With him, there are also several people of the same generation. Their purpose was to persuade Meng Ting and Yan Sui to quickly find a surrogate or adopt a child from the clan—regardless of whether they were from collateral branches or distant relatives, as long as the child bore the Yan surname.
After listening to their circuitous arguments for quite some time, Meng Ting finally understood their convoluted intentions. He shook his head. “Yan Sui has already awakened. We will both live long lives. We don’t want children right now.”
Twenty years would be more than enough time to groom an heir. If they were to adopt a child, it wouldn’t happen until Yan Sui was at least forty, or even later. Yan Sui was merely putting on an act, feigning injuries. Why were so many people already coveting Yan Sui’s wealth after his supposed death?
As Meng Ting finished speaking, he stood up and left. These people weren’t necessarily wishing for Yan Sui’s death, but their timing in bringing this up still deeply angered Meng Ting.
Those people weren’t allowed to stay long in the reception room. Before they could even discuss matters further, Wang Feng arrived with his men and escorted them out—a direct order from Yan Sui himself.
Yan Sui feigned illness for a full ten days before finally leaving the hospital. After that, Meng Ting no longer needed to go to the Yan Corporation building. The Yan Corporation employees, who had grown accustomed to Meng Ting’s presence, felt a little wistful. Although the style of commands remained unchanged, the CEO’s wife was just so pleasant to look at.
When there were no meetings or work, even eating felt delightful, and working with him was a treat for the eyes. Of course, the most crucial thing was that Meng Ting never made them work overtime. When he left, he let them leave too. With Yan Sui return, those good days were over.
“No wonder Tingya has grown so rapidly. Our Madam is also a true business genius.”
Outsiders had gone from disbelief to acceptance of these accolades for Meng Ting. Even Old Master Xiao in distant Beicheng was stunned. He nearly considered the idea of bringing Meng Ting back to nurture his talents further, but ultimately, he restrained himself.
Not to mention Meng Ting’s unwillingness to live permanently with the Xiao family, the heir of the main house was already decided soon after Xiao Zi’ang was born. He merely cherished talent, but his actions would inevitably make Xiao Huimin and Xiao Zi’ang overthink, and internal conflict within large families was the most terrifying thing.
However, Meng Ting himself, who was the subject of so much praise, knew nothing of it. He clung to Yan Sui, insisting they take a nap together, and they slept from one until three in the afternoon. By the time both of them get up, Wang Feng of the Yan family had been waiting for over an hour, while Gu Lang and the others had been waiting even longer.
Yan Sui and Meng Ting came downstairs together. Meng Ting was still a bit groggy, swaying slightly as he walked down the stairs, making everyone downstairs hold their breath. They almost wanted to suggest that Yan Sui just directly carry Meng Ting, but then remembered Yan Sui’s recent ‘injury’.
“We’ve come at a bad time, disturbing your rest. Sister-in-law must also been exhausted these past few days; he really needs a good rest.”
Recently, their ears had been filled with rumors of Meng Ting’s decisive actions at the Yan Corporation. Now seeing Meng Ting as he was in their old impression, Gu Lang felt utterly disillusioned.
“Yan Lao Da, how are you?” They hadn’t seen Yan Sui for a while and couldn’t discern any difference in him.
“Almost fully recovered,” Yan Sui replied. He gestured for them to sit down. He waved his hand, and Wang Feng approached to whisper in Yan Sui’s ear. Yan Sui nodded, and Wang Feng departed, heading to Yan Sui’s study alone. Yan Sui and Meng Ting remained in the living room, chatting with Gu Lang and the others.
“Wasn’t this all part of your plan, Yan Lao Da?” Gu Lang finally voiced his doubt as he prepared to leave. Despite the evidence before his eyes, doubt lingered, rooted in the raw, utterly convincing grief Meng Ting had displayed that day.
Yan Sui glanced at Gu Lang but offered no reply, continuing to toy with Meng Ting’s hand.
Gu Lang, ever the tactful one, mimed zipping his lips and then stood up, leaving with the others.
Whether it was a setup or not was irrelevant. What mattered was that the Yán family had fallen into the trap, and there was no turning back.
***
In recent days, Yan Sui had switched his phone card, maintaining contact only with Meng Ting. Those trying to reach him directly were naturally blocked, leaving them no choice but to contact Wang Feng instead.
As they entered the study, Wang Feng approached with a phone. It was Xu Shumin from Licheng.
After a round of greetings and pleasantries, Xu Shumin stopped beating around the bush and stated the purpose of his call.
“Impossible,” Yan Sui said, his tone calm but leaving no room for negotiation. It was impossible. Who could know if Yán’s surrender at this moment was genuine? Only when it was completely annihilated could he truly rest assured.
“Leaving a sliver of mercy is for ordinary people. For enemies, you must cut the grass and pull up the roots,” Yan Sui continued, pulling Meng Ting closer to sit beside him as he listened to the call. “I remember this. It’s you who taught me.”
“He originally intended to assassinate my father, but I intervened. Do you think my father’s life is unimportant, or do you believe my own life, Yan Sui’s, is expendable?” Yán Yunsheng had crossed his bottom line, and no amount of pleading from anyone would change his mind.
Xu Shumin remained silent for a long moment before speaking again. “I understand. Take good care of yourself. Let me know if you need any help.”
Before making this call, Xu Shumin had his suspicions, but after Yan Sui’s confirmation, he felt a chill in his heart. He thought the Yán family and Yán Yunsheng would at most take advantage of the situation, but he never expected them to be so ruthless.
Yan Yu was his only sister’s son, the nephew who had called him ‘Uncle’ for decades! Yan Sui, too, he had watched him grow up, carefully guiding him. Yán Yunsheng actually dared to lay a hand on Yan Yu and Yan Sui? Not only would Yan Sui not let it go, but Xu Shumin could no longer tolerate or condone it any longer either.
Yan Sui hung up the phone, a cold glint flashing in his eyes, then vanishing as he turned his head to look at Meng Ting.
“Final exams tomorrow?”
“Mm,” Meng Ting nodded. It was precisely because he had final exams that Yan Sui returned from the hospital early, though it was only two days ahead of schedule.
“Not going to do practice papers?”
Yan Sui asked, recalling how Meng Ting looked when he received the call from his Chinese teacher, Wang Qiuyu, yesterday. He was suddenly enlightened and utterly shocked.
He had completely forgotten about his final exams. After taking the call, he had nearly stayed up all night to do practice papers, but since waking up this afternoon until now, he had been feeling listless and lazy, seemingly having forgotten his final exams again.
“No, you just got home today. I want to spend time with you,” Meng Ting said earnestly, looking up. He then lowered his gaze and began counting on his fingers. “Let’s see… how many days have we been apart…”
Meng Ting could only focus completely when blending fragrances. At other times, his mind tended to wander easily. Even when he was in the Yan Corporation building and could hear Yan Sui’s voice, he still felt it was different from seeing him in person.
“I missed you so much,” Meng Ting said, not bothering to count the hours or minutes. He wrapped both arms around Yan Sui’s neck and met Yan Sui’s gaze. “What about you? Did you miss me?”
[dropdown title=”List of Idiom in Chapter 096″]
怒不可遏 (nù bù kě è): unable to restrain one’s anger (idiom); cannot restrain one’s fury; be in a towering rage; beside oneself with anger; mad with anger; cannot contain oneself for/in anger; one’s fury knows no bounds; in one’s uncontrollable furies; in an ungovernable rage; to be so angry that it is difficult to suppress it, describes being very angry.兄弟鬩牆 (xiōng dì xì qiáng): lit. brothers quarrelling inside the walls; internecine strife (idiom); fighting among oneself; (figurative) internal dispute; brothers squabble inside the walls—brothers fight at home; infighting among the brothers; quarrel between brothers; From the Classic of Poetry, poem 164 (《詩經·小雅·常棣》): 兄弟鬩于牆，外禦其務。 每有良朋，蒸也無戎。, Brothers may quarrel inside the walls, but they will oppose insult from without. When friends, however good they may be, will not afford help.
雷厲風行 (léi lì fēng xíng): lit. with the power of a thunderbolt and the speed of wind; pass like thunder and move like the wind (idiom); act with the power of a thunderbolt and the speed of lightning―carry out (orders, policies, etc) with drive and sweep; (when carrying out orders, policies, etc.) vigorously and speedily; vigorously and resolutely; swift and decisive; act vigorously and speedily; act immediately and resolutely; the original meaning is as fierce as thunder and as fast as the wind (violent). A metaphor for implementing policies and laws strictly and quickly; it also describes working with fierce force and acting quickly.
[/dropdown]Check out my completed & current project at my carrd. If you like my translation, you can buy me coffee at Ko-fi~ Thank you.
