Chapter 85: Sharp Enough Eyes?

And Shen Yan rather liked this unguarded side of hers; it showed that they were close.

Shen Yan took up his chopsticks as well, motioning for Feng Yuqi to join them.

Almost by instinct, Feng Yuqi pulled out the stool beside Ye Yaoyao and was about to sit down when a cough sounded.

At the sound, Ye Yaoyao looked up at Shen Yan once, then lowered her head and went on eating.

She should have known to poison the bowl of rice in front of Shen Yan.

Understanding what Brother Yan meant, Feng Yuqi changed direction and walked to the other side.

As they ate, Shen Yan suddenly felt the silence lingering in the air and said, “How did your cooking get worse?”

Instead of easing the atmosphere, his words made it even quieter.

Feng Yuqi did not agree; he thought the boss’s skills were growing better and better.

What they had suffered through overseas before had truly been a catastrophe beyond bearing...

“Because I made it for you.”

Ye Yaoyao replied coolly, “My cooking changes depending on who I’m cooking for.”

“Ye Yaoyao, can you even speak properly?”

He had not called this woman over just to have her make things difficult for him.

“I’ll return that question to you.”

The air grew taut, as if it might snap at any moment. Feng Yuqi kept his head down and ate in silence, trying to minimize his presence.

Ye Yaoyao remained unaffected and continued eating. She felt there was nothing wrong with her cooking; the one with the problem was Shen Yan.

Shen Yan was infuriated to the point of feeling full, yet he did not dare to flare up. He could only keep eating.

After the meal, Ye Yaoyao was about to wash the dishes.

She was under someone else’s control now; how could she still let Shen Yan wash the dishes?

But the moment she picked up a bowl, she was stopped. “Leave them. Let Yuqi wash them.”

Feng Yuqi promptly took them over. “Yes, Miss Ye. You worked hard cooking; I’ll handle the rest.”

If not for Brother Yan, he would never have had the nerve to let the boss wash dishes.

“Come with me for a walk in the garden. A hundred steps after a meal,” Shen Yan said, very practiced at giving orders.

Ye Yaoyao rolled her eyes and followed behind him with great reluctance.

Shen Yan really was in the mood. The affairs of the Shen family were practically burning at the edges, and he still had the heart to take a post-meal stroll.

Why didn’t he just walk himself to death?

After eating, Ye Yaoyao grew drowsy. Walking with someone she disliked did, however, make her a bit more alert.

“Have you been abroad before?” Shen Yan asked suddenly, almost casually.

Ye Yaoyao was not afraid. “Yes. Funded by Ye Shen.”

Her trip overseas had been paid for by the Ye family; saying it was funded by Ye Shen was not wrong.

“Funded by Ye Shen?”

A strange feeling rose in Shen Yan’s heart. “So you knew him before you knew me?”

Ye Shen... could he be this woman’s first love?

Yet he remembered clearly that this woman’s first time had been given to him.

Shen Yan’s mood swayed back and forth, jealous one moment and reassured the next.

So what if she had known Ye Shen earlier?

Wasn’t he still the one Ye Yaoyao had loved so desperately?

“That is only natural. Ye Shen understands me better.” Ye Yaoyao answered truthfully.

“He understands you better? Why does he understand you better?” Shen Yan’s competitive spirit was stirred.

“That’s between us. You have no right to ask.”

Ye Yaoyao stopped at that and said no more.

“Ye Yaoyao!”

Shen Yan was displeased. No wonder he had been unable to uncover so much about her; so it had all been monopolized by Ye Shen.

What, monopolizing information just because they had known each other longer?

How shameless!

“Don’t forget, the video is still in my hands,” Shen Yan threatened.

“Shen Yan, this is very tedious. We’re both adults. A person should face what has happened head-on.”

Ye Yaoyao said seriously, “Don’t play such childish games.”

“Answer my question. Why does he understand you better?”

Shen Yan felt as though he had stepped into a dead end. Once it concerned Ye Yaoyao, he had to pry until he reached the root of it.

Ye Shen understood her better than he did?

On what basis did Ye Yaoyao say that?

“Then you understand me better.” Ye Yaoyao changed her answer.

Avoiding the question did seem far more effective.

“Ye Yaoyao, you are not allowed to brush me off.”

“Then what do you want?”

Ye Yaoyao frowned as she asked back, clearly losing patience. “Shen Yan, I really don’t understand what you’re trying to do. Just how much do you hate me? Why is it that with every single thing, you refuse to let me have my way?”

When she loved him, he despised her to the bone.

When she no longer loved him, he kept throwing himself at her.

After thinking it through, Ye Yaoyao could come to only one conclusion: they were simply not meant for each other.

If that was so, why keep wasting time?

Yet Shen Yan was still immersed in the previous question.

Ye Yaoyao let out a breath. “I’m tired. I’m going to lie down for a while. You get busy first.”

She walked familiarly toward the guest room, and after exchanging a glance with Feng Yuqi, who had just come out after washing the dishes, she hurried away.

...

Shen Yan only tormented Ye Yaoyao with the video for that one day.

The internal upheaval within the Shen Group grew increasingly frequent, and the number of matters he had to handle increased by the day.

Going a day and a night without sleep became routine.

Someone had leaked word, and the Shen Group’s stock had been affected.

At that moment, a call came through. Shen Yan answered. “My good brother, your elder brother has returned to the country and you won’t even come to the airport to greet me?”

Shen Sheng was back in the country.

Shen Yan opened his eyes. The moment had finally come.

“Be there soon.”

Feng Yuqi drove, taking Shen Yan to the airport.

The moment they met, Shen Sheng laughed and pulled Shen Yan into his arms. “My good brother, at last we meet again!”

Shen Yan forced out a smile. “Yes. I’ve arranged a welcome banquet for you tonight. You should relax properly.”

“Only my younger brother would care for me like this, knowing I’ve spent these years grinding away overseas at full intensity, my whole body taut and needing a proper rest.”

Once in the car, Shen Sheng had little else to say, but every word was really aimed at Shen Yan. “My younger brother has had it quite easy overseas all these years, hasn’t he? I hear you only had to manage one company, with nothing else to worry about.”

The moment those words were spoken, the atmosphere in the car changed at once.

Feng Yuqi merely listened.

Shen Yan nodded. “Yes. Compared with your affairs, Brother, I’ve indeed had it much easier.”

“Tsk. How enviable.”

The welcome banquet was held at a nightclub, and Shen Yan called out all his close friends.

Ji Yanxi remained unaffected, his arm around a female model as he moved with the music.

Bai Moxuan, on the other hand, drank quietly and occasionally glanced at the two Shen brothers.

Originally, Shen Yan had booked a private room, but Shen Sheng insisted on playing in the main hall, saying it was livelier there.

Shen Sheng swayed slightly to the music, his gaze roaming constantly until he finally found his target.

He draped an arm over Shen Yan’s shoulder and pointed at a girl not far away. “Brother, what do you think of her? Pretty good figure, right?”

Following the direction of his finger, Shen Yan’s gaze froze.

Ye Yaoyao?

Why was she here?

Shen Sheng had done it on purpose. He had arranged everything this way.

Shen Yan looked at him, his eyes cold.

Yet Shen Sheng pretended not to notice, rising to walk toward Ye Yaoyao.

Bai Moxuan leaned in. “Shen Yan, your brother’s storming back here like this is no simple matter...”

How could Shen Yan not know?

Very soon, Shen Sheng came back, dragging Ye Yaoyao along with him. “How about it? Not bad, right? My taste in women is vicious enough, isn’t it?”