Gently bite the jasmine

Just ten minutes after the car drove off, Duan Mingxuan called.

"Why didn't you wait for me?" he complained.

Lin Xi: "Your girlfriend said you two had plans, and I don't want to be late."

"Uh..." Duan Mingxuan was embarrassed for a moment, "It was still the appointment we made before. I forgot to tell her that you can wait for me at home."

"No need, I—"

Before he could finish speaking, Duan Mingxuan had already hung up.

Back home, Lin Xi greeted her elders one by one, receiving their warm greetings, which made her smile more genuine.

The old man said to her, "Your older brother is tied up with work and will probably be late. Let's not wait for him and eat first."

Lin Xi breathed a sigh of relief for some reason, but said aloud, "Wouldn't that be a bit inappropriate?"

The old man said, "We're family, why be so formal? Come and sit down."

Lin Xi glanced at Duan Zheng and Chen Baiwei; the former completely agreed, while the latter's smile was faint.

As everyone knows, Duan Yiheng doesn't get along well with anyone in this family except for the old man.

It's not that their relationship was bad, but Duan Yiheng was aloof and even Duan Zheng was somewhat intimidated by him, not to mention that Chen Baiwei was his stepmother.

When she first came to the Duan family, she mistakenly thought Chen Baiwei was Duan Yiheng's biological mother, and he pushed her hard.

The light-colored scar on the back of my hand is from that injury.

Lin Xi was already timid when she first entered an unfamiliar home, and from then on, she avoided him.

"I'm back." Duan Mingxuan made a loud noise, interrupting Lin Xi's thoughts.

Chen Baiwei gave him a reproachful look: "You've lost yourself while picking up people."

Duan Mingxuan's family didn't know he was in a relationship, nor did he intend to let them know. Upon hearing this, he simply smiled and said, "My friend got into a rear-end collision, so I'm going to check on it."

Lin Xi glanced sideways, understood, but didn't expose his friend as his girlfriend.

“You’re such a grown man, and you’re always so irresponsible. We ask you to go to the company, but you only go halfway through.” Duan Zheng scolded him. “Why don’t you just stop going and save yourself from making a fool of yourself.”

Chen Baiwei cautiously glanced at the old man's expression and tried to smooth things over for her son:

“Mingxuan is still young and playful. He can’t compare to Yi Heng, and he can’t be as good as him.”

Duan Zheng snorted coldly. His eldest son was not close to him at all; it was as if he didn't exist.

He wanted to raise his second son, but the second son was disappointing.

The old man watched coldly, not interfering in his son's upbringing, but he couldn't let Lin Xi go hungry, so he spoke up to stop him: "Eat."

Two words, and no one dared to refute them.

There aren't many rules about not talking while eating at home. The old man is the authority in the family, and when he speaks, no one dares to interrupt.

For a moment, only his and Lin Xi had a brief conversation at the dinner table.

Lin Xi had no appetite, but the old man chuckled and said, "If you don't have an appetite, then don't eat. Once you've rested, Amei will make it for you."

"Thank you, grandpa."

The old man asked, "Xiao Xi, what are you planning to do after you come back?"

All eyes at the table were on her. Lin Xi paused with her chopsticks, thought for a moment, and said, "Grandpa, I want to work at Yin Fan."

Before he could finish speaking, Duan Mingxuan suddenly stood up: "No, I don't agree."

Lin Xi asked, her anger tinged with confusion, "Why don't you agree?"

"I--"

Duan Mingxuan was speechless for a moment. Could he say to the old man that Duan Yiheng had a lot of influence in Yinfan and that he was afraid that Duan Yiheng would harm Lin Xi?

And then there's Duan Yiheng's feelings for Xiao Xi...

he can not.

Duan Zheng, his emotions unclear, put on an elder's air and said, "Xiao Xi, I treat you like my own daughter, why do you need to exhaust yourself at the company?"

Lin Xi holds 10% of Yin Fan's shares, which is not a symbolic shareholding. Although it is not a high percentage, if he joins the company, he will have some say in decision-making.

Given time, she may even be able to participate in the company's core business and build her own network of contacts.

Chen Baiwei lowered her head slightly, as if she had thought of something, and softly spoke:

"If Xiao Xi wants to go, then let her go. She's studied business for so many years, it would be a waste if she didn't go."

Before Duan Zheng could say anything more, Chen Baiwei stared at him intently.

After pondering for a while, a look of sudden realization crossed Duan Zheng's brows.

The old man noticed the subtle tension between the two men.

He sighed and shook his head inwardly. He knew his son was useless, but he didn't expect him to be so narrow-minded. Although Chen Baiwei was thinking of herself, at least she could think of the word "alliance".

If I hadn't protected Changsun back then, I don't know how badly they would have treated him.

But his health was deteriorating...

Thinking of this, the old man suddenly turned his gaze to Lin Xi and asked her, "Xiao Xi, have you had a boyfriend outside?"

Before Lin Xi could speak, Duan Mingxuan suddenly smiled and said, "Grandpa, what are you thinking? I only see her once a month. I don't know if she has a boyfriend."

"My health isn't good anymore," the old man said with a smile. "I hope to find a good family for Xiaoxi before that happens."

Duan Mingxuan panicked upon hearing this: "Grandpa, our family is Xiaoxi's support. How old is she?"

The old man said, "Although Xiaoxi is a bit young, it's good to settle down as soon as possible, so that other people won't covet her."

Duan Mingxuan: "Xiao Xi won't easily go with someone else."

The old man said, "Back then, I asked you to marry Xiaoxi, but Xiaoxi said she also needed to consider the feelings between the two of you, so she refused. What do you think now?"

Lin Xi subconsciously looked up at Duan Mingxuan.

"I--"

Chen Baiwei suddenly spoke up: "Dad, Mingxuan is only 24, isn't he too young?"

Her tone suggested she was afraid Duan Mingxuan would agree.

Lin Xi lowered her eyes. She knew that Chen Baiwei was indifferent to her, but only because she was concerned about saving face.

But she understood that she wasn't her biological child after all.

If this is how it is when you're a daughter, imagine how it is when you're a daughter-in-law.

She interferes in everything Duan Mingxuan does, so his marriage will certainly not be exempt from her influence.

The old man remained unmoved: "They're not young, we can get engaged first."

Chen Baiwei smiled and said, "An engagement is fine, but I'm afraid that if things don't go well during this period, it will be a loss. How will the two young people get along in this house then? Don't you think so?"

"If you don't want to, then forget it," the old man said in a very indifferent tone.

"I'm not unwilling," Chen Baiwei said with an awkward laugh.

Duan Zheng stepped in at the right moment to smooth things over, and the atmosphere at the dinner table calmed down on the surface.

After dinner, Lin Xi was exhausted and went back to her bedroom on the second floor to rest.

Duan Mingxuan visited twice during that time. The first time, he asked her if she wanted to eat anything more, saying that the kitchen had stewed some white fungus soup for her. The second time, he said he wanted to hold a welcome banquet for her.

Lin Xi didn't want to organize these messy banquets, and Duan Mingxuan said it was just a meal with a few friends he had known since childhood.

Lin Xi was so pestered by him that she had no choice but to nod in agreement.

After finally lying down to rest for a while, there was another knock on the door.

Lin Xi was devastated. She landed around 4 p.m., and was left speechless by his "baby" call. She also saw his sweet and delicate girlfriend and had to deal with the tense atmosphere at the dinner table when she got home.

She was roasted over a fire for a full three hours.

The more she didn't want to see him, the more he would hang around in front of her.

Lin Xi's nose stung, and tears welled in her eyes. She angrily got out of bed, opened the door, and accused, "What exactly do you want—"

A tear fell instantly, but Lin Xi remained motionless, stunned.

The person standing outside the door wasn't Duan Mingxuan, but clearly Duan Yiheng, who had returned late.