He wants to be my father!

After finishing the meal, Xu Lin intended to pay the bill, only to find that Ye Qinleng had already settled it. This left Xu Lin feeling even more anxious—he really needed to start making money. As a grown man, he ought to be the one paying, but unfortunately, his pockets were far from prosperous, and the few simple ways he’d thought of to earn money were all long-term projects.

For example, there were those stocks that would soar wildly in the future, the agency for Blue Orange Takeout, the expansion of courier services in the countryside, and then there was writing novels, acting, or even being a musician? Out of all these, it seemed that writing novels or acting would yield the quickest returns. Although he didn’t have many scenes in this advertisement short film, it still brought him ten thousand yuan.

“Sigh, the road ahead feels endless,” he murmured.

“What road ahead feels endless?” asked Chu Qingchan.

“Making money,” Xu Lin answered honestly.

“You write such good novels, and not just your voice—your creative talent is impressive too. If you act well on top of that, aren’t you an all-rounder? Why worry about money?” Chu Qingchan said.

Xu Lin nodded vigorously. “Miss Chu, honestly, I was starting to think I hadn’t achieved anything, but after what you just said, I suddenly feel like I might actually be someone remarkable.”

“Mr. Xu, there’s no need to worry so much about money. If worst comes to worst, I’ll take care of you,” she teased.

“…You want me to be a live-in son-in-law?” Xu Lin glanced at her.

“Mr. Xu, so you really are after my looks,” Chu Qingchan replied with a perfectly serious expression.

“I was just saying. Otherwise, I’d be nothing more than a kept man.”

“Do you think it’s so easy to be a kept man in the Chu family?” she retorted.

“Not really. Your sister told me a bit about it last time.”

“Why would she tell you that?” A faint sense of crisis crept into Chu Qingchan’s tone.

“Why so serious?” Xu Lin asked.

“Haven’t I always been this way? Besides, don’t trust Chu Fengyi too much. Otherwise, you’ll be sold off and still help her count the money,” she said.

“Sis, are you afraid I’ll steal someone’s heart?” Chu Fengyi, who was walking ahead, turned back and looked at Chu Qingchan with a mischievous grin.

“What should I be afraid of? I, Chu Qingchan, would never bring a husband home. If anyone should marry, it should be you! Anyway, I can’t compare to you in anything—doesn’t that fit perfectly with what you and father want?”

“All right, all right. Family matters aside, there are people waiting for us over there. Let’s not argue now,” Xu Lin interjected.

“I wasn’t arguing,” Chu Fengyi shot him a glare and walked toward Ye Qinleng’s business van parked not far off.

“I wasn’t arguing either. I was just stating the facts. Hasn’t she been striving since childhood to become the head of the Chu family? If she wants it, she should just go for it.”

Chu Qingchan gazed at her sister’s retreating figure with indifference. Xu Lin, looking at Chu Fengyi’s small frame, thought he’d just detected a hint of sadness in her eyes.

They all got into Ye Qinleng’s car and left the city cluster. President Ye drove herself, and the little girl was once again placed in Xu Lin’s arms.

“President Ye, is this your own car?” Xu Lin glanced around the interior; there was no child seat.

“No, it belongs to a friend. She lent it to me.”

“I just feel that when you’re out and about, a child safety seat is pretty important,” Xu Lin remarked, recalling a terrifying highway accident from his previous life. Both were sedans, both families with children. The second family had a child seat, and their child escaped with only minor injuries, while the other child died on the spot.

For children under ten, even with a seatbelt, certain incidents can cause injuries. A child seat mitigates that risk and offers better protection in accidents. Not to mention, most families are careless and don’t even fasten seatbelts. Xu Lin himself had been nonchalant about it, until witnessing that tragedy. Afterwards, he made a point to advise all his friends and relatives with children to install child seats.

“Usually the nanny is responsible for taking her to and from lessons. My car doesn’t have one, but thank you for the reminder, Mr. Xu. I’ll make arrangements when I get back.”

“I saw some news reports about similar incidents, so I hope you don’t mind me being a bit of a nag, even though I’m just an outsider.”

“On the contrary, I should be the one thanking you.”

If a stranger had been so considerate towards her and her daughter, in the past she would’ve suspected their motives—were they after money, or was it her aging face they fancied? But even if the young man beside her wasn’t accompanied by the Chu family heiress, she could sense from their very first meeting that the tenderness in his eyes when looking at her daughter was genuine.

“I’m just an ordinary student. You can call me Xu Lin—‘Mr. Xu’ is just her nickname for me.”

Xu Lin glanced deliberately at Chu Qingchan. Although her expression didn’t change, her hands, which had been clenched and then relaxed, betrayed her mood.

“Mama, brother is amazing—he knows the meaning behind my names, ‘Peony’ and ‘Departure’,” the little girl piped up.

“Yes, your brother is impressive. Unlike your mother, who named you,” her mother replied with a smile.

“Mama is amazing too!”

“By the way, are you still updating your novel today?” Chu Fengyi, scrolling through her phone, suddenly remembered Xu Lin’s book. Even with two or three updates a day, she still craved more.

“I have six or seven chapters in reserve. At worst, I’ll find a place with a computer to write. I could even just tell you the plot ahead of time.”

“No! Next time in training, I’ll go all out on you,” Chu Fengyi threatened.

Xu Lin immediately shut his mouth, narrowly avoiding becoming the most despised kind of person—a spoiler.

“Xu Lin, do you still write novels?” Chu Qingchan asked.

“Yes, online novels—just for some pocket money.”

“Nowadays, young people can barely write a six-hundred-word essay, let alone a book,” Ye Qinleng remarked, glancing at an empty bag on the front seat as something occurred to her.

“If you need to use a computer, Xu Lin, come use the one in my room.”

Both Chu Qingchan and Chu Fengyi looked up in unison, sensing a subtle shift in the air. Xu Lin quickly picked up the conversation, “President Ye, you must be busy and need your computer. I’d hate to disturb your rest.”

“It’s no trouble. The computer is on the small lounge table. I only need it at night. I have other things to do during the day and won’t be in the room.”

“All right, thank you very much, President Ye.” Xu Lin accepted the offer; he really did need a computer.

Hearing the exchange, the Chu sisters lowered their heads to their phones again. The little girl snuggled up to him, so he began telling stories once more.

The car traveled for more than half an hour, and finally, the high-rises faded away, replaced by endless green fields.

A few minutes later, the car gently descended a slope and entered an enormous open-air parking lot. Ye Qinleng parked and made a call.

“My friend happens to be here. We’ll take the back service entrance and avoid the jam at the main gate,” she said after hanging up, then started the car again and drove out of the lot.

“Is it that Uncle Zhang?” the little girl asked her mother.

“Yes.”

Hearing this, the little girl leaned against Xu Lin, her expression troubled.

They drove another three minutes, the car descended a slope again, and stopped in front of a vast grassy field. A metal fence surrounded the area, but they could see people playing golf inside.

A middle-aged man in a casual shirt opened the metal gate and walked out to greet them. Though well into middle age, he looked energetic and handsome, the very image of a successful man—someone who would be a dream archetype for anyone with a thing for distinguished gentlemen.

However, the Chu sisters merely glanced up before looking down at their phones again. Ye Qinleng got out and walked over. The man opened his arms for a hug, but Ye Qinleng extended her hand instead. With a smile, he shook it.

The little girl pouted. “Brother, that man is so annoying.”

“Why’s that?” Xu Lin asked.

“He wants to be my daddy!”