Chapter 57 – A Close Call  

Ye Zhongjue, desperate not to get his true identity exposed, stared at Lin Ran hard and said, “Manager Lin, this is my wife and her friend. Please say something lest they should be frightened.”

Lin Ran’s expression was a cry for help. However, he immediately understood what was going on and began to play the persona assigned to him.

He made his face neutral and said in a tone a supervisor would assume when addressing his subordinate, “Well, you’d better take her home then. I’ll finish the business here myself. Don’t let her wander around alone; it’s dangerous.”

Deep down, Lin Ran was stunned. He had known Mo Suqing was married, but had never expected her husband was his boss.

Moreover, she obviously did not know who his boss was. No wonder he had been acting weird recently.

Now that Lin Ran knew he was married to and decided to conceal his identity from Miss Mo, everything made sense.

It was indeed true that love could change a man.

He could see from the way Ye Zhongjue acted around Mo Suqing that she was precious to him.

Lin Ran watched carefully for any change in Ye Zhongjue’s expression, wanting to know if he was satisfied with how he was handling the situation.

Ye Zhongjue nodded. His expression betrayed no emotions whatsoever, though Lin Ran could still feel himself quivering with trepidation.

“Thank you for your consideration, Manager Lin. I’ll take her home now.”

Hearing him call him Manager Lin again and again, Lin Ran almost knelt down out of fright.

Who would have thought that Ye Zhongjue would one day call him Manager Lin? No one who knew Ye Zhongjue would have believed it.

Ye Zhongjue, not wanting to stay a minute more here in case Mo Suqing would detect anything unusual, took Mo Suqing out of the place.

After watching them leave, Lin Ran breathed out a sigh of relief. He could feel there was sweat on his back; the situation had been more precarious than when they were doing business with staggering numbers involved.

Mo Suqing dragged a wasted Leng Xiyao, who was yelling about going back to the pub for more drinks.

Mo Suqing had sobered up when they were still in Private Room No. 1. Now, she was completely sober.

Somehow, she could feel there was something off, but she didn’t know what it was. However, since Leng Xiyao was acting silly and she had to tend to her, she did not give it much thought.

“Hold her up while I go fetch our purses.”

Then, she left the girl to Ye Zhongjue, who frowned a little while trying to steady a swaying Leng Xiyao. Ye Zhongjue’s face darkened, apparently disgusted.

However, since this was Mo Suqing’s best friend, he made an effort to endure his uneasiness, standing on the spot like a tree without moving.

Suddenly, hurried steps came from behind him. He turned around and saw a dark-faced Leng Haoyun storming toward him.

Ye Zhongjue felt baffled. He knew Leng Haoyun was doing business in Room No. 2 right next to his room tonight. But why was he wearing such a horrific expression on his face?

Leng Haoyun was looking at his arm Leng Xiyao was grabbing. In that instant, he seemed to understand…

Before he could form his thought into words, Leng Haoyun, without speaking, pulled Leng Xiyao from him and scooped her up.

Everything had happened very quickly and unexpectedly. Before Ye Zhongjue could react, the girl was already in Leng Haoyun’s arms.

He demanded, “What is this supposed to mean, President Leng?”

Leng Haoyun answered coldly, “I don’t know why she is here with you, but I don’t think an uncle needs to explain why he takes his niece away.”

Ye Zhongjue understood everything all of a sudden. Leng Xiyao was the infamous niece of Leng Haoyun, who was always granted every wish! No wonder Leng Xiyao was so innocent and willful. She had an uncle who protected her from every obstacle and separated her from the dark side of the world. No wonder!

However, Mo Suqing didn’t seem to know the true identity of the girl. That was fine by him. He did not want her to mingle with someone like Leng Haoyun. It was too dangerous for her.

It was probably for the best for Leng Haoyun to take her away. It had been torture to him to take care of Leng Xiyao.

He disliked having physical contact with any women other than Mo Suqing. So, he said calmly, “Be my guest, President Leng.”

Leng Haoyun glanced at him. “Thank you,” he said, “for taking care of my niece.”

With Leng Xiyao in his arms, he walked away.

Ye Zhongjue watched him, his expression thoughtful.

After Mo Suqing had found her and Leng Xiyao’s purses, she quickly walked out of the private room.

When she saw Ye Zhongjue standing alone on the spot, she asked frantically, “Where’s Yao?”

“Her uncle took her away!” Ye Zhongjue informed her in a level tone.

“What...” Mo Suqing was utterly baffled. Her uncle took her away?

“You know her uncle?”

“Yeah.”

Why would Ye Zhongjue know her uncle??Mo Suqing found the whole thing even more bewildering. He met Leng Xiyao for the first time only a couple of days ago.

“I have known her for ages and never met her uncle before. How come you?would?”

Mo Suqing gave him a perplexed look.

Ye Zhongjue felt he had shot himself in the foot. He wished Mo Suqing were still hammered and not this clear-headed.

“You’ve had a lot to drink tonight. Let my drive you home first. Don’t worry, I know it was her uncle. Otherwise, I won’t have given her up to him.”

“What does her uncle look like?” Mo Suqing was not ready to let it go.

Ye Zhongjue sighed inwardly. Despite her sober appearance, Mo Suqing must have been a little drunk still. She was not usually this talkative.

“You can ask Leng Xiyao about it tomorrow.”

“Okay…” Mo Suqing nodded, realizing that Ye Zhongjue did not want to talk about it. Following Ye Zhongjue, she hung her head and went silent.

Lin Ran went back into the private room after Ye Zhongjue and Mo Suqing left.

The men hurriedly explained?themselves as soon as they caught sight of him.

“Mr. Lin, who was that woman?”

“Mr. Lin, please tell President Ye I am really sorry. I didn’t mean to do anything. I didn’t know the two drunk women were friends of President Ye’s”

The man who had laid his finger on Mo Suqing looked extremely regretful. Unfortunately, you couldn’t turn back time.

Lin Ran gave him a steely look. “President Zhao, you?are always so rash.?There is no need to purposely deny your actions!”

President Zhao’s face reddened at his accusation. He knew then and there that they were not going to let him go easily. It was known that anyone who had fallen foul of Ye Jue had ended badly.

He could still recall the incident two months ago when a company, who did not know who they were dealing with, had planned to force Ye Jue to give in by adding aphrodisiac in his drink.

In the end, the company went broke in a few days and the one who had tampered with Ye Jue’s drink was killed. His body was disposed of in the wilderness.

Everyone knew about it in the business world.

However, no one dared to step up, or, to be more precise, no one dared to mess with Ye Jue. Everybody was afraid of his cold-bloodedness and callousness.

President Zhao was going to run for it when Lin Ran shot out of his foot to trip him. Lin Ran smirked. “Where are you going?”

Four well-trained, black-clad men rushed into the room. They taped his mouth up and dragged him out of the room.

The whole process lasted less than a minute. The others were dumbfounded, holding their breath.

Lin Ran turned around to face them, with a malicious smile on his face.

“The lady is very important to President Ye. I hope what happened here tonight will never spread beyond this room. Otherwise, you will all end up like President Zhao!”

He gave them a meaningful smile.

The others nodded vigorously. “Mr. Lin, it won’t! If someone asks, we didn’t see anything!”

“Yes, nothing happened here tonight. Nothing!” some echoed.

Satisfied, Lin Ran spoke, “Alright then. Since you are all very sensible, I will not give you a hard time. Anyone who is interested in the partnership we talked about tonight, you may come to sign the contract with us tomorrow at the headquarters of Mighty Empire.”

The men immediately put on their best smiles. “Yes, yes. Thank you, Mr. Lin. Take care, Mr. Lin…”

After Lin Ran left, they sighed in unison. Everyone was thinking how?they could have?been?the one?dragged away in place of President Zhao if?they?had been the rash one.

After getting?in the car, Ye Zhongjue noticed there was something wrong with Mo Suqing.

Her cheeks were rosy and her eyes were bleary. She looked just lovely.

“Ye Zhongjue, hug me!”

Ye Zhongjue was not a little surprised. Hug me??Mo Suqing had never talked to him like this ever since they had registered their marriage. The alcohol was working big time.

Back in the private room, she had sobered up out of horror.

Now she was safe, she became muddle-headed again.

Knowing that he was capable of making her feel safe, Ye Zhongjue’s expression softened.

Mo Suqing had been extending her arms toward Ye Zhongjue, but he didn’t return her gesture. She became upset.

She looked at him as if severely wronged, as if it was evil of Ye Zhongjue?to?not extend his arms toward her too.

Seeing her childlike behavior, Ye Zhongjue felt his heart melt. It was strange yet incredible to be treated thus by her.

He extended his arms and hugged her.

Mo Suqing was apparently not content. Her hands kept groping about on his chest.

Then,?she?found a small lump. Mo Suqing played with it, frowning like a curious kid as if she did not understand what the thing was doing there.

Ye Zhongjue’s body shook violently and tensed.

Does she know what she’s doing??She’s practically playing with fire!

Nevertheless, they were in the car and she was drunk… It was an inconvenient time.