Chapter 27:

Lin Qiao pressed herself against the car window, watching Shen Qingzhou. He focused intently on driving, occasionally glancing at his phone, his brows slightly furrowed as if deep in thought. Lin Qiao stared at him for quite some time, but he didn’t react at all, so she finally couldn’t help herself and spoke up.

“Shen Qingzhou?” she softly called his name.

Shen Qingzhou glanced at her but didn’t respond. His look seemed to say, “Speak if you have something to say.” But to Lin Qiao, it felt like he was simply ignoring her.

She couldn’t help it—after witnessing her crush with a formidable rival, her mind had completely stopped functioning properly.

So she called him again, changing her address and sounding even more pitiful, “Master Shen.”

Shen Qingzhou shot her a sharp glare, clearly indicating she should correct her address, but Lin Qiao thought he was just annoyed by her, feeling even more wronged. Stubbornly, she kept calling him, cycling through various nicknames: “Shen Qingzhou, Master Shen, Shen the Fraud, Shen whatever, will you just pay attention to me?” Her voice turned increasingly hurt by the end, and she turned her gaze away, lowering her head and fidgeting with her fingers as she muttered, “How could you be like this?”

Shen Qingzhou sighed helplessly and asked, “Why does Qin Muyao have my number?”

Lin Qiao was taken aback: “Uh… well…”

“You gave it to him,” he stated.

Lin Qiao covered her face and cautiously looked at him: “Brother Qin said he wanted to consult you about some academic issues, and he sounded sincere, so… I just thought I could help you find more business opportunities to make money.” She raised her fingers, “I’ve already explained the previous incident clearly to Brother Qin.”

“How did you explain it?” Shen Qingzhou frowned, parking the car in a mall parking lot.

Lin Qiao spoke very seriously: “I apologized to him, explained the whole situation clearly, and mentioned our relationship.”

“Our relationship.” Shen Qingzhou caught the key point, turned to face her after parking, and asked, “What exactly is our relationship?”

Lin Qiao looked at him solemnly: “What do you think?”

Shen Qingzhou smiled slightly, somewhat self-mocking: “Does what I say even count?”

“It counts,” Lin Qiao nodded.

Shen Qingzhou’s smile deepened, his gaze at Lin Qiao filled with meaning, making her feel shy and turn her face toward the car window.

When he remained silent, Lin Qiao, trying to avoid the awkwardness, took the initiative to speak again, and couldn’t help but ask about Jian Shi.

“What did Ms. Fang’s secretary say to you when she got out of the car?” she asked in a low voice.

Shen Qingzhou looked at her with a smile, deliberately not telling her directly, teasingly saying, “Guess.”

Lin Qiao immediately buried her face by the window, slowly saying, “I can’t guess.”

Shen Qingzhou, now in a playful mood, said with a tone of nostalgia, “Then I’ll tell you. Jian Shi said to me that I fulfilled all her fantasies about men.” So, what exactly are you upset about?

Lin Qiao didn’t catch the subtext, and stubbornly stayed turned away, not looking back.

She just exclaimed excitedly, “Don’t listen to her nonsense. That line was said by Zhou Xun to Li Yapeng, and right after she said it, Li Yapeng got together with Faye Wong!”

Shen Qingzhou didn’t care much about this but asked her curiously, “Why are you hiding and not looking at me?”

Lin Qiao’s voice paused, and after a while, she replied, “Because I don’t want to make eye contact with you.”

“Why?” As he asked, he reached out his long arm and pulled her toward him. She lay on her back in his arms, her long hair spilling over his lap. The garage light wasn’t very bright, but her face sparkled in his eyes.

“Now you’re making eye contact with me, and I don’t see you missing anything,” Shen Qingzhou calmly said, then placed his hand by her lips and softly said, “Lin Qiao, sit up a bit.”

Lin Qiao’s back felt uncomfortably cramped, so she obediently sat up and asked, “What’s wrong?”

Shen Qingzhou said, “Come a little closer. Let me kiss you.”

“…” Lin Qiao immediately froze, her mouth open, not knowing what to say.

Seeing her like this, Shen Qingzhou couldn’t help but smile, pinched her face slightly, and said, “I’m kidding. She didn’t say anything. Get out, I’ll buy you some clothes.”

It was only then that Lin Qiao noticed they had somehow parked outside a well-known shopping mall, and from his tone, he was planning to take her shopping.

“No need,” she refused, “I have a lot of clothes, more than I can wear.”

Shen Qingzhou scoffed lightly, “I’ve told you many times, those clothes don’t suit you.”

Remembering his advice, Lin Qiao frowned and said, “But I’m still so young. Those colors are too old-fashioned…”

Shen Qingzhou looked at her for a moment, then nodded slightly, “Okay, have it your way. I’ll help you pick out some accessories instead.” With that, he started the car to leave.

“Where are we going now?” she asked.

“To the hospital, to see your future son,” Shen Qingzhou replied.

“…”

For the first time, Lin Qiao felt that being a stepmother wasn’t so bad.

The two arrived together at Peking University People’s Hospital. Shen Qingzhou took Lin Qiao to Xiao Ning’s ward, where Du Xinling was playing games with Xiao Ning. When they saw the two of them, both were very surprised.

“Miss Lin?” Du Xinling said in surprise, “Why are you here? What an unexpected guest.”

Shen Qingzhou pulled Lin Qiao’s hand and brought her in, closing the door casually behind him, “She’ll be coming here often from now on.”

Du Xinling immediately understood, smiling meaningfully and coming forward to poke his arm, “Got her, huh?”

Shen Qingzhou lowered his eyes to look at him, catching sight of Lin Qiao shyly hiding by the bedside to keep Xiao Ning company. To avoid making her uncomfortable, he lowered his voice to speak with Du Xinling.

“I’ve never encountered anything I wanted to do but couldn’t accomplish,” Shen Qingzhou said confidently, then continued, “Don’t mention this in front of Lin Qiao. The girl is very proud. Act natural, don’t hold me back.”

Du Xinling immediately looked pained, “Do you think I’m that useless that I’d hold you back?”

Shen Qingzhou coldly snorted, “You’re not the first time you’ve done that.”

“…”

So, on this day, Lin Qiao indirectly confessed her relationship with Shen Qingzhou. Although neither of them explicitly stated it, they both regarded each other as their significant other. When Shen Qingzhou’s house in Beijing was finished renovating, he specially picked up Lin Qiao to show it to her.

During these days, Lin Qiao had been comforting her father, who was very anxious about the company’s affairs and worried about Shen Qingzhou’s ability. Lin Qiao had persuaded him hard to stop him from contacting Fang Zheng again.

As for Fang Zheng’s side, he had been busy moving recently and hadn’t actively caused trouble.

Shen Qingzhou had bought a two-story villa with an attic. The exterior looked very similar to his residence in Qian City, and most of the interior decoration was also the same. Lin Qiao thought this was probably his aesthetic taste, which wouldn’t change much no matter how many places he moved to.

It’s worth mentioning that Shen Qingzhou’s attitude was particularly ambiguous when showing the master bedroom.

The master bedroom had a large double bed. The bedroom was spacious, so a large bed didn’t make it feel cramped. The other furnishings in the bedroom strictly followed the top feng shui layout. Just standing inside made one feel refreshed, energetic, and full of vigor.

Lin Qiao couldn’t help but exclaim, “Actually, if you study feng shui carefully, it’s really quite mysterious.”

“Feng shui originated from a school of thought in the late Warring States period; it’s the crystallization of ancient wisdom. You used the wrong adjective,” Shen Qingzhou was very dissatisfied with the word “mysterious.”

Lin Qiao tried to appease him, “Okay, I was wrong. It’s a school of thought, the crystallization of wisdom.”

Shen Qingzhou’s dark eyes looked at her with a slight curve, then quietly closed the door behind him and casually asked, “Do you think this is nice?”

Lin Qiao nodded repeatedly, “It’s great. From the decoration to the location, it’s amazing. Just like this.” She raised her thumb.

Shen Qingzhou slightly nodded, saying as if it were ordinary, “Then, do you want to try the bed?”

“What?” Lin Qiao was stunned, dared not turn to look at him again, and stared dazedly at the big bed.

Shen Qingzhou walked behind her and hugged her from behind, whispering softly, “Lin Qiao, let’s move in together.”

Lin Qiao’s body stiffened, flustered and at a loss, she lowered her head and tried to break free from his embrace but failed.

She blushed and said, “You let go of me first.”

Shen Qingzhou’s warm breath spread around her ear as he spoke slowly, “You haven’t answered me yet.”

Lin Qiao felt her whole face burning up, embarrassed, “Isn’t this a bit too fast?”

Shen Qingzhou directly turned her around, facing her calmly, “Not too fast. I’ve already matched our birth dates and selected an auspicious day. The seventh of next month, which is your birthday, is suitable for all good things, very lucky.”

“… This, this still seems a bit rushed.”

“You can only be mine for your whole life. This is a destined fate. I’m just exercising my rights in advance. Why would you refuse?” Shen Qingzhou said decisively, then tapped her forehead, “It’s settled then. Before that day, I’ll help you deal with Fang Zheng.”

Lin Qiao frowned, “Hearing you say it like this, I feel like I’m selling myself.”

Shen Qingzhou mercilessly teased her, “Don’t dream. This deal is worth no less than nine figures; you can even pick any Hollywood star.”

Lin Qiao punched him in the chest, “It’s okay if you say I’m not valuable, but I can’t decide to move in with you. You have to talk to my dad first.”

Shen Qingzhou asked, “So, if Mr. Lin agrees, will you agree?”

Lin Qiao said, “You have to settle him first before you ask me.”

So, Shen Qingzhou really did settle Lin Weiming.

As an open-minded and progressive single father, Lin Weiming had long wanted to marry off Lin Qiao. Now, with a promising, capable, wealthy, and charismatic young man like Shen Qingzhou willing to take her away, he was more than happy.

Not to mention, Shen Qingzhou had also helped him resolve the financial crisis of Lin Group by secretly investing a sum of money and solving the Fang family’s troubles.

The Fang family was indeed in big trouble. Since moving into their new home, their business had been getting worse and worse, and Fang Mingjun’s health had also deteriorated, often feeling tired and in a bad mood. In this regard, Fang Zheng was even worse. He often flew into rages at work for no reason and even gave clients the cold shoulder, thus losing several major contracts, which all landed in Lin Group’s hands.

Mr. Lin benefited greatly from this situation.

Seeing her father’s improving mood, Lin Qiao felt very comforted. At the same time, however, she was also very worried about Shen Qingzhou’s mother. She roughly guessed what Shen Qingzhou had done. Would Xie Jiayi, who lived with the Fang family, also be affected?

Because of this, Lin Qiao specially asked Shen Qingzhou, who replied, “Didn’t I tell you? She went abroad for a vacation and won’t be back in the short term.”

Lin Qiao looked at him in surprise, “How did you convince your mother to go abroad?”

Shen Qingzhou said indifferently, “I didn’t say anything. I just gave her a plane ticket and said the scenery there was nice.”

“…” They were mother and son, both beyond the comprehension of ordinary people.

“I have to go out for a bit now. You wanted to visit Miss Wang, so I’ll drive you there,” Shen Qingzhou said, picking up the car keys to head out.

Lin Qiao nodded, grabbed her bag, and walked out with him. As they walked, she couldn’t help but ask, “Where are you going? When will you be back?”

Shen Qingzhou replied casually, “Jian Shi has asked to meet me. Probably because Mr. Fang has had too many troubles lately and suspects something is wrong somewhere.”

Lin Qiao paused in her steps, “So, you’re going to meet Jian Shi?”

Shen Qingzhou looked into her eyes, cautiously and softly asking, “Yes, what’s wrong?”

“…” Nothing much, just a strong urge to ruin your face.

“I have to go now, I’m in a hurry. If you’re not in a rush to go, just take a taxi,” Shen Qingzhou seemed to sense that Lin Qiao was in a bad mood. He seemed to deliberately make her uncomfortable, emphasizing and deliberately saying so.

Lin Qiao saw him keep walking away, not looking like he was joking, and a bit of stubbornness rose in her heart. Standing on the spot, she said, “Fine, then go.”

Shen Qingzhou turned to look at her, held her gaze for a few seconds, nodded, and then left.

As soon as he left, Lin Qiao rushed out of the community and hailed a taxi. When his car appeared, she said to the driver, “Driver, follow that Ferrari. Let’s show him the enthusiasm of the people of the capital city!”

The driver readily agreed, “No problem. With this traffic, even a Ferrari might not be faster than our taxi.”

Lin Qiao gave the driver a thumbs up, “Driver, you’re so generous.”

The driver, flattered by the compliment, worked even harder, happily helping Lin Qiao tail Shen Qingzhou. Shen Qingzhou wasn’t driving fast or recklessly, so they followed quite easily.

During this stalking process, Lin Qiao decided to play the role of a secret agent, sitting at a nearby table where Shen Qingzhou and Jian Shi were having dinner, determined to listen carefully to what the two of them were going to talk about.