Chapter 14

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In the field of plastic surgery, reconstruction and restoration are the most challenging. Lin Sheng had just completed a pioneering craniofacial ear reconstruction surgery in the country. Hand-carving the human bone to create an ear is a skill not many possess, nor the aesthetic sense required.

After the main conference concluded, Lin Sheng, together with several foreign experts, gave an exclusive interview to the Xindu News Network in a side room.

By the time everything was done, it was only six in the evening.

Chu Yuefei suggested they visit the new café opened by Xiao Yufeng and his wife. Chen Xia and Fu Xiaoyin, siblings, also joined since Chu and Lin were going.

By nine o’clock, Lin Sheng stood up, took his suit jacket, and prepared to leave.

“It’s only nine, let’s hang out a bit longer,” Chu Yuefei glanced at the time.

Lin Sheng smoothed out the wrinkles on his jacket and replied, “I have something to do tonight—picking someone up.”

Fu Xiaoyin, feeling quietly disappointed by Lin Sheng’s coldness, immediately perked up and asked uncertainly, “Is it Miss Guan?”

Everyone else looked at her upon hearing this, but Lin Sheng paid no attention.

They were curious but dared not inquire further.

—

At 9:10 p.m., the evening self-study session ended for the day students. After the bell rang for a few seconds, the quiet classroom began to fill with the rustling of books being packed and hushed conversations.

Since entering the final year of high school, the classmates seemed to have calmed down, becoming more studious.

Xu Xieyi glanced at her half-finished math test, sighed, folded it, slipped it into her exercise book, and packed it into her backpack.

She hadn’t finished the homework assigned for tonight.

But she couldn’t delay; she needed to quickly pack up and head to the parking lot.

“Xuxu, wait for me!” Yang Bingbing caught up to her. “You never call me after school; I don’t want to row this little boat of friendship alone anymore.”

“Oh! Sorry, I forgot in my hurry,” Xu Xieyi said as she grabbed her bag strap. “But Bingbing, I won’t be taking bus 145 anymore. I can only walk with you to the school gate.”

“Why?” Yang Bingbing sucked on her milk tea straw, surprised. “How will you get home if you don’t take the bus?”

Then she suddenly realized: “Oh! I forgot—you’re staying at your godmother’s now. So from now on, I’m the only one squashed on the bus late at night. So lonely.”

“What’s lonely about that?” Xu Xieyi smiled gently. “Less competition for seats—you should be clapping your hands in joy.”

Yang Bingbing actually clapped a few times. The two girls linked arms, chatting happily as they walked toward the school gate, casually discussing homework, teachers, classmates, and the college entrance exam.

The pale yellow streetlights fell softly on Xu Xieyi’s face—her clean, neat uniform, her low ponytail hanging smoothly down her back—simple and gentle. Yang Bingbing looked at her thoughtfully for a moment.

“Xuxu.”

“Hmm?”

“I think…” Yang Bingbing shook her half-full milk tea, pondering. “I think you look better with a high ponytail. This hairstyle doesn’t suit you.”

Girls naturally love beauty. Xu Xieyi quickly looked at her. “Does it look really bad? I just find it faster to tie it low.”

“It makes you look a bit mature.”

Yang Bingbing’s smile shifted mischievously as she nudged Xu Xieyi’s shoulder. “Big chest, gentle and virtuous hairstyle… Which man are you planning to have kids with?”

Amid the after-school rush at the parking lot, cars and people bustled by.

Xu Xieyi searched for Lin Sheng’s black Porsche and touched her face, still burning hot.

It was all that little rascal Yang Bingbing’s fault—so outspoken, making her blush in just a few words~

Suddenly, a honk sounded from the left, startling her.

Through the dim car window, a man’s shirt-clad forearm hung down. The weak lighting made the hand’s pale, muscular bone structure stand out sharply, with a black metal watch on the wrist.

Xu Xieyi immediately recognized it as Lin Sheng’s.

His hands were distinctive—long knuckles, and due to frequent disinfection and washing, paler than most.

Excessively clean, slightly pale.

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Inside the car, Chu Yuefei watched the girl in uniform clutch her backpack straps as she jogged toward them.

He turned to Lin Sheng and said, “So the person you mentioned picking up is this little sister, huh?”

Lin Sheng glanced at him. “What else?”

“No, no,” Chu Yuefei chuckled awkwardly and then laughed, “I thought you meant ‘Xue Baochai’ that Fu Xiaoyin mentioned.”

Lin Sheng replied lazily with no answer. At that moment, Xu Xieyi reached the car. She didn’t get in immediately but politely called out, “Brother Lin.”

Lin Sheng smiled softly and said warmly, “Get in.”

Chu Yuefei looked at Lin Sheng in surprise, thinking to himself, this cultured rogue… acting like a gentle big brother, and he actually pulls it off.

The girl outside the window saw him through the windshield. She seemed slightly surprised but quickly composed herself and walked around to the rear door.

Chu Yuefei stroked his chin. “What a lucky little girl.”

Lin Sheng gave him a sidelong glance. “What are you implying?”

As Xu Xieyi opened the door, she heard the unfamiliar man inside say with a smile, “I, Lin Shao, am personally here to pick you up…”

Then the man turned around—his upright, handsome face beaming with warmth and friendliness.

“Little sister Xieyi, we meet again. Do you remember me?”

Xu Xieyi was confused and looked at Lin Sheng.

Lin Sheng smiled faintly, “This is my friend, Chu Yuefei.”

“Hello, Brother Yuefei,” Xu Xieyi greeted formally, clutching her backpack on her lap, knees together.

“Hello, hello,” Chu Yuefei was pleased by her politeness, which made Lin Sheng glance at him with slight disdain.

Lin Sheng drove the car out of the bustling school gate.

Chu Yuefei was intrigued by Xu Xieyi: “Just finished evening self-study?”

“Yeah, about fifteen minutes ago.”

“Is your backpack heavy?”

Xu Xieyi shook her head, her eyes always carrying a faint smile, looking obedient. “Not heavy. Only a book and a few test papers.”

“What grade?”

“Senior three.”

The more Chu Yuefei looked at Xu Xieyi, the more he found her pleasant—she answered everything earnestly, clean and proper, exactly how a student her age should be.

He recalled his and Lin Sheng’s school days—wild and reckless; their peers were all about the same, nothing like the well-behaved girl in the back seat.

Chu Yuefei sighed inwardly at the lost youth, then turned to Lin Sheng, who was driving: “Asheng, where did you find such a well-behaved little sister?”

Lin Sheng ignored him.

Then Chu Yuefei remembered—senior three meant sixteen or seventeen years old. And earlier that afternoon, Lin Sheng had asked him a strange question.

He laughed at himself for such a wild imagination.

Lin Sheng wasn’t lacking in women; how could he waste time with a naive girl?

Unless he had gone mad.

But clearly, Lin Sheng, a man who’d been a high-IQ rogue since school days, was not the sentimental type to lose his mind.

Xu Xieyi sat quietly in the back, holding her backpack, listening to Lin Sheng and Chu Yuefei’s casual chatter.

“Where’s the hospital going to be, Asheng?” Chu Yuefei asked.

“East section of the new district.”

“New district?”

Chu Yuefei stopped scrolling on his phone and looked at him. “The land prices there are high. Must need a lot of startup capital, right?”

Lin Sheng looked somewhat indifferent. “Close to twenty million yuan, enough for a year.”

Xu Xieyi blinked, shocked by the figure, glancing at Lin Sheng in the front.

The car’s dim light revealed his black short hair, clean collar, and a hint of pale skin at the neck—his appearance casual.

Chu Yuefei cursed quietly, “Twenty million just to play for one year… And you say it’s only a small hospital?”

“The shareholders aren’t just me, so why panic?” Lin Sheng calmly turned the steering wheel halfway and took a turn onto Donghua Second Road. “After deducting operating funds, the initial shares are only a bit over ten million. Not much.”

“Oh, that’s better.”

Chu Yuefei said, “By the way, does your old man not object? I remember back when uncle was in business, he was furious. Would he allow you to do this now?”

“He now…” Lin Sheng paused, a teasing smile playing on his lips, “doesn’t have time for these things.”

Old Master Lin was focused on other matters now.

Not work-related.

The Porsche turned into Donghua Second Road; after the traffic dispersed, it was no longer so congested.

They chatted some more. Xu Xieyi didn’t quite understand; it was the first time she heard Lin Sheng talk about such things and was surprised. She hadn’t expected the gentle, unpretentious Lin Sheng to have such a large enterprise.

Along the way, Lin Sheng received a call from home and then made an impromptu stop to pick someone up.

While waiting downstairs, Chu Yuefei whispered, “Is that Miss Xue?”

Lin Sheng’s mood clearly soured. “Her surname is Guan.”

“I know.”

Chu Yuefei wanted to say more—the codename “Xue Baochai” was given by everyone—but seeing Lin Sheng’s indifferent expression, he understood the situation a little and sighed, “Old man’s orders are really absolute. That’s why I say beauties face many trials in love, Asheng. Looks like you’re in for some hardships.”

Lin Sheng stared at him, then silently mouthed—mindful of Xu Xieyi in the back seat—“How many beauties have you seen?”

Though clearly a curse, his expression was remarkably refined.

Chu Yuefei thought to himself, that’s why you fear a cultured rogue.

Lin Sheng hated being called “pretty” or “beautiful.” A towering man over 1.8 meters tall with a firm heart, he really couldn’t stand such effeminate compliments.

The Lin family was strictly disciplined; Lin Sheng rarely cursed, and when he did, it was better to keep it brief.

So Chu Yuefei shut up.

Xu Xieyi didn’t understand their cryptic conversation but clearly sensed Lin Sheng’s mood was not good. When he was upset, his cold indifference was more noticeable.

“Sorry to keep you waiting.”

The person who arrived was a very elegant young lady.

Xu Xieyi hurriedly placed her bag on her lap, making room.

The beauty opened the car door and looked down at her, slightly surprised.

“This is my sister, Xieyi,” Lin Sheng said calmly, glancing back.

Guan Yuejiao smiled lightly, her delicate features framed by subtle makeup. “Hello, little sister Xieyi.”

Xu Xieyi glanced at Lin Sheng; he didn’t seem inclined to introduce her, so she smiled and greeted, “Hello, sister.”

Chu Yuefei smiled warmly and turned back, more proper than before. “I’ve long heard Miss Guan’s name. Seeing you in person today, your aura is truly extraordinary.”

Guan Yuejiao sized him up and responded coolly, “Thank you,” clearly not very interested in engaging.

Chu Yuefei felt awkward. He thought the rumors weren’t entirely true; at least, “Xue Baochai” wasn’t this aloof.