During a conversation with Yin Shenyan, Qian Dailan learned an explosive piece of news—
about Ye Xiyan and Ye Xijing.
The two of them are actually half-brothers, sharing the same father but different mothers.
Qian Dailan was shocked.
“How do you know that?”
“My current company has investments from Ms. Ye Jianhe—that’s Ye Xiyan’s biological mother. But she’s been living in Hangzhou for years. She invests in many companies and rarely comes over here.
Oh, I forgot to mention, Ye Xiyan is the main person in charge of the project I’m working on—the one with insanely high revenue.”
Yin Shenyan lit another cigarette, leaning to the side.
“Otherwise, do you think Ye Xiyan’s surname ‘Ye’ comes from his father? It’s actually from his mother. His dad took his wife’s surname.
After they divorced, Ye Xiyan was initially given to his father because his father supposedly had some kind of illness that made it difficult for him to have children. According to our country’s laws, custody is usually given to the parent who has trouble having more kids.
But who knows what went on behind the scenes? Anyway, by that time, Ye Xijing had already been born.”
Qian Dailan asked, “And then?”
Looking around, she lowered her voice, “How do you know so much?”
“If I don’t look out for you, you pig-headed fool would just blindly walk into a wolf’s den without even realizing it. If I don’t gather some information for you, do you think your love-struck brain would suddenly wake up?”
Yin Shenyan sneered.
“No need to whisper. Ye Xiyan won’t show up here. He doesn’t even eat at places like this.”
The smell of burning charcoal carried a slightly choking ash scent.
The sizzling sound of pork belly crisping up filled the air, blending with the slightly bitter foam of the beer.
Oil dripped onto the charcoal, making it crackle and pop.
This area had a lot of chain fast-food restaurants.
Besides the usual McDonald’s and KFC, there were also many Chinese fast-food places serving quick stir-fry dishes—most meals could be settled for just a dozen or so yuan.
Qian Dailan mused, “Do rich people all have their own kitchens? That’s how it always is in novels and TV dramas.”
“It’s not that extreme,” Yin Shenyan said.
“Ye Xiyan is mainly allergic to peanuts. Most of the food in restaurants here doesn’t work for him—not just peanut-based dishes, but even food cooked in peanut oil. Allergies aren’t a joke. Even a tiny bit could cause him to have trouble breathing.”
Qian Dailan sighed, “Then he can’t eat a lot of things. That’s so miserable.”
“I heard that back in middle school, Ye Xiyan almost died from a peanut allergy,” Yin Shenyan said.
“His mother, Ms. Ye, rushed back to Beijing and negotiated custody with Ye Pingxi—Ye Xijing’s father. Before that, Ye Xiyan had been living with Ye Xijing’s family. Because of that, the two brothers actually spent a lot of time together and got along quite well.”
“Going by what you’re saying, Ye Xijing’s dad really got a good deal out of this, huh?”
Qian Dailan commented.
“In the end, the kid ended up with his surname anyway.”
“His original name was Zhao Pingxi,” Yin Shenyan said.
“Surprised? Back then, in order to successfully marry into the Ye family, he even changed his surname to match his wife’s.”
Thinking about all the hidden mess behind the scenes, Qian Dailan found it ironic.
“He really put on a show. Bet he made all sorts of solemn vows. My friend Mai Jie says, ‘A man’s promises are like farts—loud, stinky, and completely useless.’”
Yin Shenyan chuckled, took a drag of his cigarette, and looked at Qian Dailan.
“Back then, you were completely fooled by Ye Xijing’s sweet words. You fall for the soft approach but resist the hard one—”
Before he could finish, Qian Dailan’s phone rang.
It was too noisy here, so she picked up the call and walked a bit farther away.
“Hello? Hello? Dad, can you hear me? Can you hear me talking?”
She walked near the greenbelt.
The wind was a bit chilly, and without the billboard as a shield, the cold breeze made her shiver.
“Dad, why aren’t you asleep yet? I shouldn’t have sent you a message this late—it must have woken you up, right?”
Qian Dailan said.
“What am I doing? What else—eating barbecue. Guess who I’m with? You’ll never guess—haha, it’s Xiaoshu! I’m having dinner with Xiaoshu tonight. He’s treating me!”
Her father was getting older and not in the best health.
Most of the work he did was on a day-to-day basis.
Like today, he had worked on a construction site for three days straight, and at night, his back ached so much that he couldn’t sleep, not even after taking painkillers.
Seeing the message from Qian Dailan, he called to check on her.
He missed his daughter.
“Xiaoshu said he’ll get a taxi for me later and the company will reimburse it,” Qian Dailan wiped her eyes.
Every time she heard her dad’s voice, her eyes stung.
Maybe it was just the smoke from the charcoal.
“I’m doing great here, really. I’m not tired at all. My colleagues are nice—no, no, don’t listen to gossip. No one’s making things difficult for me. I’m not tired at all.”
The back of her heel throbbed in pain.
She had been sweating, causing the band-aid to shift, and as it rubbed against her heel, the pain became even sharper.
Qian Dailan squatted on the ground without a care for her image, checking her scraped heel while continuing to talk on the phone with her father.
“My job is really easy. You don’t need to yell anymore—listen to my voice, it’s much better now! Beijing is great, lots of opportunities in a big city. I even closed a huge deal today—you’d never guess, tens of thousands! Pretty impressive, right? Your daughter is amazing!”
Hearing her father’s praise, Qian Dailan felt her eyes sting again.
She quickly lowered her head and casually asked, “…How’s Mom? Is she still coughing these days? When you have time, make her some pear soup. Her illness needs proper care. Mm, mm, I know.”
Her phone battery was running low.
After a few more words with her father, she reluctantly ended the call.
Actually, she really wanted to go home.
Beijing wasn’t all that great.
Colleagues were distant, wealthy clients were even harder to deal with, and they demanded impeccable service.
Ye Xijing’s behavior was also terrible.
At first, Qian Dailan thought she was a genius.
But here, she had nearly been crushed by reality.
Then she realized—geniuses from all over the country flocked to Beijing.
Genius, too, suffered from inflation.
When there were too many, they lost their value.
A “genius” who could command a 5,000 yuan salary in Shenyang might only be worth 3,000 here.
Maybe, in Beijing, fools were rarer than geniuses.
Just a random thought.
Qian Dailan took a deep breath, and suddenly, she caught a faint, barely-there scent of bitter sandalwood.
She looked up.
Standing in front of her was Ye Xiyan, dressed in black trousers and a gray casual shirt.
“What are you doing?”
He looked down at her.
“Out late, not going home—are you playing a lost little mushroom?”
Qian Dailan was startled, stumbling over her words.
“Big…brother?”
Her choice of address made Ye Xiyan chuckle.
When he frowned, he was as cold as ice, completely unapproachable.
But when he smiled, he was warm and gentle.
Somehow, Qian Dailan felt that his smile now was different from the polite one he had given her when they first met.
She couldn’t quite put her finger on what had changed.
“I don’t really want a lost little mushroom as a younger brother,” he said.
“Keep calling me ‘gege’ (big brother), or just ‘ge’—’Xiyan ge’ works too.”
The alcohol was starting to hit.
Qian Dailan wobbled as she stood up.
“And what about you, gege? Out late, not going home—are you out here specifically to catch lost little mushrooms?”
She realized, once again, that she could not act naturally in front of Ye Xiyan.
All this time avoiding him had been completely useless.
There was no way she could just forget about that night.
How much had Ye Xiyan seen and experienced to stay so calm while talking to her?
He looked like he had completely forgotten.
If she was the only one still hung up on it, that would make her a fool.
Great.
Now, on top of envying Ye Xiyan’s good looks, impressive physique, privileged family background, sharp mind, solid skills, and insane luck, she also had to envy his thick skin.
She had to repeatedly chant in her head, “He’s my brother, he’s my brother, he’s my non-blood-related brother,” just to suppress the lingering awkwardness from that unexpected incident.
“I was passing by after work and saw you eating with friends,” Ye Xiyan glanced down at her foot.
“And I happened to have something to tell you.”
Qian Dailan asked, “What is it?”
“Tomorrow at 8 p.m., to celebrate Xijing leaving for the UK for his graduate studies, our family has booked a restaurant,” Ye Xiyan said.
“Since it’s an important milestone for Xijing, I figured you might want to attend.”
Qian Dailan knew about it.
Ye Xijing hadn’t invited her.
“No need,” Qian Dailan shook her head.
“Thanks, ge, but I’ll pass.”
Ye Xiyan just looked at her quietly.
Although she felt a pang of disappointment, Qian Dailan quickly adjusted her mood and smiled.
“It’s fine. It’s not like I’m Cinderella or anything.”
At that moment, Yin Shenyan, who had been gone for a while, finally returned—and noticed Ye Xiyan.
He walked over, and Qian Dailan casually introduced them.
“This is Ye Xiyan, my boyfriend’s older brother,” she said.
“And this is Yin Shenyan, my childhood friend.”
The moment she said it, she felt rather sophisticated—childhood friend!
That term sounded so much classier than “a neighbor’s kid I grew up playing with.”
Yin Shenyan politely shook hands with Ye Xiyan and introduced himself more formally.
“Director Ye, I work in the ‘Beacon’ database B team.”
“Yin Shenyan,” Ye Xiyan smiled.
“I remember you—last year’s ‘Create Turing Cup’ champion. Your interactive plugin really caught my interest.”
Then, he kindly reminded him, “When you take a cab home later, don’t forget to ask for a receipt—you can get it reimbursed. The same goes for tonight’s barbecue; the company covers meal expenses.”
He turned to Qian Dailan.
“How are you getting home later?”
Given the situation, Qian Dailan couldn’t bring herself to say, “I’ll just take advantage of your company’s reimbursement policy.”
She worried that would be unfair to Yin Shenyan.
After all, in a way, that was their company’s money.
Qian Dailan kept her smile.
“I’ll take a cab too.”
“I might as well give you a ride,” Ye Xiyan said.
“I also want to talk to you about Xijing.”
Yin Shenyan interjected, “No need to trouble you, Director Ye. I’ll take Honghong home—”
“It’s no trouble, it’s on my way,” Ye Xiyan said calmly.
“Besides, you both had drinks—I’d rather not take any chances.”