Gently bite the jasmine

Chapter 161 If I loosen my grip, you'll run away.

The driver parked the car downstairs at Tiandu Yuxi and said, "Mr. Duan, we've arrived."

Lin Xi wiped away her tears and was about to get out of the car when Duan Yiheng pulled her back.

"Okay," Duan Yiheng replied. "You can get out of the car and have a smoke later."

The driver responded.

Lin Xi turned her back, avoiding Duan Yiheng's gaze, and wiped away her tears.

After calming down, she said in a hoarse voice, "I'm going upstairs now."

His sudden words only made her more panicked.

Duan Yiheng took her hand, his fingertips brushing against her wrist.

Lin Xi felt itchy and whispered for him to let go.

Duan Yiheng said, "If I loosen my grip, you'll run away."

"I have to go to work tomorrow. How can I go up if you don't let go?" Lin Xi suppressed her racing heartbeat and steered the conversation away from the topic.

"Stay with me a little longer," Duan Yiheng said, sounding extremely tired. "Dealing with people like Zhao Hongbo is much more tiring than going to work."

"I think Miss Zhao is quite easy to talk to," Lin Xi muttered.

Duan Yiheng chuckled: "What? Are you jealous?"

"Who's jealous?" Lin Xi turned around and said, "What I mean is, Miss Zhao is easy to talk to, and Chairman Zhao is her father, so he shouldn't be difficult to talk to either."

Zhao Hongbo was indeed not difficult to deal with, but Duan Yiheng said, "Do you think there are many easy people in the business world? He hinted to me several times today that I should give his daughter a try."

Lin Xi responded with an "Oh".

"If I refuse directly, I'm afraid of offending people, so I can only make a self-deprecating joke in a roundabout way," Duan Yiheng teased her.

As expected, Lin Xi couldn't help but look away.

"Okay, you still have some curiosity," Duan Yiheng chuckled. "If I said I'm nine years older than her, that's a three-generation gap, the young lady probably wouldn't agree."

"Not necessarily," Lin Xi muttered.

Zhao Yuxin was quite interested in him at first.

Duan Yiheng heard this and leaned close to her ear: "You may be willing, but others may not?"

Lin Xi's ears turned red, and she turned her face to retort, but she held her breath because of the face so close to hers.

Their eyes met in mid-air, locked together as if they couldn't be separated, and Lin Xi's breath suddenly tightened.

She subtly distanced herself from him.

The atmosphere was ambiguous and silent; neither dared to breathe too heavily.

Duan Yiheng's gaze fell on her beautiful profile, suppressing the urge to kiss her. He turned his head away, cleared his throat awkwardly, and this time, instead of teasing Lin Xi, he spoke directly:

“I’m not really interested in Zhao Yuxin, but she did offer some advice about our relationship. This afternoon, she talked to me a lot, which made me realize that maybe I don’t really know you that well.”

Lin Xi's eyelashes trembled slightly as she restrained her gaze from the corner of her eye.

She clenched her fingers, trying to resist the tremors in her chest.

"The way our relationship started was wrong, but the fault lies not with you, but with me."

“I am six years older than you, so I should bear the responsibility for all these mistakes.”

"I will not run away!"

Lin Xi murmured, as if she were the only one trying to escape.

Duan Yiheng seemed to know what she was thinking, and raised his hand to rub the back of her head: "But sometimes, I think that running away is also a kind of love."

Lin Xi looked at him, not understanding what he meant.

"What do you think I talked about with Grandpa?" Duan Yiheng smiled gently. "I already know why you broke up with me back then."

“Grandpa used you. He deliberately let you overhear his conversation with Uncle Deng. At the time, I was laid off, and you were desperate and sought any treatment you could find, so you fell for his trick.”

Lin Xi subconsciously denied it: "No way..."

“That’s just the way it is,” Duan Yiheng said. “Even when I didn’t know the truth, I still didn’t want to let you go. What do you think I’m thinking now?”

His dark pupils flickered with tiny flames, enough to devour her with just a glimmer.

Lin Xi gripped the handlebars and said慌张地, "I really have to go back."

Duan Yiheng pressed down on her wrist: "I won't force you anymore. During this time, you will work on the project with Xu Yu. I will take care of your matter with Duan Mingxuan."

Lin Xi nodded: "Okay."

Duan Yiheng let go of her hand, and Lin Xi pushed open the car door, entering Tiandu Yuxi despite the burning gaze on her back.

Only after she disappeared from sight did Duan Yiheng finally catch a glimpse of her and instruct the driver to start the car.

Just as the car started moving, his phone rang.

Duan Yiheng answered the call, and Meng Huaishan's voice came from the other end: "Your father went to Lanyue Prefecture again. This is the third time this month. It's not that frequent."

Duan Yiheng: "Have you figured out who's inside?"

Meng Huaishan: "Neither of us should step forward, otherwise we'll be giving your father leverage, and then he'll say you're slandering him. I asked someone to investigate, but there are no results yet, though it's probably her mistress."

“I know what’s going on,” Duan Yiheng said. “But I’m a little curious that you’ve kept it so well hidden.”

Meng Huaishan: "I agree with you. If she's just an ordinary mistress, she won't cause any trouble at the company. But which man with any standing outside doesn't keep one? The key is whether your stepmother can tolerate it?"

Duan Yiheng smiled and said, "I'm hanging up."

"Don't hang up, I have a question for you. You and Lin Xi... Hello! Hello? Duan Yiheng, you really don't respect your elder brother."

Meng Huaishan hung up the phone, cursing under his breath.

Lin Xi went back upstairs, didn't turn on the lights, and lay straight down on the sofa in the living room.

She couldn't calm down; all she could think about were the things Duan Yiheng had said in the car.

It would be a lie to say it's not touching, but after what happened at the board meeting, it's true that they don't dare to respond.

Lin Xi sighed, and her phone rang in her bag.

She reached for her bag on the ground, took out her phone, and saw it was a WeChat message from Zhao Yuxin.

They exchanged WeChat contacts while having coffee.

Zhao Yuxin said she couldn't sleep, so she asked to chat with her.

Lin Xi curled her lips; it was more appropriate to gossip about her.

She sat up and asked Zhao Yuxin: What exactly did you say to my older brother?

Zhao Yuxin sent her a "It's a long story" emoji.

Lin Xi: ...Then just get to the point.

Zhao Yuxin: It won't be short, I'll tell you via voice message.

"..."

Seven 50-second voice messages were sent in a row. Lin Xi listened to them from beginning to end, and was stunned.

After a while, she sent Zhao Yuxin a voice message: "Thank you."

She didn't know what else to say besides that.

She never expected that Zhao Yuxin, this pampered young lady, could resonate with her.

Zhao Yuxin: "No need to thank me. If you two get together, you have to treat me to a meal."

Lin Xi: "I'll invite you when I have time."

There's no need to add a prerequisite.

Every step she and Duan Yiheng took was unplanned.

But his words and actions tonight did indeed stir up quite a ripple in her heart.

Lin Xi glanced at the time and raised her hand to mess up her long hair.

Never mind, I should go to sleep first. I have important things to do tomorrow.

The next morning, there was a meeting concerning the sales department, chaired by Duan Yiheng.

Lin Xi paused upon entering the conference room.

Xu Yu, Chen Liangyi, and Li Ke—the entire project team's attention was focused on her.