Meanwhile.
In the main house of the patriarch's residence, in the living room.
At this moment, Qin Beiting and Qin Yongchao stood facing each other, one with a cold face, the other with a stern face. The atmosphere was grim, and it seemed as if two different energies were clashing in the air.
"Don't ever arrange such things for me again!" Qin Beiting said coldly.
"What's wrong with the eldest daughter of the Qi family? Nowadays, the only suitable young lady who can be a match for our Qin family is the eldest daughter of the Qi family. She is knowledgeable, virtuous, and skilled in medicine. After marriage, she can assist you greatly in the Qin family. What are you still unsatisfied with?" Qin Yongchao said sternly, his old face grim.
"If she's so good, why don't you marry her?" Qin Beiting sneered.
He was half a head taller than Qin Yongchao, his phoenix eyes slightly lowered, his demeanor appearing frivolous and arrogant.
"How unbecoming!" Qin Yongchao smashed the blue and white porcelain cup in his hand fiercely onto the ground.
It was one of his favorite Qing Dynasty antique tea sets. He usually cherished it dearly, but now he had smashed it with his own hands, indicating how angry he was.
Steward Qin, who was standing by, was startled and quickly stepped forward to help Qin Yongchao sit down, placating him, "Patriarch, please don't be angry."
He then said to Qin Beiting, "Seventh Master, the Patriarch has high blood pressure. Please don't intentionally anger him."
As if it wasn't intentional.
Not to mention that Qin Yongchao was old enough to be Qi Yuanyuan's grandfather, and the Patriarch's wife, the matriarch of the Qin family, was still alive.
Every time this Seventh Master returned, he would anger the Patriarch, and in the end, they would always part on bad terms, alas~
"For the past two years, letting you roam free has made you too wild! You've forgotten the upbringing of the Qin family. I should have let you stay in the military for a lifetime!" Qin Yongchao slammed the tea table heavily.
"You should have killed me long ago. Is it too late to regret it now!" Qin Beiting looked down at Qin Yongchao dismissively.
Back then, his mother was forced to death by this man, which was why he was brought back to the Qin family by Old Master Qin.
After Old Master Qin died, his sixth brother was successively imprisoned, and his sixth sister-in-law died in a car accident. His guardianship was thus seized by Qin Yongchao.
In the past, he was young and had no choice but to obey his arrangements.
But now, he still wanted to control him?
Dream on!
"You! You... cough cough cough..."
Qin Yongchao was so enraged that he coughed violently.
"Patriarch, quickly take your medicine." Steward Qin hurriedly took out his personal medicine and poured water for him to take it.
After taking the medicine, Qin Yongchao took a while to calm down. He looked up and saw Qin Beiting looking at him with a cold and merciless expression.
That icy gaze, and the undisguised hatred, made it seem as if he were looking at a corpse.
"Do you really think you've grown up and I can't control you anymore?" His expression turned grim, and he said sternly, "If you want those two investment contracts for the Ye family to be signed smoothly, then behave yourself!"
Hearing this, Qin Beiting's cold gaze flickered, "What do you want?"
Qin Yongchao thought he was scared and said sternly, "I don't care what you do outside, but your spouse must be the eldest daughter of the Qi family, who is of equal standing!"
"I said, if you want to marry her, marry her yourself. You don't need to meddle in my affairs! If you arrange these troublesome things for me again, don't blame me for being impolite!"
Qin Beiting made his stance clear and turned to leave.
"Bang—"
"Presumptuous! Do you really think I can't control you!" Qin Yongchao picked up a blue and white porcelain cup and threw it at his retreating back.
The teacup hit the threshold and shattered into pieces, the fragments bouncing towards the back of Qin Beiting's head. He slightly tilted his head and easily dodged them.
"Patriarch, calm down, don't let yourself get sick. Seventh Master is naturally unruly. The more you force him, the more stubborn he becomes, which is counterproductive." Steward Qin quickly comforted him.
"Are you saying I should indulge his every whim?" Qin Yongchao said with a sinister glint in his eyes, "I will not let him have his way! Otherwise, he'll truly believe that no one in this world can control him!"
Steward Qin's lips moved, but in the end, he said nothing, only sighing helplessly.
Outside the courtyard.
A meaningful smile played on Qin Beiting's lips.
As he had expected, the Qin family had been monitoring his movements.
And this scene was exactly what he wanted.
He took out his phone and made a call, "The tiger has spotted its prey. Switch to Plan B."
"Yes," Qi Xifeng on the other end of the line replied.
He thought, Brother Ting was really going to great lengths for Miss Yu.
The Ye family would be targeted by the Qin family sooner or later, so Qin Beiting had already made plans.
The two investment contracts for the Shengda Company that he had previously given to the Ye family were just a prelude.
Next, Qi Xifeng would stage a scene of "stealing investments": finding Ye Jianming and his son, offering a higher investment amount, and bringing the Ye family under the protection of XS Group was Qin Beiting's true goal.
Otherwise, if XS Group suddenly wanted to invest in the bankrupt Ye family, it would inevitably arouse suspicion from Yu He and the Ye family.
It was just that he hadn't expected the Qin family to notice the Ye family so quickly. Well, it was a two-birds-one-stone situation.
Qi Xifeng didn't need to act anymore; he could directly invest under the guise of "deliberately opposing Qin Corporation."
***
In the blink of an eye, it was New Year's Eve.
Yu He was woken up early by Ruan Tianxin's phone call.
"Xiao He Miao, Happy New Year's Eve~ Did you set your WeChat to do not disturb? I've been video calling you, but you didn't answer. Hurry up and video call me, I want to do a surprise inspection and see who you're in bed with."
Yu He had a bad temper when she woke up. She irritably moved the phone away from her ear and put it on speaker, "I just want to block you right now."
"Ooh, don't, I'm bad at math, I calculated the time difference wrong, don't have such a big temper when you wake up."
"If you have something to say, say it quickly."
"Listening to your tone, it seems your Brother Ting isn't around..."
"If you talk nonsense again, I'm hanging up."
"Ooh, I'm just telling you that I've prepared a special gift for adults for you. It will arrive at the Ye family later. Remember to sign for it, and use it well with your Brother Ting~"
"..."
Yu He opened her eyes, and her sleepiness vanished instantly, "What did you send?"
"It's a secret, hee hee~"
From her mischievous laughter, Yu He could tell it was definitely not something proper.
After chatting for a few more minutes, they hung up. Yu He opened WeChat and saw the chat record with Qin Beiting, which was his goodnight message after their video call last night.
This man had been talking about looking forward to her coming of age recently but hadn't mentioned that tomorrow was her birthday. Could it be that he didn't remember her birthday at all?
She put down her phone, turned around, picked up the little piggy sleeping beside her, and went back to sleep. She didn't get up until ten-thirty.
She opened WeChat and looked again. She had received many mass blessings for New Year's Eve, but Qin Beiting still hadn't contacted her.
Yu He dejectedly threw her phone aside, washed up, and went downstairs for breakfast.
Cui Yi had gone home for the New Year. In the living room, Ye Zi was helping Cheng Lizhu and Old Mrs. Ye put up couplets. The two main male figures of the household were nowhere to be seen.
Yu He ate something casually and went over to help, "Where are my brother and dad?"
"There was a temporary issue at the company. The CEO of XS Group, President Qi, suddenly called them out. It seems like XS Group wants to invest in our company," Cheng Lizhu explained.
"Oh?" Yu He raised her eyebrows. XS Group?