Chapter 436 Straightforward Indeed

Jinhai threw a sideway glance at Zhou Yichen. "Seems like somebody is lamenting his divorce with his ex-wife."

Zhou Yichen took a pause just for a fraction of a second though. Then he laughed out loud. "Are you talking about me and Professor Xie? Nah, I feel like a free bird~"

"Yet it felt you were talking out of your personal experience. Seems like you allowed your misunderstandings with Miss. Xie fester for long enough that you cannot see Jin making the same mistake."

Zhou Yichen jokingly dismissed him. "You have a good sense of humor, Mr. Liu. I have no personal agenda in this~"

"I see."

"It's just that I think that there are many more emotions that Jini-boy is suppressing within him in the facade of hatred."

Jinhai said nothing. During this whole time, he thought that Jin loved Shui too just like she loved him. That's why they wanted to marry in the last life.

But it didn't match with what was happening in this life. Jin's feelings for Shui were at an opposite spectrum. He knew his son well.

Yes, Jin was obviously keeping his distance from Shui. But there was also a whole different battle he could sense behind his actions. It was subtle, but it was there.

Zhou Yichen smiled. "So if even at least some part of it gets out of his system, I think things will turn out a whole lot better. Aish, it always becomes so serious whenever Jini-boy and Shui work together," he harrumphed. "But no fear as long as Uncle Zhou is here! I will eliminate all the enmity between them!"

Jinhai glanced at him. "I appreciate your kindness."

Zhou Yichen sheepishly waved his arm. "They are like my children now too, you know. I am just doing what a responsible adult does~"

"Do responsible adults lie?" He cocked his brow.

"When did I lie?" He whined and then solemnly said, "I am a very straightforward person."

The smile that appeared on Jinhai's lips was too faint to be noticeable. "Just like the wedding ring you are hiding in your pocket even though you are divorced."

He blinked his eyes rapidly.

Jinhai adjusted his coat and turned to leave. "Very straightforward indeed. By the way, the next meeting is starting."

He calmly and silently left but the uproar his simple question caused in Zhou Yichen's heart was anything but hushed. He instinctively touched his pocket where he could feel the outline of a ring.

When did he see...?

Jinhai's voice echoed again as he was lost in his thoughts. "Thanks for proving it to me."

"..."

Zhou Yichen started to sweat.

This is bad...!

He nervously laughed as he dashed behind Jinhai. "Mr. Liuuuu! H-How about we talk over a cup of coffee? Specifically not exposing this in front of a certain someone hehe..."

--

The atmosphere in the car was becoming more and more stagnant. Jin's eyes flashed with a myriad of emotions as he stared dead ahead, clutching the steering wheel with all his might.

Shui said, "You don't have to strangle the steering wheel."

"It's my car and I decide how to treat it," he chuckled with disdain, "I don't want to hear fair treatment from someone who couldn't even treat her own ex-boyfriend like a human. So zip it."

With a piercing look that threw daggers at Jin, she burst out, "Liu Jin, do you think you are the only person in this whole world who cares about Jun?"

"Well, it's definitely not you in the list," he sneered. "And for your kind information, I am not dropping you anywhere. I will be only stopping my car wherever I am heading. I don't care what you do after that."

Shui's brow twitched, and her heart was ablaze with fury. For a long time, she felt helpless and cornered by Jin's attacks. As she slowly realized what might be the cause of Jin's hatred, she wondered if she had been really so terrible to Jun? She did admit that she was at fault at times for the rocky period in her relationship with Jun. She acted brash and immature.

But was she so cruel to Jun for Jin to accuse her of not caring about him at all?

There was not even a speck of truth in this allegation which made Shui decide that she wouldn't needlessly tolerate Jin's ruthless words.

Shui smiled. "I might not care about Jun as you say but you definitely do, right? Including not letting your elder brother know how mean and rude his little brother is acting."

Before Jin could question, a sound of a phone ringing on speaker was already echoing inside the car.

He snorted. "Are you complaining to Uncle Zhiyuan like the princess you always have been?"

"Shui, what's up?"

Jin put a sudden break on his car and brought it to a screeching halt, widening his eyes. Dumbfounded to hear Jun' voice, he stared at Shui incredulously.

Shui smiled. "Hey Jun."

"What was that sound of a loud break? Are you okay?"

"I am fine. But I don't think Jin is."

"...You are with Jin?"

Jin's expression turned unsightly at the highest order.

This woman...how dare she try to snitch me to Bro!?

"Yeah," Shui replied. "But there is a slight problem. I need to be somewhere and Jin needs to be somewhere else, so he is refusing to drop me even though it wasn't my idea to ride with him but Uncle Zhou's."

A few veins popped up here and there on Jin's forehead.

Heh. You think Bro will be disappointed in me? He already knows I hate you.

There was a beat of silence after which Jun said, "Tell me where you are. I will pick you up."

The silence was enough for Jin to know that if not disappointed, Jun at least felt helpless regarding his behavior. On top of that, Jin didn't want Jun to bother with wasting his time with anything related to Shui.

Incensed, he snatched her phone. "I will drop Shui. You don't have to take the trouble, Bro."