He Xiu wasn't like what Tang Zheng thought. He had actually confronted his younger brother before. In He Chen's memory, the last time He Xiu had spoken to him like this was the year He Chen first came to the He family.

  At that time, He Chen was only five years old. He Jinglong suddenly brought a boy back and said that he was He Chen's elder brother. As the young master of the He family and the Zhao family, He Chen had been doted on by everyone around him since he was a child. Only this elder brother had never shown him a pleasant expression.

  However, the colder He Xiu was, the more He Chen liked to pester him. Until one time, He Chen went to his mother crying and said that he had given his favorite toy to his elder brother, but his elder brother still ignored him.

  Zhao Yingfang was very angry at that time and severely scolded He Chen. That was the first time she had been so fierce to He Chen, so he still remembered what she had said.

  ——He Xiu is not your elder brother! He's just a bastard! Don't call him elder brother!

  After that day, He Chen never went to He Xiu with all kinds of snacks and small toys again. Instead, he began to imitate the words his mother occasionally said and taunted He Xiu. But no matter how much he mocked or bullied He Xiu, He Xiu still didn't show any reaction, as if He Chen was just a transparent person in his eyes.

  This made He Chen feel very bored. He Xiu was like a heartless robot, neither crying nor making a fuss, and not saying a single word to him. Later, once, He Chen said to He Xiu resentfully, "Who do you think you are? Your mother is a mistress! Shameless!"

  Just like now, at that time, He Xiu suddenly grabbed his collar and threw him to the ground. He held onto He Chen's collar, with a thick look of anger between his brows. He looked down at He Chen like this and then asked him, "I'm two years older than you. Can't you tell whose mother is the mistress? Hmm?"

  He Chen cried for a long time that day. He didn't know if he was scared by the sudden imposing manner that He Xiu exuded or because of his question.

  He Chen looked at the person who was grabbing his collar just like in the past, and a stiff smile appeared on the corner of his mouth. "Oh, then what do you want to do?"

  He Xiu sneered and looked at him, saying, "If I had done something to you, would you have grown up so smoothly? You should know better than anyone else, right?"

  He let go of He Chen's collar and took one last look at him. "Stay away from her."

  He Chen watched He Xiu's receding back, tugged at his own collar, and sat down on the sofa.

  Huh. Last time, it was for his mother. This time, it's for that woman. It seems that this woman named Jian Yan does have some weight in his heart.

  Jian Yan had already taken a shower and was sitting in front of the computer drawing. Since she was on a day off tomorrow, it didn't matter if she went to bed a little later today. The editor-in-chief of "Shang Ke" had asked her to draw a collector's edition poster. She had just made a draft. Thinking that she still had ten pages of daily short comics to draw, she frowned slightly.

  The Spring Festival was early this year. In a month's time, she had to work at the Dream Wardrobe and draw at the same time. It seemed a bit difficult to submit the manuscript on time.

  Thinking of this, she sighed again. In fact, she had almost finished gathering materials for her new work. Even if she quit now, it wouldn't be a problem, right? Anyway, it seemed that Manager He didn't want to see her either. However, she had previously promised Zhou Wenwen that she would work until after Christmas. It didn't seem right to leave when the Dream Wardrobe was at its busiest...

  After thinking for a while, she decided to work until the end of this month. After all, there weren't many days left. As for the manuscript, she could only call her two assistants over to help.

  She picked up the phone on the desk and wanted to ask Lin Zhen to call the two assistants over tomorrow. The first call record was Lin Zhen's, and the time was 8:43 am.

  Huh, so it seemed that Lin Zhen had really called her in the morning?

  She called back, but she waited for a long time and Lin Zhen didn't answer. Jian Yan looked at the time. It was only a little past 11 o'clock. She couldn't have gone to bed so early, could she?

  Fortunately, before the call was automatically disconnected, Lin Zhen picked up the phone. "Hello, Jian Yan. I'm a bit busy now. Let's talk about it later, okay?"

  Lin Zhen said this in a hurry and then hung up the phone. Jian Yan held the phone and hadn't reacted yet. What was she busy with so late at night?

  She knocked on the drawing board twice and suddenly opened her eyes wide.

  Could it be... that she had interrupted Lin Zhen's nightlife? Had she found a boyfriend so quickly?

  Jian Yan had an intuition that this matter might be related to the phone call Lin Zhen made to her in the morning, but after carefully recalling it, she still couldn't remember exactly what Lin Zhen had said. She shrugged, put down the phone, and continued drawing.

  The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

  The thing Lin Zhen was busy with now was indeed related to the cooperation she had mentioned in the morning. In the afternoon, she pretended to be Tang Zheng's girlfriend and went to his house for dinner. It was obvious that Tang Zheng's parents and sister doted on him very much, and they were also very friendly. They didn't look down on others just because their family was wealthy and powerful.

  Lin Zhen was actually a bit worried before she went. Although she now ran her own studio and earned a lot of money, her family was just an ordinary well-off family, not a wealthy one.

  However, the Tang family didn't look down on her either. Especially Tang Zheng's sister, as a capable woman herself, she also admired Lin Zhen very much. The only problem was... they didn't believe that she was Tang Zheng's girlfriend from beginning to end.

  At first, she thought it was because she and Tang Zheng had just met and didn't have much chemistry, and they didn't look like a couple. Later, Tang Zheng's sister said, "How could a woman with such work ability and good looks fall for you?"

  Well, this sentence was said to Tang Zheng.

  Tang Zheng was angry and argued with his sister for a long time, but still couldn't persuade her to believe that Lin Zhen was his girlfriend. In the end, he didn't even finish his meal and directly dragged Lin Zhen to a bar to drink. Lin Zhen had thought that a young master from a prestigious family like him would have a good drinking capacity, but the truth was that he got himself drunk after drinking just a few glasses.

  Lin Zhen quickly dragged the babbling Tang Zheng away and it took a great deal of effort to bring him back to her own home.

  She had some hangover medicine at home. She fed Tang Zheng a dose and then let him lie on the sofa in a drunken state. Because of carrying Tang Zheng, she actually sweated a lot in the cold winter. She first took a shower and then opened the refrigerator to find something to eat.

  She wasn't as good at cooking as Jian Yan, and the refrigerator was often empty. The only food she always had in stock was noodles.

  There was no other way. Lin Zhen rolled up her sleeves and cooked the noodles herself. While she was in a hurry, Jian Yan called. She quickly finished the call and then continued to deal with her noodles.

  After fishing the noodles into the bowl, Lin Zhen let out a long sigh. She took a bite of the noodles she had cooked. The taste was still the same as always. Hehe.

  I don't know if it was the effect of the hangover medicine or the smell of the noodles that attracted Tang Zheng, but he slowly woke up.

  Looking around at the unfamiliar environment, Tang Zheng held his forehead and took a few seconds to recover. Then he looked in the direction of the kitchen. He still remembered what had happened before he got drunk. If he guessed correctly, this should be Lin Zhen's home.

  This house was well-decorated and had a large area. Lin Zhen was indeed as capable as his sister had said.

  But he didn't agree with the statement that such a woman wouldn't be interested in him.

  He slowly stood up and walked towards the kitchen. Lin Zhen was eating noodles. When she saw him suddenly appear outside the kitchen, she was so startled that she choked. "Cough, you're awake?"

  "Yeah, but my head still feels a bit dizzy." He glanced around the kitchen and finally his gaze landed on the bowl of noodles on the table. "You're actually hiding here and eating alone. I didn't have dinner either."

  "Um..."

  Before Lin Zhen could figure out what to say, Tang Zheng asked, "Can you finish such a big bowl of noodles by yourself? This is almost as big as the washbasin in our house."

  "..." Lin Zhen was silent for a moment. "I accidentally poured the whole bag of noodles into the pot."

  Tang Zheng laughed and said, "It doesn't matter. I can help you eat them." After saying that, he casually picked up a pair of chopsticks, rolled up some noodles, and put them into his mouth.

  Lin Zhen: "..."

  His movements were so smooth that she didn't have time to stop him.

  As soon as Tang Zheng took a bite, his expression suddenly changed. He stubbornly swallowed the noodles in his mouth, then poured himself a large glass of plain water and drank several sips in a row.

  "Cough, cough, cough." Tang Zheng's ears turned red, as if he had been greatly stimulated. "What is this??"

  Lin Zhen was calm at this moment and said, "The noodles I cooked. Another name for it is the worst noodles in the world."

  Tang Zheng: "..."

  "How did you manage to eat this? Aren't you committing slow suicide?" He was incredulous.

  The corner of Lin Zhen's eye twitched. "Food is food. As long as it's cooked, it can be eaten... This is my cooking philosophy."

  Tang Zheng: "..."

  It seemed that even a capable woman couldn't be strong in every aspect.

  "Is there any more noodles at home?" He asked.

  Lin Zhen pointed to the small drawer under the cabinet and said, "There seems to be a handful of noodles there. I just don't know if they've expired."

  Tang Zheng: "..."

  He opened the drawer and took a look. There was indeed a small handful of noodles in it. Hmm, they would expire in ten days.

  "They're still edible. I'll cook them." As Tang Zheng said this, he took off his coat, rolled up his shirt sleeves, and really started cooking the noodles.

  Lin Zhen looked at him in surprise. "You can cook noodles?"

  Tang Zheng smiled. "In college, when everyone was too lazy to go and buy food, we would just ask He Xiu to cook noodles in the dormitory. He's very good at cooking noodles. After watching him cook noodles for several years, I've learned a thing or two."

  "Oh..." Lin Zhen nodded, feeling that she seemed to have understood something.

  After the noodles were cooked, he fished them out first and asked Lin Zhen to taste them. "How does it taste?"

  Lin Zhen tentatively took a bite and then her eyes lit up. "It's much better than the noodles I cooked!"

  Tang Zheng twitched the corner of his mouth. "There probably isn't anyone who can cook worse than you."

  Lin Zhen: "..."

  "By the way, I heard from a friend that the strawberry picking garden has already opened. Let's go pick strawberries tomorrow."

  Lin Zhen sucked on the noodles and blinked at him. "Pick strawberries?"

  "Yeah, I think we really don't look like a couple yet. Spending more time together might help us find the right feeling." By then, he would take Lin Zhen home for dinner again!

  "Uh... okay." Lin Zhen considered it and then nodded. After all, this was a mutually beneficial thing. "Is it just the two of us? Can I call a friend?"

  Tang Zheng blinked and asked her, "Jian Yan?"

  "Yeah."

  "Sure." Tang Zheng smiled. "Then I'll call a friend too."