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As soon as Yichen arrived at the villa, Yuyang immediately walked over. "Brother! Why did you kick Xiyang out?"

Yichen glanced at him and sat down on the sofa. "You are very well-informed."

"We work in the same company, so of course I found out," Yuyang said, looking a bit sheepish before calling out again, "Brother."

"Speak!"

"...Do you still like Xiyang or not?"

Yichen gave a noncommittal response, clearly having no intention of answering.

"Brother," Yuyang looked at him earnestly and said, "I know you don't like discussing these things with me, but I need to know what you're really thinking. If you still like Xiyang, then be properly with her. If you don't, then be properly with Anna. Don't..."

"Don't you think this question is quite strange?" Yichen's expression was calm, and his tone was equally indifferent. "Someone like me being linked to things like 'liking someone'—doesn't that sound completely uncoordinated?"

Yuyang felt he was being somewhat sophistical. "Then how do you explain the current situation? If you don't like either of them, why is Anna your girlfriend now? If you don't like Xiyang, make it clear to her, and she will definitely never pester you again."

Yichen sighed. "She isn't annoying."

What did that mean? By "she," he meant...

Yichen added, "I was talking about Ye Xiyang."

"Then you mean you still like her? Why are you still dating Anna then?"

Yuyang hesitated for a moment. "Brother, you aren't toying with Anna, are you?"

Yichen paused. "You're overthinking it."

"Then the two of you are dating with the premise of marriage?"

Yichen narrowed his eyes slightly, feeling that the conversation was entirely disconnected, and simply chose to ignore him.

Yuyang had come here to get a clear answer on which one his brother actually wanted. "Brother, I don't care what you do, but you are not allowed to toy with Xiyang."

Yichen immediately looked displeased. "I don't like doing useless work."

Yuyang felt that his brother was practicing Tai Chi with him, meaning he wouldn't be able to get any straight answers out of him.

He simply changed direction. "Brother, when I saw Anna talking about your relationship in front of the media, I always thought you would marry someone of equal social standing like her."

Yichen said indifferently, "The benefits a marriage of convenience can bring me are limited, and TC has no such need either."

That was true. With TC currently under his brother's control, a marriage alliance wouldn't be of much help.

Ever since Xiyang left five years ago, his brother had remained single until Xiyang returned. But now...

Yuyang tentatively asked, "Brother, if you don't care about social standing, then why don't you just marry Xiyang?"

"I want to as well."

Hearing this, Yuyang was slightly surprised. "Then why..."

Yichen grew somewhat irritated and annoyed. "Yuyang, if you came here to discuss these things, you can go back."

Although he hadn't received a direct answer, Yuyang had still gotten some degree of confirmation.

"Brother, one last question."

Yichen glanced sideways at him. "Speak!"

"In every way, Anna is a perfect match for you, but it seems you aren't very satisfied with her. Why is that?"

Yichen looked at him. "I have plenty of dissatisfactions with Xiyang, but with Qiao Anna, I have no particular dissatisfactions. Do you understand?"

Yuyang fell silent, then let out a sigh.

Because he didn't care, there was no dissatisfaction. As for Xiyang, because she was in his heart, his brother naturally unleashed his perfectionist standards, resulting in numerous grievances.

Yuyang asked again, "Brother, even before I met Xiyang, I asked you what your criteria were for choosing a girlfriend. You said as long as she was sensible and not troublesome, that would do. But Xiyang seems to be the exact opposite, right?"

Yichen casually replied, "She is special."

Yuyang immediately pursued the question. "How is she special?"

Yichen didn't answer right away. He gracefully picked up the cup beside him and took a small sip, then said leisurely, "She has a huge appetite, and she makes meals go down well."

"..."

Yuyang began to suspect that his hearing was failing, or else his brother was deliberately fobbing him off.

The conversation ended in a somewhat bewildered haze for Yuyang.

He drove back to his own residence.

Now that he was certain his brother liked Xiyang, there was a tiny trace of disappointment in his heart.

However, as long as Xiyang was happy and well, that was enough.

As for Anna...

Forget it, let her be. She was no longer that kind and lovely girl.

Now, she was like a stranger to him.

From now on, she would have nothing to do with him.

On Yichen's side, as soon as Yuyang left, he called Paul and asked him what he should do, or if there was any medicine to restore his memories of Xiyang.

Actually, asking this question was pointless.

If such a medicine existed, amnesia would have been cured long ago.

However, by asking this, Paul grasped a key point: this version of Yichen, who had lost his memories of Xiyang, had fallen in love with her all over again.

This was a good thing.

Then, recalling the condition Yichen had consulted him about previously, he asked if that condition had flared up recently.

Yichen answered truthfully that it hadn't.

Paul felt that as long as Yichen liked Xiyang, all his ailments vanished.

Now that Yichen had fallen for Xiyang all over again, would his amnesia eventually heal one day?

Yet, even though he had fallen in love with Xiyang, why couldn't he still remember her?

It was truly baffling!

Early the next morning, when Xiaoqi woke up, her very first thought was not to go to the company.

Then...

Why on earth shouldn't I go to the company? I haven't done anything wrong.

I was already wrongfully accused; am I supposed to lose my job on top of that?

Such a foolish thing is something Xiaoqi would never do.

She arrived at TC at 8:45.

Yuyang's car happened to pull up at TC as well. Seeing Xiaoqi, he immediately got out. "Xiyang, I heard my brother kicked you out yesterday. How do you still dare to come?"

Xiaoqi refused to back down. "I didn't do anything wrong, why wouldn't I dare to come?"

Yuyang glanced around at the employees walking in and out. "Look at these people, they're all gossiping about you behind your back. Aren't you afraid of being drowned in their spittle if you come to work?"

"What is there to be afraid of? This is my job, and I haven't made any mistakes. No one has the right to make me leave. Besides, I only joined the company in the first place because of Lin Yichen. If I leave the company because of him again, wouldn't that really make it look like I revolve around him? I refuse to do that!"

"Xiyang, you're just like before. Your indomitable spirit always commands my admiration," Yuyang said, giving her a thumbs-up.

Xiaoqi gave a cold huff. "Not only am I coming to work, but I'm going to work with a smiling face."

With that, she walked inside with her head held high.

Watching her indomitable, cockroach-like spirit, Yuyang felt a tinge of envy toward his brother.

A girl this wonderful liked him—his brother was truly blessed.

Xiaoqi marched with her head held high to her workstation, but the next second, her demeanor wilted. With a vacant stare, she slumped limply into her office chair.

Because she was still furious inside, and that anger had never been vented.

Moreover, this time she felt an unprecedented sense of disillusionment.

She could endure his coldness toward her, and she could endure his sarcastic remarks, but she simply could not endure being misunderstood.

Some irreparable cracks always started from small accumulated feelings of resentment.

And the resentment this time had already exceeded what Xiaoqi could bear.

It was like a torch burning brightly that gradually dwindled into a weak little flame, flickering like a dying candle in the wind, only for a cold gust to blow by and extinguish it entirely.

Xiaoqi worked in a listless state. Half an hour later.

Ahhhhh! If she didn't vent this out right now, she was going to explode.

Disregarding the setting entirely, Xiaoqi pulled out her phone and opened the mobile game she usually played.

Since her desk was by the window, her colleagues didn't pay her much attention.

Before playing, she even changed her username to "Lin Yichen is a bastard," muttering to herself as she played.

"I'll beat you to a pulp, you bastard! Telling me off and misunderstanding me—I'm going to beat you until you're searching for your teeth all over the floor, until your face is bruised and swollen, until you beg me like your great-grandmother..."

"Enjoying the scolding?"

While her brain was blazing with passion, her blood boiling, and her heart feeling somewhat happy, she didn't react at all when someone approached her side.

Subconsciously, she answered, "It's still not satisfying enough. I want to beat that bastard until his face looks like a pig's head, beat him until..."

"Ye Xiyang, try saying another word."

When she turned her head, she locked eyes with the man's abruptly darkened, handsome face. Her hand jerked, and her phone slipped from her grasp.

Fortunately, the man caught it with agile reflexes.

Ahhhhh! Why was he here?

Shouldn't she be in his office?

Her internal wails echoed endlessly.

"You... Hello, President Lin!"

Yichen hummed coldly. "With you cursing me like that just now, where exactly am I good?"

"..."

"I..." Xiaoqi laughed awkwardly. "I was just playing a game, I got totally lost in it."

Yichen said with a sinister edge, "What level are you on?"

"Just started, I'm still practicing my skills."

Yichen looked contemplative. "Oh! Playing games during work hours—deduct salary and bonus."

With that, he walked away.

Xiaoqi: "..."

That was when it finally registered: she was supposed to be working right now, ahhhhh.

Then, the realization hit her:

Salary. Bonus.

What to do, what to do, her salary and bonus were both gone.

"Xiyang, how could you play games during work hours?"

Seeing the president leave, the colleague next to her finally spoke up. "Getting caught by President Lin like that, your entire month's salary is probably gone."

"Yeah, President Lin has always handled things strictly by the book. I think not firing you already shows he's being very reasonable."

Xiaoqi's face was filled with panic!

Her mind was completely consumed by thoughts of her salary and bonus.

Should she go ask Yuyang...

No, no, she couldn't put Yuyang in a difficult spot.

Gosh, why was she so stupid? If she was going to play, she should have hid in the restroom...

Suddenly, she remembered that her phone was still in his hands, and then she recalled her username.

Oh mother, it was over, it was truly over; she was in deep trouble now.

Xiaoqi immediately stood up and rushed to the president's office.

Naturally, Yichen had no intention of chasing her away this time.

Getting her to come find him was the exact goal.

"Um, President Lin, I promise, I will never play games during work hours again. Could you please return my phone to me?"

Entering the office, Xiaoqi didn't dare to walk too far in, standing right by the doorway. She still had lingering fear from the last time the president had coldly thrown her out.

However, she had already forgotten about the anger of being misunderstood; her entire mind was fixed on her phone and her deducted salary.

Yichen raised his eyes to give her a cool, detached glance, murmuring, "What do I have to believe you with?"

"I, I'll write a guarantee letter, is that okay?"

Yichen didn't respond immediately. He gracefully picked up his coffee cup, every gesture radiating effortless poise.

Xiaoqi felt that Lin Yichen didn't look particularly angry at the moment, and the icy aura around him had vanished as well.