"What are you doing here?"
After asking, Chen Jingjia looked down at the bottle of wine in her arms. She relaxed only after confirming the label hadn't been scuffed.
"This is a restaurant. Why can't I be here?"
"The food at Crab Mansion is quite good. You should eat your fill."
"I don't need you to worry about that."
Lin Jiang didn't bother with Chen Jingjia anymore and turned to walk into the restroom.
Chen Jingjia looked down, tugged at the hem of her clothes to straighten them out, and then began looking for private room 203.
She had gotten this information from a waiter downstairs. Although Qin Yangyang didn't eat here often, her aura was very distinctive.
She hadn't seen her in the first-floor dining hall, so she must be on the second floor. A simple description to the waiter was all it took to find out she was dining in room 203.
Inside the private room.
The two sisters chatted as they ate.
"Sis, what do you think of him?" Qin Youyou asked in a low voice.
The two sisters had been close since childhood, and Qin Youyou told her older sister everything.
So much so that on the day she sprained her ankle, Qin Yangyang had heard all about this Lin Jiang from their mother.
Having lived together for over twenty years, she naturally understood her younger sister's personality and temperament.
She could tell from her tone of voice that she was interested in Lin Jiang.
But her family was a bit special, and many men would try to get close to her for personal gain.
Qin Yangyang was a little worried, so she had come along to this meal to help vet him for her.
"Not great. Very average."
"Huh?! How is he average? Aren't his temperament and conversation skills pretty good? He's not flashy at all," Qin Youyou retorted.
"You don't look down on him because he's poor, do you? His noodle shop does great business. If he expands, he could easily make a few hundred thousand a year. That's not that poor."
"Our family came from humble beginnings too. Do I look like the type to favor the rich and scorn the poor?" Qin Yangyang said.
"Don't you think he's a bit unreliable?"
"How is he unreliable? Would an unreliable person stick to running a small, rundown noodle shop every day?" Qin Youyou argued.
"He just said he wants to buy a place at Century Triumph. Do you think that's normal?"
"He's just buying a house. What's not normal about that?"
"Is your head full of cement? He just runs a noodle shop. How the hell is he supposed to afford that?" Qin Yangyang said.
"Does he even make enough in a year to buy a single square meter?"
"Well..."
Qin Youyou paused. She understood what her sister meant. She had been thinking about other things and overlooked this detail.
A price of over 200,000 per square meter was indeed far beyond the reach of ordinary people.
"So you think he's bragging, and that's why you have a bad impression of him?"
Qin Yangyang nodded. "At first, I thought he was decent. But after you mentioned our family's company manages the property at Century Triumph, and then he said he wanted to buy a house there... I just don't have a good impression of him anymore. You need to open your eyes."
"Oh, come on, he probably just said it casually. You don't have to take it so seriously," Qin Youyou said, still trying to make excuses for Lin Jiang.
"I don't think so. He's very clever; he figured out our family's situation from just a few words. He felt he was at a disadvantage in this dinner, so he tried to pull our respective statuses onto the same level. But the more he does that, the more it exposes his lack of confidence. Do you understand what I mean?"
"Are you saying that people tend to show off what they lack the most?"
"It hasn't reached that level yet. I think it might stem from insecurity. The difference in our circumstances made him feel the wealth gap, so he wanted to compensate for it in this way."
"Based on what you're saying, you're still satisfied with his character, then?"
"I wouldn't call him a silver-tongued villain. It's more accurate to say he's the type of man from a poor background whose insecurity would become a problem. If you two got together, that complex would definitely act up, and it's hard to say what the future would hold."
Qin Yangyang's tone was even. She poured herself a cup of high-mountain oolong, took a sip, and said softly,
"I think he's fine as a friend, but there's no need to develop anything deeper."
Qin Youyou pouted, her expression a little reluctant.
"I still think you just look down on him for being poor. That boyfriend you had in college came from a family with even less money than Brother Jiang."
"Don't you dare bring him up," Qin Yangyang said, shooting Qin Youyou a glare.
"It's precisely because of that experience that I'm advising you not to get into anything deeper. There will definitely be problems in the future."
"That guy really was a jerk, but you can't paint everyone with the same brush."
"You're talking about an exception; I'm talking about the majority of cases. If you're determined to argue with me, I know I can't win," Qin Yangyang said.
"But you have to admit, only children raised in families with relatively equal levels of wealth will have similar values. Only people like that have a chance of making it work in the long run. Besides..."
KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK—
Qin Yangyang wasn't finished, but a knock on the door interrupted her.
"Come in."
The sisters turned to see a woman they didn't know.
"Hello, I'm Chen Jingjia. I'm the property manager assigned to Century Triumph by the company. I happened to see you were dining here, so I came over to bring you a bottle of wine."
"Hello. You're too kind."
Qin Yangyang shook Chen Jingjia's hand, realizing she was an employee of her family's company.
With a connection like that, even if they didn't know each other, there was no harm in a little small talk.
Chen Jingjia glanced at the dishes on the table, then at Qin Youyou, recognizing her as the Qin Family's second daughter.
'Judging by the atmosphere, this is likely just a casual family dinner, which is a bit of a shame. If this had been a business dinner, my gesture would have certainly made Qin Yangyang look good, and her impression of me would be even deeper. Although it's not perfect, having an opportunity like this is still pretty good.'
"It was quite a coincidence," Chen Jingjia said with a smile.
"I've run into you at the office before, but you were busy at the time, so I didn't go over to say hello. I didn't expect to meet you here. I guess it was meant to be."
"Indeed, indeed."
The two weren't familiar with each other, so Qin Yangyang didn't have much to say and just nodded politely.
Chen Jingjia had been in the professional world for many years and knew how to handle such situations.
'All I need to do is say hello and make my face known. Saying any more would just be annoying.'
"I've been a bit forward by coming here, so I won't disturb your meal any longer."
Chen Jingjia placed the wine on the table. "I don't know much about wine, but I heard this one is imported. It should taste better than domestic ones. Please, give it a try."
"You've spent too much, really. Please, don't do this next time."
"It's no problem. I won't disturb your meal any further. I'll be going now."
"Alright. Take care."
Chen Jingjia smiled and backed away to the door, but before she could open it, the door swung open on its own.
To avoid blocking the person coming in, Chen Jingjia subconsciously took a step to the side so she wouldn't be in their way.
But in the next second, she realized the person walking in was none other than Lin Jiang!