Chapter 112: Who Is the True Target?

That single sentence instantly chilled the thick, oppressive heat that had hung over the car's interior.

On Yang Jingyuan’s face, the lazy expression that had surfaced after the incident vanished in an instant, replaced by a look of suspicion.

She fixed her gaze on Wen Nan’s face, lightly raising her delicate eyebrows and asked, “...What confidential documents? I don’t understand what you’re talking about.”

Wen Nan smiled and shook his head. “The things stored in that classified laboratory—doesn’t your sister really know about them?”

Hearing this, Yang Jingyuan realized that feigning ignorance any longer was pointless. She withdrew her feet from in front of Wen Nan, propping herself up on the armrest as she rose from her seat. Her bare legs crossed elegantly, her eyes full of scrutiny and doubt.

“Are you working for Guan Ailin?”

9527: [Notice: Target ‘Wealthy woman desperate to conceive’—current affection level lowered to 88%.]

Wen Nan’s smile remained faint yet unreadable. “She’s my boss. I’m a proper employee under a three-year labor contract at Ailin Group.”

Yang Jingyuan furrowed her brow slightly. “You know that’s not what I meant.”

Recalling their chance encounter the previous day with this handsome young man before her, Yang Jingyuan’s expression darkened further.

“So that so-called coincidence yesterday morning—it was arranged by Guan Ailin in advance? She knew I liked your type, so she deliberately had you show up there to catch my attention, and then... to do that kind of thing with me?”

In just a few seconds, Wen Nan found himself slandered as a spy and a male escort...

This imagination and conjecture were exactly like her cousin, the big-shot CEO.

Wen Nan chuckled softly, his expression open and candid. “Not everyone is as cunning and calculating as your sister.”

It was a high EQ way of saying it, and Yang Jingyuan caught the sarcasm—the implication that she was scheming and manipulative.

She didn’t get angry; after all, it was true.

Moreover, based on what she knew of her cousin Guan Ailin, Yang Jingyuan admitted that this man was right: although Guan Ailin understood the market and products well, she was too naïve to grasp the treacheries of human nature and certainly wouldn’t stoop to underhanded tactics.

Staging a deliberate ruse and secretly sending such a handsome man to seduce Yang Jingyuan? That was something Guan Ailin wouldn’t do.

With that thought, the wary look on Yang Jingyuan’s face softened considerably. She lowered her eyelids and quietly asked, “What do you want to talk about? The key, or the document? Did Zhang Beibei tell you about this?”

Wen Nan didn’t follow her lead but shook his head and said instead, “I want to know why you’re doing this. What do you gain from stealing confidential documents from Ailin Group?”

Yang Jingyuan laughed. “There has to be a benefit, right? Stirring up trouble in here, watching Guan Ailin get angry but helpless—that’s pretty entertaining, isn’t it, little brother?”

Wen Nan smiled without replying.

If this had been before, Wen Nan might have actually believed Yang Jingyuan was just a pleasure-seeker with little sense of morality.

But now, silently, he activated his system in his mind.

9527: [Your skill, Mind Reading, is now active. Tears of the Tool have been applied, duration: 30 minutes.]

The moment Mind Reading took effect, a female voice sounded in his mind.

Unlike Guan Ailin’s soft, contrasting voice, Yang Jingyuan’s inner voice was almost identical in tone and manner to the way she spoke aloud—

“Hmph! I’m too lazy to get involved in this mess at Ailin Group.”

“If it weren’t for Uncle Guan’s instructions asking me to help, I’d be living my carefree life without a care.”

“If it had been my parents handling this, I might not have agreed. But Uncle Guan has taken care of me since I was little, and when my father ran into trouble, it was Uncle Guan who stepped in and helped us through. For his sake, I have to play along.”

Following her thoughts, Wen Nan asked, “Is it because of Guan Ailin’s father? Doing the loyal thing on someone else’s behalf?”

At this, the confident smile on Yang Jingyuan’s face vanished, and her voice turned cold.

“You’ve investigated our family matters quite thoroughly, haven’t you, little brother?”

Wen Nan said nothing, pressing further. “Why did Mr. Guan ask you to step in and deal with his own biological daughter?”

“That’s not a question you should ask. Curiosity killed the cat,” Yang Jingyuan said, leaning forward, climbing onto Wen Nan. Her hands, slightly cool and moist, slid down. “If you have so much energy to spare, why don’t we go for another round?”

Wen Nan remained unmoved. He raised his hand, holding her wrist firmly to prevent her from acting on impulse.

It wasn’t that Wen Nan was particularly virtuous or incapable; it was simply that with more than half of Mind Reading’s duration elapsed, his time was limited. If he indulged now, the only thing Mind Reading would reveal would be the inner climax of Yang Jingyuan’s mind.

Soon, the female voice returned in his mind—

“Uncle Guan himself took action against Ailin Group—what else could it be for?”

“Hmph! Of course, to force Ailin into a dead end, so she’d have no choice but to return to the Guan family and inherit the family business.”

Wen Nan paused, inexplicably reminded of the saying: if you don’t make a name for yourself, you end up going home to inherit billions.

He couldn’t help but think, “Rich people’s troubles, I just don’t get it.”

“The Guan family’s enterprise is more than twenty times the size of this small Ailin Group. Uncle Guan is old and has no successors; wanting Ailin to return is understandable.”

“Ailin does have some leadership abilities, but applying them to her own Ailin Group is meaningless. What future does such a trivial company have?”

“Uncle Guan means well, thinking about her future, but she tearing apart her relationship with him is truly ungrateful...”

Hearing this, Wen Nan couldn’t help but retort, “Losing the right to choose your own life, becoming a puppet manipulated by parents, living out your days in a world they’ve woven in advance—is that what you call ‘good’?”

“Fighting for your dreams, striving to live the life you want—is that what you call ‘bad’?”

“Sister, if you really think that way, then why, when Uncle Yang was critically ill in the hospital urging you to start a family quickly, did you choose to pretend compliance while secretly resisting?”

“You’re still fighting against your own circumstances, yet you mock your cousin’s struggle as ungrateful?”

Wen Nan’s voice was soft but struck Yang Jingyuan like thunder.

She had been spoiled and headstrong since childhood, and now, as an adult, no one could control her.

No one had ever spoken to her like this before.

She suddenly realized that, without noticing it, she had become exactly the person she hated most...

Just as Yang Jingyuan was stunned, Wen Nan continued:

“If you really think Ailin’s struggle is ungrateful, then I like her kind of ungrateful.”

9527: [Congratulations, target ‘Wealthy woman desperate to conceive,’ current affection level increased to 91%.]

Wen Nan was momentarily stunned.

He had been prepared for a drop in affection, but instead, it rose?

It seemed his words had struck a chord deep within Yang Jingyuan’s heart.

Just then, a new notification sounded in his mind—

9527: [Congratulations, target ‘Extremely cold exterior, soft interior female CEO,’ current affection level increased to 65%.]

Wen Nan: ?

Why did Guan Ailin’s affection suddenly surge by 30%?!

(End of chapter)