"What brings you here?"
Lucy Lu looked a little surprised when she saw Madam Han and Ryan Ren at the door.
Over the past few days, Madam Han had seemed in a bad mood. There were even a few times when she saw Lucy and didn’t bother to greet her at all.
So her showing up at the door now was definitely unexpected.
"Oh, are you all eating? Hope we’re not interrupting! If it’s a bad time, we can come back later."
Madam Han was all smiles, acting as if nothing had happened.
Last time, when Ryan Ren confessed to Lynn Chen in front of everyone and got rejected, Madam Han was humiliated and spent the past few days stewing in anger, so she hadn’t given Lucy Lu the time of day.
Madam Han had even tried to persuade Ryan to give up on Lynn, saying a girl who didn’t know how to appreciate him wasn’t worth the trouble. After all, Ryan wasn’t lacking in options—finding a girlfriend better than Lynn wouldn’t be hard.
But Ryan refused to give up on Lynn, and more importantly, after Derek Ren came home and mentioned that at several business dinners, local leaders had brought up the new real-estate company in Capitalview—and even mentioned Charles Chen by name—
—the Chen family’s standing in their eyes suddenly shot up. Madam Han immediately switched gears and started cheering Ryan on, telling him not to get discouraged and to keep fighting no matter what.
"It’s fine, you’re not interrupting. Come on in."
Lucy shook her head—they were neighbors, after all, so it wouldn’t be right to leave them standing outside.
As soon as Lucy stepped aside, Ryan Ren hurried in, clearly eager to find Lynn Chen. When he spotted her eating at the table, his face lit up—until he noticed Evan Lin sitting nearby, which made him tense up inside.
"Have you eaten yet? If not, join us for a bite."
Lucy invited them, but Madam Han waved it off, "We’ve already eaten, all of us."
As she spoke, Madam Han pulled out a chair and sat down, her eyes landing first on Lynn Chen: "Lynn, has your schoolwork been stressful lately?"
"Not really." Lynn paused with her chopsticks, then shook her head.
"That’s good. Lynn’s always been smart. Our Ryan just can’t compare—he studies until one in the morning every day, and if his dad and I tell him to sleep earlier, he refuses, scared his grades will drop!" Madam Han laughed, patting Ryan’s shoulder and sneakily praising him.
"That’s just Ryan working hard—very impressive," Lucy said, playing along.
Only then did Madam Han glance over at Evan Lin, her heart full of dislike. From what Ryan had said, Madam Han suspected it was this Evan Lin who made Lynn refuse Ryan’s confession.
To Madam Han, Evan Lin was basically a giant third wheel.
But seeing how Charles Chen and Lucy Lu treated Evan well, she didn’t dare make a fuss about him. Instead, she turned to Charles and asked, "Old Chen, do you have any plans for Lynn over the National Day holiday?"
"I was thinking of letting her visit the Jade Yard. Why?"
"The Jade Yard? You mean the one by White Crane Lake?" Madam Han’s eyes lit up at that.
"That’s right."
Seeing Charles nod, Madam Han broke into a big smile. "Oh, Ryan’s been wanting to visit the Jade Yard for ages, but never had the time. Now with the National Day break, his cousins invited him to go play there."
"What a coincidence! Why not let Ryan and Lynn go together? It’d be good for the kids to have some company."
Before she’d even finished, Ryan was already nodding eagerly. "Yeah, the scenery there’s great. Lynn’s been in Jinnan so long, she probably hasn’t had much chance to go out and have fun."
Madam Han and Ryan acted like Evan Lin didn’t exist.
Hearing this, Charles and Lucy both frowned slightly. Lucy glanced at Evan, then at Lynn, before turning back to Madam Han and saying, "We should ask Lynn herself. I was actually planning to let Xiao Yi—"
Before Lucy could finish, Lynn Chen cut her off coldly: "Didn’t Evan say he wasn’t going?"
"Well... Evan’s still thinking about it, right, Evan?" Charles was caught off guard and shot Evan a meaningful look.
The more Charles interacted with Ryan, the more he felt there was no comparison—Ryan and Evan were worlds apart. He was increasingly reluctant to let Lynn spend too much time around Ryan.
Madam Han’s behavior lately only made Charles feel that their family was way too calculating. Derek Ren just ran a small company, but his slick ways were really off-putting.
Lynn’s face stayed frosty. After speaking, she just buried herself in her food—but her ears were clearly perked up, waiting for Evan’s reply.
"No need to think about it. I probably won’t have time," Evan said calmly.
Hearing Evan’s answer, Charles and Lucy exchanged a helpless glance.
Lynn’s hand trembled as she gripped her chopsticks.
Madam Han, on the other hand, was overjoyed. She jumped in right away: "Great! Then it’s settled—Lynn and Ryan will go together. It’s good for them to have company on the road."
"And this Evan, right? Looks like a good, studious kid—staying home during the break to review his coursework. Very diligent, very good!"
Madam Han could barely contain her delight.
Once outside, Madam Han lectured Ryan: "A girl like Lynn Chen—you need to win her over as soon as you can. You heard what your dad said, Charles Chen’s company has huge potential. Right now our families are still neighbors, but in a couple years, if Charles gets rich, we might not have this chance again."
Ryan nodded—he understood the logic of 'the pavilion closest to the water gets the moonlight first,' and cherished this chance, hoping the trip to the Jade Yard would bring him closer to Lynn.
"Don’t let your dad and me down. And that Evan Lin—just look at him, you can tell he’s not reliable. But forget about him. No matter what, he’s just a kid from the countryside. What big future could someone like that possibly have?"