Release that Man

Since the vocal training teacher had been contacted, she would have to attend the classes. There were no such classes at San Lin City; therefore, Han Chu reached into his own connections to come up with the internet classes. The fee would be borne by Ye Shuang, and the teacher would start from the basics, with a focus on voice changing. Then, Ye Shuang would have to train on her own. If she was fast, she would only need ten days at most to master the technique of changing voices.

Ye Shuang could not tell Han Chu that her ability to control the muscles within her body was one hundred percent precise, and changing her voice was a piece of cake. Unless she had a tumor in her brain, she was not going to reveal all of her secrets to Han Chu. Therefore, after spending 1,000 to buy a ten-hour course, Ye Shuang just took it as a talk with her colleague.

Other than that, she used Brother Shuang’s identity to apply for a sim-card. She did not need to change her phone because she would be buying a new one directly. This was good too because it could be used to compartmentalize her life. Therefore, that was all Sister Shuang did on the first day she returned to San Lin City. She applied for a sim-card and bought a new phone. While she was shopping, she received a call from Yao Zhixing.

“You’re home?” Yao Zhixing sounded like he had a headache on the phone.

“Yes.”

“Then, you’ll be able to come to my family’s place for lunch tomorrow afternoon?” Yao Zhixing sighed. “I’ll pick you up in the afternoon. There’s no need to bring anything other than yourself.”

Since Ye Shuang had already been informed of this earlier, she recovered after a short moment. “Sure, it’s fine with me, but are you sure it’s fine with you?”

“There’s no choice even if I’m not fine with it. This is my parents’ order; I can’t really do anything about it.” Yao Zhixing sighed. “But don’t worry, it should be nothing serious as long as you insist on not leaving your phone number.”

Ye Shuang touched the Bluetooth headphone and stared at the message that she had received earlier. “Brother Yao, I think that request of yours is a bit difficult.”

The enemy had already infiltrated Yao Zhixing’s phone to steal her phone number, so what was the point of her not giving it later?

Mother Yao had already sent a message to invite Ye Shuang out for afternoon tea. It was for them to chat and cultivate relationship. Well, how did Ye Shuang know it was from Mother Yao? That was simple—Mother Yao had left her name at the end of the message.

“You mean…” Yao Zhixing was shocked and then went speechless. “Never mind, I can guess what happened. I’ll talk to you later. We’ll see what happens then.”

…

Ye Shuang left home after lunch the next day. No matter the misunderstanding Yao Zhixing’s parents might have, there was something that they had got right. She was in a close friendship with Yao Zhixing, but theirs was not a romantic relationship. Since the man’s parents had extended the invitation, and no matter what, Ye Shuang had to treat this seriously. How the explanation should go, that would depend on the situation.

Father Yao was not home, and Yao Zhixing was still at the restaurant dealing with official business. Only Mother Yao and Sister Yao were home knitting some scarves. When Ye Shuang arrived, they welcomed her easily like they were familiar friends.

“Is it Xiao Shuang?” Mother Yao held Ye Shuang’s hands and nodded many times. “We’ve only heard about your existence recently. This Zhixing should have introduced us a long time ago.”

Ye Shuang chuckled and pretended to be dumb. “Brother Yao and I are good friends, but I’ve been busy with work and out of town. Brother Yao is equally tied with his work at the restaurant and racing. It is not that often that we have the chance to meet up for dinner, so there hasn’t been a chance for me to come visit his family. I’m really sorry.”

Mother Yao heard that, and disappointment showed on her face. “Good friends?”

Really not a couple.

This was too sad. The son might not want to admit it due to shyness, but if the girl also insisted that there was nothing there, there was possibly really nothing there.

Sister Yao pulled on her mother’s clothes. Mother Yao quickly rearranged her emotions and pulled Ye Shuang into the living room. “It’s fine, but remember to come visit more often in the future.”

If it was just to balance out the gender ratio at home, it would have been fine. Ever since she gave birth to this son of hers, ever since her son KO-ed a bunch of local kids when he was six, ever since Yao Zhixing caused his first date to cry inside the car since he was speeding… ever since all those things, only God knew how many girls had been scared of coming to visit Yao Zhixing’s home!

Even if there were the occasional few who were blinded by Yao Zhixing’s face and body or those who thought they could change Yao Zhixing, after they had spent some time together, no matter how prepared they were, no one would be able to follow Yao Zhixing’s tempo.

Fine, love was often rare within business marriages, and many people had already prepared to get married for the sake of business. Being in a loveless marriage, the risk of an affair, boring, stuffy, and so on… these people would be able to accept, but there was no one who would be willing to risk their lives for business, would there?

The husband speeding down the road in the middle of the night?

Having to be reminded of their insurance every time they got into his car?

This was not even a race car. Yao Zhixing’s personal car had never been used to ferry his date. However, even a normal car was enough to scare off so many people. Even if someone was willing to make the sacrifice, in the end, they would only get a condescending look from Yao Zhixing that said, ‘too weak’ or ‘can’t play together’. With their pride wounded, the turnout rate for Yao Zhixing’s other half that was already low to begin with got even lower, and this caused his parents to weep sorry tears.

There were many other choices in San Lin City. As good as Yao Zhixing was, there were other choices, so why would they need to try their luck with him?

Mother Yao thought that she had gotten used to this pain, but whenever she saw other people’s children getting together at social events, she would feel like coughing blood. This was a congested feeling that she had a hard time explaining.

Sister Yao smiled and held Ye Shuang’s hand as she led her to the sofa. “Sister Ye, I hear you also know how to race cars. According to my brother’s friend, your racing skills are not worse than my brother, and he often listens to you, right?”

Mother Yao’s eyes instantly changed from dimness to brightness, and she sat down next to them. Ye Shuang handed them the gift that she had brought and replied with a smile, “When has Brother Yao ever listened to others‽ It’s just that our rhythm matches, so sometimes he will agree with what I have to say.”

“There are not many that my big brother has a similar rhythm with.” Sister Yao smiled shyly and continued. “How did you get to know my brother? Even when he is home, he never tells us anything about his work, and we haven’t heard of you before. What kind of field are you in?”

The little fox was trying to find out her family history already.

Ye Shuang narrowed her eyes and chuckled. “I’m a headhunter, and that is mainly how I got to know Brother Yao. At the start of my career, my partner and I were asked to acquire a letter of recommendation from Brother Yao… and then the rest is history. We became friends after that.”

“Headhunter…” Sister Yao tapped her index finger on her lower lip and thought. “Are you Brother Han’s subordinate?”

“That Han Chu kid?” Mother Yao also asked.

“Yes,” Ye Shuang admitted readily.

Sister Yao and Mother Yao shared a look. Sister Yao changed the topic like the earlier thing did not happen and started to serve the guest. “Sister Ye, would you like some egg tart?”

…

When Yao Zhixing came back from the restaurant, after dealing with the account for the latest season, he saw three women at his home chatting joyfully. Due to the emotional scars that he had received from Sister Yao and Mother Yao, when Yao Zhixing saw this heart-warming scene, he was not touched but felt his temple pulsing.

He walked in from the entrance and asked Ye Shuang with extreme caution, “Did my sister and my mother bring up any weird topics?”

Like trying to bring up his good points or exposing the silly things that he had done when he was young to bring them closer.

“No.” Ye Shuang looked at Yao Zhixing meaningfully. The man’s EQ was indeed not so high. Initially, everything was fine, but once he asked that question, things would be not so fine.

No parents would immediately sell out their children and treat their children-in-law better than their own flesh and blood. That only happened in romance fiction. A person with normal intelligence would not act that way, especially those with a good family background and education. They would not have lowered themselves to such a standard.

Yao Zhixing had obviously demonized his own family. It was not that big of a deal for his parents to get agitated—this was a normal emotion—but as excited as they were, they could not have make a fool out of him before the guest.

Mother Yao was still fine. However, when Sister Yao heard that question from Yao Zhixing, she chuckled but did not say anything.

Before Yao Zhixing realized what he had done, he turned his face around to stress once more, “Xiao Shuang and I are good brothers. It’s fine if you invite her to come for lunch, but don’t run your mouth off.”

Good brothers… Mother Yao felt like crying. Have you ever since a good brother with such a proportional body?

She glared at her son who had failed to take any hints, and Mother Yao grabbed Ye Shuang’s hand. “Xiao Shuang, come, let’s up go upstairs. What is the formula that you were saying about the health tea earlier?”

The old and the young both went upstairs, leaving behind Sister Yao, who was studying Yao Zhixing. “Big brother, I think Sister Ye is not bad.”

“Humph!” With a cold grunt, Yao Zhixing thought, I knew they’re up to no good.

Sister Yao smiled shyly. “Even if it’s not real, don’t you want to anger Zhou Yue?”

In her eyes, if the rumors became real, it would not be at all bad.