Yang Qingyin calmly talked about the argument she had with Yang Yunlin last night, and Luo Ziling felt a bit flustered.
"What did you two argue about?" Luo Ziling braced himself and asked, "Because I slapped Yang Qingye?"
"More or less!" Yang Qingyin didn’t deny it. "My dad found out you gave Yang Qingye a slap in the face, and he blew up over it."
"Tell me in detail what happened last night!"
"My dad said I was betraying my own family before I’m even married, teaming up with an outsider to bully my own little brother, screwing over my own father. He said he raised me for nothing, and if I keep this up, he’ll cut ties and no longer recognize me as his daughter." As she said this, Yang Qingyin’s expression was still calm.
Yang Qingyin’s calm face made the bad feeling in Luo Ziling’s heart even stronger.
"So how did you answer him?" he asked in a low voice.
"I told him, I’m a woman, and in the end I’m going to get married. As for what kind of man I marry, there are only a few possibilities: first, marry someone I like who also likes me; second, marry someone I can get through life with; third, marry someone I basically don’t care about but can make do with and live out my days."
Luo Ziling didn’t interrupt, just quietly listened to what Yang Qingyin was saying.
Yang Qingyin didn’t go on, and stopped there.
In the end, Luo Ziling still couldn’t help it and pressed her again: "And then what happened?"
"If you can treat me single-heartedly, then I’ll marry you. Even if that means I’ll have nothing more to do with the Yang Family, I won’t regret it."
These words from Yang Qingyin made Luo Ziling feel a momentary sense of relief, but right after that he felt a heavy pressure settle on him.
Yang Qingyin gave Luo Ziling a couple of looks, then said again, "If you can’t be single-hearted with me in terms of feelings, then I’ll just find a man I can get through life with and marry him."
"No matter what, you have to marry me!" Luo Ziling started acting shameless. "I want to marry you, so you have to marry me. I won’t marry anyone else, and you can’t marry anyone else either."
Yang Qingyin sighed and didn’t pick up what Luo Ziling said.
Right then, there was a soft knock at the private room door, and the waiter came in with the dishes.
"Let’s eat!" After two dishes were served, Yang Qingyin picked up her chopsticks. "You must be hungry, right?"
"I’ve kind of lost my appetite because of your mood!" Luo Ziling pulled a wry face. "I don’t even know how to respond to you!"
Yang Qingyin said nothing, just kept eating, only she ate very slowly.
"Have you ever thought about why Yang Qingye dares to be so arrogant in front of me?" Luo Ziling decided to shift the topic a bit. "I feel it’s not just because he has your dad’s backing. There are other factors."
"Because my grandpa tacitly allows it to a certain extent!" Yang Qingyin looked at Luo Ziling, her voice a bit softer. "I know you can definitely see that."
"If your grandpa’s attitude was clear, then neither your dad nor Yang Qingye would dare act so high-profile, or keep treating me with such a hostile attitude." Luo Ziling said with a bitter smile. "I only figured this out yesterday. People of that age really are old foxes!"
"So that’s why, when Yang Qingye was making a scene, you gave him that slap without holding back, then took the initiative to admit it in front of my grandpa, and even compared him with Chen Ruchang."
"That’s pretty much what I had in mind!" Luo Ziling didn’t deny it. "I feel that all this time I’ve been played by your grandpa. I saved his life, and he’s been scheming against me. Once I realized that, it really didn’t feel good."
Yang Qingyin nodded lightly and didn’t say anything.
"I also get it. The three generations of men in your Yang Family are all doing this for the family’s interests." As he said this, Luo Ziling smiled, then asked Yang Qingyin, "If I plan to marry you, but your family is all against it, will you still stick to your own decision?"
"There’s a precondition for me marrying you!" Yang Qingyin glared at Luo Ziling, annoyed. "You have to treat me single-heartedly!"
"I’ll only marry you."
Yang Qingyin looked at Luo Ziling and let out another soft sigh.
"After we eat, I’m going over to the compound to treat Zhao Guosheng and Li Haiyang. I haven’t visited them for so long, I should go over there and show my face!" Luo Ziling said, letting out a small sigh. "Ever since I got back, I’ve been spinning around like a top. Tonight my mom is taking me to Great Grandfather’s place for dinner. After I come back from the Ling Family Old Mansion, I’ll come find you. Let’s not say these things while we’re eating. It’ll ruin our appetite. We can talk tonight, okay?"
He paused, then added, "Actually, some things don’t need to be said out loud. Just watch what I do."
Yang Qingyin nodded and said softly, "Then I’ll watch what you do, all right?"
"All right!"
After lunch, the two of them sat for a while longer, making a bit of small talk.
When she saw it was already twelve-thirty, Yang Qingyin stood up and urged Luo Ziling to leave: "Aren’t you going to the compound? You should get going!"
Luo Ziling stood up, but he didn’t leave right away. Instead, he unceremoniously pulled Yang Qingyin into his arms and kissed her.
Yang Qingyin didn’t resist, letting Luo Ziling hold her and kiss her hard, but her response wasn’t very enthusiastic.
That left Luo Ziling a little disappointed.
"If you’re coming over tonight, bring some late-night snacks. If you can, bring some alcohol too. I want to drink a bit." As they walked out of the private room, Yang Qingyin made a request.
"Okay!" Luo Ziling agreed. "We’ll drink a bit together. Let’s drink red wine, it helps with sleep!"
Yang Qingyin nodded in agreement.
The two of them parted ways at the restaurant door.
Watching Yang Qingyin get into the car that Xiaoli was driving, Luo Ziling sighed inwardly.
He had already guessed how the argument between Yang Qingyin, Yang Yunlin, and Yang Qingye went down last night.
Yang Qingyin was definitely called home by Yang Yunlin.
After she got home, the family sat down to talk, and the matter of Yang Qingye being hit must have been brought up.
Yang Yunlin was furious, and Yang Qingye was furious too, and felt very wronged at the same time.
They both demanded, even threatened, that Yang Qingyin break up with him.
Faced with her father and younger brother, Yang Qingyin definitely wouldn’t back down, and said clearly she’d stick to her original choice.
Because of Yang Qingyin’s stubbornness, Yang Yunlin was enraged, and Yang Qingye, having been slapped, was also in a towering rage.
With Yang Yunlin and Yang Qingye’s attitude being so nasty, Yang Qingyin was also very angry and refused to give an inch, even telling her father and brother very plainly that she was going to be with him. But deep down she also felt wronged, because she could sense that he wasn’t being single-hearted with her, which is why she said those things.
Luo Ziling felt that he was wronged too. He believed he really had been getting along with her with the intention of marrying her.
Those interactions with the other women weren’t actually initiated by him.
A lot of things happened when he was in a passive position, even when those women pushed him into it.
It was just that these things couldn’t be talked about, and there was no way to explain them.
After everything happened, Luo Ziling didn’t want to run away from it, but he also had no way to take full responsibility for it all.
That left him rather conflicted.
"From now on, I’ll try my best to be single-hearted with her!" This was what Luo Ziling told himself.