Lingling, startled by a man's voice, jerked her head up, revealing a truly stunning face. Her pale complexion, accentuated by exquisitely beautiful features, made her an absolute beauty!
Especially her dreamlike, ethereal eyes, paired with incredibly long eyebrows, made her resemble an elven princess straight out of a dream.
However, what surprised Lu Chen about this face wasn't just her beauty, but also how much she resembled someone—a cold and aloof woman about seven or eight years her senior.
Even the hint of coldness in her eyes was very similar.
It was practically a teenage version of that ice queen!
The face that flashed through Lu Chen's mind belonged to one of his subordinates, the experimentalist at Flying Eagle Biotechnology, and also Ouyang Bihua's assistant and lover: Du Haoqi.
Could it be her sister? How could they look so alike?
At that moment, upon seeing Lu Chen, a flicker of fear crossed Lingling's eyes. Without a word, she shook off Tian Sijing's hand and turned to leave.
Tian Sijing quickly grabbed her arm, saying urgently, "Lingling, that's Brother Chen! Brother Chen is a good person! He saved me! If it weren't for him this afternoon, I would have been bullied by bad people, and I wouldn't be here..."
She then briefly recounted what had happened that afternoon.
Lingling stopped, no longer trying to leave. She slowly squatted down, gently lifting Tian Sijing's skirt to reveal her knee. Looking at the swollen, broken knee, her eyes filled with tenderness, she softly asked, "Does it hurt?"
Her voice was dry, clearly indicating she didn't speak often.
"It hurts!" Tian Sijing said, "But it's alright now, this little injury is nothing! If it weren't for Brother Chen saving me, I'd be lost and wouldn't be able to find my way home!"
Tian Sijing said coldly, "Men are all bad, and your father is no good either!"
These words truly surprised Lu Chen. What kind of trauma had she suffered to be so cynical and hateful towards men?
Tian Sijing quickly said, "Yes, yes, my father isn't good either, but Brother Chen is a good guy... uh, a good person, a good man! So, Sister Lingling, don't be afraid, come and eat, okay?"
Lingling slowly stood up and nodded.
Tian Sijing pulled her to the table and sat her down.
Lingling didn't even look at Lu Chen, just nodded to Xue Cui, didn't call her "Auntie" or anything, and picked up Tian Sijing's chopsticks to eat. It was clear she was very hungry; she ate quickly, even a little greedily.
Of course, Xue Cui's cooking was also delicious.
The way she ate it made Lu Chen find it quite amusing, even cute! It was just that her expression was cold.
Xue Cui seemed to dote on this little girl next door, adding food to her bowl while softly saying, "Lingling, eat slowly, don't choke. Be good, slow down!"
As she spoke, she couldn't help but gently stroke Lingling's hair, sighing, "Lingling is so pitiful. Compared to her, Xiaojing has a father like that; although she's pitiful, she's still much happier than Lingling."
Lu Chen nodded. This girl definitely had a complicated story!
He wondered if she had been harmed by a man?
She had suffered great mental trauma and hated men so much; maybe it really was.
Thinking about which bastard had tormented such a beautiful girl like this, Lu Chen felt quite annoyed.
Tian Sijing said softly, "Lingling is now... living with her older sister. Her sister works at some pharmaceutical company, and it's normal for her to be away from home every few days; she's very busy. Lingling has to take care of herself, but... she's not very good at taking care of herself, sigh..."
She trailed off, unsure how to continue.
Lu Chen immediately understood. The resemblance was striking, and she worked in pharmaceuticals—it had to be Du Haoqi. What a coincidence! He'd actually run into Du Haoqi's sister here.
"Alright, alright, stop talking and eat!" Xue Cui glared at her daughter, then gestured with her chin towards Lingling, who was engrossed in eating.
Tian Sijing glanced over and immediately fell silent, burying her head in her food. She even placed a piece of pork rib in Lingling's bowl, saying, "Lingling, eat! This sweet and sour pork rib is so delicious!"
Lu Chen, of course, also looked over, and what he saw truly touched his heart.
Lingling actually cried. Strictly speaking, it wasn't crying, just tears. But those tears were large, falling one by one into the bowl, which she then swallowed with her rice.
The atmosphere became somewhat stiff. Tian Sijing, being clever, simply brought up the old story, recounting how Lu Chen had taught those thugs a lesson.
In her exaggerated description, Lu Chen was practically a god descended to earth, a being specifically sent to rescue a lonely, helpless, and suffering young girl.
As Lingling listened, her tears stopped, and the tear tracks gradually dried.
A strange light flickered in her eyes, as if she wanted to say something, and a hint of color crept into her face due to some hope. However, she remained silent.
After finishing her meal, Lingling still didn't speak. She ate a few slices of fruit that Tian Sijing had peeled for her and then quietly left without saying goodbye to anyone.
Tian Sijing apologized, "Brother Chen, I'm so sorry. Sister Lingling didn't mean to do that. She's like that to everyone, including her sister. Her life has been very unfortunate..."
"Sigh, she really is a very unfortunate girl!" Xue Cui sighed softly from the side.
"When she was five, her parents died in a flood. Even as they died, they desperately held up their two daughters, saving their lives. Then, when Lingling was nine, some lecherous old men, deserving of hell, took advantage of her playing alone outside and lured her into the garden... and..."
At this point, Xue Cui couldn't continue, and tears welled up in Tian Sijing's eyes.
Indeed, Lingling was far more unfortunate than Tian Sijing.
At least Tian Sijing still had parents and hadn't experienced such a terrible tragedy.
Xue Cui paused, then continued, "Her older sister is also very busy and can't take care of her younger sister. Lingling is very withdrawn now, doesn't know how to take care of herself, and is quite self-destructive. Her relationship with her sister isn't very good either. We feel sorry for her, so we help her, washing her clothes, cleaning, cooking for her, and things like that."
"But we also have our own difficulties and can't help much."
She sighed again.
Lu Chen couldn't help but ask, "Since her sister works at that pharmaceutical company, her salary must be quite good, right? Why didn't she hire a nanny or anything for her sister?"
The salary was certainly good; as her superior, Lu Chen knew that Du Haoqi's current annual salary, including year-end bonuses and performance bonuses, was around 200,000 yuan.
"Why didn't she hire one? She's hired quite a few, but with Lingling's personality, none of the nannies could handle it!" Tian Sijing said, "They were all scared away."
Lu Chen nodded.
After drinking a few cups of tea, around nine o'clock, Lu Chen got up to say goodbye.
Tian Sijing saw him to the door, still reluctant to part, wanting to walk her "Brother Chen" downstairs.
Lu Chen wouldn't allow it: "Have you finished your homework for today? You're in the first year of junior high now, study hard and get into university! If you get into a top university, I'll cover all your tuition as a reward!"
During their earlier conversation, Lu Chen learned that Tian Sijing had just started junior high.
"Okay, okay, I'll go do my homework!" Tian Sijing smiled sweetly, "Then I'll wait for that day, and when that day comes, I'll be your little wife, okay?"
Lu Chen broke out in a cold sweat, shooing Tian Sijing away. These kids these days!
After thinking for a moment, he added, "Xiaojing, about Lingling... take good care of her and help her out more in the future. I can support her financially, so she can have a more stable life."
As he said this, he already planned to find an opportunity to talk to Du Haoqi, to stop her from being away from home so often; after all, his sister was pitiful. He knew, of course, that Du Haoqi was often away from home, and while she was indeed busy with work, it wasn't that bad. He figured she was probably still with the man he was so deeply in love with: Ouyang Bihua.
Hmph, for a man, she even neglected her sister. Lu Chen suddenly felt a little contempt for Du Haoqi. However, he still felt an unusual desire to conquer her cold face and fiery figure.
Just thinking about those two towering peaks made his blood boil.
Lu Chen couldn't understand why he felt this way; even with Dong Qingqing, Liu Li, or Yang Jiangyu, he never felt this intense passion. Could it be that the female hormones secreted by Du Haoqi are particularly attractive to my male hormones? Why is it that my male hormones don't seem to have any attraction for her female hormones?
He was so distracted that he didn't even hear Tian Sijing answer him twice.
"Brother Chen, what's wrong?" Tian Sijing asked loudly.
"Ah, nothing, I heard you. Then thank you for your trouble. You should go back to sleep!" Lu Chen waved awkwardly.
Damn it, how did I get so distracted?
Lu Chen scratched his head, shrugged, and started walking down the stairs.
After taking a few steps, suddenly, a clear, hoarse voice came from the darkness: "Why are you so good to me?"
Lu Chen felt a chill run down his spine. Wait, a ghost?
Looking around, the streetlight at the bottom of the stairs was broken, making it dimly lit; he couldn't see anything.
However, Lu Chen knew it wasn't a ghost. He recognized the voice—it was Lingling!
He walked backwards back to the stairwell and looked towards the stairs leading to his office. He saw a dark figure curled up there. Even in the blur, he could tell it was Lingling!
She was hugging herself tightly, her arms clutching a doll with a missing eye and a broken nose.
Lu Chen asked, "Why aren't you going back to sleep?"
Lingling was silent for a moment, then said, "I asked you first."
There was a stubbornness in her voice.
Lu Chen said, "Okay, I just saw you were unhappy and wanted to cheer you up."
"I don't need to be happy!" Lingling's voice suddenly became shrill. "I just want to die quickly!"