Chapter 1410 — Not Worth a Glance

"Come in!" Qiu Lingshan thought nothing of it, taking it for one of her subordinates come to report on the progress of the investigation, and answered offhandedly.

But the one who pushed the door open and stepped in was not one of Qiu Lingshan's subordinates — it was Yu Feng of the Yu family!

"Lingshan, the guard at the mailroom downstairs told me you came back today, so I went out of my way to buy some good food to celebrate — congratulations on coming home from your mission in one piece!" Yu Feng walked in smiling, a bag in his hand stuffed with every kind of treat.

In truth, Yu Feng had been coming to see Qiu Lingshan often these past days. The guard had only ever told him that she was away on assignment and had not yet returned, and so, untiring, he came by once a day to see whether she was back.

Heaven rewards the diligent. Yu Feng had finally waited out Qiu Lingshan's return, and so he hurried off to buy a great pile of good food to celebrate with her — and, while he was at it, to draw a little closer to her.

The Great Family Assembly was close at hand, and with the Xiao family visibly backed by the hidden strength of the Pi family, the Yu family's standing hung by a thread. Yu Feng knew he had to win his family some support if they were to hold their ground at the Assembly.

Qiu Lingshan had not expected Yu Feng. Her brows knit at once. This pest simply would not go away — she had been back less than half a day, and already he had chased her to her door, which left her thoroughly exasperated. She glanced at Yu Feng. "Why are you here? Is something the matter?"

"Didn't I say? You've come back from your mission in one piece, so I'm here to celebrate with you!" Yu Feng said with a smile. "The case is closed, so you've nothing on your hands now, right? This time you can go on a date with me, can't you? You know as well as I do that my father and Grandpa Song both hope the two of us will grow closer."

"Who told you I've nothing on my hands? Haven't you watched the news lately? There have been a string of robberies. I have to make the most of my time studying the case. If there's nothing else, please go — I have work to do," Qiu Lingshan said.

"Huh?" Yu Feng was taken aback. Only then did he recall that the news had indeed reported several robberies in Songshan City of late, but they had had little to do with him, so he had paid them no mind. Now, hearing Qiu Lingshan's words, it struck him at once — those robberies had everything to do with her!

What a rotten bastard, robbing people for no reason at all! If he ever found out who had done it, he would beat the man crippled. Yu Feng cursed the robber in his heart. Wasn't this just ruining his plans? If you're short of money, go rob somewhere else — why come to Qiu Lingshan's turf? You're doing this purely to spite me!

"I see... but a man is iron and food is steel; we can't very well skip dinner, can we? It's nearly dinnertime. A bite to eat first, and the case can wait," Yu Feng pressed on.

"No. The case can wait until after I've finished studying it. You eat first." Having said this lightly, Qiu Lingshan looked away from Yu Feng and turned to Chen Yutian. "Let's pick up where we left off."

"Ahem, ahem!" Yu Feng felt a wave of disgust. What was the matter with this colleague of Qiu Lingshan's? He had made himself so plain, and still the man sat there as if nothing were amiss — had he no sense at all that he was a third wheel? So Yu Feng coughed twice and hinted, "It's already quitting time. Even if you're working overtime, you should eat first, shouldn't you? Besides, if you won't eat, your colleague will have to — you can't just let the man go hungry."

"It's fine. I'm not hungry," Chen Yutian said, playing along. He knew Qiu Lingshan loathed Yu Feng and had no wish to be near him, so of course he would not fail to help her.

That one sentence had Yu Feng smoking with rage. Is this fellow brainless or what? Such an obvious hint, and you can't take it? At his wit's end, Yu Feng said furiously and bluntly, "Sir, I am about to have dinner with my girlfriend. Why don't you go eat too, okay?"

"Your girlfriend?" Chen Yutian could not help but frown at that. He had not meant to meddle — Qiu Lingshan was not his girlfriend, after all, and he had no proper standing to interfere — but hearing Yu Feng go further and further, Chen Yutian finally could not hold back.

Qiu Lingshan was not his girlfriend, but she was like a little sister to him, and she held an important place in his heart. Chen Yutian could accept her being with someone she liked; so long as Qiu Lingshan was happy, he would say nothing. But he would absolutely not allow anyone she disliked to harass her.

In the past, Chen Yutian would not have dared to square off against Yu Feng with such confidence. Yu Feng was a Profound-rank expert, after all, while he had then been only an early Yellow-rank expert — the gulf between them could not have been better described than as the distance between heaven and earth. But things were different now. Both were Profound-rank experts, and Chen Yutian's words carried far more weight.

"Naturally. Lingshan, what's the matter with this colleague of yours? Why is he sticking his nose into other people's private affairs?" Yu Feng wanted nothing more than to slap Chen Yutian flying, but for Qiu Lingshan's sake he held himself in check and merely voiced a complaint.

"Other people's affairs I can leave alone, but when it comes to my little sister Lingshan, I must see to them!" Chen Yutian, too, was thoroughly angered by Yu Feng's contemptuous attitude. He rose to his feet and looked coldly at Yu Feng. "Yu Feng, is it? A man ought to have some backbone. The lady doesn't like you, and still you pester her — what is that supposed to mean? Do you think there's any point in it?"

"And what are you?" Yu Feng had not expected this man to call Qiu Lingshan "Lingshan" and insist on meddling, and now to lecture him about backbone and not pestering a woman — who did he think he was? Daring to make a scene in front of him? If Qiu Lingshan had not been there, Yu Feng would have thrown a punch long ago.

"My surname is Chen — Chen Yutian." Chen Yutian extended his hand and said mildly, "I imagine you've heard my name."

"Ha!" Yu Feng looked at the offered hand and showed not the slightest inclination to take it. Instead he burst out laughing. "And here I was wondering who it could be — turns out it's the Chen family's little nobody. Whether your Chen family can even keep its standing as a great family at this Assembly is anyone's guess, and here you are strutting about. An early Yellow-rank expert? Oh, forgive me — I don't know whether you've advanced recently. Perhaps you're a peak early Yellow-rank expert by now, for all I know."

"Yu Feng, mind your tongue. Is this what the heir of the Yu family looks like?" Chen Yutian withdrew his hand, angered by Yu Feng's manner.

He had offered his hand of his own accord, yet Yu Feng had looked straight through it — a gesture that plainly showed he did not hold Chen Yutian in his eyes at all.

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