Chapter 092: Chen Yaxin's Purpose

Chapter Ninety-Two: Chen Yaxin's Purpose

At six in the evening, Chu Fei arrived on time at Old Dong's Farmhouse, halfway between Kun City and Donghai.

It was called a farmhouse, but in truth it was only a few simple red-brick buildings. Outside, there was a large parking lot, though because the season was wrong the place was bleak and deserted, with hardly any guests.

At a glance, Chu Fei spotted the proud woman standing at the gate of the courtyard.

Proud, and cold.

She was in her twenties, certainly not yet thirty. Slim and graceful, with delicate features, especially those large, dark eyes, clear and sparkling, very beautiful. Yet the whole of her carried a sharp, formidable air.

This was a woman who exuded strength.

Chu Fei walked over at once.

"You're Chu Fei?" the woman asked with a frown as he came closer. The man before her was very different from what she had imagined.

"You called me. Don't you know who I am?" Chu Fei said with a smile. Since he was already here, he might as well stay calm. Since she even knew about his relationship with Fu Ziqing, he wanted to see what she was after.

This woman was none other than Chen Yaxin, one of the core members of the Qilin Club.

Chen Yaxin gave Chu Fei a cool glance, seeming somewhat disappointed. Chu Fei was handsome enough, but that alone still left her dissatisfied. In her imagination, Fu Ziqing's fiance should have been a deeply rooted, forceful man, someone like Lin Cong, the man she herself admired. Otherwise, how could he possibly deserve Fu Ziqing, that proud daughter of heaven?

Yet the Chu Fei before her, aside from a handsome face, had no other remarkable qualities. Even his manner carried a lazy, self-absorbed air. Could such an unremarkable man really be Fu Ziqing's fiance?

Chen Yaxin found it hard to believe.

If she had not heard it from Lin Cong herself, she would never have believed it. Had Fu Ziqing gone blind?

"What exactly do you want with me?" Chu Fei said, displeased by the way Chen Yaxin kept looking at him. Who stared at someone like this the first time they met?

Chen Yaxin came back to herself, lightly pressed her lips together, turned, and walked away, saying, "Let's talk while we eat."

To Chu Fei's surprise, when Chen Yaxin said they would eat, she did not go inside. Instead, she led him straight out of the courtyard and to the edge of a woods some dozens of meters away at the foot of the slope. There were a few rough wooden tables there, and on one of them sat six dishes covered carefully, along with a bottle of red wine.

"Sit."

Only after Chu Fei followed her over did Chen Yaxin greet him briefly and sit down first. Her voice was still cool, without the slightest warmth of a host.

Chu Fei sat down opposite her. Only then did he see that the six dishes included four hearty meat dishes and two simple vegetable stir-fries. Though they were not arranged with much finesse, the aroma was rich and mouthwatering. Chu Fei, who had only made do with a quick meal at noon, immediately felt his stomach rumbling.

He did not stand on ceremony. Taking up his chopsticks, he picked a piece of mountain pheasant and put it into his mouth. His eyes lit up at once.

"Not bad," he praised.

With that, he bit down on the whole piece of meat. He meant it sincerely: it smelled good, and it tasted even better.

The sight left Chen Yaxin, who had been about to ask Chu Fei to start eating, slightly stunned. She stared at him in silence, eyes wide. She had grown up in luxury and was used to interacting with well-bred young masters, especially around Lin Cong. Lin Cong was a man elegant to the core, and that was precisely what attracted her most. Even those around him tended to imitate him.

She had long since become accustomed to all kinds of graceful men and women, and this was the first time she had seen a man like Chu Fei. To someone like Xu Shiqi, Chu Fei's behavior might seem unconventional or unrestrained, but to Chen Yaxin, who was already dissatisfied with him, there was only one word for it: slovenly.

How could such a man possibly be Fu Ziqing's fiance?

The same question surfaced again in Chen Yaxin's mind. She could not understand how someone so untidy could even make it into Fu Ziqing's eyes, let alone become her fiance.

Chen Yaxin found it unbelievable.

"Hey, stop staring at me and eat. It won't taste good once it gets cold," Chu Fei said after finishing a piece of mountain pheasant and two pieces of rabbit meat, finally easing the hunger in his stomach. Looking up, he found Chen Yaxin staring straight at him, lost in thought. He immediately smiled and urged her to eat, as though he were the host.

Chen Yaxin finally snapped out of it, but she did not pick up her chopsticks. Instead, she simply set them back down. Watching Chu Fei eat had suddenly killed her appetite.

At that moment, Chen Yaxin regretted her decision. Perhaps she should never have come to meet Chu Fei. How could a man like trash possibly deserve Fu Ziqing?

"By the way, what's your name?" Chu Fei asked, lifting a chicken leg, taking a bite, then looking up.

"Chen Yaxin," she replied calmly. She had already composed herself.

"Right, Chen Yaxin. We didn't know each other before, did we?" Chu Fei asked directly.

"No, we didn't."

"You know Fu Ziqing?" Chu Fei asked next.

"Yes, but not very well." Chen Yaxin did not hide it. She answered honestly. She had come here today intending to lay everything on the table.

"Then how did you find out about my relationship with Fu Ziqing?" Chu Fei asked, looking at the woman before him with curiosity. He had originally thought she was Fu Ziqing's friend, maybe even a close one, otherwise she could not have known about this connection. But her answer left him puzzled.

"How I found out isn't the point. The point is, are you really Fu Ziqing's fiance?" Chen Yaxin asked in return, looking at Chu Fei with a complicated expression.

"Since you already know, why ask?" Chu Fei said with a slight curl of his lips.

Chen Yaxin said nothing. She frowned at him, thinking about something.

"You don't know me, and you're not close to Fu Ziqing either. Yet you specifically asked me to meet you here, so you must have a reason. Speak up. What do you want?" Chu Fei asked bluntly.

Chen Yaxin nodded. "Next Sunday is Old Master Fu's eightieth birthday. The celebration will be held at Charming Heart Garden. You know about that, don't you?"

"Only a little," Chu Fei said with a nod. He only knew that next Sunday was Old Master Fu's birthday banquet; he did not know the exact venue.

"The day before yesterday, Fu Ziqing specifically came to Kun City to find you. Was she asking you to accompany her to the banquet?" Chen Yaxin continued, still very direct.

"That's right."

"Then will you go?" Chen Yaxin asked, fixing her gaze on Chu Fei.

"You called me all the way out here just to ask that?" Chu Fei looked at her strangely.

"Fu Ziqing is Old Master's only direct granddaughter, and she's also the current acting head of the Fu family. As her fiance, you surely won't miss Old Master's eightieth birthday," Chen Yaxin said as if speaking to herself.

"Is that so?"

Chu Fei was even more puzzled. Even someone as clever as he could not guess this woman's true aim. Was she a friend of the Fu family, or an enemy?

"I know you're definitely going, but there is something I need to tell you. Although you and Fu Ziqing are engaged, the Fu family does not acknowledge it. More than that, at the banquet, Old Master Lin of the Lin family will personally propose marriage on behalf of his grandson, the eldest young master of the Lin family. And the one he will propose to is your fiancee."

Chen Yaxin said this in one breath, then looked at Chu Fei. "I'm telling you this now so you'll be prepared. Don't be caught off guard when the time comes."

"You're saying I shouldn't go and make a fool of myself?" Chu Fei raised an eyebrow, still unable to determine what she wanted.

"That's not what I mean. I'm only reminding you to be mentally prepared. As for what happens in the end, whether Old Master's birthday banquet becomes an engagement feast praised by both families, that will depend on whether you have the ability to stop all this," Chen Yaxin said seriously.

"You should understand that at this banquet, the people you face won't be only the Lin family, but the Fu family as well. Aside from Fu Ziqing, I'm afraid not a single person in the Fu family will stand by your side."

"So what? The one engaged to me is Fu Ziqing, not the Fu family. What does their agreement have to do with me?" Chu Fei said indifferently, completely unimpressed.

Chen Yaxin gave a cold laugh. "You really are confident. But perhaps you don't understand the helplessness of children born into a clan family. If the Fu family refuses to approve your marriage to Fu Ziqing, then it won't matter whether you merely have an engagement or are already married. In a powerful family, everything is about the interests of the family. A son's or daughter's feelings come second."

"Is that so?"

Chu Fei lifted an eyebrow. Of course he understood the sorrow of the younger generation in great families. He even knew that many of them were joined together for the sake of profit, while secretly each kept their own lovers and did not interfere with one another, forming a peculiar class of people.

Chu Fei suddenly glanced at Chen Yaxin and asked, "Why are you so concerned about my relationship with Fu Ziqing?"

Chen Yaxin did not answer. Instead, she continued as if by habit, "Fu Ziqing is now the acting head of the Fu family, and also the undisputed first heir to its future. If you marry Fu Ziqing, at least half of the Fu family's assets will go with her as dowry. Aren't you tempted?"

"Is that also the main reason the Lin family is proposing?" Chu Fei's expression grew odd as he looked at Chen Yaxin. At this point, he was beginning to understand her position.

Chen Yaxin shook her head proudly. "I don't know what the Lin family is thinking, but Young Master Lin definitely would not have such intentions. He is a genius of extraordinary brilliance in his own right and does not need marriage to gain the Fu family's power."

"You like Lin Cong?" Chu Fei asked suddenly, finally confirming his guess.

Chen Yaxin was not surprised in the least. She glanced at him and said, "You guessed right. I do like Young Master Lin, but he doesn't like me. He likes your fiancee, Fu Ziqing. Only Fu Ziqing is worthy of Young Master Lin's talent."

"Hahaha..."

Chu Fei could not help laughing. He suddenly found this woman rather adorable. It was not strange for a woman to have a man she admired, but Chen Yaxin's infatuation with Lin Cong had clearly reached the point where she could no longer tell right from wrong.

"What are you laughing at?" Chen Yaxin frowned slightly.

"Nothing much. I just think you're quite cute. You're not Lin Cong. How would you know what he really thinks? Maybe his true aim is the Fu family's property," Chu Fei said with a smile, shaking his head.

"You'd better not slander Young Master Lin in front of me. He is not nearly as unbearable as you make him sound," Chen Yaxin said with a cold snort. She was not angry at all. Instead, she lifted her lips in disdain.

Chu Fei sighed. This woman was truly beyond saving.