Chapter 3

Another beautiful day. The sky was dotted with fluffy clouds that looked just like the cotton candy Si Xiaotie loved to eat.

Two-thirty in the afternoon.

The translation team entered the conference room ahead of time. Lin Ke brought along Ma Chanchan, who was so nervous she could barely speak, for one final discussion with Shen Wan, the person in charge of the Entropy Domain project, about today’s meeting flow and key points.

At 2:55, someone arrived at the door.

“President Si,” Shen Wan greeted with a smile and a nod.

Lin Ke turned around and saw the man she had parted with that morning.

Today, he was still dressed in a black suit. The sharp tailoring outlined his broad shoulders and narrow waist perfectly. A black onyx cufflink flashed briefly at his wrist, the only decoration in his entire outfit.

The man possessed flawless features and a tall frame. Influenced by his genes, three-and-a-half-year-old Si Xiaotie was also several centimeters taller than children her age, and the little face that resembled him by fifty or sixty percent was praised by everyone who saw her.

To be honest, Si Xiaotie resembled him more.

Although only half her features looked like his, her mannerisms and expressions were eighty or ninety percent similar—especially when she acted fearless. That unafraid aura toward anything and everything was exactly like him.

Lin Ke’s gaze lingered only briefly before she nodded politely. “Hello, President Si.”

Si Yuming’s gaze swept past her without lingering, and he walked inside.

Thinking it was their first meeting, Shen Wan comforted her kindly. “Although President Si isn’t exactly approachable at work, he separates public and private matters clearly. No need to be nervous.”

Lin Ke smiled lightly. “Okay.”

The meeting was about to begin, and Lin Ke and Ma Chanchan sat down at the interpreters’ seats.

Consecutive interpretation meant the speaker talked for a segment first, then the interpreter translated afterward. It was usually used in situations requiring high translation accuracy and demanded strong speaking skills and professional expertise from the interpreter.

Lin Ke hadn’t expected him to come.

Setting everything else aside, just his mere presence sitting there was intimidating enough.

She glanced sideways. Sure enough, the young woman beside her was trembling so badly her hands shook visibly.

Lin Ke spoke softly to comfort her. “Don’t be scared. Even if you make a mistake, it’s fine. They don’t understand Russian anyway, so whatever you say sounds correct.”

Ma Chanchan’s tense mood immediately relaxed, and she laughed. “Sister Ke, that actually makes so much sense.”

“This is only the first meeting. Most of what they’re discussing has already been communicated beforehand. As long as the important numbers aren’t wrong, there won’t be major issues.” Lin Ke held her hand gently. “If there’s a sentence you’re uncertain about, just kick me under the table. I’ll translate that part.”

Strength once again returned to Ma Chanchan under Lin Ke’s gentle gaze.

“I understand now, Sister Ke. I’ll do my best.”

“Good luck.”

After speaking, Lin Ke raised her eyes, only to meet a seemingly casual glance from the man seated at the head of the table. She quickly lowered her head and focused on the documents.

The other company connected on the large screen. The room fell silent, and the meeting officially began.

The first half of the conversation mainly consisted of greetings, compliments, and expressions of anticipation for cooperation. Ma Chanchan handled it well enough. But once they entered actual business negotiations, she clearly began struggling more and more, with increasingly long pauses before her translations.

The first mistake appeared when the Moscow side introduced their market share.

Ma Chanchan translated thirteen as thirty.

No one noticed.

But Lin Ke instinctively looked over, and sure enough, the man seated at the head of the table had already furrowed his brows deeply.

Ma Chanchan had noticed her own mistake too. Panic-stricken, she froze after the other side finished their next segment.

Lin Ke couldn’t care about anything else and immediately stepped in.

The rest of the hour-long interpretation was completed entirely by her.

The meeting ended, and the other side disconnected.

Lin Ke looked up and once again met that deep gaze, as though it had been resting on her for quite some time.

A moment later, the man slowly looked away and lifted his hand to adjust his cuff. The watch face on his wrist reflected a cold blue glow under the lights.

That single simple action caused the people chatting around the conference table to subconsciously fall silent, waiting for whatever instruction he might give next.

Shen Wan’s warning before the meeting hadn’t been without reason.

Lin Ke had never worked with him directly before, but during her two weeks at Entropy Domain, she had already heard plenty of stories about how decisive and terrifyingly strict President Si was at work. People said even employees who had worked there for over twenty years had once been questioned by him so harshly on the spot that they couldn’t step down gracefully.

So now, even Lin Ke felt nervous, afraid he might seize upon the mistake and make an issue of it.

The man cast another indifferent glance over.

“Manager Lin worked hard.”

His low voice carried no emotion.

Lin Ke finally let out a breath of relief and immediately pulled Ma Chanchan out of the meeting room.

Five-minute break.

Xu Lin replaced the man’s water with a fresh warm cup.

Shen Wan, seated to his right, stepped forward to speak. “President Si, what do you think?”

Originally, she had only wanted to ask how he felt about the other company after today’s initial probing meeting.

But the man lifted his dark eyes slightly and instead asked first, “Who recommended the translation team?”

Shen Wan had worked there nearly six years and knew exactly what kind of person this boss was. He would never ask such a question for no reason.

Her mind quickly spun through possibilities. The only explanation she could think of was Lin Ke suddenly taking over the interpretation midway through the meeting. Most likely, Ma Chanchan had made some kind of mistake.

Shen Wan hurriedly explained, “They’re from Wanxiang Smart Translation, a company we’ve worked with before. Lin Ke is their top Russian translator. After these two weeks, I personally think Manager Lin’s team has been excellent. As for earlier… Ma Chanchan only graduated recently… President Si, from now on I’ll try to arrange for Manager Lin to handle the meetings.”

Si Yuming lifted his cup and took a sip before setting it down gently.

There was no blame in his voice.

“No need. Let Manager Lin arrange things herself.”

“Understood.”

…

16:05.

The meeting ended half an hour earlier than expected.

Once they returned to the twenty-third floor, Ma Chanchan finally gathered the courage to speak after holding back her guilt the entire way.

“Sister Ke… I’m sorry…”

“It’s okay. This isn’t some huge mistake. There’s no translator in the world who never makes mistakes.” Lin Ke spoke seriously. “But Chanchan, in our profession, the worst thing you can do after making a mistake is let your mind go blank. No matter how many mistakes you make, you still have to persist until the meeting ends.”

Ma Chanchan’s eyes turned red. “I understand now, Sister Ke.”

“Alright, go adjust your mindset. Next time, you’re still the one going up.”

“Huh?!” Ma Chanchan wiped her eyes and hurried after the woman striding ahead like the wind. “I’m still going?”

“Yes. Until you successfully complete an interpretation session.”

“O-Okay then…” Seeing how fast Lin Ke was walking, she asked again, “Sister Ke, aren’t you going to pick up your daughter?”

“Not today. Let’s organize the content from earlier and go over it again together.”

Ma Chanchan let out another tiny “Ah.”

They stayed busy all the way until five-thirty. Fortunately, nobody came looking to cause trouble for them.

Still, Ma Chanchan was part of her team after all.

Before getting off work, Lin Ke sent him a message.

【Today was my mistake. I promise something similar won’t happen again next time.】

He didn’t reply.

Lin Ke packed her things and left work.

Unfortunately, they ended up in the same elevator again. The difference this time was that the elevator was crowded.

Lin Ke was almost the last person inside, squeezed near the doors.

A moment later, her phone suddenly chimed with a message notification, instantly breaking the overly tense atmosphere created by the boss’s presence in the elevator.

Embarrassed, Lin Ke glanced down at the screen.

【You didn’t pick up Xiaotie?】

She thought for a moment and didn’t reply.

A few seconds later, another message arrived.

【We’re going back to the old residence together later.】

Everyone in the elevator immediately looked toward her.

Except for Xu Lin, who had noticed earlier that the boss had been typing on his phone the entire time.

Lin Ke hurriedly muted her phone this time before replying.

【What are we going back for?】

“Ding—”

This time, the notification sound came from the boss’s phone.

Lin Ke nearly died from fright. She didn’t even care whether he replied anymore and no longer dared look at her phone.

…

Only after getting into her car did Lin Ke suddenly remember.

Today was Si Yuming’s older sister Si Yun’s birthday.

From the generation of the great-grandfather onward, the Si family had been filled with military achievements. His grandfather had been an untouchable figure whose name couldn’t casually be mentioned, and Si Yuming’s father had once held immense influence as well. Unfortunately, when Si Yuming was around ten years old, an “accidental” car crash took both his parents’ lives. After that, Old Master Si no longer allowed Si Yuming to enter politics.

With their parents gone, the eldest sister became like a mother.

At that time, Si Yun was already an adult. She took care of the elderly grandfather, took care of her younger brother, and carried the responsibility of the Si family on her shoulders.

To Si Yuming and the entire Si family, Si Yun was someone whose importance could never be erased. When Old Master Si passed away, Si Yuming’s decision to move out and leave the old residence to her already explained enough.

But Lin Ke’s relationship with Si Yun was poor.

Her grandfather had once been a subordinate of Old Master Si, and before she turned eight, their families had lived together in the same compound. Later, her father’s investment failed, and their family went bankrupt, forcing them to move away.

Then later, when Old Master Si’s life was nearing its end, he specifically designated her to marry Si Yuming, pushing aside the fiancée candidate Si Yun had originally chosen for him…

Her thoughts were interrupted by a phone call from Si Yuming.

She directly hung up and sent a message instead.

【I’ll go by myself.】

Since she had forgotten Si Yun’s birthday, she naturally hadn’t prepared a gift. She needed to quickly buy one first.

She called her friend Zhang Man and briefly explained the situation. Zhang Man said she happened to have a newly arrived designer bag in stock, so Lin Ke immediately drove over.

Zhang Man had been her university classmate. After graduation, she hadn’t pursued translation seriously. She worked as a tour guide for a while, and after traveling frequently between countries, she started dealing in luxury goods. Now her business was thriving.

Lin Ke took the bag and examined it from left to right without understanding anything. “I’m giving this to Si Yuming’s sister, so don’t sell me a fake bag.”

Zhang Man shot her an annoyed glance. “Do I look like that kind of person? Besides, if other people don’t know, I certainly know how tense things are between you and your sister-in-law. Would I push you into a pit?” Then she added carefully, “But Keke, this bag really isn’t cheap.”

The Si family was wealthy, and in recent years the Lin family could barely be considered well-off too, but none of that money belonged to her.

Aside from daily living expenses, all the money Si Yuming gave her was saved for Si Xiaotie. The only money Lin Ke personally had was what she earned from work over the past two years. This one bag alone would cost nearly one-third of her savings.

Gritting her teeth, Lin Ke handed the bag over. “Wrap it up.”

By the time she arrived at the Si family’s old residence with the gift, it was already seven o’clock.

The villa was brightly lit, and laughter continuously drifted out from inside.

Lin Ke sat in the car for a while before finally going in.

The moment the door opened, the room fell silent briefly before conversations resumed again.

A younger cousin who was closer to her, Wen Miao, came over to greet her warmly. “Sister-in-law, you finally came! We’ve all been waiting for you.”

Lin Ke smiled lightly and walked with her to Si Yun, maintaining a smile the entire time.

“Happy birthday, Sister.”

Si Yun smiled as she accepted the gift. “Thank you. It’s enough that you came back. Why spend money unnecessarily? Xiaotie and Manman are playing inside.”

“Okay, I’ll go take a look.”

Lin Ke seized the opportunity to leave and headed for the study on the first floor.

Manman was Si Yun’s son, Qin Mancheng. He had just started elementary school this year.

Si Yun was extremely strict, so the little boy was usually very obedient and hardworking. Every time the lively and noisy Si Xiaotie went looking for her older cousin to play with, Lin Ke worried Si Yun would glare at her daughter a few more times.

As soon as she opened the door, she saw Si Xiaotie surrounding the boy practicing calligraphy, chattering nonstop. The little boy sat upright with a serious expression.

The moment Si Xiaotie saw her, she shouted loudly, “Mommy!”

Qin Mancheng looked over too and greeted politely, “Hello, Auntie.”

Lin Ke responded and walked over to the two children. She glanced at the characters the little boy had written and immediately felt surprised.

The bold and powerful brush calligraphy on the paper had actually been written by a six-year-old boy.

“Manman writes very well.”

Si Xiaotie tugged at her pant leg and complained pitifully, “Mommy, I want to write too, but Brother won’t let me. He says I can’t write~”

Lin Ke laughed and tapped her forehead lightly. “You can’t even hold the brush properly. How would you write?”

“But if I don’t know, I can learn! If I don’t learn, how would I know I can’t?” Her eyes sparkled brightly. “I want to be amazing like Brother too! Brother is super amazing!”

Qin Mancheng’s face turned red from the praise. He got up from the chair. “Then Xiaotie can write.”

“Okay okay okay!” Si Xiaotie climbed onto the chair with both hands and feet. Since she wasn’t tall enough, she knelt on it instead and fully gripped the brush with her tiny hand. “Brother, like this?”

Seeing her brush grip, Qin Mancheng immediately developed a headache. “Mm. Xiaotie can practice like that first.”

Si Xiaotie immediately began drawing random scribbles across the paper.

The little boy’s serious face became completely impossible to look at.

After a moment, he ran off, dragged over a small stool to stand on, then held the little girl’s hand and began teaching her.

“Xiaotie, I’ll teach you how to write your name.”

“Okay!”

“Si—”

“Le—”

The final character, “Zhen,” was a bit complicated, but not difficult for a six-year-old boy. Qin Mancheng wrote it down smoothly.

But the owner of the name was already getting impatient.

“Brother, this one is such a messy blob.”

“This character is Zhen.”

“I don’t like it. I want to write Xiaotie!”

“Okay. Let’s write Xiaotie.”

When the housekeeper pushed open the door, the siblings were still enthusiastically practicing together. The paper remained filled with random scribbles.

Lin Ke interrupted them. “Alright, let’s go celebrate Auntie’s birthday.”

The moment Si Xiaotie heard that, she immediately dropped the brush without hesitation, jumped off the chair, grabbed Lin Ke’s hand, then after two steps turned back to grab Qin Mancheng too.

“Hurry, Brother! Let’s go eat cake!”

The living room had become even more crowded than before. Everyone surrounded today’s main character in lively conversation.

A faint rose fragrance drifted subtly through the air.

Lin Ke’s eyes flickered.

When she saw the unexpected owner of the fragrance, her body stiffened.

The two children squeezed into the crowd first and gathered around the birthday cake. Lin Ke followed behind and quietly stood off to the side, her gaze occasionally drifting forward.

Originally, Lin Ke hadn’t known Si Yun had already chosen a fiancée for Si Yuming.

Nor had she known who that fiancée was.

Later, she finally understood.

It was Jiang Chengyin, who often came to accompany Si Yun.

It was Jiang Chengyin, who had gone to school with Si Yuming.

It was Jiang Chengyin—the only daughter and heir of the Jiang Group.

At this moment, the glamorous woman stood beside Si Yun with a bright smile, chatting intimately with her. When she noticed the two children, she crouched down warmly to hold their hands, then pulled out prepared gifts from her bag.

“Manman, Xiaotie, Auntie prepared little gifts for you two.”

Qin Mancheng accepted it politely and thanked her.

Si Xiaotie, anxious to eat cake, also quickly muttered a thank-you before stuffing the little gift bag into her cousin’s hands and impatiently looking up at Si Yun.

“Auntie, Auntie, Xiaotie wants cake!”

An awkward expression flashed across Jiang Chengyin’s face for a moment before quickly disappearing. She stood up, preparing to help cut the cake.

Suddenly, the front door opened.

Everyone looked over together.

From between the adults, the little girl also spotted who had arrived and squeezed out while shouting loudly:

“Daddy!”

Si Yuming picked up his daughter and swept his gaze around the room before walking straight toward Lin Ke.

Si Xiaotie twisted around in his arms and shifted herself into her mother’s embrace instead.

“Mommy, I want to sing the Happy Birthday song for Auntie!”

Lin Ke glanced at the man standing before her, a faint smile curving her lips.

“Okay. Let’s sing Happy Birthday.”

…

The old residence remained lively until nearly ten o’clock before guests gradually began leaving.

The two children had also long since exhausted all their energy. Qin Mancheng had gone upstairs early to shower and sleep, while Si Xiaotie had already become drowsy in her father’s arms, her little head nodding repeatedly.

Si Yuming carried the child toward the garage first, while Lin Ke stayed behind to tidy up Si Xiaotie’s little backpack.

“Lin Ke.”

Her movements paused.

Si Yun walked closer, her gaze settling on the father and daughter gradually disappearing into the distance. Only after they vanished around the corner did she look back at Lin Ke and ask clearly:

“Do you still remember the agreement between you and me?”

Lin Ke gripped the backpack strap tightly and replied calmly:

“I remember.”

Five years.

After five years, the agreement would end.

And so would the marriage.