After careful thought, Ling Qianchen still felt something was amiss. A cursory glance earlier had made the scene on the other end of the phone seem somewhat familiar, and now he had even heard a voice that rang a bell.
Moreover, if he wasn't mistaken, the voice calling Ai Yue to dinner sounded a bit like his family's butler.
However, how could that be possible? The butler had been with the Ling family for over a decade and was like half a family member. If the butler knew Ai Yue, how could he not be aware of it?
Filled with doubts, Ling Qianchen simply picked up his phone and dialed the home number.
Just as the butler was coming downstairs, he heard the landline in the living room ringing. He quickly walked over to the sofa and picked it up.
"Hello, young master?" The butler was a bit curious. The old madam was out, and the young master had always been indifferent to the young mistress. Why did he suddenly call home? Could it be that he had forgotten some documents at home?
Hearing the familiar voice, Ling Qianchen frowned slightly. The voice was almost identical.
"Oh, it's me. What is Yuan Meng doing now?" His tone towards the butler was not as cold as it was towards Yuan Meng.
The butler was overjoyed. The young master was asking about the young mistress! Oh my goodness, had the young master finally come to his senses and realized the young mistress's merits?
His tone softened as his mind raced. The butler replied with a beaming smile, "The young mistress is in the room upstairs. I just went to call her down for dinner!"
Dinner. If he wasn't mistaken, the familiar voice on the phone earlier had also been calling Ai Yue to dinner.
Could there really be such a coincidence in the world? A familiar voice, a somewhat familiar scene, and the same call for dinner.
His heart was clouded with suspicion. Just as he was about to think further, he saw another voice call pop up on his phone screen.
Ai Yue?
He quickly hung up on the butler and answered the voice call invitation from Ai Yue.
"Sorry, my family just called me for dinner. I accidentally hung up the phone." Ai Yue's voice came through. Ling Qianchen felt something was off, but when he listened carefully, it seemed okay.
"It's okay. Why don't you go have dinner first?" Ling Qianchen said, with his own thoughts in mind.
On the other end, Ai Yue said that the previous voice call had made her eager to continue discussing the topic of the network security system. As for dinner, it could wait until the topic was over.
Ling Qianchen minimized the voice call page, found the butler's WeChat, and sent a message.
"What is Yuan Meng doing now?"
It was the same question. The butler was a bit confused, but he still replied honestly, "The young mistress has come downstairs and is having dinner."
Having dinner? Had he been overthinking?
Still not quite convinced, Ling Qianchen listened to Ai Yue's words on the other end, occasionally chiming in to express his opinions.
At the same time, his fingers moved nimbly as he quickly typed a line: "Send me a video to have a look."
When the butler received this message, he was on the verge of tears. The young master had really seen the light and started to care about the young mistress. Asking for a video must be because he wanted to see what the young mistress was having for dinner.
Alas, young people! It must be that the young master felt he had been too cold towards the young mistress before and was too embarrassed to show his concern directly, which was why he asked him.
The butler, who was lost in his thoughts, wore a satisfied smile on his face. He quietly picked up his phone and filmed a video of Yuan Meng having dinner.
After sending the video, the butler even added a special note: Young master, the young mistress is very easy to feed. She's not picky at all.
Ling Qianchen: "?" What does that have to do with me? Who cares if she's picky or not.
After confirming that the woman having dinner in the video was indeed Yuan Meng, Ling Qianchen suddenly laughed. When had he become so suspicious? Maybe he had been too busy recently and misheard.
"Regarding this network security system, since we want to make it perfect, the process in between will inevitably be arduous. Just like the three types of security systems that have been introduced before, they also went through countless trials. Only after ensuring a certain level of security were they accepted by the public. And the security system we want to create is mainly for various enterprises to protect their security secrets. It must have higher security, confidentiality, and other performance than the other three types of security systems in order to completely replace them."
Ai Yue continued. Once she got into her field of expertise, she fully demonstrated her strengths.
Ling Qianchen had been a bit absent - minded when discussing this matter, wondering if Yuan Meng and Ai Yue were the same person. Now that he had a definite answer, he finally became serious.
After some discussions, a preliminary plan for the network security system project with the Liu Group had been formulated.
On the other side, Yuan Meng was acting as if nothing had happened. She ate her dinner just like any other day. After she was full, she picked up a napkin and wiped her mouth.
She gave a smile and said to the butler standing beside the dining table, "Uncle Butler, I'm full. I'll go upstairs first."
The butler smiled amiably. He really wanted to tell Yuan Meng that Ling Qianchen had asked about her twice, but thinking about his young master's pride, he remained silent. However, the smile on his face couldn't be suppressed.
"Okay, take your time. If you're tired, take a nap and have a good rest."
After going upstairs, Yuan Meng locked the door as usual. She took out her phone and saw a message.
"Ai Ai, I've helped you so much. Don't forget to give me some rewards!"
Sender: Tuo Yishan
There were other messages below, also from Tuo Yishan.
"You're really something. To avoid being exposed, you came up with such a plan. Fortunately, your sister is smart. Otherwise, you would have shown your true colors. You know, if you were discovered, you wouldn't be able to get a divorce."
Indeed, Yuan Meng had been having dinner downstairs, but the person talking to Ling Qianchen was Ai Yue.
When the butler came to call her for dinner, Yuan Meng knew she was in danger of being exposed. She quickly sent a message to her best friend.
She asked her to log in to Ai Yue's WeChat and pretend to be Ai Yue to talk to Ling Qianchen, aiming to dispel Ling Qianchen's possible doubts.
Now it seemed that her worry was not unfounded. While having dinner, she had noticed the butler secretly filming her, so she naturally knew what was going on.
As soon as she saw the word "rewards", Yuan Meng felt a pang in her heart.
It was all Ling Qianchen's fault. Why did he have to make that call? If it weren't for him, she wouldn't have had to ask someone to impersonate her and lose a large sum of money.
She had had a slight favorable impression of Ling Qianchen because of his knowledge of the network security system. But now, that little bit of favor had completely vanished because of this large reward.