Unexpected Second Chance at Love

That afternoon, not far from De L’amour, Lin Hui stepped into a quiet coffee shop.

Unlike Liu Shan and the others, he didn’t work at De L’amour, so he was free to keep following the leads they had uncovered the night before.

Unfortunately, none had led directly to Liu Peng or Choi Li Sun.

Instead, Lin Hui had managed to identify one of the two men seen leaving the private room with Choi Li Sun at the lounge bar.

It was not much.

But it was somewhere to start.

His investigation had eventually brought him here.

According to what he had uncovered, the man frequently visited the building next door. A massage parlor that appeared ordinary on the surface but beneath, it was a much darker place.

Lin Hui had been watching it since morning.

The man had yet to appear.

After hours of waiting, he decided to step into the coffee shop for something warm while keeping an eye on the entrance next door.

”Sir, your coffee is ready.”

The employee’s voice pulled him from his thoughts.

Lin Hui walked to the counter and picked up his drink.

”Thank you.”

He turned—

And nearly collided with someone.

His reflexes kicked in immediately. He shifted sideways before the coffee could spill.

”My apologies. I didn’t see you there.”

He had spoken without looking up, but his eyes caught a pair of pointed black stilettos.

”Oh, no. It was my fault. I should’ve watched where I was going.”

Lin Hui froze.

That voice.

His gaze lifted.

Wavy red hair framed a familiar face.

Surprise flickered through his eyes.

”Miss Qin.”

Qin Xue looked equally startled.

Of all the people she could have encountered today, she had never expected him.

”Lin Hui. It’s good to see you.”

Her voice was warm. The blush on her cheeks made her look like a girl standing in front of her crush.

However, Lin Hui’s reaction was not like hers.

He merely gave her a small nod.

Qin Xue’s heart tightened.

The last time they had seen each other was after their accidental kiss.

A kiss she had boldly claimed she would take responsibility for.

She had wanted to contact him afterward, but she did not know where to begin. She considered asking Yue Ling but knowing how busy the retired model was, she couldn’t bring herself to bother her over something so personal.

And now Lin Hui was standing directly in front of her.

Yet he behaved as though nothing had happened.

As though the kiss had never happened.

As though her declaration afterward had meant absolutely nothing.

Then again, what had she expected?

This was only the third time meeting.

There was nothing between them.

Still, disappointment settled heavily in her chest.

She pushed it aside.

”How have you—”

A hand suddenly wrapped around her arm.

Qin Xue was yanked backward.

”You have some nerve showing up in front of my daughter.”

Lin Hui’s expression changed.

Qin Xue stumbled before turning around.

”Mother?”

Madam Qin stood beside her, glaring at Lin Hui as though he had committed some unforgivable offense.

She had been sitting near the window waiting for her daughter to return from the restroom. When Qin Xue took longer than expected, she came looking for her.

Never had she imagined she would find her daughter speaking with him.

Madam Qin’s eyes swept over Lin Hui from head to toe, her expression twisting with undisguised contempt.

A pair of black jeans, a plain white shirt, and a motorcycle jacket.

How utterly unimpressive.

She released a mocking laugh.

”Look at yourself. Do you honestly believe someone dressed like you has any right to approach my daughter?”

”Mother!” Qin Xue exclaimed.

Madam Qin ignored her. Since Lin Hui didn’t seem to understand his place, she was going to let him know.

”Do you even understand the difference between someone like you and someone like my Xue’er?”

She lifted her chin, looking at Lin Hui as though he were something filthy beneath her shoes.

”My daughter was born into wealth and privilege. She has received the finest education, worn the finest clothes, and associated with people whose names actually mean something in Imperial.”

Her lips curled with disdain.

”And you? What exactly do you have to offer her?”

Lin Hui remained silent.

His lack of reaction only irritated her further.

”Let me guess. You think that because my daughter has shown you a little kindness, you’ve somehow earned the right to pursue her?”

She scoffed.

”Know your place.”

Qin Xue’s face flushed with anger.

”Mother, that’s enough!”

”No, Xue’er. Someone needs to teach this man where he belongs.”

Madam Qin pointed a manicured finger at Lin Hui.

”Men like you are all the same. You see a wealthy young woman and suddenly start dreaming of a life you could never afford on your own.”

Her eyes narrowed viciously.

”Do you honestly believe putting on a clean shirt and pretending to have manners will make you worthy of entering the Qin family?”

She laughed coldly.

”Even if you worked yourself to death for the next hundred years, you would never be good enough to stand beside my daughter.”

The coffee shop gradually fell silent.

Several customers turned toward them.

But Madam Qin seemed to enjoy the attention.

She stepped closer.

”Listen carefully. My daughter will marry someone from a distinguished family. A man with wealth, education, and a respectable background. Someone whose very surname commands respect.”

Her expression hardened.

”Not some lowly insignificant nobody who probably has to count every penny before buying himself a decent meal.”

Lin Hui’s fingers tightened slightly around his coffee cup.

But he said nothing.

Madam Qin mistook his silence for humiliation.

A satisfied smirk spread across her face.

”That’s right. Lower your head. At least you have enough sense to understand your position.”

She waved her hand dismissively.

”Now leave. And don’t ever let me catch you hovering around my daughter again. The very thought of someone like you imagining himself part of our family disgusts me.”

Lin Hui stood in silence, never once defending himself.

There was no anger in his expression.

Only a quiet indifference that Madam Qin failed to recognize.

He had nothing to prove to her.

He genuinely did not understand people like her.

Because she came from money, she believed anyone without a prestigious surname stood beneath her.

He had money.

Plenty of it.

But every cent he possessed had been earned through his own work.

He had never considered himself superior to someone simply because they earned less.

Even his boss did not behave this way.

His boss possessed wealth the Qin family could only dream of, yet she had never measured another person’s worth by the number in their bank account.

That was also something he had learned from her.

To never judge someone before knowing their story.

Lin Hui released a quiet breath.

There was no reason to argue.

He was not interested in proving his worth to Madam Qin. Nor did he want to create a scene that could interfere with the reason he was here.

He gave a polite bow.

”I’ll take my leave, then.”

He turned toward the entrance.

”Lin Hui!”

Qin Xue called out, attempting to follow him.

Madam Qin immediately seized her arm.

”Xue’er! Have you lost your mind?”

”Mother, let go!”

”Why are you chasing after him? Have you no shame?”

Qin Xue stared at her mother in disbelief.

”He didn’t do anything wrong! You’re the one who insulted him!”

”Didn’t do anything wrong?”

Madam Qin gave a sharp, contemptuous laugh.

”His greatest mistake was thinking someone of his standing could ever be associated with our family.”

She glanced toward Lin Hui’s retreating figure.

”Look at him. No prestigious family name, no respectable background, nothing worth mentioning. People like him should be grateful when someone of our status even acknowledges their existence.”

Her voice grew colder.

”Frankly, just the thought of him standing beside you makes me sick.”

”Mother!”

Qin Xue stared at her mother in horror and disbelief, her eyes widening as the cruelty of those words slowly sank in.

She had always known her mother to be outspoken, arrogant, and overly concerned with social status, but never had she imagined the woman to be so vicious.

Each insult directed at Lin Hui felt more unforgivable than the last.

For the first time, Qin Xue found herself looking at her own mother as though she were a complete stranger.

Madam Qin pointed toward Lin Hui.

”Not that worthless nobody. He isn’t even fit to stand in your shadow, much less dream of becoming your husband!”

Qin Xue stared at her in disbelief.

Madam Qin continued as though she had said nothing cruel.

”I’ve already arranged your next blind date. The young man comes from an excellent family and has a proper education. That’s the sort of man you should be entertaining.”

”Mother, I don’t want—”

Madam Qin’s tightens her hold on her daughter. She knows that her daughter has a crush on Lin Hui and she will never support it.

Her finger remains pointing at Lin Hui’s back.

”Look at him. Just his existence is wrong!”

*SLAM—!

A thunderous sound erupted from the back of the coffee shop.

Cups rattled against their saucers.

Several customers jumped.

Madam Qin flinched.

Then an elderly man’s furious voice echoed throughout the room.

”HOW DARE YOU!”

Everyone turned.

Madam Qin spun around, prepared to reprimand whoever had dared interrupt her.

But the moment she recognized him, every trace of color drained from her face.

”G-G-General J-Ji...”

Grandfather Ji stood with both palms pressed against the table, his expression dark with fury.

The former general’s aging body might have weakened, but nothing about his presence had.

At that moment, he looked every bit like the man who had once commanded soldiers on a battlefield.

Across from him, Ji Jingxu had already turned in his seat.

His expression was equally dark.

His gaze moved from Madam Qin—

To Lin Hui.

Lin Hui had stopped only a step from the door due to the sudden sound.

Ji Jingxu pressed his lips tightly together.

He knew those words.

Perhaps not the exact ones.

But he knew what it was like to have someone look at you as though your existence somehow made you inferior.

He had endured enough of it after being adopted into the Ji family.

Whispers.

Judgment.

People questioning whether he belonged.

Whether he deserved the Ji surname.

Whether blood somehow determined his worth.

Hearing Madam Qin speak to Lin Hui that way struck something raw inside him.

He knew what kind of person Lin Hui was.

The man would put his life on the line just to save his friends.

Unaware of the boy’s thoughts, Lin Hui slowly turned.

Surprise briefly crossed his face when he recognized the grandfather and grandson.

He had been so focused on catching his lead that he did not realize they were in the coffee shop.

Embarrassment came to him for failing to notice them but he bowed respectfully.

”Grandfather Ji. Jingxu.”

Grandfather Ji’s anger only deepened at the young man’s polite behavior.

He and Jingxu had merely been passing time before heading to De L’amour to meet Yue Ling. They had chosen the quiet coffee shop because he wanted somewhere warm to sit.

At first, they had paid little attention to the disagreement.

Then the woman’s voice had grown louder.

Lowly.

Unworthy.

Just his existence is wrong.

And when Grandfather Ji finally looked over, he saw Lin Hui silently walking away.

The young man never once argued back or defended himself.

That was enough.

Grandfather Ji reached for his cane. He stepped around the table and approached him.

His expression softened only slightly when he stopped beside the younger man.

He had known Lin Hui long enough to consider the young man like his own.

And for that, he could not sit back and watch someone belittle him.

He placed one hand firmly on Lin Hui’s shoulder.

The gesture caught Lin Hui off guard.

”Grandfather Ji...”

The old man said nothing to him.

Instead, his head turned toward Madam Qin.

The middle-aged woman flinched at his coldness.

”G-General Ji, there’s been a misunderstanding—”

”A misunderstanding?”

He narrowed his eyes at the woman.

”I heard every word.”

His gaze swept over her with undisguised disappointment.

”You speak of education, reputation, and distinguished upbringing. Yet you stand in a public establishment humiliating a young man who has shown you nothing but courtesy.”

Madam Qin opened her mouth.

Grandfather Ji cut her off.

”Tell me, Madam Qin. What good is a prestigious family name when the person carrying it has neither dignity nor character?”

Her face turned deathly pale.

Grandfather Ji moved his hand from Lin Hui’s shoulder. He slowly turned until he was facing Madam Qin completely.

His eyes were frighteningly cold.

”A worthless nobody?”

His voice was low, but every word carried across the silent coffee shop.

”Not fit to stand in your daughter’s shadow?”

He took a step forward.

”Madam Qin, I’d like you to repeat those words while looking me in the eyes.”

Madam Qin’s lips trembled.

”I—I...”

Madam Qin went completely still then her face burned.

Everyone was watching.

Yet humiliation was the least of her concerns.

This was General Ji.

The Ji family was not someone the Qin family could afford to offend.

”G-General Ji, it really was a misunderstanding.”

”Was it?”

”Yes.”

She quickly pulled Qin Xue closer by the arm.

”You see, this man harbors ill intentions toward my family’s Xue’er.”

Qin Xue’s eyes widened.

”Mother, that isn’t true!”

Madam Qin ignored her.

”As her mother, naturally I’m concerned.”

She raised one hand to her eye, wiping away a tear that did not exist.

”I cannot simply stand here and watch someone unworthy deceive my daughter.”

Grandfather Ji’s face grew darker with every word.

Lin Hui noticed.

”Grandfather Ji, there’s no need—”

Grandfather Ji ignored him and stepped forward.

Not because Lin Hui needed protection.

But because the old man had decided to give it anyway.

”You keep calling him unworthy...”

Madam Qin swallowed as Grandfather Ji took another step and stood in n a protective stance in front of Lin Hui.

His gaze darkened dangerously at Madam Qin.

”Who gave you the authority to call my Ji family’s Lin Hui worthless?”

Lin Hui froze.

His eyes widened ever so slightly.

’My Ji family’s Lin Hui.’

Even Qin Xue stared at Grandfather Ji.

Madam Qin looked as though the ground had disappeared beneath her feet.

”Y-Your... Ji family?”

Before she could recover, another figure stepped forward.

Ji Jingxu stopped beside his grandfather.

Then, without hesitation, he moved directly in front of Lin Hui in the same protective stance.

Lin Hui blinked at the younger man’s back.

”Jingxu?”

Never did he think the boy would stand up for him.

Ji Jingxu ignored him. His usually easygoing expression had disappeared.

He looked directly at Madam Qin.

”My grandfather is right.”

Madam Qin’s lips trembled.

Ji Jingxu’s eyes were cold.

”You keep calling him lowly and unworthy because you think his family background determines his worth.”

His jaw tightened.

”I know exactly what that feels like.”

Grandfather Ji glanced at his grandson.

Something painful flickered through his eyes.

But Ji Jingxu continued.

”You said his existence is wrong.”

Qin Xue lowered her gaze in shame at her mother’s words.

Ji Jingxu’s voice hardened.

”What gives you the right to decide whether someone deserves to exist?”

Madam Qin opened her mouth.

Nothing came out.

”You don’t know him,” Ji Jingxu continued. ”You don’t know what he’s accomplished or what kind of person he is.”

He took another step forward.

”So if your only reason for insulting him is because you think your family has more money...”

A humorless smile touched his lips.

”...then you chose the wrong people to say it in front of.”

Grandfather Ji straightened beside him.

Grandfather and grandson stood shoulder to shoulder.

One old.

One young.

Yet the resemblance between them at that moment was unmistakable.

Neither moved.

Neither lowered his gaze.

They stood as though they were facing an enemy across a battlefield, silently placing Lin Hui behind the line they had drawn.

Protecting one of their own.

Lin Hui stared at their backs.

For perhaps the first time since Madam Qin began berating him, he did not know what to say.

He did not need anyone to defend him.

He had dealt with people far crueler than her.

Her words had not wounded him enough to matter.

But strangely—

’My Ji family’s Lin Hui.’

Those words remained in his mind.

Those were words his boss would say when others looked down on him or the others.

A way to let people know that they were her people.

Even he didn’t dare to imagine how angry his boss would be if it had been her standing here and not Grandfather Ji and Ji Jingxu.

Grandfather Ji kept his attention fully on Madam Qin.

His voice lowered.

”If you wish to boast about the Qin family’s status, do so elsewhere.”

His eyes turned frighteningly cold.

”But if you intend to use that status to humiliate someone I consider family...”

He paused.

”Then perhaps the Ji family and Qin family should have a proper discussion about exactly whose standing gives them the right to look down upon whom.”

Madam Qin’s face went white.

”General Ji, I—I didn’t mean—”

”You meant every word.”

The blunt response silenced her.

Qin Xue closed her eyes briefly.

When she opened them, she gently but firmly removed her arm from her mother’s grasp.

Madam Qin looked at her.

”Xue’er?”

Qin Xue did not answer.

Her eyes went instead to the man standing behind Grandfather Ji and Ji Jingxu.

Lin Hui met her gaze.

Embarrassment filled her face.

But beneath it was something else.

Regret.

She had wanted another chance to speak with him after their last encounter.

Instead, when that chance finally came, he had been humiliated because of her.

”Lin Hui...”

He looked at her quietly.

”I’m sorry.”

Lin Hui’s expression softened by the smallest degree.

”You don’t need to apologize for someone else’s words.”

Madam Qin stiffened.

Qin Xue felt an ache in her chest.

Even now, he did not blame her.

Lin Hui glanced toward Grandfather Ji and Jingxu.

Then back at the coffee still somehow intact in his hand.

A faint sigh escaped him.

He had come inside for one drink while waiting for a lead.

Instead, he had somehow found himself at the center of a family confrontation.

And judging by the fury still burning in Ji Jingxu and Grandfather Ji’s eyes—

It was probably far from over.