"But if Zhu Qianying were as subservient as Qin Xiu and the others, she wouldn't be Zhu Qianying!
"Why should I go pick them up? I've never met the Yan family's elders. At the moment, I have nothing to do with the young man from the Yan family. Why should I go out of my way to pick them up? From either perspective, it doesn't make any sense at all!"
Zhu Qianying argued confidently. The usually eloquent special assistant was stuck, unable to find suitable reasons to refute her, let alone convince her.
In fact, given the current situation, her status was indeed slightly awkward.
She couldn't even claim to be a friend of Mr. Yan's. So how could she introduce herself when picking up the two old people at the airport?
Should she say: 'Hello, I'm the woman whom your son handpicked as your potential daughter-in-law'?
That's simply absurd!
Not to mention whether the elders of the Yan family would accept this, even he as a special assistant find this strange!
Since the special assistant didn't respond, Zhu Qianying thought he was figuring out how to convince her, and continued speaking.
"Mr. Qin, tell me, when I meet them, who should I say I am? A friend of Young Master Yan? Or his girlfriend? Or should I just say outright that I am your future daughter-in-law? But when these words that sound normal from Mr. Yan's mouth come out of mine, the meaning changes completely. Would any parent not consider it a provocation and a display of dominance when a stranger woman says these words? Would they think of me as anything other than an arrogant, ill-mannered woman?"
The special assistant was once again left speechless.
In the past, he often felt that Young Yan was the most demanding boss in the world. He found it hard to keep up with Young Yan's meticulous, quick wit and even harder trying to figure out his capricious thoughts.
Now, this woman who was acknowledged by Yan as his future wife, was no less thoughtful or logical than Yan.
He could almost foresee his gloomy future. Dealing with these two all day long, he worried if he could even preserve his life in one piece.
"Miss Zhu, what do you mean by that?"
The usually eloquent and quick-thinking special assistant actually was persuaded by Zhu Qianying and was swiftly switched sides.
Zhu Qianying naturally said, "Either let Mr. Yan pick them up with me, or he can go pick them up by himself. Either way, I won't go alone!"
It seemed like a simple airport pickup, but Zhu Qianying clearly saw the underlying stakes.
Speaking of the Yan family, from Mr. Yan to Mrs. Yan and Young Mr. Yan, each one on their own was a powerful figure capable of high-handed manipulation equal to making or breaking everything.
Small players talked about them with great interest, but when they actually had to deal with them face-to-face, they would uncontrollably tremble. These people, Zhu Qianying had never wanted or could afford to offend any one of them.
The whole country knew about Yan's wife selection.
His goal was not to select a wife, but to let those who were forcing him to get married understand that there isn't a woman in this world who meets his requirements and catches his eye.
That is to say, he never thought about getting married from the start, because he designed this wife selection competition without expecting any "survivors" in the end.
So, she was an unwelcome nuisance to Yan.
If it weren't for her outdoing him at every turn yesterday, not allowing him to back out, she would have been sent away with money by him yesterday.
But just because he can't back out himself doesn't mean he won't use his parents to get rid of her.
After all, compared to keeping his word, listening to one's parents is also a virtue.
Abandoning credibility to respect the wishes of his parents might not sound good, but at least he could fall into the good graces of being a filial son, conveniently getting rid of the woman he dislikes, and also dispelling his parents' intentions of forcing him to marry. Why wouldn't he do that if he gets to kill three birds with one stone?
While Zhu Qianying analyzed the mystery behind this seemingly trivial matter, Yan's all-around special assistant was still racking his brains for solutions.
He was quite troubled about Zhu Qianying's proposal and demand.
First of all, it was Yan himself who instructed her to go to the airport with Uncle Hai to pick up the two elders. He, as the special assistant, was only responsible for carrying out the orders. If she refused to go, that would mean he was incompetent in his duties.
Secondly, whether or not Yan should go pick up the two elders was not something his special assistant could decide. Asking Yan to go with her was more like killing him than troubling him.
"Miss Zhu, I... I can't make that decision."
Qin Xiu looked troubled, but he treated Zhu Qianying with utmost respect. After all, she was very likely to become his boss's wife. Having witnessed her various performances, Qin Xiu had long lost any intention of underestimating her.
Zhu Qianying looked at him thoughtfully, understanding the hidden meaning of his words. To go or not to go, and how to do so, was a negotiation she needed to make directly with Yan. He was merely acting as a parrot, passing on the message word for word.
After ascertaining the special assistant's loyalty, Zhu Qianying gave up her original plan. She looked around the spacious living room but couldn't find Yan.
"How about this? Could you please let Mr. Yan know that I would like to meet him?"
Zhu Qianying was well aware of her situation. If Qin Xiu didn't pass on her message, there would be no way for her alone to find Yan in this building that was as big as a hotel.
Qin Xiu silently looked at her and decided to make a call as he acknowledged he had no ability to persuade her to go to the airport alone to pick up the two elders.
"Sir, Miss Zhu would like to meet you."
Zhu Qianying said "wants to see him," and Qin Xiu slightly modified it to "would like to see you". "Want" and "would like" represent completely different attitudes and concepts. In Qin Xiu's memory, only Lady Yan dared to say she "wants to see" Young Yan.
Other people always only dared to say they "would like to see" him.
"I'm busy!"
The Yan at the other end of the phone succinctly expressed his unwillingness.
Qin Xiu sighed silently. He knew that when he made this call, he would be the one in trouble.
Throwing a glance at Zhu Qianying, who had somehow found a book to read as if none of this concerned her, Qin Xiu stood up, walked to a corner where Zhu Qianying couldn't hear him, gritted his teeth and whispered into the phone.
"Sir, Miss Zhu doesn't want to go to the airport with Uncle Hai to pick up Lady Yan and Mr. Yan."
"Tie her up and take her there!" A simple and brutal method, usually extremely efficient and fully in line with Yan's character.
Moreover, Qin Xiu believed that he was not just talking about it, but actually capable of doing it.
"But..."
"But what, aren't you supposed to be all-capable? Don't tell me you can't even handle one woman!"
Yan's voice already contained clear displeasure. He finished impatiently and hung up the phone.