Chapter 167 - 166: A Lesson in Family Status

When Ning Ruoxi agreed, Ye Ling breathed a sigh of relief.

If she hadn’t agreed, he wouldn’t have dared to go to this so-called social mixer.

Our Brother Ling may be a total badass, but...

At the end of the day, he was still completely whipped!

Just as Ye Ling looked up, He Jian and the other two immediately huddled around him, their eyes full of anticipation. "So? How’d it go?"

"It’s fine. She agreed."

Ye Ling waved his hand dismissively, a disdainful look on his face. "I only asked to show her some basic respect. It was just a formality. A man’s gotta be a man. What kind of system would we have if we listened to women all the time?"

"Brother Ling, you’re the man!"

Hearing this, He Jian and the other two nodded, completely convinced.

In that moment, Ye Ling’s stature grew even greater in their eyes.

’Brother Ling truly is our role model!’

’Now that’s a real man!’

Basking in their admiring gazes, Ye Ling couldn’t help but feel a little smug.

’Who’s the boss in my relationship? Now you know.’

...

Since Ning Ruoxi wasn’t coming to campus that day, Ye Ling went to the cafeteria with He Jian and the others.

"Brother Ling, lunch is on us brothers. Order whatever you want,"

Yang Yu declared magnanimously.

"I’m not trying to be difficult, but if you’re treating, can’t we go somewhere else? Are you sure you want to eat in the school cafeteria?"

Ye Ling glanced at the guy and rolled his eyes.

"Hehe, I’m a bit short on cash lately,"

Yang Yu, having been called out, scratched his head in embarrassment.

"You’re short on cash?"

Ye Ling was taken aback. "Aren’t you single?" he asked, completely surprised.

’In Ye Ling’s opinion, single guys should be the ones with the most money... After all, once you get a girlfriend, you’re always getting dragged out shopping. After one big spree, your wallet is guaranteed to shrink.’

"Sigh, our national team finally won a championship, you know? Gotta show some support."

Yang Yu gave a sly grin.

"Speak plainly."

Ye Ling shot the guy a look.

"Uh... I spent all my allowance on skins."

Yang Yu rubbed his nose and gave a sheepish smile.

Ye Ling could only shrug in exasperation.

’Now he understood why this guy couldn’t get a girlfriend. He was a total fucking shut-in nerd.’

And so, Ye Ling proceeded to eat like a king in the cafeteria, ordering basically one of every dish available in an incredibly extravagant feast.

"Hehe, Brother Ling, had enough to eat?"

Yang Yu sidled up to him like a toady, a huge grin on his face.

Even though they’d ordered a mountain of food, it was still just the university cafeteria, not some fancy restaurant. Everything was dirt cheap. The total bill was only a little over a hundred, and split between him, He Jian, and the others, it cost them next to nothing.

"I’m full."

Ye Ling nodded in satisfaction.

’He hadn’t expected the Modu University cafeteria to have such an impressive variety. It seemed he’d have to bring Ning Ruoxi here to try it sometime.’

Ye Ling had no classes in the afternoon, so after lunch, he left Modu University. He didn’t head straight home, though. Instead, he drove to a coffee shop near campus.

That morning, just as he was leaving the house, he had been contacted by a man claiming to be the director of the Deheng Law Firm. The man wanted to meet and discuss his thoughts on the firm’s development.

’As a layman, he naturally had no interest in the firm’s development or whatever. However, since he had a matter to discuss with them anyway, he had agreed to the meeting straight away.’

As soon as Ye Ling walked into the coffee shop, he spotted a man in a suit and quickly confirmed that this must be the person he was looking for.

After all, everyone else was dressed casually, while this man was in formal business attire, sitting ramrod straight. He was so conspicuous, you could tell he was a lawyer at a glance.

"Sorry to keep you waiting."

Ye Ling said apologetically as he walked over.

"You must be Young Master Ye?"

Zhang De’s attitude toward Ye Ling was quite deferential. Even though Ye Ling was an outsider and so young, he was, after all, the firm’s third-largest shareholder. A certain level of respect was required.

"Yes, that’s me."

Ye Ling nodded and sat down. He didn’t beat around the bush. "Regarding the firm’s business, I’m a layman, so naturally I won’t get too involved. You can carry on as usual."

Zhang De was completely flabbergasted by Ye Ling’s words.

The truth was, before Ye Ling arrived, he had prepared countless strategies and scenarios, anticipating all sorts of attitudes Ye Ling might have, but...

’He’d never expected it to be this easy.’

"Young Master Ye, although the Deheng Law Firm hasn’t been established in Xia Country for very long, it has already become a leader in the industry. You can rest assured of its investment value,"

Zhang De said after a moment of thought.

’Since Ye Ling didn’t want to meddle in the firm’s affairs, that was, of course, the best-case scenario for him.’

"I know that."

Ye Ling smiled faintly. "The reason I wanted to meet you in person today instead of talking on the phone is that I have a favor to ask of you."

"Please, Young Master Ye, go ahead,"

Zhang De replied deferentially at once.

"It’s about an infringement case. My girlfriend’s comic was plagiarized by another company that used it as a template..."

Ye Ling briefly explained the situation. The work he was referring to was, of course, Net Entertainment Group’s signature comic, ’Rain Love’!

In fact, the first time he read that comic, he’d noticed that it was more than seventy percent similar to *Lingxi’s Love*. It was a high-quality knock-off, at the very least.

"I understand. Rest assured, I am one hundred percent confident we can win this lawsuit,"

Zhang De said reassuringly after listening to the gist of the story.

Based on Ye Ling’s description, the plot of this so-called ’Rain Love’ was almost identical to *Lingxi’s Love*, just with a few plot points shuffled around and some other elements mixed in.

This kind of patched-together work was actually quite difficult to prove as plagiarism. After all, Net Entertainment Group wasn’t stupid; they wouldn’t make it that obvious.

An ordinary lawyer would probably have a hard time with this kind of case. After all, the online literature scene—whether novels or comics—is severely homogenized these days...

But as the head of one of the country’s top legal teams, he was confident he could win this case!

"Then I’ll leave it in your hands."

Ye Ling smiled and nodded. "I have to get going."

"Young Master Ye, I’ll see you out."

Zhang De stood up as well.

It was already around four in the afternoon by the time he left the coffee shop. Ye Ling stopped by the market to buy some groceries before heading straight home.

’That girl of mine must be getting hungry by now, huh?’

A faint smile touched Ye Ling’s lips at the thought.

Cooking might be a chore for other people, but for him, it was a pleasure.

Being able to cook dinner for his girl was a truly blissful thing!