A Strategic Date, A Jealous Overlord

Create some ambiguity!

Yes!

A date is the first step!

Shen Lanzhi’s eyes immediately lit up.

“That sounds wonderful!”

She agreed with startling speed, then, realizing her reaction might have been too eager, cleared her throat, striving to maintain a semblance of composure. “I mean… that’s fine, I suppose. I don’t have anything else planned for tonight anyway.”

Gu Wei, listening nearby, watched her expression visibly darken.

The lunch that followed was a tempest of unspoken emotions for the three of them.

Xiang Qing sat squarely in the middle, flanked by a forced smile from Gu Wei on her left and Shen Lanzhi, barely containing her delight, on her right.

‘It felt less like a meal and more like a United Nations Security Council meeting, with her tasked to mediate a dispute between two nations.’

Once lunch mercifully concluded, Shen Lanzhi volunteered to wash the dishes. Seizing the opportune moment, Xiang Qing crept conspiratorially toward Gu Wei, who was sprawled on the sofa, engrossed in her phone.

“CEO Gu! CEO Gu!” she whispered, her face alight with an expectant plea for praise. “How was my performance just now? I’ve asked Sister Lanzhi to see a movie tonight; I’m planning to use the opportunity to stir up some romance and move the plot forward!”

Gu Wei slowly lifted her gaze from her phone screen, her expression utterly devoid of emotion as she looked at Xiang Qing.

“This is your plan?”

“Exactly!” Xiang Qing nodded excitedly. “A dark cinema environment is the perfect place for things to happen! Isn’t this move of mine incredibly professional?”

Gu Wei remained silent for a few seconds, then tossed her phone aside.

“You’re not going.”

Xiang Qing’s smile froze on her face.

“Huh?”

“I said,” Gu Wei’s voice simmered with a barely contained fury, “you are not to go to the movies with her.”

“No… CEO Gu, didn’t you ask me to pursue her?” Xiang Qing was utterly bewildered. “This is part of the mission! If I don’t deepen our relationship, how can I make her fall for me?”

“That’s your problem,” Gu Wei retorted, her possessiveness practically soaring through the roof. “I told you to go fishing, not to offer yourself up as bait.”

Xiang Qing was utterly speechless.

‘Seriously, boss! Your demands are absolutely outrageous! You want the horse to run, but you won’t let it eat grass?’

‘How am I supposed to do that? Am I supposed to date her with my mind?’

“I don’t care,” Gu Wei declared petulantly, sinking deeper into the sofa. “In any case, I forbid you from having any physical contact with her.”

“Physical contact?” Xiang Qing felt like her head was about to explode. “How does watching a movie lead to physical contact?”

“It’s so dark in a cinema; who knows if she’ll try anything with you?”

The more Gu Wei spoke, the angrier she became, sitting bolt upright. “What if she touches your hand? What if she leans on your shoulder? What if she clings to you during a scary scene?”

Xiang Qing stared at her, utterly dumbfounded.

‘Holy crap!’

‘Sister, your imagination is seriously wild!’

‘Have you worked at a cinema before?’

‘How do you know so much?’

“CEO Gu, have you forgotten that you were the one who formulated this plan?”

Xiang Qing attempted to appeal to her reason. “Isn’t the ultimate goal for her to fall in love with me, and then I brutally dump her so you can witness her heartbreak?”

“Even so, absolutely not!” Gu Wei declared, her tone unyielding.

Xiang Qing was left utterly speechless.

‘This sugar daddy is seriously impossible to deal with!’

‘She’s setting traps for herself, then falling into them and getting stuck, and in the end, she’s the one getting mad!’

“In short,” Gu Wei issued her ultimatum, her eyes filled with a clear warning, “you may chat with her, you may smile at her, but the distance between you two must remain over half a meter! Any physical contact is absolutely forbidden!”

“If I catch you…” Gu Wei leaned closer, lowering her voice, “you’re dead.”

What else could Xiang Qing do but nod like a frantic woodpecker?

“Yes, yes, yes, I understand. I guarantee the mission will be completed! I guarantee I’ll keep myself pure!”

‘In her heart, she had already cursed Gu Wei a thousand times over.’

‘What kind of situation is this?!’

‘She sends me on an undercover mission, but the commander is a jealous control freak!’

‘The difficulty of this mission just skyrocketed from easy mode to hell mode!’

Xiang Qing shook her head like a rattle-drum, her will to survive instantly maxed out.

“CEO Gu! CEO Gu, please listen to my explanation! This is all for the mission! A strategic date! Nothing ventured, nothing gained!”

She was so desperate she almost knelt before Gu Wei, swearing to the heavens.

“I promise! I swear! I will absolutely maintain a safe distance of over one meter from her! Forget physical contact, I won’t even touch the hem of her clothes! I’m just taking her to see a movie to create that fake romantic atmosphere, to let her ‘self-strategize’! There will absolutely be no substantial progress!”

Gu Wei’s stunning, ice-cold face finally showed a flicker of softening.

She stared at Xiang Qing for a full thirty seconds, making Xiang Qing’s skin crawl. It felt as if she were being scanned by an X-ray from head to toe, her very thoughts and even what she had for dinner last night laid bare.

“There are so many people in the cinema; what if she takes advantage of the chaos?” Gu Wei still wasn’t reassured.

“Impossible! Absolutely impossible!”

Xiang Qing pounded her chest emphatically. “CEO Gu, please rest assured, I’m trained! Back in high school, I was the school team champion at evading surprise inspections from the dean! My dodging and weaving skills are unparalleled! If she wants to touch me, she’ll have no chance!”

‘To save her own skin, Xiang Qing was willing to boast about anything.’

Only then did Gu Wei grudgingly nod, yet the warning in her eyes intensified rather than diminished.

“Remember what you said. If I find out you two have anything ambiguous going on…”

“Then you can throw me off the top floor!” Xiang Qing interjected quickly, her sincerity absolute.

Gu Wei merely grunted, then slumped back onto the sofa, a tacit approval.

By the kitchen doorway, Shen Lanzhi looked at Xiang Qing with an expectant gaze. “Xiao Qing, what time are we seeing the movie tonight?”

Xiang Qing quickly forced a smile that looked worse than a grimace, her heart bleeding internally.

“Eight… eight o’clock, I suppose, Sister Lanzhi.”

‘Heavens above! This undercover work is more thrilling than being 007!’

‘Others fear their identity being exposed, but I fear my sugar daddy getting jealous!’

The afternoon hours stretched out into an interminable ordeal for Xiang Qing.

Shen Lanzhi was like a magical snail maiden on steroids; if Xiang Qing wiped the table, Shen Lanzhi would follow behind, tidying the sofa cushions; if Xiang Qing mopped the floor, Shen Lanzhi would go water the plants.

The two of them constantly moved within the same space, and Shen Lanzhi always seemed to be subtly, yet deliberately, searching for topics to bridge their distance.

“Xiao Qing, this book is so well-written; would you like to take a look?”

Xiang Qing peered over and saw the title: How to Make the Person You Love Fall in Love with You.

‘Oh, for heaven’s sake!’

‘Sister, are you reading a military strategy manual?!’

Xiang Qing’s scalp tingled with alarm, and she quickly waved her hands. “No, no, no, Sister Lanzhi, a crude person like me wouldn’t understand such things. I just like reading funny comics, hehe.”

“That’s wonderful too, very cute.” Shen Lanzhi’s smile was exceptionally gentle.

Xiang Qing felt awkward all over.

‘It wasn’t that she didn’t want to chat, but she simply couldn’t connect with Shen Lanzhi!’

‘Her mind was constantly preoccupied with how to make money, how to play games, and how to survive under the tyrannical rule of a pervert like Gu Wei.’

‘Meanwhile, Shen Lanzhi spoke of zithers, chess, calligraphy, painting, poetry, wine, and flowers—they were simply not on the same wavelength!’

‘Talking to her was more exhausting than a full day’s work!’

It was a relief when seven o’clock finally arrived, and Xiang Qing could use the excuse of needing to leave.

As they walked out of Star Convergence International side-by-side, Shen Lanzhi naturally reached out to link arms with her.

Xiang Qing reacted like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, leaping a full stride away with such a sudden, wide movement that she almost threw out her back.

“Oh no! I just remembered, I forgot my phone!” Xiang Qing exclaimed, clutching her pocket with an exaggerated expression, making up a flimsy excuse.

Shen Lanzhi paused, her hand suspended awkwardly in mid-air. She looked a little embarrassed. “Ah… you should go back and get it quickly then.”

“No need, no need!”

Xiang Qing bounced back just as swiftly, yet still maintained a very safe social distance. “It’s not important, not important at all! We’re just watching a movie; I don’t need my phone for that!”

‘Now, whenever Shen Lanzhi extended her hand, it felt like a ghost claw sent by Gu Wei to claim her life.’

Shen Lanzhi watched her jumpy behavior, a flicker of confusion in her eyes, but still offered a gentle smile. “You’re always so flustered. Come on, let’s not be late.”

They took a taxi to the most luxurious cinema in the city center.

The brightly lit lobby was bustling with people, mostly saccharine young couples.

As Xiang Qing observed the couples with their arms around each other, feeding one another, she felt like a husky that had wandered into a pack of wolves—utterly out of place.