A Tense Encounter

“I remember I told you not to call me ‘Miss.’”

“Oh, that’s right. I forgot you don’t like that, Miss Luo.” Qin Haiyue sneered, not paying much attention to the two opposite her. Instead, she turned her gaze to the girl beside her, watching her cower while clutching her phone.

“Come here.” She patted the spot next to her.

“Oh, okay.” After a brief hesitation, the girl lowered her head, walked over obediently in front of the other two, and sat beside Qin Haiyue.

Once she was next to her, Qin Haiyue directly wrapped an arm around her delicate frame and pulled her into an embrace. The girl was startled, letting out a small yelp, but she didn’t dare resist. She could only let Qin Haiyue hold her in a position that felt quite awkward.

“There’s no need for dinner. We’ll leave after we’ve finished our business. But Miss Qin, who is this?” Luo Xi noticed their interaction and frowned. From her angle, she could clearly see the reluctance on the girl’s face.

Ye Xingmian didn’t dare speak. She was still somewhat shy around strangers, and the other party seemed to come from a powerful background. She was afraid of accidentally offending them. Finally, Qin Haiyue beside her laughed and said, “Let me introduce you. This is my boyfriend.”

“Boyfriend??” Luo Xi felt her eyebrows knot together. Looking at the girl’s unwilling expression, she couldn’t see how the two of them could be lovers.

“I hadn’t noticed before. So this person is actually a boy?”

“Yes. Her name is Ye Xingmian. You might have seen her before.”

“I haven’t… Hello, Classmate Ye. My name is Luo Xi.”

She tried to extend her hand toward the girl, but Ye Xingmian looked up and exchanged a glance with Qin Haiyue. She wanted to shake hands, but Qin Haiyue suddenly tightened her grip, pulling her closer. Naturally, she couldn’t reach out.

Luo Xi’s hand hung in the air, leaving her in an awkward position. She was silent for a moment, then withdrew her hand without a word.

She reluctantly accepted Qin Haiyue’s explanation. Since they were lovers, she had no room to comment. After all, as an outsider, it wasn’t her place to judge their relationship, especially when she knew nothing about it.

The atmosphere fell into a strange silence. Qin Haiyue kept smiling, though it was unclear why. Perhaps she was mocking Luo Xi’s awkwardness? The two had never gotten along. Finally, the assistant who had come with her broke the silence.

The assistant handed over a document. She took it, and the papers rustled in the still air.

“This is a preliminary legal contract my father asked me to bring regarding your company’s future development plans in our city. Two more contracts will follow, currently under investigation and discussion. This document has already been shown to your father. Please review it and sign.”

“Alright.”

Qin Haiyue casually took the document, glanced over it, pulled out the seal her father had given her from under the coffee table, signed her name, and stamped it. With that, the agreement was officially in effect.

Having accomplished their purpose, Luo Xi and her assistant stood up to leave.

“Won’t you stay for a meal?” Qin Haiyue offered hypocritically, even though her smile clearly wished they would leave as soon as possible. Luo Xi understood. She looked up at Qin Haiyue, who was slightly taller, and kept her cold expression.

“No need. We have other matters to attend to. We won’t disturb your enjoyment.”

With that, the two left the villa without looking back. Qin Haiyue deliberately saw them off at the door until their car drove away, then slammed the door shut and locked it.

When she turned around, her face had turned cold and gloomy.

Ye Xingmian instinctively looked up at her, feeling scared. She had hoped that Luo Xi would stay a little longer to share some of the pressure, but they had left so quickly, leaving her alone to face Qin Haiyue. This made her nervous.

So Qin Haiyue hadn’t lied. All these things really were prepared for her…

But what did she want?

Ye Xingmian had no money, no power, and was alone in this city. The more inexplicably kind Qin Haiyue became, the more afraid she grew.

She must have some ulterior motive…

Perhaps it was some kind of sixth sense, but the girl had always been wary of Qin Haiyue.

“The annoying people are gone. Let’s continue.”

A smile crept back onto Qin Haiyue’s face as she tried to appear elegant. She sat across from the girl and said, “Do you know what this is called?”

The girl didn’t understand. She looked up in confusion, tilting her head.

“I don’t know…”

Qin Haiyue looked at her. For some reason, staring into those pink eyes, she was momentarily stunned. Coming back to herself, she continued, “It’s called a date.”

“A… date…?”

For some reason, the girl’s eyes dimmed. She lowered her head again, as if in pain.

Not getting the expected reaction, Qin Haiyue frowned.

“What’s wrong? Aren’t you happy? I specially prepared this lavish meal for you. As my lover, you shouldn’t suffer any grievances. Be obedient, and I’ll buy you anything you want in the future, okay?”

She tried to use her usual tactic of throwing money around to spark the girl’s interest, but the girl kept her head down, saying nothing.

Tch!

So annoying. I’m going out of my way to please you, and this is how you treat me? Ungrateful.

Frustrated, Qin Haiyue was losing patience. She began to doubt whether her initial plan was even worth it. Maybe she didn’t need to treat Ye Xingmian so well, since the girl didn’t appreciate it anyway.

Suppressing her anger, she was about to say something when her phone rang.

Why is today so unlucky? One annoying thing after another.

Glancing at the cowering girl, she reluctantly pulled out her phone. It was her father—a middle-aged man who, even after having two children in the country, still couldn’t speak the language properly.

Tch. For a moment, she really wanted to hang up. She wasn’t close to her father; they hadn’t spent much time together growing up. He was always traveling around the world for business, and even his rare free time was spent with her younger sisters.

But no matter how unwilling, she still answered the call.

The familiar broken accent came through the line, but unlike before, his voice sounded weak and strained, as if he were in pain. However, the irritated Qin Haiyue didn’t notice.