He stood there with his ex-girlfriend, the woman clinging to his arm.
He just watched as she was harassed by another man.
Someone once said that if a man truly loves you, he will feel possessive of you.
Through the warm yellow lights, Lu Li's heart tore apart with pain.
Zhou Xitao still thought Lu Li was lying to him, and he sneered maliciously, "President Ji is accompanying his beauty right now. Don't try to fool me, Secretary Lu. How about we find another place to chat?"
Lu Li looked at Ji Zhichen and asked calmly, "Chairman, Mr. Zhou is asking if you're tired of playing with me."
She watched him quietly.
Waiting for his answer.
Ji Zhichen held Xiao Yaoyao's hand and walked past her without stopping.
At that moment, Lu Li understood—the answer no longer mattered.
Xiao Yaoyao turned her head back and explained with a bright smile, "Brother Zhou, Zhichen and Secretary Lu are just colleagues, okay? Don't say such things, or I'll get really angry."
Zhou Xitao smiled and nodded in response, "Alright, alright, I won't say anything more."
Seeing that Ji Zhichen had already left with Xiao Yaoyao, he suddenly pressed Lu Li against the car and kissed her cheek.
"Zhou Xitao, believe me, I'll call the police!"
Disgusted, Lu Li pushed him away with all her strength.
Unfortunately, her strength was no match for a grown man's.
Zhou Xitao wrapped his arm around her slender waist and chuckled, "Secretary Lu, you can scream louder if you want. I'm not afraid. Besides, calling the police won't do you any good—I'm just touching and kissing, not f*cking you."
Lu Li was furious. Shameless.
He leaned in to kiss her again.
A fierce glint flashed in Lu Li's beautiful eyes as she drove her knee upward.
"Ah!"
Zhou Xitao doubled over, clutching his groin.
In the dead of night, Lu Li walked out of the police station with a cold face, followed by Song Qiang.
Song Qiang and she were both secretaries to Ji Zhichen.
"Secretary Song, please take me to Wenda Jiudian. Thank you for tonight."
Song Qiang glanced at her, then turned back to face forward. "The chairman asked me to pick you up."
Lu Li curled the corner of her mouth and gave a cold, single-syllable response: "Mm."
Where was he when Zhou Xitao was harassing her? Now she felt not a trace of gratitude.
Song Qiang hesitated as if wanting to say something, but finally offered one explanation: "Secretary Lu… the chairman originally wanted to come pick you up himself."
Lu Li raised an eyebrow indifferently. "Oh? Then where is he? Why didn't he come?"
Song Qiang fell silent, too awkward to continue.
Lu Li lowered her gaze to her phone and saw Ji Min tirelessly forwarding Xiao Yaoyao's WeChat Moments posts to her.
She finally understood why Ji Zhichen hadn't come to the police station himself.
Because he was accompanying his ex-girlfriend to the hospital again.
Lu Li let out a low, bitter laugh.
She sent Ji Min a message, asking her to arrange a meeting with Xiao Yaoyao for tomorrow.
The car pulled up to the hotel, and Lu Li told Song Qiang he didn't need to walk her in.
She got out of the car, utterly exhausted, and walked into the hotel.
The lobby was eerily quiet at this hour.
As she went to wait for the elevator, a tall, well-built man stood nearby, talking on the phone.
The elevator doors opened, and the man stepped in first.
Lu Li followed behind. Just as she stepped inside, her high heel suddenly slipped, and she instinctively grabbed onto the man in front of her.
He reached out a hand to steady her.
His palm was scorching hot.
"…I'm so sorry. I apologize."
Still shaken, Lu Li's chest heaved up and down as she steadied herself and apologized to the man.
He was wearing a mask, and Lu Li could only see that his pupils were extremely dark.
He looked a bit like the man she'd encountered in the car earlier?
His phone, which he'd been holding in his right hand, had fallen to the ground when he reached out to steady her, and the coffee in his left hand had spilled, splashing onto his white shirt.
What made Lu Li even more embarrassed was that the nipple cover on her left breast had shifted upward.
She covered her left chest with one hand, her ears burning hot.
Tonight was just one disaster after another.
"Sir, are you burned?"
She was worried the coffee in his hand had been hot.
The man glanced at her, frowned slightly, bent down to pick up his phone, and lazily said to the person on the other end, "Let's leave it here for now," before hanging up.
Lu Li said sincerely, "I'm sorry, truly very sorry. I'll compensate you."
Qin Zhi glanced at Lu Li again. She was dressed in an evening gown, with a slender waist and full hips. He didn't say much, only replying, "No need."
The man's voice was deep and low.
He turned sideways, reached out to press the elevator button, and lazily stepped back a few paces.
The two of them put some distance between each other.
Lu Li pretended to be calm and pressed the elevator button as well.
She was staying on the tenth floor, while the man was on the twelfth.
Qin Zhi lowered his gaze, lost in thought.
Last night in the car, when he'd seen this woman, he'd felt she looked vaguely familiar?
She resembled the woman who had climbed into his bed two months ago, clinging to him and begging for more all night.
"About the compensation—let's talk."
Hearing this, Lu Li stopped in her tracks just as she was about to step out of the elevator.
In the hallway on the twelfth floor.
The man had already unbuttoned his coffee-stained shirt, revealing defined abdominal muscles. He frowned, clearly uncomfortable.
If Lu Li weren't there, he would have just taken the shirt off entirely.
Lu Li didn't dare let her gaze wander toward the man's slightly exposed chest, so she could only lift her eyes to look at him.
"Sir, how much do I need to compensate you? I'll transfer the money to you."
"No need."
Qin Zhi had only called out to Lu Li to confirm that faint sense of familiarity.
Lu Li watched the man swipe his card and enter his room with a hint of confusion, then she too left the twelfth floor.
**
Inside Nanka Café, soothing light music played.
Across from Lu Li sat Xiao Yaoyao.
Xiao Yaoyao was a big celebrity; she wore a hat and a mask, concealing her features.
She smiled. "Secretary Lu, did you need something from me?"
Lu Li nodded, a faint, elusive smile at the corners of her lips. "There is one thing."
This time, she maintained a reserved demeanor, looking at the other woman with the eyes of a rightful wife confronting a mistress.
Lu Li had thought it through clearly—if she wanted Ji Zhichen to be the one to initiate a divorce, one way was to provoke Xiao Yaoyao.
"Miss Xiao, I don't want you to disturb the life between Zhichen and me. Since you chose to leave him back then, you shouldn't come looking for him after you've returned."
Everyone in the circle knew that Ji Zhichen once had a beloved ex-girlfriend.
But Grandmother Ji didn't like Xiao Yaoyao, and because of that, she could never enter the Ji family's door.
At the time, Xiao Yaoyao hadn't wanted to give up her singing career either, so she chose to break up with Ji Zhichen and go abroad to further her studies in music.
"Miss Xiao, since you gave up on your feelings with Zhichen, please give up on them completely, alright?"
Lu Li continued gently.
Xiao Yaoyao's eyes widened in disbelief. "You and Zhichen… you two…"
Lu Li nodded. "Zhichen and I have been married for two years."
The moment she said this, Xiao Yaoyao froze in shock, her eyes instantly turning red. "You married Zhichen?"
Lu Li felt like a wicked woman tearing apart the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl, and she said coolly, "Yes, we're married."
At that moment, Ji Zhichen, who was sitting at the table next to them, heard Lu Li mention their marriage to Yaoyao.
His handsome face instantly darkened, his thin lips pressed together, and his eyes turned sharp.
The design of this café was excellent.
Every table was separated by partitions, forming private little booths.
He had agreed with her before that their marriage was not to be spoken of to anyone outside.
That woman Lu Li really had grown ambitious.
It was only a marriage of convenience, after all.
Xiao Yaoyao furrowed her brows, still unwilling to believe it. "Secretary Lu, you're lying to me, right?"
Lu Li said, "…I'm not lying to you. I'll show you our marriage certificate."
She was well-prepared, taking a red marriage certificate out of her bag and opening it for Xiao Yaoyao to see.
Xiao Yaoyao took off her mask, revealing her entire beautiful face.
Xiao Yaoyao's features were pure and lovely—the kind of face people called a first-love face.
Lu Li's looks, by contrast, leaned toward the striking and glamorous.
"Secretary Lu, when we were together last night, Zhichen didn't tell me that you two were already married. I could clearly feel that he still loves me."
Xiao Yaoyao mentioned last night with a gloomy expression.
Implying that the two of them had been together.
Lu Li kept her smile, saying casually, "Men are all the same in bed. When he was inside me, he also said he loved me."
"…"
Ji Zhichen, sitting at the next table, heard this and radiated an icy coldness, suppressing his displeasure.
He already had the urge to strangle Lu Li.
She dared to say anything!
And when Xiao Yaoyao heard this, she covered her red lips, tears streaming down her face.
Lu Li felt the provocation still wasn't enough—she was really working hard to make Ji Zhichen be the one to file for divorce first. "Miss Xiao, if you want to be the mistress, I won't stop you."
"Enough!"
A sharp, cold male voice suddenly cut through.
Lu Li turned her head and abruptly saw Ji Zhichen, his aura frigid.
He was barely restraining his fury.
Lu Li's expression stiffened.