Li Zhihuan blinked, let go of the arm she had been holding, and stepped back. She looked at him as if he were an idiot.
“Qi Weiguo, didn’t you notice? That female comrade was acting strange.”
Qi Weiguo’s heart suddenly felt oddly empty because of the way she pulled away.
He frowned.
“What was strange about her?”
“Oh, come on, you,”
Li Zhihuan waved her hand impatiently as the “efficiency mindset” of an overworked office employee took over once again.
“Explaining it to you is too troublesome. Just think of it as me giving a work summary.”
She cleared her throat and began her “report.”
“Incident name: Potential Risk Elimination Operation.”
“Risk description: An unidentified woman with suspicious intentions (codename: White Lotus) attempted to approach the core asset of the ‘Family Project’ through improper means—that would be you—and could potentially threaten the long-term stability of the project.”
“Operation process: As the project CEO, I identified the risk immediately. Following the principle of ‘prevention first, handling second,’ I decisively carried out a series of measures, including physical isolation (holding your arm) and verbal warning (saying she wasn’t worthy of you).”
“Operation result: Successfully persuaded the risk source to retreat, safeguarded the security of the core asset, and maintained the stability of the Family Project. Evaluation: Mission accomplished.”
After finishing, she clapped her hands together with the relaxed expression of someone who had just solved a problem and clocked out for the day.
“Got it? To put it simply, a fly wanted to buzz around your rice bowl, and I, as the person responsible for guarding it, casually swatted it away. That’s all. It’s part of my job.”
Qi Weiguo: “…”
Once again, he was left speechless by her flawless yet utterly cold logic that carried not a shred of human warmth.
The flame in his chest—called joy and attraction—that had just been ignited by her intimate actions was instantly doused by the icy water of “job responsibilities,” leaving only a few wisps of smoke behind.
So… it was work again.
The closeness that had made his heartbeat lose control, the intimacy that made him feel publicly claimed before the whole world—it had all merely been “physical isolation” to her.
And the words that had stirred a trace of sweetness in his heart were only a “verbal warning.”
Qi “Core Asset” Weiguo felt thoroughly objectified from head to toe.
A huge wave of disappointment and irritation swept through his heart once more.
But…
He couldn’t deny it.
When she leaned close, when her hair brushed against his neck, when he smelled the clean scent of soap lingering on her body…
His heart had truly fallen into chaos.
And when she held his arm and declared to another woman, “He’s my man,” the strange sense of satisfaction he felt from being protected and claimed as one of her own had been real.
The feeling was unfamiliar, yet… damn it, it felt good.
Looking at Li Zhihuan’s calm, expressionless face, a ridiculous thought appeared in his mind for the first time.
He actually… wished she hadn’t been “working” just now.
He wished that intimacy had been genuine.
The moment the thought surfaced, it startled even him.
He abruptly turned his face away, not daring to look into Li Zhihuan’s eyes, afraid she would see the storm raging inside him.
The tips of his ears slowly turned red uncontrollably.
“Ahem!”
He coughed heavily, trying to hide his discomfort, though his voice still carried a trace of hoarseness.
“In the future… stay away from Meng Yao. She… she’s from the art troupe. She’s full of schemes.”
He couldn’t bring himself to say, “She likes me,” so he could only warn her vaguely like this.
Li Zhihuan’s eyes lit up.
Oh? The iceberg is finally waking up? He even knows to warn me to stay away from a green tea girl now?
Not bad. Progress.
“Got it, my ‘Core Asset’ comrade.”
She answered lazily, her tone teasing.
“But speaking of which…”
Li Zhihuan, her gossip-loving soul blazing brightly, leaned a little closer and lowered her voice curiously.
“Were you two very familiar before? The way she looked at you—it was like she wanted to swallow you whole.”
As they drew closer, Qi Weiguo could once again smell the faint fragrance coming from her.
He felt his ears grow even hotter, almost burning.
Subconsciously, he stepped back half a step to create distance. Keeping a stern face, he answered stiffly,
“We weren’t familiar at all! We only met once!”
To Li Zhihuan, his reaction looked exactly like an innocent man becoming embarrassed and angry after having his thoughts exposed.
“Tsk, tsk, tsk.”
Li Zhihuan shook her head with the sigh of an old mother.
“A handsome face really is trouble, Comrade Qi Weiguo. Your looks are definitely going to cause me a lot of problems in the future.”
“Your mouth is what causes the most trouble!”
Qi Weiguo finally couldn’t hold back anymore and growled.
He didn’t even know why he was angry. He just felt that every time she teased him like this, his heart became more chaotic and restless.
“Alright, alright, I’ll stop talking.”
Li Zhihuan wisely stopped while she was ahead and raised both hands in surrender.
After all, her goal had already been achieved. There was no need to keep provoking this lion that was on the verge of exploding.
The two of them walked home in silence.
Lin Fen had already gotten up and was sweeping the courtyard.
Seeing the two of them returning together from outside, she froze for a moment. Her gaze moved back and forth between them, her eyes filled with curiosity and scrutiny.
Li Zhihuan ignored her mother-in-law’s gaze and walked straight into the kitchen.
“I’ll make breakfast.”
Meanwhile, Qi Weiguo rushed into his room as if ghosts were chasing him from behind, slamming the door shut with a loud bang.
Leaning against the door, his chest rose and fell violently, his heart still pounding hard.
He raised a hand and touched his burning-hot ears.
His mind was filled with the image of Li Zhihuan leaning against his shoulder just moments ago.
Soft. Warm. Carrying a pleasant fragrance.
Closing his eyes, he irritably ran a hand through his short hair.
The “cooperation agreement” between him and Li Zhihuan—the one he had personally signed in black and white—the rule stating “separate rooms, no interference with each other”…
At this moment, for the first time, it felt unbearably irritating to him.
Qi Weiguo opened his eyes, his gaze landing on the tightly shut door.
A bold thought, one he had never had before, quietly sprouted in his heart like a seed breaking through the soil.
He wanted…
He wanted to break this rule.