Liu Yu raised an eyebrow and looked at Lou Qingshuang’s utterly despondent expression. She let out a gentle smile, and the gloom surrounding Lou Qingshuang vanished along with it.
Sitting inside the Bentley, Lou Qingshuang felt like doing nothing but sighing. She only hoped that when she got off the car later, she wouldn’t run into anyone she knew.
Especially Bai Wan!
Yet, whatever Lou Qingshuang feared came true, the moment she stepped out of the vehicle, she bumped right into Bai Wan.
Bai Wan stared at the familiar license plate and a certain familiar big shot inside. Her eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. What on earth happened?! After just one night, my girl actually bagged Liu Yu?!
After thanking Liu Yu, Lou Qingshuang turned and walked toward the company building.
Liu Yu watched Lou Qingshuang’s departing back with a faint smile on her face. Lou Qingshuang was wearing a very classic, fitted overcoat today over a thin, high-collared sweater. Her long hair was pulled up, her soft waves swaying gently in the air with every step.
“Let’s go,” Liu Yu instructed the driver, withdrawing her gaze.
The second Lou Qingshuang stepped through the front doors of the company, she was met by a waiting Bai Wan, who stared straight at her. With her arms crossed, Bai Wan circled Lou Qingshuang once, nodding as she examined her, as expected of her best friend.
Looking at Bai Wan’s exaggerated facial expression and movements, Lou Qingshuang lowered her head to inspect her own outfit. Nothing was out of place. She looked back up at Bai Wan. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing’s wrong, but I have something to talk to you about.” Bai Wan grabbed Lou Qingshuang’s hand and pulled her straight toward the office.
Seeing the two bosses walk away, the receptionist let out a sigh of relief. She could finally eat her breakfast in peace.
“Shuangshuang, why did you get out of Liu Yu’s car?” Bai Wan asked in a low voice the instant she shut the office door.
Hearing her ask this, Lou Qingshuang pressed a hand to her forehead. Talk about whatever you fear coming right at you.
“I went out drinking last night and ran into her,” Lou Qingshuang explained.
“You went out drinking?!” Bai Wan pulled over a chair, her eyes widening as she glared at Lou Qingshuang, whose gaze was dodging around.
“I only drank a tiny bit.” Lou Qingshuang gestured a tiny space between her fingers.
“Is it really worth it over a person like that?” Bai Wan’s attention was briefly diverted.
Just as Lou Qingshuang was about to breathe a sigh of relief, Bai Wan’s eyes widened again. “Wait, no! What does you drinking have to do with Liu Yu giving you a ride to work today? Did you go home with her last night?”
Astonishment was written all over Bai Wan’s delicate, small face.
“No, she moved into the unit right across from mine,” Lou Qingshuang said, rubbing her forehead. She knew she couldn’t escape this interrogation, this was all Liu Yu’s fault.
“Huh?” Bai Wan blinked in absolute shock.
“Tsk, since she couldn’t slip you a room card, she decided to deliver herself right to your front door?” Bai Wan mused, her imagination running wild.
“Not really. She’s probably just bored,” Lou Qingshuang replied, though she felt a little uncertain herself.
“No, she’s definitely taken a fancy to you,” Bai Wan speculated.
“Given Liu Yu’s status, position, and means, if she didn’t care about you, she wouldn’t bother using a method like this.” A slight look of joy crept onto Bai Wan’s face. If Liu Yu turned out to be a good person, Shuangshuang could take this opportunity to leave Shen Yue behind for good. Then, after healing her heartbreak, she could dump Liu Yu if she wanted to!
Bai Wan was looking out entirely for her best friend. Someone with Liu Yu’s background, stunning looks, and figure was undeniably at the absolute top tier.
Shuangshuang wouldn’t lose anything at all by dating her!
“Why don’t you… give it a try?” Bai Wan nudged her best friend with her elbow, attempting to stir up her interest.
Lou Qingshuang looked helplessly at the eager Bai Wan. “Stop messing around. Last night, in a fit of anger, I even told her to withdraw her investment.”
“Aaaaah!!! Shuangshuang, don’t pick a fight with money!” Bai Wan wailed in despair.
“Who is more important, me, or money?” Lou Qingshuang gave her a side eye.
Bai Wan pursed her lips, her mouth working for a good while before she reluctantly managed to squeeze out, “You are more important.”
“Though money is important too…” Bai Wan added the second half of the sentence, tears practically welling up in her eyes.
Watching her dramatic act, Lou Qingshuang’s brows twitched upward, her mood lifting slightly. “I’m done fooling around with you. I need to go back and check today’s work.”
“Then you should really consider it, okay, Shuangshuang?!” Bai Wan waved after her. Lou Qingshuang rolled her eyes in an elegant manner and walked out.
The moment Lou Qingshuang sat down back in her own office, she finally found a moment to massage her throbbing temples.
Unlocking her phone, she saw an apology text sent by Shen Yue.
【Shuangshuang, I’m sorry. I just had my reasons.】
【No matter what reasons you had, you shouldn’t have betrayed me and used my hard work to claim credit. Shen Yue, what exactly did you take me for?】
Lou Qingshuang quickly typed out the reply, then immediately blocked Shen Yue. Keeping her on her contacts list only made her feel disgusted.
“Never seeing each other again is the best outcome.” The lightness on Lou Qingshuang’s face gradually dissolved into quiet silence as she muttered under her breath, “If you do wrong, there will be a price to pay.”
Seeing Lou Qingshuang’s message, Shen Yue’s face darkened. She closed her phone without sending any more messages and forced herself to focus on her work.
After consulting with Qin Nan and Bai Wan, Lou Qingshuang posted a new announcement on their official blog.
【We have already caught the mole. Lan Dai, we’ll see you in court.】
The moment this official post went live, it rekindled the online discussion that had finally started to quiet down.
The people at Lan Dai Group naturally saw it as well, and now everyone was waiting to see what Zhu Rui planned to do.
Seeing Wanshuang, a tiny company, slapping her directly in the face, Zhu Rui was so furious that she grabbed a stack of documents and hurled them across the room. “What a joke!”
If it weren’t for Xinyu Group standing firmly behind Wanshuang Company, Lan Dai would have launched a smear campaign long ago instead of merely making passive aggressive remarks in secret.
Zhu Rui stared at the photos of Lou Qingshuang and Bai Wan. A new idea quickly formed in her mind.
“Go investigate who is really backing Xinyu Group behind the scenes,” Zhu Rui ordered, her eyes gleaming with malice as she thought of her “daughter-in-law.”
Shen Yue was utterly useless as well. If she had brought Lou Qingshuang over to work for Lan Dai from the very beginning, none of these troubles would exist today.
Since things had already escalated to this point, Zhu Rui no longer cared about keeping up appearances.
If Xinyu Group was leaning toward Wanshuang, she would simply sling mud at both Wanshuang and Xinyu together to clear Shen Yue’s name.
Once this storm blew over, she would elevate Shen Yue and Zhu Jie, letting the two of them manage the company and compete against each other while she stepped down.
And if worse came to worst, Shen Yue could always be sacrificed.
Numerous thoughts flashed through Zhu Rui’s mind. Yet, she didn’t realize that her daughter shared the exact same personality as her, destroy what you cannot have.
Lou Qingshuang understood Shen Yue well. Shen Yue might apologize, but she would still stubbornly stick to her own path.
Now that this relationship had truly ended, Lou Qingshuang felt a strange wave of relief alongside her sorrow.
She no longer needed to make endless compromises for Shen Yue. She could now focus entirely on growing her own career.
When Lou Qingshuang opened her handbag, her eyes landed on the talisman she and Bai Wan had requested from the temple to sever bad karmic ties.
Taking it out, she rested it in her palm and suddenly let out a soft laugh. Pressing her hand against her forehead while looking at the talisman, she thought to herself: How could this not count as severing a bad relationship?
She had assumed the “bad relationship” referred to Liu Yu, but it turned out to be Shen Yue.
Lou Qingshuang slipped the talisman back into her bag. There’s still another bad relationship left and that one has even entangled itself right outside my front door. Just thinking about it made her want to sigh.
“I hope this bad relationship gets severed soon too,” Lou Qingshuang murmured softly to the talisman.
Meanwhile, the Liu Yu who was slated to be “severed” suddenly sneezed during an ongoing meeting.
She pulled out a handkerchief and gently dabbed her nose. Seeing her sneeze, the person delivering the presentation paused.
“Continue,” Liu Yu waved her hand, gesturing for them to go on.
The Chief Executive of the executive department nodded and resumed reporting his work.
Liu Yu’s secretary quietly set down a glass of warm water beside her to keep her comfortable and prevent her from catching a cold.
Dabbing her nose with the handkerchief, Liu Yu couldn’t help but feel that someone was talking about her behind her back. After a brief distraction, she refocused on listening to the report.
That evening, Lou Qingshuang hailed a cab early, determined to head home as soon as possible to avoid running into Liu Yu.
Standing inside the empty elevator, Lou Qingshuang let out a breath of relief. Luckily, she hadn’t encountered Liu Yu.
Ding!
The doors of both elevators slid open simultaneously.
Before Lou Qingshuang could step out, she saw Liu Yu, dressed in black tailored trousers, stepping out from the adjacent elevator.
Lou Qingshuang: ?
“Good evening,” Liu Yu greeted with a smile as she looked at her.
Lou Qingshuang forced a stiff smile. “Good evening.”
Noticing the utter misery written across Lou Qingshuang’s face, Liu Yu couldn’t help but chuckle. She deliberately offered, “Want to come over to my place and sit for a while? I hired a chef to cook some food.”
“There’s no need. Thank you for the invitation, Chairman Liu.” Lou Qingshuang turned around and walked away without hesitation, her trench coat fluttering in a dramatic arc that clearly showed how desperately she wanted to escape.
Liu Yu raised an eyebrow, heading into her own apartment accompanied by her bodyguards and assistant.
The bodyguards conducted their routine check on the apartment’s security and reviewed the security system logs.
A few minutes later, the chef arrived.
Liu Yu changed into soft loungewear, a long-sleeved sleep shirt paired with loose lounge pants. She looked relaxed and at ease as she swirled a glass of red wine, taking slow sips.
“Chairman Liu, everything is clear. Do you have any other arrangements?” Zhu Yan asked from behind her.
“None. Go back early and get some rest,” Liu Yu turned around and said with a smile.
“Understood. Wishing you a wonderful evening, Chairman,” Zhu Yan replied with a warm smile.
Four bodyguards remained on-site to protect her. Once the chef finished preparing the meal, the guards would return to the apartment on the floor below to stand by on call.
Half an hour later, Lou Qingshuang was just preparing to eat her dinner when she heard the doorbell ring.
Her hand holding the chopsticks paused slightly. It couldn’t be Liu Yu, right?
Opening the door, she was greeted by a beaming Liu Yu, whose eyes carried a profound, indulgent warmth.
“Is something the matter, Chairman Liu?” Lou Qingshuang quickly shifted her gaze away from Liu Yu’s eyes.
“To celebrate my housewarming, I brought you some food.” Liu Yu placed an exquisitely prepared dish right into Lou Qingshuang’s hands.
Looking at the fragrant, savory, and mildly spicy tender stir-fried beef, Lou Qingshuang suddenly understood Liu Yu’s true intention in delivering this dish, she was trying to win over her mother!
Her mother’s favorite dish was precisely this tender stir fried beef, but very few people still knew the authentic method to prepare it. Yet, Liu Yu had actually managed to find out even her mother’s taste preferences. Lou Qingshuang felt as if the plate in her hands was burning hot.
After handing over the tender stir fried beef, Liu Yu turned around and walked away with effortless grace.
Lou Qingshuang watched Liu Yu’s raised arm wave casually in the air. The sleeve slid down slightly from her wrist, revealing her elegant wrist bone and slender, well-defined fingers, it was a remarkably captivating sight.