Qiao Qingman could not quite understand the way the male lead Gu Qianshi’s mind worked, nor could she figure out whether there was anything special about this particular dessert.
At the same time, she became even more convinced that the male lead must have some unspeakable kissing mission, which was why he had followed her to this private club.
As for why he had not gone to look for her yesterday, was it because he was afraid of being seen, the dignified Gu Qianshi, taking the initiative to go to her house? Or was it that the male lead’s mission did not require a kiss every single day?
But then how could she explain the fact that he had kissed her back every time in the previous few days?
Could it be that the male lead even had rest days?
Was it a single day off or two days off?
Qiao Qingman felt annoyed.
She did not even get a day off. She had to work miserably every day.
Meanwhile, as Gu Qianshi accepted the document handed over by the man sitting opposite him, he happened to look up and see Qiao Qingman. His brows instantly knitted together.
Qiao Qingman?
Why was she here?
That night, she had deliberately called him “Mr. Gu,” and when he had twice taken the initiative to let her come over to him, she had turned a deaf ear.
And today? Had she come here again to block him?
“I’m telling you, Qiao Qingman, even if my brother helps you, this trick of playing hard to get absolutely won’t work on my cousin. Stop wasting your effort. My cousin won’t like you.”
The words Chen Yiyi had said in the bar a few days ago echoed once more in Gu Qianshi’s mind.
That night, he had impulsively chased after her. The more he thought about it afterward, the more something felt off.
Why would Qiao Qingman suddenly rush over and step hard on him? And she would never have chosen between Chen Leyan and him like that.
Was all of it done to attract his attention?
After all, before that, no matter how well she behaved, no matter how passionate her gaze was, he had turned a blind eye.
That would also explain why Qiao Qingman had cried.
She had been enduring it. Enduring his indifference? Enduring the urge not to walk toward him?
Looking again at the girl sitting by the window not far away, focused on her meal…
Today, the girl was dressed simply and casually. Though her makeup was light, it highlighted her natural beauty even more.
She was looking at her phone. Whatever was on it seemed to delight her, because Qiao Qingman could not help but smile until her eyes curved.
The fiery afterglow of the sunset filtered through the window and fell upon her moist eyelashes, outlining them with a soft halo. Her long lashes trembled slightly, delicate and gentle, yet adorable.
The composed and elegant aura about her lost some of its cool detachment and gained a touch of approachable liveliness.
This was a feeling Gu Qianshi had never experienced from Qiao Qingman before.
Or perhaps, if it had not been for her “playing hard to get,” he had never truly looked at Qiao Qingman carefully in the past.
“President Gu, this is our company’s latest proposal. Please take a look.”
A proposal document was pushed in front of Gu Qianshi. The man opposite him wore a nervous yet ingratiating smile.
It instantly caused Gu Qianshi, who had been momentarily distracted by Qiao Qingman, to frown.
His fingers unconsciously tightened around the document, the bones of his wrist protruding.
Had he just been drawn in by Qiao Qingman?
“This trick of playing hard to get absolutely won’t work on my cousin.”
The sentence inexplicably looped in Gu Qianshi’s mind.
It would not go away.
His expression darkened.
Looking again at Qiao Qingman, who had clearly come here alone for his sake, yet was now completely absorbed in her phone and did not even glance at him?
She really had gotten quite skilled at playing hard to get.
Gu Qianshi almost laughed in irritation.
He would like to see just how long Qiao Qingman could keep up this act.
Just then, he saw Qiao Qingman seemingly sense something and look in his direction.
At the moment their eyes met, there was a trace of confusion in Qiao Qingman’s gaze.
Gu Qianshi’s brows tightened slightly. He lowered his eyelashes and averted his eyes, breaking eye contact first.
Qiao Qingman, who had felt a gaze on her and looked up only to see Gu Qianshi: “?”
Had Gu Qianshi just been looking at her?
Qiao Qingman curiously watched the male lead who had appeared there at some point.
She saw Gu Qianshi pick up the document on the table and flip through it. One minute later, with a cold expression, he placed it back down. After saying something to the man opposite him, Gu Qianshi stood up expressionlessly and left the restaurant.
The man across from him hurried after him.
Why did it feel as though, after being discovered by her, he had quickly fled?
Uh…
Qiao Qingman watched as Gu Qianshi strode out of the restaurant, utterly baffled.
What was Gu Qianshi doing?
She looked at the dessert in confusion and thought, could Gu Qianshi have slipped her a sleeping pill, planning to give her a deep kiss after she fell asleep?
The moment their eyes met, he felt guilty and ran away?
Qiao Qingman amused herself with the thought and could not help curling her lips into a smile.
At the same time, another question came to mind: what did it mean that Gu Qianshi had left? Did he actually have a kissing mission or not?
However, this scene took on a completely different meaning in the eyes of Zhuo Junhuan, who had instructed the waiter to deliver the dessert to Qiao Qingman.
In his view, Qiao Qingman truly believed the dessert had been sent by Gu Qianshi and was so happy that she could not stop smiling.
She was probably already imagining all sorts of sweet scenarios in her head.
After making some inquiries, Zhuo Junhuan learned that Qiao Qingman was not only the only daughter of the chairman of the Qiao Group, but also a fervent pursuer of Gu Qianshi from the Gu Group.
So fervent that even after being publicly thrown out of a villa, she still refused to give up and followed Gu Qianshi to this club.
And upon receiving the dessert he had sent under Gu Qianshi’s name, she smiled sweetly and blissfully.
And she was supposedly a dignified heiress.
No wonder he had felt she looked familiar.
Heh.
This was really interesting.
If Qiao Qingman ate that dessert and mistook him for Gu Qianshi…
Thinking of the humiliation he had suffered a few days ago, Zhuo Junhuan let out a cold laugh.
At the same time.
When Zhuo Yanshang, the current head of the Zhuo Group, was led by Secretary Jiang into the club’s president’s office, he was so excited he nearly jumped.
He had long admired and anticipated meeting the mysterious and low-profile super tycoon who had returned from the United States, and he deeply hoped to cooperate with him.
At that moment, inside the spacious and imposing president’s office, a man in a dark suit stood by the heavy floor-to-ceiling windows with one hand in his pocket.
From Zhuo Yanshang’s angle, the man standing sideways toward him had sharp features and cold brows. Even without saying a single word, he exuded an intimidating, aloof authority.
“President Gu, I’ve long heard of you,” Zhuo Yanshang composed himself and broke the silence with a smile.
But when the man turned around, Zhuo Yanshang saw a face that looked somewhat familiar.
“President… Gu?”
Anyone could hear that this “President Gu” was completely different from the one he had just said.
Zhuo Yanshang had not expected that this extremely mysterious man in outsiders’ eyes would actually be the newly appointed president of the Gu Group, Gu Qianshi?
“Let me introduce myself. My name is Gu Qingshan,” the man said calmly, his voice clear and mellow, yet carrying a strong sense of indifference.
With that short sentence, the intense pressure radiating from the man instantly filled the vast office.
Zhuo Yanshang froze slightly. “Gu… Gu Qingshan?”
Not Gu Qianshi?
Then how did he look so much like Gu Qianshi…
Though shocked inside, Zhuo Yanshang quickly restrained his reaction. “I’ve long heard of you, President Gu.”
The man by the window paid no mind to his astonishment. He walked toward Zhuo Yanshang unhurriedly, glanced at the documents on the coffee table beside them, and said calmly, “I called you here simply to remind you to discipline your younger brother. If you can’t manage him…”
“I don’t mind doing it for you.”
The man’s indifferent eyes held a trace of icy sharpness. A dangerous aura spread through the air, chilling and oppressive.
A sense of foreboding instantly rose in Zhuo Yanshang’s heart.
Had that brat Zhuo Junhuan gotten himself into trouble and offended Gu Qingshan?
Opening the file, Zhuo Yanshang clearly saw that his cousin had committed far more wrongdoing over the years than he had realized.
This included, but was not limited to, multiple one-night-stand roleplays, organizing gambling, and even records of contact with drug traffickers…
Prostitution, gambling, drugs. He was involved in all of it.
Combined with Gu Qingshan’s words about “discipline,” Zhuo Yanshang had every reason to believe that if his cousin did not suffer consequences, then it would be the Zhuo family that would.
Thinking of this, Zhuo Yanshang felt a chill of fear.
It was said that this super tycoon from the United States possessed immeasurable wealth and dominated numerous industries, a true business giant.
With his aura of mystery and his near invisibility in public, many elite families regarded Gu Qingshan as someone to be looked up to.
But they forgot that if they provoked someone like this, they would absolutely not have a good ending.
If he could investigate Zhuo Junhuan’s misdeeds so thoroughly, then if he wanted to uncover leverage against the Zhuo Group, would they not be…
After weighing the pros and cons in a split second, Zhuo Yanshang quickly assured him, “President Gu, I will definitely discipline my useless cousin properly.”
*
Inside the club restaurant.
Qiao Qingman picked up the spoon, preparing to stir through the dessert the male lead had personally sent, to see what was inside.
She was allergic to blueberries. She had better not accidentally eat something she should not.
Strange. Why had the male lead left?
If there really was something special inside this dessert…
Should she call the police? Have the male lead arrested?
Then would the plot of the novel turn into: “From then on, Gu Qianshi spent the rest of his life in prison, filled with endless regret…”?
In a fairly good mood, Qiao Qingman muttered to herself, “If Gu Qianshi goes to prison, then maybe I won’t have to…”
Before she could finish saying “follow the plot and complete missions,” a tall shadow suddenly fell over her.
Qiao Qingman looked up and saw that Gu Qianshi, who had already left the restaurant, had returned.
“Gu Qianshi?”
She sucked in a breath of cold air, eyes widening in shock, and reflexively covered her mouth.
The joy on her face instantly turned into surprise, confusion, and a trace of guilt.
It really was Gu Qianshi. He had come back?
Uh… Gu Qianshi probably did not hear her muttering just now, right?
“Thank you for the dessert.”
Qiao Qingman spoke first to break the silence. “But… I’m sorry, there are blueberries in this, and I’m allergic to blueberries, so…”
She knew the male lead would not drug her.
After all, no man who drugged a cannon fodder supporting female character could remain the male lead.
Even so, “do not eat things given by strangers” was the most basic survival rule.
So even if there were no blueberries in it, she would not eat it.
“I didn’t tell you to eat it,” the man said lightly.
Recalling the faint mention of the word “prison” he had overheard, Gu Qingshan’s cold, austere brows shifted slightly.
For a fleeting moment, he had almost thought the woman in front of him intended to send Gu Qianshi to prison.
Gu Qingshan frowned deeply.
Meanwhile, Qiao Qingman was stunned by the words of the man she believed to be the male lead.
He did not tell her to eat it? Then why did he send this dessert?
From Qiao Qingman’s perspective, the man before her spoke in a low, subdued tone. There was no warmth in his deep gaze as he looked at her.
Rather than saying the male lead had returned, it felt more like the man had suddenly appeared.
And in a different suit?
Qiao Qingman: “?”
He had changed suits again?
At that moment, the man glanced at the dessert by her hand and suddenly leaned closer.
“It seems a cockroach got in here. Want to step outside?” His voice was clear and low, and the familiar fresh scent drifted into her nose.
In an instant, Qiao Qingman’s mind went hazy.
She blinked instinctively. “Huh?”
A cockroach?
This was one of the most prestigious private clubs in Sucheng, and the male lead was saying a cockroach had gotten in?
If the owner heard that, would he not get beaten?
In the next moment, the spoon in Qiao Qingman’s hand was set aside by the man.
He took hold of her wrist and led her toward the exit.
This scene did not escape Zhuo Junhuan’s notice, as he had been keeping an eye on Qiao Qingman the entire time. He immediately sprang up from his seat.
Gu Qianshi… how, how had he come back?
Before he could think further, a waiter walked to the table where Qiao Qingman had been sitting and picked up the dessert he had secretly tampered with, using the club manager’s name as cover.
The waiter brought it over to Zhuo Junhuan, set it down, and said politely, “Mr. Zhuo, our boss says this dessert is more suitable for you.”
Boss? The boss of this private club?
Wait, the boss of the club also knew Qiao Qingman? What was going on?
Zhuo Junhuan’s brows knitted tightly.
He shot an angry glare at Shen Gaolang, who was watching the spectacle with a smirk. Just as he was about to leave, two bodyguards in black suits appeared before him, imposing and intimidating.
In a serious tone devoid of warmth, they said, “Mr. Zhuo, please enjoy.”
Zhuo Junhuan’s face darkened. “?”
Enjoy it? Could this kind of thing be casually enjoyed?
If he took a bite and displayed some inappropriate reaction in public, would the second young master of the Zhuo family have any dignity left?