Enjoy it? Make him enjoy it?
They said “please enjoy,” but the bodyguards’ attitude made everything clear. It was the big boss behind this private club standing up for Qiao Qingman.
Zhuo Junhuan felt a headache coming on.
He had clearly been very discreet, using Shen Gaolang’s cousin’s name as cover to add the “extra ingredient” to that dessert. How did the behind-the-scenes big boss of this private club find out?
And so precisely waited until after Qiao Qingman was led away from the restaurant by Gu Qianshi before having the bodyguards watch him eat it?
It was obvious they did not want Qiao Qingman to know.
And that Gu Qianshi was just as ridiculous.
Did he not hate Qiao Qingman very much? Why had he come back? And even directly took her away, leaving her without taking a single bite of the dessert?
Zhuo Junhuan could not make sense of it no matter how he thought about it.
Looking again at the two bodyguards standing beside him, clearly formidable in combat ability, and at Shen Gaolang, who was obviously shaken as well, Zhuo Junhuan nearly cursed out loud.
It was all Shen Gaolang’s fault. If his investigation had not been so unreliable, he would not have ended up in such a passive position.
Though his emotions churned violently inside, Zhuo Junhuan tried to remain calm on the surface. “Is there some misunderstanding? I want to see your boss. I will explain to him personally.”
He wanted to see exactly who was backing Qiao Qingman behind the scenes.
And as the only son of the second branch of the Zhuo family, how could he be forced by two bodyguards to eat something that had been tampered with?
No matter what, he could not eat the dessert.
Absolutely not.
One of the bodyguards said expressionlessly, “Sorry. Our boss does not meet irrelevant people.”
Zhuo Junhuan pointed at himself in disbelief. “?”
Irrelevant people?
Even if the behind-the-scenes power of this private club was formidable, were they not underestimating him too much? Yes, he was a frivolous rich kid, but the Zhuo family was definitely not easy to provoke.
Enraged, Zhuo Junhuan tried to shove the bodyguards aside and force his way out, unwilling to waste any more time here.
The moment his hand touched one of the bodyguards, his arms were seized and he was lifted up. No matter how hard he struggled in shock, he was unceremoniously carried and thrown out of the restaurant in front of all the diners.
Noticing the astonished gazes of guests coming and going, Zhuo Junhuan shouted angrily, “Is this how you treat your customers? I’m going to file a complaint!”
He was nearly furious to death. Just as he was about to argue properly with the bodyguards, with a sharp slap, a heavy palm landed across his face.
Looking up in shock, he saw his cousin Zhuo Yanshang staring at him coldly.
“Shut up. Have you not made enough of a scene?”
With a cold expression, Zhuo Yanshang shot him a look of disgust and instructed his own bodyguards, “Take him away.”
After walking a few steps to a slightly quieter area, a mature and steady voice reached Zhuo Yanshang’s ears. “President Zhuo, have you forgotten something?”
It was Secretary Jiang, the personal secretary of Gu Qingshan, whom he had met not long ago.
Secretary Jiang took the dessert from a staff member and looked steadily at Zhuo Yanshang.
Even without saying a word, the meaning was obvious.
Zhuo Yanshang felt extremely embarrassed.
He had not expected Secretary Jiang to personally oversee this matter.
He truly did not know how his cousin had managed to offend someone as untouchable and ruthless as Gu Qingshan.
Glaring fiercely at Zhuo Junhuan, Zhuo Yanshang suppressed his anger, took the dessert from Secretary Jiang, and ordered in a commanding tone, “Eat it. Now.”
Secretary Jiang had already shown face by not stopping him at the entrance of the restaurant.
And although this place was relatively quiet, it was not free from onlookers.
He had to resolve this quickly today. The more people who found out, the more the Zhuo family’s reputation would suffer.
Zhuo Yanshang pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration.
As for Zhuo Junhuan, he felt as though his brain could not keep up anymore.
It was one thing for his cousin to show up and slap him, but now this…
Zhuo Yanshang’s patience ran out. His gaze turned icy as he issued his final ultimatum. “Hurry up and eat it. Otherwise, you can get out of the Zhuo family today.”
Several minutes later, Zhuo Junhuan was forced to swallow the very dessert he had tampered with, enduring humiliation. Before his body could react, his domineering cousin kicked him into the car.
Zhuo Junhuan’s body began to heat up. Irritated, he yanked off his tie and glared at the private club growing distant behind them, thinking bitterly that it was all Qiao Qingman’s fault. All because of her.
On the other side.
Completely unaware that she had been targeted with resentment, Qiao Qingman was still in a daze even after being pulled far away from the restaurant by the man she believed to be the male lead.
As the distance from the restaurant increased, her muddled thoughts suddenly cleared.
Was the male lead about to deeply kiss her?
So the moment the man released her wrist, Qiao Qingman unconsciously clenched her hands and nervously stared at him.
What cockroach? Could it be that the male lead had deliberately brought her out?
So the dessert had been a signal for her to follow him out of the restaurant? And since she had not left, the male lead had no choice but to come back?
No wonder he said, “I didn’t tell you to eat it.” So it was not meant to be eaten at all?
Qiao Qingman suddenly understood.
She could not help complaining to the system: [And you said the male lead isn’t bound to a system? Then why did he specially come to kiss me?]
Sensing that the man seemed about to step closer, Qiao Qingman hurriedly covered her mouth, shut her eyes, and backed hastily against the wall beside her.
However, after waiting for a while, the expected deep kiss did not come. Qiao Qingman opened her eyes in confusion and saw the man standing there with one hand in his pocket, calmly gazing at her.
There was not the slightest intention of kissing her.
Gu Qingshan had originally only wanted to prevent the girl he had kissed from being given that kind of substance, so he pulled Qiao Qingman out.
He had not expected that Qiao Qingman, unlike before when she kept saying “I like you,” would instead show a resistant attitude.
It was completely different from any of their previous encounters.
Was it not Qiao Qingman herself who had spoken boldly at Rongjing Villa, saying she would wait for Gu Qianshi to come look for her?
Gu Qingshan suddenly found it interesting. “Are you very afraid of me?”
Afraid of him, yet she drank bitter gourd coffee before kissing him? Took advantage of his “sleepwalking” to put a little red flower on his head? Kissed him again and again? Even firmly believed that Gu Qianshi would “take the initiative” to look for her?
He was really finding Qiao Qingman harder and harder to understand.
Qiao Qingman froze. “? Who’s afraid of you?”
Did this male lead know what he was saying? Afraid of him?
She still had to kiss him. How could she be afraid of him?
What a joke.
Wait, today’s kissing mission still had not been completed yet. Was this not the perfect timing…
Seeing the man leisurely let his gaze fall on the hand she was using to cover her lips, Qiao Qingman simply lowered her hand.
She stood on tiptoe, cupped the man’s face, and kissed him.
As the familiar system broadcast sounded in her mind: [Sixth day kiss, check-in successful.]
Qiao Qingman released the man and lifted her chin. “Gu Qianshi, I like you. I’m not afraid of you.”
Her posture was clearly saying, who’s afraid of whom.
Unexpectedly, this action seemed to please the man. The corners of his lips tugged faintly, and a trace of complexity surfaced in his otherwise cold, indifferent eyes.
This made Qiao Qingman firmly believe her guess was correct. This man had probably been waiting for her to lower her hand so she could kiss him.
Perhaps the male lead’s kissing mission even had a prerequisite. He had to be kissed by her first?
The system, which was shocked by this scene, spoke up at this moment: [Host, I asked again. The higher-ups said the male lead really is not bound to a system and does not have any mission.]
What the system did not say was that, because it did not trust the higher-ups, it had asked several times in a row and even got scolded.
The system felt aggrieved. Maybe the male lead really was bound to a system? Otherwise, why would he have nothing better to do than chase her all the way here?
Anyway, it held serious doubts about the higher-ups’ judgment.
Qiao Qingman, who had no idea what the system was thinking, was completely dumbfounded.
A second confirmation and still no system and no mission? Then what was the male lead doing?
Could he really be a scumbag?
No, impossible.
At that moment, the man stepped even closer.
He lowered his head, leaned close to her ear, and spoke slowly in a voice only the two of them could hear. “If you’re not afraid of me, what are you hiding from?”
His voice was low and deep, his warm breath brushing against her ear.
Qiao Qingman’s body tensed up again, a tingling itch spreading from the tip of her ear.
“Wh-what do you mean hiding? I already kissed you.”
Completely unprepared for him to use this tactic, Qiao Qingman forgot all about any “liking” persona. She suddenly pushed the man away, her mind going blank for a moment.
Naturally, she did not notice that within the area blocked from her view by the man, Shen Gaolang, who was being kicked out of the restaurant by his cousin, was clutching his backside and howling in pain.
Whenever he slowed down even slightly, the cousin following behind would lift his foot and kick him again without mercy, cursing furiously as he kicked. “This is what you get for doing bad things using my name. You’re really getting more and more capable.”
Very soon, the two of them “passed by” the nearby area and headed toward the club entrance.
Not until he was kicked out of the private club did Shen Gaolang understand how things had ended up like this.
Then he caught sight of a familiar figure.
Not Gu Qianshi, then who else could it be?
Gu Qianshi was standing beside a luxury car. A person who looked like his secretary opened the car door for him, but he did not get in. Instead, he stood where he was and turned back to look toward the club.
His brows were tightly furrowed.
A moment later, he walked back into the club.
Strange. Had Gu Qianshi not just pulled Qiao Qingman out of the restaurant?
What was he doing now? Where was Qiao Qingman?
At this moment, Qiao Qingman was pressing her lips together tightly, staring tensely at the man in front of her.
The man’s cool, pale skin was edged with a hazy glow under the afterglow of the setting sun, making him look exceptionally cold and restrained.
Yet Qiao Qingman’s mind was full of one thought. If the male lead was not truly a scumbag, could it be some unspeakable mission?
Speaking of which, had she not already kissed him? Why had this man not kissed her back immediately like he had before?
Or was it that the male lead did not need to be kissed by her first?
These were only guesses.
If she wanted to know what was really going on, she would have to keep testing it.
Then she heard the man’s low, slightly magnetic voice. “Also, Miss Qiao seems to very much want me to come here?”
Qiao Qingman: “……”
Of course she wanted him to come.
If the male lead really did come, it would mean that he also needed to kiss her. Then she would not be the only one left feeling so passive and helpless.
At that moment, a rapid vibration from a phone rang out from the man opposite her.
The sudden sound interrupted the subtle atmosphere lingering between them.
It also made Qiao Qingman even more eager to figure out exactly what was going on with this male lead.
The phone kept vibrating. Qiao Qingman’s delicate brows curved slightly as she smiled. “Why don’t you take the call first? I’ll wait for you here.”
The unspoken meaning was: answer the call and then hurry back.
Qiao Qingman was already very beautiful. When she smiled sweetly, her captivating eyes looked moist and bright, as if they could speak.
The corners of her eyes lifted slightly, her long eyelashes fluttering gently, playful and adorable.
In that instant, in Gu Qingshan’s eyes, Qiao Qingman seemed to return to the persona that kept saying “I like you” over and over again.
Gu Qingshan was quite surprised by this change.
He focused intently on the sweetly smiling girl until the vibration of the phone was about to end. Only then did he glance at the caller ID, look at Qiao Qingman one last time, and turn away as he answered the call.
Qiao Qingman was still a little worried that the male lead would stand her up.
If the male lead did not have any mandatory mission, then she…
Fortunately, when she looked up, she saw the male lead walking toward her from another direction, dressed in a black suit.
Huh? A black suit?
If she remembered correctly, before answering the call, this man seemed to be wearing a dark-colored suit.
Could it be that the sunset was too dazzling and she had seen it wrong?
While she was still puzzled, Gu Qianshi approached her with a dark expression, looking down at her from above. “Qiao Qingman, what exactly do you want?”
Gu Qianshi truly could not understand where Qiao Qingman got the confidence to think that “playing hard to get” would work.
What a joke.
Then he was shocked to see Qiao Qingman lift both hands, about to cup his face, while slightly raising her chin and puckering her lips toward him.
In a soft, gentle voice, she said, “Gu Qianshi, kiss me.”
After the kiss, starting tomorrow, they could cooperate properly.
Gu Qianshi stared at her in stunned disbelief. “?”