Gu Qianshi had never imagined that one day, he would see a man who looked almost exactly like himself.
That fleeting glance felt far too strange, so strange that his entire mind seemed momentarily blank.
But after calming down, he became clearly aware of one thing. He did not have a twin. How could there possibly be someone in this world who looked that much like him?
Moreover, even twin brothers could not be completely identical, could they?
It must have been because his emotions were unsettled tonight, combined with how dark it was, that he had seen wrong.
This was all Qiao Qingman’s fault.
Could she not just behave properly as a wealthy young lady? Why did she have to provoke him?
If she was going to provoke him, so be it. He had already said countless times that he did not like her and could never like her. Yet what about Qiao Qingman? She insisted on playing hard to get.
Enough already.
Gu Qianshi frowned deeply.
He suddenly felt that standing here was stupid.
He got back into the car, stepped on the accelerator, and in one breath drove straight to the entrance of the Qiao family villa.
Although the torrential rain had stopped, the silent late night was still especially cold and bleak.
Even though Gu Qianshi was sitting in the car with the air-conditioning turned up high, he did not know whether it was psychological, but recalling the moment when he had locked eyes with that man earlier made him feel uncomfortable all over.
It was as if some inexplicable chill was creeping up from the soles of his feet.
Before him stood the magnificent Qiao family villa. He and Qiao Qingman were only a step away from each other.
The irritation he had previously felt because of Qiao Qingman surged up once more.
Gu Qianshi shook his head lightly, forcing away those inexplicable thoughts that made him uneasy.
Then he picked up his phone and dialed the number that he had instructed Secretary Shen to investigate the last time he left the Qiao family villa.
The phone rang for a long time before it was answered. By now, Gu Qianshi’s patience was nearly exhausted. “Qiao Qingman, come out.”
Qiao Qingman, sleeping soundly: “?”
She did not even open her eyes. She only vaguely felt that although the voice on the other end of the phone sounded pleasant, it also carried a hint of irritability.
Qiao Qingman was far too sleepy. Naturally, she did not want to open her eyes to look at the phone screen. Without thinking, she asked, “Who is this?”
Waking someone up in the middle of the night was extremely rude, okay?
Gu Qianshi, the one disturbing her sleep: “?”
His anger flared instantly. “Qiao Qingman, you don’t have my phone number?”
He had blocked Qiao Qingman. Had this woman deleted his number as well?
No, impossible.
Then, after two beeping sounds, the other party hung up.
Gu Qianshi, who had been questioning his pursuer: “?”
Qiao Qingman hung up on him? She actually hung up on him?
He had personally come over, and Qiao Qingman, half-asleep, had hung up his call and even asked, “Who is this?”
Gu Qianshi found it utterly unbelievable.
At the same time, he felt as if he had been provoked.
The man who was always decisive in business and cold and reserved in private lost his composure. He got out of the car, pressed the doorbell without thinking, and rang it.
Late at night, since Qiao Qingman had already told the maids earlier that she would be back late and that they did not need to wait for her, the entire Qiao family villa was sunk in deep sleep.
Naturally, even after Gu Qianshi rang the doorbell for quite some time, no one came to open the door.
Instead, as the piercing doorbell echoed through the night, Gu Qianshi suddenly snapped back to his senses.
What was he doing? He had actually rung the doorbell of the Qiao family villa in the middle of the night?
If this reached Qiao Qingman’s father, Qiao Borong, would he think that Gu Qianshi was pestering his daughter? Especially since Qiao Borong had previously hinted to him about a possible marriage alliance between their families.
Thinking of this, Gu Qianshi immediately returned to his car and drove away.
When Aunt Zhuang at the Qiao family villa finally heard the doorbell, she thought it was her young lady returning and hurried out. But when she saw that there was nothing at the gate, she was confused.
Had she been half-asleep and imagined it?
Aunt Zhuang hurried back upstairs and knocked on the bedroom door. After waiting for a while without hearing any response, she pushed the door open worriedly and saw her young lady sleeping soundly in the middle of the large bed.
The young lady was back? Then who had been ringing the doorbell in the middle of the night?
No, the young lady had her own access code. She would not need to ring the doorbell.
No, tomorrow she would have to get Xiao Zhang to check the surveillance footage.
What she did not know was that just as Gu Qianshi drove away, a call had already been placed to Secretary Shen, who was fast asleep. “Deal with the surveillance. Now. Immediately.”
After resolving the surveillance issue, Gu Qianshi recalled the call that Qiao Qingman had mercilessly hung up on. His grip on the steering wheel tightened so hard that veins bulged on the bones of his wrist.
Qiao Qingman—
If it were not for her addiction to playing hard to get, he would not have run over in the middle of the night, nor would he have ended up in such an embarrassing state.
From now on, he would definitely no longer be affected by Qiao Qingman in any way.
Absolutely not.
And not long after Gu Qianshi’s car left the Qiao family villa, in the second-floor study of “Jianyun Villa,” before the large floor-to-ceiling window, a man stood with one hand in his pocket, his gaze deep as he looked out.
His back was tall and straight. As he overlooked the distance, he exuded an indescribable cool, noble elegance.
Those deep, cold eyes poured out a commanding presence.
A burst of urgent phone vibration rang out in the silent study.
Moments later, the man answered the call.
Hearing the report from the other end, Gu Qingshan raised his hand and lightly touched his lips, which still seemed to retain the warmth and sweet scent left by the girl.
The man’s cool, detached brows finally gained a trace of warmth.
*
Qiao Qingman slept exceptionally well this time.
She had to admit it. With the male lead’s kiss as a bonus, her sleep quality was unbelievably good.
Gu Qingshan was simply the ultimate sleep aid.
Warm sunlight streamed in through the window. Bathed in the sunlight, Qiao Qingman felt wonderfully refreshed.
She stretched, got out of bed, washed up, went downstairs, and ate breakfast.
Breakfast was as lavish as ever. Feeling clear-headed and energized, Qiao Qingman ate heartily.
She then mentioned to Aunt Zhuang that she might be coming home late often recently and told her not to worry about her.
Aunt Zhuang nodded in response. While pouring milk for Qiao Qingman, she suddenly remembered something and hurriedly reported it.
“Oh right, Miss, last night I heard someone ringing the doorbell. But when we checked the surveillance today, there was nothing at all. Isn’t that strange?”
Qiao Qingman paused. “Something like that happened?”
Aunt Zhuang replied, “Yes. I was even wondering whether I had heard it wrong.”
Heard it wrong?
Qiao Qingman smiled faintly and did not take it seriously.
She picked up her glass of milk and took a sip.
As she drank, she suddenly remembered something. Last night, when she was half-asleep, it seemed like she had received a phone call?
Qiao Qingman picked up her phone to check, and sure enough, there really had been a connected call.
It was none other than the male lead, Gu Qianshi’s call.
What had he said on the phone again?
“Qiao Qingman, come out.”
Hm? Come out?
The male lead had just made her get drenched by rain for the second time, and he still had the nerve to ask her to come out in the middle of the night?
Big bad guy!
But hadn’t the male lead just kissed her? Kissed her until she was dizzy and nearly fell asleep on the way. Why would he ask her to go downstairs again?
Was there something important?
Out of a sense of cooperation, Qiao Qingman somewhat reluctantly dialed the number back.
Then the call was rejected.
Rejected? Was something wrong with the male lead?
Could it be that something had happened?
She decided to send him a message.
As a result, WeChat showed a red exclamation mark.
Qiao Qingman, who had been in a pretty good mood: “?”
So the male lead was angry?
By all that was fair, she really had been extremely, extremely sleepy last night. She had not intentionally refused to go downstairs.
And she had been that sleepy because of the male lead himself, hadn’t she?
Was it really necessary to be this petty?
Rejecting her call and even blocking her on WeChat?
Qiao Qingman’s bad temper flared up.
Forget it. Anyway, she would not need to kiss the male lead again until tomorrow night.
Let him stay angry. They would talk about it tomorrow.
Qiao Qingman calmly packed her things and drove herself to a suburban resort to have some fun.
But on the other side, inside the president’s office of the Gu Group.
Gu Qianshi, who had rejected Qiao Qingman’s call, stared at the phone screen he had tossed onto the desk, his deep eyes dark and heavy.
She thought calling once was enough for him to pick up? He had nearly been caught by her family’s surveillance cameras last night for “disturbing the peace at midnight.” Where was he supposed to put his pride?
Was Qiao Qingman’s playing hard to get not a little too perfunctory?
No, could this also be another move in her playing hard to get?
Irritated, Gu Qianshi picked up his phone. Before that inexplicable force inside him could pressure him again, he directly blocked Qiao Qingman’s number.
Then, one minute later, he removed her from the blacklist.
Forget it.
If she discovered she was blocked when she tried calling again, who knew what even more bizarre stunt she would pull.
What Gu Qianshi did not know was that at this very moment, Qiao Qingman had already begun her short vacation trip.
Poor Gu Qianshi stared at his phone screen for most of the day, yet not a single ringtone sounded.
He could not help suspecting whether the signal in his office was bad.
Or whether he had accidentally blocked Qiao Qingman’s number again.
However, the signal was perfectly fine, and her number had not been blocked again.
Even WeChat, which he had removed from the blacklist, showed no activity at all.
So that evening, Gu Qianshi, furious, truly blocked Qiao Qingman’s phone number.
He then tossed the phone onto his office desk.
Meanwhile, Qiao Qingman, who knew nothing about any of this, felt a little tired after playing around for most of the day.
She took a quick shower, lay down on the bed, and fell asleep.
In the blink of an eye, it was already the afternoon of the next day.
As the sun began to set, Qiao Qingman’s previously relaxed mood gradually became listless.
After all, it was time for her to work again. Time for her to kiss the male lead and then yawn all the way home while driving.
That was dangerous driving, okay?
So annoying.
Seriously, why was she the only one who got sleepy?
While complaining, Qiao Qingman started the car, only to realize that she seemed to have forgotten where the place was that the male lead had taken her to last night.
Forget it. Asking for the address would not be too much, right?
However, before she could dial the number, her phone received a new WeChat friend request.
Just three simple words.
[Gu Qingshan.]