“CEO Su, why would you ask something like that?”
Xu Le had almost forgotten that Su Qingcheng’s favorability toward him was already at the Familiar Stage.
So, in a way, they were like old friends who had known each other for a long time.
In front of him, Su Qingcheng did not put on as much of a superior attitude anymore.
Which was why some questions that normally should not appear would suddenly come up.
“I’m curious. What kind of woman made you personally escort her home? Is she prettier than me?”
Su Qingcheng looked at Xu Le without blinking, her phoenix-like eyes fixed on him.
Women’s competitive nature was truly troublesome.
If Xu Le simply answered that Su Qingcheng was prettier, nothing bad would happen, but it would go against his conscience.
Compared to her, Gu Qinghuan was obviously easier to get along with.
The way she behaved around him also made Xu Le feel far more comfortable.
After all, who would actually like a cold, domineering, arrogant rich young lady like Su Qingcheng who looked down on men?
Besides, during work, she still treated him as a subordinate.
The only difference was that her attitude toward him had softened, and she tolerated him more than before.
“In my eyes, she’s very beautiful, but you’re beautiful too,” Xu Le replied casually.
“That sounds very perfunctory.” Su Qingcheng turned her gaze aside and spoke indifferently.
“CEO Su, you’re already outstanding enough. Why compare yourself to others?” Xu Le deliberately changed the subject.
A trace of melancholy suddenly surfaced in Su Qingcheng’s expression as she slowly said, “Outstanding? It’s still not enough. I still have a long road ahead of me. Besides that, other women have men escorting them home, while I can only go home alone.”
Xu Le froze briefly before replying, “If I remember correctly, CEO Su has quite a few pursuers. Logically speaking, you shouldn’t lack men around you.”
Su Qingcheng looked at him with faint disdain.
“They only want my status. Or perhaps more accurately, they want my body. They fantasize about conquering me.”
Then she let out a cold laugh.
“Hah. The more distant and superior I act, the more passionately they chase after me. Do you believe that the moment they actually get me, they’ll immediately lose interest? And they call that liking me? It’s disgusting.”
Xu Le found himself speechless.
At that moment, Su Qingcheng received a document that needed processing, so she let Xu Le leave.
[Mission completed for Su Qingcheng. Reward: 4,000 yuan. Favorability +5.]
4,000 yuan?
Not bad. The rewards were steadily increasing.
…
After getting off work and returning to the rental apartment, Xu Le saw his younger sister grinning foolishly at her screen and immediately knew she was chatting with her best friend again.
“My brother’s back. I’m not talking to you anymore. Bye.”
The moment Xu Yi saw Xu Le changing shoes at the entrance, she hurriedly spoke.
“Hey, why do you hang up every time your brother comes back? I’ve never even seen what your brother looks like. He’s your brother, so technically he’s my brother too,” her best friend said with a cheerful laugh.
Xu Yi immediately ended the WeChat call, afraid Xu Le might come over and see what her best friend looked like.
After hanging up, she immediately stared at Xu Le strangely.
“Brother, that friend of yours is pretty beautiful.”
“What about it?” Xu Le asked curiously.
“Come on, tell me. How long are you planning to fool Mom? You might fool her, but you can’t fool me. You two were acting, weren’t you?”
Xu Le raised an eyebrow, sat down on the sofa, took a sip of water, and casually replied, “Why would I need to act? Can’t your brother find himself a beautiful girlfriend?”
“Beautiful girls aren’t blind. Why would they like you?” Xu Yi nearly burst out laughing.
“Don’t underestimate your brother. I’ll bring her over someday for you to see.”
Xu Le looked at this younger sister of his and felt a headache coming on.
Seeing him suddenly become serious, Xu Yi stopped questioning him and nodded instead.
“I’ll wait and see. But if it’s fake, you’ll have to pay up and treat me to several good meals!”
Xu Yi immediately thought of a few trendy internet-famous restaurants. She had gone there once with her best friend before and still wanted to go again.
Seeing that she no longer pursued the topic, Xu Le thought to himself that his sister really was easy to fool.
Still, just how devastatingly beautiful was her best friend supposed to be?
Once, he had run into them at a milk tea shop, and Xu Yi had immediately dragged her friend away.
She guarded her friend like a national secret, even saying that he would “suffer a loss” if he saw her.
“How’s the apartment search going? Find a better place. Your brother isn’t short on money.”
“I was just waiting for you to say that.”
Xu Yi’s eyes instantly lit up. She was already imagining the scene of bringing her best friend over to their new place to throw a party while Xu Le was at work.
…
When Xu Le saw Su Qingcheng again, he noticed that the oppressive coldness around her had eased compared to before.
Previously, she had been constantly working overtime.
That night at the bar had only been one of her rare moments of relaxation.
The new business project she had been fully responsible for had obviously succeeded.
“CEO Su.” Xu Le knocked on the office door before walking in.
“Come shopping with me today.”
Su Qingcheng stood up. Her black bodycon skirt flowed smoothly along the curve of her waist, creating delicate folds as she rose.
That’s right. She was wearing a bodycon skirt today.
It was extremely sexy.
If not for her fearsome reputation throughout the company, several male coworkers would probably have already pretended to pass by just to steal a few glances at her.
“Alright.”
Xu Le knew she probably wanted to relax a little, maybe go shopping.
And accompanying her naturally counted as a business trip, which meant plenty of time to slack off.
“Does it look good?”
As she leaned forward, the skirt tightened slightly, revealing her long, fair, perfectly shaped legs.
Xu Le did not understand why she was asking this. But he knew one thing. Whenever a woman asked whether something looked good, the correct answer was always yes.
“It looks good.”
Su Qingcheng had been observing Xu Le the whole time. Seeing his reaction, she let out a faint snort and immediately walked out of the office.
When they arrived at the parking garage, Xu Le followed the usual routine by opening the car door for Su Qingcheng before sitting in the driver’s seat.
“CEO Su, I’m about to start driving. Please get ready,” Xu Le reminded her.
He might not be an experienced driver, but he took driving seriously.
“D-Do you have tissues?”
Su Qingcheng frowned and lowered her head. A dark wet stain had spread across her thigh, while a knocked-over tea cup lay on the ground.
How careless.
Xu Le had just handed her the tissues when he heard her speak in a commanding tone that allowed no refusal, though the end of her voice carried a slight instability.
“Come closer and help me wipe it. I can’t reach it myself…”
Looking at those dazzlingly fair thighs, Xu Le swallowed hard.
Using this kind of thing to test a man?
What man could possibly withstand this kind of test?
Seeing Xu Le’s expression, the corners of Su Qingcheng’s lips lifted slightly, as though she was secretly laughing.
Damn.
She was clearly teasing him!
If Xu Le actually helped wipe it, things would become extremely awkward. Any man would understand why.
“CEO Su, this isn’t appropriate.”
“What’s inappropriate about it?”
“If someone sees us, it’ll look bad. There’s no way to explain it clearly.”
Xu Le deliberately looked away.
“So my words don’t matter anymore? Do you still treat me as your superior?”
“How about I go upstairs and call one of the female coworkers instead? Either way, I can’t do this.”
Xu Le spoke firmly.
“Fine then. Drive.”
Seeing that he genuinely seemed a little upset, Su Qingcheng finally stopped teasing him.
[Mission completed for Su Qingcheng. Reward: 5,000 yuan. Favorability +5.]
[Current favorability: 40. Reached Attraction Stage.]