Chapter 31
Li Qinyue was sitting on a luxurious sofa, holding a glass of red wine, her legs crossed, a cigarette between her fingers.
A wisp of smoke curled upwards, swirling around her long, loose hair, making her profile look both alluring and dangerous.
Her eyes were slightly narrowed, and standing before her wasn’t a group of naked, muscular men, but a line of beautiful young women, each one younger and more delicate than the last.
Some were in swimsuits, some in JK uniforms, some in tracksuits, some in frilly Lolita dresses…
Long hair, short hair, black hair, hair dyed in all colors of the rainbow…
Japanese style, Korean style, local style, Thai style, big-eyed, high-nosed Western style…
All kinds, a diverse selection within a certain range, all with one thing in common: fair skin and slender legs.
For a moment, Zhuo Zhi was reminded of the variety shows she had watched with Li Qinyue, the contestants they had analyzed. If the setting were different, Zhuo Zhi would have thought this was a talent show audition.
But reality was harsh. Amidst the loud music and psychedelic lights, Wang Zilai, holding a bottle of liquor, his beer belly jiggling like a pregnant woman’s, came rushing over from the inner room, shouting at Li Qinyue, “Little President Li, have you made your choice yet? Spoiled for choice? I told you, if you like this type, we have every kind here.”
No one noticed Zhuo Zhi standing by the door. She couldn’t take it anymore. Her sense of duty, having been suppressed all night, finally exploded. She let out a loud cough.
Everyone turned to look at her, including the beautiful girls.
Li Qinyue looked at her and suddenly smiled. Even in this setting, her smile was breathtakingly beautiful.
Or rather, even more beautiful.
Under the flickering lights, Li Qinyue’s eyes seemed to speak. She only looked at Zhuo Zhi for a few seconds, but Zhuo Zhi’s mind was already racing, replaying every word and phrase they had exchanged that could be relevant to this situation.
She was no longer the naive little monkey who would resort to violence at the first sign of trouble. She had found a way to kill many birds with one stone.
Frowning, stomping her foot, Zhuo Zhi didn’t need to recall how to act jealous from TV dramas. Her genuine anger made her performance convincing.
“What are you doing?!” she shouted in a voice unique to a young girl who had just come of age. “You left me outside, just to meet with these people?!”
Li Qinyue raised an eyebrow. Wang Zilai looked awkward. The girls, however, seemed to have seen it all, their expressions remaining sweet and composed.
Zhuo Zhi pointed at the girls, glared at Wang Zilai, then turned to Li Qinyue, “Is this how you see me?! Am I the same as them?! Am I not as pretty as them?! Are you not interested in me anymore?! Do you want me or do you want them?!”
Five soul-stirring questions, Zhuo Zhi’s voice loud and clear, making the whole room tremble. The music and time seemed to freeze, creating an eerie silence.
Wang Zilai waited for half a minute, but Li Qinyue didn’t explode.
He couldn’t understand why Li Qinyue wasn’t angry after having her face challenged so publicly in this setting.
He turned to look at the girl standing by the door. Her appearance could be considered delicate, but she wasn’t even as beautiful as Li Qinyue herself. What kind of charm did she possess?
Li Qinyue was smiling. After her laughter subsided, she beckoned to Zhuo Zhi, “Come here.”
Lost in her act, Zhuo Zhi retorted, “No!”
“Be good, come here,” Li Qinyue kept her hand outstretched.
Zhuo Zhi glared at her, “You tell them to be good!”
Li Qinyue stood up and walked towards her, “They would definitely obey, but I like you, the one who doesn’t obey.”
This was a powerful statement. Zhuo Zhi thought for a moment, unable to come up with a retort.
In that brief moment of hesitation, Li Qinyue had already grabbed her wrist and led her towards the sofa, “Did you eat enough earlier? Are you thirsty? Want something to drink?”
Zhuo Zhi waved her hand and said, “It smells so strongly of smoke.”
Li Qinyue smoothly put out her cigarette and winked at Zhuo Zhi.
Wang Zilai stood awkwardly at the side, gesturing towards the girls, “Little President Li, then…”
Li Qinyue looked up and smiled, “Honey, do you like any of them?”
Zhuo Zhi froze. Li Qinyue squeezed her palm.
“Ah, well…” Zhuo Zhi figured that since she was playing the role of a spoiled “girlfriend,” she might as well continue the act. She pointed and said, “I think that one is not bad.”
Wang Zilai looked as if he finally understood, thinking to himself, young people are indeed more open-minded.
Li Qinyue followed Zhuo Zhi’s finger, “The one in the plaid skirt?”
“Yes,” Zhuo Zhi nodded.
“Do you like her face or her outfit?” Li Qinyue asked.
“Her clothes are pretty, and she…”
Li Qinyue interrupted her, smiling mischievously, “Then I’ll wear it for you.”
Zhuo Zhi: “…”
Li Qinyue said to Wang Zilai, “President Wang, looks like you’ll have to play by yourself.”
“Not my type,” Wang Zilai waved his hand, dismissing the girls, “Then I won’t disturb you two. I’ll go play cards with President Mi.”
Li Qinyue nodded. Wang Zilai waved at Zhuo Zhi and went into the inner room.
A soft, old song was playing on the TV, and the lights in the room were no longer as psychedelic.
Li Qinyue looked down at Zhuo Zhi’s fingers and said, “Remember what you said earlier?”
“I said a lot of things,” Zhuo Zhi answered honestly.
Li Qinyue leaned closer to her ear and said, “You told me not to smoke.”
Zhuo Zhi shivered, her fingers in Li Qinyue’s grasp suddenly feeling like they were burning in a fire.
Li Qinyue didn’t rush to do anything. She continued to gently squeeze Zhuo Zhi’s slender, soft hand, which had slight calluses on the palm, and sighed, “Your hands are so beautiful.”
Zhuo Zhi’s mind caught up and she said, “I didn’t say you couldn’t smoke, I said the smoke was too strong.”
“Isn’t it the same thing?” Li Qinyue glanced at her.
“It’s not the same,” Zhuo Zhi quickly explained, “Telling you not to smoke is a demand, saying the smoke is too strong is just expressing my feelings.”
“But I put out my cigarette because of your feelings,” Li Qinyue pointed at the cigarette butt in the ashtray.
“Then light another one?” Zhuo Zhi looked at her cautiously.
The expression on Li Qinyue’s face froze for a few seconds, then she suddenly laughed, “It’s just a small matter, is it that scary?”
Zhuo Zhi couldn’t answer that question. It wasn’t scary, it just felt wrong, inappropriate.
Li Qinyue let go of her hand and leaned back on the sofa, “You just saw how many people were eyeing me like a tiger, but you seem to find me repulsive…”
Zhuo Zhi grasped the key point, “That’s true.”
“Which part is true?” Li Qinyue squinted at her.
“The ‘eyeing me like a tiger’ part,” Zhuo Zhi nodded, deeply affected.
Li Qinyue stared at her for two seconds, then suddenly sat up straight, “What did Lan Xi tell you?”
Zhuo Zhi had a knowing look on her face. After thinking for a moment, she decided to offer some advice, “I think, if someone likes you, but they don’t harass you and just express their feelings normally, you can reject them gently.”
“Damn,” Li Qinyue couldn’t help but curse, “Who confessed to me? Who did I reject?”
“Lan Xi,” Zhuo Zhi said, “You don’t even answer her calls.”
“Did she call me?” Li Qinyue tried to remember, “I don’t think so, right?”
“Do you not answer calls from unknown numbers?” Zhuo Zhi asked.
“Of course,” Li Qinyue said, “If I answered every call, I’d be as busy as a customer service representative.”
“That’s it then,” Zhuo Zhi said, “You haven’t even saved her number.”
Li Qinyue leaned back on the sofa, “Yes, I haven’t saved it. We haven’t reached the point of exchanging numbers. Did she tell you she likes me?”
“Yeah,” Zhuo Zhi said with a knowing tone, “It’s quite obvious when someone is interested in you.”
“Really?” Li Qinyue chuckled and pinched Zhuo Zhi’s cheek, “Girlfriend, are you trying to set me up with another woman now?”
“Not really,” Zhuo Zhi also leaned back and whispered, “Lan Xi came to the dinner because of you. I think she was deceived by that Wang Zilai. He promised to introduce her to you.”
“Wang Zilai didn’t lie, he did mention it to me.”
Zhuo Zhi frowned, “Then there was no need to make a girl drink so much.”
“You just don’t like him, do you?” Li Qinyue asked with a smile.
“Yes,” Zhuo Zhi said, “If he tries anything with you, I’ll beat him up.”
Li Qinyue didn’t speak, just smiled.
Zhuo Zhi frowned at her, then smiled too.
They looked at each other, laughing for no apparent reason. Someone knocked on the door, and then it opened, revealing Lan Xi’s face.
Zhuo Zhi was a little startled. Lan Xi clearly hadn’t expected to see them either and froze at the door.
After a few seconds, Li Qinyue tilted her chin and said, “Come in.”
Lan Xi entered the room and stopped two meters away from them.
Li Qinyue asked, “Are you alright?”
“I’m fine,” Lan Xi said.
Li Qinyue looked at her, “Do you have my number?”
Lan Xi was stunned for a moment, then quickly said, “Yes.”
“Call me,” Li Qinyue took out her phone.
Lan Xi dialed her number. Li Qinyue answered the call but didn’t look up, “Call me directly if you need anything in the future.”
“Okay,” Lan Xi responded, looking at her.
Li Qinyue placed her hand on Zhuo Zhi’s shoulder and rubbed it naturally, her gaze still on her phone, “There’s no need to go through all this trouble.”
“Okay,” Lan Xi continued to look at her.
“Alright, there’s nothing interesting here anymore,” Li Qinyue stood up and patted Zhuo Zhi’s head. Zhuo Zhi also quickly stood up.
Li Qinyue kept her hand on Zhuo Zhi’s shoulder, half-hugging, half-leaning on her as she led her towards the door. As they passed Lan Xi, she said coldly, “Goodbye.”
“Goodbye,” Lan Xi said as the door closed.
Li Qinyue maintained this posture, her arm around Zhuo Zhi, as they left the club.
Zhuo Zhi didn’t speak along the way. As they were about to get into the car, she suddenly said, “Wait a minute.”
Before Li Qinyue could ask what was wrong, Zhuo Zhi dashed off. She was fast and light, quickly disappearing into the darkness.
Li Qinyue waved her hand, signaling the driver to wait.
Waiting in the cold winter wind wasn’t pleasant.
But Zhuo Zhi’s behavior suggested that something interesting had happened. Li Qinyue took out a cigarette, twirling it between her fingers, but ultimately didn’t light it.
A few minutes later, Zhuo Zhi returned, tiptoeing to Li Qinyue’s ear and whispering, “I saw Ling Xi.”
Li Qinyue paused, “Where?”
“She just arrived,” Zhuo Zhi said, “I saw her car enter, and I went to take a look. It’s her.”
“You even memorized her car?” Li Qinyue was a little surprised.
“From the parking lot, the day I beat her up,” Zhuo Zhi said.
“Impressive,” Li Qinyue asked, “Did you overhear anything this time?”
“No,” Zhuo Zhi said, “She went straight upstairs. Do you think she has something to do with that Wang Zilai?”
Li Qinyue raised an eyebrow, “Why do you think they have something to do with each other?”
“They’re alike.”
“How are they alike?”
“Everything,” Zhuo Zhi looked at Li Qinyue and pouted, “Even the way they try to please you is the same, they both have bad intentions.”
“Hahahahaha…” Li Qinyue burst out laughing and waved for the car to come over, “That’s how they all play. But Ling Xi and Wang Zilai actually do have a connection.”
“What kind of connection?” Zhuo Zhi was intrigued, following Li Qinyue into the back seat.
Li Qinyue leaned close to her ear, her breath tickling Zhuo Zhi’s skin, before finally saying, “Boss and subordinate.”
“Oh,” Zhuo Zhi was clearly disappointed.
“What kind of connection did you want them to have?” Li Qinyue looked at her, amused.
“I hoped they were having an affair,” Zhuo Zhi said, “Not just any affair, but something bad, something illegal. Preferably something they’re doing right now…”
“So you could go beat up Wang Zilai?” Li Qinyue finished her sentence.
Zhuo Zhi looked at her, hesitated for a moment, then nodded vigorously, admitting, “Yes.”
Li Qinyue laughed, “So eager to fight for justice, you should be a police officer.”
“I thought about it.”
“Why didn’t you?”
“I missed the application deadline for the police academy.”
“You couldn’t pass the exam, could you?”
“I could!”
“You’re bragging.”
“I’m not! I’m very smart.”
“You were quite smart today,” Li Qinyue said with a smile, “You even know how to get jealous now.”
At the mention of this, Zhuo Zhi blushed and fell silent.
After a while, Li Qinyue touched her arm, “Don’t forget what you owe me.”
“Owe you what?” Zhuo Zhi was confused.
Li Qinyue looked down at her fingers, “This.”
Zhuo Zhi’s face, which had just returned to its normal color, flushed again, “Didn’t we already discuss this? I didn’t mean it that way.”
“You did mean it that way,” Li Qinyue looked at her.
“I really didn’t,” Zhuo Zhi clenched her fingers around her clothes.
“Do you know that your eyes are very obvious when you lie?” Li Qinyue stared into her eyes, “They dart around, back and forth.”
Zhuo Zhi pursed her lips, silent for a while, then suddenly bent over and buried her head in her lap.
“I did mean it that way,” she mumbled, “But it wasn’t so you could kiss me.”
“Then why?” Li Qinyue looked at this ostrich.
“To show my ‘girlfriend’ status, so that Wang Zilai would know that you can’t do anything I don’t allow, even if you want to.”
“Tsk,” Li Qinyue sighed, “What if I didn’t cooperate with you just now?”
“You would have cooperated,” Zhuo Zhi’s head was still buried.
“You knew, didn’t you?” Li Qinyue teased her.
“I just knew,” Zhuo Zhi’s tone was certain.
There was a hint of anger in her certainty. The girl’s emotions were changing quickly, every little detail noticed by Li Qinyue.
“Why are you angry?” Li Qinyue reached out to brush Zhuo Zhi’s loose ponytail.
“I think you’re being irresponsible,” Zhuo Zhi said.
“How am I being irresponsible?”
“Well…” Zhuo Zhi hesitated, then blurted out, “If you don’t want those girls, don’t accept recommendations from others. If you don’t like Lan Xi, don’t say ambiguous things to her, don’t give her ambiguous looks, don’t give her hope and then disappoint her. I think this is very irresponsible of you, it’ll only cause you trouble. You need to be clear about your feelings and learn to say no when necessary…”
“Dad,” Li Qinyue interjected.
Zhuo Zhi’s rambling stopped abruptly.
“Please continue your lecture, teach this ignorant child how to properly interact with people.”
“I’m not!” Zhuo Zhi was so angry she wanted to stomp her feet. She abruptly raised her head, “I’m not lecturing you! I’m not forcing you to do anything! I’m just offering some advice! The kind of advice a true friend would offer! If I didn’t…”
Zhuo Zhi stopped, realizing that Li Qinyue’s expression didn’t match her mocking tone. Li Qinyue was smiling, a gentle smile she was trying to suppress.
She poked Zhuo Zhi’s arm, “If you didn’t what?”
Zhuo Zhi was helpless and a little aggrieved, “You’re teasing me again.”
“I’m not teasing you, I’m listening to you seriously,” Li Qinyue said, “If you didn’t what?”
Zhuo Zhi lowered her head, staring at her toes, “If I didn’t really consider you a friend and care about you, I wouldn’t say these things.”
“Hmm,” Li Qinyue patted her head, “I know, but I need to explain something.”
“Hmm?” Zhuo Zhi looked up at her.
This time, Li Qinyue’s expression and tone were serious, “I do like to have fun, but I know what I want and what I don’t want. I won’t do things I don’t like just because someone else asks me to. Wang Zilai brought those girls, if you had arrived a minute or two later, I would have found an excuse to refuse. As for Lan Xi, I did initially plan to use her as a shield, but then I realized it wasn’t appropriate, so I stopped contacting her. Meeting her today was purely coincidental. You said she came to the dinner because of me, so I gave her my number. I don’t want her to go to Wang Zilai anymore. You know he’s not a good person.”
“Hmm,” Zhuo Zhi nodded.
Li Qinyue patted her head again, “As for Lan Xi liking me, don’t worry, I don’t like her, not at all, and I won’t do anything ambiguous with her or give her any ambiguous looks in the future.”
“Hmm,” Zhuo Zhi nodded again, then felt a little awkward, “Actually, it’s best to let things happen naturally.”
“There’s nothing to let happen naturally, if I don’t like her, I don’t like her.” Li Qinyue cupped the back of Zhuo Zhi’s neck, smiling, “You’re my girlfriend, how can I like someone else?”
“It’s fake,” Zhuo Zhi also smiled.
“You’re playing the role so seriously, of course I have to cooperate fully,” Li Qinyue said, “Didn’t you just say that you were sure I would cooperate?”
“Yes,” Zhuo Zhi nodded.
“Then girlfriend…” Li Qinyue leaned forward, her forehead resting against Zhuo Zhi’s, “When will you pay the price?”
The space was small, they were too close, their breaths mingling.
Zhuo Zhi felt like she could see into the depths of Li Qinyue’s pupils. Her intentions were clear, there was no escaping this.
Zhuo Zhi took a deep breath, broke free from Li Qinyue’s hold, turned her head, closed her eyes, and extended her hand, “Here.”
Li Qinyue smiled, grabbing her hand and gently squeezing it, “Why are you in such a hurry? We’re in the car, we can take our time when we get home.”
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