Song Zhi first encountered Xiang Ge outside the men’s restroom in a hotel.

At the time, the woman was wearing a loose black hoodie, paired with pencil pants, exuding a youthful, student-like appearance.

She leaned against the wall with her arms crossed, observing the man before her.

Song Zhi immediately recognized that man as Liu Something-or-other, the then-Vice President of the Global Models Department.

After returning from studying abroad and taking over the Global Models Department, Song Zhi had just greeted the senior management team that morning. He hadn’t expected to run into them again while dining out with friends that evening.

Song Zhi had no interest in listening to their conversation. The lewd expressions on Liu’s face and his suggestive words were all too obvious. The dialogue was nothing new; such scenes were quite common in this industry, where people simply took what they needed.

However, this vice president probably wouldn’t have the chance to give this young beauty what she wanted.

Song Zhi lowered his head, no longer paying attention, while lathering up fine, dense bubbles with the hand soap. He began recalling whether any potential vice presidents stood out among the management team he’d met earlier that morning. Then he heard the woman lazily speak up.

“No, I don’t think so,” she said in a soft voice, but it wasn’t the crisp, melodious softness typical of women. Her voice carried a slight huskiness, languid and carefree.

It was like mist winding through the mountains, hazy and entwining.

Vice President Liu clearly hadn’t expected her response and was momentarily stunned: “What? Do you know what I can offer you—”

“What exactly can you offer me?”

The woman cut him off, letting out a soft chuckle. “You can offer me good resources, opportunities, fame, fortune, money,” she paused, then slowly continued in a teasing tone, “Mr. Liu, if you looked like Daniel Wu, I’d even chase after you. But looking like you do, I feel like I’d be getting the short end of this deal.”

The automatic faucet in the restroom suddenly gushed water. Song Zhi placed his hands underneath, raising his head to glance over.

He was inside the restroom, while the two of them were outside. From his position, he could see them, but their view was mostly blocked by the walls.

Earlier, he had only given her a quick glance. Now, upon closer inspection, he realized she was stunning.

Even Song Zhi, who had grown up surrounded by countless beauties and developed immunity to them, couldn’t help but admit that this woman was flawlessly beautiful—from her face to her body proportions, from the top of her head to the tips of her toes.

Her head was tilted casually to one side, her soft black hair tied into a high ponytail with some strands dyed in “grandma gray.”

Her profile revealed a high-bridged nose, strong facial contours, deep-set eyes, bright and narrow dark pupils, and upturned corners of her eyes. She raised her eyebrows slightly, smirking at the man in front of her.

A row of glittering earrings adorned her ears, matching her bold demeanor.

At this moment, Mr. Liu, humiliated and enraged, narrowed his eyes menacingly: “Alright, so you’re just a feisty little wildcat, huh? Let me tell you, Xiang Ge, you’ve signed with Global for a year. During that time, I can make sure you get absolutely nothing. Do you understand how important age and time are in the modeling industry?”

Xiang Ge laughed: “But I still can’t bear to hurt my own eyes.”

Liu, furious, turned red in the face and was about to lash out when Song Zhi turned off the faucet, grabbed a paper towel, and headed towards the exit.

The man outside glanced casually at him, stopping mid-sentence.

Song Zhi leisurely stood in front of the trash can, wiping the water off his hands, raising his head. His eyes conveyed an unspoken message of “get lost.”

Xiang Ge didn’t turn around; she merely watched as the man with a beer belly—visibly three layers thick—suddenly smiled at her and hurriedly walked away.

Xiang Ge raised an eyebrow, watching him leave. She swayed her head twice, scratched her hair, and left with a puzzled expression.

Song Zhi chuckled, tossing the crumpled wet paper towel in his hand into the trash can.

The next time Song Zhi saw Xiang Ge was a few months later in the photography studio. After being in his position for several months, he had learned quite a bit and initially thought about promoting her.

This woman had impeccable external conditions, was intelligent, and most importantly, she had a clear mind.

Song Zhi didn’t completely oppose the idea of “casting couch” practices; in his view, it was everyone’s choice. When he was in a good mood, he would turn a blind eye. However, if something disgusted him—like that last time with the dog-shit-looking Vice President Liu—he would push it as far away as possible.

This Xiang Ge was good in every aspect, except for one flaw: she was too wild.

She appeared restless and indifferent to everything, with her eyebrows, eyes, and nose all seemingly proclaiming her as the flawless “ultimate badass of the universe,” exuding arrogance that could soar into the sky.

Song Zhi was someone who was used to being arrogant himself, but seeing her made him inexplicably irritated, even wanting to beat her up.

At first, Song Zhi thought that more than a year would be enough time to temper her temperament.

However, when he saw her again the following year, although she seemed more obedient on the surface, deep down she remained unchanged.

Song Zhi decided it was futile; this stubborn side of hers probably couldn’t be fixed.

He assigned his personal assistant to her, gave her Global’s most experienced agent, provided her with the best resources and opportunities, offered her advice, and even personally selected all her contracts to pave the way for her.

That morning, when Song Zhi and Gong Mo visited Xiang Ge’s home and spotted an unfamiliar man, Song Zhi fell silent for a while.

The carefree woman was still sleeping soundly inside the house. Sitting on the sofa, Song Zhi inexplicably felt like grinding his teeth.

Gong Mo hesitated to speak, looking at him, but ultimately said nothing.

He knew what she wanted to ask.

Song Zhi had always believed that due to his family environment, he was sufficiently cold-hearted and a completely rational businessman.

Even rabbits don’t eat the grass around their burrows, so he definitely wouldn’t entertain any thoughts about people within the company.

Then why did he choose to promote her?

There were plenty of others who knew how to leverage their advantages and had better judgment. Her qualifications were certainly outstanding, but it wasn’t as if she was irreplaceable.

Song Zhi simply felt that having someone with such potential not making money would be a waste.

That was all there was to it.

After Xiang Ge’s video was leaked, Song Zhi immediately contained the news and contacted Xiang Lin.

When Qiao Xin was called into his office, her face was pale, her eyes red-rimmed, and her makeup smudged, making her look like a pitiful stray cat.

Song Zhi had little impression of her, only remembering that this girl was close to Xiang Ge and that the last time Xiang Ge physically attacked someone in the photography studio, it seemed to be because of her.

Such jealousy-driven conflicts among women were common. Narrowing his eyes, Song Zhi sneered: “You’re the one who did it, right?”

At his glare, tears instantly streamed down her face like a faucet.

Her eyes were bloodshot, her mouth quivered, and she burst into loud sobs, her delicate nose starting to sniffle loudly, hiccupping uncontrollably, struggling to speak clearly: “Mr. Song... I didn’t... waaah...”

“...”

Song Zhi was stunned.

Song Boss had seen countless women. In front of him, each tried to appear flawless, even calculating the perfect curl of their eyelashes. Even those cute, petite types cried delicately like pear blossoms in the rain.

He had never seen anyone cry so dramatically in front of him, ruining her makeup and loudly sniffling.

Song Zhi pushed his chair back a bit, looking at her with disdain: “Alright, alright. If you didn’t do it, then fine. Are you trying to shatter the glass in my office?”

Qiao Xin desperately tried to stifle her sobs but couldn’t help hiccupping, trembling with fear as she looked at him. Her slender shoulders shook, and she suppressed her hiccups until they became audible.

Hiccupping clearly once, she quickly covered her mouth, her big, glistening eyes welling up with tears again.

Song Zhi rubbed his temples, feeling a headache coming on. He finally understood why Xiang Ge treated her with such care.

Was this girl a bit simple-minded?

Until he accidentally saw her crying over Xiang Ge’s family issues, wiping away her tears before heading to the surveillance room to review the footage. Her small face radiated determination to “personally catch the culprit and bring them to justice.”

They had already reviewed the footage earlier and hadn’t seen anyone in the hallway, but this girl refused to give up, insisting on reviewing it again.

That evening, Song Zhi was about to leave but decided to check the surveillance room to see if she was still there.

The door was open, the room dimly lit, with only the faint glow from the screens arranged in rows.

That silly girl was sound asleep on the table, her slightly chubby cheeks pressed by her arms, her mouth slightly open.

The eyeshadow and mascara smeared under her eyes in the morning had been cleaned off, leaving her face pale and clean, her lashes soft and thick.

In the quiet environment, a sudden long gurgle sounded particularly clear.

—It came from her stomach.

Song Zhi expressionlessly raised an eyebrow, preparing to leave, but before he could turn around, another clear gurgle echoed.

He paused, irritated, clicked his tongue, and turned to leave.

When he returned, Qiao Xin had woken up.

She leaned close to the monitor, almost burying her head in it, staring intently without blinking.

Hearing footsteps, she turned her head, her eyes red and moist from staring too long without blinking.

Seeing him, she seemed a bit surprised.

Song Zhi subtly moved the plastic bag behind his back, lazily leaning against the doorframe to mock her.

She really seemed like a fool.

Without using her brain, she just kept staring repeatedly at the same footage. Did she expect a person to magically appear?

And she dared to talk back to him.

To argue with him for Xiang Ge? She truly didn’t know who her boss was.

If she wasn’t simple-minded, what was she?

Song Zhi felt his remaining patience and compassion drain away today. Too lazy to bother with her, he left.

Once home, the nanny had already prepared dinner. Song Zhi casually tossed the plastic bag onto the sofa and went upstairs.

The nanny followed him, reminding him to change clothes before eating. Seeing the bag on the sofa, she picked it up to look inside.

Inside was a carton of pure milk and three or four small cakes from the convenience store.

The nanny exclaimed: “Young Master, don’t you dislike milk and sweets?”

Without turning his head, Song Zhi lazily replied: “For the cat.”