OSTF - 39

Chi Suisui strongly suspected that He Xingwang had been bought off by that one “brother-in-law” and that his current change of tone was the evidence.

He had clearly just said he probably wouldn’t be free, and now he had agreed.

“Be careful not to get photographed when you go,” she reminded him.

“It’s okay,” He Xingwang said casually.

“Thank you, brother-in-law.” Qi Churui, having received a definite answer, called out the second time very quickly, which was very out of character for him.

Chi Suisui was about to laugh out of exasperation.

Fortunately, Qi Churui tugged at his sister’s clothes and turned to leave the living room.

Chi Suisui turned off the speakerphone and held it to her ear. “Tell me, if someone asks you what your relationship with Churui is, what will you say?”

“...”

“Say he’s your brother-in-law?”

“What do you think?” He Xingwang asked in a low voice, like the sound of her cello, mesmerizing.

“You can say he’s your younger brother,” Chi Suisui smiled, giving him an idea. “Others probably won’t be able to tell. If you’re really discovered—”

“Then let’s go public.”

After a moment, He Xingwang replied.

For an athlete like him to go to a parent-teacher conference, probably not many people would care. As for being photographed, if they really guessed it, then they would just go public.

There was a few seconds of silence on the phone before Chi Suisui came back to her senses and said teasingly, “Then I’m going to be famous.”

He Xingwang said, “That’s good.”

His tone was too indifferent. Chi Suisui chuckled softly and deliberately brought up the previous matter. “Churui called you ‘brother-in-law’ a bit too early.”

“Not early.”

He Xingwang raised an eyebrow.

Across the phone, neither could see the other’s expression, but he could imagine that Chi Suisui must be bright and flamboyant at this moment.

Chi Suisui suddenly fell silent.

Perhaps that “not early” reminded her of the time the little speaker had played “Bewitching All Beings” on a loop.

Extremely embarrassing.

After saying a few words to him, there was movement from the entrance. Chi Suisui hung up the phone and saw her parents entering, talking.

Seeing her, Chi Meiyuan asked, “Xingwang isn’t here today?”

“He’s at the shooting sports center today,” Chi Suisui went over to take her bag. “He’ll go to Churui’s parent-teacher conference in two days.”

“Really?”

Qi Xincheng said, “Then your mother and I don’t need to go.”

“Isn’t it good for our son to be first in his grade every time and go to the parent-teacher conference?” Chi Suisui asked. “You wouldn’t rather he be last, would you?”

“The little girls nowadays are too enthusiastic.”

Chi Meiyuan shook her head. “Every time I go to a parent-teacher conference, I receive a dozen or so gifts for Churui to bring back.”

Although it was good that her son was popular, it was too exaggerated.

Besides, Qi Churui himself was focused on studying.

Qi Xincheng coughed. “Let Xingwang go. Anyway, you’re already engaged. There’s nothing wrong with going to a parent-teacher conference once.”

He felt that having an extra son-in-law also had its benefits.

“Dad, are you very happy?” Chi Suisui mercilessly exposed him. “You seem to have only gone to Churui’s parent-teacher conference twice.”

Qi Xincheng laughed heartily, putting on a deliberately kind look. “It’s time for Xingwang to participate in some family activities and integrate into our family.”

Starting with the parent-teacher conference.

Chi Suisui was really amused by him.

Her father had always been an optimist, and the older he got, the more his temper resembled a young person’s, often speaking without any sense of guilt.

“Don’t listen to your dad’s nonsense,” Chi Meiyuan glared at him good-naturedly. “Isn’t Xingwang quite busy recently? The competition is next month, right? Does he have time?”

“Yes.”

Next month was the Shooting World Cup.

One of the top three international shooting competitions.

Chi Suisui thought for a moment, leaned closer to her mother’s ear, and told her about what had just happened. “...so he agreed.”

“Really.”

Chi Meiyuan shook her head with a smile.

She liked He Xingwang very much. He was mature and steady, and he had been very tolerant towards Chi Suisui when they were young. After all, the flamboyant Chi Suisui back then wasn’t someone ordinary people could handle.

Chi Suisui also liked to cling to him when she was little.

Perhaps due to memory loss after growing up, she felt that her daughter might not remember those things anymore.

It was already late after dinner.

While they were still digesting, Chi Suisui went to the living room and directly asked, “Dad, do you know Zhongyue Technology?”

“Zhongyue Technology?” Qi Xincheng asked. “What’s wrong?”

“I need to do an interview with them, so I’m trying to understand them first,” Chi Suisui briefly explained. “Who is their boss?”

“The boss isn’t in Nancheng,” Qi Xincheng gave a direct answer. “As far as I know, the general manager is here now.”

Chi Suisui frowned.

She had felt that this interview subject was a bit strange before, and now hearing this, the first question was that the boss wasn’t here.

“Then what’s the boss’s name?”

“That I’m not clear on,” Qi Xincheng chuckled. “They’re not in our circle, and they haven’t been trying to get in. I only heard my subordinates say the surname is Gu.”

He usually didn’t pay much attention to this aspect.

The Qi family’s industry and Zhongyue Technology’s could be said to be in completely unrelated fields. He had only heard a few things during social gatherings.

This president seemed to value privacy quite a bit.

The more Chi Suisui listened, the more she felt the difficulty involved. Her delicate brows furrowed slightly, but in the end, she didn’t ask any more questions.

She would cross that bridge when she came to it.

If Zhang Yueran wanted to dig a pit for her, she would have to see who she was dealing with.

The next day when she went to work, Chi Suisui asked Zhang Yueran how her information gathering was going.

Zhang Yueran said in surprise, “Suisui, I’m just assisting you. You didn’t assign anything before, so I didn’t know what to do.”

Chi Suisui gave her a meaningful look.

“Since you say so, then this task will be handed over to you,” she lightly curled her lips, her voice clear and pleasant. “Your work ability is good, so there shouldn’t be any problems.”

She directly blocked Zhang Yueran from saying anything further.

Zhang Yueran clenched her hand slightly and smiled faintly. “It shouldn’t be difficult.”

If she couldn’t complete this task, would Chi Suisui say that her work ability was lacking... Anyway, she was just waiting for her to go for the interview.

The outcome was still uncertain.

Su Mian arrived late. “Chief Chi, did you come to work by yourself today?”

“Why?” Chi Suisui looked at her amused. “We see each other every day, aren’t you annoyed?”

“With such beauty before me, what’s there to be annoyed about?” Su Mian blinked. “Isn’t it pleasing to the eye for a lifetime?”

Chi Suisui seriously recalled He Xingwang’s face.

Indeed.

Beauty could be misleading.

Su Mian dissed Zhang Yueran thoroughly in the group chat about Chi Suisui’s interview with Zhongyue Technology. The group, which was originally brainstorming for Doctor Song’s love life, turned into a吐槽群 (tǔcáo qún - roast group).

The three people in the group put on one show after another.

Although Song Miaoli had never met Zhang Yueran in person, through Su Mian’s back-and-forth, she clearly laid out Zhang Yueran’s persona.

Song Miaoli: 【Is this a poisonous woman who failed and switched to being a white lotus?】

Song Miaoli: 【Throughout history, people who cultivate a persona will eventually crash and burn.】

Su Mian: 【Yes, Doctor Song is right!】

Su Mian: 【Any persona will crash and burn, Doctor Song, you need to be careful too.】

Chi Suisui didn’t care whether she crashed and burned or not. What she was concerned about now was her interview task: 【Do you know anything about Zhongyue Technology?】

Song Miaoli: 【Ask Song Chengrui, he definitely knows.】

This second young master Song, as a well-known second-generation rich kid in Nancheng, had parties every day and a bunch of friends, so he was well-informed about all sorts of news.

Upon learning of Chi Suisui’s question, he directly sent a long message.

Zhongyue Technology was originally established in the United States and had just returned to China a few months ago. Some people wanted to set up a meeting with them, but the person in charge didn’t respond.

The person in charge was the second son of the Gu family in the capital, who had grown up abroad, so the general rumor was about Second Young Master Gu.

As for his real name, it was unclear.

Chi Suisui used the English name she had obtained to search for news on foreign websites and found many related forums.

Her English was very good, and she read quickly.

Zhongyue Technology’s current focus was on artificial intelligence, so in some related occasions, the product reviews for Zhongyue Technology were very high.

When she finished reading and returned to the group chat, Song Miaoli was chatting with Su Mian.

Song Miaoli: 【Do you think this kid is ugly?】

Su Mian: 【...Looks okay.】

Song Miaoli: 【Feels like it’s not even as good as giving me a doll. Straight men’s aesthetics really leave me speechless.】

Chi Suisui scrolled through the chat history and saw the picture.

The photo showed a white figure about half a meter tall. It was hard to describe what it looked like, but it had a strange beauty.

This was the gift Song Miaoli had received.

The progress of the Zhongyue Technology interview was slow, and Qi Churui’s parent-teacher conference arrived first.

Since He Xingwang had agreed to go, he naturally wouldn’t go back on his word. He returned to the Bai’an Mansion the night before, giving Chi Suisui a fright.

She was going downstairs to pour water, still wearing her nightgown, a spaghetti-strap one.

Large areas of her skin were exposed, revealing a captivating sight.

At this moment, the moonlight outside just shone in, illuminating her like a moon goddess, her figure slender and graceful, her beauty alluring.

Her long hair billowed as she moved, forming wavy shadows in the darkness, faintly hinting at her charm.

He Xingwang’s gaze deepened, and he looked at her a few more times.

Chi Suisui didn’t see it. She hooked up the spaghetti strap that had slipped down, took a sip of water, and asked, “Why are you back so late?”

There was no reply for a long moment.

It wasn’t until she took two steps closer that He Xingwang spoke. “To avoid being late tomorrow.”

“...”

He really valued the parent-teacher conference. Chi Suisui felt that her younger brother was probably going to shed tears in his quilt tonight out of感动 (gǎndòng - being moved).

She thought to herself for a while before realizing that the atmosphere was off.

The man was standing in front of her at this moment, his eyes looking at her, calm and abstinent. Although he was quiet, he gave off an unsettling feeling.

Seeing her look up, his eyes darkened.

Chi Suisui subconsciously tightened her grip on the water glass. The warmth passed through the glass to her palm. She suddenly called out, “He Xingwang.”

“Mm.”

He Xingwang responded.

“It’s getting late,” Chi Suisui said meaningfully.

She reached out and poked his shoulder with her index finger, then remembered Su Mian’s words. Having known He Xingwang for over twenty years, she didn’t seem to be tired of him.

Who asked this man to be so devastatingly handsome?

Chi Suisui pondered how she had managed to keep this man safely in the house before without even touching him.

Was she too heartless?

The lights in the room weren’t on. She didn’t know if it was because He Xingwang was used to the dark or for some other reason. Chi Suisui didn’t think to turn them on for a moment either.

The two stood together.

Chi Suisui placed the glass in her hand on the nearby table. Before she could turn around, she was pressed against the table.

The cold marble tabletop was separated from her only by a thin silk nightgown.

Chi Suisui reached out and pressed her hand on his shoulder, smelling his familiar scent. She lightly raised an eyebrow. “What do you want to do?”

The corners of He Xingwang’s lips lifted slightly.

He rarely spoke, often using actions instead, just like now, kissing Chi Suisui, his nose filled with the warm fragrance of her after her bath.

In the past, Chi Suisui had always taken the initiative, with fleeting kisses. Tonight was different.

Chi Suisui was lifted onto the table by him, her back pressed against the hard surface. She frowned and wrapped her arms around He Xingwang, wanting to complain but having her words swallowed.

After an unknown amount of time, her slender legs kicked the man.

Only then did He Xingwang release her.

His collar was pulled askew by Chi Suisui. As for the kick just now, it had no strength, at most a little itchy.

“You didn’t even say two sentences before starting,” Chi Suisui sat on the table, her legs dangling in the air, and even like this, she was only a little taller than He Xingwang.

She could still look down at him.

She could also see the crown of his head and his soft hair.

This discovery made Chi Suisui inexplicably happy. She was tempted and reached out to touch his hair. It felt very good.

In an instant, she understood the meaning of those cat cafes.

“Sorry,” He Xingwang said in a low voice, his eyes clear and cold, completely different from just now. “Couldn’t help it.”

His breath fell on her neck.

Chi Suisui shivered, and the little unhappiness in her heart about being forcibly kissed vanished in an instant.

Wasn’t this just saying that her charm was too great?

Regarding the art of speaking, Chi Suisui almost wanted to applaud He Xingwang.

The rainbow farts praising her from the Nancheng socialite circle could fill several cars, but she never felt as comfortable as when he said it now.

She even suspected that He Xingwang had secretly taken an advanced course in ultimate rainbow farts, making rapid progress overnight.

“He Xingwang,” Chi Suisui curled up one side of her lips, lowered her eyes to look at him, and secretly touched his head again. “Ask you a question.”

“Ask away,” He Xingwang nodded.

“Do you think ‘brother-in-law’ sounds good?”

Hearing this, He Xingwang looked up at her, not knowing what she was up to, and generally such questions were quite dangerous.

He thought for a moment. “It’s alright.”

A moderate answer should be fine.

“Do you want me to change to a better-sounding address for you?” Chi Suisui asked again, as if she hadn’t understood his meaning.

“What is it?” He Xingwang raised an eyebrow, following her words.

“Carry me upstairs first, then I’ll tell you,” Chi Suisui’s beautiful eyes narrowed. “As for strength, you can always squeeze some out.”

He Xingwang: ?

He felt that she was subtly hinting at his previous statement about time being squeezed out.

The man’s brow bones lifted slightly, his voice clear and cold, but the words he spoke were very serious. “Suisui, you might have some misunderstanding about me.”