Although Xu Qingqing had sworn confidently, she still felt a bit uncertain. She decided to observe the situation further.
Of course, that would have to wait. Right now, she needed to sleep, wake up, memorize her notes, and then head to the exam hall. Today was the last day of her junior year’s first semester—once this exam was over, she could go home for vacation.
However, probably due to staying up until the early hours last night, Xu Qingqing’s performance in the exam was… let’s just say, less than stellar. As she left the exam hall, she prayed to every deity she could think of, begging the professor to at least give her a passing grade since she had scribbled something in every blank space.
After a long and exhausting day, Xu Qingqing unconsciously pushed the matter from her dream to the back of her mind. She had always been the type to lose interest quickly, carefree and scatterbrained by nature. After agonizing over the exam for a few days, she ran out of patience and decided to revisit the issue later.
With school on break and Xie Lianqing busy at work, Xu Qingqing found herself bored out of her mind. She planned to book a flight abroad to attend a fashion show and enjoy a vacation.
But before she could make her escape, Xie Lianqing dragged her to his company for "study sessions."
True to his word, Xie Lianqing personally tutored his girlfriend for her foreign language proficiency test. While he handled official business in his office, Xu Qingqing sprawled on the sofa, supposedly memorizing vocabulary.
She wasn’t exactly diligent, though—most of the time, she was either playing on her phone or napping. Occasionally, when she got bored, she’d try to strike up a conversation with Xie Lianqing. Even if he was too busy to respond, she’d keep muttering to herself.
After a while, she got up from the sofa and started pacing around the spacious office, hopping around as if doing aerobics.
Seeing her restlessness, Xie Lianqing suggested, "There’s a lounge inside."
Xu Qingqing didn’t even look up. "No need, I’m fine here." She borrowed a pair of headphones from him and started watching a drama on her phone.
When the secretary came in to submit documents, he could hear Xu Qingqing giggling occasionally from the sofa. He couldn’t help but glance at her a few times, but she seemed completely oblivious, utterly unaware that her boyfriend was in the middle of work.
The secretary sighed inwardly, thinking how inconsiderate the CEO’s girlfriend was, disturbing him during work hours.
To outsiders, having such a spoiled and capricious girlfriend would seem like a misfortune, but Xie Lianqing himself didn’t mind.
He thought it was fine this way.
Xu Qingqing was carefree to the point of recklessness—once she ran off to have fun, she wouldn’t return for at least a month. If he let her slip away this time, he’d probably have to wait until the next semester to see her again. Better to keep her by his side under the pretense of supervising her studies.
Time passed slowly. Around noon, Xu Qingqing turned off her drama and started browsing food delivery options.
Lying on her back on the sofa, she held up her phone and said, "Hey, you—what do you want to eat?" She was getting annoyed from boredom.
Someone on her social media had just posted new photos—sunlit beaches along the North Pacific coastline, filled with shirtless handsome men.
If Xie Lianqing hadn’t dragged her here to keep him company, she’d already be on a plane heading to the fashion show. The thought made her even angrier, so she refused to call him by his proper name.
Xie Lianqing didn’t know why she was suddenly in a bad mood again, but he wasn’t about to poke the bear. "We’ll go out to eat later," he said.
Xu Qingqing finally looked at him, puzzled. "You’re not working this afternoon?"
"No." Xie Lianqing was rushing to finish the last of his tasks. He’d been working nonstop all morning to clear his schedule for the afternoon.
Unexpectedly, his offer to take his bored girlfriend out was met with a frown. "You’re skipping work?!"
She sat up straight, as if she’d discovered something shocking, and said sternly, "Xie Lianqing! Your work ethic is seriously lacking!"
Unlike the domineering CEOs in novels who could destroy companies with a snap of their fingers and spend their days chasing love interests around the world, real-life executives with actual responsibilities were extremely busy. Only idle rich heirs with no family business to inherit had that kind of free time.
Of course, there were also the honorary presidents and directors of major corporations—those positions were usually just for show, giving their children an impressive resume without any real work. Xu Qingqing herself held some vague title in her family’s company, though she couldn’t even remember what it was. She had never worked a single day there—it was purely for appearances.
There were quite a few people like Xu Qingqing in their social circle, but Xie Lianqing was definitely not one of them.
Compared to his peers, he was incredibly busy. Even during his school years, he had received elite education, excelling academically from a young age. He skipped grades, entered university early, studied abroad, and then returned to take over the family business.
In college, he was either buried in the library or studying, using his free time to familiarize himself with the company’s operations. Though he kept a low profile, everyone in the company knew he was the heir apparent.
As the saying goes, some people are not only more talented but also work harder. Xie Lianqing was the epitome of that. The fact that Xu Qingqing had managed to snag him was one of her life’s greatest achievements.
Looking back, Xu Qingqing had initially pursued Xie Lianqing out of spite—annoyed that he had once dismissed her as too temperamental and ignored her. She schemed to win him over just so she could openly torment him. After they broke up following a fight, she hadn’t even considered reconciliation.
During college, she dated a few other people, but somehow, fate brought her back to Xie Lianqing.
Faced with his girlfriend’s sudden accusation, Xie Lianqing paused and raised an eyebrow. "Hm?"
Xu Qingqing declared righteously, "If you don’t work hard, how will you afford to keep me?! Don’t tell me you’re planning to live off me?"
Xie Lianqing: "…"
That train of thought was so quintessentially Xu Qingqing.
Suppressing a laugh, Xie Lianqing suddenly leaned down toward her. He gently tucked a loose strand of her hair behind her ear, his gaze tender as he asked, "Would you let me?"
Appearance-wise, Xie Lianqing certainly had the looks to be a kept man. He was strikingly handsome, with long, well-proportioned legs beneath his tailored suit, captivating eyes, and sharp, aristocratic features—rumor had it there was some mixed ancestry in his family.
Now, looking down at his girlfriend on the sofa, his gaze affectionate, the atmosphere turned warm and intimate.
Just as he was about to kiss her, Xu Qingqing suddenly gasped in shock. "Are you serious? You’re worth hundreds of times more than me, and you want me to support you?" Had the standards for being a freeloader really gotten this high?
She stared at him with a look that screamed, "I can’t believe I misjudged you."
Xie Lianqing: "…"
Straightening up, he cleared his throat and changed the subject. "Let’s go eat. Grandpa Xu and the others will be back soon, right?"
Xu Qingqing dropped the work issue and focused on picking a restaurant. Without looking up, she replied, "A few more days, but I’m going home tonight!"
Chairman Xu and his wife had been on a two-week vacation abroad, and Xu Qingqing missed them. She planned to ask later when their flight was scheduled.
At the thought, she lost all interest in their date—all she wanted now was to see her grandparents as soon as possible.
Xu Qingqing and Father Xu were like oil and water, but she was extremely close to her grandparents.
Back when Father Xu had an affair and wanted to divorce Xu Qingqing's mother, her mother resisted the idea but was too physically frail and meek to fight back. It was only because Grandpa Xu and Grandma Xu pressured Father Xu that the divorce dragged on for years.
Had Xu Qingqing's mother not been unlucky enough to fall ill and pass away, Bai Yaxiu might never have gotten her foot in the door—as long as her mother had held on.
Later, after Father Xu remarried, Grandpa and Grandma Xu, fearing Xu Qingqing would be mistreated, forced Father Xu to transfer some of his shares to her name and took her in to raise and educate her themselves. They spoiled her rotten, treating her like the apple of their eye.
No wonder she grew up with such a spoiled, willful temperament.
After a moment’s thought, Xu Qingqing rolled her eyes mischievously and looked up, saying, "But after I go home today, I won’t come to the company to see you tomorrow. It’s too far, and the traffic’s terrible."
Xie Lianqing’s company was downtown, while Xu Qingqing’s family villa was in the western suburbs, nearly across the entire city.
Xie Lianqing had already guessed she wouldn’t want to stay at the office with him, so he teased, "Weren’t you the one who said you wanted me to tutor you?"
Xu Qingqing pouted. "We can study at home too." Yeah, right!
She never cracked open a book at home!
Though Xu Qingqing lost her mother early and had a neglectful father, she was far from the pitiable figure others might imagine.
Grandpa and Grandma Xu doted on her like a precious jewel. Her Auntie, who had no children of her own, treated her like a daughter. Her maternal grandfather and grandmother loved her dearly, showering her with affection—and dividends from her mother’s family estate every year.
So Xu Qingqing was anything but starved for love. On the contrary, she was drowning in it—and in money!
As the pampered darling of the family, she had never cared for studying, content to coast through life as a carefree heiress. With her fortune and no vices like gambling or drugs, as long as she didn’t suddenly get the urge to throw billions into some doomed business venture, her wealth would last her a lifetime.
Chairman Xu and the rest of the family had only one rule for her: stay out of trouble with the law. Otherwise, they indulged her every whim, showering her with love and luxury, granting nearly every request—no matter how outrageous.
With that kind of upbringing, it was no surprise Xu Qingqing’s grades were abysmal. She only got into a prestigious high school thanks to her family’s local residency and a prime school district.
When her academic performance stayed lackluster, she switched to the arts. In her final year of high school, she threw a tantrum about not wanting to study abroad, so her family scrambled to hire top-tier tutors for one-on-one coaching. With Xie Lianqing’s overseas video calls to drill her on key exam topics, she barely scraped into A University, one of the top five schools in the country.
Once in college, Xu Qingqing fully embraced her slacker lifestyle, settling comfortably into her role as the class dunce.
Xie Lianqing still occasionally nagged her about studying—like today, when he dragged her to his office for a tutoring session.
Hearing her flimsy excuse, Xie Lianqing seemed ready to persuade her otherwise, but Xu Qingqing had already tuned him out, engrossed in her phone, scrolling through gossip.
Lately, she’d been added to a group chat full of minor influencers.
The group was small, but the personalities were explosive—like a real-life "Gossip Girl." One moment, they were all sweetness and sisterhood; the next, their fake friendships imploded in dramatic feuds, with factions forming and public call-outs galore. Bragging and flattery were daily occurrences.
Xu Qingqing had no idea which kind soul had mistakenly added her, but she lurked happily, soaking up the drama.
Her own circle of wealthy heiresses had its share of fake-friend group chats, but most of them maintained a veneer of decorum. Even if they despised each other, they’d never air their grievances so openly, so things never got this juicy.
Worse yet, that group had gone dead silent lately. Xu Qingqing strongly suspected they’d all made a new one without her.
She glanced back at the influencer chat, where one girl had posted food photos with a designer bag’s logo conspicuously placed in the frame.
The others weren’t blind—they pounced on it immediately.
Amid a chorus of awe and envy, the girl coyly mentioned, "Oh, I just casually mentioned liking it, and my boyfriend surprised me with it!"
The group erupted in praise, gushing about their "fairytale romance," though Xu Qingqing saw right through it. This was pure bag-bragging.
Amid the fawning, Xu Qingqing cut in with, "Was the food good, though?"
Not wanting to seem too obvious, the girl eagerly replied, "The restaurant had such a unique vibe—I even spotted [A-list celebrity] there!"
Xu Qingqing happened to like that celebrity, so she immediately jumped up and declared, "We’re eating there!"
The place was a trendy hotspot. By the time Xu Qingqing and Xie Lianqing arrived, the waitlist was two hours long.
Xie Lianqing glanced down at her, resigned. "Another place?"
Xu Qingqing dug in her heels. "She said it was amazing!"
To kill time, they went shopping. Her personal sales associate had texted earlier about new arrivals, holding a few pieces for her to choose from. Xu Qingqing seized the chance to pick out a bag.
But when she couldn’t decide between two, Xie Lianqing—who’d been patiently waiting—finally stepped in and murmured, "They both suit you. Why not take both?"
Xu Qingqing had been waiting for exactly that!
Naturally, Xie Lianqing handled the payment. For being so perceptive, Xu Qingqing decided to forgive him for dragging her to his office at the crack of dawn.
After shopping, they wandered the mall a bit longer before heading back to the restaurant—only to find their table still wasn’t ready.
An hour later, Xu Qingqing’s patience ran out. She slurped her boba tea aggressively, pouting and fuming. She wanted to throw a tantrum, but with no one around to blame except Xie Lianqing, she turned on him.
"I’m starving. How did we end up waiting this long? This is all your fault!" Never mind that she’d insisted on this place—she shamelessly pinned it on him.
She glared, waiting for him to argue back so she could pick a fight.
Most guys would either be baffled or storm off, refusing to put up with her diva antics.
But Xie Lianqing was used to this. He gave her a lazy glance and said, deadpan, "Yep. My fault."
Xu Qingqing: "…?"
Without missing a beat, he added, "I was wrong."
Xu Qingqing: "…?!"
Ugh! How was she supposed to fight if he just apologized?!
The other party didn't play their hand as she had expected, leaving Xu Qingqing caught off guard. Stunned, she froze, unsure of how to react. In her daze, she tilted her head up and caught the faintest trace of a smile lingering at the corners of Xie Lianqing's lips.
