Unexpectedly caught in the act right there.
Qiao Liuyue stood there, her eyelashes trembling slightly.
Her mind raced, trying to figure out how to explain that she had only stopped by out of curiosity.
Her lips parted slightly, but before she could make a sound, the man across from her spoke first.
“I know who you are,” he said with certainty.
His sunglasses were still hanging from his collar, revealing a pair of deep, dark eyes.
“You’re Jiaojiao’s good friend, Liuyue.”
He paused, as if weighing his words.
Then his speech quickened, the words tumbling out almost in a single breath.
“How much money would it take to buy you off? Name your price. Just don’t tell Jiaojiao about this.”
The rapid-fire barrage left Qiao Liuyue momentarily stunned.
Her eyes widened slightly behind her lenses.
Though she had no idea what she had accidentally stumbled upon.
To be precise, she had only found a suspicious person in sunglasses lurking around suspicious, so she came to check it out. She never expected to be mistaken for someone in the know, holding a secret.
But her expression quickly cooled.
She raised her gaze, calmly sizing up the man before her. Though he appeared casually dressed, every single item he wore was clearly expensive.
The entire outfit probably cost more than her living expenses for several years.
“Hey, first tell me why you’re doing this,”
Qiao Liuyue said. “Then I’ll consider whether to keep your secret. As for the money…”
She tilted her head slightly, her heavy bangs swaying across her forehead.
“It’s useless to me. After all, I’m Jiaojiao’s good friend.”
She said this without batting an eye, though in truth, she knew nothing—not even the man’s name. She was just fishing for information.
Surprisingly, the man actually took her seriously.
He opened his mouth to speak, then suddenly seemed to catch some sound, his ear twitching slightly.
Footsteps and faint chatter grew louder from the end of the hallway.
His expression shifted, panic flickering in his eyes. Instinctively, he reached out, grabbed Qiao Liuyue by the wrist, and pulled her into a nearby empty room with a door left ajar.
The movement was swift, the force strong.
Qiao Liuyue stumbled as he yanked her, nearly hitting the doorframe with her back. Once steady, she realized her wrist was throbbing from his tight grip.
Several long fingers curled around her slender wrist bone, and a red mark was almost immediately visible on her pale skin.
She couldn’t help inhaling sharply, letting out a soft hiss.
The man’s gaze followed the sound to her wrist, landing on the glaring red imprint against her fair skin.
His expression shifted to a mix of urgency, fluster, and helplessness.
He let go as if burned, stepping back half a pace, wringing his hands as he looked at her.
“I’m sorry about that.”
His voice was low, as if afraid she might be angry.
“I was just scared someone would hear, scared someone would see… but I really didn’t use much force.”
He even put his hands behind his back as he spoke.
Qiao Liuyue glanced down at her wrist. The red mark stood out even more under the light, making her skin look paler.
She gently rubbed it with her other hand and said softly, “It’s okay. My skin naturally marks easily. It’s not your fault.”
Then she looked up, meeting his eyes straight through her lenses.
Her tone was straightforward.
“Don’t you think you should introduce yourself? Otherwise, I’ll keep calling you ‘hey,’ and if it’s awkward for you, it’s even more awkward for me.”
The man blinked, then pulled out a nearby chair and sat down, gesturing for her to do the same.
As if realizing standing would make him seem intimidating.
“My name is Zheng Qingyuan,” he said, giving his name.
Then he paused for about a second before adding a statement that instantly made Qiao Liuyue’s mind go blank.
“In other words… I’m Sui Feng.”
When those words landed, Qiao Liuyue’s brain went blank with a buzzing sound.
Wait? Seriously, handsome? You’re Sui Feng?
Then who was that ordinary-looking guy in the black suit who had dinner with them earlier, the one they called “Sui Feng”?
Just as she was too stunned to speak,
Zheng Qingyuan started talking freely, his pace quickening.
As if he had finally found someone to vent to after holding it all in for so long.
“The one who had dinner with you two a couple of days ago—that’s my assistant.”
He said this with a very complicated expression on his face.
A mixture of guilt, helplessness, and even a hint of grievance.
“I know it’s not good to test Jiaojiao like this… but a lot of people are only with me for my money and my looks.”
“They don’t actually like me as a person. Do you understand?”
At this point, Zheng Qingyuan couldn’t help but let out a long, heavy sigh.
“A lot of people say online dating is unreliable, but I think online dating lets you see someone’s true soul.”
“No looks, no money, no car or house—just chatting and gaming together. You like each other’s personality and soul. Isn’t that pure?”
There was an idealistic innocence in his eyes.
“But every time I meet someone in person, it falls apart.”
“Every single time we meet, their attitude changes. Either they start fawning over me or testing my background and assets. So eventually, I stopped using my real identity for these meetings.”
He paused, his tone growing more certain.
“Plus, I don’t like girls who are all about looks, and I don’t like those who are after money.”
“Luckily, Jiaojiao isn’t like that. She met my assistant and still wanted to keep chatting with me. That shows she likes me for who I am, not for my face.”
Qiao Liuyue was silent.
She sat there quietly, staring at this handsome, wealthy man who seemed to have developed emotional PTSD from being tricked, her eyes full of pity for his naivete.
Truly, there’s always someone more extreme.
She had thought Dong Jiaoyan asking her to use a fake account to test her online boyfriend was already outrageous enough.
But this guy’s move was even more fantastical.
Using his own assistant to test his online crush—to see if she was superficial about looks or money.
No wonder that assistant “Brother Sui Feng” came across as polite, gentle, and perfectly polished.
So that was all part of being an assistant’s job!
His salary must be pretty high then, since he had to have dinner with the boss’s online crush and then go back and report every detail of the date. Ordinary people really couldn’t handle that.
Qiao Liuyue’s thoughts wandered wildly.
Zheng Qingyuan didn’t notice her spaced-out expression and kept talking, his tone growing heavier with guilt.
“I know testing Jiaojiao like this is a bit too much. It feels like I’m betraying her trust… but I’m really scared.”
