The Guide to Rising to Power: The Ultimate Schemes of a Green Tea Beauty

Upon hearing Lu Xiuting's curt "Stop thinking about nonsense all day long," Shen Yao rolled her eyes inwardly.

Pshaw! So fierce, no wonder you'll never find a wife in your next eight lifetimes!

If it weren't for his decent appearance and the fact that he might be of some use to her, she wouldn't be wasting her time with him here.

As she was secretly grumbling to herself, pondering how to subtly leave her contact information, an anxious voice came from afar:

"Yaoyao! Yaoyao, what are you doing here? What happened?"

It is Xiang Yuchuan.

He was probably getting impatient waiting, and since he couldn't get through to Shen Yao on the phone, he came out.

Upon seeing a group of police officers surrounding them, and Shen Yao, who was pale and had a bandage on her neck, in the middle of the group, Xiang Yuchuan was startled. He immediately pushed aside the onlookers and rushed over, pulling Shen Yao into his arms tightly.

"Yaoyao, how are you? What happened? Who did this?" Xiang Yuchuan's voice was filled with obvious tension and anger.

Upon seeing Xiang Yuchuan, Shen Yao felt as if she had finally found her pillar of support. The deliberate reliance she had shown in front of Lu Xiuting instantly turned into genuine grievance and lingering fear.

She immediately hugged Xiang Yuchuan's waist, buried her face in his chest, and poured out her heart as if she had survived a disaster:

"Yuchuan, just now, just now a bad guy held a knife to me, and I almost..." she said, her body trembling slightly as she seemed to recall that terrifying moment.

At the same time, she inadvertently raised her teary eyes, timidly and gratefully glancing quickly at Lu Xiuting, whose face was as black as the bottom of a pot, standing beside her.

His eyes seemed to say: Look, even though you were mean to me, you saved me after all, so I'm still grateful to you.

Lu Xiuting almost bit his back molars to pieces.

This woman! Even in another man's arms, she doesn't forget to flirt with him with those eyes?! She's definitely doing it on purpose!

Shen Yao had just keenly sensed that Lu Xiuting, a man who seemed cold and hard, had a contradictory reaction to her "weak and pitiful" and "frightened little white rabbit" persona.

He may appear impatient, but his body language and subtle eye movements don't lie.

She deliberately showed signs of "acting" in order to test his bottom line.

Now it seems he really fell for it.

Then if she "bumps into" him again in the future, she'll know which mask to wear.

"It's alright, it's alright, don't worry, I'm here." Xiang Yuchuan patted her back tenderly to comfort her, then looked up at Lu Xiuting, who was clearly in charge, his tone unfriendly.

"What happened?"

Looking at the two people embracing tightly, especially Shen Yao's "found a backer" look, Lu Xiuting suppressed the urge to tear this unsightly scene to shreds.

With a cold expression, he explained the situation in the most concise and official language: "This is an emergency. She is a hostage, and we have already dealt with it. Take her back to rest and calm her down."

Only then did Shen Yao peek out from Xiang Yuchuan's embrace, revealing a pale but sincere smile to Lu Xiuting, and softly say, "Thank you for saving me."

That voice, that look in her eyes, still evoked pity in me.

Lu Xiuting snorted coldly, turned his face away, and couldn't be bothered to look anymore.

Although Xiang Yuchuan was full of questions and anger, seeing that Shen Yao was not in a good state, he did not say much. He put his arm around her and said in a deep voice, "Let's go, Yao Yao."

Shen Yao obediently nestled against Xiang Yuchuan as they left. As she passed Lu Xiuting, her fingertips seemed to unintentionally brush against the back of his hand.

Lu Xiuting's body stiffened.

-

Escorting Wang Yumin and related evidence back to the capital, Lu Xiuting's face was so gloomy it could be wrung out.

The oppressive aura emanating from him made the members of the investigation team who were with him fall silent, not daring to even breathe.

Back in the capital, after handing over the case and the criminals, Lu Xiuting locked himself in his office and smoked one cigarette after another.

Amidst the swirling smoke, the image of that tear-streaked face would involuntarily flash before his eyes, along with those eyes that looked at him timidly with tears in them, as if he were her only support in the world, yet showed the same expression when she was in another man's arms.

Hey!

He stubbed out his cigarette in frustration in the ashtray.

Lu Xiuting has lived for twenty-seven years; what storms hasn't he weathered?

He maintained absolute calm and patience even when facing dangerous situations and dealing with vicious criminals.

But ironically, during the last ten minutes or so of his trip to Shanghai, he was annoyed by a little girl who suddenly appeared out of nowhere!

He admits that he doesn't have a good temper. Apart from needing extreme patience to unravel cases when solving them, he usually finds the most annoying things to be clingy, tearful, and scheming.

That girl named Shen Yao has all of these qualities.

She was terrified, yet dared to snuggle into his arms; he scolded her, yet she still looked at him with that kind of gaze; she had a boyfriend, yet she still flirted with him while in someone else's arms.

Hypocritical! Pretentious! Scheming!

Lu Xiuting mentally labeled Shen Yao with a series of negative tags.

But the more I thought about it, the more intense the anger in my heart burned.

He could even clearly recall the soft touch of her body, the faint fragrance of her hair, and the fleeting yet brand-like tingling sensation when her lips brushed against his neck…

"Boss, what's wrong with you this time? You're acting like you've taken a gun!"

One of his close group members boldly teased him.

"Wasn't Secretary Wang's case going quite smoothly? The evidence was conclusive. I know you hate these kinds of corrupt officials the most, but is it really necessary to be this angry? Look at your dark face, like someone owes you millions."

Lu Xiuting didn't even lift his eyelids, coldly uttering a single word: "Get lost."

The group member awkwardly touched his nose and slipped away.

The others exchanged glances, all sensing that something was off about their boss's return this time.

Normally, when I come back from a case, no matter how difficult it is, once it's solved, it's over. At most, I'll be a little tired. But I've never felt like this before, with a violent energy that screams, "Don't mess with me, I want to kill someone."

Only Lu Xiuting himself knew that his nameless anger was not directed at Wang Yumin, who had already been captured.

He was angry at that woman named Shen Yao.

I'm angry that she's so reckless, angry that she's putting on airs, and even angrier that I could be so emotionally affected by such low-level and clumsy acting.

When did Lu Xiuting become so lacking in self-control? How could he let an eighteen-year-old girl disturb his peace of mind?

This is an absolute disgrace to his career and even his life!

He suddenly stood up, grabbed his coat, and headed out. He needed to go to the boxing gym to vent his inexplicable frustration.

However, as he poured sweat onto the sandbag, imagining it as that hateful face, and pounded it mercilessly, the tiny bloodstain on her neck and her last grateful yet cunning gaze would uncontrollably resurface in his mind...

Damn it! Is this never going to end?!

Lu Xiuting cursed under his breath and slammed his fist even harder into the sandbag.