You're already divorced, why are you so anxious about him becoming a succubus?

The two walked slowly side by side along the path.

Jiang Xinyue opened her backpack, took out a thick document, and handed it directly to Lu Ci.

"Here, this is for you."

Lu Ci stopped and took the neatly bound document.

By the light of the streetlamp, I opened the title page and saw a line of bold black text printed at the very top.

"Jiangbei Seaside Resort Asset Acquisition Contract"

"How did this thing end up in your hands?" Lu Ci suddenly looked up, staring at her with a face full of surprise.

Jiang Xinyue stood with her hands behind her back, her high heels tapping lightly on the stone pavement. She chuckled, "Your senior just said she wanted to apologize to you. You can't just offer an empty apology with words, can you? When have I ever failed to do something right?"

She smoothed her wind-blown hair and explained, "Just after you left, I went back to the private room and had a brief talk with Shen Man. Her group doesn't do tourism, so there's no point in her holding onto these unfinished cultural tourism projects. They were originally just given to you as a favor."

Since you didn't want it, I went along with it and bought it from her for 13.5 million.

"Thirteen and a half million?" Lu Ci raised an eyebrow. "Wasn't Gu Mingxuan's deal only for thirteen million?"

"After all, they used the professional team from the Shen Group, and those legal fees and auditing fees were real money."

I couldn't let her lose money and end up paying out of pocket, could I? So I gave her an extra 500,000 yuan and got the project.

Hearing this, Lu Ci gripped the heavy contract in his hand, looking at her with a half-smile: "So? Senior, you're planning to give this to me as an apology? I really didn't realize you'd become so powerful after all these years?"

"Get lost!" Jiang Xinyue rolled her eyes dramatically and said irritably, "Do you think everyone is as rich and powerful as your ex-wife, spending tens of millions like pocket money? I only verbally agreed on the acquisition intention with her; where would I get that much cash on hand?"

She poked the contract with her fair, delicate finger: "Give me a base price of 13 million, and this contract is yours. The extra 500,000 difference is mine; I'll personally cover it out of my own pocket."

Lu Ci held the contract in his hand, playing with it, a playful smile playing on his lips: "After all this back and forth, senior didn't get anything, just let 500,000 go down the drain. This doesn't seem like the way a businessman behaves."

She opened her backpack and took out a box of silver slim cigarettes featuring the Twelve Beauties of Nanjing.

She took out a cigarette, lit it, took a deep drag herself, and then shoved the thin cigarette, still bearing her red lipstick mark, directly into Lu Ci's mouth.

"So..." Jiang Xinyue exhaled a faint smoke ring, "Considering how pitiful I am, having to pay out of my own pocket 500,000, could you possibly sign a long-term cooperation agreement with our company?"

Lu Ci held the slender silver hairpin between his fingers and took a puff, a cool minty flavor spreading down his throat.

He listened quietly to what followed.

"In the future, our travel company will connect the accommodation and leisure services for the high-end customized tour groups we bring to Jiangcheng to your resort."

Jiang Xinyue analyzed earnestly, "What's popular now is high-quality, in-depth customized travel. Your resort is located near the Jiangbei coastline; if developed properly, it would be an excellent place to stay."

After listening, Lu Ci laughed and said, "As expected of a senior, you've got a plan that I could hear all over the other side of the river."

"Tonight, you first used the pretense of meeting me to freeload off the Shen Group's connections from Shen Man, then turned around and used this project to make a deal with me, securing the resort partnership. This mere 500,000 yuan apology fee is absolutely worth it, a sure win!"

Jiang Xinyue chuckled a little sheepishly, then tugged at Lu Ci's sleeve: "Hey, let's not say anything since we see through it. Besides, you're not losing out. What do resorts need most these days when they first open? A steady stream of regular customers! I'm practically handing you real money."

Lu Ci considered it in his mind.

This deal is indeed a win-win situation. Once the resort is built, the most difficult part in the early stages is the period of vacancy.

With Jiang Xinyue's high-end clientele as a safety net, the return on investment will be faster.

"Okay." Lu Ci nodded readily and handed the contract back to Jiang Xinyue: "Keep the contract safe. Go directly to Chen Feng for signature and to complete the process tomorrow."

Hearing that he agreed so readily, Jiang Xinyue's face lit up with joy.

She suddenly tiptoed closer to Lu Ci and gave him a hard kiss on the cheek.

Lu Ci was taken aback by the sudden action. He touched the lipstick stain on his cheek and took a half step back helplessly: "Senior, do you have to be so forward on the street? If you keep flirting like this, and I really can't control myself, you're really going to get beaten up today."

Jiang Xinyue not only didn't back down, but instead stepped forward, her eyes full of seductive allure as she provocatively said, "Oh, you make it sound so intimidating. Go ahead and try, let's see who's afraid of who!"

Seeing that she didn't seem to be joking at all, Lu Ci rubbed his temples, trying to change the subject: "Senior, you're two years older than me, you're not young anymore. Don't you have a boyfriend to keep you in check?"

"Can't you even speak properly?!" Upon hearing this, Jiang Xinyue rolled her eyes like a cat whose tail had been stepped on. "I'm not that old, okay? I started school early, so I'm only about your age! No, I'm forever eighteen!"

"Besides, if you haven't met the right person yet, why the rush..."

The two walked along the quiet street, bickering as they went.

As she walked, Jiang Xinyue suddenly stopped.

She turned her head and sniffed at Lu Ci's arm.

Lu Ci was a little confused by her action, so he raised his arm and sniffed it: "What's wrong?"

"no……"

Jiang Xinyue did not answer, but took half a step back and looked Lu Ci up and down with an extremely strange look.

"Lu Ci, are you wearing colored contact lenses? Why do your eyes look so alluring in the middle of the night?" She paused, biting her red lips, her brows furrowing slightly: "And..."

The second half of her sentence stuck in Jiang Xinyue's throat.

From the moment she first saw Lu Ci at the entrance of the private room, she felt that something was off.

The Lu Ci before me was still the same Lu Ci, but he seemed to exude an indescribable attraction.

It's an irresistible urge to get close to him and have physical contact with him.

Looking back, although I am usually outgoing and have feelings for him, I am not usually this uninhibited when it comes to matters of the heart.

But when I saw him today, I found myself inexplicably opening my arms to hug him, and just now I even put my arm around his.

Just a minute ago, in a moment of joy, I even kissed him on the cheek in the street!

This is completely out of character for me!

Jiang Xinyue felt increasingly uneasy as she thought about it, a blush creeping onto her cheeks as she stared at Lu Ci with suspicion: Could this kid have secretly sprayed some kind of drug on himself?

Looking at Jiang Xinyue's ever-changing expressions, Lu Ci knew exactly what was going on.

He realized that the term "the deadly allure of hormones" must be working in secret.

Lu Ci pretended not to understand her gaze and changed the subject at the right moment: "Where is the hotel you booked?"

Jiang Xinyue snapped out of her daze and pointed to the hotel that Lu Ci had pointed to earlier: "Look, that one."

As the two were talking, they had already reached the zebra crossing at the intersection.

Jiang Xinyue turned around, her beautiful eyes fixed on Lu Ci: "We've come all this way...why don't you go upstairs and have a cup of tea with your senior, and chat for a bit?"

Lu Ci shook his head: "How many days are you planning to stay here?"

"I'll probably be staying for quite a while." Jiang Xinyue thought for a moment and sorted out her work plan: "Now that our cooperation is finalized, I need to go to Jiangbei in a couple of days to conduct an on-site inspection of the resort so that I can have the team design and plan the tour routes when I get back."

"Also, I need to visit each of the connections Shen Man promised to introduce."

Lu Ci nodded: "Then let's make an appointment again when we have time. We'll invite Chen Feng along, and I'll treat you to a proper meal."

"It's a deal, bye-bye!"

Just then, the pedestrian crossing light turned green. Jiang Xinyue waved her little hand charmingly at Lu Ci, and in her high heels, she crossed the road with light steps.