How come you're also my ex-girlfriend?

"Mr. Li."

The two entered one after the other. The private room was nothing special; the table, chairs, sofa, and tableware were all prepared in advance.

The environment was quite clean and tidy, and the lighting was soft and not glaring.

Li Qian was sitting to the side, looking at her phone. She only looked up and smiled when the two of them came in. "You two are pretty quick. I thought you were going to enjoy your time alone for a while longer."

Faced with such teasing, Shu Ying simply smiled and gracefully took her seat.

"How could we keep Mr. Li waiting for us for too long?"

"Hehe, since you're all here, I'll have someone come and take our order."

There wasn't much small talk, as if they had already used it all up during the tennis match.

Shu Ying even asked Xu Yan to order some food, instead of making the decision for him directly. In fact, Xu Yan didn't know what Western food to order, so he just ordered a steak and started playing on his phone without any distractions.

He didn't care what the two were talking about.

Nonsense, what else would you do if you didn't play on your phone? You wouldn't understand any of this stuff anyway, and handsome guys don't participate in important decisions.

The atmosphere seemed quite good, with people chatting and laughing the whole time. Whether they were discussing business or not remains to be seen.

When the ordered food was served, Xu Yan began to eat heartily. Of course, he had only been using a knife and fork to tease Shu Ying before.

Since both women had driven, no one mentioned drinking. Xu Yan was happy to do so, occasionally raising his glass to share a sip of juice with the two women.

The atmosphere was harmonious until Shu Ying's phone, which was on the table, suddenly vibrated.

Xu Yan didn't bother to check who called, nor did he care much. But as soon as Shu Ying saw who was calling, the faint smile on her face vanished.

It was like the weather suddenly changed, turning down abruptly.

She stood up. "Excuse me, I need to take this call."

"Go."

Li Qian said with a smile.

Watching Shu Ying hurriedly leave the private room, Xu Yan didn't react much. He wiped his lips with a tissue, having almost finished eating.

At that moment, Li Qian stared straight at them.

"Who did your sister Shu answer on the phone? She doesn't look too good."

Xu Yan shook his head. "I don't know. There are probably some things to take care of."

"You don't care about these things?" Li Qian rested her chin on her hand, her eyes seemingly wandering over Xu Yan's face, as if she were boldly admiring a favorite toy.

Judging from that look, Xu Yan could roughly imagine what rich women were like when they went to nightclubs.

"She has her own things to do, and it's not something I can take care of."

Xu Yan said something ambiguous, which made it clear that Li Qian was testing his relationship with Shu Ying. Although Xu Yan knew very well that there was no relationship between them, he couldn't be too disrespectful to Shu Ying.

After all, if you take someone's money, you're obligated to follow basic 'professional ethics'.

"I see..." Li Qian seemed to be deep in thought, her fingers unconsciously tapping lightly on her cheek, as if reflecting the rhythm of her thoughts.

"Are you familiar with President Shu's life?"

Xu Yan didn't know the purpose of the other party's question, but it probably wasn't to ask him to be an inside man or a spy.

Business warfare is actually quite simple and straightforward; it doesn't involve such sophisticated tactics.

So Xu Yan's approach was simple: "There's no need to be so clear. Whether she knows about her life or not doesn't affect our relationship. Like I said, being happy is the most important thing. We can't control everything else, and it's best not to interfere."

"Haha... You've clearly defined your position, but isn't your attitude a bit too humble?"

Li Qian seems to be defining their relationship.

Xu Yan shook her head. "I don't care about these things, and neither does she."

The inexplicable trust and the seemingly genuine ease made it impossible for Li Qian to see any reluctance or unspeakable difficulties on the other party's part.

Shu Ying ate too well!

Where did you find such a sensible and handsome young man?

I heard she also has a niece who is still in school... This guy should be about the same age, so it does seem a bit interesting.

"That's great... I'm even a little envious." After saying this, Li Qian smiled and narrowed her eyes. "Want to add me on WeChat? After all... sometimes the novelty wears off easily, and since you two aren't tied together, it's nice to see new things sometimes..."

This implication is obvious enough, it can't even be called an implication.

Of course, Xu Yan didn't know if such words were considered euphemistic in Li Qian's world, but he really had no interest in them.

Are you kidding me?

He has plenty of strength and a system that empowers him, so why does he need to be kept by a rich woman?

Besides, she's not as pretty as Shu Ying.

Xu Yan smiled and was about to refuse when the door to the private room was pushed open again. Before the boy could finish speaking, Li Qian had already returned to her normal posture and leaned back in her chair.

He looked at Shu Ying, who had returned, with a natural expression, and asked, "Is everything settled?"

"Mm." Shu Ying nodded gently, sat down next to Xu Yan, and glanced at the boy.

Xu Yan also looked at her.

His expression seemed normal, but it was clear that he wasn't in a better mood than before.

"Is everything alright? You seemed quite anxious just now," Li Qian asked.

Shu Ying shook her head, "It's mainly some family matters, nothing serious."

"Okay, then keep eating, don't waste it."

"it is good."

Xu Yan still had nothing to do after that, idly scrolling through her phone until she overheard their last conversation.

"Okay, then, when the holiday ends and it's a working day, I'll go to your company to sign the contract."

"Okay, Mr. Li, it's a pleasure to do business with you."

"I've always felt very comfortable working with you... By the way, there's something I'm not sure if I should ask."

"What? Mr. Li, please tell me."

"It's about that Mr. Ye. I heard you and him..."

"That's not true, Mr. Li. You should know my personality."

"Oh, I see... then I won't ask anymore."

The conversation ended quickly, and Xu Yan didn't know what the two meant, but he knew that it was finally coming to an end.

As expected, the two of them got up soon, and Xu Yan also stood up.

Shu Ying accompanied Li Qian to her apartment building and watched her get into her car.

She rolled down the car window and smiled at the couple seeing her off, "Alright, no need to see me off anymore. It's still early, you can really enjoy some time alone now."

Shu Ying's expression changed slightly, but she simply said softly, "Take care, Mr. Li."

Neither admitting nor denying, it's an ambiguous attitude.

The car quickly drove away from the parking lot, and silence fell instantly around the two of them.

The parking lot, filled with cars but with hardly anyone strolling around, seemed exceptionally empty, like a post-apocalyptic world filled with abandoned vehicles, so quiet you could almost hear each other breathing.

Xu Yan slightly turned her gaze to the side; something seemed off about her.

Especially after Li Qian left, it seemed that her tense and forced state was rapidly collapsing, and she became somewhat distracted.

"She's gone, does that mean it's over for us too?"

Xu Yan interrupted her reverie with his words. Shu Ying looked at Xu Yan and nodded softly, "Okay, let's get in the car."

Back in the red Panamera, I watched as Shu Ying started the car without a word and drove it out of the parking lot.

The world outside had completely darkened, but the colorful neon lights and streetlights made the whole world seem even more dazzling, which could even be described as a subtle form of light pollution.

Seeing the other person's silence, Xu Yan thought for a moment and said, "Why don't you just leave me on the street? I can take a taxi home myself."

Dude, you're in such a state... I'm really afraid you'll bring your buddies with you to another world.

I'm doing quite well now, and I don't need to suddenly change my fate or even the timeline.

She remained silent for a moment after hearing Xu Yan's words, then suddenly said, "Want to go get a drink?"

"Ok?"

"It will be included in your subsequent...compensation."

Actually, the two of them haven't discussed what the compensation is yet, but Xu Yan has already assumed it will be warm RMB.

Xu Yan thought for a moment, "I have things to do tomorrow, so even if we're going to drink, I can only drink beer with you."

One should never overestimate their alcohol tolerance or their behavior while drunk.

Otherwise, you really don't know what you might do when you're drunk.

This time, Shu Ying didn't hesitate at all, "Okay."

Xu Yan twisted his neck and looked at the changing street scene. "By the way, it seems like we haven't said anything about what reward you're going to give me yet."

Shu Ying gripped the steering wheel tighter.

The veins on the back of his fair hands became clearly visible.

What do you want?

"...Anything is fine?"

The aloof yet glamorous young woman turned the steering wheel and glanced at the left-side rearview mirror.

She remembered the man's voice in that restaurant, on that sudden phone call.

What are you doing? Aren't you at the office today?

……

Xiaoying, listen to me, I'm doing this for your own good. You know Dad's worried about your current life.

……