I cleared my throat, steeling myself. "Miss Liu, can I have some of your time?"
She stared at me for a long, uncomfortable moment, her icy gaze piercing through my carefully constructed composure. Finally, she rose from her chair and said flatly, "Follow me."
We walked into her office, the door clicking shut behind us with an air of finality. She settled into her imposing leather chair, folded her hands on the mahogany desk, and fixed me with a look that could freeze molten lava. "Speak."
I gulped—not out of fear, but because her beauty was almost overwhelming. I'd rate her a solid 98 out of 100. And even though I was ridiculously handsome myself, I was still a man, and men appreciated beauty—inside and out. There was no way any sane man would fall for an ugly woman with a bitchy personality... right?
A sudden shiver ran down my spine. Wait. There are people like that, aren't there? I shuddered again at the thought. Crazy. Absolutely crazy.
Oh, I'm getting off track.
"Miss Liu, the truth is, I didn't come to your company just to work. I came to cooperate." I reached into my pocket and pulled out the small vial of medicine I had exchanged through the system. "This is a scar removal ointment. As the name suggests, it can completely erase any scar—100% effectiveness, no side effects."
She stared at me with deadpan disbelief, her expression screaming you've got to be kidding me. But I had traded with the system. Was she really implying the system's products were defective?
"Don't look at me like that," I said, keeping my voice calm. "It's real. Why don't you try it?"
"But I have no scars," she replied, her tone dripping with skepticism.
"Then how about trying it on someone else?"
She pressed a button on her desk, and within moments, a secretary entered the room. "You have a scar, right?" Liu Qingyue asked.
"Yes, President," the secretary replied, looking confused.
"Then try this." Liu Qingyue gestured toward the vial I had placed on the desk.
The secretary hesitated, then picked up the ointment. She applied a small amount to the scar on her forearm, rubbing it in for about a minute. And then—poof—it worked. The scar vanished as if it had never existed. The secretary gasped, her eyes wide with astonishment.
"Wow! President, what is this medicine? It didn't feel uncomfortable at all, and the scar disappeared like thin air!"
Liu Qingyue waved her hand dismissively. "You may leave now."
"Ah, yes!" The secretary practically bolted out of the room, as though her life depended on it.
Liu Qingyue turned her gaze back to me, her expression unreadable. "How much is it?"
"Well, originally it's 10,000 yuan," I said, rubbing the back of my neck. "But since you actually listened to me even though you didn't have to, how about 5,000 yuan?"
I wasn't being a crocodile—just practical. I needed to make money quickly, and this was the fastest way. If my memory served me right, in exactly seven days, Ye Fan would arrive in the city and become Liu Qingyue's bodyguard. That meant I had a narrow window to establish myself before the protagonist stole the spotlight.
"What about the formula?" she asked, her eyes narrowing with interest.
System, how much for the scar removal formula?
[80 million yuan.]
I nearly choked. Eighty million?!
I composed myself and smiled. "Well, as you can imagine, the formula is incredibly valuable. Only I have it. How about... 500 million?"
Liu Qingyue sighed, her brow furrowing as she mulled over the price. For a moment, I thought she was going to reject it outright. But then, something shifted in her expression—a glimmer of realization, followed by a slow, dangerous smirk.
Wait... did she just smirk at me?
"Hey," she said, her voice dropping to a silky, almost teasing tone. "How about becoming my husband?"
I blinked. Husband? Me?
"Huh?" The word escaped my lips before I could stop it.
She leaned back in her chair, crossing her arms with an air of smug satisfaction. "You heard me. Marry me, and I'll give you the 500 million. Consider it a... wedding gift."
My brain short-circuited. What the hell is happening right now?
This wasn't in the original plot. Liu Qingyue was supposed to be cold, distant, and utterly untouchable. She wasn't supposed to propose marriage to a random villainous assistant on their first real business interaction. Had I broken the story already? Was this the system's doing? Or had my sheer handsomeness—99 out of 100, remember—completely derailed the narrative?
"I—" I started, but the words died in my throat.
Liu Qingyue rose from her chair and walked around the desk, her heels clicking against the polished floor with deliberate precision. She stopped in front of me, close enough that I could smell her perfume—something floral and expensive. Her eyes locked onto mine, and for the first time, I saw something other than cold indifference in them. Curiosity, perhaps. Or amusement.
"You're handsome," she said matter-of-factly. "Intelligent. And you have access to resources that could make me—make us—unstoppable. A marriage of convenience, nothing more. I get your formula and your connections. You get my money and my protection. It's a fair deal."
"A marriage of convenience," I repeated, my voice hollow. "You want to marry me for business."
"Isn't that how most powerful couples start?" she replied, her smirk widening. "Besides, it's not like I'm asking you to love me. Just... play the part."
I opened my mouth to respond, but the system chimed in at the worst possible moment.
[Alert: Protagonist Ye Fan's arrival has been accelerated. Estimated time of arrival: 3 days.]
Three days?! I'd thought I had a full week! This changed everything.
I looked back at Liu Qingyue, my mind racing. If I agreed to marry her, I'd have the resources and the backing to face Ye Fan on even ground. But it would also tie me to her in ways I wasn't sure I was ready for. And what about the other heroines—Su Xiaomei, the policewoman, the mysterious nurse? How would they fit into this new, chaotic timeline?
"Miss Liu," I said slowly, "I appreciate the offer. But marriage is a big step. Can I have some time to think about it?"
Her expression flickered—a hint of disappointment, quickly masked. "Of course. But don't take too long. Opportunities like this don't wait forever."
This woman actually say that to me? Me, who have a system, really?
What have I gotten myself into?