"D-Director."
Yu Lan looked up, dazed. She clearly hadn't yet placed this strange man who had appeared out of nowhere.
Then, she heard the male beast who had wanted to ask for her contact information address the man, his face betraying clear apprehension.
Clearly, this man who had appeared out of nowhere was extremely distinguished and held a high status.
Yu Lan's gaze swept over the man's frigidly handsome face, and she belatedly recalled his identity.
This was none other than one of the original owner's seven fiancés: the Director of the Empire Research Institute, Shen Zueran.
From the moment Yu Lan walked into the convenience store, Shen Zueran had been watching the entire scene unfold from the second-floor, floor-to-ceiling window.
He had watched as the little female, without a word, had effortlessly lured every single male beast at the Science Research Institute to her side.
Fishing wasn't even this fast.
His expression was currently quite foul, especially after catching the faint, sweet fragrance wafting through the air and noticing the furtive glances being sent toward Yu Lan.
His expression turned even colder in an instant.
"What are you doing here?"
"This is not a place you should be."
Shen Zueran accused her bluntly.
Yu Lan clutched the bottle of water. The cool air of the convenience store had gradually dispelled the heat the sun had left on her face.
Her flushed, peach-like face had returned to its usual pale fairness. With skin as white as snow, her dense, seaweed-like black hair was draped casually over her shoulders. Her long, curled black lashes, like tiny fans, fluttered with every blink. The bridge of her nose was elegant and her small mouth was a rosy red.
She looked like a beautiful doll carved from snow.
A blush of embarrassment flashed across Yu Lan's face at Shen Zueran's attempt to drive her away.
But, knowing she was in the wrong, she didn't have the ill temper to talk back.
She nodded. "Alright, I'll leave right now."
She turned to look at the male beast who had kindly paid for her, hesitating over whether she should still get his contact information.
'I can't just take advantage of his kindness.'
In Shen Zueran's eyes, however, this hesitation was twisted into a reluctance to leave.
His expression iced over.
"Yu Lan, there's a limit to how far you can chase someone."
"Do you want me to call security to escort you out?"
"The Imperial Research Institute is a secure facility. Unauthorized personnel are not permitted."
'He's trying to kick me out again and again.'
Even someone as mild as Yu Lan had a bit of a temper.
She snorted at Shen Zueran. "I know how to leave on my own."
"I don't need you to chase me out."
As she grew agitated, the subtle sweet fragrance in the air seemed to instantly intensify, as if coming to a boil.
It surged toward Shen Zueran, overwhelming him.
It wrapped around him tightly.
'So fragrant. So, so fragrant.'
'It smells so good.'
Shen Zueran felt as if he had been plunged into the heart of the sweetest flower, enveloped completely by the overwhelming scent.
His heart pounded—THUMP, THUMP, THUMP—and with each beat, hot blood surged through his veins to his extremities.
His forehead began to grow scalding hot, as if something was about to erupt at any moment.
Yu Lan had already brushed past Shen Zueran, ready to leave.
'As for the kind male beast who helped me, I'll just have to wait for a chance when Shen Zueran isn't here to secretly come back and pay him back.'
Just as they passed each other, the man's large, scalding hot hand, veins bulging, suddenly seized the small, delicate hand hanging at Yu Lan's side.
"Are you wearing perfume?"
Shen Zueran practically ground the words out through his teeth.
High-Level females possessed a natural fragrance that attracted male beasts. The most powerful ones could even induce a male beast to go into heat on the spot.
But Yu Lan had no Healing Power, and she had a criminal record for using an induction agent on Su Xingye.
Shen Zueran had to wonder what this scent that so powerfully aroused him truly was.
'What a bizarre question.'
Yu Lan gave Shen Zueran a strange look, a flash of disdain in her clear, bright eyes.
"You're hurting me."
As she spoke, she raised her other hand and slapped his large hand away.
"I'm not wearing any perfume! Stop making false accusations."
Yu Lan knew that she did faintly emit a fragrance.
But she really couldn't find a way to solve this problem.
'Could it be that Shen Zueran thinks my scent is too strong and he's pointing it out on purpose to humiliate me?'
'Damn it. He looks so proper, but how can he act so horribly?'
'First he tries to kick me out, now he's pointing out my flaws.'
In a fit of anger, Yu Lan raised her foot and stomped on Shen Zueran's.
"Jerk."
After stomping on him, she feared retaliation and immediately turned and ran.
The crowd of male beasts in the convenience store couldn't help but feel their hearts soften as they watched her slender and beautiful retreating figure.
"She's such a cute and beautiful female."
"Yeah, yeah, she's so cute even when she's angry."
"Unlike other females who'd just slap you across the face... though if she wanted to hit me, I wouldn't mind."
"She smells so, so good. Such a beautiful female, I wonder if we'll ever get a chance to see her again."
"Sigh, our cold and ruthless Director really lives up to his name. To be able to harden his heart and drive away such a beautiful and cute female."
Finding a female that beautiful and good-tempered was a one-in-a-million chance.
You might go your whole life without meeting one like her.
And she didn't even do anything wrong! She just mistakenly thought the convenience store inside the Science Research Institute was open to the public and came in to buy a bottle of water.
And the Director just viciously drove her away.
Under Shen Zueran's oppressive gaze, the crowd of male beasts dared to feel anger but not to voice it.
As Yu Lan left, the convenience store, once packed with male beasts, instantly emptied out, leaving the floor clean enough to reflect the lights.
Only then did Shen Zueran snort coldly.
'A bunch of fools.'
'Who knows if Yu Lan doused herself in an induction agent to make male beasts go into heat and deliberately showed up here.'
'After smelling that scent, I'm almost certain she came here for me.'
'She deliberately caused a commotion here to draw me out.'
'I don't like this kind of scheming, feral female at all.'
*
Braving the sun, Yu Lan hurried back to her hovercar and returned to her villa.
The moment she got home, she flopped onto the sofa and eagerly started searching on her phone to find out what exactly the Science Research Institute did and what its departments were.
Before she transmigrated, she also worked at a scientific research institute, but it specialized in pharmaceutical research.
'If I want to find a job, it's best to stick to my old profession.'
'If the Science Research Institute works on advanced interstellar technology, then I'm definitely not qualified. I'll have to find a different line of work.'
Fortunately, this world was relatively tolerant towards females.
'I heard female celebrities can earn millions of Star Coins a day.'
As these messy thoughts ran through her head, Yu Lan logged onto the Science Research Institute's official website.
She soon found the job postings.
R&D Assistant. 30,000 Star Coins a month.
Requirements: Female, no Healing Power, education required.
Yu Lan's eyes lit up.
'Heavens, isn't this the dream job tailor-made for me?'
'It's basically saying they'll take any female!'
Yu Lan immediately switched to the resume page, but as she prepared to fill it out, her brow furrowed.
It was then she realized she had absolutely nothing she could list.
She wanted to cry.
In the end, all she could do was enter "female" in the gender field before clicking "send."
Then, holding her breath, she waited for a reply from the boss.