Upon the sudden discovery that the company she worked for would soon go bankrupt, Su Yuhan's budding desire to stay on permanently, tempted as she was by the company's benefits, was completely extinguished.
The only thing on her mind now was how to complete her client's mission without anyone noticing and then make her escape.
The money tree was right at the entrance to the finance department. Getting to it wouldn't be hard, but doing so under everyone's noses without arousing suspicion was another matter entirely.
Su Yuhan slacked off at her desk for half the day, finally getting the perfect opportunity she'd been waiting for: everyone left for lunch, leaving her all alone in the office.
She pulled a pre-prepared, large-dose bottle of herbicide from her bag. Just as she was about to dump the entire thing into the money tree's pot, she suddenly heard a strangely familiar voice from behind her.
"Hey, you. The woman standing by the potted plant. Come over here."
Su Yuhan's hand, clutching the herbicide, froze. Caught red-handed. In her panic, she nearly shoved the "criminal evidence" in her hand into her own mouth—or the mouth of the person behind her.
Fortunately, reason prevailed at the critical moment.
Su Yuhan smoothly shoved the herbicide into her pocket and turned to face Qi Lianxiu, who was now standing not far behind her.
'This is just... Enemies sure do have a way of finding each other!'
When he saw the face belonging to the familiar-looking figure, a flash of disappointment crossed Qi Lianxiu's eyes.
'He should have known. The world wasn't that small. There was no way he'd just randomly run into someone who resembled Sister Qianqian.'
"Sir, were you calling me?"
His hopes dashed, Qi Lianxiu's expression soured. "Do you see anyone else here?"
"Did you need me for something?"
"I'm hungry. Go buy me something to eat."
"..."
"..."
The two of them just stood there, staring at each other in silence. After a long moment, Su Yuhan was the one to break the silence.
She held out her right hand, her meaning unmistakable.
"Hm~"
"Hm?"
Su Yuhan was speechless. 'What do you mean, "hm?" What's wrong with this guy? He asks someone to run out and buy him food but doesn't even offer to pay.'
"Oh, I get it!" Qi Lianxiu stroked his chin in thought for a moment before it dawned on him. "You're a fan of mine, aren't you? You want an autograph? Don't worry. I'll give you a personalized one after you get back with the food."
"..."
'Fan, my ass! Autograph, my ass! I get it now. This guy doesn't just want me to work for free, he wants me to foot the bill for his food, too!'
'This is absolutely unacceptable!'
"I'm sorry, sir, but I'm not your fan, and I'm certainly not a delivery person. If you're hungry and don't feel like going out in this heat to buy food, you could try downloading a few food delivery apps. I'm sure plenty of people would be happy to serve you. If there's nothing else, I'm going to get my own lunch now. Have a nice day."
Having firmly but politely rejected his empty promises, Su Yuhan turned to leave, only to be grabbed by Qi Lianxiu.
"Sir, is there something else?"
"You're not my fan? How could you not be my fan?"
'...' 'Seriously? You're not a hundred-dollar bill; what makes you think everyone in the world has to like you? A little narcissistic, don't you think?'
"I'm sorry, sir. I really am not your fan."
Unfortunately, Qi Lianxiu clearly refused to accept that possibility.
He stared at the crown of Su Yuhan's head for a good while before inspiration struck. "I know," he announced. "You're playing hard to get, aren't you?"
'??? Wait, where did you pull that toxic conclusion from?'
Su Yuhan's eyes widened, her face a mask of disbelief.
Little did she know, her reaction only served to confirm Qi Lianxiu's theory.
"I knew it. How could anyone in this world possibly not love this face of mine? Hah. Woman, you've successfully caught my attention."
'...' 'Someone's been reading too many scripts for domineering CEO dramas.'
Su Yuhan fought back the curse that was on the tip of her tongue, took a deep breath, and decided to switch from hinting to stating things plainly. "Sir, today is my first day working at this company."
Qi Lianxiu stood with his arms crossed, immovable as a mountain, his expression screaming, 'I've already seen through your act. I'll just sit back and enjoy the show.'
"Barring any surprises, I won't see this month's paycheck until next month. Right now, I have less than a hundred yuan in my pocket. What's more, I have an eighty-year-old grandmother and several hungry piglets at home, all crying out to be fed. I really don't have any money to spare."
As she spoke, Su Yuhan even made a show of wiping away non-existent tears, hoping this Zhou Bapi would take pity on her, go bother someone else, and stop trying to fleece this one poor sheep.
After listening to her tearful plea, Qi Lianxiu's expression darkened.
"You really don't like me?"
Su Yuhan was so exasperated she wanted to roll her eyes. 'Bro, do you have some kind of obsession with people liking you?'
'And what does that have to do with paying for your own food? It's not like "liking you" can be put on a plate and eaten.'
"Sir, if I recall correctly, this is the first time we've met. Isn't it a bit... inappropriate... to be talking about 'liking' someone right off the bat?"
Hearing this, Qi Lianxiu's face fell once more. He stared at her intently for a long moment.
Just when Su Yuhan was expecting him to fly into a rage out of humiliation and storm off, he instead let out a cold huff and pulled out his phone.
"Your code."
"What code?"
"Payment code."
Su Yuhan's eyes lit up, and she quickly pulled out her phone.
In her excitement, she almost had Qi Lianxiu scan the original body's account. She remembered just as she was about to present her phone, quickly pulling it back to switch to the temporary account she'd made just a couple of days ago.
The instant Qi Lianxiu scanned the code, the payment app's voice notification dutifully chimed on Su Yuhan's phone.
[Five thousand yuan received in your account.]
'Five thousand yuan? He really is a big-shot Sugar Daddy! Five thousand just to pick up a meal!'
'For these five thousand, I can temporarily take back what I said before. You're a real turn-off when you try to skip the bill, but you're so damn charming when you're throwing money around!'
'Now this is more like it! I may not love your face, but I definitely love your money!'
"I'm hungry. Bring me back something to eat. The rest is your tip."
Now that she was sure she wouldn't have to pay for his lunch out of her own pocket and would even make a profit, Su Yuhan's attitude did a complete one-eighty.
"I'll go get it to-go right now! May I ask what the Young Master would like for lunch? Any dietary restrictions? Do you eat scallions, ginger, and garlic? Do you prefer sweet or savory flavors? For a staple, would you prefer rice or noodles, or perhaps neither..."
Having fully embraced her role as an errand runner, Su Yuhan was the very picture of diligence and dedication, striving to be meticulous down to the last detail.
But the contrast in her behavior was so stark that Qi Lianxiu could no longer fool himself. This woman really didn't like him. She liked his money!
At this realization, Qi Lianxiu's face fell again. "Whatever," he said sullenly. "I'm not picky."
'Whatever?' That was always a tricky request, but it wasn't enough to stump her.
Su Yuhan smoothed down her collar, the very picture of professionalism.
"Alrighty then, Young Master! You just wait right here. This humble servant will be back in a jiffy!"
'... Shit. Now I'm even angrier!'