provocative

When is a convenient time?

Gu Nan stared at the message on her phone for a long time without replying, then switched her phone to her usual operating system.

The screen was filled with missed calls as soon as I turned it on.

She swiped her finger from top to bottom, glancing at the few scattered strings of numbers interspersed among the numerous duplicate numbers. She swallowed hard, clutched her chest, and asked herself a question.

Where exactly does the problem lie?

I've heard of other people having a constitution that attracts romance, but it seems to have become a constitution that attracts fathers in her case.

They're all incredibly talkative.

Especially Ji Yuanyu.

Ji Yuanyu is wasting his talents as the president of a newspaper; he should be a kind old kindergarten principal.

Answer the phone.

"Would you like to expand your business scope?" Gu Nan shut up and swallowed the rest of her sentence, telling him to use his useless energy elsewhere.

Ji Yuanyu was completely bewildered: "Huh?"

After a moment of hesitation, he said softly, "It's certain that Lu Yushi came for you."

Gu Nan picked up the apple with a smile and took a bite, her expression relaxed and unsurprised: "What do you mean?"

“He suddenly changed his mind and now prefers you to be the vice president of the New Times.”

The crunching sound of chewing apples abruptly stopped, and the room fell silent. Gu Nan's tone was strange: "Me? What were your exact words?"

"His exact words?" Ji Yuanyu didn't understand her question. After thinking for a while, he couldn't quite remember. "He said he admired you a lot, thought you were more suitable to be the vice president than Su Di, and wanted to find an opportunity to get to know you. Oh, right, he asked me for your contact information."

"Given it?"

"How could that be! He's never even met you, how could he possibly admire you? I suspect he's up to no good. Maybe he's already convinced that you were the one who impersonated his fiancée back then, but he just doesn't have any evidence."

Gu Nan raised her eyebrows slightly, continuing to devour the apple while nodding in agreement with Ji Yuanyu's words.

She also felt that Lu Yushi was up to no good, but it probably had nothing to do with his fiancée.

When a listed company changes its vice president, it will disclose personal information. Lu Yushi could not find J, so it seems that they want to work on the identity of "Gu Nan".

She pressed her forehead against the window and looked out at the bustling crowds. The sun was scorching, and the pedestrians were hurrying by; it was all rather uninteresting.

She dodged out of the sunlight, the apple turning a yellowish-brown color in the light. She hissed and whispered, "Disobedient."

The faint curve at the corner of his mouth showed no dissatisfaction, but rather a hint of cynical wickedness.

"Listen to me, you should go abroad and hide for a while."

Are you sure Lu Yu will let the New Times go if I leave?

When Lu Yushi wanted to help Su Di become vice president, Ji Yuanyu insisted on pushing her to the position; now that Lu Yushi has agreed to let her become vice president, Ji Yuanyu has changed his mind again.

Gu Nan thought about it and couldn't help but laugh: "I should be fine now. You should worry more about yourself. Lu Yushi might already think you're deliberately targeting him."

There was a moment of silence on the other end.

"I'm fine."

"Tsk." Gu Nan casually tossed the apple core into the trash can, the sound of it hitting the wall masking the few remaining traces of guilt she felt. "Who do you want to give the vice president position to, Su Di?"

"She refused, saying she was willing to accept the consequences of her bet."

Gu Nan was speechless, clicking her tongue: "Su Di is really... righteous to the point of being wicked."

She breathed a sigh of relief: "Then give it to me."

Ji Yuanyu remained silent.

It sounds like the vice president's position has been reduced to the last rotten vegetable leaf before the market closes.

"By the way, ask Sudi if she'd like to be the vice president's assistant."

Ji Yuanyu swallowed hard and said tactfully, "Sudi won't be an assistant."

The word "your" is omitted.

"Then I'll do the work of a vice president." Gu Nan wiped his mouth and finished speaking.

"What's the meaning?"

Gu Nan didn't explain; she smiled and tilted her head back, staring into the distant void.

If he wants to investigate, let him investigate to his heart's content.

The clock hands slowly circled, their ticking sound like a death knell in an emergency room.

A smile played at the corners of her lips, and a hint of anticipation lingered deep in her eyes.

Ji Yuanyu earnestly advised, "Nannan, I'm not joking with you. Su Di was also present the day Lu Yushi came. Or if you don't believe her, you can check the surveillance footage. I assure you, Lu Yushi definitely didn't come with good intentions."

Gu Nan lowered her eyes lazily.

Whether they're good or bad, as long as they're here, that's fine.

"Okay, you can get ready."

"I will not agree." Ji Yuanyu resorted to force when persuasion failed, coldly refusing.

Gu Nan murmured, "I think I should be able to pass the vote."

"Nan Nan." Ji Yuanyu's imposing aura couldn't last more than three seconds in front of Gu Nan.

"I'm hanging up now. I'll be back next week."

Before hanging up the phone, you could still hear Ji Yuanyu's attempts to refuse him, using both soft and hard tactics.

Gu Nan shrugged. Unfortunately, she wouldn't budge no matter what.

It's still early.

With nothing else to do, she changed her clothes and went out. As she was hailing a taxi, she caught a glimpse of the North City Boxing Gym out of the corner of her eye.

After hesitating for a moment, she realized there was still an hour until the agreed time. She wasn't in the habit of waiting for others, so she decided to just go in and have a good fight.

The boxing gym's reception coach, who hadn't seen her for several years, still remembered her vividly. He warmly approached her and asked with a smile, "Sister Nan, it's been a long time since you've been here."

Gu Nan rubbed her wrist. "Coach Hou."

Her face lit up with eagerness: "Any newbies? Let's have a match."

Back when she was in Beicheng, she spent more time at the boxing gym than at home. From top to bottom, everyone in the gym who was considered a big name was her defeated opponent.

Whenever a promising newcomer emerges, the boxing gym will notify her. She arrives full of enthusiasm every time, only to leave disappointed each time.

This continued until she went to Xuncheng.

Coach Hou exclaimed, "Oh dear! There are too many! It's been so long since Sister Nan came!"

Gu Nan snapped her fingers: "Let's get a few people with good stamina."

It's not satisfying to give up after just a couple of hits.

"Let's go together?" Coach Hou said, half-jokingly.

"Forehead…"

Gu Nan rested her elbow on one hand and rubbed her chin with the other, deep in thought, looking conflicted.

Coach Hou tactfully offered a way out: "The new recruits have been in excellent physical condition and combat skills recently, and they're strong enough too. How about we bring them in one by one?"

Gu Nan glanced at him and nodded casually.

Coach Hou raised his hand to greet the staff: "Please..."

He had barely uttered a word when Gu Nan interrupted him quietly, "Let's go together, I'm in a hurry."

Coach Hou pursed his lips into a thin line and looked at the staff member, both of them seeing speechlessness in each other's eyes.

Then why are you nodding?

He thought this in his heart, but dared not show it on his face, and even less dared to utter a sound.

Not only him, but probably no one in the entire boxing gym dared to do it, after all, this woman had beaten them into submission with every punch.

Coach Hou shook his head and corrected his own statement—"abusing the subjugation."

It's normal to win and lose in a boxing match. If you feel you can't win, just admit defeat. Once there's a result, the match ends normally.

But this woman in front of me is not only ruthless in her punches, she's even more ruthless with her words.

When her opponent conceded defeat, she laughed at them for being weak, stabbing them in the heart with every word, forcing them to fight back and then suffer even more brutal beatings. Finally, she casually tossed out a sentence: "You have to try. How will you know if you can win if you don't fight with all your might?"

Her opponent glared at her angrily.

She, on the other hand, looked completely innocent: "Unfortunately, you still have to practice."

I remember during that time, before the coaching schedule came out, everyone would subtly ask if Sister Nan would come. If they couldn't find out, they would consult the oracle.

He had practiced boxing his whole life and never imagined he would have the opportunity to learn the Six Lines Divination Method.

The entire boxing gym was filled with groans and complaints after being beaten by Sister Nan. Everyone thought of someone who could probably take a beating from Sister Nan, but no one dared to ask him. By the time that person returned, Sister Nan was no longer coming over as often.

Coach Hou hissed softly, having heard that the man was coming today.

"These are the top three students among our trainees. These two are Coach Xu and Coach Ma."

The staff introduced each person one by one, interrupting Coach Hou's thoughts.

Coach Hou looked at the other two coaches, ignoring the doubt in their eyes.

They're all coaches; it's not enough that only the older coaches have suffered the hardships known as "Sister Nan."

"Coach Xu and Coach Ma are the best coaches here. They both have absolute upper body strength and the ability to withstand blows. Many of the awards in our boxing gym were brought back by Coach Ma."

Coach Ma, somewhat aloof, stood with his hands behind his back, nodded slightly, and scanned Gu Nan up and down, saying in a flat tone, "Hello."

Coach Xu appeared much more humble, smiling and extending his hand: "Hello."

Gu Nan didn't move. The five of them stood in a row. She glanced at them casually, found her target, looked at Coach Ma, and commented with a smile: "You're quite fair-skinned."

Coach Hou coughed lightly, shouting inwardly.

Is this the unique attraction between strong people? Out of five people, Sister Nan precisely targeted the one who was the most difficult to mess with, and then provoked him.

Coach Ma asked coldly, "Are you sure you want to take on all five of us?"

Gu Nan circled around him, looking him over, and said, "I'm not sure anymore."

"Tch." Coach Ma took a step forward, intending to leave.

Gu Nan looked at Coach Hou: "Why don't you come along? The quality of the coaches at your boxing gym has declined."

...

Coach Xu's smile faded: "Let's finish the game first and then talk about it."

"OK." Gu Nan tossed her bag into Coach Hou's arms. "I'll store this and go change."

She took two steps, then turned back and urged, "You guys go too. I only have half an hour, so let's get this over with quickly."

"That's too arrogant," one of the students said, frowning.

Coach Hou patted him on the shoulder, clenched his fist to encourage him, and solemnly said, "Defeat her."

"Of course!" the student replied with an upright expression. Seeing Coach Hou walking in the opposite direction, he asked in confusion, "Isn't Coach Hou going to change his clothes?"

Coach Hou smiled and said, "I'll watch her bag for her."

The trainees were puzzled. They glanced at the staff member standing by, then looked at Coach Hou.

Coach Hou: "Watching things is such an important task, of course I have to do it." He glanced at the five people and gave them a thumbs-up, "Go for it."

Coach Ma turned and left, Coach Xu returned the same gesture, and then left as well.

Soon, a new horizontal line was drawn on the ring, and Gu Nan, having changed her clothes, arrived late.

Five people stood in a circle on the stage, with Coach Ma at the head. Coach Ma looked down at her and said, "I thought you wouldn't dare to come out."

Gu Nan took a sip of hot tea, put down the thermos, and shrugged, saying, "Waiting for people is something my underlings do; I can't lower myself to that level."

Someone in the audience shouted, "Activate hell mode!"

Gu Nan looked towards the direction of the voice and called out to Coach Hou, "They're all new guests now."

"Stop talking nonsense, your half hour is almost up," Coach Ma said sarcastically.

Gu Nan loosened her ankles, gripped the high platform, and with a burst of strength from her waist and abdomen, jumped onto the platform in one smooth motion. She pulled aside the horizontal rope, stood still, patted off imaginary dust, and relaxed as if she were strolling down the street.

"It won't take half an hour to beat you up."