game over
The three simple words on the phone screen were like a light yet powerful boomerang.
The little bit of courage and tentative attempt that Lin Tingyue had just mustered was precisely thrown back at her.
【dislike? 】
His matter-of-fact tone, tinged with a hint of surprise, seemed to emanate from the screen.
It was as if the only reasonable explanation for her rejection was that she "didn't like" the style.
Lin Tingyue stared at those three words, a lump forming in her throat, unable to escape her lips.
That man! He's always like this!
He could easily steer the conversation away from the core of the issue, drawing her into the logic he had set up!
Xia Xiaoran leaned over to take a look and immediately clicked her tongue:
"See! I told you! It's a domineering CEO mentality! 'How can you not like what I gave you?' The subtext is 'If you don't like it, it's your problem!'"
Lin Tingyue was both amused and exasperated.
She took a deep breath and told herself that she couldn't let him lead her astray.
According to Xia Xiaoran's strategy, it should be done cleverly, not head-on.
Her fingers flew across the screen, typing and revising, before finally replying:
Mr. Chi, you've misunderstood. The bracelet is exquisite. However, its value far exceeds the scope of a typical "employee benefit," and I cannot accept it without having done so much for it. Please inform me of a convenient time and place, and I will certainly return it.
His tone remained respectful, but his attitude was clear.
It's not that I don't like it, it's that I can't accept it.
Send. Waiting.
Chi Zhuo's reply was a little slower this time.
If you like it, keep it. I said it's a perk, so it's a perk.
Powerful. Unquestionable.
Lin Tingyue could almost picture him typing those words with a cold face, his chin slightly raised, leaving no room for negotiation.
She bit her lower lip, and a stubbornness suddenly welled up from the bottom of her heart.
Why should he always have the final say?
Why should she accept it just because he gives it to her?
Xia Xiaoran fanned the flames from the sidelines:
"Look at that domineering attitude! Yueyue, you can't back down! You have to let him know that you're not one of those women he can just buy off with money and gifts!"
Lin Tingyue steeled her heart and decided to be even more direct.
Mr. Chi, we are all well aware that this is not a typical employee benefit. Do you have any expectations of me beyond that of an "employer and temporary employee"?
If so, please let me know. If not, I cannot accept such an expensive gift.
Lin Tingyue's fingers trembled slightly as she sent the text message.
This was practically a coup, bringing directly to the forefront the issue that the two had been tacitly and indirectly probing.
Xia Xiaoran held her breath, staring intently at her phone: "Here it comes! A direct confrontation! Let's see how he responds!"
Time ticked by, but the phone remained silent.
This silent waiting is more agonizing than a direct reply.
Was he angry? Or was he thinking? Or did he find her ridiculous and couldn't be bothered to reply?
Just when Lin Tingyue was almost convinced there would be no reply, and her mood gradually shifted from nervous to disappointed, her phone finally rang.
It wasn't a text message.
It's caller ID!
The number that was already memorized was flashing on the screen!
Chi Zhuo called directly!
Lin Tingyue was so startled she almost threw her phone away, looking at Xia Xiaoran as if she were holding a hot potato: "He...he called!"
"Answer it! Answer it now!" Xia Xiaoran was even more excited than her, lowering her voice, "Put it on speakerphone! Put it on speakerphone!"
Lin Tingyue took a few deep breaths, her fingers trembling as she swiped to answer the call and pressed speakerphone.
"Hello... Mr. Chi?" Her voice trembled almost imperceptibly.
There was a two-second silence on the other end of the phone. Then, Chi Zhuo's deep and magnetic voice came through the receiver. It seemed deeper than usual, carrying an invisible pressure that made her heart race even through the airwaves.
"Lin Tingyue." He called her by her full name, his tone devoid of emotion. "You always seem to complicate simple things."
Lin Tingyue gripped her phone tightly: "I don't understand what you mean..."
"Does giving you a gift mean I have expectations that go beyond what's acceptable?"
Chi Zhuo's voice was calm, yet carried a penetrating force, "Perhaps, I simply wanted to give it to you. And you, are you overthinking it?"
His rhetorical question was understated, yet it cleverly obscured the core of the issue, making her appear presumptuous and impure.
Lin Tingyue's face flushed instantly, a feeling of shame and anger at being wronged surged into her heart.
She could almost picture the slight upturn of his lips at that moment, with that all-knowing, playful expression.
Xia Xiaoran, standing to the side, was so anxious she was practically screaming, mouthing, "Ask him! Ask him directly about the problem in the car!"
Lin Tingyue took a deep breath and decided to go all out. She couldn't let him control her.
“Mr. Chi,” she tried to make her voice sound calm, “perhaps I’m overthinking it. But the question you asked me in the car earlier has made me think more.”
She paused, then mustered her courage and asked the question Xia Xiaoran had taught her:
"You asked me if I had considered any other possibilities besides feeling that you were retaliating."
So, which possibility do you think I should consider?
There was silence on the other end of the phone.
A long silence.
Only their faint breathing could be transmitted through the radio waves, creating an atmosphere of unusual tension and ambiguity.
Lin Tingyue's heartbeat was so loud that she could hear it herself, and she almost suspected that Chi Zhuo could hear it too.
Xia Xiaoran nervously covered her mouth.
Just when Lin Tingyue thought he wouldn't answer or would dodge the question again, Chi Zhuo finally spoke.
His voice was lower and deeper than before, like the richest tone of a cello, slowly, clearly, word by word striking her eardrums and her heart:
"I thought I had made it clear enough."
Lin Tingyue's breath hitched.
What did he say?
His actions...were obvious enough?
He admitted it?! He admitted he did indeed have "other possible" intentions?!
The immense shock caused her brain to shut down again, and all her previous guesses, analyses, and doubts seemed to be confirmed to some extent at this moment!
Xia Xiaoran was so excited she almost jumped up, mouthing frantically, "See! See! I told you!"
However, before Lin Tingyue could recover from this huge shock, Chi Zhuo's next words were like a bucket of cold water, mixed with ice shards, poured over her head.
“But Lin Tingyue,” his tone suddenly turned cold, even carrying a hint of...mockery?
"In your heart, does everything I do ultimately boil down to this being a new and more sophisticated revenge game by Chi Zhuo?"
Lin Tingyue was stunned for a moment.
“After all,” he continued, the coldness in his voice becoming even more pronounced, “in your eyes, I’m probably the kind of narrow-minded, vindictive person you see.”
So, because of those three thousand dollars, you went to such lengths to set up a scheme, just to make things even more awkward for you in the end?
His words were like a precise scalpel, dissecting the deepest fears and preconceived notions in Lin Tingyue's heart that she herself was unwilling to admit.
That's exactly what she thought.
No matter what he does, she always subconsciously applies the "revenge" template first, looking for a malicious motive for all his actions.
Chi Zhuo chuckled softly, the laughter carrying a hint of indifference through the receiver.
"Since you have already convicted me, any explanation or action I take seems meaningless."
"If you don't like the bracelet, just throw it away."
“As for the rest,” he paused, his tone returning to its initial indifference and detachment, even colder than before, “it seems I was overthinking it.”
"Beep...beep...beep..."
After saying that, he hung up the phone without giving her any time to react.
Hearing the busy tone from her phone, Lin Tingyue froze on the spot, still tightly gripping the hot phone in her hand, her face drained of color.
He said...I'm overthinking it?
He said... "Looks like I was overthinking it?"
What did his last sentence, his suddenly cold tone, and the phrase "If you don't like it, just throw it away" mean?
Did he... give up?
Because of her damned, deep-seated suspicion and fear?
An indescribable, immense panic and loss, like icy seawater, instantly overwhelmed her, more intense and...uncomfortable than any time he had ever forced her before.
She seems to have... messed up something very important.
Xia Xiaoran was also stunned. Looking at Lin Tingyue's face, which had turned pale instantly, she asked cautiously, "...What did he mean by his last words? Was he angry? Did he decide to quit?"
Lin Tingyue didn't say anything, but slowly squatted down and buried her face in her knees.
A clear, dull pain came from my heart.
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