The villa smelled of disinfectant in the early morning.
The housekeeper was directing the servants to wipe the study floor. The shards of the glass that had been broken last night had been cleaned up, leaving only a few faint watermarks, like wet tear stains.
Yu Jiuyuan sat at the dining table with a perfectly fried soft-boiled egg in front of her. The edges of the egg white were slightly browned, and the yolk was as thick as molten gold.
She gently poked the egg open with her silver fork, watching the yolk slowly flow out, a faint smile playing on her lips, as if she were watching some controlled prey revealing its soft interior before her.
"Miss, the Xie family's car is already at the door," the butler reported in a low voice, carefully avoiding the almost manic calm in her eyes.
"Understood." Yu Jiuyuan dipped bread in egg yolk, her movements as elegant as if she were performing a sacred ritual. "Make a copy of Su's cousin's information, I'll take it to Xie Zhecheng."
Her voice was soft, yet carried an undeniable air of command.
The butler acknowledged and withdrew, but inwardly he was alarmed. The excited red veins in the young lady's eyes when she was processing documents last night resembled those of a predator eyeing its prey. He hadn't seen the young lady like this in a long time.
Xie Zhecheng's car was parked at the entrance, its black body gleaming coldly in the sunlight after the snow.
When Yu Jiuyuan sat in the passenger seat, she smelled a faint disinfectant scent, exactly the same as the smell in her villa.
"Just got back from the hospital," Xie Zhecheng explained, handing over a hot latte. "One of my mother's patients isn't doing well."
"Thank you for your hard work." Yu Jiuyuan took the coffee, her fingertips touching the warmth of the cup.
Xie Zhecheng started the car, his gaze sweeping over the file folder in her hand: "Any progress on the Su family matter?"
“I suppose so.” Yu Jiuyuan opened the document and pointed to the page on “falsifying experimental data.” “Look here, the anti-cancer drug patent they applied for three years ago was actually plagiarized from the results of a German research team.”
Xie Zhecheng frowned slightly: "Is the evidence conclusive?"
“I had someone check the original experimental records, and the timeline matches up.”
Yu Jiuyuan's smile had a cruel sweetness to it. "As long as this is handed over to the pharmaceutical regulatory bureau, the Su family's biotechnology company will have to suspend operations for at least six months."
Her tone was as casual as if she were discussing the weather, yet it made Xie Zhecheng's heart skip a beat.
Looking at the excited gleam in her eyes, he suddenly realized what a crazy destructive desire this seemingly innocent young lady harbored deep down.
She's like a top hunter, always able to pinpoint her prey's fatal weakness and then tear it apart with the most elegant movements.
"Do you need me to help you contact someone at the regulatory agency?" he asked calmly.
“No need.” Yu Jiuyuan closed the file, her smile deepening. “I plan to have Lin Yanran deliver it.”
Xie Zhecheng was stunned for a moment.
"Isn't the Lin family on good terms with the Su family?" Yu Jiuyuan licked her lips, as if savoring a delicious treat. "Isn't it more interesting to have 'our own people' hand you a knife?"
Her eyes gleamed with a manic light, like a child who had grown tired of playing house and was now seeking thrills.
Xie Zhecheng looked at her, and his 77 favorability rating was quietly loosening. Something was breaking through the soil—was it curiosity, vigilance, or some kind of flutter that he himself was unaware of, drawn to her madness?
“Lin Yanran will not agree,” he analyzed objectively.
“He will.” Yu Jiuyuan took out her phone and pulled up a photo. “Look, this is a photo of him drinking with Su Mingyu at a bar last night, and there are two… not-so-proper people sitting next to him.”
The photo was taken at a tricky angle, capturing Lin Yanran raising her glass, while in the background, Su Mingyu was embracing a heavily made-up woman. Xie Zhecheng's brows furrowed even more; she had even investigated this matter thoroughly.
"Use this to threaten him?"
“How can you call it a threat?” Yu Jiuyuan smiled innocently.
“I was just giving him a ‘choice.’ It was either to help me submit this document, or to let his father know that he was ‘not doing his job properly,’ get kicked out of the student council, or even… have his bank cards frozen.”
Her methods are always so direct and ruthless, like poison laced with sugar, making people unknowingly sink into sweetness.
Xie Zhecheng looked at her and suddenly realized that his previous understanding of her was too shallow. She was not some all-around warrior; she was a madwoman in a perfect shell, doing the cruelest things with the most innocent expression.
And this madness, damnably...attractive.
"You seem to really enjoy watching others struggle?" he suddenly asked.
Yu Jiuyuan turned to look at him, the madness in her eyes flickering like a candle flame in the wind: "Don't you think it's interesting to watch your prey struggle in the trap you've set?"
She paused, leaned closer to him, and whispered seductively, "Xie Zhecheng, your pursuit of perfection and precision is just a way of trying to control everything, isn't it? We are actually... the same kind of people."
Xie Zhecheng paused for a moment.
He could smell the gardenia scent in her hair, see the sunlight dancing on her eyelashes, and feel his heart pounding uncomfortably in his chest. His 77% favorability rating was like a lake surface rippled by a stone thrown in.
He did not refute this for the first time.
The car stopped downstairs in front of the student union office building.
When Yu Jiuyuan opened the car door, she saw Lin Yanran standing at the door, her face as gloomy as if it were about to rain.
Clearly, he had already received her "gift".
"Officer Lin, have you been waiting long?" Yu Jiuyuan smiled like a cat that had just stolen some cream.
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