The Cullinan wound its way up the mountain and stopped at a villa.
After Meng Jiuyi got out of the car, Jiang Zhou said.
"Miss Meng, please go and sit in the courtyard. The Third Young Master will be here shortly."
Without asking any further questions, she walked up the bluestone steps, through a bamboo grove, and after pushing open the door, a few pomegranate flowers peeked out from the broken walls, and there was an unfinished chess game in the center of the pavilion.
Once inside, you can overlook the entire Kyushu region from the mountaintop; one step forward, you'll find birdsong and fragrant flowers, while another step back reveals cliffs and rocky walls.
Meng Jiuyi couldn't help but be a little surprised that someone like him would have such refined tastes.
She put her bag aside and sat on the windowsill looking at the sky.
An envelope fell out of the interlayer. Meng Jiuyi picked it up and saw that it contained a thick wad of money—Mo Ruyue had secretly slipped it in while she was away.
She paused, then felt a sudden, heavy wave of emotion wash over her chest.
The Meng family provides food and drink but never pays her. Where did she get the money? She must have saved it up for a long time.
Meng Jiuyi put the bag back in, thinking that Tan Yuchen would arrive soon. However, she sat there for at least half an hour, until she was drowsy. Then she heard footsteps behind her, slow and deliberate, each step feeling like a knife to her heart.
She turned her head and looked at him. Her gaze first fell on his white suit, which had an unparalleled color and texture, yet he casually draped it over his shoulder.
He had probably just come from a banquet; a few buttons of his shirt were undone, and his prominent Adam's apple bobbed gently, giving him an inexplicable air of dissoluteness. Her gaze finally settled on his amorous eyes.
Innocent yet dissolute, the kind of man most easily lured by beauty.
Meng Jiuyi believed she had a good eye for people. She had assessed the risks before she dared to take photos of him. Based on his past romantic history and the comments from various entertainment tabloids, Tan Yuchen was just a rich but brainless second-generation rich kid.
But why did she suffer such a setback?
Meng Jiuyi only came to her senses when Tan Yuchen sat down opposite her.
"Sorry to keep you waiting," he said.
Even words of apology sound completely insincere coming from this person.
Meng Jiuyi curled his lips into a distant and polite smile, "Soon, it will be eighteen minutes and seven and a half seconds."
Tan Yuchen smiled enigmatically, "Did you have a timer in your head?"
"yes."
A smile played on her lips. "I don't have many other merits, but I am punctual!"
The implication was that she was criticizing him for being late, even though they hadn't actually agreed on a time, but she was just annoyed and wanted to pick a fight with him.
Tan Yuchen said leisurely, "Oh, then we complement each other perfectly."
Meng Jiuyi: "..."
Someone brought over two cups of drinks. The bitter smell of coffee filled his nose. Meng Jiuyi took a sip and frowned, asking directly.
"Why did you make me soil Chen Zhongli's suit at the banquet last night?"
"So eager to know?"
Tan Yuchen glanced at her, easily discerning her thoughts, "Are you afraid that if something goes wrong later, I'll push you out to take the fall?"
yes.
Meng Jiuyi had no doubt that he would do it.
Last night, when Tan Yuchen asked her to do something, she found it incomprehensible. The Tan family's connections were deeply entrenched throughout Kyushu. He could get whatever he wanted with ease, so why would he need a nobody like her?
Not to mention something as trivial as spilling wine.
Unless he couldn't interfere in the middle stages, and given her ordinary status, her presence at the banquet wouldn't easily arouse suspicion.
If the truth comes out in the future, we can just push her out to take the blame. With such a large disparity in status, why should we be afraid that she will turn around and bite us?
The more Meng Jiuyi thought about it, the more hateful he seemed, but her voice remained gentle and considerate.
"Young Master, you are overthinking it. How could I think of you like that? You always act with integrity and uprightness."
Tan Yuchen took a sip of coffee and raised an eyebrow slightly.
"Are all women like you, saying one thing and meaning another?"
Meng Jiuyi thought to herself, "Don't you understand?"
"Why don't you just ask Miss Tang Ning?"
Tan Yuchen smiled but remained silent.
The smile didn't reach his eyes, making his expression unreadable. Meng Jiuyi immediately realized she had been too talkative; she had no right to interfere in his private life.
"What exactly is your purpose?" she asked, getting back to the point.
Tan Yuchen didn't answer first, but instead stared at her with a playful look.
"You were so skilled last night, you must have scammed a lot of people before, right?"
Meng Jiuyi's mind went blank for a moment. "How could this be? This is my first time—"
"Is this the first time you've been discovered? Or is this the first time you've confessed your feelings to a money tree?"
He leaned back lazily in his chair, a few buttons undone on his shirt, and that ambiguous, righteous yet wicked air about him reappeared.
Meng Jiuyi almost spat it out.
Tan Yuchen then asked, "What did you film?"
Meng Jiuyi was most reluctant to talk about this, as it involved other people's vulnerabilities. Some of these she used for self-defense, while others she was waiting for the right opportunity to extort money from others.
She took a sip of coffee as a cover-up.
"Just... taking some random photos."
Tan Yuchen tapped his fingers lightly on the table, speaking in a persuasive tone.
"How about you auction off all your random stuff to me? Just hand it over to Jiang Zhou, and you name the price."
"Do you... need anything?"
Meng Jiuyi's eyes lit up slightly. This was certainly good. It saved her from taking so many risks. Selling it to him would be extremely profitable.
Tan Yuchen nodded and looked directly at her.
"Remember, all of them!"
His eyes were deep and dark. Just a moment ago he had been so lazy and spineless, but now, as he stared at people, it was as if he could see right into their hearts.
She looked away and agreed.
"Are you interested in making the next deal?"
Tan Yuchen pushed a box over, "Return this to its rightful owner, and Jiang Zhou will give you 100,000 yuan."
Meng Jiuyi did not answer, a sneer playing on his lips.
"The Third Young Master really knows how to do business. He hasn't even answered my questions about last night, and he's already trying to drag me onto his pirate ship again."
"I'll give you an answer now. You can take this as a trap without any proof; let's see what happens later. As for the pirate ship—"
He raised an eyebrow slightly, speaking in a somewhat irreverent manner.
"How do you know it's not a golden house? Jiu Yi is so smart, he should know that compared to your business of secretly filming, doing business with me is a sure thing. Both are risky, so why not consider the one with the greater potential profit?"
When Meng Jiuyi heard him call her that, she got goosebumps. She knew he was telling the truth; the price he quoted was indeed much higher than what she would pay for a candid shot.
She is currently short of money.
But I still didn't dare to agree to his offer easily, otherwise I wouldn't even know how I was sold off.
"Isn't the Third Young Master overestimating me? My skills are barely even rudimentary, and I'm afraid I'll disappoint you."
“Selecting and employing people is my business. You just need to do your best. Besides, I don’t think I would misjudge people.”
He sipped his coffee, his dark eyes peering through the cup at her. Meng Jiuyi tensed up under his gaze; it was clearly a threat, yet he spoke of it as if it were a love confession.
The swirling coffee steam creates an illusion, making you believe that the person opposite you must be in love with you.
Meng Jiuyi ignored his attempts to bewitch him and asked suspiciously.
"You anticipated last night that I would seek out Jiang Zhou so you could continue our deal, didn't you?"
Tan Yuchen raised his eyebrows, which was taken as an admission.
How insidious! They're even waiting for people to come to them for business.
She was practically gritting her teeth.
Do I have the right to refuse?
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