Chapter 31 "Stick out your tongue, let me see..."
The morning passed quickly. Ying Shixue felt like she had just changed her work twice, and when she looked up again, it was already lunchtime.
Wei Chao stretched and got up to follow the others, chatting and laughing as they headed outside. Suddenly, a voice came from behind him: "Brother Wei."
Wei Chao turned around and saw Ying Shixue wearing a crisp white shirt, a casual yet elegant tie, and a matching suit jacket draped over her bent arm: "Are you going to eat at that restaurant downstairs?"
Dong Xiuxian, who was next to Wei Chao, smiled and nodded for him: "Yes, it's newly opened. I've been craving it for days. Secretary Ying, would you like to come along?"
Actually, he just said that casually. After all, Ying Shixue had always eaten alone before, and everyone had gotten used to it and wouldn't bother to invite him.
Unexpectedly, Ying Shixue nodded, her eyebrows curving slightly: "Okay."
The man was taken aback for a moment, then smiled and beckoned him, "Come, come, I told you no one could refuse that place."
The restaurant downstairs is well-decorated, and you can tell the food is indeed delicious. During mealtimes, it's bustling with people, filled with shouts and calls for customers.
There were five people at their table. The dishes started to be served one after another. They had only met once before and were not very familiar with each other, so they were a little reserved at first.
To be honest, I really didn't expect it. I thought he would be difficult to get along with, but after talking to him, I found that he didn't have the bad temper I had heard about at all. He could keep up with any topic, was humble and never tried to take the lead, and had a natural grace in every move. He also had a humor that was not annoying.
As the group joked around, Wei Chao got up to get a drink. When he returned, he caught a glimpse of Ying Shixue straightening her wrist—she was checking the time on her watch.
Wei Chao was puzzled; why was he checking the time?
Ying Shixue had already put her hand down as if nothing had happened, and even took the time to greet him again.
By the end of the meal, most of the diners were already familiar with each other, and they were all around the same age. The waiter brought out the last large soup, which happened to be a dish served by Ying Shixue.
Dong Xiuzheng was gnawing on a chicken foot when he looked up and suddenly paused.
The food steamed and rose, and Ying Shixue, to make it easier to serve the dishes, slightly turned to the side to greet the waiter. Through the white mist, her eyebrows and eyes appeared even more delicate and beautiful.
Even though they see each other face to face every day, he couldn't help but be dazzled for a moment. Dong Xiu swallowed the meat in his mouth and laughed, "Xiao Ying is really good-looking. He's sure to attract little girls."
"Hey, hey," he wouldn't normally joke like this, but now that they're more familiar, he starts teasing, "Have you been secretly dating anyone, Xiao Ying?"
"Confess honestly, confess honestly, and you'll be treated leniently if you confess and severely punished if you resist!"
Ying Shixue found it somewhat amusing and put her chopsticks down on the edge of her bowl: "No."
Dong Xiu raised an eyebrow: "Really not? That's impossible. From childhood to adulthood, have we never held hands or kissed?"
Ying Shixue tilted her head slightly: "No."
"Okay," the group said, somewhat losing interest, but after a while someone else perked up: "So, do you have someone you like?"
Ying Shixue's hand trembled as she reached for her chopsticks again. Wei Chao's heart skipped a beat, and he reached out to stop her: "Hey, hey, what are you doing? Eat, eat. Can't you see that she's a shy child?"
Realizing he had gone too far, he casually changed the subject.
-
Top floor office
Song Mingli glanced at the time on his watch, his expression darkening slightly.
SK's lunch break is usually from 12:00 to 1:40. Usually, there is about an hour of rest time after lunch, and it is already 12:40 now.
Despite feeling miserable inside, Tang Ronghan maintained the standard elite demeanor of a top assistant on the surface: "Young Master Ying should be downstairs having dinner with his colleagues."
He knew, of course, that Ying Shixue still had the text message on his phone that she had sent at midnight, asking him to go down for dinner.
Although Ying Shixue never said it outright, she would wait until the secretaries left the office every day at noon before coming to his office to have lunch together.
He could also use the excuse of handing over chopsticks or tissues to touch people's hands, saying that there was soup on their lips, and then legitimately pinch their cheeks, watching their mouths bulge with food—although Xiaoxue usually paid great attention to her image, making sure every bite was just right so as not to be impolite.
Tang Ronghan: "Hmm... This is probably the first time the young master has gone out for lunch with anyone since he arrived. He should get to know his colleagues better..."
As she spoke, her voice grew softer and softer, and seeing her boss's increasingly dark expression, Tang Ronghan wisely chose to shut up.
Finally, Song Mingli waved his hand and said, "You should go and rest too."
The office was empty again. Song Mingli lowered his eyelids and looked at the water in front of him, which had gone cold.
...was it his imagination?
-
However, Song Mingli soon discovered that today's incident was not the first.
Although Ying Shixue still came to the company with him as always, and they usually ate lunch together after that incident, and would text him in advance about what she was going out to do in the evening, he could clearly feel that something was different between them.
During this time, he tried to talk to Ying Shixue several times, but was turned away by her seemingly indifferent attitude.
If Ying Shixue wanted to avoid someone, it would be easy. Just considering her outstanding appearance and academic achievements during her crazy Saint Francis student days, she was still able to avoid being pursued by her peers without leaving a trace and get through it peacefully. Her skill in playing the game of Tai Chi is truly remarkable.
Song Mingli sat in the conference room, staring expressionlessly at Ying Shixue, who was standing in front of the whiteboard at the front, giving a foreground presentation.
The young man, dressed in a well-fitting suit, looked particularly graceful and upright from the side. Standing in the public eye, he was neither arrogant nor humble, but rather composed and reasonable. Although his business partner was still trying to maintain a proper demeanor, his eyes inevitably revealed admiration and approval.
After the meeting, both sides stood up and began to talk. Lu Liangze, the current head of Sheng'an, walked around to his side, bowed, and said, "President Song, I didn't expect you to attach so much importance to this project."
Song Mingli's expression remained impeccable as he shook hands with him as well.
This man was over forty years old, but he looked to be in very good spirits. A week ago, Xi Chengxu, who was originally in charge of this, was transferred back, and he took over the job.
Ying Shixue had done background checks beforehand. Although the Xi family was nominally controlled by the board of directors, it was more like a family business. This person should be a distant cousin, so there was some kind of kinship between them.
The guy behind him, who was a bit prickly from the start, was named Cha Maodian. He was a relative, and you could tell he was more arrogant than the others.
Cha Maodian stood at the back somewhat bored. He had originally thought that if Xi Chengxu had come, he would have seen him and Song Mingli clash openly. He hadn't expected that it would be this old man from his family who would come instead.
Song Mingli replied casually, "Sheng'an is an important partner of ours. You two continue your conversation, I just came to take a look."
Shin So-choi, the project manager from SK, stepped forward promptly and picked up where Lü Liangze left off: "Mr. Lü, regarding this cooperation launch event..."
The two men were talking about something when suddenly Lü Liangze turned to him with a smile and said, "President Shen, I think we should let this young man be the host of our speech session."
Ying Shixue looked up slightly, seemingly taken aback. Her face appeared even more beautiful under the white light of the conference room.
Shen Shao Cui smiled and patted him on the shoulder: "Xiao Ying, President Lü thinks highly of you. This is a good opportunity to show your face. Young people should dare to think and act."
After exchanging a few words, the two had essentially settled the matter.
Song Mingli turned to look at Ying Shixue, but she just smiled, making it impossible to tell whether she agreed or refused.
-
That evening, Aunt He served the food as usual, then left the two of them alone.
Song Mingli ladled a bowl of soup and handed it to him: "Do you want to go to that press conference they were talking about during the day?"
The celery was crisp and sweet when you bit into it. Ying Shixue looked down at the rice in front of her and hummed in agreement.
He originally intended to say that if Ying Shixue was unwilling, he would just find some excuse to have someone refuse, since Shen Shaocui wouldn't dare to go against his wishes.
Seeing the man's current state, Song Mingli thought for a moment: "It wouldn't hurt to show your face, to see if you like him or not. You can't possibly..."
Song Mingli paused, his tone lowering slightly at the end of his sentence. In the boundless night, it was impossible to tell whether he was expectant or regretful: "You can't be my secretary for the rest of my life."
Ying Shixue was putting rice into her mouth when she heard this and her chopsticks suddenly went astray. Then, she felt a sharp pain on the tip of her tongue.
"Hiss—" He slammed his chopsticks down on the table, his eyes suddenly welling up with tears, and he couldn't help but move a little distance from the table.
The next second, his body was forcibly turned around and opened, and someone pinched his chin and asked, "Are you alright?"
"Stick out your tongue, let me see."
Ying Shixue pursed her lips, her eyes as if veiled by a layer of mist. She pushed him away, placed her hand on his forearm, shook her head, and turned her face away from him.
That little bit of strength was far too weak. Song Mingli easily pinched the soft flesh on his cheek with his thumb and forefinger, and with a little skill, forced him to open his mouth.
Ying Shixue seemed to be suddenly enraged, and with a burst of strength, she pushed the person backward.
Caught off guard, Song Mingli was indeed pushed away. Ying Shixue stood up abruptly from her chair and stumbled back several steps. The chair was knocked over during the movement and hit the ground with a dull thud.
Under the light, her cheeks were already flushed, and her eyes, brimming with a mixture of shimmering water and anger, glared at him as she forcefully wiped her mouth in front of him.
"I don't want you to look!"
Although Song Mingli was puzzled, he remained standing in place.
It wasn't until a moment later, when Ying Shixue seemed to realize her lapse in composure and reverted to her polite, aloof demeanor from earlier in the day, saying, "I'm done eating, I'm going back to my room now," and turning to leave, that he truly became annoyed.
This sudden surge of anxiety is very annoying. In fact, it's not the first time in the last few days. Ying Shixue has always seemed polite to everyone, but if you try to get closer, you'll find that there's a solid barrier between you, blocking everyone who wants to approach her.
He had clearly sensed that Ying Shixue's attitude had softened, and he was gradually reaching out to her. But now it seemed that everything had returned to square one overnight. She was silent again, yet undeniably erected a barrier of isolation around him.
Song Mingli grabbed Ying Shixue's wrist and pulled her back, pinning her firmly against the table: "What's wrong with you lately? Have I done something wrong?"
Both hands were bound, and even between her legs, a thigh was forcibly inserted, pressing against her leg bone to forcefully suppress all movement and any possibility of struggle.
This was Song Mingli's most common posture when interrogating him in anger, and it was also a posture that Ying Shixue strongly resisted, because in this position he almost lost all control over his body, and Song Mingli could ask him or do whatever he wanted to him.
Even through the thin fabric of the early summer clothes, he could clearly feel the other person's bulging muscles and the overwhelming sense of oppression.
Ying Shixue tilted her head as far as she could, the lines of her neck appearing extremely long and graceful under the light, like white jade, her raven-wing-like eyelashes trembling almost imperceptibly: "No."
Song Mingli smiled slightly. His eyes were very deep, his brow bones were high and his nose was straight. His features were exceptionally distinct and three-dimensional. Such handsome looks could be a bit sinister, especially when he smiled. He always gave people a cold and extremely powerful sense of oppression.
A man who has successfully grown up in a bloody and filthy family filled with endless betrayals and conspiracies, and who has successfully established himself in adulthood without being driven out, and who possesses a power that no one dares to underestimate, even if he only shows a small part of his arrogance during the day and pretends to be a gentleman in front of Ying Shixue, his innate desire for predation and control is immeasurable.
Moreover, he had already come to understand his own heart and what unspeakable thoughts he harbored towards this beautiful woman who had called him "brother" for five years.
Even though he is young and spoiled, and even though he has been sulking and distancing himself from him these past few days, he couldn't bear to say anything harsh to him, and he couldn't bear to let him see his thoughts so early, thinking that he would be scared if he waited until he was older.
With his rapidly rising power and status, his desire for a partner became increasingly difficult to suppress. In any case, he could not tolerate Ying Shixue's ambiguity and her distancing herself from him without giving him any reason.
"I'll ask you one more time," he said, almost revealing his true intentions. He pressed the person's thin wrist, which was so delicate it could break with the slightest force, onto the table with one hand, while his other large, powerful hand, with its bulging veins, slowly covered the person's slender neck, caressing it bit by bit from top to bottom with a meaningful touch: "What exactly happened?"
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