Chapter 171 Why are you so interested in her?
Zhong Min hated being bothered the most, and Ning Zhiyuan had clearly offended her. Especially since this man, no matter what she said or did, always maintained his usual gentle and kind smile, made her feel indescribably irritated.
She wasn't a naive girl who didn't understand the world. She had long since developed a resistance to all superficial things. To be frank, Ning Zhiyuan's gentleness was no different from hypocrisy in her eyes. She really didn't understand how such an ordinary person like her could be so "honored" to catch the eye of such a powerful figure.
Seeing that Zhong Min no longer tried to hide her impatience, Ning Zhiyuan remained unmoved. He chuckled and said, "It seems that Min'er is still the same as before. She doesn't seem to like me very much and is so impatient even when I say a few more words."
"Your Excellency is joking. You hold a high position, and how could Zhong Min dare to show any disrespect? I think I've said almost everything I should have said just now. I beg your Excellency to do me a favor. Although the friend downstairs may not be as prestigious as you, to me, we are just friends, not status. I've been up here for quite a while, and I can't be too rude to him."
Zhong Min spoke calmly, saying she hated people who beat around the bush all day, and Ning Zhiyuan was always like that. From the beginning until now, he'd never said a single straightforward word, his every move resembling Tai Chi. He didn't feel tired, but she felt it was unbearable.
Besides, she didn't think that their relationship could be considered a friendship. They had only met a few times and were even in opposition in private. So she definitely had no interest in having too much contact with such a person.
"I originally thought that Min'er and I could be considered friends, but it turns out that in Min'er's eyes, it's not the case." Ning Zhiyuan looked quite disappointed and continued, "That's true. If Min'er treated me as a friend, she wouldn't always call me an adult."
Zhong Min hadn't expected Ning Zhiyuan to bring this up. She glanced up at him and replied, "Zhong Min knows her status is humble, so how could she dare to associate with a friend like you? Please don't say that in the future. It lowers your status for nothing, and it also makes Zhong Min uneasy."
"Status?" Ning Zhiyuan couldn't help but laugh when he heard it, and then said with extraordinary certainty: "If Min'er was someone who cared about status, she wouldn't be talking to me like this now. It seems that I must have done something wrong before, which made Min'er dislike me, so I don't even have the qualifications to be your friend."
He looked straight into her eyes, as if to see through her heart. Hearing this, the first time he spoke without beating around the bush, Zhong Min was stunned for a moment. After a moment, she said, "Your Excellency, I am ashamed to say this. To me, a friend is an extremely special person. They are either people with similar interests or people who have experienced hardships together. It has nothing to do with whether one has done well or not. Besides, there are so many people in this world, and not everyone we know is necessarily a friend, right?"
"Yes, you are right. Just because we know each other doesn't mean we are friends. We can be just acquaintances, or we can be... enemies!" He smiled slightly, further narrowing the distance between the two, staring at Zhong Min with a faint smile in his eyes.
But to Zhong Min, such words didn't sound like a joke at all. She subconsciously stepped back, putting some distance between them, and said, "I've always been straightforward and say what I think. I don't think I have the ability to become an enemy of you, sir. As for being friends, I don't think we can be that at the moment. This has nothing to do with anyone else; it's just my own personal principles. Please don't mind, sir."
"It's okay. I have always admired Min'er's personality, so why would I mind? As you said, you don't know much about me, so it's normal that you don't consider me a friend for the time being. So in the future we should meet more often and get to know each other better. In this way, becoming friends will naturally be just around the corner. What do you think, Min'er?" Ning Zhiyuan stopped approaching and pointed at something with a smile on his face.
When Zhong Min heard this, she was really disgusted by Ning Zhiyuan's shamelessness. This guy is really sick. Why is he so shameless as to get close to a small person like her? He even meets her often to get to know her better. You think it's a blind date? How weird!
Friendship is a matter of fate and feeling. Some people become close friends the moment they meet each other, while some people cannot become friends even if they meet every day. How could such a smart person not understand such a simple truth?
"I really don't understand why Your Excellency is so interested in Zhong Min, even going so far as to lower yourself to befriend an ordinary person like me?" Zhong Min didn't hide his doubts at all, and said with a hint of sarcasm, "Officialdom is all about practical benefits. Someone like me can't possibly bring any benefit to Your Excellency. Why do you hold me in such high esteem?"
Zhong Min's question was quite direct, but Ning Zhiyuan didn't feel embarrassed at all. Instead, he said very naturally, "Min'er is talking about the ways of the officialdom, so this point is not suitable for us. As for why I am so interested in Min'er, is it true that Min'er can't sense that I like you at all?"
As soon as these words came out, Zhong Min suddenly felt very uncomfortable. Didn't Ning Zhiyuan always like to speak in a roundabout way? Why was he so direct this time? He even said that he liked her. He was really a lunatic!
"Your Excellency's joke has gone too far!" She rolled her eyes at him and prepared to leave.
"I never joke. If Min'er doesn't believe me, you will understand it in the future." This time, Ning Zhiyuan did not stop Zhong Min. He moved aside a little while speaking, looking at Zhong Min with a smile on his face, who was not very happy to leave.
Zhong Min ignored him and continued walking straight out. When she was almost out the door, she heard Ning Zhiyuan say with a leisurely smile again, "Min'er, don't forget our ten-day appointment!"
Zhong Min's heart was filled with hatred. Ning Zhiyuan was such a jerk! He was threatening her by asking her to go even if she didn't want to! "Hate, we'll see. Dare to mess with me, you'll cry!" She cursed inwardly, but still ignored this shameless guy and walked out the door without looking back.
Seeing that she finally came down, Chu'er, who had been waiting for a long time, finally breathed a sigh of relief. She wanted to ask what was going on, but she saw that Zhong Min's face was not very good. She sat down and started eating directly. It seemed that she didn't want to say anything more. Therefore, she didn't rush to ask, but quickly served her some dishes.
Zhong Min stuffed a large piece of beef into her mouth and chewed it fiercely. At this time, Ning Zhiyuan had already gone downstairs with his servants, ready to leave. When passing through the lobby, he did not greet Zhong Min again, but just glanced at her, and then left with a smile.
After Ning Zhiyuan left, Zhong Min put down his chopsticks, picked up the teacup, took a sip of tea and swallowed it directly. Then he said to Chu'er, "After you go out, don't rush back. Be careful of someone tailing you."
Chu Er nodded, and after a moment she whispered, "Sir, was the man who smiled at you the one you met upstairs?"
Chu'er had never seen Ning Zhiyuan before, so she naturally didn't recognize him. She just felt that Zhong Min didn't seem to like that man. She also heard that she had to be careful of someone following her, so she guessed that the man was definitely not their friend.
"That's the Emperor's favorite, Ning Zhiyuan, the Prime Minister." Zhong Min said, "We must be more careful with our interactions with Mo Ming and his men in the future. We must not let him discover anything."
"Yes!" When Chu'er heard that this person was Ning Zhiyuan, she immediately understood the pros and cons of the matter, and she couldn't help but become more cautious.
However, Zhong Min began to have a headache about how to deal with the ten-day appointment with Ning Zhiyuan. Of course, she had to go on this trip. Otherwise, with Ning Zhiyuan's ability, it would not be difficult to dig her out. If he really did that, it might easily expose other people.
But that guy looked a bit malicious, and she really didn't know what he was trying to do. She was not naive enough to think that she was so beautiful and loved by everyone that she could charm someone like Ning Zhiyuan.
Could it be that this guy had some special relationship with Li Jin'er before? Zhong Min couldn't help but doubt it. Ever since Ning Zhiyuan had behaved strangely the first time he saw her, everything seemed to be more complicated than it actually was. She was really starting to doubt this possibility more and more.
If this really had something to do with the former Li Jin'er, then perhaps Qin Ke was the only one who could know the inside story. It seemed she would have to go find Qin Ke first, as otherwise, not being able to figure out the situation would be of no benefit to her at all.
After dinner, Zhong Min took Chu'er out of the restaurant. They wandered around for a while, only to discover that Ning Zhiyuan hadn't sent anyone to follow them. He must have been quite confident, having calculated that she would definitely go within ten days. This was a good thing, as it at least proved that, for now, Ning Zhiyuan had no intention of actively plotting against her.
However, Zhong Min did not relax her precautions and vigilance because of this. When she passed by an ordinary fabric store that was not too big, she suddenly stopped, looked outside for a while, and then adjusted her direction and walked inside.
Seeing this, Chu Er thought Zhong Min just wanted to buy some fabric to make clothes, so she didn't think much about it and followed him in. However, Zhong Min didn't want to buy fabric, but to ask the owner if he planned to sell the shop.
Chu'er was very puzzled at the moment. This small shop was not suitable as an intelligence gathering point or a single contact point, whether from its geographical location or any other aspect. However, Zhong Min seemed to be planning to buy it, which was really unbelievable to her.
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