Act 12

Looming upon the two people, Li Qiang stood in place, a strange tension brought with him. Remaining silent with a seemingly indifferent face, the man glared daggers at the beauty who merely spared him a single glance.

Her hands shifted atop her phone, giggles occasionally surfacing from gazing at it.

Seeing her carefree and lenient demeanor, restlessness surged in a frantic state. His brain rioted, a mess caused within it.

But the riot soon subsided as his rationality reinstated itself.

Giving birth to a proper grasp of the ongoing situation, a budding flower bloomed, its appearance as sweet as his warm smile. Relief sprouted deep from its roots, replacing the convulsive anxiety previously had.

Be it in the past or the present, she had never been the type to have such low standards. Though her current living circumstance was appalling, everything else was not. They lived without riches, yet not a day had past where they were ravenous.

Li Qiang knew very well that it was Yue XiFeng's doing that caused the strange prosperity of their small family. Her father had to break his bones, endure the biting frost, relentlessly become the target of spite just to get scraps that barely earned a single penny.

Though years ago, he wasn't like this. Indeed, he wasn't impoverished at all. A criminal record for fraud marked him, staining his lifelong sustainability, rendering him unable to gain a proper living. What impelled him to be that way, Li Qiang only knew it was due to the betrayal of his wife. But since he wasn't involved, he knew nothing more.

Due to his strenuous inquiries and understanding of Yue XiFeng, he knew that his worries were unfound. Therefore, he felt triumphant, no longer infuriated by the man who stuck his face close to his woman.

Although Li Qiang no longer had a tempestuous storm hovering above him, the people around were utterly terror-struck and confused. The secretary who entered alongside him was at sixes and sevens, his eyes bulging out of its sockets, whilst his beating heart palpitated.

This shambolic scene caused him to submerge in deep thoughts, witnessing the inexplicability of it. For seven years, he worked for this cold-hearted ice coffin of a man, rarely seeing him break away from his frosty mien.

At least, that was before he frantically scoured for the girl, painstakingly trying to find her whereabouts. He knew neither how nor why his boss tried to find a girl who was... too youthful. Someone, even he'd never caught a glimpse of!

In short, the current circumstance stands frightening and he is thoroughly bamboozled.

His unsteady vision landed on his relaxed boss who now felt as if blossoms were flourishing all over him. With a subtly pinkish aura, his lips curved ever so slightly, a rare sight to behold. The secretary's figure straightened, his shoulders hoisted high as his expression froze. His lovely aura causes him to feel like an ant entrapped in an ink circle instead, without a single means to escape.

He felt both petrified and strange that his boss came across like a maiden in love.

Even before this situation, Li Qiang was humming in satisfaction. Everyone who knew of him jumped out of their skins in fright seeing him like humming prior to this.

'What the hell is this absurdity..?'

***

Meanwhile, Xiao Chen grew limpid as his soul departed from the casket known as his body. How could he not be frightened, seeing that one of the board directors is here to see him in such a disheveled state!

The temperature in the room dropped into such a wintry degree that he felt blisters crawling all over. However, the winter soon came to an end as the sun shone, melting the horrid cold. Replacing it with the passionate warmth of a wooer.

Something was amiss as he felt the man's passionate gaze aimed towards the demon who did not a single thing to respond. He uttered profanity on the demon, who irked him, disdain oozing from his being.

All his life, he'd been sailing in calm and steady waters. But after one meager flap of the lips, it was abruptly ruined by a grody storm known as Yue XiFeng. And now, even the board director knew of this supposedly poor and 'ingenious' student.

'To hell with her being a student, she doesn't even qualify as a human!'

Indeed, she had teased him to the point of insanity, to the point where he would strangle the girl if he could.

But the harsh reality prevented him to physically rebel as he saw the thin yet very muscular arms the girl brandished, on top of the bloodlust and wickedness she exuded.

Being the righteous person he was, he decided to do nothing about her, but do not be mistaken as he was not a single bit afraid.

His foot stomped on the cigarette that had long dropped to the floor as he approached the man who just entered. With an awkward yet politely uncanny smile, his body bent itself to a low degree.

"G-good morning, board director, what-"

"Xiao Feng, you know him?"

Li Qiang interrupted the man as he didn't wish to entertain an unrelated person. Glaring at him bleakly, his cold eyes showing a frigid light. Xiao Chen shuddered, remaining still in his awkward bowing position, not gutsy enough to move.

Though he often followed her, he wouldn't let his subordinates do the same unless necessary, as it was a privilege only he had. This resulted in him being in the dark regarding the relationships Yue XiFeng had with others.

As his thought process was,

'As long as there isn't another guy, it should be fine.'

Yue XiFeng knew what Li Qiang was about to do as she exclaimed, "He is now one of my people, don't shoo him away." Whilst still scrolling down her phone.

Ghost-like silence stilled time for a moment as none dared to speak.

However, the tapping sound from a certain man's shoes reverberated as it could be heard drawing nearer towards the girl who lied motionlessly on the sofa.

He stopped in front of her, a hand within his pocket, while another reached to caress her head. As expected, Yue XiFeng slapped his hand away as she spoke with a callous tone,

"Yo, dumbass. Took you long enough."

She said as she looked up, dropping her phone to shove two middle-fingers at his face.

The man stood still, unperturbed as he found the roguish conduct heart quenching instead. A warm grin still on him, he proceeded to nonchalantly sit beside her, disregarding the unwilling and disgusted expression she amassed.

Yue XiFeng knew that moving seats wasn't a plausible option as this man was unrelenting like a solid rock. Hence, the decision to exact her tit for tat payback was kept inside her mind.

"Hey, do you prefer getting kicked or kneed at the balls?" She asked in a frigid way, causing the two bystanders to hug one another, feeling that the world was about to come to an end.

With both their eyes shut, they silently awaited the man's death sentence...

...That never came.

A burst of low and hoarse laughter was heard instead, trickling their ears, flustering their faces. The two opened their eyes to meet one another's gaze as they gaped.

A head's worth of difference obstructed them, but they still caught the burning gazes they had for each other. Nodding their heads in acknowledgment, the two silently let go.

They found that their fates were in a similar state to one another, leading them to successfully form a bond through hardships.

"Crazy?" The secretary known as Tan Shuqing asked with a nod.

"Crazy!" Replied Chen Xiao with a glint of moisture from his eyes.

Indeed, the two understood one another due to the trials and tribulations they had to endure being tied to crazy bosses.

Though Xiao Chen had it easier, Yue XiFeng was far more vexing to deal with.

Tang Shuqing had to deal with this unpredictable boss who would occasionally flood him with work and let him attend meetings. All so he could stalk the girl in front of him.

He was young and attractive, a person of substance even. Yet his actions opposed his upbringing as it was considered unruly.

But Tang Shuqing had no right to scrutinize his boss as he was astonishing in every other aspect excluding his personality.

***

"I'm alright with either if you are competent enough to kick me, that is." He replied, still chuckling in levity.

Yue XiFeng took the answer as a yes and kept it within her as she devised a plan. A devilish smirk surfaced on the calm waters as she came across a frivolous plan, a plan that she would exact in time. One that would give pain to both his insides and outsides.

Li Qiang peered at the grinning woman, an affectionate expression on him. She sat close to him, yet he couldn't reach her in any way.

A perfect situation for the idiom,

'So close yet so far.'

But he soon snapped out as he caught Yue XiFeng glaring at him with her hand extended towards his figure.

"Lend me the 10 million first, then we'll talk."