After My Nemesis Discovered My Cross-dressing - Chapter 20

Qin Yue’s heart sank, and his expression froze instantly.

After several long seconds, he unwillingly typed a few words and clicked send again.

[Message sent, but rejected by the recipient.]

Qin Yue stared unblinkingly at the two glaring red exclamation marks, as if he wanted to bore a hole through the phone screen.

After a long while, he finally had to accept the fact: he had been blacklisted by Gu Qian.

Qin Yue sat on the sofa clutching his phone, his face looking terrible.

Gu Qian had discovered his true identity. This day had come much faster than he imagined, so fast that he did not have time to take any remedial measures.

No, after that voice call last night, he should not have harbored any illusions.

The droplets of water on his body that he had not dried off had turned completely cold. Qin Yue stood up, wrapped himself in a bathrobe, and opened his phone again. This time, however, he logged into his primary WeChat account.

He directly searched for 77 using his main account and clicked “Add Friend.”

After sending the request, Qin Yue paced back and forth in front of the floor to ceiling windows, looking down at the WeChat interface every few seconds.

However, Gu Qian never approved his friend request.

After a while, Qin Yue sent another request, this time filling in the message: “Qiqi, I am Y.”

“I admit I hid my true identity, but I did not deceive you on purpose.”

“Qiqi, give me a chance to explain, okay?”

Friend requests were sent over and over again, but every single message, without exception, vanished like a stone dropped into the ocean.

Qin Yue closed his eyes, his knuckles turning white from the excessive force used to grip his phone.

He felt an unprecedented sense of losing control. It was a terrible feeling, so terrible that even the simple act of breathing felt difficult.

The next morning, Gu Qian entered the office thirty minutes later than usual.

After the office door closed, Secretary Xia nudged the person next to her with her elbow. “Qingqing, President Gu was actually half an hour late for work today!”

Secretary Xu looked at the time and whispered, “It’s true! President Gu is really much later than usual today!”

“What? Late?” Meng Siyao strode into the secretarial office, panting. “I am not late! It is exactly time for work to start!”

Secretary Xia was speechless. “You clock in right at the last second every day. Can President Gu be like you?”

“Right, President Gu enters the office nearly half an hour early every single day,” Secretary Xu added. “Something must be going on today.”

“I think you guys are overthinking it. People are not machines; how can anyone be perfectly on time every day?” Meng Siyao caught his breath and sat down at his station. “Cannot President Gu sleep in for once?”

Secretary Xia and Secretary Xu shook their heads together and said in unison, “You just do not understand!”

Inside the office, Assistant Liang reported the day’s itinerary while secretly observing President Gu’s expression.

Gu Qian sat in his office chair resting with his eyes closed. There was a faint layer of dark circles under his thin eyelids; because his skin was so fair, they were very conspicuous.

“I understand.” When the report ended, he opened his eyes. “You go ahead and get busy.”

Assistant Liang replied, “Alright, President Gu. I will head out then.”

The office door closed. Gu Qian opened the computer in front of him, but his movements paused when he caught a glimpse of his blacked out phone screen.

After blacklisting a certain someone last night, he had thought it over and felt uneasy, so he simply applied to delete his secondary WeChat account.

However, deleting WeChat involves a cooling off period. During this time, one cannot log into the account or perform any operations.

Gu Qian picked up his phone and directly uninstalled the cloned WeChat app. Out of sight, out of mind.

Around four in the afternoon, Assistant Liang knocked and entered. “President Gu, there was a call for you just now at the secretarial office.”

Gu Qian looked up. “Who was it?”

Assistant Liang replied, “The caller did not give specific information. They only said they wanted to discuss a project collaboration and asked for your contact information.”

Gu Qian: “What project?”

Assistant Liang hesitated. “The caller did not say that either. They just said it was a very important project and they needed to talk to President Gu personally.”

Gu Qian thought for a moment and instructed, “If they call again, ask for their identity clearly first.”

Since the call came directly to the secretarial office, it meant the contact information was obtained through public channels. If the caller was hiding their identity, they clearly lacked sincerity in discussing a collaboration.

Assistant Liang: “I understand, President Gu.”

Gu Qian gestured, “Get back to work.”

About twenty minutes later, Assistant Liang came in to report again. “President Gu, the caller rang again. They said they are from Xinrui Group.”

“President Zhang of Xinrui Group has my contact information. If he wanted to talk about a collaboration, he would contact me directly.” Gu Qian frowned slightly. “The caller’s origin is unknown; there is no need to pay them any mind.”

A few minutes later, Assistant Liang knocked and entered for the third time.

Gu Qian looked up from the pile of documents. “What is it now?”

Assistant Liang braced himself and replied, “President Gu, this time it is Young President Qin of Huanyu Group.”

Gu Qian’s gaze turned cold, and his voice chilled as well. “What did he say?”

“Young President Qin said there is something very important he needs to explain to you personally.” Assistant Liang performed his duty by relaying the message. “He hopes President Gu can give him five, no, three minutes of your time.”

Gu Qian withdrew his gaze. “No matter who calls again today, you do not need to report it to me, especially people from Huanyu Group.”

Assistant Liang: “Alright, President Gu.”

“Not just today, but going forward as well,” Gu Qian added. “We have no collaboration to discuss with Huanyu Group.”

Assistant Liang: “I understand.”

Gu Qian took off his gold rimmed glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose twice with moderate pressure.

He had not questioned the man about anything; he had simply blacklisted him on WeChat to end the matter, yet the man was relentlessly hounding him.

As expected, now that Qin Yue finally had something to use against him, it was impossible for him to let it go so easily.

Gu Qian opened a drawer and wordlessly poured several candies into his mouth.

The sweetness of the hard fruit candy spread in his mouth, and he slowly calmed down.

Although he did not know how Qin Yue had confirmed his identity, he had not used his own phone number when he registered that WeChat account.

Even though the two of them had talked a lot recently, he had never exposed his real information, and the photos he sent did not show his face. As long as he stood his ground and firmly refused to admit it, Qin Yue could not do anything to him.

Unless…

Unless Qin Yue had some evidence he did not know about that could prove his identity beyond a doubt.

Gu Qian knit his brows. He hoped things had not reached such an unfavorable point.

He took a deep breath, cleared the stray thoughts from his mind, and continued handling the rest of his work.

At nine o’clock that evening, Gu Qian returned home alone.

He took a bottle of water from the fridge. After finishing it, he walked toward the bedroom, habitually reaching for his phone in his suit pocket. When he saw the WeChat app, he turned the screen off again.

After showering, Gu Qian lay in bed, wanting to get an early night’s sleep.

Ten minutes later, he opened his eyes. His amber pupils were clear, without a trace of sleepiness.

Gu Qian got out of bed, wrapped his bathrobe tightly around himself, walked to the living room, and opened the wine cabinet to take out a bottle of red wine.

He poured a glass of red wine and sat on the sofa holding the goblet. He swirled the wine gently, his cold gaze falling on the river view outside the window.

The night was hazy, and the city night was as noisy as ever. The brilliant neon lights were reflected on the river surface. As a ferry passed by, the reflections twisted and blurred in the water, as if another inverted, bizarre world was hidden beneath the surface.

Gu Qian raised the glass to his lips and took a sip.

After an unknown amount of time, the glass of wine reached the bottom, and he poured another.

Just then, the phone on the coffee table vibrated.

Gu Qian picked up the phone. The caller ID showed an unknown number.

He hesitated for a few seconds but answered the call. “Hello?”

The person on the other side spoke almost impatiently: “Qiqi, please do not hang up on me, okay?”

Gu Qian’s heart jumped, and his knuckles tightened around the phone instantly.

The voice on the other end was not unfamiliar to him, but hearing that voice call out his nickname sounded extremely strange and bizarre.

Gu Qian did not say another word. He hung up the phone decisively and blacklisted the number.

After blacklisting it, he put his phone on airplane mode. Then, he picked up the red wine on the coffee table, drank it all in one gulp, and turned back to the bedroom to sleep.

On the other side, Qin Yue continued to redial the number persistently, but a cold, mechanical female voice came through the receiver: “The user you have dialed is currently in a call.”

Qin Yue gritted his teeth and threw the phone.

With a thud, the phone hit the ground with a muffled sound.

A moment later, Qin Yue suddenly stood up, walked over, and bent down to pick up the phone.

The screen was completely shattered. He cursed under his breath, “What a piece of junk.”

He sat back in his office chair and pressed the internal line. “Assistant Fang, come in.”

Assistant Fang entered without a second’s delay. “President Qin, what are your orders?”

Qin Yue reached out his hand toward him. “Give me your phone.”

Assistant Fang immediately pulled his phone from his pocket and offered it with both hands. “President Qin, please use it.”

Qin Yue took the phone and dialed the number he already knew by heart.

The emotionless, mechanical female voice rang out again: “The number you have dialed is temporarily unavailable.”

Qin Yue raised his hand to throw the phone again. Fortunately, his reason had not completely vanished. Amidst Assistant Fang’s series of “Wait, wait, wait,” he paused and did not throw the phone.

Assistant Fang peeked at his boss’s expression and asked cautiously, “President Qin, is the call not going through?”

“It is turned off.” Qin Yue tossed the phone onto the desk, his fingers tapping the surface impatiently. “Find another way.”

He had spent the whole night scouring his contacts and finally managed to get Gu Qian’s private number through several people, only to say one single sentence.

Seeing President Qin’s expression turn worse and worse, Assistant Fang’s brain was working so hard it was almost smoking. He suggested tentatively, “How about, President Qin, you go to Shengtai Group in person?”

Qin Yue looked up at him and remained silent for a moment.

“If you go in person, no matter how angry President Gu is, he will give you some face.” Assistant Fang’s confidence was not very strong. “He probably would not go as far as throwing you out.”

Qin Yue slapped the desk and stood up. “Postpone all of tomorrow afternoon’s itinerary.”

3:00 PM, Shengtai Group Headquarters Building.

Qin Yue, dressed in a sharp smoke gray suit with his jacket open, was sitting on a sofa in the first floor reception hall drinking tea.

After peeking for the eleventh time, the two beautiful receptionists could not help but whisper, “It has been an hour. That President Qin has been sitting there for a full hour!”

“Yeah, I have refilled his tea six times already. President Qin really has patience!”

“But this President Qin is truly handsome. Have you noticed? Everyone passing by this afternoon is stealing glances at him.”

The reception desk phone suddenly rang. One of the receptionists immediately fell silent and answered the call. “Assistant Liang.”

Assistant Liang asked on the other end, “Has President Qin left?”

“Not yet, Assistant Liang,” the receptionist replied softly. “Looking at President Qin’s posture, he intends to sit here until we get off work.”

“Okay, I understand.” Assistant Liang instructed, “Keep watching. Report any situation to me immediately.”

He hung up the phone and asked for instructions. “President Gu, what should we do now?”

Gu Qian lowered his eyelashes and said coldly, “He can sit as long as he likes.”

He wanted to see just how much time and patience the crown prince of Huanyu Group had to waste.

At five o’clock in the afternoon, Qin Yue uncrossed his long legs and stood up to walk toward the reception desk.

Only one young lady was left at the desk. Seeing him approach, she quickly asked, “President Qin, are you leaving?”

“No.” Qin Yue displayed his trademark smile. “I would like to borrow the restroom, if I may?”

The receptionist’s face turned red. “Of course. Go straight and turn left; you will see the restroom sign.”

“Thank you.” After thanking her, Qin Yue strode inward with his long legs.

When he reached the end, he did not turn left. Instead, he raised his hand to press the elevator button and walked in composedly.

Once inside, he pressed the button for the top floor.

With a ding, the elevator went straight to the top.

Qin Yue walked out of the elevator, looked around, and headed straight for the CEO’s office.

In the secretarial office, Assistant Liang was explaining something to Meng Siyao. Seeing him, his expression changed. “President Qin!”

Qin Yue did not stop walking. “Assistant Liang, long time no see.”

Assistant Liang moved quickly to block him. “I am sorry, President Qin. Our President Gu is currently in a meeting; it is not convenient for him to see you.”

“It is fine. I understand President Gu is very busy.” Qin Yue replied, “I will go in and wait. I promise not to disturb him.”

Assistant Liang did not budge. “I am truly sorry. President Qin, please return.”

The expression faded from Qin Yue’s face. He asked, “Assistant Liang, this is a matter between President Gu and me. Are you sure you can interfere?”

The two were not much different in height, but Assistant Liang felt a strange sense of being looked down upon.

Meng Siyao also realized something was wrong and stood up from his chair. “Assistant Liang, what is going on?”

“None of your business.” Assistant Liang gave him a look and then said, “President Qin, please wait a moment. I will go inform President Gu first.”

Qin Yue nodded slightly. “Thank you.”

Assistant Liang turned, walked inward, and knocked on the office door.

A voice came from inside: “Enter.”

Assistant Liang pushed open the door. “President Gu, President Qin is up here. He is right outside the door.”

Gu Qian looked up abruptly. Before he could speak, a tall figure appeared in his line of sight.

Their eyes met, and invisible sparks seemed to crackle in the air.

Assistant Liang stood at the door, caught in a dilemma.

Finally, Qin Yue showed an indescribable smile. “Qiqi, we finally meet.”

Gu Qian also spoke: “Assistant Liang, you go out first.”

Assistant Liang withdrew. Qin Yue stepped into the office and closed the door behind him.

With a thud, only the two of them were left in the office.