Savage Kiss - Chapter 36

For the past two days, neither Mi Lian nor Shi Qing had logged into the game. Mi Lian was probably still digging for information about her crush.

Shi Qing also claimed to be busy, his gaming account hadn’t been touched in days.

With no one to play with, Xu Qingyi found it dull and simply logged off.

Though she wasn’t winning in the game, inspiration struck her, so she turned her attention to working on upgrade designs.

On Sunday morning, Xu Qingyi gave Wu Yi, the hot mom, a private swimming lesson.

In the afternoon, she stayed cozily on the yacht as usual, unwilling to brave the cold.

She was revising the preliminary upgrade design she’d drafted the night before when CEO Ke called.

It seemed that every time inspiration hit her, it was after a pleasurable encounter with Shen Yanzhou.

The thought was interrupted by the phone. “CEO Ke?”

Ke Yan’s voice was pleasant, devoid of the sharpness typical of female bosses, always carrying a hint of laughter. “One good news and one bad news! Which do you want to hear first?”

Xu Qingyi didn’t hesitate. She was someone who lived for the moment and disliked making things hard for herself. “The good news, of course.”

Ke Yan: “The first product upgrade you worked on was a huge success!”

Xu Qingyi was surprised. The product she had upgraded hadn’t been out for long, had the sales already taken off?

“I’ve decided that, starting from the last baseline, your profit share will gradually increase. As long as you excel, I’ll never shortchange you.”

Xu Qingyi was genuinely grateful.

There were many good people in the world, but she hadn’t met many of them. She could clearly feel that CEO Ke was nothing like Zhang Jinsi.

“Thank you, CEO Ke! What’s the bad news?”

Ke Yan was still smiling. “The bad news is, we’ve got our first long-term contracted tester in the company’s product testing team. Her feedback has always been spot-on, and after using this upgraded product, she immediately asked if it was your work.”

The tester’s original account name had included the character “Mi,” but she later changed her ID. To this day, Ke Yan still didn’t know her real name.

This tester signed contracts without using her real name, and she didn’t even care whether she received payment.

Ke Yan often felt she must have burned incense for eight lifetimes to have such a talented designer and tester.

Huh? Xu Qingyi didn’t see how this was bad news.

“Does the tester object to our collaboration?”

Ke Yan teased her before continuing. “Getting nervous? I haven’t finished yet!”

“She said that from now on, she’ll exclusively test your products. With the two of you working together, sales won’t be a problem. But that means more pressure for you, her reviews are notoriously meticulous. Of course, that’ll also push you to design better products, right?”

Even without Ke Yan’s reassurance, Xu Qingyi thought this was great news. How was it bad?

What she was curious about was: “How does the tester know about me?”

Ke Yan: “She actually mentioned it. She’s known you since your early days in product design, on a forum where you left her a comment that saved her life. She said she might have taken her own life otherwise, and then she followed you into this industry.”

“Since then, she’s bought and tested every product you’ve released. Her longest review was two thousand words for your best-selling item.”

Come to think of it, Xu Qingyi’s reputation in the product design field owed much to the glowing reviews from such excellent testers.

They had helped each other succeed.

Moreover, Xu Qingyi had a vague idea of who Ke Yan was talking about.

Though she didn’t know the tester’s name or face, Xu Qingyi had been active on that forum, leaving comments and offering psychological support to many people with skin hunger or sex addiction.

Ke Yan said sincerely, “From now on, the two of you will be my lucky stars!”

After hanging up the phone, Xu Qingyi felt elated.

Perhaps it was innate, lofty motivations like “helping more people” always filled her with energy.

But her good mood didn’t last long. Within two days, it was shattered by a call from the police station. The intruder from that night had confessed everything.

He had been hired by Zhang Jinsi.

Zhang Jinsi, who was in the capital, had already been arrested. He had initially come from Dong Province to find Xu Qingyi just to intimidate her. But later, fearing things might escalate, he didn’t dare act himself and instead hired someone reckless.

Xu Qingyi went to the police station.

She didn’t meet Zhang Jinsi directly but cooperated fully with the police. As she was leaving the station, Ke Yan called. “Thank goodness nothing serious happened. Why didn’t you tell me earlier?”

Xu Qingyi smiled. “It’s all over now. He’ll probably be locked up for a while.”

Ke Yan gritted her teeth in anger. “What a despicable man! Let him go bankrupt!”

Xu Qingyi walked a stretch from the police station.

Looking up, she spotted Haibin Auto Repair.

There had been no word from Shen Yanzhou for the past few days. She wondered if he was already away on business.

As she reached the repair shop entrance, Uncle Pang, arriving for his evening shift, greeted her at the door. “Xiao Xu? Where are you off to in this cold?”

Xu Qingyi smiled faintly and decided to take advantage of Shen Yanzhou’s absence to check out some cars. “Uncle Pang, what’s the cheapest used car you have here?”

Just as she spoke, the door to the back workshop opened, and a woman stepped out.

Right behind her, Shen Yanzhou emerged.

His gaze landed on her almost instantly before flickering away, brief and seemingly indifferent.

He didn’t want Shen Yaoyao to know Xu Qingyi existed.

Xu Qingyi’s first thought was that Shen Yanzhou had no intention of acknowledging her, as if they’d never met.

Was he in a bad mood?

Naturally, she played along and didn’t approach him.

Uncle Pang, spotting Shen Yaoyao, inwardly cursed, had he known she was here, he wouldn’t have invited Xiao Xu inside.

Shen Yaoyao, reapplying her lipstick as she walked out, seemed to be in high spirits.

After noting the woman’s lipstick shade, Xu Qingyi’s first instinct was to glance at Shen Yanzhou’s lips.

But he had already turned toward the front desk, bending down to retrieve something from a cabinet, his face out of view.

Once the woman drove off, Shen Yanzhou straightened up and finally looked at her. “Looking for a car?”

Xu Qingyi hesitated. If he was in a bad mood, she’d rather not bother him. “Not really, I… just happened to be passing by.”

She offered a polite smile and turned to leave, not wanting to add to his troubles.

But Shen Yanzhou suddenly reached out and grabbed her, as if afraid she’d misunderstand his earlier aloofness. He handed something to Uncle Pang. “Check this.”

Then he led her to the back workshop.

From the outside, the shop didn’t seem large, but the underground level held rows of parked cars.

“I’m looking for the cheapest one,” Xu Qingyi stated plainly. “As long as it runs, that’s enough.”

Shen Yanzhou might have smirked. “Your standards for cars are much lower than for me. Just ‘running’ is enough, no demands for comfort or luxury.”

His words made Xu Qingyi turn and glare at him. “Why the sudden mood improvement?”

Shen Yanzhou gave a half-smile. “Seeing you made it better.”

“…”

“No one’s around,” he said matter-of-factly. “I can flirt.”

Xu Qingyi: “…”

Shen Yanzhou then turned serious, gesturing to the right. “Don’t worry about the price yet. Pick one you like.”

Xu Qingyi could tell at a glance that she couldn’t afford it, but felt too embarrassed to say so. “I have something else to do…”

“Not looking at cars?” Shen Yanzhou suddenly teased her. “Then how about doing something else?”