Savage Kiss - Chapter 39

The man smiled at her again. “Agree to this, and Xu Chen lives. You’ll also get paid, no less than 100,000 a month.”

His smile was icy, making Xu Qingyi feel like she was facing a sinister madman.

This kind of person was unreasonable, obsessed with control.

So, Xu Qingyi played along with his dominance, immediately reddening her eyes with a look of nervous tension. “W-who are you? A competitor of Shen Yanzhou’s?”

Shen Yuqiao gave her a cold glance. “Ask too much, and you’ll die faster.”

Xu Qingyi shuddered. “So… you plan to silence both me and Xu Chen after using us?”

Shen Yuqiao narrowed his eyes slightly. It seemed the phrase “all looks, no brains” had some truth to it, she appeared timid and foolish, yet dared to ask such a question.

Xu Qingyi dropped to her knees, clutching the man’s pant leg, her voice choked with sobs. “As long as it’s not murder or anything illegal, I’ll agree! I don’t want to die, and Xu Chen can’t die either. He hasn’t had a single day of happiness in his life…”

Shen Yuqiao was momentarily taken aback by her sudden kneeling, then quickly felt a surge of disdain.

She seemed easy to control, more manageable than he’d expected.

Good.

“As long as you cooperate, I won’t touch you or Xu Chen,” Shen Yuqiao said, trying to pull his leg free.

She held on too tightly, he couldn’t shake her off.

Looking down with indifference, his gaze landed on a glimpse of snow-white skin and a tear-streaked face.

Seeing the man frown, Xu Qingyi timidly loosened her grip and asked, “To make Shen Yanzhou fall for me, how deep does it need to go? Do I need to do anything else?”

Shen Yuqiao coldly averted his eyes. “Best if he’s willing to marry you. Legally.”

“I’ll know every move he makes. If your performance is lacking…”

“It won’t be,” Xu Qingyi said with certainty. “You won’t need to find anyone else. I’ll deliver.”

She continued playing the grateful role. “Thank you for helping take care of Xu Chen!”

Later, he took both Xu Chen and Xu Qingyi to the hospital, arranging a VIP room for Xu Chen with professional caregivers.

Xu Qingyi could visit using a passcard and even check the room’s surveillance remotely via her phone.

Only when she returned to her apartment did Xu Qingyi finally drop the act.

Today had made her realize, what was the point of hiding?

People sending gifts, seeking revenge, or wanting to use her, they’d find her anyway.

Better to find another way out of the mire.

For several days in a row, Xu Qingyi worked in her studio, designing the second product upgrade.

Once the final adjustments were done, she held it thoughtfully for a moment before heading back to her bedroom.

Over these days, she’d planned extensively. She had to keep working as a designer, harder than ever, aiming to make a real name for herself in the industry.

That way, even if that man decided to move against her, she wouldn’t die unnoticed and forgotten.

Her phone played an audio track to help her get in the right headspace as Xu Qingyi entered her testing mode.

Shen Yanzhou had only texted her these past few days.

But today, he called.

By then, she was already nearing the end, effectively finished.

Her hand, reaching to turn off the music, accidentally answered the call.

He must have heard it, the silence on the other end stretched unbearably long.

Finally, his voice came through, low and rough. “You really know how to torment me.”

With the screen between them, Xu Qingyi felt no shyness. Instead, she provoked him further. “Want to join?”

Another successful product upgrade, one she was exceptionally pleased with!

In a good mood, she lazily sprawled out and couldn’t resist teasing him, “Forget it, you’re too late. Or… how about returning the favor? You listened to me, now let me listen to you?”

Having been with him a few times, Xu Qingyi could only admit she had zero resistance to his low groans.

Shen Yanzhou seemed to be doing something, falling silent for several seconds again, probably because someone passed by, leaving him too flustered by her to respond.

A moment later, his voice drew noticeably closer to the phone’s microphone, husky and restrained, “Did you miss me?”

Xu Qingyi half-closed her eyes. Setting aside their transactional relationship, she hadn’t really missed him… at most, she’d missed…

He, however, was blunt: “I missed you quite a bit…”

Xu Qingyi draped an arm over her eyes. “Then rein it in. Missing me never ends well.”

Shen Yanzhou chuckled softly. “Have you been studying Chinese properly? I said I missed you quite a bit, that’s the modifier. Not that I missed you.”

Xu Qingyi:

“…”

“?”

An hour later.

Shen Yanzhou’s voice came through the phone, post-climax: “Did it sound good?”

Xu Qingyi coughed lightly.

She’d been the one to provoke him, yet somehow, even through the phone, he’d left her flushed and flustered.

She got up to shower, and Shen Yanzhou seemed to do the same.

They were still eerily in sync.

…

After blow-drying her hair, Xu Qingyi spoke first: “Last time I was on your yacht… I think I left a small accessory behind.”

The accessory was just an excuse. What she really wanted to ask was: “When are you coming back? I’ll go look for it.”

Shen Yanzhou was probably smoking, she could hear his exhale through the phone, his voice unfairly attractive. “The key’s in the repair shop’s break room.”

Xu Qingyi refused to fetch it herself. “It’s not convenient for me to go. Bring it to me when you’re back.”

Shen Yanzhou: “Fine. I’ll call you when I return.”

But after that day, Shen Yanzhou vanished again for two or three days without a word.

Xu Qingyi knew nothing about his family background, nor where a repair shop owner even went on business trips or what he did there.

And right now, she couldn’t exactly ask.

Then one day, she received a call from an unknown number.

The moment the man spoke, she recognized his voice: “Within two days, get Shen Yanzhou to come back. He has to miss this tender.”

Xu Qingyi had been half-asleep, frowning as she sat up.

What reason could she possibly give?

After hanging up, she leaned against the bed and changed the contact name to something inconspicuous: BOSS.

Late that night, Mi Lian, who’d been missing for days, suddenly sent her a few photos, asking: Which one looks better?

Xu Qingyi opened them.

Mi Lian had tried three different styles: a JK skirt, sweet and innocent, and a sexy secretary look, complete with thin black-framed glasses.

Xu Qingyi couldn’t help but laugh: Planning to seduce your crush?

Mi Lian sent back a nodding-like-garlic-smashing emoji.

There’s a tender event tomorrow! I’ll be a reception hostess, close-range access!

Tsk, not bad. This trip wouldn’t be wasted.

Xu Qingyi picked the JK skirt outfit, relatively more conventional compared to the other two.

Putting her phone down, she arched a brow slightly, an idea forming.

Early the next morning, Xu Qingyi changed into black stockings and a short skirt, taking on a side gig to deliver a car from the repair shop.

When she arrived, she wore a down jacket left deliberately unzipped, her outfit peeking through.

Liang Fanglin, handing her the car owner’s details, didn’t dare let his eyes wander.

But one of the shop’s new interns had no such restraint, secretly snapping a photo of Xu Qingyi’s long legs in black stockings as she got into the car:

Anyone know her number?

Liang Fanglin: …

Xu Qingyi’s intention wasn’t about that matter, so of course she didn’t know anything about it.

After arriving in the city and dropping off the car, she made a special trip to a certain landmark and, breaking her usual habit, took a selfie.

Then she sent the photo to Shen Yanzhou with a classic “green tea” remark: “Does the new coat look good?”