"I’ll clean you up properly when we get to the summit," Su Xuan said, pulling his hand back. His 56 million yuan Vacheron Constantin watch had been exposed, and a tipiece like that could reveal his true identity.
"Can’t we do it here?" Qu ilan wiped her eyes and looked around. They were surrounded by lush woods, and the path was deserted.
"You can’t rush a good thing." Su Xuan stood up and started walking toward the peak. "Once we’re at the top, we can have our fun while looking out over the sprawling cityscape. Won’t that be much better?"
"Okay!"
A beautiful scene played out in her mind.
She suddenly felt a surge of energy, quickly getting to her feet and hurrying to catch up with him.
About an hour later, they finally reached the summit. During that ti, Qu ilan had grown even more fond of Su Xuan. He truly was a considerate man; he had let her hold his arm the entire way up, otherwise, she would have given up halfway. She had also confided in him, telling him about her childhood dreams, the helplessness she felt as an adult, and her deep desire to find a good man to marry.
"Wow! It’s so beautiful!" she exclaid. "It feels like I’ve left the world behind!"
Standing on the summit, Qu ilan spread her arms wide, letting the cool mountain breeze wash over her. She gazed at the sprawling city below, sighing in admiration. Her long hair and the hem of her clothes fluttered in the wind. At that mont, she felt as free as a bird.
"You really are a beautiful girl," Su Xuan said, standing beside her and glancing toward the cliff’s edge a few ters away. "Go sit over there. I’ll take a picture for you."
"Hehe, okay!" Pleased by his complint, Qu ilan giggled and walked toward the edge of the cliff.
"Be careful," Su Xuan cautioned.
"Mm-hmm!" Qu ilan nodded, finding a large rock to sit on. "Is this spot okay?"
"It’s perfect," he replied.
Then, she half-closed her eyes and asked him teasingly, "Should I be wearing clothes for this picture?"
"Keep them on," Su Xuan said, raising his phone. "Don’t want you catching a cold."
Qu ilan pressed her legs together, placed her hands on her knees, and smiled sweetly at him.
"Don’t look directly at ," he instructed. "Turn your body a little more to the side."
She turned to give him her profile. "Like this?"
"Your legs are in the wrong position."
She shuffled her feet. "How about now?"
"Still not quite right. Hold still, I’ll help you," he said.
"Hehe, you’re a real pro!" she replied.
Su Xuan walked over, bent down, and reached for her legs.
"Ah..." Suddenly, he pulled his hand back and sighed deeply.
"Did I do sothing wrong?" she asked, confused.
"No." Su Xuan shook his head. He sat down beside her and said slowly, "ilan, if I were to ask you sothing extrely private and confidential, would you tell ?"
"Of course not," she replied. "What if you started to hate for it?"
Su Xuan glanced down at the sheer drop below them. "Tell ," he said suddenly, "if soone fell from here, do you think they’d survive?"
Qu ilan looked down as well. "No way. They’d be a splatter of ketchup on the rocks."
Su Xuan nodded. "It’s good that you understand that."
Qu ilan blinked. "You..."
Su Xuan began to speak, his tone completely changed. "Qu ilan, age twenty-two. Forr student at the Imperial Capital University of Finance and Economics. You co from a single-parent family. Your father died of a cerebral hemorrhage, and your mother works in a nursing ho. After his death, you dropped out and went to work at the Chang i Hotel, a four-star establishnt, as a secretary for the owner, Gao Zhitong. Your Maserati was a gift from him. You also own two properties—one is sixty square ters, the other seventy-five—also gifts from Gao Zhitong. Every month, you transfer fifty thousand yuan to your mother for living expenses. You clearly love your mother very much..."
Her eyes widened in shock. "How... How do you know all that?" Large beads of sweat ford on her forehead. "Who... Who are you?"
Instead of answering, Su Xuan countered with his own question. "If you fell from here, how heartbroken do you think your mother would be?"
Qu ilan began to tremble with fear.
"Did you ever stop to think about yourself when you followed Gao Zhitong’s orders to cause trouble at Lycar?" Su Xuan continued.
A sudden realization dawned on her. "You’re from Lycar! You’ve been onto this whole ti!"
Su Xuan nodded. "That’s right. I’m the owner of Lycar. My na is Su Xuan."
Qu ilan slumped, utterly defeated.
He gently patted the back of her hand. "Now, tell . What is your real objective?"
Qu ilan bit her lip, then confessed everything. "Tomorrow, isi Network is hosting a massive, limited-ti promotional event for hotel stays. To attract custors and make a profit, all the major hotels are going to participate, including Chang i.
"The problem is, the Chang i Hotel is too close to Lycar, so it’s always living in Lycar’s shadow. If Lycar participates in this promotion, Chang i won’t see a di of profit. That’s why Gao Zhitong sent to infiltrate Lycar.
"I had two tasks. First, find any kind of violation I could at Lycar to get them temporarily shut down so they’d miss the event. Second, find out how deep Lycar’s discounts are going to be so Chang i can offer an even better deal and steal their custors.
"If I succeeded at the first task, the second one wouldn’t be necessary."
"I don’t get it." After hearing her explanation, Su Xuan furrowed his brow. "Is a simple promotional event really worth all this effort?"
"This isn’t just any promotion," she explained. "Any guest who wants to take part has to sign up for an annual mbership at the hotel they stay at. That ans you lock them in for a whole year. And the people willing to sign up for annual mberships are usually corporate clients—a steady stream of revenue! isi Network takes a five percent commission from the mbership fees as their cut." She looked at Su Xuan. "So now you get it, right, Boss Su? The man I almost fell for, only to find out how ruthless you are?"
Su Xuan nodded. "I get it."
"So," she asked, "are you still going to throw off the cliff?"
He let out a laugh. "I was just ssing with you. I never actually planned on throwing you off!"
With the matter settled, Su Xuan stood up and started walking back down the mountain. Suddenly, he stopped and turned back to her. "I forgot to tell you sothing. I have another title: shareholder in isi Network. I can probably delay this whole promotional event with a single phone call. That ans your brilliant plan to shut Lycar down is a complete joke.
"Also, I recorded our entire conversation, including all your little sches and plots.
"I happen to have a good friend who’s a very successful lawyer. In fact, he’s the one who dug up all that information on you for . I think I’ll have him file a lawsuit against Chang i. What should we sue for? Unfair business practices? Corporate espionage?
"I wonder... could we get Chang i shut down, too? Or maybe just get a hefty settlent out of them? I’m quite looking forward to finding out."
The shareholder status in isi Network was the eighth super reward Su Xuan had received after having one of his n sign for the disaster relief supplies.
Qu ilan stared blankly after him.
Defeated. Utterly defeated. That old fox Gao Zhitong was no match for him at all. All of their careful planning was nothing but a joke in his eyes.
Suddenly, Qu ilan scrambled to her feet and ran to the edge of the cliff. She shouted at Su Xuan’s retreating back, "I don’t care about any of this crap anymore! I’ve betrayed Gao Zhitong. He’ll never let go, so I’m dead either way! I might as well just die right now!"
Su Xuan turned his head, and with a single sentence, he made Qu ilan give up any thought of suicide...
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