Young Prime Minister, a Hermit

Chapter 39

I forced a smile, opened the car door, walked around the fountain, and entered the building. Suddenly, I wondered if I looked haggard and unattractive. I went into the restroom, looked at my pale face and lifeless eyes in the mirror, and couldn't help but touch them with my hand, softly asking, "Lin Jialan, is this still you?" After a pause, looking at the extremely disgusted look in my eyes in the mirror, I silently cursed, "Coward."

I touched up my blush, took a deep breath, and tried to put on my usual smile as I stepped out of the bathroom. The door had barely opened a crack when I heard rapid, blush-inducing breathing, moans, and… the sounds of kissing and rubbing clothes.

My heart pounded, and I didn't have the courage to go out, so I could only stay inside and wait. I don't know how much time passed, so long that I was almost ready to rush out, before those embarrassing sounds gradually subsided.

I breathed a sigh of relief and heard a slightly hoarse female voice, with a hint of coquettishness and charm, say, "Junyi... stop fooling around... it's not good if someone sees us." After she finished speaking, I don't know what the man did, but the woman let out a few more enchanting moans.

I was jolted awake, my mind went blank, and all I could think was: How could it be Yingying? How could it be Yingying?

After calming down, I couldn't help but find it amusing. So what if it was Yingying? Was it wrong for her to have an affair at work? It was just a pity for Xiaodong… But what was this sudden, intense unease? I had a feeling something bad was about to happen. Yingying had just called that man…

"Little vixen! Haven't seen you for a few days, has someone else satisfied you?" A familiar, low, husky male voice rang out.

I stared in astonishment. Shao Junyi—the rich man Yingying was with was actually Shao Junyi! No wonder that car looked familiar that day. But didn't Shao Junyi say… he was Xue'er's fiancé?

While Yingying was still joking with Shao Jun, I was frantically trying to calm myself down in the bathroom. Suddenly, I heard footsteps approaching, a loud, clattering sound—it was unmistakably Yingying's high heels. For some reason, I don't know what possessed me, but I darted into a corner behind the door, holding my breath. Yingying came in, looked around to make sure no one was there, and then left.

“Things aren’t going well.” Yingying’s voice, tinged with annoyance and inexplicable fear, rang out a few steps away from the door. “Xu Lie has somehow gotten wind of your dynasty and is very wary of it. I’ve even been placed under surveillance.”

Shao Junyi was silent for a while before saying resentfully, "It must be Shui Bingye's doing. Only Lingyun has the most complete intelligence system in Shanghuai City. It seems that Xu Lie is determined to win the bid for the public network infrastructure this time."

Yingying didn't reply, so Shao Junyi continued, "It seems the method of stealing the project proposal won't work. Yingying, you... are in charge of starting with Lin Jialan. Xu Lie is spoiling her a lot now..."

"No...I..." Yingying's voice was tinged with panic, "It was already wrong of me to scheme against her husband, how could I harm her? She...she's still my best friend!"

I felt a loud bang in my head, my vision went black, and my ears were ringing. I stumbled and knocked over the mop next to me.

"who?!"

The door was kicked open with a bang. I shook my head and finally managed to see Yingying's shocked, flustered, and guilty face, as well as Shao Junyi's furrowed brows, his face full of solemnity and ruthlessness.

I leaned against the tiled wall and looked at that beautiful but pale face: "Yingying, he won't truly care for you. Leave him."

Yingying suddenly covered her mouth with her hand, tears streaming down her face, and choked out, "Lanlan..."

“Really.” I walked up to her, tilted my head, and said stubbornly, “He has a fiancée, Xue’er.”

Yingying's face was as white as a sheet of paper. She shook her head desperately, her voice hoarse: "I know, Lanlan, don't say anymore, I know everything."

"You knew all along, and you're still with him?" I stared in astonishment, my eyes wide. "You knew all along, and you still broke up with Xiaodong for him?"

"Lanlan, I..." Before Yingying could finish speaking, Shao Junyi pulled her behind him and said coldly, "You go out first."

"Junyi, Lanlan, she..."

"Get out!!" Shao Junyi roared, his face ashen.

I watched as Yingying retreated step by step, tears streaming down her face, then turned and ran away. I scratched my head, feeling like I was about to break down. Or rather, I already had.

"Do you want to tell your husband what just happened?" Shao Jun's slightly upturned eyes were fixed on me, like a vulture locking onto its prey, ready to tear me apart at any moment.

I raised my head in a daze and smiled at him: "Yes! I'll go up and tell him right now."

Shao Jun was taken aback, looking at me with some surprise. After a long while, he tentatively asked, "Are you... alright?"

I shook my head and said haltingly, "It's nothing, just a terrible headache. I'm not talking to you anymore, I'm going to find Xu Lie."

As I walked past him, I suddenly stumbled and fell to the ground, my elbow hitting the door hinge. I gasped in pain.

"Hey!" Shao Jun turned around and helped me up, looking at me as if I were a monster. "Are you alright?"

I rubbed my elbow and frowned, saying, "It's nothing. This little pain is nothing compared to rolling down sandstone in the desert."

He was completely stunned. He touched my forehead, exclaimed, and said, "You have a fever!"

Fever? I raised my hand to touch my forehead, then my face, and chuckled, "Silly girl, what fever? This temperature is perfectly normal in the desert!"

I looked at his mouth, which was wide open enough to fit an egg, and chuckled: "I'm not talking to you, I'm going to find Xu Lie. I'm going to tell him that you were plotting against him."

I had just stood up and taken a few steps when suddenly my hand was pulled hard, and I fell to the ground, my back pressed against his chest. He exuded a murderous aura, an aura I knew all too well.

He turned me around, looking at me with a gloomy expression: "Lin Jialan, I can make a deal with you..."

"Ah!" I cried out, then pulled at my hair in frustration. "No, I can't tell Xu Lie! If I tell him, Yingying will take all the blame for you, and I'll ruin her life... What should I do? Zimo, please tell me what to do!"

The person in front of me was dumbfounded again. The hand that was gripping my shoulder didn't know whether to pull away or let go.

"What are you doing?!" Xu Lie's furious voice rang out from behind.

"Lie—!" I yelled, happily rushing over and throwing myself into his arms. This time, however, he didn't hold me tight as usual, but instead pushed me away forcefully: "What are you doing?!"

I cowered at his angry face, pouted, and before I could speak, Shao Junyi's extremely irritating voice rang out: "General Manager Xu, a man and a woman alone, hiding by the toilet door, what do you think they could do?"

Xu Lie's face instantly turned from ashen to deathly pale. He stared at me blankly and asked, word by word, "I want you to tell me yourself what you are doing."

I frowned and thought for a long time. I couldn't let Yingying die, so I shook my head and said, "I can't say."

“Okay…” Xu Lie staggered, but then laughed. The laughter was filled with indescribable sorrow and anger. He said “okay” three times, shook me off, and left without saying a word.

I stood there, frozen, clutching my hair. My head... it hurt so much! Something was collapsing. I didn't want to cry, but tears streamed down my face uncontrollably. I pounded my head hard; Xu Lie's humiliated and betrayed expression kept replaying in my mind, until my head felt like it was being torn apart.

"Ah—" I crouched down and screamed.

"Hey! Lin Jialan!" A pair of hands supported me, with a hint of surprise in their eyes. "You...you didn't just break down like that, did you?"

I looked up at him through teary eyes, and scenes from the past flashed before my eyes. I pushed him away violently and cried out in a choked voice, "Why did you hurt me?! Why did you make Xu Lie hate me?!"

Shao Junyi did not react as expected, but only murmured with a hint of doubt, "It looks more normal now."