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However, what does she want her to do?

"What do you want me to cooperate with?"

Xu Lu still maintained a harmless and gentle smile. "Look, you have been with him for so long, you must know a lot of things about him, right? For example, is there anything he is hiding from us? Or for example, does he have any illnesses? As long as you tell me, I will give you money immediately."

Upon hearing her words, Xiao Qi quickly processed them in her mind and understood completely.

So her giving me money is all to extract dirt on Lin Yichen from me.

Dirt on him? Pan Sen mentioned it before...

Amnesia.

This stepmother is truly wicked, trying every possible way to harm people, and the person she is harming is her son's brother, her own family.

How could I possibly betray Lin Yichen?

No, wait, how could I possibly do such a conscience-less thing? I am, after all, the kind and lovely alien Xiao Qi.

Thinking of this, Xiao Qi sighed and said, "Actually, he hasn't done anything wrong. He just doesn't like me, so I cannot take your money."

Xu Lu turned a deaf ear to her words. "Actually, I've known for a long time that he is the one who is truly ill. You're only staying with him to help cover it up, aren't you?"

How does she know all this?

As expected, villains are truly cunning.

Xiao Qi tried her best to look natural. "I don't know what you are talking about. Anyway, I won't earn this kind of money from you."

With that, Xiao Qi opened the car door, intending to get out. Xu Lu grabbed her, pressing on the point that mattered to her most: "Look, you've already broken up with him, why are you still defending him? Think about it—before, you poured so much effort into him, and in the end, he kicked you aside without a second thought. Furthermore, he's forgotten all about you. I know he has already turned against you, and next, he will try every possible means to drive you away. Look at you, a young girl with no support whatsoever. As long as you tell me his Achilles' heel, I guarantee you will live a worry-free life from now on..."

"Stop talking," every single word she spat out made Xiao Qi a fraction more heartbroken. Yichen's sneers and derision towards her, telling her to get lost, telling her to get out of the car—all of it echoed in her mind. She blurted out, "Fine, I'll cooperate with you."

Hearing this, Xu Lu immediately seized the opening. "That's more like it. Tomorrow, come to the Lin residence and tell his father everything, detail by detail. Understood?"

As she spoke, she pulled out a bank card and shoved it into Xiao Qi's pocket. "Look at your clothes, they're still soaking wet. Hurry up and go buy a new outfit to change into. Once you tell everything tomorrow, I'll give you another sum of money."

Xiao Qi's face turned pale. Without a word, she pushed open the car door and bolted out.

Watching the figure dash away, Xu Lu curved her lips into a sinister smile.

When Fang Li saw Yichen arrive at the company, he subconsciously wanted to ask something, but seeing his dark and indifferent expression, he didn't dare to open his mouth.

The current President Lin gave him a feeling not only of chilliness, but also of unpredictability.

"Pour a glass of red wine and bring it in."

"Yes!"

Yichen had originally wanted to properly relax today, but someone had disrupted his plans, and his mood remained somewhat unsettled even now.

Fang Li brought in a glass of red wine.

Sigh, just look at that. In the past, President Lin never drank in the office, but now he drank practically every day, though fortunately he didn't smoke much.

Drinking a little red wine didn't do any harm to the body, anyway.

Fang Li placed the red wine on the desk and quietly retreated.

Yichen held the stem of the glass and walked toward the floor-to-ceiling windows. The howling wind and pouring rain outside were gradually subsiding, and the air after the rain carried a much heavier chill.

Yichen gently swirled the goblet, the ruby-red liquid sloshing against the glass walls as his dark eyes gazed into the distance.

His mind involuntarily wandered: just now, with the rain pouring so heavily outside, was he being a bit too harsh when he made her get out of the car?

While thinking of her, his gaze suddenly locked onto the very person occupying his thoughts.

There was more than one person down below, but no matter where she walked, he could effortlessly spot her at a single glance.

Yichen narrowed his eyes slightly as he looked at the girl's slender figure.

He could only think of her as an unyielding cockroach. After kicking her out of the car just moments ago, she had actually chased him all the way here?!

If anyone claimed she wasn't stalking him, he truly wouldn't believe it.

Xiao Qi hadn't brought her backpack today, so she didn't have an employee ID card and couldn't get inside.

Her clothes were soaked through, yet she didn't even seem to feel the cold.

People often said that when your heart is cold, you no longer feel the coldness of your body.

Was her heart feeling cold right now?

There seemed to be a ray of light on her.

Glancing sideways, the sun had actually peeked out its head, gradually radiating an intense brilliance that showered down upon her, slowly evaporating the rainwater from her body.

It was as if this sun had given her a shred of courage.

Earlier, she hadn't known why she ran here, but after Xu Lu's words pierced straight to her vital spots, she had subconsciously rushed over to find Lin Yichen.

Because she had bumped into him on the road earlier, she wasn't certain whether Lin Yichen was currently at the company, but she had instinctively run in this direction.

Yet upon arriving, she lost the courage to go inside, and she didn't have an employee ID.

Still, looking at old Mr. Sun—unyieldingly poking his head out after a violent storm—she, an alien, had to be unyielding too.

But how was she supposed to get in right now?

She didn't dare use her superpowers.

Right, she could call Yiyang.

Just as she pulled out her phone, she saw the man walking out.

A complex and unreadable expression lingered in the depths of Yichen's eyes, his dark pupils appearing deep and gloomy under the blazing sunlight.

His gaze swept across her face for a mere second before shifting away, and then he walked toward his car.

Seeing this, Xiao Qi immediately ran up to his side. "Lin Yichen, I really have something important to tell you this time. Can you please..."

He turned a deaf ear and walked straight toward the car.

In a rush, Xiao Qi grabbed his wrist.

Yichen's expression suddenly turned dark, an obscure and murky light gathering in his eyes. "Let go."

Startled, Xiao Qi subconsciously released her grip.

The look in his eyes gave her the feeling of a crouching leopard waiting for long-anticipated prey, with a dim, eerie gleam flashing in his depths.

His handsome face grew increasingly dark and profound under the mottled sunlight.

Oh my god, this man's glare is getting more and more spine-chilling.

Still, he needed to know about his stepmother coming after her; otherwise, how would she ever figure out how to fight back against his stepmother?

"Give me one minute to listen to what I have to say, okay?"

"Ye Xiyang," he said in a calm yet inexplicably cold voice, "I'll say this for the last time. Do not appear before my eyes again. If you track me down one more time, I really won't spare you."

"But this time I really do have something to say. Please just listen to me for a moment..."

Not daring to grab him this time, Xiao Qi could only watch helplessly as his tall, slender back climbed into the car and the engine roared to life.

Forget it, I'll just use my superpower.

She tried to use the freezing spell, but nothing happened.

Since he wasn't right next to her, why did her powers always fail to work?

Xiao Qi depressedly knocked on her own head. Even if she could use her powers, they wouldn't work on him anyway!

Sigh, he wouldn't even give her a single minute. Despicable Lin Yichen.

555, what should I do?

When Xiao Qi returned to the restaurant, her clothes were almost completely dry, and she marveled at how robust her body was to have avoided catching a cold from that.

Yet she felt utterly devoid of energy. = =

Seeing a dejected Xiao Qi walk in, Fang Yun immediately pulled her to sit at a nearby table and asked, "How did it go? How are you dealing with that stepmother?"

Slumping onto the table, Xiao Qi replied listlessly, "I didn't deal with it. I went to find Lin Yichen instead."

"You found him? What did he say?"

"He didn't say a single word. He completely ignored me."

"He ignored you?" Fang Yun grew furious. "He cheated on you and still has the nerve to ignore you? At a time like this, shouldn't he be standing with you to fight his family? Didn't you say he doesn't like that Joanna? Then why is he ignoring you now?"

Xiao Qi didn't even know how to explain. "Auntie, I told you he has a hidden reason. Besides, this whole mess wasn't really his fault; I brought the trouble upon myself in the first place, so of course I have to resolve it myself. It's just that I rely on him too much, and when I panicked, I just wanted to find him."

"What kind of trouble did you cause?" Fang Yun asked, full of heartache and anxiety. "Xiyang, you can't keep taking all the blame upon yourself. That stepmother is his problem, and he's the one who cheated. Even if he has a hidden reason like you said, you're in trouble and he can't even be bothered to give you the time of day—is he even a man?"

"Auntie, please stop," Xiao Qi propped her chin in her hands. "I feel like running away so his stepmother won't be able to find me." At this, a spark of energy returned to Xiao Qi. "That's right! I'll just run away directly. If his stepmother can't find me, she won't have any way to pressure me either."

"You can run away on the first day of the month, but can you run away on the fifteenth?" Fang Yun had witnessed Xu Lu's character in the past; she wore an elegant smile on the surface, but who knew how ruthless she was deep down.

"That Xu Lu has always wanted to target Yichen. I'm guessing this time she's just using you to get to him, so even without you, she would use someone else to deal with Yichen. Surely you don't want to see anything happen to him, do you?"

Hesitating, Xiao Qi awkwardly muttered, "What business is it of mine if something happens to him? He yelled at me, told me to get lost, made me stand in the rain, and wouldn't even listen to what I had to say..."

"He was that mean to you?"

"Huh?" Realizing she had let something slip, Xiao Qi immediately tried to cover it up. "No, I was just talking about that ice cube of a Lin Yichen."

"What do you mean?" The more Fang Yun listened, the more confused she became.

"Nothing." Realizing she couldn't patch up this lie, Xiao Qi simply resorted to acting cute and spoiled, throwing her arms around Fang Yun. "Auntie, people say love is selfless, great, and forgiving..."

"That's right," Fang Yun's mind flashed with Pan Sen's face. "Love means no matter how much the other person mistreats you, you'll still unconditionally give everything for them. No matter how long you've been apart, you remember their appearance with absolute clarity. No matter how unfamiliar they act, they remain the most familiar person in your heart. Love means the moment you see them, you just want to grab onto their thighs and hold on tight..."

"Why are you hugging their thighs instead of the person?"

"Because Dr. Pan has long legs, duh!"

"..."

Silence hung between the two of them for a few seconds before Fang Yun snapped back to reality, her face flushing with embarrassment.

Honestly, why was she acting like a starry-eyed young girl >_<

Fang Yun gave an awkward cough. "Anyway, love means that the moment the other person encounters hardship, you must unconditionally help them. Only then will they appreciate you and fall for you."

"Forget it!" Xiao Qi lost her energy all over again. "Even if I help him, he won't appreciate me. In the current Lin Yichen's eyes, I'm probably just a smudge he's dying to wipe away."