Chapter 160

Xiao Qi smiled brightly and called out, "CEO."

It was a particularly playful and cheeky address.

Yichen was somewhat taken aback.

He watched as Xiao Qi's slender fingers brushed against his sturdy chest, unhesitatingly and mischievously tracing patterns across it, while she muttered, "My, the texture of these muscles is really quite robust!"

"..."

For the first time in his life, Yichen was momentarily stunned, though his immediate instinct was that the claws resting on his pectoral muscles definitely had a follow-up move coming.

He wanted to see what game she was playing, so Yichen curled his lips into a smile and said deliberately, "If you like my pectoral muscles this much, why don't I take off my shirt so you can have zero-distance mischief to your heart's content?"

"..."

Hearing President Lin say this, Xiao Qi found herself momentarily trapped in a state of embarrassment, and she felt a slight urge to withdraw her hand.

However, since she had already gone this far, she might as well play out the rest of the scene.

Xiao Qi was never one for useless efforts.

With this thought, she smiled brightly, leaving one hand lingering on the man's chest while her other hand grew bold and moved from top to bottom.

Her slender fingers brushed against the man's symbol through his tailored trousers—the primed, scorching heat, the desire teetering on the brink of explosion...

Yichen's lower body suddenly tightened. Was she playing with fire?

Xiao Qi curved her lips.

It was time.

Her bright and alluring eyes met President Lin's slightly flushed, handsome face, the sharp contours of which were pulled taut.

Her pink lips were only an inch away from his tense, rugged face as she slowly blew a breath toward him.

Yichen felt as though something down there was about to burst through its restraint.

The hand on his chest suddenly applied pressure, and Yichen let out a muffled groan.

Before he could react, the hand on his chest quickly retreated, and she bolted away.

Just before running out, she tossed back a quick parting remark, "Mr. CEO, I'm off to work hard for you now. No need for the CEO's wife to thank me, sayonara."

Yichen: "..."

Left behind after the provocation, President Lin was like an arrow drawn back on a taut bow.

Yichen lowered his gaze to look down, a smirk playing on his lips. He really hadn't expected her to have such a mischievous streak.

Truly, she was more and more to his taste.

Xiao Qi successfully escaped back to her workstation and couldn't help bursting into laughter.

She managed to hold it back just in time, though.

Otherwise, her colleagues would have thought she had lost her mind.

Still, it felt utterly exhilarating; she had finally turned the tables on him in grand fashion!

Being able to bully the great CEO once was a glorious chapter in the history of Shengcan!

Hahahaha.

Xiao Qi was inwardly ecstatic.

Yiyang stepped out of his office and noticed Xiao Qi sitting at her desk looking utterly radiant and beaming with joy.

He walked over and asked, "Xiyang, did you find some money on the street? You look so happy."

"Happier than finding money! This is the first time in my history..." She immediately cut herself off. It was better not to voice such things out loud.

After all, such matters were still a tiny bit wicked and a tiny bit shy 〃∀〃.

As the saying goes, one who stays near vermilion turns red; Lin Yichen was a rogue to begin with, so it wasn't as if she herself was being wicked!

With this trial-by-fire experience, she wouldn't be afraid of that certain someone anymore.

"My work efficiency today has been faster and smoother than ever before, so I'm happy, haha."

Yiyang looked at the bright, radiant smile on her face.

He seemed almost infected by her smile.

Her smile truly possessed a strong contagion, making one naturally want to draw closer and possess it.

What a pity...

Yiyang brushed aside the inappropriate thoughts and said with a smile, "Don't order delivery for lunch today, I'll take you somewhere good to eat."

"Yay, sounds great!" When one was in a good mood, naturally everything felt wonderful.

As Yiyang re-entered his office, the landline on Xiao Qi's desk rang. It was Fang Li calling to say that CEO Lin wanted her to go to his office.

This was clearly a post-autumn settlement.

She wasn't naive enough to throw herself into the lion's den just to be tortured!

Her phone chimed with a text message from President Lin: "If you make me come and drag you back myself, your salary and bonus for the end of this month will be entirely gone."

"..."

Xiao Qi walked sluggishly into the CEO's office, looking timid and hesitant. "CEO Lin, did you call me for something?"

Yichen looked at her, appearing as though he found it somewhat difficult to speak. "About yesterday, I'm sorry."

President Lin said those last three words with utmost seriousness and sincerity.

The hesitant Xiao Qi heard this and instantly deflated. "What good does an 'I'm sorry' do? What if I insulted you after misunderstanding you and then said sorry to you, how about that?"

It was quite rare for the icy President Lin to offer a sincere apology, but regarding that incident, Xiao Qi had felt deeply wronged, and he had even left her wrist bruised and red!

"You're right, apologies are useless," Yichen said as he stood up and walked over to her. His voice was deep and lingering, laced with a profound undertone. "They say that if you apologize to someone, she will distance herself from you. Instead, I should say another phrase: Thank you."

As those three words fell, Xiao Qi's superpowers instantly rebelled and spun out of control once again.

Good heavens, could it be that whenever he was genuinely sincere toward her, her superpowers lost control?!

"I'll accept those three words from you, CEO Lin. If there's nothing else, I'll be leaving."

"Wait a moment," Yichen asked, feigning casualness. "I want to give you something as a reward for helping me keep the secret. Will you accept it?"

"..."

Who on earth asks if someone will accept a gift before even giving it?

Still, what would he give?

Should she accept it or not?

It would be foolish not to take what was offered for free.

Xiao Qi put on an act of deep contemplation. "What are you going to give me?"

"What do you want?"

"..."

Good grief, was he doing this on purpose?

Too lazy to argue with him, Xiao Qi replied, "I don't want anything. If there's nothing else, I'm heading out."

"Even though you were helping me, you shouldn't have taken my father's money."

Yichen's tone carried a hint of reproach.

He was somewhat displeased by the fact that she had taken his father's money.

Time and again, she had refused his own money, yet she had accepted his father's.

It had ended up giving his father a terrible impression of her.

She had practically earned the image of a gold-digger.

Hearing this, Xiao Qi immediately grew indignant. "I already told you, I conned your dad's money using my own skills, and besides, I even took a hit from that stepmother of yours..."

She stopped mid-sentence.

Yichen looked at her sharply. "Why did you stop?"

What was there to say? If she told him, it would only make things difficult for him.

Xiao Qi genuinely felt she was being remarkably magnanimous, acting entirely for his sake.

Sigh, it was her own choice, so she wouldn't feel aggrieved.

"I meant to say I also conned your mother-in-law out of a card."

What kind of person was Yichen? With a single glance, he knew she wasn't telling the truth.

"Tell the truth."

Though his tone was flat, it carried an unspoken command.

While Xiao Qi was usually a bit slow on the uptake, her radar for those three words was exceptionally sharp at the moment.

She certainly didn't want him having a falling-out with his family because of her.

"What else is there to say? I've already said everything I need to say. I'm going out to work."

It was obvious she had no intention of speaking the truth.

After she had hurled those words at his father, that stepmother of his would definitely not let her off easy.

So what she had almost let slip was that she had taken a slap from her.

"She hit you?"

"..."

Oh, come on, did he have to be so accurate?

Since President Lin had already guessed it, she might as well come clean.

"Yeah, she slapped me, but I kept her card and didn't do what she asked, so we'll call that slap even. Besides, she's Yiyang's biological mother, so calling it even is even better."

"Even?" A murderous glint flickered in the depths of Yichen's eyes. "I'm afraid I'm not that easygoing."

Oh boy, why did he have to stand up for her like this? It was almost enough to move her to tears.

However...

Xiao Qi raised her chin and looked at him. "You have no right to talk about her." She extended her wrist, which still bore a faint red mark. "Look at this, this was pinched by you! My wrist still hurts from it!"

Yichen's expression turned deeply remorseful. "I'm sorry, at that time I..."

"Lin Yichen," Xiao Qi suddenly turned serious, "I've noticed that once your amnesiac self gets angry, you instantly turn dark and brooding. Can't you control your own temper?"

He wanted to control it too, but he simply couldn't—especially when it came to her, control was utterly impossible.

Yichen turned around, his slender fingers pulling a document from a folder, and handed it to her. "Take a look."

Puzzled, Xiao Qi took it. What on earth was this?

She opened it and was instantly enveloped in a fog of confusion.

Real estate properties, jewelry, company stocks, equity, funds, and more.

"Why are you showing me this?"

Yichen pointed to the signature line at the bottom. "Sign your name here, and all of these things will be yours."

"..."

They were hers? The gift he had mentioned giving her was *this*?

Had he lost his mind?

"If you give all these to me, won't you end up a pauper?"

Yichen's expression cleared slightly. "In your eyes, is your CEO husband that poor?"

"..."

She watched as President Lin casually picked up another document and handed it to her.

This time, Xiao Qi raised her guard by an extra level, because she felt certain this document would contain something beyond her imagination.

She opened it, and indeed, her jaw dropped. This was easily on par with, if not greater than, the real estate, jewelry, stocks, and funds combined.

Because the document was a check, and at the bottom... she carefully counted the zeros.

Oh my god, 100 million! And in US dollars, no less.

Was she a billionaire now?!

This shocking thought lasted only a few seconds before she quickly snapped out of her daze and regained her composure.

Was he plotting some new scheme to trap her?

Given the shrewdness of a capitalist man, how could he possibly hand over his entire fortune on a silver platter?

There had to be a trap.

Xiao Qi looked at the composed man with swirling, dizzy question marks in her eyes. Did he think he could lock her down with all this? Was she the kind of person who cared about money?

Even if she did love money, it was the money she earned herself she loved.

She would never covet someone else's.

Besides, she actually knew a thing or two about these matters, alright?

Did he think that just because he was a professional at this, she wasn't?

And did he really think she was so easy to fool?

She wasn't stupid enough to fall for this trick.

Xiao Qi raised her chin and questioned him in a resolute tone, "Aren't stocks and funds considered movable property?"

"Stocks and funds do belong to movable property in the traditional sense. However, under the current special circumstances, compared to me, these movable properties can be considered immovable property."

What was that supposed to mean?

Yichen continued in a professional yet teasing tone, "Because in a sense, I am the collective embodiment of stocks, funds, and shares, born carrying currency symbols. Naturally, my liquidity is much greater."

He then gave her a meaningful look. "Xiyang, you'd better manage me well."

"..."

Why did his words sound like they had a double meaning?

Moreover, she had actually thought of something similar to what he had just said in the past.

Still, just how much money did this guy actually have? These assets seemed like they could fund an entire nation.

He truly possessed wealth that could rival a country!