Chapter 221: Chapter 221

She didn’t know why she was explaining these things to him, but an inner voice told her she didn’t want him to misunderstand her.

"You owe him a debt, and when his people came to collect, you refused, so you fought in the arena to repay him? Is that it?" Qi Longbing could easily picture such a negotiation.

He just hadn’t expected that while Hua Xiaomo was with him, someone else would actually be using such despicable and shameless tactics to threaten his woman!

Hua Xiaomo took a deep breath. She stopped looking at him and turned her gaze to another part of the room. "Interpret it however you like. Regarding this matter, apart from answering to myself, I have no need to explain it to anyone, President Qi. Whether you understand or not, that’s all I have to say. Apologies, I need to get back to work. I’m leaving now."

After finishing in one breath, Hua Xiaomo grabbed her purse and headed towards the exit, but Yu Bao at the door didn’t step aside to let her pass.

"Move! I don’t want to say it a second time!"

Yu Bao looked at her, troubled, then glanced back at Qi Longbing, whose handsome face remained cold and severe. This man is truly furious!

It was enough to shock even Yu Bao. Qi Longbing rarely lost his temper so explosively; he usually handled things with quiet, cunning maneuvers, subtly undermining his opponents.

"Let her go!" Qi Longbing said, his handsome face growing cold, a deep frustration settling in him.

It seemed she had no intention whatsoever of clarifying the whole situation.

Good, very good. It doesn’t matter if you don’t tell me. Sooner or later, I’ll catch that man! ᴛʜɪs ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ɪs ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ʙʏ novel※fire.net

Yu Bao stepped aside, and Hua Xiaomo quickly left the room without looking back.

Qi Longbing listened to her retreating footsteps, a strange feeling stirring deep within him.

Finally, he declared, "No one is to breathe a word about what happened today. If anyone mentions even half a word to the Old Master, they’re to get out immediately!" Qi Longbing’s voice, laced with a chilling ambiguity, hung in the air.

Soon after, Qi Longbing departed with Yu Bao and the others.

Qi Longbing didn’t go straight back to Qi Imperial Court; instead, he allowed Hua Xiaomo a bit more freedom.

After lunch, Hua Xiaomo, bored and listless, wandered the streets with her purse in tow.

For some reason, her mind was filled with the image of Qi Longbing’s furious expression...

"Was he really angry?" Hua Xiaomo muttered to herself, a mysterious light she herself couldn’t quite comprehend flickered in her clear, expressive eyes.

It wasn’t until someone tapped her shoulder that she came back to her senses.

"Hua Xiaomo, what’s wrong? I called your name several times from behind, but you didn’t respond," said the tall, handsome Westerner.

"Zhou Xiyang... Sorry, I didn’t hear you. Huh? Shouldn’t you be at McDonald’s right now? Don’t tell me you’re also sneaking away from work to wander around here?" Hua Xiaomo asked with a smile.

"I just came out of there," Zhou Xiyang said with a shy smile, then pointed towards a store a short distance behind him with the sign "Babygirl," a lingerie store.

Hua Xiaomo followed his finger and immediately looked at the very pink storefront. "Ah? You went into that women’s store to buy lingerie?"

Hua Xiaomo was surprised for a moment, but as she looked at him, she suddenly smiled with understanding.

Alright, she supposed the gay scene really wasn’t something she could understand.

"You’ve got it all wrong; that’s not it! I invested in this store, and I just came to check on it," Zhou Xiyang explained. Then, as if he’d had a brilliant idea, his eyes lit up. "Xiao Mo, if you don’t want to work for the Qi Family anymore, how about you come be the manager here?"

But as soon as he said it, he regretted it. If she left, wouldn’t he lose his connection to Qi Longbing...? Didn’t that mean he would lose his chance...? Right, up until now, he still hadn’t mustered the courage to dial that phone number. He must have looked at it hundreds of times every night, until his phone battery died, yet he still lacked that courage...

"Me? Manager of a lingerie store?" Hua Xiaomo was taken aback, then quickly shook her hands, laughing. "No way, no way. Look at me. I’m not exactly the well-endowed type. I definitely couldn’t handle that job, and I don’t want to waste your money. You should find someone more suitable."

"Then... then I won’t insist. Since you’re out strolling too, why not come sit in my shop for a bit? I have so much I want to talk to you about!" Zhou Xiyang said with a shy smile, his handsome face flushing.

Anyone who didn’t know his personality might think he was harboring a secret crush on Hua Xiaomo.

But Hua Xiaomo just gave him a conspiratorial smile. "I knew you wouldn’t let me go easily once you caught me." Then, pulling his elbow, she said, "Come on, this is the perfect chance for you to gift me a couple of your store’s best lingerie sets."

"Not a problem at all!" Zhou Xiyang replied with a laugh.

They chatted without any restraint, as carefree and uninhibited as close siblings.

But to the person watching from the sleek black Bentley not far away, it was an entirely different picture.

CLICK! Just as the two of them intimately entered the lingerie store, someone from a distance captured the moment with a camera.

Pan Yutong sat in the car, looking at the photo on the camera, a scheming and malevolent smirk playing on her lips.

An elegant smile graced her features, and her eyes narrowed slightly. "Hua Xiaomo, I saw long ago what a restless woman you are!"

"Even if Ah Bing is momentarily charmed by you, how could he be bewitched for a lifetime?" Pan Yutong chuckled and soon drove away.

Inside the "Babygirl" lingerie store.

Zhou Xiyang carefully selected three sets of red, pink, and black lace lingerie to gift Hua Xiaomo.

"Hehe, now that I’ve accepted your gift, I suppose I have no choice but to help you out! So, spit it out, what do you want to know?" Hua Xiaomo laughed, accepting the exquisitely wrapped box.

"Xiao Mo, please stop laughing at me like that! It’s so embarrassing!" Zhou Xiyang said bashfully.

"What’s there to be embarrassed about? I know you like him, and there’s nothing wrong with liking someone. It’s just that you’re too shy. You don’t even dare to call him? Handsome Zhou Xiyang, that’s really not like you!" Hua Xiaomo said, shaking her head with a smile, her amber eyes reflecting amused exasperation.

A thought seemed to strike her, and she continued, "If you don’t take the initiative, how will he ever know how you feel? Besides, trying to ’bend’ him is already difficult enough, not to mention he’s so wealthy. He’s not someone you can just summon or dismiss as you please."

"That’s easy for you to say, but... making that call is just too hard," Zhou Xiyang frowned, his chiseled, handsome face etched with a brooding expression.