The girl standing before Li Yundong was none other than Deng Yu, whom he had a brief encounter with at the cafeteria that noon!

This beautiful twin sister was dressed in a creamy yellow service uniform, which accentuated her graceful figure. The usual hint of youthful innocence was veiled by the crisp attire, imbuing her with an air of a uniformed hostess.

Deng Yu’s eyes curved into perfect arcs as she smiled: “I should be asking you that, what are you doing here?”

Li Yundong chuckled, pointing towards Cao Keqi not far away: “CEO Cao brought me here to broaden my horizons.”

Deng Yu glanced at Cao Keqi, then suddenly covered her mouth lightly with her finger: “Ah, you mean CEO Cao was the one having lunch with you in the cafeteria at noon? Heavens, you are so charming, to actually have someone like CEO Cao eating cafeteria food with you! Impressive, impressive, I truly admire that!”

Li Yundong waved his hand, laughing softly: “Now it’s your turn to explain, why are you here? You said you had an afternoon shift, you didn’t mean here, did you?”

Deng Yu smiled sweetly and charmingly: “That’s right. The other day I was handing out flyers on the street and saw the Shengyuan Grand Hotel was hiring temporary summer help for college students, so I signed up! And it’s not just me, my sister is here too!”

As she spoke, Deng Yu beckoned to her older sister nearby. The shy Deng Jiao offered Li Yundong a small wave, a faint smile, delicate as a lilac blossom, touching the corner of her lips. Had Li Yundong not possessed extraordinary eyesight, he would have missed the subtle gesture entirely.

“Heh, both of you sisters work here? What a rare coincidence to run into you here…” Li Yundong was about to say more when the floor manager suddenly gestured for Deng Yu. Deng Yu hurriedly said: “Oh dear, I have to get back to work first. You enjoy yourself here, okay! I’ll come chat with you later!”

With that, she turned and hurried away. But after taking two steps, as if remembering something, she turned back and waved towards Su Chan: “You too, have a great time!”

Su Chan smiled broadly and waved back at Deng Yu, then giggled at Li Yundong: “Yundong, you have so many friends; you run into them everywhere!”

Li Yundong finally remembered, turning to survey the hall: “Right, where are Zhou Qin and Ding Nan?”

But by then, Zhou Qin and Ding Nan were nowhere in sight in the lobby?

“Maybe they already left?” Su Chan said innocently, smacking her lips as she savored a piece of dessert.

Li Yundong frowned. He had a feeling something was amiss, but couldn’t quite place what it was. He paused for a moment, shook his head, and temporarily set the matter aside.

……

“Alas, Zhou Qin, Zhou Qin, you clearly know I despise you to the bone, so why did you still drink that beverage?” In the elevator, Ding Nan supported the wobbling Zhou Qin, sighing softly. Although she felt drenched in sweat and overcome with a powerful sense of guilt at that moment, an equally intense surge of excitement sustained her as she held Zhou Qin’s body, occasionally tossing out sarcastic remarks.

“You, you are simply too confident! The moment I asked you to come, you came without question! You, you always carry that air of having everything under control, just like when Zhao Yujian held a gun to you, and just now! Seriously, give it a rest!” Ding Nan sneered, “Do you know what I’m about to do?”

Zhou Qin appeared dazed, her limbs seeming utterly useless. She struggled weakly, saying, “Ding Nan, don’t bring trouble upon yourself!”

“Bring trouble upon myself? Ha!” Ding Nan let out a cold laugh. “On the contrary, everyone except you will applaud this decision of mine! Even your powerful father, who stands behind you!”

Ding-dong. The elevator chimed. Ding Nan, supporting Zhou Qin’s weight, slowly made her way to Room 1503 on the fifteenth floor. She pressed the doorbell, and after a moment, the door creaked open, revealing a face etched with gloom—it was He Shao.

Ding Nan maneuvered Zhou Qin into the room and tossed her onto the bed. She crouched down, patting Zhou Qin’s cheek: “Look closely, this is your fiancé!”

Ding Nan casually crossed her legs on the edge of the bed and grinned triumphantly at He Shao: “I’ve brought the person to you. Since she’s your fiancée-to-be, you can do whatever you want with her! Heh heh, once the deed is done and the rice is cooked, you must remember my service as a matchmaker!”

He Shao stood nearby, one hand stroking his chin. He didn't reply, merely his face alight with a lecherous grin as his gaze roamed back and forth between Zhou Qin and Ding Nan.

Lying sprawled on the bed, Zhou Qin’s eyes shot forth a flame of fury: “Ding Nan, you’re insane!”

Ding Nan threw her head back and burst into loud laughter: “Am I insane? Perhaps! Zhou Qin, didn’t I tell you before? An excellent man is like a treasure without an owner; every woman wants to claim him! This is a war, and in war, one must use any means necessary, without mercy!”

Saying this, Ding Nan bent down, grasping Zhou Qin’s jaw tightly. Her once delicate features twisted into a snarl. She lowered her voice, growling like an enraged lioness: “You taught me all this, Zhou Qin! You used me as a shield before; now it’s your turn to taste what it’s like to be humiliated!”

Zhou Qin ground her teeth, “Aren’t you afraid of my revenge later?”

“Revenge?” Ding Nan roared with laughter, pulling out a check from her bag. “This is the down payment He Shao promised me. There will be much more once this is done! Besides, didn’t I tell you before? If you and He Shao get together, almost everyone except you would cheer!”

Ding Nan sneered, “Don’t worry, Li Yundong, who you’ve been clinging to, won’t shed a single tear for a woman like you! A woman like you radiates the cold-blooded cruelty of a powerful family from head to toe!”

The hazy look in Zhou Qin’s eyes gradually dissipated, replaced by a chilling, profound indifference and sarcasm. She stated coldly, “You are too malicious, Ding Nan. I never realized you were such a vicious woman!”

Ding Nan was immersed in the triumphant pleasure of self-satisfaction and inflated ego. She had always lived in Zhou Qin’s shadow, a life devoid of light, filled with yielding compliance. But now, she reveled in the exquisite feeling of trampling Zhou Qin underfoot, subject to her whim. This feeling caused her to lose the sharp observational acuity she usually possessed, making her momentarily complacent.

Ding Nan laughed loudly, pointing at Zhou Qin and unleashing a torrent of curses: “I’m vicious? Bah! Back on the rooftop, you could say those words telling me to die so you could live! And now you have the nerve to call me vicious? Aren’t you just relying on your wealth and power to arbitrarily control girls like me who have neither?”

The angrier Ding Nan got, the more she spoke, and she raised her hand to slap Zhou Qin across the face. But just as her hand was about to strike downward forcefully, He Shao caught it.

Ding Nan turned around to see He Shao smiling wickedly at her, saying, “Hitting a woman is not allowed!”

Ding Nan angrily yanked her hand free, then shot Zhou Qin a cold look, saying, “Zhou Qin, you stay here and enjoy yourself slowly. No matter how loud you scream later, no one will come to save you!”

Saying this, she turned to leave.

But the moment she took a step, her head felt dizzy, and her limbs seemed disobedient.

While she was bewildered and confused, Ding Nan suddenly saw Zhou Qin sitting up on the bed!

This shock was immense. It felt as if a heavy fist had struck Ding Nan’s heart; her legs involuntarily buckled, and her body collapsed softly against the side of the bed.

He Shao, in the room, could hold back no longer and burst into boisterous laughter.

Zhou Qin sat upright, looking down at Ding Nan with an expression of pity. She closed her eyes briefly, took a deep breath, and when she opened them again, the pity was gone, replaced by a terrifying coldness.

“You must be wondering why I can still sit up on my own, while you’ve gone weak and collapsed?” Zhou Qin gazed at the terrified Ding Nan and said calmly.

The situation had suddenly reversed. The mental and physical shock was too much for Ding Nan to process. She stared at Zhou Qin in horror, rasping, “What did you do to me?”

Zhou Qin sneered, “Whatever you did to me, I did back to you! Yes, you’re right, I am very confident, but what you said isn’t entirely correct—I’m not just confident, I’m arrogant! So, I truly didn’t anticipate you would dare to make a move against me!”

Saying this, Zhou Qin tilted her body slightly forward, looking meaningfully at He Shao, who was observing the two women with interest, and stated coldly: “It wasn’t until He Shao called me that I realized you were audacious enough to go to such lengths! To remove me as an obstacle, you truly stop at nothing!”

Zhou Qin leaned slightly forward as she spoke, her voice frigid: “Even if you eliminate me, can you really win over Li Yundong?”

Although her body was compromised, Ding Nan’s mind was still sharp. She burst into loud laughter: “Only you are my true rival! Su Chan? That naive little girl, what does she know! They’ve been living together for so long, and both are still virgins! It’s hilarious! Once you’re out of the picture, with my methods, I can certainly snatch this boy and keep him firmly under my control!”

Zhou Qin scoffed, “You think too highly of yourself!”

Ding Nan screamed hysterically, “Don’t I? If He Shao hadn’t told you, would you be this smug right now?”

Ding Nan then glared venomously at He Shao, gritting her teeth, “Why did you betray me! Once you possess Zhou Qin, wouldn’t you have everything you wanted?”

He Shao laughed heartily, stroking his chin and chuckling sinisterly, “Ding Nan, Ding Nan, you think you understand Zhou Qin well, but in reality, as her childhood friend who grew up alongside her, I am the one who understands Zhou Qin best in this world!”

He shot a complicated glance at Zhou Qin, a look entangled with love and hate, respect and fear for the girl.

“We grew up in the same Municipal Party Committee compound. From childhood, Zhou Qin always had an unyielding temper…” He Shao pulled up a chair and sat down, speaking slowly. “When she was ten, Uncle Zhou was going to move them. Zhou Qin absolutely refused to leave the compound, no matter how much her father persuaded or scolded her, she wouldn’t listen. In the end, Uncle Zhou had no choice but to tie Zhou Qin up and toss her in the backseat of the car before bringing her to Tiannan City.”

“Heh heh, as soon as they arrived in Tiannan City, Uncle Zhou looked in the backseat—guess what?” Although He Shao was chuckling, his body shuddered slightly. He sneered, “Zhou Qin used her own teeth to bite through the ropes binding her wrists. She ended up chipping her own teeth and cutting through the artery in her wrist! Blood soaked her entire body, even soaking the backseat!”

Even though Ding Nan hated Zhou Qin to the extreme, she still looked at Zhou Qin with shock, seemingly unable to comprehend how a ten-year-old girl could be so ruthless to herself!

“From that moment on, Uncle Zhou never dared to force Zhou Qin to do anything again. And from that moment, I knew that Zhou Qin was a wild horse that brute force could never tame.