When Chen Zhi walked out of the bathroom drying his hair, the first thing he saw was Pei Ningxue sitting on the edge of the bed.
In her hand, she was holding his phone.
"Why are you looking at my phone?" Chen Zhi feigned composure, walking toward the bed while drying his hair, pretending not to care at all.
Pei Ningxue looked up and gave him a glance.
She casually tossed the black-screened phone onto the soft quilt, clapped her hands, and stood up.
"To ensure we can fully get into work mode and not be disturbed by trivial matters," Pei Ningxue looked at him self-righteously, "I took the liberty of turning both our phones off."
Turned off?
Chen Zhi froze for a moment, then quickly walked over, picked up the phone, and pressed the power button.
The screen didn't respond; it was indeed turned off.
The heavy stone hanging in his heart instantly dropped. As long as she hadn't unlocked it to read his WeChat chat history, everything was fine.
"I have to give a thumbs-up to Boss Pei's work attitude," Chen Zhi played along, quickly stuffing the phone deep into his backpack. "A business trip should look like a business trip. We need to be fully focused and never get distracted."
Pei Ningxue crossed her arms over her chest. Seeing his relieved look, a faint smile tugged at the corners of her lips.
Fully focused?
She hoped that the big pop star waiting bitterly at the gates of Peking University tonight could also appreciate Boss Chen's focus.
After resting in the hotel suite for less than half an hour, Pei Ningxue started touching up her makeup and picking out clothes.
"Let's go downstairs," Pei Ningxue said, picking up a Hermes bag.
"Where to?" Chen Zhi was still slumped on the sofa, trying to recover his energy. "Aren't we seeing the client tonight?"
"To Plaza 66." Pei Ningxue looked him up and down with a critical tone. "Are you planning to meet NIO's VP in those wrinkled casual clothes? We're going to buy you some presentable outfits."
Chen Zhi looked down at his clothes and thought they were perfectly fine, but since the CFO had spoken, he could only obediently follow.
However, upon arriving at the mall, Chen Zhi realized he had been tricked.
Pei Ningxue didn't head straight for the menswear section at all; instead, she dove right into the luxury womenswear boutiques.
And she went into one after another.
Chen Zhi sat on the leather sofa in the VIP lounge. His initial enthusiasm gradually faded into a vacant stare.
"How about this one?" Pei Ningxue walked out in a burgundy velvet dress and twirled in front of the floor-to-ceiling mirror.
"It looks good. It perfectly matches your aura. Buy it." Chen Zhi nodded mechanically. This was already the twentieth time he had said "looks good" today.
Pei Ningxue rolled her eyes at him. "You didn't even look closely."
"I did, really." Chen Zhi swore to the heavens. "Boss Pei, with your figure and face, you'd look good even wearing a potato sack."
Chen Zhi was complaining wildly in his head.
In her multi-hundred-square-meter penthouse duplex at Wanliu House, the walk-in closet alone took up an entire master bedroom, filled with countless clothes that still had their price tags on.
Where did this woman get so much energy? Why did she have to activate crazy shopping mode as soon as she arrived in Shanghai?
Pei Ningxue was clearly satisfied enough with Chen Zhi's answer. She casually handed her card to the shop assistant. "Wrap it up."
Chen Zhi sighed, resignedly stood up, and took the several massive shopping bags handed over by the assistant.
"Let's go." In a great mood, Pei Ningxue walked over and linked her arm through Chen Zhi's.
"Huh? We're still shopping?" Chen Zhi felt like his legs no longer belonged to him.
"We haven't bought your clothes yet, of course we're still shopping," Pei Ningxue said matter-of-factly. "You're the face of Deep Space Technology. If you dress too shabbily, how will the car companies believe we have the strength to develop autonomous driving?"
And so, Chen Zhi was dragged around the menswear section for another full hour.
By the time he finally changed into a well-tailored bespoke suit worth over a hundred thousand yuan and walked out of the fitting room, the sky outside had completely darkened.
Chen Zhi raised his left wrist and glanced at the time.
Pei Ningxue's gaze lingered on the watch for a second before quickly shifting away. She didn't say anything.
"Boss Pei, it's almost 7 PM," Chen Zhi said, shaking his sore arms. "Didn't we agree to have dinner with President Li from NIO? If we head over now, won't we be late?"
Pei Ningxue walked ahead in her high heels without looking back.
"We're not going."
"What?" Chen Zhi froze in place.
"He just texted to say there's an emergency at the company today and he can't make it. The dinner is rescheduled to tomorrow noon," Pei Ningxue lied without batting an eye.
In reality, she had never scheduled the dinner for today in the first place.
"Then where are we going now?" Chen Zhi chased after her, carrying bags of all sizes.
"To eat." Pei Ningxue turned her head and blinked at him. "I'm hungry."
Half an hour later, the two were sitting in a top-tier Michelin-starred restaurant on the Bund.
Outside the panoramic floor-to-ceiling windows, the night view of the Huangpu River was dazzling.
Scented candles were lit on the table, and a violinist in a tailcoat was playing a melodious tune nearby.
With this atmosphere and style, this didn't feel like a business trip at all. It felt more like a carefully prepared romantic date between a couple.
As Chen Zhi cut the Beef Wellington on his plate, the more he ate, the more he felt something was off.
Pei Ningxue was in an unusually good mood today.
"Try this, it tastes really good." Pei Ningxue rested her chin on one hand, looking at him with a smiling face under the flickering candlelight.
Chen Zhi felt a chill in his heart from her gaze.
Usually, Pei Ningxue was either a resolute female CEO or a tsundere heiress with high offense but low defense. Her current state, so gentle that it practically dripped water, was simply too abnormal.
"Boss Pei, your mood today... is a bit weird," Chen Zhi put down his knife and fork, speaking honestly.
"Is it?"
"It's too gentle, I'm a little scared." Chen Zhi coughed dryly. "Are you holding back some ultimate move?"
Pei Ningxue laughed out of exasperation.
"Is there nothing else in that head of yours?" She picked up her wine glass and took a small sip of red wine, a faint blush appearing on her fair cheeks.
"Chen Zhi, is the night view of Shanghai beautiful?"
"It's beautiful." Chen Zhi turned his head to glance at the Oriental Pearl Tower outside the window.
"Then enjoy it well." Pei Ningxue put down her wine glass and stared straight at him, her tone carrying the composure of a victor. "After all, no one will come to disturb us tonight."
She deliberately emphasized the words "no one".
Chen Zhi was completely confused, but he still cooperatively raised his wine glass. "Then here's to this beautiful night view, and to the beautiful Boss Pei."
rowess are unmatched, commanding a million-strong army! Yet, the Emperor wants to depose him for the sake of a false prince? Hold on, are you throwing me into some female-oriented romance plot? How can I tolerate this? With a grand wave of his hand—the Nine Clan Extraction Technique! Slander the Emperor? Very well, all of you shall die! ... The False Prince: "Although I am not the biological son, Father and Mother love me more. The throne should be mine!" The Female Lead: "Qin Xiao, you are the Emperor, and I am a commoner. If you wish to marry me, you must abdicate. Otherwise, you will never have me!" The Empress: "After we divorce, you must give me half the empire!" The Transmigrator Consort: "You worthless Emperor, why should I kneel to you? All men are equal—I advise you to be kind!" The Great General: "The enemy general is my childhood sweetheart. For her sake, I willingly abandon the frontier defenses!" The Retired Emperor: "Although Yu'er was adopted, I prefer him. Qin Xiao, you should abdicate and let him become Emperor!" ... Very well! So this is how you want to play? Facing this twisted world of female-oriented tropes, Qin Xiao grins and raises his hand to unleash—the Nine Clan Extraction Technique! I am the Emperor. Why would I bother reasoning with you? Seal the gates! Leave none alive!
ut it can buy an entire year of absolutely perfect training results! Su Yu stared at his empty wallet and decisively opened up various online loan platforms. “Borrow a thousand bucks! Recharge my vitality!” Boom! His vitality broke a hundred points, shattering the limits of the human body! “Borrow ten thousand bucks! Recharge my combat skills!” Boom! A basic punching technique so common it was everywhere instantly maxed out, revealing the ultimate assassination technique of Five Elements Unity—Inner Force! When a rich kid hired assassins for a midnight ambush, aiming to break both of his legs, they instead ran headfirst into a monster—a human-shaped tyrannosaur, brimming with dragon-like vitality. With just two fingers, Su Yu snapped a steel staff reinforced with alloy. Staring at the killer’s stash of stolen cash—a staggering quarter-million dollars—he showed a corporate-sincere smile: “Thanks for the pre-exam gift pack, Mr. Zhao! I’m gonna go re-invest this!” Three days later, at the National Martial Arts College Entrance Exam, while everyone else struggled just to reach the passing line, Su Yu threw a single punch—and more than a thousand vitality points literally detonated the entire arena!
ing gift was a patch of barren land, and disciples were all picked up along the way. He spent fifty years diligently building three "ramshackle little sects," thinking he could finally live a carefree life relying on his disciples. But right at the fifty-year mark, he was suddenly swept away by a spatial rift and exiled to the Chaos Desolation, the Disorderly Ruins. There was no spiritual energy there, only slaughter. Relying on the cultivation feedback from his disciples, Gu Changyuan hacked his way through a sea of blood for eleven hundred years. When the system finally fished him back out, he discovered the ramshackle little sects he'd built back then had developed a rather... unusual style. Hold on... I vanished for a thousand years, so how did my ramshackle little sects become holy lands?!
iaobai: "Councilor Dad, front me some funds. I want to hire ten thousand professional miners for a project!" [Five-Star Mission Issued: Capture the leader of the Blood Heaven Pirate Gang, who is on the run in the Radiant Star Sector. It is said the gang has over a hundred members. Proceed with caution.] Lu Xiaobai: "Councilor Dad, lend me the family's hundred-thousand-strong Lu Army!" [Seven-Star Mission Issued: Subdue a juvenile Void Dragon Beast.] Lu Xiaobai: "Councilor Dad, I'm taking your tamed Void Dragon Beast King out for a family reunion!" I said, System, don't you have any slightly more challenging missions? You're just not up to par! [Nine-Star Mission Issued: Become the Human Councilor.] Lu Xiaobai: "Dad, there's a small matter I'd like to discuss with you..."
