Chapter 680: Master Shen is indeed an extraordinary person!
Noticing He Yiyi's shy gaze, Shen Anyu felt a little puzzled. Could it be that she admired his Heavenly Secret Calculation abilities? He actually gained five points of favorability? Don't look at Ling Qingcheng gaining ten points and He Yiyi only five. But Ling Qingcheng originally only had five points of favorability, while He Yiyi originally had eighty. The higher the favorability, the harder it is to increase. After ninety, a single point of favorability increase is harder than the first ten points.
Even Shen Anyu didn't expect that He Yiyi would overthink things and self-strategize, believing that Shen Anyu had fallen for her, causing her favorability towards Shen Anyu to skyrocket.
'Mm-hmm, that's right, it must be like this, Mr. Shen must like me.' He Yiyi felt Shen Anyu's gaze lock onto hers, and a dizzying wave of sweetness flooded her heart, making her toes curl in her high heels. Every carefully constructed wall of professional distance she maintained around herself crumbled into dust. The air grew thick, charged with an energy she had only ever read about in romance novels. She felt like she was floating, a bubble of pure bliss rising through the glittering champagne atmosphere of the banquet hall.
She had never, not even in her wildest fantasies, dared to hope for any kind of connection with a man like Shen Anyu. He was a figure ripped from the pages of a fairy tale, an impossible ideal made flesh. Even in the deepest recesses of her dreams, her imagination had never managed to conjure such a perfect specimen: impossibly handsome, with a jawline that could cut glass and eyes that seemed to see right into her soul; possessing wealth that dwarfed entire nations; and exuding a gentle, considerate aura that was a stark, almost violent contrast to his demonstrated, extraordinary capabilities. He was a paradox of lethal power and disarming tenderness.
And her? She was just He Yiyi, an ordinary office worker navigating spreadsheets and corporate politics. She wasn't some peerless beauty from a hidden martial arts sect, nor was she the heiress to a corporate empire. She was a small boat in a vast ocean, and Shen Anyu was the brilliant, irresistible sun. How could she possibly defend herself against his sugar-coated bullets? Each kind word was a shot to the heart, each casual glance a strike that shattered her composure.
As for the fact that Shen Anyu was currently holding Ling Qingcheng's other hand? A strange, almost perverse thrill shot through He Yiyi. Jealousy was a fleeting spark, instantly extinguished by a wave of something else entirely—a surge of twisted pride.
That wasn't just any woman on his other arm. That was General Manager Ling. Her boss's boss's boss. The iron-willed helmswoman of the Ling Group, a multi-billion-dollar corporate titan. The richest woman in all of Hangzhou. To share a man with a powerhouse of Ling Qingcheng's caliber… it didn't feel like a slight. It felt like an elevation. It was as if standing next to the queen, even as a secondary consort, granted her a sliver of that royal splendor.
The thought of poaching, of taking something that belonged to such a powerful figure, sent a forbidden jolt of excitement through her veins. A wicked, exhilarating thought bloomed in her mind. Here she was, a humble employee of the Ling Group, technically embezzling company time to be here. Not only was she stealing public funds, she was actively poaching her ultimate boss's man. And now, she was even sharing his other arm, a clear symbol of victory right under the queen's nose.
This wonderfully deviant situation sent a captivating crimson flush creeping up her neck and across her cheeks. Her skin felt hot, her pulse thrumming a frantic rhythm against her wrists. Others were exploited by their bosses, their value and time squeezed dry. But her? She was turning the tables. She was poaching the CEO's man and fleecing her for the privilege.
'He Yiyi, you are so amazing!'
Her mind spiraled into a whirlwind of strange, exhilarating fantasies. She felt a kinship with a kleptomaniac, a deep-seated thrill in the act of taking what wasn't hers. It mirrored the rush she got each time she had skimmed from the company accounts. The danger was immense, the risk of ruin absolute, but the thrill was obvious. It was the breathtaking high of walking a tightrope over a chasm of fire, a dance with disaster that made her feel more alive than anything else.
And now, this was the ultimate heist.
'Mr. Shen is General Manager Ling's man!'
A tiny, rational part of her brain screamed in protest. 'He Yiyi, this is wrong! Utterly, catastrophically wrong! If General Manager Ling finds out, she won't just fire you. She will send you to prison for the rest of your life!'
But!
He Yiyi's gaze darted to the point of contact, her eyes tracing the way Shen Anyu's long, powerful fingers were entwined with Ling Qingcheng's. The sight didn't quell her illicit desire; it fanned the flames. Her heart hammered against her ribs, and the excitement intensified, becoming an almost unbearable pressure in her chest.
[Ding! Detected Destiny Value +3000 from Destiny Value +1 from Destined Heroine He Yiyi!]
'Something's not right,' Shen Anyu thought, his brow furrowing slightly. He could feel the chaotic, almost manic energy radiating from the woman beside him. 'This He Yiyi is a bit… off.' His expression turned strange. What in the world was going on in her head? Why did her favorability just jump again?
At that moment, Zhang Yunhai, having finished his initial pleasantries with Shen Anyu, turned his kind, fatherly gaze to Ling Qingcheng.
"My dear niece," he began, his voice warm with genuine affection. "Are you and Master Shen together? Master Shen is a truly capable expert, a dragon among men. If you two ever have a wedding banquet, Zhang Yaqian and I will absolutely be there. Yaqian will surely be overjoyed to hear the news. She'll make the perfect bridesmaid for you then."
The Zhang and Ling families weren't related by blood, but their alliance and friendship stretched back for generations. Ling Qingcheng and Zhang Yaqian, in particular, were closer than sisters, their bond as best friends forged over twenty inseparable years.
Ling Qingcheng was no longer a young girl. At twenty-seven, she had never been in a serious relationship, her entire being seemingly dedicated to her career. Her relentless ambition had her parents tearing their hair out with worry, so much so that they had even enlisted Zhang Yunhai to try and set her up on a blind date.
Now, seeing Ling Qingcheng silently allowing a man to hold her hand so possessively, Zhang Yunhai was profoundly surprised. At a top-tier social gathering like this, such a public display of intimacy was no small matter. It was a declaration. It was tantamount to an official announcement, the social equivalent of being engaged. Their relationship had to be incredibly serious for her to act this way. Otherwise, the Ling Qingcheng he knew—the woman who understood the weight and gravity of every action—would never bring a young man to such an occasion and allow this kind of physical intimacy.
Zhang Yunhai's words struck Ling Qingcheng like a bolt of lightning. She instantly realized the catastrophic misunderstanding, and a flicker of pure panic flashed across her sharp, phoenix-like eyes. This was going to be a disaster. Zhang Yunhai was Yaqian's father. If her best friend found out about her being this intimate with Shen Anyu… would their twenty-year friendship even survive the fallout?
Instinctively, Ling Qingcheng tried to wrench her hand back, but it was like trying to pull steel from stone. She couldn't budge it an inch. Her head snapped toward Shen Anyu, her phoenix eyes blazing with a furious, silent glare.
But Shen Anyu's grip only tightened, a silent, unyielding answer to her struggle.
Trapped in the brilliant light of the banquet hall, surrounded by influential figures, Ling Qingcheng had to maintain her mask of cool elegance. She couldn't afford to lose her composure, a fact that infuriated her to her very core. In her utter exasperation, a faint, delicate blush crept onto her exquisitely beautiful face, a stark contrast to the icy anger in her eyes.
As for explaining the situation? The truth was far too complicated to be clarified with a few simple words. This eternally strong female CEO, a woman who could command boardrooms and bend markets to her will, had never encountered someone so utterly shameless as Shen Anyu. She had rolled her eyes at him more times in the past few days than she had in her entire life.
Zhang Yunhai watched the silent, charged exchange between them, observing what he perceived as Ling Qingcheng and Shen Anyu "exchanging flirtatious glances" right in front of him. He found it deeply amusing. The famously dignified and authoritative Ling Qingcheng actually had such a girlish, flustered side to her.
A knowing smile spread across his face, and he turned to tease Shen Anyu. "Master Shen, my dear niece is a career-driven woman, incredibly proud and with impossibly high standards. I never expected you to be the one to win her over. This is truly cause for celebration. I certainly won't miss out on a drink at your wedding banquet in the future."
"That's right, General Manager Zhang certainly won't miss a drink at the wedding banquet in the future," Shen Anyu replied smoothly, his own smile mirroring Zhang Yunhai's, though his held a triumphant, predatory edge.
Ling Qingcheng couldn't restrain herself any longer. A sharp, frustrated huff escaped her lips. She shot Shen Anyu a look that could curdle milk before turning back to Zhang Yunhai, her voice tight with forced composure. "Uncle, there is no relationship between me and this… Mr. Shen. You won't be drinking any wedding wine."
She secretly added in her heart, 'It's absolutely impossible between me and Shen Anyu. And even if Shen Anyu wanted to be with Yaqian, that's out of the question too. I will never stand by and watch my best friend leap into a pit of fire.'
Her blunt denial astonished Zhang Yunhai. Had he completely misread the situation? But he was a veteran of the business world, a man who had navigated treacherous corporate waters for decades. His insight into people was razor-sharp. He reacted in an instant, his gaze shifting from the tense pair to the quiet, blushing woman on Shen Anyu's other side. His eyes narrowed thoughtfully as he asked, "Master Shen, this young lady, is she yours?"
He Yiyi held her breath, her entire body tensing. She looked at Shen Anyu, her eyes wide with a mixture of nervousness and desperate anticipation. Her world seemed to hang suspended on his answer.
Shen Anyu pondered for a calculated second, then a warm, enchanting smile bloomed on his face as he turned his full attention to He Yiyi. "Yiyi, I like you very much. Would you be my girlfriend?"
Originally, his plan had been to proceed gradually, to lay more groundwork and build a more solid foundation. But with He Yiyi's favorability now at a surprising eighty-six, it seemed the time for subtlety was over. It was time to accelerate. He Yiyi's favorability was climbing much faster than Ling Qingcheng's, and the difficulty of her Strategy was clearly far lower.
He Yiyi's clear, bright eyes instantly lit up as if a thousand stars had just been born within them. A tidal wave of joy crashed over her, and her face flushed a brilliant, ecstatic red. "Yes, Mr. Shen! I will!" she exclaimed, her voice trembling with happiness.
Shen Anyu completely, utterly fulfilled every single one of her criteria for an ideal partner. He was the prince charming who had walked straight out of her dreams and into her life. She had fallen for him at first sight, and now, she had succumbed completely. It was like having a goddess at the peak of her beauty confess her love to you; what mortal man would dare refuse? Some men became blubbering idiots just from shaking a celebrity's hand. He Yiyi felt like she had just won the celestial lottery. Even if he had asked for a kidney, she would have agreed without hesitation—not that she thought for a second Shen Anyu would ever covet her organs.
Even if it meant being just one of his girlfriends, even if it meant sharing him with General Manager Ling, she was more than willing. In fact, knowing he was General Manager Ling's man only made her look up to Shen Anyu more. The man her powerful, discerning boss had chosen had to be a premium product, the best of the best.
[Ding! Detected Destiny Value +9000 from Destiny Value +3 from Destined Heroine He Yiyi!]
Ling Qingcheng's pretty face, standing right next to them, was now terrifyingly cold. A frigid aura radiated from her, and the very air around their small group seemed to have dropped by several degrees, freezing the moment in a sheath of glacial fury.
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