Chapter 7: This man is dangerous (pt. 2)

Right when Shu Yawang is determined to cut contacts with Qu Wei Rian, her company realizes that they made a mistake on one of their orders. Since it’s a really big project, the company orders hundred of thousands of seedlings. When they receive the order, they find out that the number of juniper seeds and photinia seeds are mixed up, there is a deficit of 1000 photinia seeds and an excess of 3000 juniper seeds.

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Chief Cheng is infuriated with the mistake, if it’s not because the person who handled the order was hired through connections, he would have taught her a lesson. The place where they ordered the seedlings from said they can fix the order, but the company will need to pay for the shipping and handling. Manager Lin heard that the Hyde Industrial Group did not receive their shipment of seedlings yet.

Under Chief Cheng’s suggestion, they will exchange their surplus of 3000 junipers seeds for Hyde’s 1000 photinia seeds. The two company’s chiefs are old buddies, so they said they just need to talk with the person responsible for the project. Chief Cheng immediately orders Yawang to go to Hyde Industrial Group. She don’t want to go, but Manager Lin do not give her time to say no when he throws the order to her and shoos her out.

She wipes away her sweat when she reaches the entrance of the company. She looks up to the office on the third floor and thinks to herself, What’s there to be afraid of? This guy, Qu Wei Ran, why does he have to be the person who is responsible for the project? I should have forced Xiao Xue to come with me. She bites her fingers nervously with her head down. Maybe it’s because of the bright sunlight, she feels a little dizzy, but she don’t want to step inside the building. At that time, her phone rings and it’s an unknown number. She picks up the call in frustration.

“Hello?”

“How long are you going to keep standing there? You’re not scared you’re going to get a heat stroke?” He chuckles. She hangs up the call and inhales deeply before walking straight towards the building. She will not believe that he can eat her up.

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She knocks on his door before opening it, trying to conceal her nervousness.

“Manager Qu, I think you know the reason of me coming here, right?” She asks, standing by the door. He glances at her, adjusting his glasses with one hand, the glass reflecting a band of white light. He tilts his head to the side and reply,

“I don’t know.” She balls up her fist and looks at him, ignoring his lustful eyes, and speaks in a business tone.

“It’s about the exchange of the juniper seeds, your chief already agreed to it. Please sign the exchange agreement form.” Qu Wei Ran shifts his leather chair left and right.

“How come I didn’t know about it?”

“You can call to confirm.”

“There’s no point in calling. If I don’t agree to it, it’s useless.”

“Qu Wei Ran!” She looks at him in disgust. What does he want to do?! He swirls his chair back to face her.

“Don’t be mistaken, I’m just thinking in business terms. There’s no advantage for us to take your seedlings.”

“You can save on the shipping.”

“I don’t need to save on that little amount of money just to get your seeds. This is too risky, who knows if the seeds you bought have problems and you’re giving them to us to get rid of it?”

“If you think there are problems, you can personally go and check.”

“Are you asking me to?” He looks at her contemptuously. “Your attitude towards other is a little, no, not a little, really bad.” Shu Yawang laughs at him.

“Me asking you? Who cares if you want to sign it or not?” She turns her heels and walks out the office, her high heels striking against the marble floor. Qu Wei Ran did not block her way, he smiles as he strokes his chin.

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Shu Yawang exits the company angrily and walk towards a shady area to call the manager.

“Manager Lin, Hyde’s Qu Wei Ran refuses to sign. He says he don’t want our seedlings.”

“What, their chief don’t agree to it?”

“He said, if he don’t agree, it’s useless even if the chief agrees.”

“If he refuses, why won’t you try convincing him?”

“I tried, I said so much I can fill up a basket, but he still said no.” She speaks in a hurt tone. Manager Lin replies back with a tone that carries a “You’re useless.” tone.

“Come back, I will personally go there.” She hangs up and turns her head back to look at the building.Beg you? In your dreams. She won’t even bother to beg him if she was not working for this job.

When she arrives back to the construction site, it’s around noon, so she sits down to drink some water when Xiao Xue approaches her.

“What happened? He didn’t take advantage of you right?” She asks nosily.

“Nope, I was at least ten steps away from him.” She answers, shaking her head.

“Who’s taking advantage of you?” Xiao Gao, one of the rookies that got hired the same time as Yawang, asks.

“Nothing, she’s just joking.” She don’t want the whole world to know that she’s being harassed by Qu Wei Ran. Besides, he have a cold attitude towards her today, looking and talking contemptuously at her.

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At the end of the day, Manager Lin tells everyone that Qu Wei Ran agrees to sign the exchange agreement form and they have overcome the obstacle. Everyone in the office praise the manager, saying how reliable he is to fix this mess! Evn Yawang have to admit that the manager is impressive. All of this make Manager Lin in a happy mood so he decides to have an after-work party. Everyone is paying for their own meal, but they don’t mind. They choose a nearby restaurant and all seven of them exits out of the office in a cheerful mood.

Yawang and Xiao Xue are the ones who are in charge of ordering the food while the men are shuffling and playing with their cards. Manager Lin looks like he forgot something, suddenly standing up and leaving the restaurant to make a phone call. Then he walks back with a cheerful smile. The dishes arrive and the men put their cards away. Manager Lin looks at his watch, then says,

“Let’s wait for a bit, there’s someone who is coming.”

“Who?” Xiao Xue asks.

“Manager Qu from the Hyde Industrial Group.” Yawang spits out the water from her mouth. Thankfully the table is round so everyone is pretty far away from her. However, they look at her in suspicion. She covers her mouth and coughs twice.

“I’m going to leave now.” But she is stopped by her coworkers. By the time she lifts her head up, Qu Wei Ran is walking towards them. Manager Lin stands up and shakes his hand.

“Hello Manager Qu, it’s an honor to have you here with us.”

“Thank you Manager Lin, of course I will be here when you’re treating for dinner.” The two men laugh. Xiao Xue dips her head and whispers in Yawang’s ear.

“He was looking at you before.”

“He just looked at you.”

“He’s looking at you again!”

“Shut up!” Yawang hissed under her breath, pinching Xiao Xue’s hand underneath the table. She yelped softly from the pain. The two men continues to discuss about the project as they’re sitting down. Xiao Xue rests her head against Yawang’s shoulder and whispers in her ear.

“Oh my god, he’s sitting diagonally from you.” Yawang gives her an intimidating glare. She’s not blind, she can see him sitting down. Even if Qu Wei Ran didn’t say anything, she can feel his presence. She bites onto her lips nervously and fixes up her hair.

Everyone is pretty quiet during the dinner party, Qu Wei Ran did not talk to Yawang nor did anything strange. She can finally have a moment’s peace when the dinner party is over. However, Manager Lin is still in a very happy state so he suggests everyone to go karaoking. Yawang declines the invitation, saying she have something to do. Everyone objects to her declining.

“We only have two females, if you’re leaving, what kind of fun will there be with a group of men?”

“I really have something to do.” She gives them a forceful smile.

“What do you need to do? You have to participate in group activities, let’s go, don’t bring the mood down.” Manager Lin orders her. She reluctantly agree and the whole group walks out of the restaurant in an excited mood.

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As her coworkers sing and drink in the KTV, she notices Qu Wei Ran sitting close to her. There is no space left in the couch. Whenever he moves, she can feel his shoulder brushing against hers. She stands up from the couch and pretends to choose a song, then sits somewhere that is farthest from him.

After singing for awhile, Yawang’s phone starts to ring. It’s unknown number calling her, but the area code is from Xi’an. Her eyes brighten and she excuses herself to take the phone call in an empty karaoke room.

“Hello?”

“Yawang, did you miss me today?” Tang Xiao Tian asks her with a laugh. Yawang dips her head down and smiles.

“How did you know?”

“Haha, I sneezed twice during class.”

“Did you catch a cold?”

“No, I’m extremely healthy.”

“How are you able to call me today?”

“Hehe, I’m stationed to stand guard outside, so I borrowed a cell phone to call you.”

“Again?! You better be careful to not let anyone catch you!” Last time Xiao Tian called her while being stationed outside, he didn’t notice that someone saw him. By the time he noticed that, he quickly threw the phone out to the woods and pretend he’s on his duty. When he tried to search for the phone afterwards, he found the phone in a puddle of dirty water.

“Don’t worry, I picked a good spot today, if someone walks by, I’ll be able to see them. What are you doing now?”

“I’m karaoking.”n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

“With who?”

“What? Are you scared?” She asks coyly.

“Mmm, I am scared. You better not be singing with another man. You cannot!”

“If I want to go, I will go. I’m going to sing with a group of men.” Tang Xiao Tian laughs from her reply.

“Alright, have fun. Go home early and don’t drink.”

“I know, why don’t you sound scared? You really don’t think I’ll run off with some guy?” She asks in disappointment. Xiao Tian is silent for awhile, then he speaks up.

“Yawang, I’m not worried that you will go somewhere else, seeing a more beautiful scenery, or meeting a better guy,” She holds onto her phone as she leans her back against the wall, listening to his words.

“Because it’s for your happiness. If I know you’re happy, then I’m happy.” She lowers her head, her hair covering her face so no one can see her expression.

“Come back home, you idiot.”

“Mmm.” The two talk for a few more minutes before hanging up. She displays a gentle, warm smile after the phone call, and opens the door to prepare to walk back to the party when suddenly her smile disappears.

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The man standing outside the door looks at her with a straight face. She wants to escape, but can’t find anywhere to go, so she is forced to step back in the empty room.

“Excuse me, I need to go out.” She tells him with a glare.

“Your smile was beautiful, can you smile again?” He asks, leaning his face towards her.

“I can’t smile when I look at you.”

Qu Wei Ran asks: “Do you really hate me?”

Shu Yawang nods her head: “Yes, I really hate you.”

Qu Wei Ran looks at her with a seemingly distressed face: “But what should I do? I’m attracted to you.” He walks closer to her, suddenly closing the door. Yawang runs to the door and tries to open it back when he stops her with one arm.

“What are you doing?!”

“Making you hate me more.” He pulls her into him embrace and tilts his head to kiss her. Suddenly, he feels a sharp pain from below and loosen his grip on her. Before he know it, he is turned upside down and flung over the shoulder before he was thrown to the ground. Shu Yawang looks down to him with an icy glare.

“I’m warning you, if you touch me again, I’m not going to be nice about it.” She turns her heels and walk out of the door. She is raised in a military environment where she learnt self-defense from Uncle Tang. When they were young, there is no way Tang Xiao Tian can beat Shu Yawang in a fight. Qu Wei Ran covers the area where he got hit and chuckles.

“Yawang, you really anger me.”

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She walks back to the room and get her bag. She talk with Manager Lin briefly and leaves the room. Her coworkers notice how her expression don’t look good so they don’t bother to make her stay. As she walks out, Qu Wei Ran is outside walking in. She wants to push him out her way, but he tugs on to her arm and pulls her out.

“What are you going?” She shouts at him.

“I need to talk to you.” She panics and pulls his arm, dipping her head down and biting his arm. He lets go of her and she walks back to the room and sits where there are a lot of people. Qu Wei Ran smiles gently with his eyeglasses reflected from the lights. He rubs over the area where he is bitten and sits down near the exit. The corners of his lips stretch further and further, as if he is enjoying this cat-catching-mouse game. She turns her head the other way, trying to not look at him. She knows that once the party is over, he will come over and bother her. She gets her phone out and search for Xia Mu’s number.

Xia Mu, I’m karaoking at X KTV right now. I drank a lot tonight, can you call Uncle Cheng to pick me up? Within a couple of minutes, her phone vibrates. Okay. Wow, even his text messages are short and simple, typical of Xia Mu. Uncle Cheng works for Xia Mu’s grandfather, and he frequently take cares of Xia Mu.

Thank you, I’ll buy you candy when I come back. Even though her phone didn’t vibrate afterwards, she can imagine how Xia Mu’s expression will look like. She glance over to Qu Wei Ran who is sitting beside the exit. Dimwit, still guarding the door in case I run. When Uncle Cheng comes, let’s see will he dare to touch even one strand of my hair! Uncle Cheng will beat the crap out of him.

However, fate seems to be playing tricks on her when the staff knocks into their room saying their time is up after twenty minutes. Everyone place the microphones down and walks out, waving goodbye before departing their own ways. Yawang quickly hails a cab when she sees Qu Wei Ran talking with Manager Lin. When she sits inside, Qu Wei Ran is already entering the cab from the other side. He looks at her with a smile, his eyes seem to tell her that she can’t run away from him. She grip her fists tightly and opens the car door, but got shut from Qu Wei Ran. There is very little space in the cab, she is forced to stay in her seat. She looks out the window, her back pressed against his chest.

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“What do you want?” She asks as she turns her body to push him away from her.

“I need to talk to you, why do you keep on running away?”

“I don’t want to talk to you, get out of the car.” Then she speaks to the cab driver.

“Mister, I was here first, tell him to get out.” The cab driver turns his head and looks at Qu Wei Ran.

“Yawang, don’t be mad. I’m wrong, I won’t act like this again.” He speaks softly.

“You are so annoying, I’m not even close with you.”

“Are you guys going or not?” The cab driver asks in annoyance. To him, they look like a couple who’s arguing; the guy make the girl mad, the girl wants to leave, but the guy won’t let her.

“If you have him get off, then I’ll go.”

“Yawang, don’t be like this.”

“Okay, both of you get off. Trying to ruin my business here.” He kicks both of them out.

“Let go of your hand, I need to get off.” Qu Wei Ran gladly lets go of his grasp and follows Yawang out of the cab.

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“Let me take you home.” Shu Yawang turns to him and points.

“Stop, stand where you are.” Qu Wei Ran is five steps away from her.

“Say whatever you need to say now, if you dare move an inch, I’ll leave.” She tells him as she brings her hand back down.

“Okay.” He stuffs his hands into his pockets and lean against the lamp post.

“I know you hate me.” She scuffles out a laugh. Two female pedestrians are walking by, looking at them two. Qu Wei Ran flashes a warm smile at them, she admits that his smile is charming, but it don’t work for her.

“I purposely make you hate me, so you can have a deep impression of me. Yawang-ah, I really like you.” He lowers his head and laugh.

“I haven’t had this feeling for so long, that’s why I hope you will be mine.” Then he looks at her affectionately.

“I know you like Xiao Tian, but he’s not here with you everyday. Don’t you feel lonely, feel bored? You don’t yearn for a hug from a man?” As he talks, he steps closer to her until he can whisper in her ear.

“I can be your secret lover, no one else will know about our relationship except for us. When you want to stop, we’ll stop. We should enjoy life when we have the time. Yawang-ah,” He tilts her head up with his hand wrapped under her chin.

“I will be the best lover, I will shower you with love and affection, teaching you a lot of joyful things.” She slaps his hand away from him.

“Are you done?” He wraps his arms around her.

“I’m done talking, but it still can’t satisfy me.”

“Qu Wei Ran,” She holds her hand up to block his face from leaning closer. “Maybe to you, love is something you can play with, but for me, there’s only one love that I can give to one person in my life. I love Xiao Tian, and will only love him. He’s not by my side all the time, and I do get lonely. But if it’s not him, I will not let another man touch me. I feel disgusted, especially if it’s you.” She places her hand down and look at him.

“Please go find someone who is willing to play this game with you. I don’t want to play, and can’t afford to play, and I especially don’t want to play this game with you. So please, let go of me.” Neither of them move an inch. He still have his arms around her, his lips curving into a smile.

“I don’t want to let go, so I’m not going to. The more you reject me, the more I want to control you. I feel that I’m turning into a psychopath because of you.”

“You’re not turning into a psychopath, you already are one.” She replies back, throwing a punch to his lower jaw. Qu Wei Ran escapes the blow, but Yawang raises her knee to hit his lower area. He lets go of his hold on her to shield the hit, and Yawang pushes him back before getting away from him. She walk backwards towards the street so she can keep an eye on him. Once Qu Wei Ran regains his balance, he wants to say something, but is soon forgotten when he yells at her with a horrored look.

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“Look out!” Yawang stops and turns her head. She sees a car rushing straight towards her, its light piercing straight to her eyes. She just stands there, not knowing where to go. When the car is about to hit her, a shadow rushes over and pushes her out of the way. She hears the car brakes abruptly as she falls to the ground.

Underneath the white car lies a body. Yawang looks at the body who is wearing a familiar set of school uniform and a familiar body shape. She raises her hand to cover her mouth, her body trembling in fear, she don’t dare speak out the person’s name. Qu Wei Ran rushes towards her, stretching his hand out to touch the boy that got hit, but is slapped away by Yawang.

“Don’t touch him.”