"Great!" Ye Zhi readily agreed. Good neighborly relations were, after all, very necessary.
Suddenly, as if remembering something, she said somewhat awkwardly, "Speaking of which, I still don't know your name..."
"Qi Xuan."
Ye Zhi's eyes immediately lit up.
Qi Xuan inexplicably felt a chill down his spine. For some reason, he always felt that Ye Zhi's gaze towards him... was like looking at a big sucker?
"My name is Ye Zhi," Ye Zhi waved enthusiastically at him. "You must come tomorrow night! I'll be well-prepared and will definitely entertain you properly!"
Qi Xuan: ...
Could he regret it now? Why did he feel like Ye Zhi's words meant she would definitely take advantage of him?
He looked up again. Ye Zhi had already turned and gone back into her room, closing the balcony door.
"Knock, knock, knock—"
A series of knocks came. Qi Xuan said calmly, "Enter."
The door opened, and the butler walked in. He glanced at the window, seeing that it directly faced Ye Zhi's room, and suddenly showed a look of realization.
"Young Master, Miss Ye next door is quite attractive, very polite, and has a good personality," the butler said with a smile. "You were so considerate to bring her supper, could she be your girlfriend?"
Qi Xuan said calmly, "You're overthinking it. This is just mutual help between neighbors."
The butler muttered disbelievingly, "The filling for that bowl of wontons was made with wild Alaskan king crab flown in fresh today. It was originally saved for your supper, but you didn't eat a single bite, and sent it all across the way..."
Qi Xuan helplessly put his hand to his forehead. He calmly changed the subject, "Butler, everyone gets the day off tomorrow."
"Ah?" The butler looked confused. "We're not off tomorrow night?"
"No, you are off," Qi Xuan said with certainty.
The butler was very puzzled. Suddenly, as if thinking of something, he said with a chuckle, "I understand. You're going on a date with Miss Ye? Alright, alright, Young Master, you must try your best!"
With that, the butler quickly left Qi Xuan's room. Qi Xuan felt like crying but also laughing. Try his best at what? Try his best not to be tricked by Ye Zhi?
At this moment, Ye Zhi was truly happy because the name Qi Xuan did not appear in that novel.
People who didn't appear usually fell into one of two categories. Either they were minor characters with little interaction, not worth mentioning. Or, they were important figures with very high status, people who could easily overshadow the male protagonist's original aura, and thus couldn't appear.
And Qi Xuan happened to be of the latter type.
She had previously inquired with Ye Yongxian about the wealthy and influential families in this country. When Ye Yongxian mentioned the Qi family, he had specifically singled out Qi Xuan's name, saying only four words: "Cannot offend."
It was known that Ye Yongxian, the owner of Ye Corporation, while not able to control everything, was still someone whom everyone would give some face to. If even he dared not offend someone, wasn't that a sure sign of a big sucker... cough cough, a golden thigh?
She hadn't expected him to be her neighbor. Proximity breeds affection, and she had to seize the opportunity!
*
Early in the morning, Ou Minghan arrived at the hospital and entered Zhou Chengyuan's ward.
"Why are you here?" Zhou Chengyuan said somewhat awkwardly.
"I'm here to see my sister, and incidentally to see you." Ou Minghan asked with a frown, "How did you end up in the hospital? Also, do you know that there are rumors outside that you have a venereal disease?"
His words brought back unpleasant memories for Zhou Chengyuan. His face immediately turned extremely ugly. Zhou Hengyuan gritted his teeth and said, "This Ye Zhi! I underestimated her!"
Ou Minghan's eyelids twitched. It was indeed Ye Zhi's doing. He knew Zhou Chengyuan's personality well and incited him, "Why don't we call off that bet of ours..."
"How can we call it off?" Zhou Chengyuan gritted his teeth stubbornly. "I admit Ye Zhi is a bit difficult to pursue, but only such women are challenging! I must make this woman love me to death and obediently kneel at my feet!"
A hint of success flashed across Ou Minghan's face. He then asked, "Shall I help you with your discharge papers?"
"Let's wait a bit longer," Zhou Chengyuan said with some worry. "I want to get a full examination..."
Ou Minghan immediately took two steps back, a look of disgust undeniably flashing in his eyes. "Young Master Zhou, you don't mean you've actually contracted something, do you? Don't you only sleep with clean women every time?"
Zhou Chengyuan said displeasedly, "Those women were all brought to me after being drugged and unconscious by your subordinate Wu Yongzhi. How would I know if they were truly clean? What if one of them was actually infected? I must get checked!"
Ou Minghan didn't say anything further. He soon left. Zhou Chengyuan underwent a full examination and, upon confirming he hadn't contracted any strange diseases, finally felt relieved.
After leaving the hospital, he directly ordered ninety-nine roses from a flower shop and then headed to Ye Corporation with the roses.
At this time, Ye Zhi had almost finished negotiating with Cheng An Company. Zhang Yicheng knew the importance of the matter concerning the building materials, so he personally led the negotiations. However, he hadn't expected that facing Ye Zhi, such a young junior, he wouldn't gain any advantage.
In the end, the negotiated result was that besides paying Ye Corporation triple compensation according to the contract, the losses incurred by Ye Corporation's work stoppage would naturally be borne by Cheng An Company.
Ye Zhi was quite satisfied with this outcome. After seeing Zhang Yicheng off, Ye Zhi received a call from the front desk to her office.
"President Ye, a Mr. Zhou wants to see you. He says he's your friend," the front desk girl said with envy in her voice. "He's carrying a huge bouquet of roses, looks like ninety-nine..."
"Zhou Chengyuan?" Ye Zhi's eyebrows slightly raised.
"Yes, yes, yes, that's him!" the front desk asked with a smile. "Should I let him up?"
Ye Zhi's brows furrowed. Zhou Chengyuan had come looking for her so quickly, but she wasn't overly surprised.
She could also guess why Zhou Chengyuan was pestering her. She was simply not the type of woman Zhou Chengyuan would like. His persistent entanglement was likely at Ou Minghan's behest. These two were in cahoots, both good-for-nothings, so she didn't need to be polite to him.
"No need," Ye Zhi said calmly. "Please ask him to leave and say I'm busy. Also, tell him to take the flowers he brought away. If he doesn't take them, discard them as soon as possible. After you discard them, remember to wash your hands frequently and disinfect."
"Ah? Why?" The front desk was very confused. If Ye Zhi didn't like them, she could understand telling her to throw the flowers away, but why ask her to wash her hands frequently and disinfect?
"I'll tell you privately, but don't tell anyone else," Ye Zhi lowered her voice. "I heard from someone that he might have contracted a venereal disease..."