In the dim, cramped carriage, Qin Beiting rested his arms on the cushion, hovering over the girl like a beast, his eyes wicked and unrestrained, staring at the person beneath him as if she were prey.
Yu He felt the raw energy radiating from the man, different from the previous two times. This time, Qin Beiting seemed genuinely angry. Before, a little soft talk from her would diffuse his temper.
But this time, she had been soft, and it clearly didn't work.
Moreover, with the current intensity, she doubted she'd make it back home; she felt she'd be devoured by him right here.
Not wanting a public spectacle, she proactively hugged Qin Beiting, softening her tone.
"Brother Ting, can you not do this? I don't like it when you're like this. It hurts me. And it's so dark here, I don't like it."
The faint fragrance of the girl and her gentle words stirred Qin Beiting.
He embraced Yu He's waist and sat up. "You have one minute to explain."
"..."
Thank you very much.
"I told you, I just happened to run into Li Si Chen. You don't believe me?" Yu He asked tentatively.
"You're about to form an alliance, and it was just a chance encounter?" Qin Beiting said coolly, deliberately glancing at the cloth bag that had fallen onto the blanket.
He had noticed earlier that Yu He had placed the USB drive Li Si Chen gave her inside it.
Yu He felt a sense of helplessness. He had indeed overheard; she couldn't lie anymore. But why only half-listen?
She had never discussed forming any alliance with Li Si Chen. He was the one spouting nonsense!
Still, she admitted it was wrong to deceive him, which led to this misunderstanding.
"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have lied to you. But if I had told you the truth, that I was meeting Li Si Chen, would you have stopped me from coming out?" Yu He analyzed.
Qin Beiting's gaze was steady, and his silence was an admission.
Seeing he didn't object, Yu He continued, "But he's my master. In the hacker world, I still have much to learn from him. Tonight, I was going to get the code he owed me. As for any alliance, that was all his nonsense. You're so smart, you wouldn't have fallen for his trick too, would you?"
"Didn't you two communicate online before?" Qin Beiting asked darkly.
His implication was clear: if they could communicate online before, why the need for a face-to-face meeting now?
It was just an excuse for Li Si Chen to ask her out. How could this young girl not see such an obvious ploy?!
"And besides, am I worse than him? Is there anything you want to learn that you can't ask me?"
"..."
Yu He couldn't possibly tell him that she had been losing to him before and felt indignant, wanting to study hard and win against him just once.
Despite her internal complaints, she went along with him on the surface. "I'll ask you from now on, okay? If I kiss you, will you stop being angry?"
As she spoke, Yu He cupped his incredibly handsome face and kissed his lips.
Her apology and explanation managed to dissipate much of Qin Beiting's anger. Coupled with Yu He's rare initiative, he, who could never be harsh with her, found it unbearable. He cupped the back of her head and deepened the kiss.
Yu He felt weak all over from his kiss. Sensing that his oppressive aura had finally dissipated, she breathed a sigh of relief, having narrowly avoided a public display of intimacy.
It had been more difficult than undergoing major surgery.
Just as she thought the matter was settled, she heard the man speak again, "Then throw away the USB drive he gave you."
"................"
Yu He suddenly suspected that all his rambling had led to this very point.
Seeing her silence, Qin Beiting added, "Or you can promise me you won't meet Li Si Chen again!"
Discarding the USB drive was out of the question, and so was never meeting him again. Although Li Si Chen's personality in reality was vastly different from his online persona, he was her master and had shown her kindness.
Furthermore, they would be participating in the research and development of Qin's new chip together. How could they not meet?
These two demands from Qin Beiting were deliberate, weren't they?!
"Master Qin, you're being a bit too jealous," Yu He poked his shoulder with her finger. "Why don't you just eliminate all the men in the world!"
Qin Beiting caught her hand, his deep eyes gazing intently at her, yet his gaze seemed to wander as if lost in thought.
"I can promise you that I won't hide things from you about meeting him anymore and I won't lie. You also can't lie to me anymore, okay?" Yu He continued.
There should be no deception between two people in a relationship.
"Okay!" Qin Beiting agreed.
Yu He sensed his distraction and frowned. "What are you thinking about?"
Qin Beiting: "I think what you said makes a lot of sense."
Yu He: "..."
Qin Beiting: "So I'm considering the feasibility of eliminating all the men in the world."
Yu He: "..................."
As they prepared to leave, Yu He remembered Qiao Wei and was about to call him to ask him to return with them.
Just then, the siren of an ambulance grew louder and closer, finally stopping at the entrance of Buyetian.
Doctors and nurses alighted from the vehicle, rushing into Buyetian with a gurney. Meanwhile, Yu He's calls to Qiao Wei went unanswered.
After two unanswered calls, the third one finally connected, but it was Shen Yao's voice:
"Hello? Yu He? Where the hell are you?"
"What's wrong?" Yu He asked, noticing the wrong tone in his voice, accompanied by background noise.
She opened the car door, got out, and her gaze fell on the ambulance at the entrance of Buyetian.
"Qiao Wei collapsed in the stairwell. We don't know if he's alive or dead. The ambulance just took him away," Shen Yao said.
So, he was the one who called the ambulance.
Yu He hung up the phone and walked quickly towards the ambulance. Just then, a nurse who had entered Buyetian emerged, pushing a stretcher with Qiao Wei lying on it. Shen Yao followed behind.
Upon seeing Yu He, he immediately went over. "Where the hell were you hiding? I've been looking for you all this time."
Yu He frowned. "Can't you call?"
"Well, you'd have to take me off the blacklist first!" Shen Yao grumbled.
Yu He thought, when did I ever blacklist you?
But when she checked her phone, Shen Yao's number was indeed blocked. She immediately turned back and saw Qin Beiting driving up behind her.
She had never blocked him. The only person who could access her phone was Qin Beiting.
Wasn't this jealous streak a bit too childish?!
But now was not the time to dwell on such matters. The ambulance needed a family member or friend to accompany the patient. Yu He opened the rear door of Qin Beiting's car, retrieved her bag, and turned to get into the ambulance with the nurse.
Qin Beiting drove behind the ambulance.
Upon arriving at the city hospital, Qiao Wei's condition was diagnosed: a concussion caused by hitting his head, moderate concussion.
Yu He administered a few injections. Qiao Wei slowly regained consciousness, but the aftereffects of the concussion left him in poor condition.
Yu He told him to rest and that they would discuss things tomorrow before leaving the room.
Outside the ward, both Qin Beiting and Shen Yao were present.
Qin Beiting was sitting on a bench, a laptop on his lap, engrossed in something.
"What happened?" Yu He asked Shen Yao.
"I have no idea. He said you were on the second floor, so I searched the second floor, delivering wine. I couldn't find you, and then he disappeared," Shen Yao said.
"It's Qiao Qiao," Qin Beiting said suddenly.