“Relationship? What relationship?” Li Peak froze, caught off guard for a moment.
“You and Mu Xiuzhen, I mean. You two looked awfully close.” Hu Yuanyuan kept smiling.
“I swear I can smell vinegar.” Li Peak stepped beside her, sniffed the air around her shoulders, and grinned.
“Be serious. I’m asking you a question.” Hu Yuanyuan tapped his forehead.
“Nothing between us. Last time I taught a few punks a lesson, she saw it and decided I’m just another spoiled rich brat who starts trouble.” Li Peak gave her half the truth.
“That simple?” Hu Yuanyuan’s smile didn’t reach her eyes.
“Of course. What else could it be? Haven’t you noticed how Mu Xiuzhen looks at me? Like she wants me dead.” Li Peak hurried to add; he hadn’t expected Hu Yuanyuan’s radar to be this sharp.
“Mu Xiuzhen isn’t some hot-headed kid. Would she want you dead just for being a playboy? Really?” Hu Yuanyuan fired back.
“Er… I’ve no idea. Yuanyuan, care to enlighten me?” Li Peak faltered.
“Humph.” Hu Yuanyuan snorted, clearly unsatisfied. Deep down, she was convinced something secret linked Li Peak and Mu Xiuzhen.
“Yuanyuan, you’re not thinking Mu Xiuzhen is my woman, are you?” Li Peak chuckled.
“Why not? Everyone knows Li Peak, the famous ladies’ man.” Hu Yuanyuan’s laugh was ice-cold.
“Those old stories? That was Li Quan using my name.” Li Peak protested.
“And you expect me to believe that? Humph. No cat passes up fish, especially not you, Li Peak. Don’t shove everything onto Li Quan. I refuse to believe you didn’t give the orders.” Hu Yuanyuan rolled her eyes.
“I have a stunning wife at home now. Why would I bother?” Li Peak said.
“Men always claim the wild flowers smell sweeter.” Hu Yuanyuan snorted again.
“But I only want the flower at home.” In his heart he added, “One flower? Try a whole garden.” Aloud he laughed, scooped Hu Yuanyuan into his arms.
“Li Peak, what are you…” Hu Yuanyuan squealed.
“I need to know how fragrant my home flower really is.” He set her on the desk and kissed her cherry lips.
Click!
The office door swung open. Xu Qing’s voice rang out, “Boss Hu, Boss Li…”
Xu Qing stepped in, saw them, blushed scarlet, and fled.
“Let go!” Hu Yuanyuan glared, mortified that Xu Qing had caught them.
Li Peak gave an awkward laugh. A little voice in his head kept repeating, “Xu Qing again. I need to deal with her properly next time, stop her ruining my fun.”
“Li Peak, I have work to do. Leave if you’ve nothing else.” Hu Yuanyuan feared what he might try next.
Though interrupted, Li Peak only felt mild annoyance. Given Hu Yuanyuan’s current condition, real action was off the table; a grope and a kiss were the limit.
Leaving her office, he spotted Xu Qing at her desk, cheeks still pink. He strolled over with a smile.
Xu Qing’s mind replayed the image of Hu Yuanyuan pinned to the desk beneath Li Peak’s kiss. Bare minutes after she’d left the room, they had started. A strange ache filled her chest.
Twice now. Twice she had burst in on the bosses. She felt like a useless assistant.
Yet part of her felt a pang of loss, because one of them was Li Peak. Ever since he casually invented Intelligent One, she had admired him. When he rescued her from Zheng Haoyuan, something deeper had stirred. And last time, his hints had been crystal clear.
Boss and subordinate, the eternal urban legend. Xu Qing never imagined it would happen to her.
She had thought Hu Yuanyuan was her only boss. A female boss meant safety from that sort of thing, unless the boss swung the other way, which seemed unlikely.
Then she discovered a second boss: Li Peak, who clearly had designs on her.
Watching him kiss Hu Yuanyuan, she had caught herself wishing it was her on that desk.
Tap, tap, tap.
Footsteps. She looked up. Li Peak approached. Her heart raced.
“Assistant Xu.” His voice was warm velvet.
“B-Boss Li.” She stood, avoiding his eyes, terrified he could read her thoughts.
“You look breathtaking today, Assistant Xu.” He spoke low, for her ears only.
“I…”
“I know you dressed for me. Admit it.” His faint smile never wavered.
“No.” Faced with him, her usual sharpness vanished; words tangled.
“No need to deny it. I know exactly what you were thinking.” The corner of his mouth lifted.
“You… know?” Her face drained of colour.
“Of course. And I’ll make every wish come true.” His tone dripped promise.
Xu Qing’s cheeks burned. If he truly knew her fantasy, how could she ever face him again?
“Assistant Xu, how about dinner tonight? My treat. I’ll tell Boss Hu to give you the evening off.” He grinned.
The words “Boss Hu” snapped her back to earth. “Boss Li, it’s office hours. I have work. Please don’t disturb me.”
Li Peak chuckled and dropped the teasing. “Fine. The stolen chemical equipment case, treat it as top priority. Keep close contact with the police. Also, I need every file on Supervisor Wu.”
“Right away.” Xu Qing sat, opened the company drive.
Li Peak loomed above her. From his angle, her blouse offered a generous view. His throat went dry.
“Boss Li…” She glanced up, caught his stare, and hastily tugged her collar higher.
“Hm? Yes?” He dragged his eyes upward, but the image was already branded in his mind. Xu Qing certainly had assets. He wondered how they compared to Hu Yuanyuan’s.
“How shall I send the files?” she asked.
“Text them to my phone.”
She nodded, attached the dossier on Supervisor Wu, and hit send.
His phone pinged. He skimmed it, nodded approval. “Won’t keep you any longer.” He turned and left.
Xu Qing exhaled only after the door closed. Another minute and who knew what he might have done.
She had no idea that, in public, with Hu Yuanyuan next door, Li Peak would never cross the line.
Once he had Supervisor Wu’s file, Li Peak forwarded it to Zhong Shuhui for deeper digging.
Stealing dozens of tonnes of chemical machinery required meticulous planning. His biggest worry now was that Supervisor Wu might already be silenced. He suspected Fu Yanxiong, but without proof he was powerless.
Last time at Fengyuan Group, Fu Yanxiong had seemed underwhelming; Li Peak had thought Zhong Shuhui overestimated him. Now he realised he had been the one underestimating.
His mood darkened. Losing the machines was a minor financial hit, but to Li Peak this was war. He would rather see them sunk in the sea than in Fu Yanxiong’s hands.
For now he could only watch Fu Yanxiong, investigate Wu, and lean on the police to scour Tianhai City. Machines that size couldn’t leave the city overnight. As long as they remained, he had a chance. Fu Yanxiong’s local network was limited; hiding them long-term was near impossible, especially since he needed them operational soon.
Leaving the company, Li Peak drove toward the suburban training base.
Yesterday’s fight with Liu Zi and his men had pushed him to the edge of a breakthrough. He had suppressed it then; time and place had been wrong. Now he needed the base to attempt the leap. Even a small realm increase meant greater safety.
Unseen, countless eyes tracked his car until he entered the base, then relayed the news up the chain.
A storm was coming.
