Qiao Chuchu was so shocked that her eyes widened, and she tried to pull her hand back: "Ying Chen, are you crazy—"
Lou Tingsi suddenly lunged forward and yanked her hand back!
Then, with a swift motion, he grabbed a chair and moved Qiao Chuchu, chair and all, to the side!
Qiao Chuchu, now huddled on the chair: "?"
Lou Tingsi was furious: "Ying Chen, don’t you have any sense of shame?!"
Ying Chen leaned lazily against the chair, his smile mischievous: "Of course I do, and I wasn’t planning to go any further. You just didn’t give me a moment to pause. I was just teasing her."
He grinned, his eyes curving with amusement as he looked at Qiao Chuchu: "Look at her, she’s so scared her face is all red."
Qiao Chuchu’s face turned as red as a tomato, her brain struggling to keep up.
[This Ying Chen has no sense of propriety!!!]
[In my eyes, he’s just a contrasting cuteness CEO! After all, he secretly loves poking at wool felt crafts!!!]
[Who wants to touch his abs?! Even if his abs are drop-dead gorgeous, he can’t just grab my hand and make me touch them!!]
[Psychos! They’re all psychos!]
Ying Chen: "?"
Lou Tingsi: "?"
The person on the video call: "?"
Lou Tingsi suddenly burst out laughing: "Pfft!!"
Pei Ci, who had been looking grim, couldn’t help but sneer: "The world is full of oddities. Some people seem disgusting on the surface, but it turns out they’re secretly into fluffy little toys. How very girly of them."
Pei Mu smirked sinisterly: "Someone like that probably doesn’t have much masculinity to speak of. No wonder he’s showing off—the more he flaunts, the less he actually has."
The others nodded in agreement.
Ying Chen’s face darkened: "..."
Qiao Chuchu felt mentally exhausted: [I've realized my sensitivity to perverts has decreased. After all, there aren’t many normal people around me, so I'm not even surprised by Ying Chen's antics anymore.]
Everyone: "?"
Qiao Chuchu lowered her head, conflicted: [Although I really want to beat Ying Chen up, he offered me 300 million plus a bonus to help him find a spy. For 300 million, I think touching him isn’t that big of a deal.]
Ying Chen: "?"
Lou Tingsi: "...?"
Pei Yuan: "????"
300 million?
For just 300 million, she’s willing to endure such humiliation?!
Pei Yuan felt an indescribable weariness: "Qiao Chuchu."
Qiao Chuchu looked up at the phone screen.
Pei Yuan felt as though he had aged ten years, staring at her in disbelief: "Haven’t I taken good care of you? I practically fed you diamonds. Why do you still act like you’re afraid of being broke?"
Qiao Chuchu: "? What are you talking about? You’ve got it all wrong!"
She clutched her chest in surprise: "I really am afraid of being broke!"
Pei Yuan: "?"
The others: "?"
Qiao Chuchu pouted, looking like a wronged child, her voice trembling: "And for some reason, I feel like you’ve all become so strange. It’s like you’re treating me like a monkey, each of you trying to snatch me up and keep me as a pet!"
She stood up, her voice choked with emotion: "I’ve lived this long, and I’ve never had so many people around me. I used to be disliked by everyone, but now it’s like I’m some kind of universal favorite. Your concern is too much for me to handle! Do you know how much pressure I’m under?!"
Everyone was stunned, watching the distressed Qiao Chuchu with guilt etched on their faces.
Pei Yuan on the video call spoke up anxiously: "Chuchu, that’s not what I meant—"
Qiao Chuchu tilted her head back, as if holding back tears: "I don’t want to hear it. I need some peace and quiet. Goodbye."
She turned and walked away, her steps quick and light, as if she had oiled her feet to make a swift escape!
[Hahahahahahahahaha I’m so clever, this excuse is perfect for slipping away!]
[A bunch of psychos having a meeting—I’m not sticking around for that nonsense hahaha!]
[I’m outta here! Time to scroll through Douyin and Bilibili!~~~]
The others, who had just started to feel guilty and concerned: "...?"
Pei Yuan, who was about to spiral into self-doubt: "...?"
Ying Chen laughed and called out: "Qiao Chuchu, you—"
Qiao Chuchu suddenly stopped in her tracks, leaning against the wall.
Her posture suggested she might be feeling unwell.
Everyone raised an eyebrow, watching her with interest.
Oh, what now? Planning to pretend she’s sick to make another escape?
Qiao Chuchu stood with her back to them, her hand pressed against the wall, her face pale.
She was seeing visions.
She and another girl were running away, a car chasing them from behind.
Somehow, the girl in front of her suddenly turned around and shoved her hard!
She fell to the ground, looking up in panic to see Xia Xuechun’s resolute expression.
Xia Xuechun ran off into the darkness without a second glance.
Qiao Chuchu tried to get up, but a man grabbed her tightly.
His evil whispers and foul breath washed over her as the cold wind blew. She was forced into the trunk of his car, her body too weak to struggle no matter how hard she tried.
The scene shifted. She was lying on an operating table, watching helplessly as the man injected an unknown substance into her arm.
Her body was limp, like soft tofu. The man, whose face she couldn’t see, picked up a chainsaw and aimed it at her neck, slicing through.
Qiao Chuchu jolted awake from the vision, collapsing to her knees!
Lou Tingsi and Ying Chen’s expressions changed instantly as they rushed to her side: "What’s wrong?!"
Her brothers frowned at the screen, and Yu Can stepped closer to the camera, watching Qiao Chuchu, who had curled into a small ball.
Qiao Chuchu was ice-cold, clutching her throat, trembling violently from sheer terror, her mind blank!
[I was dismembered by a psychopath!]
[I got dismembered again!!!]
[For some reason, Xia Xuechun and I were both captured! But that bitch Xia Xuechun betrayed me!!!!]
[We were running together, and I thought we could help each other. In that kind of situation, we shouldn’t have turned on each other! If we worked together, we could’ve escaped that psychopath!]
[But she pushed me toward him, letting me get caught while she ran away!]
[Before dismembering me, he injected me with something that made me too weak to fight back!]
Qiao Chuchu’s face was drained of color, her panic growing.
[Is this something I’m going to experience?]
Where is that psychopath? When is he coming for me? How can I protect myself?!
Lou Tingsi’s expression softened as he watched Qiao Chuchu shiver. He gently wrapped an arm around her shoulders: "Qiao Chuchu, don’t be afraid. I’m here. You don’t need to be scared, okay?"
Ying Chen frowned, shoving Lou Tingsi aside impatiently: "Enough with the nonsense."
He scooped Qiao Chuchu up in his arms and roughly handed her a gun: "Take this."
Qiao Chuchu stared blankly at the warm gun in her hand, tears welling up as she looked at Ying Chen.
Ying Chen’s brow furrowed as he spoke to her seriously: "The greatest fear comes from a lack of firepower. But as long as I’m here, your gun will never run out of bullets."
Tears of fear streamed down Qiao Chuchu’s face as she tilted her head in confusion: "I don’t think... I ever said what I was afraid of."
"I don’t know what you’re afraid of," Ying Chen said firmly. "But nothing gives you more security than holding a gun. If that’s not enough, you should also carry a few grenades and a submachine gun."
"Luckily, I’m an arms dealer," Ying Chen added with a proud smirk. "And luckily, I have grenades and submachine guns."
