“I knew you would think so. I know Sister Ying is amazing and beautiful, but unfortunately Qin Hanyue is indifferent towards women,” Huo Chengdong said with an I-knew-it expression.
“If you were a man, he might chat with you for a couple sentences out of appreciation for your personality and talent, but unfortunately you’re a woman, so no chance,” Huo Chengdong said decisively.
Qiao Ying was a bit embarrassed: “Indifferent towards women?”
Huo Chengdong: “You don’t know about it huh? To put it nicely he’s chaste, but to put it bluntly, he probably has some issues.”
Glancing at Qin Hanyue who was stopped by guests in the distance, Huo Chengdong continued, “Every year there's people trying to send women to his bed, guess what happened?”
Qiao Ying didn’t respond.
“A real estate tycoon accidentally offended him before. He handpicked a woman to give Qin Hanyue as a gift, but the aftermath was even more disastrous.”
“After this incident spread, no one dared to play these little tricks with him. He might still be a virgin now,” Huo Chengdong sneakily added.
A virgin...?
Qiao Ying raised an eyebrow slightly. Her gaze turned to look at the man not far away two times over. Not knowing if she was amused by Huo Chengdong’s daring words or pleased by that term, the corners of her mouth curled up slightly, making her expression become more lively and interesting.
Qiao Ying picked up the glass of wine, wanting to drink it, but after sniffing the aroma she put it back down.
“If he really is chaste, I would actually admire him, but for someone in his position to still keep it, I don’t believe it. I think he just can’t do it, either he’s afraid of women or he’s impotent,” she said.
“Sister Ying, if you feel the previous bet didn’t have enough challenge, let’s change it – if you can have bodily contact with him and still come out unharmed, you can set whatever conditions you want. A handshake doesn’t count!”
Qiao Ying: “Just that? If I could...”
Looking at the man who was declining guests’ small talk all the way as he walked towards her again, her gaze fell on that extremely superior face.
Qiao Ying blurted out, “What if I could touch his face?”
Huo Chengdong was startled at first, feeling Qiao Ying was bold.
But then he shook his head: “No, even if you dared I wouldn’t dare let you touch. I still want you to teach me racing, I don’t want you breaking your hands and feet. If you really provoke him, even if my grandfather and Principal Zhang plead for you, they might not be able to protect you. Let’s not mess around anymore...”
Just as Huo Chengdong was speaking, they suddenly heard the man's magnetic voice ask: "What are you talking about?"
Huo Chengdong gave a start. Looking up, he saw Qin Hanyue had come over at some point, standing tall in front of him. The shorter Huo Chengdong unconsciously stood up straighter.
"Sister Ying--" He grabbed Qiao Ying's arm again, wanting to pull her away.
But he heard Qiao Ying say to Qin Hanyue: "He bet me that I couldn't touch your face and still live afterwards."
Huo Chengdong had a huge mental "WTF"!
Wanting to stop Qiao Ying, but she had already finished speaking. Huo Chengdong panicked a bit, wondering if he should explain to Qin Hanyue.
Qin Hanyue was also mentally going "WTF": What a wonderful thing!
Qin Hanyue murmured in agreement, his eyes lowered as his deep gaze fell on the hand Huo Chengdong used to grab Qiao Ying.
His expression unchanged, he asked Qiao Ying, "What are the stakes?"
Qiao Ying: "Haven't decided yet."
Huo Chengdong: "..."
Why did it feel like something was off between Sister Ying and this guy, not like how strangers talked to each other.
Was this the calm before the storm?
Qin Hanyue nodded slightly and said, "Then if I take initiative, can the stakes be increased?"
Qiao Ying: "He doesn't have anything worthwhile on hand to take out..."
Before she finished speaking, the man suddenly leaned down, his sharp yet familiar aura approaching the girl. His seductive voice asked, "Where do you want to touch?"
Looking at the exquisite face right before her eyes, Qiao Ying didn't make another sound.
The man's eyes contained laughter as he looked at the girl. His usually indifferent and deterring dark eyes now revealed tenderness.
Qin Yan secretly looked around and wanted to tug on Qin Hanyue's clothes. Young Master Three, restraint! Everyone is watching!
Yet he also felt a mysterious sense of superiority – this bunch hadn’t seen the world.
The guests were curious about Qiao Ying’s identity. Not a few intentionally or unintentionally paid attention to Qiao Ying standing behind the champagne tower, until Qin Hanyue's appearance shifted everyone’s focus. They went up one by one to greet him, wanting to gain some familiarity.
But upon seeing His Lordship impatiently dismissing them all the way until he went straight to the girl, their gazes were brought back.
The moment Qin Hanyue reached the girl and spoke to her, discussion immediately grew noisy.
And then, the scene of the man in a suit with both hands in pockets, bending down as if to steal a kiss stunned the guests speechless.
The chatter disappeared, the whole venue falling silent.
Being so close, the impact was too great for Huo Chengdong.
He was dumbfounded, and his hand grabbing Qiao Ying’s arm also unconsciously let go.
Who the hell could tell him what was going on!
Old Man Huo was just listening to Elder Ming and Zhang Chengyong praise Qiao Ying’s superb medical skills, mathematics genius, great personality – he looked at the seemingly compatible Qiao Ying chatting with his grandson in the distance, his thoughts completely coming alive.
Hearing Zhang Chengyong say he would laugh himself awake with joy if Qiao Ying could be his granddaughter-in-law, Old Man Huo also wanted to poke his nose in.
He thought that although his useless grandson couldn't compare to Xu Zhiyi, his relationship with this young lady currently seemed better than Xu Zhiyi’s.
But when he looked over again, he froze.
He blinked his undeteriorating eyes – was that... Young Master Qin Three?
The Xu brothers wanted to quickly finish receiving the guests so they could go chat with Qiao Ying, when they suddenly discovered the guests were all frozen and staring at a spot as if seeing ghosts.
Puzzled, they followed their line of sight, and saw this scene.
Seeing Qiao Ying didn't move and just looked at him, Qin Hanyue’s voice lifted up slightly as he asked again, "Hmm?"
Qiao Ying's expression changed a bit. Her face didn't reveal any particular emotion as she said, "No need, his pocket change isn't worth my time."
Qin Hanyue could only regretfully say, "Alright, if you ever need my assistance in the future, I'm happy to oblige."
Then reluctantly he stood up straight again.
Qiao Ying glanced at him. "Mr. Qin is really enthusiastic."
Qin Hanyue gave a wry smile. "Just doing my duty."
He asked, "Have you greeted Principal Zhang?"
Qiao Ying: "Mm-hmm."
Qin Hanyue: "I had to briefly handle something that came up and arrived late. I'll go greet Principal Zhang and be right back."
After speaking, he turned and left.
Seeing Qin Hanyue walking away, Qin Yan looked at the things in his hands, then at Qiao Ying. Wanting to say something but couldn't since Young Master Three was gone already. He could only continue holding the things and follow along.
Seeing Qin Hanyue come over, Zhang Chengyong sighed, "Looks like it’s not meant to be for my family."
After Qin Hanyue greeted Old Man Huo and the others, they chatted a bit.
Seeing Qin Yan holding a long box, Zhang Chengyong thought it was a birthday gift and asked the stunned Xu Zhilǐ to receive it, while saying, "You being here is good enough, what's the need for gifts?"
Qin Hanyue raised his hand to stop Xu Zhilǐ and explained, "The birthday present for you has already been delivered to the steward. This is something I brought for Miss Qiao."
Qin Yan exclaimed internally: Such strategy!
By not directly giving it to Miss Qiao earlier and deliberately bringing it over for them all to see first, it was to indicate his feelings for Miss Qiao and make some wishful thinking people become more self-aware.
"Oh?" Zhang Chengyong looked at the thing Qin Yan was holding and asked, "This is wine?"
Qin Hanyue: "Yes, it’s wine."
Zhang Chengyong was unhappy: "What do you mean by this? Is my Zhang family’s wine not good enough for the table?"
Qin Hanyue smiled and said, "That's not my intention. She just has a picky palette.”
