Xu Youning took off her lounge clothing and put on a beige trench coat, then she followed Mu Sijue out.

  She remembered that Mu Sijue had said he would never support those who were of no value. Since the wound in her feet had healed, Mu Sijue might be taking her out to make her continue working for him.

  “That’s not bad.” She thought, “At least I’ll have the chance to ask Mu Sijue how much he quoted for the recent transactions.”


  Kang Ruicheng had told her to perform the mission. Due to her illness, she hadn’t asked Mu Sijue about his business. She was afraid of being suspected by him if she mentioned it unexpectedly, so she had keeping silence.

  There might be a chance for her to get the answer, and it depended on whether she could grasp it.

  A car had been waiting at the gate. After Mu Sijue and Xu Youning got into it, the car ran toward a holiday villa and finally stopped in front of a foreign-style house inside.

  Xu Youning got off and saw Shen Yuechuan get out of his flamboyant yellow sports car.

  Shen Yuechuan was in a casual suit and a pair of vintage brown leather shoes, which made him look like a dashing young master and 10 times more stylish than Mu Sijue. Besides, Shen Yuechuan’s exquisite personality made Xu Youning think that he would be the focus even when there were too many men and few women.

  Shen Yuechuan calmly sized Xu Youning up: she was in an ordinary blouse, jeans and a trench coat with supreme texture. The elegant and youthful style, along with her nice features, made her look like the pretty girl next door.

  Kang Ruicheng’s right-hand woman, his most powerful weapon, the one who had been assigned to work undercover…… Shen Yuechuan couldn’t equate those words with the girl before him.

  Mu Sijue knew Shen Yuechuan well; he had already noticed his gaze. Mu Sijue stepped forward to stop Xu Youning and said, “Let’s go.”


  Xu Youning and Shen Yuechuan followed Mu Sijue, walking through a garden into the foreign-styled house, of which the luxurious living room was lit by bright crystal chandeliers.

  A large group of young and beautiful girls surrounded Mike and his three guys. The coffee table was covered with cigarettes and liquor, in which there was something people could easily get addicted to. Under the table there were a few packets of unknown pills.

  Xu Youning glanced over and found that a few girls were high, then she began to think.

  She didn’t care what those girls had taken. She was wondering why Mu Sijue took her there to meet Mike and those guys.

  Kang Ruicheng had told her on the phone that they wouldn’t be able to cooperate with Mike anymore because of Lu Boyan’s interference. That’s was why Mu Sijue wanted to make the latest deal. In other words, that day Mu Sijue was likely there to sign a contract with Mike.

  “But why did he bring me here?” Xu Youning thought.

  Mu Sijue knew well that she was unwilling to see Mike’s guys again, for she had nearly been drowned to death the other morning, something which she would never forget. If it weren’t for Mu Sijue asking her not to act on her own, she would have taken revenge herself!

  Xu Youning suddenly had a sense of foreboding: maybe she wasn’t the only one to bear a grudge, since Mike also remembered having been beaten up by her the other evening. The reason why Mu Sijue took her there was that Mike would agree to sign the contract only if Mu Sijue handed her over to him.

  All of a sudden, Xu Youning felt like her heart was being soaked in a bucket full of ice.

  “Mr. Mu, Mr. Shen, take your seats.” Mike’s English sounded heavily accented. At the same time, he motioned for all the other girls to go upstairs.

  Mu Sijue and Shen Yuechuan leisurely sat across from Mike, while Xu Youning still stood there, blanked out. Shen Yuechuan snapped his fingers and said, “Did your wounded leg recover? Why are you standing there? Just have a seat.”


  Xu Youning slowly sat down, thinking that if Mu Sijue handed her over to Mike, she would never easily give up her resistance.

  She would rather die there than be humiliated by Mike.

  Then Mu Sijue began to discuss the terms for cooperating with Mike, which had been agreed by both. They didn’t argue too much and made the final confirmation.

  In the end, Mike looked deeply at Xu Youning. Then he turned to Mu Sijue and said, “Okay, I’m ready Mr. Mu. Can we close the deal?”


  Mu Sijue calmly looked into Mike’s eyes and said, “I have another condition.”


  The moment he saw Xu Youning, Mike realized that they were not just going to talk about the terms for cooperation that night. He made a gesture of “please” and said, “Go ahead.”


  Mu Sijue took out a cellphone and showed Mike a video, in which Xu Youning was tied to a board that was slowly drifting toward the middle of a lake, and she was sinking.

  Mike frowned and heard Mu Sijue saying, “I want to see the guy who made this video.”


  Mike’s three guys were standing behind him. At the end of Mu Sijue’s voice, the guy on the left quietly clenched his fist, with his lips quivering.

  Mu Sijue saw it all, while the subtle changes in his eyes were captured by Mike’s.

  Mike realized that it was impossible for the guy to escape, so he shouted, “Jason, are you listening? Step forward!”


  Jason pursed his lips with considerable strength, trying to suppress his quiver.

  Mu Sijue gave him a faint smile and said, “Take it easy. I won’t end your life. It’s a waste of my time.”


  His words didn’t reassure Jason at all. Instead, it frightened him more.

  They had been in China for a long time and had met Mu Sijue many times, so they knew him well. Mu Sijue didn’t mean to let him go, however—he was going to make Jason’s life a living hell instead of ending it.

  With the imminent calamity, Jason could do nothing but to respectfully say, “Mr. Mu, thank you for your mercy.”


  The only person out of the loop was Xu Youning; she was confused during the exchange.

  She recalled many times the talk between Mu Sijue and Mike, and realized that Mu Sijue had taken her there to avenge her. She had thought that Mu Sijue would hand her over to Mike as a term for the cooperation.

  Xu Youning couldn’t help thinking, “If it was Kang Ruicheng, he would hand me over to Mike, and ask me to escape on my own.”


  “But, by the way, why is he so obedient to Mu Sijue? Isn’t Mike an arrogant man?”


  “What did Mu Sijue do to Mike during the half month when I was recovering from my injury?”


  “What are you thinking? You’re absorbed in it.” Shen Yuechuan pressed Xu Youning’s head with his forefinger and said, “We’re leaving. Are you going to stay?”


  “No!” Xu Youning abruptly stood up. If it weren’t for Shen Yuechuan avoiding in time, she would have bumped into the charming chin that he was proud of. She said at once, “I’m sorry.”


  “.……” Shen Yuechuan sighed in his mind and thought, “She’s so slow and too insensitive about everything around her. It was careless of Kang Ruicheng to assign her to work undercover.”


  They walked out of the foreign-styled house, in front of which was the mother river of City A flowing through the holiday villa; the river water wasn’t clean. It was about 11 degrees Celsius that day, which wasn’t low enough to freeze the river, while the water was extremely cold.

  “Mr. Mu, I must say sorry on behalf of Jason to Miss Xu, could you please……?” Mike said with awkwardness, but Mu Sijue interrupted him.

  “Don’t you think the three words ‘I am sorry’ are pointless?” Mu Sijue said in a freezing voice, “I only accept remorse.”


  Xu Youning had been absent-minded. She didn’t know what Mu Sijue had said to Mike. Hearing those words, she became quite confused. When she was about to turn and ask Shen Yuechuan, there came a shout of pain—


  “Ah—!”


  She subconsciously looked over and saw Jason fall into the river. With a splash, he made a huge burst of the river water. Jason cried while struggling, “Help! Help!”


  Although he could swim, the river water was so cold that it was difficult for him to move his arms and legs in it. Along with the unpleasant smell of the water, he suffered as much as Xu Youning who had been thrown into a lake the other day.

  Xu Youning looked at Mu Sijue with surprise. If it weren’t for seeing that herself, she would have never believed that he had kicked Jason into the river.

  Except for when he met Mike for the first time, as well as when he was hunted by Kang Ruicheng’s men, Mu Sijue had never hit anyone himself. She could never imagine that Mu Sijue would teach a nobody like Jason a lesson himself.

  “Damn, is this world crazy?” Xu Youning thought.

  Shen Yuechuan poked Xu Youning’s arm with his elbow and asked, “Hey, don’t you think Mr. Mu is super handsome?”


  “He…… ” Xu Youning didn’t answer him but said, “He just wanted to do it himself…… ” “Um, it must be like that. Mu Sijue is unlikely to teach Jason a lesson just for me.” She thought.

  Shen Yuechuan became confused, and after a while, he realized what Xu Youning was thinking about. He shook his head and said to her, “You don’t know how Mr. Mu really is.”


  He wondered why it had taken Mu Sijue such a long time to find out that the dull Xu Youning was the undercover person.

  After racking his brain for some time, Shen Yuechuan came up with one conjecture: Mu Sijue was blinded by love!

  Xu Youning didn’t get Shen Yuechuan’s point. She said with disdain, “I’m supposed to work for him efficiently. Why do I need to know him well?”


  As soon as her voice died down, Mu Sijue gave her a cold glance and said, “Get in the car!”


  Xu Youning looked at Jason who was struggling in the river and asked, “How long does he have to stay in the river?”


  “For one hour.”


  Xu Youning frowned and said, “.……That day I soaked in the water for 10 minutes. One hour is less than ten times what I went through.”


  Mu Sijue indifferently looked at Mike and said, “60 minutes can’t satisfy Miss Xu, so let’s double it. He’s not allowed to go ashore until two hours pass.” After a while, he stretched out his hand toward Mike as if nothing had happened and said, “Nice to cooperate with you.”


  Mike couldn’t understand how Mu Sijue had freely switched from his vicious personality to the attentive one. He hesitated for half a second and stretched out his hand. “Nice to cooperate with you, too.”


  Mu Sijue withdrew his hand and made a meaningful remark. “Mike, you won’t regret your choice.”


  Xu Youning thought, “Mu Sijue’s remark also means that: Mike will regret if he chooses to cooperate with Kang Ruicheng today.”


  In other words, they knew how to deal with Kang Ruicheng. Since Mu Sijue dared to say that, they were full of confidence.

  After getting into the car, Xu Youning grabbed the tail of her trench coat.

  Nobody, except for Mu Sijue, knew that it was her subconscious act when she was anxious and worried.

  Coldness began to fill Mu Sijue’s eyes. He asked, “What’s wrong? You seem unhappy after I taught Mike’s guy a lesson for you.”


  He knew Xu Youning was happy. In contrast, maybe she was more worried about what he would do to Kang Ruicheng.

  “Is Kang Ruicheng charming? Does he deserve your loyalty or your yearning?” Mu Sijue thought.

  Xu Youning came to herself and forced a smile. “Of course I’m happy, thank you!”


  “Is that all?” Mu Sijue looked at her with expectation.

  Xu Youning didn’t read his eyes, but she shook her head and said, “No, I have two questions for you.”


  “.……” Mu Sijue became quite interested in her words. He wondered what Xu Youning would ask him.