“Do you even know why she came here during her day off?”


  Hao Shuai was dazed, “Cousin Dong is a policewoman. Gong Fanlin hasn’t been caught, and your family is worried about your safety, so she is here……”


  Before he finished speaking, I heard a female employee snort disdainfully and mutter something in a low voice not far away. I couldn’t tell what she was muttering clearly, but Dong Xiaoye must have heard it. The look in her eyes changed obviously, but she held it back eventually. Even without asking, I knew that the female employee must be insulting her from the change of her expression.

  I turned my head and glared at the woman, scaring her into lowering her head quickly. Then I said to Hao Shuai: “It’s because her mother asked me to look after her, and my mother asked her to look after me. What right do I have? I have the right to decide who she can hang out with!”


  As soon as I said this, everyone’s face was filled with shock. Having an ambiguous relationship with Mo Fei while being very close to Liusu, my reputation in the company was already not good. But now I suddenly said this. It was like a bolt out of the blue.

  Dong Xiaoye’s face blushed, her body trembled with anger. However, I ignored her and said angrily to Hao Shuai, “Let go of your hand! ”


  I suspected that Hao Shuai didn’t understand the hidden meaning of my words at all. He glared at me and said unwaveringly as if he wanted to stand up for Dong Xiaoye, “What if I don’t want to let go of my hand? What can you do? Even if her mother has asked you to look after her, you still have no right to decide who she gets to hang out with. You are just abusing the authority her mother gives to you. She has the freedom to choose who she loves!”


  “Love your mother!” Before this guy finished speaking, I already threw out my fist. Hao Shuai was startled. He instinctively let go of Dong Xiaoye and covered his face with both hands, trying to protect his face from my punch. Of course, I didn’t really want to hit him. Even if Lu Hao didn’t suddenly appear before me to stop me, my punch still wouldn’t hit him.

  “Chu Nan, calm down! It’s just a misunderstanding. There is no need to get physical, right?”


  “Huh? Team Leader Lu, why are you here?” No one would believe that I only recognized Lu Hao at this moment. But I didn’t care if they believed it or not. I simply took the opportunity and lowered my hand. After all, I was still in the company. If I had a fight with a colleague again, I would put Elder Sister Liu and Mo Fei in a tough spot.

  As if nothing had happened, I smiled at Lu Hao and said, “Our team leader was called to a meeting just now. Didn’t you receive a notice?”


  Lu Hao didn’t expect that I would really listen to him. After the initial surprise, he was confused by my words, “Meeting? What meeting?”


  “I don’t know, It was Song Jia who informed her. Maybe Ms. Mo has something that she wants to discuss?”


  Hearing what I said, Lu Hao suddenly panicked, “Oh no. If it’s Ms. Mo who called everyone to a meeting, I must not be late.” Lu Hao was a young man with lofty ambitions. He always put his career ahead of women. In a blink of an eye, he completely ignored Dong Xiaoye and said hurriedly. “I have to go now.”


  After seeing that Lu Hao left in a hurry, I also pulled Dong Xiaoye and left without looking back. Hao Shuai still didn’t want to give up, but he was stopped by other colleagues, “Are you an idiot? Stop humiliating yourself. Can’t you tell what kind of relationship they have? They are definitely not just cousins……”


  “I didn’t expect that Cousin Dong and Chu Nan are…… Sigh, why didn’t I see it earlier? But Cousin Dong’s attitude…… They don’t look like……”


  “Did you not hear what Chu Nan said? That was decided by their families.”


  “In other words, cousin Dong may not be willing to……”


  “But Chu Nan is happy. If you think you can compete with Chu Nan, you can try to snatch her away from him. But you have to be careful, he can even take down Ms. Mo. So unless you don’t mind losing your job, I suggest you give up.”


  “Even if you don’t mind losing your job, I think it is still not worth it. I think cousin Dong may not be unwilling. Did you not see what happened yesterday? The policeman who clearly liked cousin Dong deliberately made things difficult for Chu Nan. Chu Nan was obviously the victim, but he was interrogated by the police for four hours. So I don’t believe that there is nothing going on between them. Nowadays, women are more open-minded than men. In my opinion, Cousin Dong and Chu Nan are a good match. They are both very free-spirited……”


  ‘Good match’ was not a blessing, and ‘free-spirited’ was not a compliment. It was all ironic remarks. A group of guys deliberately whispered in loud voices, not only to mock me but also to ridicule Dong Xiaoye.

  I found that I was really selfish. Dong Xiaoye was so angry that her body was trembling, but I didn’t care. Instead, I was a little happy.

  Dong Xiaoye was a straightforward and stubborn woman, she was a person who would neither listen to reason nor bow to force. If coxing her did not work, then opposing would only have an adverse effect. So the more I disapproved of her behavior of violating her own image to protect me, the more stubborn she would be.

  I was selfish because when everyone, including myself, felt that she was a frivolous woman, I would become furious and almost frantic. But now, when she could no longer be frivolous, I just couldn’t help gloating, even if others were mocking her. It was as if the deeper the misunderstanding was, the better it would be. Only in this way could it show how much I understand her and trust in her. And only in this way could I protect her instead of being protected by her.

  “You want to hit that Hao person just because he grabbed my hand, but you are grabbing my hand, does it mean that I can also hit you?!”


  “You can try it, but don’t blame me for fighting back!” Originally, I was very happy that I could pull Dong Xiaoye away from other men, but the moment she said those words to me, I just couldn’t help getting angry again.

  Dong Xiaoye finally couldn’t hold back her anger anymore. She shook off my hand and said angrily: “What’s wrong with you! I’m the one that should be angry right now! Look at what you did!”


  I cocked my chin and said unconcernedly, “What did I do?”


  As if Dong Xiaoye thought of something very embarrassing, her face instantly blushed with embarrassment, “You! Now everyone thinks that we…… are in that kind of relationship!”


  “I think it’s great. Anyway, that’s your goal, isn’t it? Now that your goal has been achieved, why are you so mad?” I let go of her hand and said. I was not afraid when she was angry, but when she was embarrassed, I was afraid. I had a premonition that she would hit me if I continued to grab her hand.

  “Great my ass! !” Dong Xiaoye stomped her feet and said: “Almost everyone in your company knows that you have an ambiguous relationship with Mo Fei while going out with Liusu. I pretended to be your girlfriend just to confuse Xu Heng. There is no need to expose this in front of your colleagues. But now, how are you going to explain it to other people!?”


  I said unconcernedly: “Why explain it? Didn’t I tell you already that I already have a bad reputation in the company? I don’t care what people think of me. As long as Mo Fei, Liusu, and Xiao Zi know what is really happening……”


  Dong Xiaoye interrupted me: “You don’t care about other people’s opinions, but what about them?”


  I opened my mouth, wanting to argue, but I was at a loss for words. But then I suddenly realized something.

  Dong Xiaoye said angrily, “You have nothing to say, do you? Have you ever considered the feelings of Liusu and Mo Fei? You have skin that is as thick as a city wall, and you are not afraid of other people’s gossip. But can Liusu and Mo Fei bear it? Especially Mo Fei. She is not only a girl but also the general manager of your Fengchang Group’s investment department and a pearl in the palm of your chairman! She is already under a lot of pressure for liking you, but you are such a disappointment, always messing around with other women outside……”


  “Don’t say that about yourself……”


  “Do you want me to kick you? !” Although Dong Xiaoye asked me, her long leg had already kicked out, aiming straight at my crotch.

  I dangerously dodged the kick and broke into a cold sweat, “Where are you kicking?”


  “Where I should be kicking! You don’t even have a sense of responsibility as a man. Why do you keep that stuff?”


  “Sense of responsibility?” Looking at Dong Xiaoye’s angry face, I couldn’t help chuckling, “Let you wear a mask to flirt with other men, and let them take advantage of you? That will prove that I have a sense of responsibility?”


  Dong Xiaoye said lightly: “That’s my business. You don’t need to worry about me!”


  “If that’s what you think, then you also don’t need to worry about me.” I turned around and said while walking away, “I don’t have a perfect solution. It is inevitable that I have to make a choice. This will indeed cause trouble for them, but this is my choice. If they disagree, it can only prove that I am not the man they are looking for and I am not worthy of them…… But then again, I also don’t think that they would like to see you force yourself to do this kind of thing for me.”


  Dong Xiaoye hesitated for a moment, but still chose to follow me eventually: “But if you do this, it’s unfair to them……”


  “It’s even more unfair to you if I don’t do this……” I scratched my head and smiled: “But to be my fake girlfriend, it doesn’t seem to be fair to you either.”


  “I……” Dong Xiaoye wanted to deny it, but in the end, she gave up and murmured: “I didn’t just do it for you. I just didn’t want to hurt Liusu’s feelings. Gossips sometimes hurt more than a knife…… ”


  “Gossip is better than watching you forcing yourself to do the things you don’t like,” I smiled bitterly, and said: “I can pay back what I owed them, but I can’t pay back what I owed you……”


  The footsteps following me stopped suddenly. I looked back and noticed that Dong Xiaoye was standing at the elevator door a few steps away and looking at me coldly, “Because I am an outsider?”


  I was dazed for a second. It didn’t seem to be appropriate, but I still nodded, “Let’s put it this way, I cherish your friend… ah!”


  Before I finished speaking, Dong Xiaoye had already scurried over, slammed her body into me, and pushed me out of the way fiercely……