Chapter 148

148 Warming Up To Him

Rong Yue’s lips pursed in frustration as she tried to think of what was happening.

How could about fifteen men appear out of thin air to work with them? Not only that, from the look of things, whoever was behind the scenes was able to take advantage of the situation on the ground, so much that she had not noticed until after a full week had passed.

“I’ll figure it out,” she told Qin Yichen before walking back to her room, her brows formed into a frown as she replayed her mother’s words in her head.

Thankfully, the men had been left to work at the flagship store, otherwise, it would have been too dangerous if they had sent them to the jewelry factory.

Because of the layout, she had decided to use, she didn’t want people that weren’t trustworthy seeing the factory until it was fully done, otherwise, it would become difficult to keep matters undercover later in the future.

After thinking for some minutes and finding no clue, Rong Yue gave up, deciding that the matter would be settled when she returned to city A.

“I would be stepping out for a stroll now, I’ll be back before it’s dark out,” Rong Yue told Qin Yichen who had now resumed work back in the living room.

“I’ll go with you,” Qin Yichen stood up immediately, not asking for her permission and only deciding that he was going to accompany her.

Rong Yue on the other hand looked up at his towering figure, her eyes narrowed a little, giving away that she wasn’t exactly happy with him deciding to follow her.

.....

However, she said nothing, turning around and walking towards the living room.

In this life, she was starting to accept that she had to deal with this man that didn’t know what it meant to say no.

Since she knew his attitude, she decided not to argue with him. Besides, as soon as she resumed college, there was going to be a wall of time and distance between them.

The both of them walked together in silent harmony, attracting several gazes as they stepped out of the elevator on the first floor.

“There’s a store close to this place, we can walk around here until you get the things you need,” Qin Yichen explained, surprising Rong Yue.

“How did you know I needed to get some things?”

The corners of his lips curled upwards into a smile as he looked at the girl beside him with tender eyes. “Since when do you just take a stroll for nothing?” He asked her, eyes shining with mirth.

He knew her schedule back in city A with Lu San’s help and knew that she would rather spend a whole day in the gym, building her strength than spend an hour walking.

Rong Yue nodded, accepting defeat. A part of her was also worried about how well he knew her.

Was she being fair to him by closing her heart?

While her mind was all over the place with several thoughts, they soon reached the store.

As soon as the both of them stepped inside, several gazes turned towards them, their extraordinary beauty and aura were the type that was impossible to ignore.

Especially since they now stood together, like a pair made in heaven.

“Are those two celebrities?” Some girl whispered to her friend as she looked at Qin Yichen with starry eyes.

His appearance was just too good, and the aura around him was dignified and elegant.

“I don’t know, maybe they came over to our country for some project. The girl looks like a goddess also.”

Many more people said things like that while Qin Yichen and Rong Yue simply ignored the whispers around them.

If it was only one of them, perhaps, it might have been easy to be inconspicuous. But with both of them and their well-matched appearance, it was inevitable and so they weren’t affected by it.

They walked through the rows of shelves, Rong Yue picking things that she needed while Qin Yichen silently accompanied her.

Since she only needed some makeup and glasses, she was done in no time and they went to the cash point together.

However, Qin Yichen saw something on the counter from the corner of his eye.

“You can wait outside first,” he bent and whispered to her.

Rong Yue gave a curt nod and then went outside, with the small shopping bag in her.

Just by randomly standing outside, a lot of people entering the stall and passing by would stop to take another look at the girl that was standing there in a nude jacket.

Eventually, Qin Yichen returned with another shopping bag and they both left.

Although they weren’t holding hands, the chemistry between them was enough to make any passerby know that they were together.

??????????????????

The official time for the competition was 10 am in the morning but the participants had to arrive earlier than that.

Rong Yue woke up early, did some of her martial arts exercises, and got ready. Unlike her usual self that would sleep in and only arrive at the exact time the event was starting, this time she was more devoted and even did some slight makeup to tone down her features.

Despite her skills in disguise, she couldn’t exactly change her entire appearance because the government already sent the ID of the participants over.

If she looked too different from her documents, it would make others have something to pick on about their country.

When she finally stepped out of the room in her hoodie and cargo pants, Qin Yichen was just setting the table.

She

“Mom called and told me to make sure you had breakfast before leaving,” Qin Yichen told her as he noticed her raised brows.

“Thank you.”

Qin Yichen looked at her again after hearing her words, there was barely any formality between them usually and he suspected that perhaps she was trying to keep him at a distance again.

“I have told Lu San to find who sent those new men over, before we get back, we would know,” Qin Yichen started as he pulled out a chair for her to sit on.

“Hmmm, I’m also looking into it.”

Silence enveloped the room as neither of them said anything more.

Rong Yue served herself and ate slowly, she didn’t know if it was the Feng Shui of this place but she had woken up feeling a little out of sorts. She also had a suspicion that perhaps something was going to happen today that wouldn’t be in her favor.

As her mind was trying to take in everything and not miss any important information, she was solemn.

Qin Yichen was also someone with very high intelligence. Seeing that she didn’t want to say much, he also didn’t ask any more questions and they ate breakfast in silence.

After eating, Qin Yichen packed the dishes and dropped them off in the kitchen before grabbing her bag.

“Let’s go, I’ll drop you off there before I handle other matters,”

Rong Yue nodded, for her, who was feeling a little uneasy, going with Qin Yichen was better and safer than going with Feng Ya and the others.

Since the Qin family had branches all over, and Qin Yichen was also someone that expanded his power all around, in just their one day of being here, he had gotten an assistant to sort getting a personal car to the front of the hotel.

The two of them painted a picture of siblings with Qin Yichen carrying her school bag while Rong Yue walked right beside him empty-handed.

“Don’t stress yourself, although they don’t play fair, I’m sure the competition won’t be a challenge to you,” Qin Yichen encouraged when she pulled out revision notes from her bag.

“I feel a little uneasy, I’ll just look through the formulae one more time before we get there.”

Qin Yichen nodded in understanding and then slowed the car to a speed that made it comfortable for her to study.

Despite having the system, she didn’t want to build herself on something that was built with the life of others. Also, since she had taken the pain to come here, she had no interest in anything else that was different from winning.

And so she revised carefully one more time before closing her revision notes. By that time, Qin Yichen had also driven to the competition venue.

The venue was heavily guarded and just from the outside, it was easy to see that this was a huge building.

Qin Yichen looked around for Teacher Lu and the others while Rong Yue got her things ready. The car they were in was heavily tinted making the ones outside unable to see the two of them.

As soon as he found their location, Qin Yuchen pointed it out to Rong Yue, “They are standing right by that tree, just show the security your ID and they will let you in.”

“Hmmm, see you later,”

Qin Yichen looked at the exquisite face that had taken over his mind and sighed softly.

Without any warning, he pulled her into a hug, his arms wrapping around her until her body was leaning against his broad and firm chest.

Contrary to the resistance he was expecting from Rong Yue, she did nothing. Her body which had stiffened when he first hugged her relaxed slowly in his embrace.

Surprise and hope filled Qin Yichen’s heart, after all, he had acted on his impulse, and never in his thoughts would he have expected that she wouldn’t push him away.

“Yue’er, are you finally accepting me?” He asked, his husky voice and suggestive tone made the air in the room feel even more ambiguous.

Rong Yue flushed red in embarrassment but said nothing. Her silence could neither confirm nor deny that his words were true.

However, she felt like her thoughts were in a jumbled mess at the moment. She still didn’t think that she could allow herself to trust anyone but at the same time, she didn’t feel repulsed by the thought of them being together.

With his hands wrapped around her and his clean fragrance wrapping around her in the small car space, she could feel the unease she had felt all day until she felt a lot better.

“It’s late now, hurry so they don’t leave you out.” Qin Yichen said and released her from his hold.

Rong Yue glared at him before opening the door.

Just now, wasn’t it him that pulled her back and hugged her? And he could even tell her to hurry with a straight face.

It was really infuriating Ah!

As soon as she got down, teacher Lu that had been looking around for her rushed towards her and met her halfway.

Together, they passed the security check and entered the space that was for the participants.

Teacher Lu looked at her altered appearance with bangs and nerdy glasses and nodded with approval. “Although it’s not too significant, looking this way would create fewer troubles,” he murmured and led her to the group.

When Feng Ya saw her, she rushed and greeted Rong Yue excitedly.

.....

No one had worried about Rong Yue’s looks more than she. After all, this exam was an opportunity to showcase herself back at home, she had no intention or hope of winning and the main thing was allowing people at home to see that she had represented the school.

If there was someone like Rong Yue on screen, it would be hard for anyone to remember her, after all, looks like that were hard to meet.

But seeing that she had covered her entire forehead with bangs and then wore glasses, even though she didn’t look terrible, half of her face was already hidden like this and didn’t have as much effect.

All that was left was her outstanding aura, but to someone vain like Feng Ya, she didn’t think that was a problem.

“Now that you are here, let’s go. Other countries have registered and entered.” One of the government officials said as they started to lead the way.