Liu Fengying was not pleased about having to tell Hua Shu something that would certainly irritate her. In the past, this would not necessarily have been a problem; however, now—maybe it was because she had begun to develop a mindset according to which cute girls ought to be protected, or because she had come to see Hua Shu as her own person—she wanted to see her smiling at all times. Well, perhaps blushing now and then too, but she was fairly certain that her teasing never made Hua Shu feel uncomfortable.

  Still, she believed it was necessary for Hua Shu to realize just how important the things one could gain by entering a relationship with her might be to some people. Even if He Rui were to stay away from Hua Shu in the future, another Qe Rui or Ye Rui —people with similar intentions, to be precise — could appear at any moment.

  Therefore, she made no attempt whatsoever to sugarcoat the situation, for instance, by telling Hua Shu that He Rui was interested in her because he considered her superior to other girls due to her being the offspring of Professor Hua. Instead, she explained things exactly as they were, focusing solely on the interests involved:

  “Shushu, maybe this isn’t something you personally place much value on, but your father’s influence—both in the academic world and among enthusiasts of history and ancient literature—is something many people would dearly want, especially those who have only just entered these circles.

  The problem is that this isn’t something that can be obtained quickly, no matter how hard one tries. In these fields, seniority carries the greatest weight, so no matter how talented someone may be, they would probably need more than twenty years to reach your father’s level.

  However, there is a way to speed things up—by attaching oneself to someone who already enjoys fame. And what better option could there be than becoming his son-in-law? After all, people are willing to go to the greatest lengths for their own family.

  So, as Professor Hua’s daughter, you are the number one target for those who want to take this shortcut—a category I’m sure He Rui belongs to as well, since his ambition seems far too great to be satisfied with the status of a professor no one knows…”

  Liu Fengying still had other things she wanted to say to Hua Shu—namely, to share some of her knowledge about the so-called “phoenix men”—but seeing that Hua Shu’s expression had darkened, she decided that this was enough for now.

  “What a bastard…,” Hua Shu muttered through clenched teeth.

  To say that Hua Shu was angry at that moment would have been an understatement; it would be more accurate to say that He Rui was lucky he had already left, because had he still been in the restaurant, there was a very real chance his head would have become acquainted with the flower stand in front of Hua Shu.

  “It seems I really did have too good an opinion of him,” Hua Shu continued in a somewhat calmer tone, though her expression remained just as threatening. “Sure, I knew how hypocritical and arrogant he was beneath that gentlemanly exterior, but at least I thought he was someone who had worked hard for what he has now, unlike others who had everything handed to them on a silver platter. But to come up with a plan like that… what’s the difference between him and a woman who sleeps with her superior to get promoted? What kind of gentleman does he think he is? He can only be described as a male slut…”

  Liu Fengying thought that Hua Shu’s comparison wasn’t entirely fair, since in one case you usually had a middle-aged man with a belly swollen from too much alcohol, while in the other you had Hua Shu, who was, after all, a very beautiful girl. Were the sacrifices made in the two situations equal? Not even close; one could even say that He Rui would have everything to gain from such an arrangement.

  Still, Liu Fengying had no intention of saying anything in He Rui’s defense. On the contrary, the worse his image became in Hua Shu’s eyes, the better.

  Moreover, she believed the current situation was ideal:

  ‘Better for her to be outright disgusted with He Rui than merely angry. Anger gives rise to a desire for revenge, which can lead to all kinds of complications—ones He Rui could take advantage of. So Hua Shu will be safest if she avoids him like the plague…’

  With that thought in mind, Liu Fengying began to echo Hua Shu’s sentiments:

  “Yes, people like that have no sense of shame. Honestly, I think the only way to deal with them is to ignore them completely, because once you interact with them, you risk never being able to get rid of them, like scabies. For example, let’s say that, irritated by how rude one of them is, you slap him; well, it wouldn’t be surprising if later he tried to blackmail you, threatening to report you to the police—or, even more shamelessly, to morally coerce you into being with him, claiming that because you ruined his looks or humiliated him in public, he’s no longer able to find anyone else.

  If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  But it’s not like you have to swallow your frustration. I promise you that I, your big sister, will take care of things in the future, once I gain a foothold in this city, both regarding He Rui and others like him who might try to get close to you…”

  Hua Shu nodded in agreement throughout Liu Fengying’s speech about how people like He Rui should be handled, but the promise at the end left her unsure how to react. True, it wasn’t something as overtly aggressive as, “You’re mine now, woman. Let’s see who else dares to approach you…” but in the end, the consequences of that promise were the same.

  Moreover, she now realized that the reason Liu Fengying had threatened He Rui had been precisely her desire to keep him away from her. That thought made her heart beat even faster at the memory of that scene than it had at the moment it actually happened.

  “What big sister? You’re only about two weeks older than me…,” Hua Shu said, averting her gaze to the side; perhaps she could withstand Liu Fengying’s beauty, but the occasionally domineering, CEO-like aura she exuded made her legs go weak.

  Since she had had no intention of teasing her, Liu Fengying was surprised that out of everything she had said, this was the part that had captured Hua Shu’s attention the most. Hadn’t she gotten over her anger at He Rui rather quickly? Liu Fengying began to wonder whether it might be necessary to explain in greater detail just how dangerous a phoenix man could be.

  However, the waitress’s return—this time accompanied by a cart carrying the food they had ordered—made her postpone that plan for the moment. She thought it would be better not to ruin either her own or Hua Shu’s appetite by continuing to discuss unpleasant matters. After all, weren’t she and Hua Shu desk mates? That meant she had plenty of time in the coming days to make sure Hua Shu matched her own level of aversion toward phoenix men.

  Since they had eaten almost nothing over the past five hours, both of them were extremely hungry—a sensation further intensified by the fact that, for more than half an hour, they had had to swallow dryly while being assaulted by the smell of food coming from the surrounding tables. Thus, it was no surprise that the steaming dishes, which looked truly delicious, quickly captured their full attention.

  Fortunately, once they started eating, no other young man came to their table to strike up a conversation. This was hardly surprising, given how decisively He Rui had been chased away, which had intimidated all those who had been keeping an eye on Liu Fengying. Moreover, no one likes being interrupted while eating, so this was hardly an opportune moment to try to talk to her.

  And even if she had not begun eating, they suspected that she had already started to lose her patience after three or four young men had attempted to flirt with her. If they were to follow the same path, it would not have been surprising if they did not even get a chance to open their mouths before being rejected.

  He Rui’s friend wasn’t any more optimistic. On the contrary, unlike the other young men in the restaurant—who still hoped that the future might bring them a more suitable opportunity to get to know Liu Fengying—he was now completely discouraged.

  This was not because his plan had failed. Of course, that had been a serious blow, especially since he suspected that He Rui had betrayed him. Although he could not hear what was being discussed at Liu Fengying and Hua Shu’s table from where he was sitting, he had seen the foolish expression on He Rui’s face the moment he laid eyes on “his woman.” Still, that alone had not been enough to make him give up; one could even say that he was now even more determined to succeed, also wanting to put the arrogant He Rui in his place.

  Thus, he decided to gather more information about the young woman he was interested in so he could come up with a new plan to approach her, turning his attention once again to social media—more specifically, to groups frequented by people around Hua Shu’s age; he reasoned that it was impossible for someone as stunning as Liu Fengying not to be popular among them.

  It could truly be said that he was inspired when he came up with this idea, for it took only a few minutes before he found a post about her. Unfortunately, he could not enjoy this success even for a moment; when he saw the comments about her background and all the rumors that had surfaced about her throughout the day, he felt the ground give way beneath his feet.

  A multimillionaire father, CPs (fan shipping) with all kinds of young male celebrities and wealthy heirs, secret pharmaceutical research, a young CEO who had declared he was preparing a million roses to impress her—what was with all this information, each more unrealistic than the last?

  Judging by the affordable brands of clothing Liu Fengying wore and her lack of expensive accessories, he had assumed that she probably did not come from a wealthy family—perhaps just one with a slightly better financial situation than Hua Shu’s. As for her fame, he believed that at best she might be a novice actress or some kind of local idol, since no one seemed to know who she was. If that had been the case, he might have stood a chance with a good strategy; after all, there were plenty of great beauties known not to have been very selective when it came to their first lovers, with first impressions being all that mattered.

  But under the current circumstances, even if only ten percent of what he had read were true, he would still have no chance of making Liu Fengying his girlfriend. And even if, by some miracle, he did succeed, how long would he be able to hold onto that position? Thinking about how many interests lie behind the relationships of the rich and how many people would be jealous of him, He Rui’s friend was fairly certain that, in such a scenario, he would soon start fearing for his life.

  In the end, he had no choice but to come to terms with the fact that all he could do was admire Liu Fengying from afar; getting any closer was something he only dared to do in his imagination.

  Still, with a mindset of “if I can’t have it, no one should,” he could not help but think how convenient it would be if she ended up in a position that did not allow her to be in a relationship with anyone—or better yet, if she were not attracted to men at all. That way, he would not feel quite so utterly defeated.