Stop There, Daddy

The two of them walked out of Mannis side by side. When Wen Shuyue saw that there was no one else around, she stopped and rolled her eyes at He Siming who was on her left. “Are you trying to tell everybody there’s something going on between us? Why are you so insist on us having dinner together?”

,”To celebrate you advancing out of the group stage,” He Siming said blandly.

Wen Shuyue stiffened, feeling as though something had hit her heart. She looked at him in amazement and pointed at her nose. “You’re doing this for me?”

“Yeah.”

He Siming made a response and then walked toward his car parked by the roadside without another word.

Two seconds later, Wen Shuyue came back to her senses, broke into a trot and caught up with He Siming, a faint smile on her face.

Although she had no particular feelings about winning the preliminary contest, she was happy to know that someone had been paying attention to this matter and wanted to celebrate with her.

At least, she felt happy.

He Siming swiveled his head aside and saw the subdued delight on her face. Infected by her mood, he gave a faint smile.

“What are we going to have?”NôvelD(ram)a.ôrg owns this content.

When waiting for a traffic light to change, Wen Shuyue turned to ask He Siming about it.

He Siming turned his head to look at her bright eyes which were liquid and charming and tinged with the unique stubbornness peculiar to Wen Shuyue.

He couldn’t help but reach out his hand to cover her eyes. A bland voice was heard. “I want to kiss you.”

He had hardly finished speaking when he pressed his lips against hers.

Wen Shuyue felt the faint refreshing fragrance slowly approaching. She subconsciously closed her eyes. But the moment his lips touched hers, her mind still became a whirl. Her eyelashes shivered non-stop restlessly, and even her breathing became ragged.

A honk was heard.

Wen Shuyue pushed He Siming away in alarm. Flustered, she adjusted her hair and looked at him only to find his face as calm as always.

The car behind them honked again.

The honk was mixed with a cursing male voice. Only then did Wen Shuyue notice that the traffic light had turned green.

She cleared her throat and said unnaturally, “Mr. He, the light has turned agree.”

“I know.”

Huh?

Wen Shuyue looked at him in confusion. “Then why did you just drive instead of letting the man behind curse you? Why are you hindering the traffic?”

Before she could think of anything else to say, He Siming abruptly started the car and quickly drove across the line a second before the light turned red.

His action gave rise to another torrent of abuse from the drivers behind.

Wen Shuyue looked from the long line of cars behind the stop line to He Siming and thought, ‘This guy’s so vindictive and so scheming.”

He Siming looked at her and gave a charming smile as if he knew what Wen Shuyue was thinking.

Wen Shuyue immediately felt the hair on the back of her neck stand up on end.

After a long time, Wen Shuyue couldn’t help but ask curiously, “Mr. He, why did you do that just now?”

“What are you referring to?” He Siming glanced at her and said calmly, “Kissing you or keeping those people behind the stop and yield line?”

He Siming’s tone of voice was serious, but Wen Shuyue still blushed when hearing the word “kiss”. She stuttered, “Th-The latter, of course.”

“We’ve kissed so many times, and yet you’re still so shy. Is it because I’m not working hard enough?” He Siming deliberately changed the topic and asked a sudden question.

Wen Shuyue was once again at a loss for words, her cheeks burning.

How was she supposed to answer that? How could more efforts improve kissing skill? Even if that was true, it would require more than just his efforts…

Wen Shuyue gave a hollow laugh and replied, “It’s not your fault. My stupidity is to blame for that.”

“I’m glad you know that.”

“…”

Wen Shuyue looked at He Siming’s smug face. She felt she had fallen prey to his trick, that she stood no chance against He Siming, a wily old fox.

She pulled her neck in a little and shut her mouth.

He Siming stopped teasing her and focused on driving.

Not until Wen Shuyue walked into the restaurant did she realize that He Siming had prepared a candlelight dinner for her.

The floor was carpeted with rose petals. On the long table were exquisite knick-knacks. There were also dozens of dainty candles. The room was brightly lit, warm and romantic.

She sat opposite He Siming, so nervous that she was rubbing her hands under the table.

He Siming, however, was unhurried and elegant, emanating a regal air. He placed a table napkin in front of her in a gentlemanly manner.

But she soon adapted and no longer felt uptight. She chatted and laughed with He Siming.

‘This is like a date,’ she told herself.

She had a smile on her face. He Siming was behaving gracefully. They were drinking and eating, and neither of them knew that someone hidden in the shadows stealthily recorded their date with a camera.

Early the next morning, Ms. Chen called Wen Shuyue. She groggily answered her phone. After hearing her words, she was instantly wide awake and sat up quickly. “What? He Siming and I hit the headlines?”

“You need to read that article online right now! Everybody is accusing you of being an attention whore! The judges of the contest says they’ll have to disqualify you unless this issue is handled properly!”

Listening to Ms. Chen’s anxious voice, Wen Shuyue composed herself and consoled her, “Don’t worry. I’ll handle it. Things won’t escalate to that.”

“You’re wrong. The organizing committee of the contest is always strict about the rules, and the requirements for the contestants are demanding too. They won’t tolerate any contestant getting involved in a scandal.”

Wen Shuyue stared fixedly at her laptop. She had read the comments from the netizens. They were saying that she was piggybacking on He Siming to rise up the hierarchy. They also questioned her competence. Some even claimed that He Siming helped her buy her way into the next round of the competition.

Her anger intensified as she read the comments, but she also came to realize that someone was setting her up. The PR department of MK might not be able to quickly hush this thing up for her.

Still, Wen Shuyue managed to calm herself down very soon. “Here’s the plan. Vice President Chen, contact the PR department and make an announcement to scotch the rumor. If it doesn’t work, hire a hacker to delete those posts. Then…”

After she calmly gave some instructions to Vice President Chen, her forehead was beaded with sweat.

She quickly changed clothes, combed her hair into a bun, grabbed her car key and went out.

If someone was indeed working against her, then the organizing committee of the contest would definitely have been informed already. She must go there to explain right away, or else she would be disqualified.

When Wen Shuyue arrived at the hotel where the organizing committee were staying, the couple of judges had waited for her for quite some time.

Wen Shuyue was surprised to see all judges present. She collected herself and said calmly, “Please give me three minutes. I can explain.”

She looked up at them. Having noticed that none of them spoke, she continued.

She told them about her trip to Mannis and the cooperation between the two companies, emphasizing that it was only because of business that she had a dinner date with He Siming.

However, the judges did not believe it, and the public opinion was getting more critical. In order to make sure the contest would proceed in a normal manner and ensure the fairness of the competition, they had to disqualify her.

Walking along the road, Wen Shuyue thought about the judges’ determined decision. As if having been drained of energy, she limply crouched down at the roadside.

It had never occurred to her that she was still not strong enough to protect herself.