Chapter 30

For everything that happened afterwards, Xie Cheng was unwilling to reminisce.

He only remembered tidying his clothes, still maintaining good manners and composure even in this situation.

Even when very upset, one must remain calm. Because as long as he remained composed and steady, he could make even the unreasonable seem convincing.

"The cabinet is quite deep," Xie Cheng remembered himself commenting as such. As soon as his words fell, Cao An and Liang Di had awkward and stuttering looks on their faces as they hurriedly voiced their agreement—

"Yes, very deep!"

"Chairman Xie, what a coincidence!"

"Haha..."

"Hehe..."

Xie Cheng gazed coldly at his two subordinates.

The kind of mutual pursuit between employees and bosses that was supposed to exist was clearly impossible.

He said expressionlessly, "But I like women."

"Yes, women are good, women are good!"

"Haha, of course! Chairman Xie likes women and women like Chairman Xie too! This is the very definition of mutual pursuit!"

You still have the audacity to say that.

The only one still cluelessly daydreaming was Lan Xi, as she continued grinning foolishly.

The situation seemed perfectly friendly on the surface.

Xie Cheng maintained a polite smile, but he felt extremely upset inside.

Fortunately, when God closes a door for you, He opens a window. Having reached this predicament, Xie Cheng finally received the only piece of good news that night—his strange compulsions to tell the truth and follow Lan Xi wherever she went had finally gotten some relief. He had gone back to normal.

Xie Cheng naturally did not feel assured and went to the hospital to get a full physical exam overnight. Only after the test results confirmed everything was normal could he finally set his mind at ease completely.

Today, having returned to Xin Enterprise early in the morning and sitting back in his office chair, the familiar systematic environment and work pattern finally allowed Xie Cheng to gradually relax.

However, someone broke this rare tranquility in the afternoon.

Xie Cheng received a call from Dong Ying.

**

Dong Ying was not one to admit defeat. She had barely escaped from the cats’ siege last time, still irritated when she looked back at it afterwards.

Cats were the arch-enemies of people from Planet Muyu, yet Earthlings all thought cats were so adorable that they inflated their value, even gifting them to others.

Dong Ying completely disagreed with Xie Cheng’s so-called “gift”.

Not only did she extremely dislike cats, she had even hallucinated seeing Lan Xi’s figure flash by because of them, feeling utterly ominous. She suspected Xie Cheng's aura clashed with hers, but that only made her more determined to conquer this man, eventually molding him into her perfect lover.

But before that...

She would have to get rid of the prettier female employee by Xie Cheng’s side first.

"Boss Dong, our investigation confirms there is indeed a female employee constantly by Xie Cheng’s side. He often takes her along to meetings and outings, and they have been spotted spending personal time together many times. She does look very beautiful. We’ve compiled her photos and information, would you like to see?"

When her subordinate presented the materials, Dong Ying merely glanced at the cover page without opening it.

Dong Ying was proud and confident.

In this universe, only Lan Xi was qualified to compete with her. As for anyone else, they were still unworthy of Dong Ying's concern as a rival.

Just an ordinary female Earthling employee, how pretty could she be? Besides, Xie Cheng had said her brain didn’t work well.

Although she intended to get rid of the woman, there was no need for Dong Ying to take action personally.

"You, go find this woman, give her some money, make her disappear, don't let her appear before my eyes again to irritate me."

Dong Ying had seen this clichéd scheme played out far too many times in Earthling TV shows, evidently a conventional sequence of operating procedures that had gone through multiple validations for effectiveness.

Moreover, that woman hadn’t succeeded in being with Xie Cheng either, and Xie Cheng wouldn’t marry her. Unable to move up or make money, she was better off taking the 5 million yuan payoff!

Her subordinate had just been about to leave when Dong Ying conceived another idea and called him back, "Wait. Record the entire negotiation process with that woman and give me the livestream link."

Sure enough, not long after, her capable subordinate sent over a livestream link: "Boss Dong, I’m already at Xin Enterprise and have asked that female employee out. Just waiting for her to show up now!"

Dong Ying smiled, very satisfied. Naturally she didn’t want the livestream link for herself to watch—her arrogance meant she looked down quite a bit on the Earthling whom Xie Cheng described as mentally inept, so she would never demean herself by tuning in to watch the other party. She only wanted the link to conveniently forward it to Xie Cheng.

Just to make sure he wouldn’t miss it, she thoughtfully gave him a phone call too.

Earthlings were just so easily tempted. As long as Xie Cheng saw this woman choose money without the slightest hesitation, he would know such Earth females were unreliable. If he wanted to find someone, it still had to be someone rich and powerful like herself who wouldn’t be constrained by material things, to have a pure, unadulterated romance. As for herself, she didn’t need to do anything, only wait quietly for Xie Cheng to have an epiphany after watching the livestream.

**

"Xie Cheng, I’ll send you a livestream later for you to watch carefully, then you’ll know some people's true colors."

After leaving him with that line over the phone, Dong Ying sent over a livestream link.

Was it something related to their partnership?

Xie Cheng frowned slightly as he tapped open the link.

Beyond his expectations, the screen showed the coffee shop under the Xin Enterprise building, the camera aimed straight at an empty seat.

Just what was going on here?

Right when Xie Cheng was about to close the confusing livestream link, a familiar voice came from the camera—

"You wanted to see me? Said you have something to give me? I don't know you..."

It turned out to be Lan Xi's voice.

Xie Cheng halted his attempt to exit the livestream.

Next was the voice of an unfamiliar man. The other party did not show his face or waste any time with pleasantries, getting straight to the point: "I’ll give you 5 million yuan. Resign from Xin Enterprise, stay away from Xie Cheng, and don’t ever appear by Xie Cheng’s side again. As long as you agree, sign the contract right away and I’ll transfer the money over immediately."

Xie Cheng took a deep breath.

So this was an attempt to buy off Lan Xi to get her to leave? 5 million yuan, was Dong Ying insane?

Although this method was extremely cliché, Xie Cheng scoffed at it. He also didn’t understand why Dong Ying wanted to create such a childish act. But even if he was reluctant to admit it, Xie Cheng still felt a subtle tension rising inside him along with the secretion of adrenaline that instant.

For someone like Lan Xi who had seldom seen so much money in her life, the temptation of 5 million yuan upfront would probably get her to do anything.

Lan Xi’s answer was self-evident.

He couldn’t blame her for this. After all, not just anyone could withstand a test like this, let alone a girl as poor as Lan Xi without any background.

Logically that made sense, but Xie Cheng still couldn’t help feeling irritated inside.

Extremely irritated.

He didn’t want to keep watching this boring livestream, but right before he put his phone down, Lan Xi’s righteous and adamant voice came through the camera—

"You must be dreaming! Even if you gave me 5 million, I still wouldn't leave this company or Xie Cheng! Forget 5 million, even 10 million or 20 million, I wouldn't agree!"

Xie Cheng froze.

Lan Xi’s reaction greatly exceeded his expectations.

Not everyone could resist the temptation of 5 million yuan, especially a poverty-stricken girl like Lan Xi without any background.

Yet she didn’t even hesitate for a second before refusing such a generous offer, not wavering at all. What’s more, she didn’t need to give anything up for this offer.

In that instant, Xie Cheng had mixed emotions churning inside.

He was aware Lan Xi relied on him heavily, and within that reliance there was more or less some ambiguous sentiment bordering on crossing the line. Perhaps the socially inept Lan Xi still hadn’t realized her feelings yet, but Xie Cheng had already sensitively discerned Lan Xi’s unusual attitude toward him early on.

His original approach had been to keep an appropriate distance, give verbal reminders, and pretend not to notice using a cold treatment method. But now...

Now, gazing at Lan Xi on the livestream who was cluelessly rejecting 5 million yuan to leave his side with not a shred of hesitation, the emotions stirring inside Xie Cheng roiled somewhat chaotically.

Although Lan Xi was naive and had obvious communication barriers, it was perhaps precisely because of this that she was able to discard the pollution of worldly sophistication and fame and fortune in society and make the most naive choice.

It was a sincere feeling without any consideration of reward or selfishness.

Even if he could not respond, Xie Cheng felt that he should still sincerely thank Lan Xi for her appreciation and recognition.

Seeing the ending here, the subsequent live broadcast was naturally no longer necessary to watch.

Xie Cheng closed the live stream link and flipped to his electronic schedule to frown and make adjustments. He decided to speed up his pace in his busy week this week in order to free up a day on Saturday to personally fulfill his promise and take Lan Xi to an amusement park.

Naturally, once the atmosphere of the amusement park was good and Lan Xi boldly confessed, Xie Cheng would still reject it, but at least in this environment, Lan Xi would also be able to leave without regret and leave behind a beautiful memory.

This was what Xie Cheng thought, and what he did. With the huge amount of work this week, Xie Cheng no longer had time to think about anything else. He took a sip of black coffee and plunged into his work.

**

Lan Xi inexplicably received a call from the man opposite, and the other party insisted on giving Lan Xi a big gift and had to meet to talk. The place was agreed at the coffee shop under the company building, with people coming and going, and it was broad daylight, very safe. Lan Xi thought about it and decided to sneak down to see what was going on.

She never imagined that the other party would give her 5 million as soon as she opened her mouth, asking her to leave Xie Cheng, and even hinted that there was room for negotiation with more money.

Lan Xi naturally rejected it outright!

Who is he trying to fool!

She only has a type 1 bank card! The daily transfer limit is 10,000 yuan, and the annual transfer limit is 200,000 yuan! Just 5 million would take 25 years to transfer! The man who came to negotiate looked to be in his forties, and it was unknown whether he would be dead or alive after 25 years!

years! Xie Cheng might have been tortured to death by her after they got married! She could happily inherit his estate! Still looking at this 5 million?

Lan Xi wisely and coldly rejected it, driving the person away.

However, good things always come in pairs. Not long after returning to her desk, Lan Xi received an internal call from Xie Cheng.

After arranging a pile of data analysis work, Xie Cheng paused: "Keep your time free on Saturday." Lan Xi was stunned: "Is this going to be overtime?"

Xie Cheng said unpleasantly: "I'll take you to the amusement park. Aren't you always staring at me wanting to go to the amusement park?" He cleared his throat, his voice becoming somewhat unnatural, but still very calm, "I did promise that at first. A person's value lies in their integrity. Since I said so, I will take you there early and get it over with, but there will be no more good things like this in the future. "

"Do you understand?"

"I understand, I understand!"

Lan Xi was overjoyed. Her previous crazy hinting tactics were indeed effective! In dealing with things in the future, it seemed that she could use this trick two more times!

Moreover, Xie Cheng was quite good, Lan Xi felt that after marrying him, she would be reluctant for him to die too.

However, Lan Xi's luck was really good today. In addition to these good things, Liang Di stopped Lan Xi just before getting off work. She looked at Lan Xi carefully: "Are you free tonight? I'll treat you to dinner."

Lan Xi always has time for a free dinner anytime!

It wasn't Lan Xi's first time having dinner with Liang Di, but this time, Liang Di was much more restrained than before.

She hesitated several times, as if wanting to say something but stopping herself, until this meal was nearing its end that she finally seemed to not be able to help but whisper: "I'm sorry I didn't tell you about me and Cao An being together. Theoretically speaking, you were still our matchmaker. If it wasn't for you beating him up, I wouldn't have gone to take care of him every day, and we wouldn't have fallen in love over time..."

"But what's the deal with you and Xie Cheng?"

After seeing Lan Xi and Xie Cheng sneak out of the closet one after the other that day, Liang Di was speechless due to the shock, and because she felt guilty about her and Cao An's secret office romance, she did not raise questions on the spot at that time. Afterwards when she got home, the more she thought about this matter, the more bizarre it seemed.

Thinking of this, Liang Di stared at Lan Xi in front of her: "What is your...relationship now?"

Liang Di was Xie Cheng's sister, one of their own! She was someone who needed to be won over! The manual said that for one's own people, one could say some truths, because it is common for Earthlings to share their emotional experiences with their own, and can even instantly shorten the distance between two people in a short period of time, making the relationship between them even more solid.

After taking a bite of dessert, Lan Xi decided to be completely open and honest: "I conquered him."

Liang Di gasped, almost spewing the milk tea in her mouth.

She felt that her secret office love affair with Cao An was already exciting enough, and didn't expect Lan Xi's situation to be even more outrageous.

But on second thought, it didn't seem to be wrong at all. Lan Xi was so beautiful that not only men, even Liang Di herself often couldn't help but be distracted by her face.

Then Liang Di thought of a problem: "So when you two were in the closet that day, were you..." Although Lan Xi had a good relationship with her, Xie Cheng was still her boss after all. Liang Di weighed it slightly and euphemistically said, "It was because of some exciting reasons, right?"

Two people inexplicably hiding in a closet during a dinner event, this would look questionable to any normal person's eyes. Liang Di felt she was hinting enough, but unbeknownst to her, these words were completely differently understood by Lan Xi.

Hiding in the closet was because she had mistakenly thought there was a shooting outside at the time. Was a shooting exciting? For Lan Xi who was used to close combat training classes, firearms were of course very common, but now that she was embedded on Earth, all answers should still be carefully considered, and she must not use the experience of Moyu Star to infer Earth.

Lan Xi's brain spun rapidly. According to the public security section of the Earthling Conquest Manual, shootings were not common occurrences in human society, so naturally they would be exciting in the eyes of Earthlings.

Thinking of this, Lan Xi solemnly nodded: "Yes, I thought it was exciting gunshots at first, but later I found out there was nothing exciting about it..."

She didn't know why, but just as Lan Xi was about to continue explaining, she was interrupted by Liang Di's shocked expression: "Gunshots?!"

Could guns be kicked instead of held by hands? Of course you use your hands!

"Yes, of course there were gunshots." Lan Xi continued, "But in the end there were no actual shots fired..."

But Liang Di had a "I can't hear you" expression on her face as she covered her ears: "If it's indecent, I won't listen. You don't have to say any more, I already know why you two would hide in the closet. As for whether the gun successfully went off in the end, you really don't need to report that to me!"

As expected of Xie Cheng's sister, Liang Di was clever as ice and snow. Without Lan Xi having to explain herself, she already completely understood the cause and effect of the matter, saving Lan Xi the effort of explaining.

However, sharing this kind of thing really did bring people closer together.

Because after Lan Xi spoke, Liang Di looked at her worriedly: "But...normal men usually won't force girls to do such things in public places. After all, if discovered, men with thicker skin won't have issues, but girls' social lives could be ruined, reputation and public opinion completely destroyed. Besides...besides, the image I had of Xie Cheng seems worlds apart from this. He looks so abstinent, yet secretly he plays around like this."

Saying this, Liang Di grabbed Lan Xi's hand: "Lan Xi, just listening to these details from you, I can already feel that he is very experienced while you are still new to things. Are you being tricked by him?"

"Let me tell you, men ah, you especially cannot cater to him in everything, you can't pamper the other completely. You must never do things that go against your heart or put yourself at risk just to please him. I know you probably cherish Xie Cheng a lot, but that doesn't mean you should let Xie Cheng have his way. You still have to take the initiative, otherwise I'm worried you'll get hurt..."

Liang Di said hesitantly: "Lan Xi, you understand what I mean right? In a relationship, it's appropriate to make men contribute more, whether it's money or time or energy and attention..."

Of course she understood! How could she not understand!

"Don't worry! Xie Cheng has put in a lot!" In order to make herself seem more credible, Lan Xi gave an example on the spot, "For example, financially, Xie Cheng gives me extra money every month in addition to my salary!"

However, for some reason, instead of relaxing her frown when she heard this, Liang Di's brows knitted even tighter, and her expression became more serious: "Are you saying that Xie Cheng, every month, for your current relationship, gives you additional fixed money?"

"..."

The latest chapter of Ye Fei Ran's work "Earthling's Guide to Conquest" was first updated by [()]

However, this explanation did not bring relief to Liang Di. On the contrary, her expression became even more solemn, with a sudden realization of solidarity against a common enemy in her eyes.

Liang Di had thought that Lan Xi and Xie Cheng were in a romantic relationship. However, she did not expect to accidentally uncover this shocking truth - this was not a love affair! It was clearly monthly allowance for being a mistress!

No wonder there would be such an outrageous request to hide in a closet and have [sexual relations] in broad daylight. He was not treating Lan Xi as a girlfriend at all, but purely as a mistress to be toyed with!

And Lan Xi actually thought Xie Cheng had put in a lot!

Liang Di had been in Xie Cheng's fan club for a long time. Despite working full-time, she had never lost faith in Xie Cheng until now. Despite all her calculations, she did not expect Xie Cheng to be this kind of person! It was truly a case of "you can know a person's face but not their heart."

She felt sorry for Lan Xi. She was clearly still wearing rose-tinted glasses when looking at Xie Cheng, completely unaware of how inappropriate this relationship was for her, how much she was being taken advantage of, and how utterly devoid of future prospects it all was!

Seeing the still naive-looking Lan Xi in front of her, Liang Di cursed Xie Cheng ten thousand times in her heart.

How could a person do something like this?!

She had to hurry and notify her fan club sisters! Quickly avoid this scumbag!

As for Lan Xi, she was clearly brainwashed by Xie Cheng at this point, with filters so thick and heavy that it would take a long-term plan to make her see the light!

()