Chapter 250 — Plotting

"Are you sure it's this memory card?" Sun Jingyan was still a little uneasy.

"Positive!" Wei Zhao said lazily. "It was recorded inside a coffee shop — I checked it long ago."

Only then did Sun Jingyan relax. "Thanks, little husband. Big sister will give you a kiss as a reward!"

With that, Sun Jingyan puckered her lips and kissed the air.

"Mwah..."

Sun Jingyan froze. She had only kissed empty air — so how had she kissed something? Then she saw that Wei Zhao had somehow brought his face over to hers.

"You..." Sun Jingyan cursed Wei Zhao inwardly as shameless. She had only been pretending to kiss him, yet he had leaned in on his own.

"What do you mean, 'you'?" Wei Zhao touched the spot on his cheek where Sun Jingyan had kissed him and smiled wickedly. "From now on, don't go thinking I'm harmless. If you keep making teasing moves, I'll respond appropriately."

Wei Zhao really had been provoked by Sun Jingyan. You can't keep bringing up that 'half lover' business over and over again, can you? Since you're so eager to talk about it, fine — have it your way. A half lover, then. There was no special boundary to this 'half' business; even if they weren't sleeping together, a kiss ought to be allowed, shouldn't it?

"You..." Sun Jingyan was at a loss for words. True enough — she had only toyed with Wei Zhao because he looked young, as if he shouldn't be a match for her. Had it been any other dangerous man, Sun Jingyan would never have resorted to such childish tricks; that would only have gotten herself burned.、

By Sun Jingyan's judgment, Wei Zhao ought to be a boy who had never known a woman. His skills might be formidable, but all those earlier years he must have been shut away in closed-door training under his master, knowing little of the world outside. So Sun Jingyan was confident that her beauty could spin Wei Zhao around her little finger and make him work for her.

But she had never expected Wei Zhao to go on the offensive himself. Just as Sun Jingyan was about to say something more, Wei Zhao's next move left her utterly at a loss.

Wei Zhao suddenly reached out and lightly pinched Sun Jingyan's gracefully curved chin. It was a flippant gesture carrying a touch of insult — the kind of move a bully in a period drama would use to harass a village girl. Now that Wei Zhao had suddenly produced it, Sun Jingyan, who had never suffered such humiliation, grew tense, even afraid.

"You... what are you doing?" Sun Jingyan was somewhat panicked. With a gesture like that, nine times out of ten nothing good would follow.

"A half lover, is it? I'll come to collect that debt whenever I like!" At that moment, however, Wei Zhao released her. "Next time you come to me for a job, think it through — I'll still be collecting my fee, and when that time comes, the half lover will become a whole lover!"

If Wei Zhao didn't show her a bit of color, this girl would start running a dye shop. He had let her off before, but this girl had gone too far, and Wei Zhao could bear it no longer.

At home, Wei Zhao could put up with Gu Mengyao and put up with Shen Yushu, because that was his job. But with Sun Jingyan, a complete stranger — did this girl really think her charms were boundless?

Sun Jingyan felt aggrieved. When had she ever suffered such an insult? Even Wu Tieshou wouldn't dare utter flippant words at will, and though that Zhang Tongtian coveted her, he would never use force. That sort of thing — coercion and enticement were one matter, force was another. Zhang Tongtian, for all his reach, had no wish to land in prison.

But this Wei Zhao creature had actually plundered her first kiss — it hadn't landed on his lips, true, but it had landed on his face... And that left Sun Jingyan deeply aggrieved.

Yet even in her grievance, Sun Jingyan silently endured it, because she knew very well that all of it was entirely her own doing. Playing with fire and getting burned — that was the way of it.

Seeing that Sun Jingyan had finally quieted down, Wei Zhao couldn't be bothered with her anymore. Best she never come looking for him again — he was busy, and every time she sought him out it was for some low-skill errand, which always left Wei Zhao feeling somewhat sorry for his own skills.

If Sun Jingyan really were his wife, he'd have accepted it. But the key was that she wasn't, and she kept playing little mind games with him. This time, for the sake of their acquaintance, Wei Zhao would help her once; next time would depend on her sincerity.

Naturally, Wei Zhao wouldn't let Sun Jingyan drive him all the way to the villa district. Instead, he had her drop him at a bus stop near the villa district, and he got out. Sun Jingyan gritted her teeth, shot Wei Zhao a resentful glare, and drove off.

"Dad, Gu Pengzhan has been consolidating his power these past few days. This is very bad for us!" A young man with glasses stood cautiously before a middle-aged man.

The middle-aged man was Jin Gubang, Zhong Fabai's brother-in-law and, apart from Gu Pengzhan, the largest shareholder of the Gu Group. The young man was his son and secretary, Jin Maosheng.

"I know. Zhang Yuzhou found me a bunch of useless trash. If that job had gone through, the company would have lost at least two hundred million — and Gu Pengzhan signed that contract himself. One way or another, it would have cut his prestige on the board down to nothing!" Jin Gubang spoke with some bitterness. "They can't even kidnap a girl properly. I don't know if these people eat shit for a living! They couldn't even handle one little bodyguard!"

"Exactly. But that little bastard Wei Zhao is a real pain too. I bought off the company electrician, wanted to stage an accident for Gu Pengzhan in the parking lot and put him in the hospital for a while, but that brat Wei Zhao ruined that too," Jin Maosheng said hatefully.

"You're still talking about it? Who told you to act so rashly? If something had happened to Gu Pengzhan inside the company, the police would suspect an inside job first thing!" Jin Gubang glared at his son and said furiously. "Do you have a brain? How could you do something so reckless?"

"Dad, that electrician has already disappeared... forever..." Jin Maosheng lowered his head and explained cautiously.

"Hmph, I'm not saying you did the wrong thing — but next time you make a move, don't do it inside the company!" Jin Gubang gave a cold snort. "By the way, has your cousin actually won Gu Mengyao over yet?"

"It seems not yet," Jin Maosheng said. "Dad, I don't think Uncle Zhong has any good intentions either. If Zhong Yongliang really does end up with Gu Mengyao, it could work indirectly toward our Jin family's goal of controlling the Gu Group, but wouldn't it also benefit Uncle Zhong's family? He's an outsider by blood in the end — no guarantee he won't turn on us someday!"

"There's something to what you say. Zhong Fabai is not the type to play second fiddle to anyone." Jin Gubang nodded. On this point he agreed with his son. Zhong Fabai was deeply ambitious. If he were brought in, there would be no problem in the short term, but over time, there was no telling whether he might turn the tables and make himself the master.