Beautiful CEO's Top Expert

Chu Ji had always secretly been in love with Ye Xunhuan; this was something Chu Jiangyue knew very clearly, and he had long since taken in every bit of Chu Ji’s hidden feelings for Ye Xunhuan.

As for Chu Ji’s secret crush on Ye Xunhuan, Chu Jiangyue really didn’t know how to talk about it; otherwise, he wouldn’t have said back then: "The little carved dice hold red beans; love that sinks to the bone, do you know it or not?"

Chu Jiangyue felt that this line fit Chu Ji better than anyone.

Chu Jiangyue left, without the slightest hesitation or wavering.

He wanted to leave this place to Ye Xunhuan and Chu Ji, to create an opportunity for Chu Ji.

After Chu Jiangyue left, Chu Ji sat down opposite Ye Xunhuan, a full smile on her face as she said, "When Jiang Yue first told me you’d come to Dongnan City, I thought this brat was just messing with me!"

"I ran into him by chance too!"

"How could you come and not give me a call? Looking down on me?" Chu Ji said lightly, "Or is it that Young Master Ye’s status is so much higher now that you kind of despise an old classmate like me?"

Chu Ji wasn’t affected at all by the way Chu Jiangyue had called Ye Xunhuan "brother-in-law"; on the contrary, she remained as calm as ever, only with a few more shades of nervousness and unease in her heart.

It had been quite a long time since she and Ye Xunhuan had seen each other; although countless times Chu Ji had wanted to contact Ye Xunhuan, she was afraid of disturbing him.

Besides, her father had never liked Ye Xunhuan, and he even knew that she secretly had a crush on Ye Xunhuan.

Even though he knew, what she got in return was a warning, telling her to stay away from Ye Xunhuan.

But Chu Ji hadn’t taken it to heart. Or rather, she wanted to listen to her father, but this thing called love simply couldn’t be controlled; what’s more, love could even control her body, making her involuntarily want to get close to Ye Xunhuan, want to contact him.

If she hadn’t been afraid of disturbing Ye Xunhuan, afraid that she’d run out of things to say halfway through talking to him; if she hadn’t worried that if she contacted him too often, he would start avoiding her, she would have reached out to Ye Xunhuan long ago.

"Come on, no such thing!" Ye Xunhuan took out a cigarette, lit it for himself, drew on it gently, then said unhurriedly, "I only just got here, and I didn’t know if you’d be busy, so I didn’t disturb you."

"Just say you didn’t think of calling me, isn’t that enough? Why be so tactful?" Chu Ji curled her lips. "You being this tactful really isn’t your style!"

"People change." Ye Xunhuan said softly, "By the way, how have you been lately?"

He directly steered the topic away, not giving Chu Ji any chance to keep playing off his words.

"About the same as before, busy every day." Chu Ji said with helplessness, "Of course, if Jiang Yue were a bit more promising, I might be a lot more relaxed."

"With great power comes great responsibility." Ye Xunhuan said with a smile. "Back when we were in school, you were already very capable, so you ended up as the big class monitor."

"Cut it out. Other people might not know, but I do; that last vote was yours. Otherwise you’d have been the monitor."

Ye Xunhuan let out a chuckle. "So you figured that out too."

"I’m not stupid." Chu Ji said lightly. "But I really miss those days now, carefree and all."

"I miss them too, but we can’t go back anymore."

Chu Ji exhaled a heavy breath from her lips. "Let’s not talk about something this depressing."

"What brings you to Dongnan City? Did Miss Qiu come too?"

Ye Xunhuan shook his head lightly. "I came alone."

"You came alone? What about Miss Qiu?"

"She’s still in Jiangzhong City."

"So you’re here on some kind of business?"

Ye Xunhuan pondered for a moment, then nodded. "Something like that."

He didn’t tell Chu Ji directly that he was here to wait for the King, to wait for a powerful enemy, to wait for the King’s dead-end trap to descend on him.

The reason he didn’t tell her was simply that Chu Ji must not know; otherwise, this woman would, eight or nine times out of ten, stand in front of him.

That was not what Ye Xunhuan wanted to see. At the same time, this matter had already dragged in many people; he didn’t want Chu Ji to be pulled in as well.

"Can I help?"

"No need, it’s just a small matter. I can handle it myself." Ye Xunhuan said lightly.

"Really?"

"Do you think I’m the type to be polite with people?" Ye Xunhuan blew out a thick plume of smoke and smiled. "Don’t worry, if I need your help, I’ll definitely contact you."

Chu Ji didn’t overthink it and simply nodded.

In her view, Ye Xunhuan now was the Qin family’s grandson; his status and position were many times what they’d been before. There probably wouldn’t be any trouble, and even if there were, there shouldn’t be anything he couldn’t settle.

"So how many days are you staying in Dongnan City?"

"Three to five days." Ye Xunhuan said, a little uncertain. "Depends on how it goes. If things get resolved early, I’ll leave early."

"So if you can’t get things settled, you’ll just keep staying here?"

"That’s the idea." Ye Xunhuan was still somewhat unsure.

"Looks like we’ll be seeing a lot of each other these next few days." Chu Ji said with a smile. "It just so happens I’m not too busy right now; I can show you around Dongnan City properly..."

"No need." Ye Xunhuan refused in one breath.

His sudden attitude made Chu Ji pause, a bit puzzled as her gaze ran up and down him twice. "What’s with you?"

Hearing her question, Ye Xunhuan realized he’d just been too tense.

But he couldn’t really be blamed; his nerves were strung so tight now that he couldn’t afford a moment’s slack.

He didn’t know when the King would make a move, and if he let Chu Ji take him wandering all over Dongnan City, she might very well get dragged into it.

So what he’d said just now had been almost instinctive.

"It’s nothing." Ye Xunhuan said softly. "I’m afraid of getting in the way of your work. And I’m not exactly unfamiliar with this place. Relax, if anything comes up, I’ll call you."

"Really?"

"Of course it’s real. Why would I lie to you for no reason?" Ye Xunhuan said with a straight face.

"Okay, if something happens, you call me. But tomorrow I’m still taking you around..."

Ye Xunhuan wanted to refuse again, but he was afraid she’d overthink it if he did, so he could only nod helplessly.

At the very instant he nodded, a deep voice, like a great bell, suddenly rang in the ears of both Chu Ji and Ye Xunhuan!

"You can’t take him around tomorrow either. You must keep your distance from him!"

Hearing that rich male voice, Chu Ji’s slender body gave a slight tremor, and she almost instinctively turned toward the sound.

The next moment, she saw a tall yet not rough-looking middle‑aged man walking over.

His eyes were like an eagle’s in the dead of night—cold and aloof, yet overbearing to the point of suffocation, radiating a "strangers keep away" aura.

"Dad..."