novelraw Chapter 205: You Won the Bet
Chapter 205: You Won the Bet
"Yichen, when did you start playing women’s games?" Pei Liyan asked indifferently.
Fu Yichen felt utterly embarrassed. Liyan was accusing him of stirring up trouble like a woman.
His face flushed instantly and soon turned pale.
Pei Liyan said just that, stood up, and walked to a smooth wall. With a stretch of his hand, he surprisingly pushed open a gap—it was a door, leading to a rest area.
He went in and quickly came back out with a bottle of water, walked over to Fu Yichen, and said, "You’ve been busy for so long; are you thirsty?"
Fu Yichen felt even more embarrassed.
He felt that Pei Liyan’s silence made him feel even more humiliated.
He awkwardly looked down, not knowing what to say.
Pei Liyan handed him the bottle of water.
Fu Yichen took it with both hands, not even glancing at Pei Liyan.
Pei Liyan looked down at him and then sat down quietly on the sofa opposite.
Why didn’t Liyan ask anything?
After opening the water and taking a sip, Fu Yichen glanced sideways at Pei Liyan. "Liyan, shall I go back now?"
"Mm!" Pei Liyan nodded. "Go back. Read more when you have time."
Fu Yichen was puzzled.
Pei Liyan continued to look at him calmly, "It means you should study hard, don’t overthink it. Live and learn."
Fu Yichen stiffened; he was completely confused.
He was indeed a bit slow, but surely it wasn’t necessary to point it out like that.
"Liyan, you might as well just scold me instead. This sarcasm, I can’t accept it."
"I haven’t even scolded you yet, and you feel I’m being sarcastic. How would you feel if I actually scolded you?" Pei Liyan’s tone remained even throughout.
Fu Yichen was now even more embarrassed, "Alright, I admit I went too far today, I crossed the line, got too involved. I was just trying to stand up for Qiao Xiang."
Pei Liyan raised his eyebrows, looking at him without saying a word.
Fu Yichen didn’t leave but simply blurted out his thoughts. "I just don’t understand why you would pick Qiao Rui instead of Qiao Xiang."
"Yichen, then why must you stand up for Qiao Xiang?" Pei Liyan just responded with a simple question, which immediately made Fu Yichen understand.
It’s just a matter of wanting or not wanting to.
"Do you really have no feelings at all for Qiao Xiang?" Fu Yichen asked again.
"None!" Pei Liyan answered without hesitation, emphatically.
Fu Yichen understood at once. "I’m sorry, Liyan, I truly thought too much."
"It’s not just overthinking; you did too much." Pei Liyan spoke again with a heavy tone: "This should only happen once, never again."
Fu Yichen clearly caught the warning in Pei Liyan’s voice.
A jolt of realization hit him, and he nodded seriously. "I understand, Liyan."
He quickly left Pei Liyan’s CEO office.
Watching the departing figure, Pei Liyan’s brows furrowed slightly, hoping he truly understood.
As soon as Fu Yichen came out, Qiao Xiang stood up.
Fu Yichen walked toward her, his face filled with regret. After all, he hadn’t been able to help Qiao Xiang, which was the most upsetting and remorseful thing for him.
Seeing his expression, Qiao Xiang knew that he had been overwhelmed by Pei Liyan’s presence.
"Yichen, I’ll walk you to the elevator," Qiao Xiang said, forcing a bitter smile.
"I’m sorry, Xiangxiang, I wasn’t able to help you," Fu Yichen said, full of guilt.
Qiao Xiang shook her head. "It’s not your fault; you’ve already helped me a lot, and I’m truly grateful."
The two of them walked toward the elevator together.
The door to the CEO’s office was now open, and Pei Liyan stood at the entrance, his gaze indifferently following their departure.
Si Ran hurried over. "President, do you need anything?"
Pei Liyan merely watched Fu Yichen’s departing figure, his gaze reflective. "Si Ran, how is Qiao Xiang’s performance?"
Si Ran was taken aback, turned her head following Pei Liyan’s line of sight, and saw Qiao Xiang and Fu Yichen walking towards the elevator together.
She began, "Her abilities in the professional field are decent, and she learns quickly, but sometimes she’s swayed by personal emotions."
Pei Liyan’s eyebrows rose slightly. "Your evaluation of her is quite high?"
Si Ran nodded slightly. "I’m just being objective, without personal feelings involved."
"What personal factors? I’d like to hear them."
"That’s not important," Si Ran said.
"Tell me!" Pei Liyan commanded in a deep voice.
Si Ran, seeing no way out of it, reluctantly said, "Personally, I don’t like her, but if she can manage to control her emotions well, she would probably make a fine secretary."
The corner of Pei Liyan’s mouth curled up into a smile, a hint of light hidden in his eyes. "That’s more like it."
Si Ran glanced at him, "President, my words only represent my own opinions, please deal with them as you see fit."
"Si Ran, since when have you started speaking to me so formally?" Pei Liyan was instantly displeased.
Si Ran hastened to say, "You asked me to speak, I’m afraid of saying something wrong."
"Wrong words are trivial, but not speaking up, that’s a big problem!"
"Yes!" Si Ran nodded.
"Are Qiao Rui’s dresses all taken care of?" Pei Liyan changed the subject.
Si Ran nodded. "Yes, President. The dresses have been delivered back and handed over to Mrs. Feng."
"Good!" Pei Liyan nodded. "Thank you."
Si Ran reacted with pleasant surprise. "President, you’re too kind. It’s my honor to help you and the madam."
Hearing this, Pei Liyan was slightly stunned, looking at her. "From your tone, it seems you get along well with Qiao Rui."
Si Ran nodded, not hiding anything. "Yes, the madam is a very interesting person!"
"Interesting?" Pei Liyan frowned. "For example?"
Si Ran thought for a moment. "The madam is very beautiful, yet low-profile, unlike most women."
"Is that all?"
"There’s more for you to discover on your own, President."
Pei Liyan laughed; he indeed had discovered a lot, and it was indeed very interesting.
On the other side, Qiao Xiang had seen off Fu Yichen and had returned.
She looked up and saw Pei Liyan chatting and laughing with Si Ran, her beautiful eyebrows creasing in an instant.
There was a time when there were so many women around him, every one of them laughing and chatting with him.
But she seemed to have lost the special treatment of the past.
This made Qiao Xiang somewhat frantic.
But she was also very clear that she couldn’t do anything and didn’t dare to.
She quickly returned to her workstation with an emotionless face and started to organize her work.
She now felt a strong sense of crisis and was acutely aware that if she didn’t do her job well, there was a hundred percent chance that Pei Liyan might send her away.
She didn’t want to lose face; she wanted to stay.
Even if she left the Pei Family, it should be her own decision.
Seeing Qiao Xiang return to her workstation, Pei Liyan gave her a glance and said to Si Ran, "I won’t be back this afternoon. I’ll leave the rest of the work to you and Fang Mo."
"Yes, President!" Si Ran nodded.
Pei Liyan then left.
Qiao Xiang turned to watch his retreating figure, opened her mouth, but in the end, didn’t say a word.
As soon as Pei Liyan left, she immediately got up and went to the restroom, took out her phone, and dialed a number.
After the call connected, she spoke emotionlessly into the phone. "You won the bet; he indeed has no interest in me, but he has also lost interest in you because he’s fallen in love with my sister."