Leon was stunned for a moment and reached out to touch Scarlett's forehead.
"Do you have a fever?"
Scarlett pouted and swatted Leon's hand away, annoyed. "That's a pretty dull reaction."
"What kind of reaction were you expecting?" Leon asked with a half-smile.
Scarlett nearly said that he should at least be grateful, pinch himself to see if he was dreaming, considering that her suitors could line up along the Great Wall. But remembering that Leon's current girlfriend slightly outshone her, Scarlett felt disheartened and swallowed her words.
"What I just said is true, not a joke. Of course, due to certain reasons, it's not a real boyfriend!"
"What reasons?" Leon asked, suddenly recalling something. He was speechless. "Don't tell me it's one of those cliché, overused plots…"
"Leon, you're quite amusing."
Scarlett laughed, her eyes narrowing into crescents.
…
Grace sipped on a cup of hot milk while looking at the data on her laptop. Empress Company's turn of events had put her in an exceptionally good mood. She was working with ease and had already negotiated business deals with other companies. She knew this was an excellent opportunity to enhance the company's reputation.
"Something strange happened on the internet today. Grace, was it your doing?"
Someone interrupted her thoughts.
Grace turned around. Isabella had returned to the apartment, looking somewhat alarmed. XO's virus incident was indeed remarkable.
"No, it was XO!"
Grace didn't hide the truth. There was no need to keep it from Isabella.
"XO?!"
Isabella nodded silently.
Grace's eyes sparkled as she suddenly asked, "By the way, Isabella, what do you think of this virus?"
"Perhaps it's just as XO said." Isabella walked to the bar, poured herself a glass of water. Her face remained as unreadable as ever.
"So even Isabella thinks so."
"Is Scarlett back yet?" Isabella asked, not wanting to dwell on the XO topic.
"She's off to another matchmaking session. It's quite amusing." Grace chuckled, her eyes still glued to the screen.
Isabella gave her a puzzled look.
Grace explained, "Her family is forcing her into a matchmaking session. That guy is quite overbearing."
"Scarlett being so obedient? Didn't she just escape back here?" Isabella was skeptical.
"This time, she brought a boyfriend to counter her family. Scarlett is still a bit childish." Grace smiled.
If it were just that, Grace wouldn't be so intrigued. Isabella asked, "Who did Scarlett bring as her boyfriend?"
"Isabella, you'll never guess!"
"Leon?" Seeing Grace's amused expression, Isabella blurted out.
Grace was stunned, surprised that Isabella guessed correctly. "Hmm... Isabella, you've been paying attention to him?"
"What's going on?" Isabella regained her calm. "Does Scarlett fancy Leon?"
"No. She said Leon helped me solve a major company problem, called him a lucky star, and found him reliable, not prone to wild thoughts." Grace explained.
Isabella was thoughtful. At first glance, Leon did seem quite reliable. She recalled the hostage incident and took a sip of tea.
However, the fact that Scarlett would involve Leon was quite unexpected.
Her eyebrows furrowed slightly.
Crack.
A fine crack appeared in the ceramic teacup.
…
Leon was sitting on a flight from Xijing to Beijing, looking resigned. He glanced sideways at Scarlett.
He never expected to play the role of a "fake boyfriend" in a matchmaking scenario.
"Senior Leon, don't look so aggrieved, okay?" Scarlett rolled her eyes. "After all, we do have a close relationship now… Even if it were a real boyfriend, it wouldn't be a big deal, hmph."
Leon chuckled dryly. If not for this situation, he wouldn't have agreed.
"Consider it as me owing you a favor. A meal and this time, is that enough?"
Leon never intended for her to owe him anything. "Tell me about this matchmaking situation and what I should do."
"First, don't get exposed. After that, anything goes." Scarlett didn't have high expectations.
"Anything goes?" Leon glanced at Scarlett, noticing how her white jeans accentuated her figure.
Scarlett glared at him fiercely, snorting. "As long as you're not afraid of losing an arm or a leg, do as you please."
Leon laughed. This girl was quite a handful.
"By the way, let me tell you about this Lucas Luo. He just came of age and keeps wanting to matchmake with me. It's so annoying. He loves playing with eagles, has a pet golden eagle, and enjoys racing. If you…" Scarlett paused, scrutinizing Leon, and then sighed. "Forget it. Just behave yourself."
"You're not bringing me into a troublesome love triangle, are you?" Leon hoped to avoid complications.
Scarlett answered straightforwardly, "No, people who play with eagles always have a bit of annoying arrogance. But he knows what limits are. If I, Scarlett, fancy someone, he wouldn't dare touch! Hmph."
She seemed like a tough character, just like the others who lived with Grace.
Leon then asked for more details and subtly inquired about their backgrounds. Scarlett answered flawlessly, giving no useful inside information. However, she became very excited when talking about her relationship with Grace and Isabella. According to her, the three were very good friends, with deep family backgrounds, which was quite mysterious.
Scarlett also asked Leon many questions, mostly gossip, such as how long he had known Lily Lin, why they kissed when they first met, if William Jiang's expulsion was related to him, and his relationship with Grace.
They chatted for a long time until the in-flight announcement interrupted them. "Does any passenger speak Arabic? A passenger on board needs your assistance. We greatly appreciate your help!"
The announcement repeated three times, but no one moved, pretending not to hear.
"Arabic? Who speaks that? I'm good with French and German," Scarlett said regretfully.
"I do!" Leon raised his hand. A pretty flight attendant came over, smiling but puzzled. "Sir, what service do you need?"
"I can help with the Arabic," Leon said.
"Ah?" The flight attendant was surprised but quickly composed herself. "Thank you for your help. Please follow me."
Scarlett stared at Leon. "You speak Arabic?"
The other passengers looked at Leon with surprise, thinking the same as Scarlett—this young man actually speaks Arabic?
They couldn't help but take a closer look.
Leon chuckled and followed the flight attendant to another cabin. There, two flight attendants were trying to communicate with a man who was gesticulating wildly, looking very anxious. His words sounded like gibberish to them. The flight attendants were trying to communicate in English to no avail.
"Ying, this passenger speaks Arabic."
Upon hearing this, the lead flight attendant turned and looked at Leon with curiosity. Speaking Arabic at this age was quite rare.
Ying nodded.
The Middle Eastern man saw Leon and started speaking rapidly. Thankfully, Leon had activated his "Thousands Words" ability, automatically translating the man's gibberish into a language he understood.
Leon responded fluently in Arabic, startling the man.
The surrounding people were stunned, thinking this student was impressive, speaking a foreign language more fluently than a native speaker.
"What is he saying?" the flight attendant asked.
"Oh, he just remembered he left his luggage at Xijing Airport," Leon said helplessly.
Everyone broke into a cold sweat.
The flight attendant was momentarily stunned but quickly nodded. "Ask him to describe his luggage, and we can notify the airport security to secure it. Have him leave his contact information and address so we can send it to him."
Leon nodded and translated the flight attendant's words.
The Middle Eastern man finally calmed down, shaking Leon's hand gratefully. No translation was needed to understand his relief. Leon then took down his luggage details, phone number, and address and handed them to the flight attendant.
"We will resolve this as soon as possible," the flight attendant smiled.
After relaying this message, the man finally sat back down, expressing his gratitude to Leon with a thumbs-up. The other passengers nodded in admiration.
Back at their seats, Scarlett still couldn't believe it.
"Leon, when did you learn Arabic?"
"I'm an assistant to Professor Tang. Arabic is not as difficult as Cthulhu languages," Leon said. During his time as Sienna Tang's assistant, even without special abilities, he had picked up some ancient scripts.
"Did you really pass Professor Tang's assistant test?" Scarlett was even more surprised, knowing how stringent those conditions were.
"What do you think…"
"I don't believe it. Then can you understand what I'm saying now…" Scarlett snorted, switching to French.
Leon replied fluently. With his abilities, he could respond to any language. Scarlett wasn't convinced and switched to German, receiving the same result.
Finally, Scarlett had to give up. Leon was too abnormal, effortlessly handling language switches. What irked Scarlett even more was that Leon spoke German and French more authentically than their teachers, even mimicking an Irish accent in English. Anyone who didn't know better would think he was from overseas.
A few hours later, the plane landed at Beijing International Airport.
As they disembarked, Ying, the flight attendant, gave Leon a particularly radiant smile of gratitude. Leon returned the smile, but Scarlett, feeling irritated, reminded him, "From now on, you're my boyfriend. Don't flirt with other women, okay? Being honest and reliable is your only advantage over Lucas Luo."
Seeing Leon treat her words like air, Scarlett stomped her foot. "And add gentle and considerate to that list!"
Once outside the airport, they were greeted by a military-plated car and two stern, imposing soldiers.
Boarding the military vehicle, they drove away under the astonished gazes of onlookers.