The streets were lively, the evening rush bustling with energy. Among the crowd, Xia Yan moved with quiet purpose, her simple attire and low profile making her appear as just another face in the sea of people. But there was nothing ordinary about her.
At a discreet distance, Liang Chen sat in the backseat of his sleek black car, his arms crossed and his expression unreadable as he watched her. His assistant, Yang Rui, sat beside the driver, clearly uncomfortable but wisely silent.
After several minutes of silence, Liang Chen finally spoke, his tone clipped. "She didn't even look at me."
Yang Rui shifted in his seat, adjusting his glasses. "Perhaps she was… preoccupied, sir?"
"Preoccupied," Liang Chen repeated, his tone flat. He turned his sharp gaze on his assistant. "Do you believe that?"
Yang Rui straightened instantly, his instincts screaming that he was entering dangerous territory. "Of course not, sir. It's just that—"
"The possibility of me being ignored is absurd," Liang Chen interrupted, his voice laced with disbelief. "Follow her."
"Sir, we've already been following her for twenty minutes," Yang Rui pointed out gently. "She's gone to a café, bought tea, and is now heading back home. Perhaps it's time to—"
"Follow her," Liang Chen repeated firmly.
Yang Rui bit back a sigh. "Yes, sir."
Xia Yan stepped out of a small café, her tea in hand, when she noticed a familiar figure blocking her path. The tall, impeccably dressed man stood before her like some immovable statue, his sharp gaze fixed on her with unnerving intensity.
She blinked once. Twice. Then, with a sigh, she said, "You again." Her tone had a tinge of exasperation. Yang Rui's lip twitched at her reaction.
Liang Chen's face darkened for a split second before his usual poker face returned.
"Hello, again." He began smoothly, stepping closer.
"What do you want?" Xia Yan asked bluntly, her tone colder than the iced tea in her hand.
Liang Chen's lips twitched into a faint smirk, though there was an undeniable tension in his expression. "A question."
Her brow arched, but she said nothing.
"You don't find me attractive?"
The question hung in the air for a moment, absurdly loud despite the surrounding noise of the city.
Xia Yan blinked at him, once, twice. Yes, this idiot really asked her this question, she exclaimed inside. Her expression was a mixture of disbelief and irritation. Then, she let out a short, humorless laugh.
"Are you serious?" she asked, her voice dripping with disdain.
Liang Chen met her intense gaze with his own, "Dead serious."
Her face filled with a mixture of annoyance and amusement. "Let me make this clear," she said, her tone cold enough to send a chill down his spine. "I don't care about your looks, your money, or whatever inflated sense of importance you have. To me, you're just another person in the crowd."
The bluntness of her words left Liang Chen momentarily stunned. He stood frozen, uncharacteristically speechless, as she brushed past him without a second glance.
From a safe distance, Yang Rui, who had been watching with great interest, decided it was time to intervene. "Sir," he said cautiously, approaching his boss, "are you alright?"
Liang Chen didn't respond immediately. His gaze remained fixed on Xia Yan's retreating figure. His expression shifted from shock to something more dangerous—a faint, determined smirk.
"Background check," he ordered, his voice calm but resolute. He needed to know
Who this woman was. She brushed past him like he was a fly, not once but twice.
Yang Rui sighed internally. Of course. "On it, sir," he replied, already pulling out his tablet.
As the car rolled forward, Liang Chen leaned back in his seat, his sharp gaze focused out the window. Yang Rui, seated across from him, pretended to be engrossed in his tablet but couldn't help sneaking a glance at his boss.
"Sir," he ventured cautiously, "about the young lady…"
"What about her?" Liang Chen replied smoothly, not bothering to look away from the window.
"She, uh…" Yang Rui hesitated, carefully choosing his words. "She didn't seem particularly… impressed by you."
Liang Chen's sharp gaze snapped to his assistant.
Yang Rui coughed nervously, adjusting his glasses. "I mean, statistically speaking, sir, most women find you—"
"Most?" Liang Chen cut in, his tone dangerously low.
Yang Rui's eyebrows twitched before he corrected hastily, "Almost all," Yang Rui inwardly cursed himself. "But this particular young lady might be an… outlier as I said before."
Liang Chen's lips twitched. "An outlier?"
"Yes, sir," Yang Rui said, nodding solemnly. "A rare statistical anomaly. Perhaps she has poor eyesight?"
Liang Chen narrowed his eyes. "Are you saying I'm only attractive to women with functioning vision?"
"No, sir!" Yang Rui exclaimed, horrified. "Your attractiveness transcends all sensory capabilities."
Liang Chen's lips pressed into a thin line. After a long moment of silence, he said, "She dismissed me like I was nothing."
Yang Rui wisely stayed silent.
Liang Chen leaned back, a faint smirk tugging at the corner of his lips. "Fine. If she doesn't care about me, I'll make her care."
Yang Rui coughed again, glancing out the window to hide his expression. "Of course, sir."
As the car pulled up to his mansion, Liang Chen stepped out, his mind still preoccupied with Xia Yan. Her cold demeanor, her utter disregard for his presence—it was unlike anything he'd experienced before. It was novel, to say the least.
"She'll regret underestimating me," he murmured to himself, his smirk returning.
Yang Rui, trailing behind him, sighed deeply. This was going to be a long week.
.....
Xia Yan moved with ease and agility through the shadows of the street. The sun had long gone, and now the dimly lit street had the faint glow of moonlight. During these past two weeks, Xia Yan pushed through bone-cracking pain and finally built some strength in her body. Though it was not even up to the standard of a normal soldier, Xia Yan thought it was a start. Pathetic, but a start nonetheless. She had a lazy smile as she thought how the day had been productive, though not without its annoyances. That man—what was his name? She didn't care—had confronted her with the most absurd question she'd ever heard.
"You don't find me attractive ?" she muttered to herself, imitating his tone with a sneer. As if the notion was so absurd that he couldn't wrap his head around it. Shaking her head, she smirked faintly. "If it was the past me, I would've castrated him right there."
Her thoughts shifted back to her plans. The tools she had acquired would be put to use immediately. There was no time for distractions, least of all from arrogant, overconfident businessmen.
She had no time for delays, her focus entirely on reaching back at the Xia Villa. However, her instincts—which had been honed to perfection in her previous life—tingled faintly, warning her of an approaching threat.
Sure enough, a group of five boys emerged from the shadows, their faces a mix of bravado and hesitation.
"Miss," one of them, the apparent leader, drawled in a mockingly polite tone. "Hand over your valuables, and we won't hurt you."
Xia Yan stopped in her tracks and regarded them with an icy gaze. Her frail body made her appear like easy prey, but her sharp mind had already sized them up: five boys, the oldest barely sixteen, armed with nothing but cheap knives and fake confidence.
She sighed. "Are you serious?"
The leader, mistaking her disdain for fear, smirked. "You're out here alone, and we're five. Just give us what we want, and we'll let you go."
One of the boys, clearly less confident, whispered loudly, "She looks sickly, Boss. Shouldn't be a problem, right?"
Xia Yan's eyes narrowed. Sickly? Yes, that's right, even though the current Xia Yan's body was more skilled than a normal person, she still wasn't able to get rid of her sickly appearance.
"Last chance," she said coldly, her voice carrying the faint menace of someone who had once been a legend in the underworld. "Leave. Now."
The leader laughed. "You've got guts, I'll give you that—"
Before he could finish, Xia Yan moved.