"..."
Ye Mei's appearance dampened Li Jinshui's arrogance for a brief moment, nearly shattering his Dao heart.
He gave a start and turned around, only to find that Ye Mei had left after saying just one sentence.
Oh? She just left?
Li Jinshui's arrogance flared right back up. In that instant, his Dao heart was reforged, whole and perfect, and he was reborn into a second life.
"Four-eyes, what are you laughing at? Want me to punch your glasses right off your face?"
He grabbed the bespectacled student by the collar, displaying all the arrogance of a spoiled rich kid bullying someone weaker than himself.
"What's wrong with laughing? Supervisor Ye called you out. Aren't you going?" The bespectacled student remained perfectly calm, keeping an easy smile on his face as he forcibly pulled his collar out of Li Jinshui's grasp and smoothed it down. "As far as I know, there isn't a single senior executive with the surname Li at either Rong City Branch or the Youth Training Camp."
"Pfft, hahahaha!"
Li Jinshui laughed as if he'd just heard the funniest joke in the world. A cold glint flashed in his eyes. "The branch? The Youth Training Camp? Are you mocking me for being banished by my family from headquarters to some backwater branch? Four-eyes, I have to say, you've really managed to piss me off."
"..."
At that, the bespectacled student's calm smile instantly froze.
Family? Headquarters? Banished to a branch?
The information revealed by those words left his mind completely blank. He could no longer keep up his composure.
Damn it, I'm screwed. I tried to show off and got my ass handed to me instead!
"Y-Young Master Li, I didn't mean it like that..." The bespectacled student looked flustered. He hurriedly grabbed his own collar and shoved it back into Li Jinshui's hand.
"Then what did you mean? And why were you trying to use Supervisor Ye to intimidate me?"
Li Jinshui tossed away the collar as if it were filthy, dusted off his hands, and sneered. "You should ask around. On my very first day here, Little Ye stayed late at the company in the middle of the night just to wait for me by the elevator! If it weren't for my family... Forget it. Why bother saying so much to lowlifes like you? It'd only lower my status."
Hiss—
Everyone present drew a sharp breath.
That Supervisor Ye, who was usually as cold as an iceberg, had personally waited by the elevator to welcome him in the middle of the night?
Could that be true?
But her tone just now hadn't seemed to suggest it. Could she really just be naturally cold when she spoke?
"Enough. I'm in a good mood today, so I can't be bothered with country bumpkins like you. I'd hate for word to get out and have people laugh at me for bullying ants."
Li Jinshui straightened his cuffs and looked down over the crowd. "Anyway, listen up. The old man in my family wants me to keep a low profile for these three months, so you'd better stop provoking me. Otherwise... Heh heh heh..."
He didn't need to finish the threat. Leaving only that sinister laughter behind, he strode toward the venue's entrance.
That "heh heh heh" said more than a thousand words. It was the most powerful death warning of all.
Everyone exchanged looks, each of them holding their breath like a quail, afraid to breathe too loudly and provoke Young Master Li again.
Only after watching Li Jinshui leave the venue completely did they finally let out a long breath of relief.
"Damn, what rotten luck. I thought there was only one Class A this year, so we could push him around however we wanted. Turns out we ran into a brick wall—a living ancestor." The student who'd started the taunting wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. He was still shaken and couldn't forget the vicious look in Li Jinshui's eyes.
"Do you think he's telling the truth? Would some young master with that much influence really come to a training camp like ours?" someone asked, still doubtful.
"Isn't that obvious? Would he have that kind of presence if he were lying?"
Someone immediately argued back, even launching into a tale of past misery. "The way he spoke, his expression, especially that look in his eyes like human life meant nothing to him—it was exactly like the rich kids who used to bully me at school. The resemblance was uncanny."
"Am I the only one who thinks something's off? I've seen those truly privileged heirs from major powers online, and they actually care a lot about their manners and public image. They deliberately act approachable and eager to win people over..."
"That's only in public, man. We're in a training camp right now, on his turf. Why would he bother putting on an act?"
"Enough, enough. Just don't provoke him for now. We can ask around later tonight and find out."
The Youth Training Camp, 51st floor. The human resources supervisor's office.
Ye Mei sat in a wide leather chair, her long, shapely legs crossed, clad in black stockings. Her pale fingers tapped rhythmically on the desktop as she silently stared at Li Jinshui.
Li Jinshui stood off to the side with his eyes lowered, his hands obediently held in front of him. He looked humble and ready to be lectured, quietly waiting for Supervisor Ye to speak.
"Do you have a grudge against me, or against my glasses?" Ye Mei finally asked coldly.
"Both," Li Jinshui answered without hesitation.
"???"
Ye Mei's fingers paused in their tapping. Her expression stiffened slightly.
Both?
You really have some nerve!
"Supervisor Ye, you can't blame me. It's mainly because your presence is so intimidating. You rarely smile, and you always seem to keep everyone at arm's length."
Li Jinshui slowly raised his head, his face tinged with bitterness and helplessness, yet his eyes were full of sincerity. "But at the same time, you have a peerless beauty that no one could ever forget. Every night, the moment I close my eyes, all I can see is your face. I can't fall asleep at all. Whenever I try to strike up a conversation with you, that icy protective shell of yours pushes me away. It's just too unfair. Tell me, how could I not have a grudge in a situation like that?"
Before Ye Mei could respond, Li Jinshui pointed at her face, speaking with heartfelt anguish. "And then there are your glasses. The first moment I saw you at the company, I thought some junior schoolmate had come by. Then the receptionist told me you were the HR supervisor, and my first thought was that I'd stumbled into a scam. You clearly looked like a girl of sixteen or seventeen—how could you dare to wear a suit and glasses and pretend to be a mature HR supervisor?"
"Only later did I realize I'd guessed wrong. Supervisor Ye, society may not encourage youthful beauty these days, but you don't need to deliberately dress older just to command the room. Just let your natural beauty shine."
After Li Jinshui unleashed a barrage of shameless lines about currying favor with a rich woman, even Ye Mei, as cold and distant as she was, was left bewildered.
The pale ear at the side of her face betrayed her, turning faintly red. Her toes curled tightly inside her high heels, pressing hard against the insoles.
Why did she feel so embarrassed and awkward, yet also inexplicably pleased?
What had this young man even done before?