Silver Tongue

Ye Ming chuckled. "I know you're playing hard to get, but I like someone like you. I'll give you fifty thousand a month. That's not a small amount. If you keep refusing, you'll be going too far."

Song Shi'an had already given all the warnings he needed to. Ye Ming was the one who had shamelessly pressed himself forward, so he could not blame Song Shi'an.

Song Shi'an struck directly.

He jabbed Ye Ming in the eyes, punched his Adam's apple, kicked him in the crotch, and stomped on his foot.

It was all done in one fluid motion.

"Aaaah!!!"

Ye Ming's previously confident expression had turned the color of pig liver.

He curled up in pain like a shrimp.

Song Shi'an could no longer hold back his temper. Pointing at Ye Ming, he cursed, "You're trying to act like some rich guy keeping a lover, yet you didn't even bother to ask around first. I'm a special assistant who works by President Lu's side. My base salary alone is six figures. What the hell are you? You're offering me fifty thousand and expecting me to serve a big idiot like you!"

"You... you..." Ye Ming's voice trembled with pain. He clearly had not expected the "delicate" person from before to suddenly lash out and beat him. Gritting his teeth, he said, "I'm a client of your Lu Group! How dare you hit me!"

"I hit idiots like you! You fucking go on and on about money every day. If you want to keep someone, go find one at a club! Does conquering a decent man give you some kind of sense of accomplishment?" Song Shi'an had never lost an argument.

"It's your good fortune that I took a liking to you!" Veins bulged on Ye Ming's forehead. He wanted to raise his hand and hit Song Shi'an, but Song Shi'an had struck too hard just now, leaving him unable to straighten up at all.

"It's truly bad luck to be liked by someone like you!" Just as Song Shi'an finished speaking, Lu Mingyu walked over.

He had seen what happened, but he had been too far away to hear their conversation clearly.

Seeing Ye Ming curled over, he asked, "President Ye, what happened to you?"

Ye Ming pointed at Song Shi'an and gritted out, "President Lu, look at your wonderful assistant! He hit me without any explanation!"

Lu Mingyu looked at Song Shi'an and asked, "What happened?"

Ye Ming was already fuming beside them. "What else could have happened? I only said a few words, and he started hitting me! President Lu, your company's employees certainly have quite the temper!"

Song Shi'an rolled his eyes. He was not some female lead who could only cry and claim she had done nothing.

He had a mouth. He could explain himself.

He looked directly at Lu Mingyu and said, "President Lu, President Ye just offered me fifty thousand a month to keep me. I refused, and he tried to lay hands on me. As your assistant, I believe that offering me fifty thousand to keep me is an insult to you."

"After I repeatedly refused to no avail, and since President Ye couldn't keep his hands to himself, I struck back."

The moment Ye Ming heard that, he hurriedly denied it. "Bullshit! I never said anything like that! You hit me for no reason!"

Song Shi'an pointed at the surveillance camera by the corridor. It happened to cover what had occurred near the sinks. "If President Ye feels this is inappropriate, then let's check the footage."

"You..." Ye Ming's face instantly flushed red, as though he had swallowed bitter herbs and could not speak of his suffering.

Lu Mingyu cast a sharp look at Ye Ming, his tone icy. "President Ye, Song Shi'an is one of mine."

Ye Ming felt a chill run down his spine under Lu Mingyu's cold gaze. Even his speech became unsteady. "I... I was only joking with Assistant Song."

Song Shi'an smiled from the side. "Really? Then I'm terribly sorry. I was only joking with President Ye too. You reacted so strongly—surely you can take a joke?"

Ye Ming was so angry that he nearly could not catch his breath.

Lu Mingyu glanced at Ye Ming. "It seems President Ye is dissatisfied with our Lu Group and has no intention of cooperating. In that case, there is no need for this partnership."

Ye Ming no longer cared about the pain in his body and hurriedly explained, "President Lu, we had practically finished discussing the contract. Isn't this a little inappropriate?"

"The contract hasn't been signed yet. There are always unexpected changes." Lu Mingyu said, "Let's go."

Song Shi'an trotted after Lu Mingyu, unable to suppress the smile on his lips.

What a real man! Lu Mingyu was so handsome just now!

Yet outwardly, he stepped up beside Lu Mingyu and softly apologized, "President Lu, I'm sorry. This failure in the partnership was all my fault."

"It's not your fault. The Lu Group does not lack one potential partner." Lu Mingyu replied.

Song Shi'an felt reassured and followed behind Lu Mingyu.

He could not help but sigh inwardly. Sigh, my charm is just too great. There's nothing I can do about it. I can attract attention even like this. Although that bastard Ye Ming couldn't keep his hands to himself, he has good taste. It's the first time someone has praised me for being pretty.

Am I really that good-looking? I should go home and look in the mirror.

Listening to this, Lu Mingyu's gaze could not help but fall on Song Shi'an's face.

Song Shi'an was half a head shorter than him. He usually dressed properly, and while none of his features stood out in particular, together they were quite pleasing to the eye.

He looked like a harmless little lamb.

Only, this little lamb had a rather poisonous tongue.

Luckily, I attacked first and didn't let Lu Mingyu come over to play the hero saving the beauty. Otherwise, I'd have gone down the female lead's route.

Logically speaking, aren't these coincidences and getting harassed all supposed to be the female lead's scenes? Why are they all happening to me now? This plot is getting more and more absurd!

Once they got into the car, Song Shi'an began looking for other companies. "President Lu, EverTrust Company's chip development is one of a kind in the country. Since we rejected this partnership, we can only look abroad for a partner."

"Mm, I've already spoken with a company in M Country. They'll send people over next week for detailed discussions." Lu Mingyu nodded.

Song Shi'an paused, his hand holding the documents still. He did not forget to flatter him. "President Lu is truly farsighted."

Damn, he started looking for a replacement ages ago. If I'd known, I wouldn't have swallowed that anger. I even had to let Ye Ming touch my ass! Aaaah! The more I think about it, the angrier I get. I should've hit harder just now and kicked that bastard to death!

Thinking about how a man—an especially sleazy man—had touched his ass, Song Shi'an was filled with fury.

Seeing that Song Shi'an was still sulking, Lu Mingyu suddenly asked, "Did Ye Ming bully you?"

Song Shi'an had not expected Lu Mingyu to care about such things. He answered, "Not really. He only touched me a few times. We're both men, so it's not like I lost out."

That fucking bastard didn't just touch my waist—he even pinched my ass!! Sob, sob, I've never even touched a girl's hand myself, and now I've been groped by a man!

Lu Mingyu lowered his gaze, gave a quiet acknowledgment, and did not ask any more questions.

After returning to the company, Song Shi'an got busy.

Only when it was time to get off work did he finally relax a little.

He stretched, glanced at the time, and was just about to pack up and head home.

Then he heard some office gossip. "Assistant Song, did you know? The client you met at noon today got into a car accident on his way back. I heard both his hands were fractured. It was very serious."

What? Ye Ming had been hit?

Had karma come that quickly?

No...

Could this have been Lu Mingyu's doing?