Don't you know how to introduce yourself?

Although they hadn't chatted on WeChat since Lu Jiaoyue had given him twenty yuan to pay for his coffee, she had already left a deep impression on Gu Sipei.

It was the first time Gu Sipei had ever received such a paltry yet sincere compensation from anyone. He couldn't forget it even if he wanted to.

He could tell that Lu Jiaoyue was a girl with little guile. There was something pure and innocent about her, like a sheet of white paper untouched by ink. She really didn't seem like the type to seduce him for personal gain.

Gu Sipei considered himself a fairly good judge of character these days. Seeing how dazed she was now, he simply couldn't believe that Lu Jiaoyue had climbed into his bed of her own accord.

By that reasoning, someone had probably led her here or set her up.

But that wasn't certain, either. Although Gu Sipei was inclined to trust his first instinct, years of business battles had taught him to keep his guard up around everyone. He couldn't take anything for granted. It would be best to wake her and ask first.

After all this, Gu Sipei's sleepiness had vanished.

Beside him, Lu Jiaoyue's hand was still wandering. Whether deliberately or not, it was gradually moving lower.

Perhaps unhappy that he hadn't responded for so long, she began to mumble, "Sis, why aren't you answering me? My head still feels a little dizzy... Huh? Why are you so hard here? It feels so strange..."

Gu Sipei sucked in a sharp breath at her touch and caught her wandering hand, his expression cold.

Lu Jiaoyue was no match for his strength, of course. Restraining her was easy.

The skin of her wrist was so impossibly delicate against his palm that Gu Sipei barely dared to tighten his grip, afraid he would hurt her.

He rarely had such close contact with women and wasn't quite used to it. After a few seconds of silence, he let go of her hand, took her by the shoulders instead, and shook her, trying to wake her.

Lu Jiaoyue opened her eyes as he had hoped. Her loose hair was a little tousled, and her face still held the drowsiness and confusion of someone who had just woken up. A damp haze veiled her pretty almond-shaped eyes. When she looked at Gu Sipei, it was easy to see the resemblance to some small, fluffy animal.

...She really was rather cute.

Under that gaze, the accusatory question on Gu Sipei's lips stalled. When he finally spoke, his tone had unconsciously softened:

"Why are you sleeping here?"

Unlike Gu Sipei, who had no idea what was going on, Lu Jiaoyue didn't look particularly surprised once she got a clear look at the man before her. Instead, her expression practically said, "Just as I thought."

The man her sister wanted her to meet had to be this gentleman!

So was he her destined partner? He was the same man she'd bumped into at the mall last time.

She'd thought he was quite handsome back then. If it really was him, at least she liked his looks!

Lu Jiaoyue immediately grew serious. She sat up straight, tidied her hair, and said, "You're finally here."

Gu Sipei: "...?"

Seeing that she didn't seem unaware of his being here, Gu Sipei's heart sank.

Had he actually misjudged her...? Had no one led her here or set her up? Was she part of the scheme herself?

Of course. Who would ever approach him with innocent intentions? After all these years, he was used to it.

Then what did she want from him?

Money or status? Or both?

A chill crept into Gu Sipei's eyes, and the commanding air he had briefly reined in returned in full.

"What do you want?"

Lu Jiaoyue gave him a radiant smile. "I want to hear you introduce yourself!"

Gu Sipei: "?"

Gu Sipei thought he'd misheard. "What did you just say you wanted to hear?"

Lu Jiaoyue met his gaze without flinching or looking away and repeated earnestly, "An introduction. Don't you know how?"

Gu Sipei fell silent.

That wasn't a question of whether he knew how. The problem was that this whole situation was completely abnormal.

She'd climbed into his bed just to hear that? Didn't she realize how absurd it was?

Was this some new kind of scam?

Gu Sipei briefly closed his eyes. Unable to make sense of Lu Jiaoyue's logic, he decided to take control of the conversation again.

"Who told you to come here?" he asked.

Of course, Lu Jiaoyue couldn't give Lu Xiaoxiao away. She shook her head in denial. "No one told me to come here. I came for my younger brother's birthday party, but I drank too much and got a little dizzy, so the staff sent me upstairs to rest."

"Before you woke up, you were holding on to me and calling me your sister over and over." Gu Sipei's voice was even, but his words carried an implication.

Lu Jiaoyue answered at once. "Yes, I was dreaming about my sister."

After a pause, she added emphatically, "I really love my sister. She's my favorite person in my family. I dream about her all the time."

Lu Jiaoyue sounded sincere, and Gu Sipei couldn't see any obvious sign of lying in her expression.

He frowned and asked again, "What did you mean when you said, 'You're finally here'? Did you know beforehand that I would come?"

Lu Jiaoyue nodded, then shook her head. "I knew someone would come, but I didn't know it would be you."

"Someone told me I'd meet my destined partner today and that once I met him, I should make sure to get to know him properly. From the looks of things, that person must be you."

After hearing Lu Jiaoyue's explanation, Gu Sipei lowered his guard a little.

For now, it seemed that she had simply entered the wrong lounge when she came up to the sixth floor to rest. That wasn't impossible. He could find out whether it was true by having someone check the security footage later.

As for this talk of a destined partner... It sounded very much like something a fortune-teller would say, so Gu Sipei naturally assumed it had to do with divination.

And since Lu Jiaoyue said she hadn't known he would be the one to come, that at least suggested this wasn't a trap set specifically for him.

At that thought, Gu Sipei's expression softened slightly, but fresh doubts soon arose.

He was at a crucial stage in his bid to take control of the Gu company. He couldn't allow any unpredictable factors.

Yet Lu Jiaoyue, who kept crossing paths with him under circumstances he hadn't anticipated... Wasn't she precisely the sort of unpredictable factor he ought to avoid?

He shouldn't have been paying her any attention in the first place. He'd been careless.

"I think you may be a little superstitious." Gu Sipei gathered his thoughts and spoke calmly. "I've never believed in divination, and I don't need anyone to get to know me."

"Out of consideration for the Lu Family, I won't hold what happened today against you, whether it was intentional or not."

"Since you've had enough rest now, go back where you belong."