CEO Style

To his surprise, Lu Kuo eyed him warily and raised a hand in front of himself. "What are you trying to do?"

This was terrifying.

Lu Heng was actually going to touch him, and of his own accord, too. Why did he feel a chill shooting up from the soles of his feet?

The male lead wasn't the only one stunned. Xia Zhi was dumbfounded, too. So the villain's germophobia only applied to her? He didn't care when it came to his own family?

Had she encountered someone with fake germophobia?

Lu Heng completely ignored their outrageous expressions. He calmly held Lu Kuo's shoulder.

"Hold still. I'll pull it out for you."

Lu Kuo was too frightened to move. His younger brother was acting far too strangely today.

His usual unapproachable self was much more endearing.

"Hiss-"

That hurt.

Lu Kuo suspected Lu Heng had pulled out a whole clump rather than a single strand.

It hurt like hell.

Yet Lu Heng calmly said, "Sorry, wrong one," and tossed the hair behind him.

Xia Zhi's eyes lit up. Her gaze followed the drifting strands every inch of the way, and then she picked them up and put them in the little clear bag she had prepared beforehand.

Phew.

Her mission was complete.

Lu Heng pulled out another strand.

This time, Lu Kuo couldn't bear it and howled, "Stop pulling, stop pulling! So what if I have gray hair? Gray hair doesn't affect my personal charm."

The mention of "personal charm" reminded Xia Zhi of Qinghe. "Lu Kuo, how do you feel about Ji Qinghe?"

"Do you like her? Want to ask her out again?"

Lu Kuo was thoroughly intimidated by the couple at this point. "If I don't, are you two going to refuse to leave?"

Xia Zhi gave a couple of dry laughs. "That's not what I meant. I'm just asking if you like her even a little."

"I, for one, really like her."

Lu Kuo seemed to still remember Ji Qinghe somewhat. "She is different from the usual wealthy heiresses. I wouldn't mind asking her out."

"Can you two get lost now?"

With her mission complete, Xia Zhi was in an excellent mood. "We're getting lost right now, Lu Kuo."

She tossed him the car keys while she was at it.

After the young couple left, Lu Kuo couldn't help taking out his mirror again and examining himself from every angle. Only after making sure there were no suspicious gray hairs did he get up and head for the ward with bed nine.

Xia Zhi and Lu Heng took the elevator downstairs. To their surprise, more and more people kept getting on, pressing toward them.

Seeing the villain's expression growing worse by the moment, Xia Zhi hurried to stand in front of him, trying to keep the crowd from touching him.

Lu Heng looked down at Xia Zhi with her arms spread like a mother hen. It was somewhat ridiculous, yet it inexplicably struck a chord in him, sending an unfamiliar feeling surging through him.

Just then, a very fat man barged hard into Xia Zhi.

Lu Heng instinctively turned and shielded Xia Zhi on the inside, putting his own back to the jostling crowd.

His strong arms formed what felt like a sturdy fortress, holding Xia Zhi securely within his embrace.

Xia Zhi was a little surprised by the villain's actions. Didn't he think the elevator walls were dirty? Didn't he think those people's touch was dirty?

Could his germophobia be fake?

Lu Heng: "..."

This woman.

Wouldn't someone with a normal brain be so touched right now that she would cling to him and refuse to let go?

The two had only just stepped out of the hospital when they spotted the villain's car parked nearby, with Jiang Cheng standing respectfully beside it, waiting.

Xia Zhi let out a surprised sound.

"Didn't Assistant Jiang get half a day off?"

Lu Heng ignored her completely.

Jiang Cheng volunteered an explanation. "Madam, my time off only means I don't handle work matters. I still have to be on call."

Lu Heng got into the car.

Xia Zhi got in after him and remarked, "Assistant Jiang works so hard. Aheng, you need to give him a raise."

Jiang Cheng was just about to grin when he heard his boss tell Xia Zhi, "He can work for you from now on, then. You can pay his salary."

Jiang Cheng was badly startled and hurriedly said, "Please don't joke, madam. If I get another raise, my salary will exceed President Lu's. That won't do, that won't do."

He immediately changed the subject. "President Lu, are we going to the office?"

Lu Heng said, "Home first."

"Yes, President Lu."

As soon as Xia Zhi got into the car, she started looking for Little Sponge. [Calling the minor, calling the minor.]

Little Sponge popped out. [I'm here, host.]

Xia Zhi said, [I've already got the male lead's hair. Why hasn't the system responded yet?]

Little Sponge carefully checked the mission rules before explaining, [The system will collect it automatically once the twenty-four hours are up.]

Xia Zhi said, [Got it.]

She was so excited. She couldn't wait.

She wondered what she could buy with ten gold coins.

In fact, Lu Heng was quite curious, too. That was also why he had helped Xia Zhi today. It definitely wasn't because he didn't want Xia Zhi getting close to Lu Kuo.

Definitely not.

Once they got home, the villain rushed into the bathroom, unable to stand another moment.

Xia Zhi wondered whether she had caught the villain's germophobia. Seeing him go shower, she couldn't resist taking one herself.

By the time Xia Zhi came out of the shower, the villain had already left without so much as a word.

Just as Xia Zhi was gathering up the dirty clothes to take them to be washed, she received a call from Lu Heng.

"Throw away every piece of clothing worn to the hospital today. Don't keep a single thing."

"Yours included."

With that, he hung up.

That was very much the domineering CEO style.

Xia Zhi: "..."

Had this villain picked up the wrong CEO script?

Overbearing, germophobic, twisted-weren't those standard features of every domineering CEO?

Meanwhile, why was the male lead so funny? Was he here to play an extra?

Whatever.

Xia Zhi swiftly threw out all the clothes. The villain had plenty of money anyway.

Since she had previously muddled her way into accepting a television role, Xia Zhi thought she should finish what she had started. Having signed the contract, she might as well finish filming it, so she began studying the script.

Xia Zhi's character was named Shu Man. She was incredibly narcissistic, incredibly sultry, and incredibly materialistic, single-mindedly determined to marry the finest man in all humanity.

Yet all her picking and choosing had left her a veteran singleton, unable to attain her lofty standards and unwilling to settle for less, rushing around on blind dates with different men every day.

Of her two close friends, one was blissfully newlywed, while the other's child was already old enough to run errands.

Xia Zhi hadn't read the full script before. Now that she had it, she eagerly flipped to the ending. Tsk, tsk. Shu Man finally managed to land a rich heir.

Only after getting married did she discover that his family had long since gone bankrupt and was buried in debt.

Xia Zhi found this ending very interesting.

Because Shu Man was a gold digger at heart, her coming to a bad end better satisfied the audience's desire for emotional release.

Next, she began thinking through Shu Man's character, trying to make her portrayal more fully rounded.

Xia Zhi took out a pen and began writing character notes, keeping herself busy for the better part of the day.

They had said filming was expected to begin in a month and would take place right in Jiangcheng, so for her, it would be just like commuting to work and wouldn't interfere with her missions.

Just then, Xia Zhi's phone rang.