Lazily Yours.

"So? Who made the cookies?" Lyca asked again, the moment everyone left. She lifted her head, dragging her gaze away from the cookies. "Was it imported?"

Xu Jihan smiled in response. "Yes, it was. It's a special cookie from Du Empire. I personally love the cookies. So I always asked my cousin every time he visited the country. Unfortunately, I only have a few boxes left. I can only give you one box of this cookie. I have to save some for myself."

"Oh." She didn't hide the disappointment from her eyes. Too unfortunate indeed. She eyed Shen Qui and blinked at him.

Shen Qui gave a wry smile in response as he patted her head like a puppy. When Lyca heard about her white hair and the Ye Family from Du Empire, she didn't say anything. It was as if she didn't want to visit Du Empire to see the Ye Family.

However, now that she heard about the cookies, she showed a special expression. Something that says, 'I will go to Du Empire to buy these cookies or I will die.'

He leaned over and kiss her head. Hoping that she would behave. They are here for business, ah.

"I want a collaboration. I want you to sign a contract with the government. The armor… I want it. I want you to exclusively make the armor for the military."

"Mr. Xu… this is— "

"Please call me Jihan." Xu Jihan smiled at Shen Qui, his handsome face looked amicable and trustworthy.

"Alright, Jihan. This is not a simple matter. We needed to talk to our investors about this."

"By investors, you mean?"

"The Chu Family." Shen Qui said. "Just a few weeks back, we sign a contract with Chuu Family. We were paid to create the weapons for them. In fact, the reason why we were able to procure the material easily is because of them. The armor is made of a rare alloy that is not found in this country. Most of its materials were made abroad."

"I see." Xu Jihan nodded. After this assembly, the news about this armor would surely spread. Investors and companies that would want Shen Security to create the armor for them would surely arrive soon. "I guess I needed to personally talk to Old Man Chu about this matter."

"Right now, our biggest investor is the Chu Family." Shen Qui said. "However, the armor was personally designed and handcrafted by our people."

"Mr. Shen… or May I call you Qui?"

"Sure." Shen Qui said.

"Alright. I want to be honest with you. This armor is revolutionary. It can avoid the detection of night vision goggles and if I would assume, even thermal scans too, right?"

Shen Qui only smiled in response. "Jihan, I hope you don't mind, but this is a very important competition for us. Right now, all I wanted was to focus on the competition and nothing else. How about we schedule a meeting after the competition?"

For a few seconds, Xu Jihan was silent. He started drumming his long, slender fingers against the wooden table. "Alright. I understand."

"Good," Shen Qui smiled and stood from his seat. Then he held his hands in front of Xu Jihan. "I will see you soon, Mr. Xu."

"Indeed, let's see each other soon." Xu Jihan accepted his hands and shook it. He then watched as the two left the hall. After a few minutes, the smile on his face vanished.

"Young master?" A man wearing a black suit bowed behind him. "They are gone."

"Hmmm. Tell Ken that they are wanted to wait until the competition is over."

"Yes, Sir."

"And schedule a meeting with Mr. Chu, the old man. I want to talk to him. In private."

"Yes, Sir."

"One more thing… do you know who poisoned their people?"

"Yes, Sir. It was Miss Huang. Huang Ying."

"Huang family… It seems that I was right to call them Mr. And Mrs. Shen."

"Yes, Sir. Miss Huang is upset that Mr. Long didn't want to do something against Miss Lyca. She is still mad because of the things that happened to her son and her family. So, she worked with one of our staff and use some poisoned water. She wanted to frame the Long Family then watch in the sidelines as the Long Family and Lyca destroyed each other."

"I see."

"I already took care of the staff."

"Good. Send what you discover to Miss Huang, Lyca Huang. Tell her it's a gift from me."

"Yes, Sir."

"One more thing…" Xu Jihan narrowed his eyes. "Can you find out which Shen Family did Mr. Shen came from?"

"Oh, Mr. Shen grew up in the streets. Old Man Huang pitied him and picked him up."

"Just like that?"

"Yes, sir. He was raised by his beggar uncle, who is a military veteran but had PTSD. Unlike other veterans he wasn't functional and was known for his temper."

"Hmm." Xu Jihan nodded. "What a sad… sad… past. No wonder his aura is different from many people. Turns out he was raised in the streets. Ah, isn't he just like his team? I believe, the reason why he helped those groups of misfits is because they reminded him of his pitiable self. He was lucky, Miss Lyca liked his pretty face."

"There were rumors about Miss Lyca's attitude. She was brilliant and graduated with two degrees but she…"

"She what?"

"She liked good-looking people."

"Oh, isn't it natural to like good-looking people?"

"No, Sir. Miss Lyca is different. When she was still in college, someone tried to assault her. She killed the person, her parents had to go there and helped her."

"As she should."

"Well… it was different."

"How different? Did she cut his body into pieces?"

"No, sir. I was able to find small pieces of proof about this matter, as her parents already did their best to erase this in her records — to everyone's record for that matter. We gathered some info and talked to the police personnel who first showed up. He said… Until now, he would never forget the white-haired beauty."

"Why is that?"

"Because… Because she said that she killed him because he was ugly. That statement was vague, but… I guessed she wouldn't kill him if the man was handsome?"

....

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