Chapter 229: The Enthusiastic Fan
This lunch went surprisingly smoothly and steadily.
In Han Yixuan and Pei Ningle’s imagination, the aggressive Lu Qi might directly launch an attack or use some smiling tiger tactics to praise openly while criticizing subtly in front of Wang Heng. For this reason, the two young girls had seriously discussed how to respond. But this noon meal today went so smoothly it was unbelievable, rendering all their preparations futile.
Lu Qi showed no abnormal attitude toward Wang Heng at all, nor did she display any hostility toward Han Yixuan and Pei Ningle. As a result, although Han Yixuan remained vigilant, Pei Ningle’s thoughts were no longer on that.
After all, the steak at this restaurant was indeed delicious, with tender and juicy meat and excellent texture…
Then, just as lunch was almost finished, another unexpected episode occurred.
Lu Qi took a phone call, stepped out of the restaurant, and when she returned, she brought along a little girl with pigtails.
“This is my relative’s child, Fu Jiu, sort of my cousin,” Lu Qi introduced. “Xiao Jiu, quickly greet brother and sisters.”
This little girl named Fu Jiu looked very well-behaved in appearance, but she spoke in a rather cold tone.
“Hello, brother and sisters.” After greeting them half-heartedly, she sat down at an empty seat nearby and put on her headphones by herself.
The spot where Fu Jiu sat was separated from the seats of Lu Qi and Wang Heng’s group of four by an aisle, a few meters away.
Lu Qi’s set meal in front of her was already finished, so she didn’t pick up her knife and fork again, just leisurely sipping water while continuing to chat with Wang Heng about finance topics.
After a while, Han Yixuan asked softly, “Sister Lu, won’t your cousin eat something?”
Lu Qi glanced indifferently at the little girl. “She already had lunch, no need.”
Pei Ningle also asked, “No need to get her a beverage or something?”
“I’ve bought her plenty of things to eat, drink, and play with,” Lu Qi lowered her voice too, her tone carrying a hint of helplessness. “But this kid is stubborn. If she says no, she means no. She’s in middle school now, but she still throws tantrums like a low-grade elementary student at the drop of a hat.”
Pei Ningle: “Why does she throw tantrums?”
“Her parents came to Rongdu for work and brought her along, but those parents are usually very busy with no time to care for her. Probably because of that, Xiao Jiu always throws tantrums…”
Before Lu Qi finished speaking, Fu Jiu suddenly took off her headphones and shouted, “Don’t talk about my dad and mom!”
“Weren’t you wearing headphones?” Lu Qi seemed somewhat shocked.
Fu Jiu huffed angrily, glared straight at her cousin, and shut her mouth without speaking.
Pei Ningle patted Xiao Xuan’s arm beside her and whispered in her ear, “Their relationship seems a bit off…”
Han Yixuan nodded. “This kind of family relationship is very common, but it has nothing to do with us.”
However, at that moment, Fu Jiu’s attention finally seemed to drift to Pei Ningle, and the little girl was completely shocked.
“Pei Ningle!” She jumped down from her chair. “You’re Sister Pei Ningle, right!”
The young girl touched her cheek and nodded. “Yeah, I…”
Fu Jiu circled around the dining table, ran up to Pei Ningle, and excitedly stumbled over her words. “Sister Xiao Le, can I call you Sister Xiao Le? Your songs are so great! Really, super super great. I’ve recommended them to my classmates many times, just before transferring schools… Let me tell you, Sister Xiao Le, I saw you singing on television!”
Pei Ningle looked around bewildered at the others.
Han Yixuan smiled. “Xiao Le, you’ve met a little fan.”
Wang Heng shrugged without saying a word, silently observing Fu Jiu and Lu Qi, this pair of sisters.
Lu Qi smiled faintly. “What a coincidence, it’s rare for Xiao Jiu to be so enthusiastic…”
Fu Jiu rolled her eyes at her cousin and pouted. “Of course, Sister Xiao Le is so awesome, unlike you!”
Han Yixuan and Wang Heng looked at Pei Ningle, then at Lu Qi, and simultaneously showed meaningful smiles.
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After lunch, Lu Qi not only paid the bill but also drove Wang Heng and the two young girls back to the entrance of that residential area.
Facing their thanks, Lu Qi smiled. “No need to thank me, thank Wang Heng if anything—he’s the one who really helped me out. Bye bye, let’s chat again sometime.”
With that, Lu Qi leisurely drove away.
Before long, the car had left those three young girls and that residential area far behind.
Only then did the little girl in the back seat finally breathe a sigh of relief and ask, “Qi Qi Jie, how did I perform today?”
Lu Qi couldn’t help but smile. “Very good, Xiao Jiu’s performance was really great.”
“But Qi Qi Jie, I still don’t quite get it—why did we have to put on this act? Sister Xiao Le and those brother and sisters seemed pretty easy to get along with?” Fu Jiu leaned forward from behind the driver’s seat, her head almost poking to Lu Qi’s shoulder.
At this moment, Lu Qi was clearly more patient than when tutoring study, explaining carefully. “Your Sister Xiao Le might indeed be easy to get along with, but that other little sister is quite scheming. Because I’m competing with them for talent.”
Fu Jiu: “Competing for talent?”
Lu Qi: “That boy is named Wang Heng, very capable. I want to bring him over to work for me, so they definitely won’t agree. Wang Heng and Han Yixuan are both Pei Ningle’s agents.”
“Oh, so that’s it…” Fu Jiu was still curious. “Just how capable is Wang Heng that you all want him so badly?”
Lu Qi: “For example, his capital growth abilities in virtual currency and securities investment are quite impressive.”
This string of terms left Fu Jiu somewhat bewildered. But she roughly understood that the big brother named Wang Heng must be ‘quite impressive’ in serious matters to be valued so highly by Qi Qi Jie and the others.
“But that big brother is pretty good-looking too.” Xiao Jiu suddenly said.
Lu Qi’s hands on the steering wheel immediately tensed up.
She glanced at the rearview mirror inside the car, observing the expression on the little girl’s face, and asked calmly, “You think he’s good-looking?”
“Pretty good-looking, what’s the problem?”
Lu Qi hesitated before following up. “So, what’s your impression of him? Do you like him?”
Fu Jiu propped up her little face and giggled. “Qi Qi Jie, you’re such a joker. What kind of liking? A big brother like that must have a huge generation gap with me. And if my parents heard ‘liking’ like that, they’d flip out—they already said middle schoolers can’t have premature romance!”
Lu Qi breathed a slight sigh of relief.
After all, what she needed to do was dispatch a little spy to infiltrate enemy territory for espionage, not let the spy turn around and raid her own lair.
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