Chapter 65: Soft Jade, Warm Fragrance

Chapter 065: Soft Jade, Warm Fragrance

With a swish, Chu Fei reached out and caught the file folder that Ximen Lu had tossed to him with unerring accuracy. He gave a wry smile. "What are you doing?"

"What do you think I'm doing? Where exactly were your eyes just now?" Ximen Lu glared at Chu Fei, gritting her teeth.

"What was I looking at?" Chu Fei was baffled. Just moments ago, his mind had been preoccupied with how to resolve Xingyue Group's problems. He hadn't paid attention to anything else.

"Chu Fei, do you think that just because I'm Ximen Lu, you can do whatever you want with me?" Ximen Lu demanded, her tone indignant.

"Uh?" Chu Fei was even more confused.

"I'm warning you, Chu Fei, if you ever dare to stare at my legs so blatantly again, I'll call the police—old classmate or not!" Ximen Lu flicked her hand dismissively. "Get out now. I have work to do."

He let out a helpless laugh, finally understanding why Ximen Lu was so incensed. But he genuinely felt wronged—he hadn't even looked at her legs. Yet, as the thought crossed his mind, he couldn't help but sneak a glance at Ximen Lu's exquisitely shaped legs…

"You dare look again!" Ximen Lu grabbed the cup on her desk.

"Alright, alright, I won't look! I'm leaving!" Chu Fei scrambled away in a hurry, but inwardly he marveled—Ximen Lu's legs truly never lost their charm; they were only getting more beautiful.

"Shameless scoundrel." Ximen Lu ground her teeth and cursed inside her office, but soon she couldn't help bursting into laughter. In truth, she hadn't been that angry. Rather, she felt a little pride—what did it say about her if a man could stare at her legs for minutes and feel nothing?

Deep down, the fact that Chu Fei liked looking at her legs gave Ximen Lu a secret sense of satisfaction. Back in the day, this guy hadn't even glanced her way.

"No, I need to warn this scoundrel properly in the future, or he'll get worse." She muttered to herself as she opened the file, biting her lip. Although she didn't mind Chu Fei looking at her legs at home, there had to be a limit. Doing so openly at the office—what would her subordinates think?

—

After leaving Ximen Lu's office, Chu Fei didn't linger. He slipped out of the company and headed to a nearby stairwell, where he pulled out his phone and dialed a number buried deep in his memory.

"Hello, this is Ji Wenxuan." A gentle male voice sounded on the other end. Though soft, if one listened closely, there was an aloofness, a polite distance, as if he kept the world at arm's length—a voice almost formulaic in its politeness.

"Wenxuan, it's me, Chu Fei," Chu Fei said with a smile.

There was silence on the line for a good ten seconds before the man's voice returned. "You wouldn't call me out of the blue unless it's time for me to repay my debt."

"You've always been so perceptive." Chu Fei offered him a compliment.

"Go on, what do you want me to do?" The man's tone remained indifferent, ignoring Chu Fei's flattery. He added, "But let me be clear—I don't kill people. Don't ask me for anything that pointless."

"Your hands are meant to make money, not to waste on killing people." Chu Fei chuckled.

"Get to the point," Ji Wenxuan said, cutting him off.

Chu Fei gave a bitter laugh. This man was always so rigid, without a hint of humor. But Chu Fei didn't mind. He quickly explained, "Here's the situation. I just acquired a business group…" He briefly described Xingyue Group's circumstances.

After he finished, Chu Fei waited quietly for the other's response, confident that Ji Wenxuan's mind would quickly grasp his intentions.

The line fell silent again. This time, over two minutes passed before Ji Wenxuan spoke. "You didn't tell me all that just to have me run a small company for you, did you?"

Chu Fei was speechless. In this man's eyes, only Shenghe could be considered a small company. But knowing who he was talking to, Chu Fei wasn't surprised. He nodded. "Just for a short while. You know I don't enjoy business matters."

"You're just lazy. If you put your mind to it, you could handle it with ease," Ji Wenxuan replied, his voice full of disdain.

Chu Fei didn't argue, but asked sincerely, "When can you get here?"

Ji Wenxuan ignored the question, asking instead, "If I help you with this, does it settle the favor I owe you?"

"Wenxuan, I've never thought you owed me anything," Chu Fei replied helplessly.

"A debt is a debt. That's the fact. I owe you, my father owes your father—our Ji family must have owed your Chu family in a past life," Ji Wenxuan stated calmly.

Chu Fei frowned, then forced a smile. "Forget it. Pretend I never called. Give my regards to Uncle." He was about to hang up when Ji Wenxuan's voice came through again.

"I'll be there tomorrow morning. That won't delay anything, will it?" The man's voice was still gentle, and just as cold.

"Wenxuan, you don't have to force yourself—" Chu Fei began, but the other cut him off.

"It's settled. Goodbye." Without giving Chu Fei a chance to speak, he hung up.

"This stubborn guy!" Chu Fei pocketed his phone with a wry smile. Of course he wouldn't personally manage a business group; his first thought had been Ji Wenxuan. Now, though, he felt a twinge of regret for making the call.

Oh well, what's done is done. He'd deal with things when Wenxuan arrived tomorrow.

Chu Fei turned to leave the stairwell, only to stumble in shock, nearly tumbling down the stairs.

A beautiful woman in a pink business suit was glaring fiercely at him—it was his lovely colleague, Murong Wei.

"Weiwei, what are you doing out here?" Chu Fei steadied himself and asked in surprise.

"Hmph, sneaking out here to make a phone call—who were you calling?" Murong Wei shot back with her own question, her bright eyes fixed on Chu Fei as though she were a jealous wife catching her man in the act, missing nothing.

"What do you mean sneaking? I was just making a normal call." Chu Fei grinned. Actually, he'd been deliberately avoiding Murong Wei these past few days. He sensed her feelings for him were growing; at first, it was subtle, but now it was almost fiery, making Chu Fei both excited and uneasy. If this went on, he might just get captured by this feisty girl.

"Don't deny it. I clearly heard you sighing just now. Were you rejected by some woman on the phone?" Murong Wei looked at him expectantly.

"I—" Chu Fei didn't know how to explain. Wasn't this girl meddling a bit too much?

"What's wrong, nothing to say?" Murong Wei pouted and began lecturing him. "Chu Fei, Feilu Company is in a growth phase. It's fine if you chase women, but you can't let it affect your work. If Lu finds out, what will you do?"

"Right, right, you're absolutely right. My fault, I promise it won't happen again," Chu Fei admitted readily, not bothering to explain.

"That's better," Murong Wei huffed. She was still a bit annoyed, but Chu Fei's attitude left her with no room to vent. Her eyes shifted as she suddenly asked, "Chu Fei, are you free after work today?"

"Uh? Why?" Chu Fei asked instinctively.

"Can you do me a favor?" Murong Wei moved closer, looking at him with pleading eyes.

"What kind of favor?" Chu Fei took a half-step back, a sense of foreboding creeping in.

"Why are you backing away? I won't eat you. I just want you to have dinner with me. Think of it as me treating you. How about it? You won't refuse, will you?" Murong Wei coaxed.

"That's a bit difficult. I have things to do after work…" Chu Fei hesitated, vaguely guessing her motive. His first instinct was to refuse.

"Refusal is not an option. You must have dinner with me tonight. That's final."

Murong Wei declared imperiously, then spun on her heel and darted away without giving Chu Fei a chance to reply, leaving him dumbfounded. Just how could everyone be so domineering? Ji Wenxuan hanging up on him was understandable since he was the one asking for help, but Murong Wei was really pushing it—wasn't she the one asking him for a favor?

—

"The lives of the wealthy are truly extravagant—coming to a place like this just for dinner?" Chu Fei looked around at the crystal palace-like room in amazement, realizing for the first time the gulf between the lives of the rich and ordinary people. He wasn't exactly poor, but this was another level of luxury.

To put it nicely, it was lavish; to be blunt, it was wasteful, far too wasteful. Sitting in a place like this to eat felt to Chu Fei like drinking plain water from a golden toilet—utterly pretentious.

Now he understood Murong Wei's purpose. She'd dragged him here because she had a blind date tonight. Fed up with her family's endless matchmaking, her first instinct had been to refuse, but this time was different. Her prospective date was said to be an outstanding young man with a promising future—a SWAT officer, no less. Her family had warned her sternly not to stand him up, or she would face the family’s disciplinary rod.

This rod was a cane passed down in the Murong family for nearly a century, reserved for corporal punishment—ten strokes at a minimum, regardless of gender. As a child, Murong Wei had been caned once for misbehaving and was bedridden for days. Now, as an adult, she had no desire to endure that humiliation again. It wasn’t just the pain—it was simply too embarrassing.

Left with no choice, she agreed, but played a little trick, dragging Chu Fei along. After all, her parents hadn’t said she couldn’t bring a friend.

"I can't stand these rich kids either—always showing off," Murong Wei scoffed, looking disdainful, as if she herself weren't a rich girl.

Chu Fei smiled.

"Hey, remember, whatever I say later, you just go along with it. Don’t slip up," Murong Wei warned anxiously.

"I'm just pretending to be your boyfriend, right? That's easy." Chu Fei grinned.

"Don’t laugh—it’s not a joke. You have to make it look real, or he’ll see right through us. They say this guy is a SWAT officer with amazing investigative skills… Hey, Chu Fei, what are you—"

Before she could finish, Chu Fei suddenly reached out and pulled her into his arms. Their faces were less than ten centimeters apart—so close they could feel each other’s breath.

Murong Wei panicked, pushing her hands against Chu Fei’s chest, not expecting this move from him.

"Didn’t you want it to look real? How about now? Real enough?" Chu Fei looked at her flushed cheeks with a sly smile, thinking to himself how much he wanted to take a bite.

"Are you… are you acting?" Murong Wei, who’d been so nervous she thought Chu Fei was about to pounce on her, suddenly felt a pang of disappointment at his words.

"Of course I’m acting. What did you think? Unless…" Chu Fei stopped mid-sentence, because just then the door swung open from the outside.

Chu Fei realized their main “opponent” had arrived. He didn’t let go of Murong Wei, instead keeping her in his embrace as he looked toward the door. But when he saw who entered, he was so startled he nearly tumbled off the sofa.

"What the—!"

Chu Fei stared, dumbfounded, as a sexy, striking policewoman walked in. His hands instinctively tightened their grip.

“Ouch, Chu Fei, you’re hurting me!” Murong Wei gasped, her body going limp as she collapsed against him.

This was truly the embrace of soft jade and warm fragrance…

[No extra update today—the author was a bit tired yesterday, and tomorrow is the Lantern Festival, so taking a short break. But this chapter is over 3,500 words, so it’s a small make-up. Don’t worry, the six remaining chapters will not be missing!]