There was only half a slice of toast left on the plate. The metallic sheen of the butter knife reflected the sunlight, slightly dazzling.

Shi Zhi lowered her gaze, seemingly studying the knife’s cutting marks on the edge of the toast.

But in truth, she wasn’t. She was replaying every moment she had met Fu Xiling, analyzing his every action frame by frame.

Fu Xiling had indeed asked her during their first transaction, “Your name is pretty nice. Have you always been called that, or did you change it later?”

At that time, Shi Zhi thought he was just some stranger she’d never cross paths with again, so she had replied dismissively, “Never changed it.”

He also asked if she had ever hit anyone or dealt with persistent admirers before.

Back then, she thought he was being ridiculous. But thinking about it now, those odd questions seemed somewhat logical.

So, was Fu Xiling’s interest in her purely out of curiosity?

Shi Zhi was still puzzled. “Even if I did change my name, it wouldn’t mean anything to you, right? Isn’t your curiosity a bit too much?”

Fu Xiling was utterly unbothered as he leisurely ate his truffle scrambled eggs.

After hearing her question, he put down his fork, dabbed the corner of his mouth with a napkin, and arrogantly declared, “I have money and time. Why can’t I dig into something I’m curious about?”

Shi Zhi was momentarily speechless.

What he said… seemed to make sense?

At 9:30, breakfast service ended. Staff bustled around cleaning tables and tidying up.

As the diners left, the noise died down, leaving only the faint clinking of stacked cutlery.

The restaurant was no longer a suitable place for conversation.

Shi Zhi and Fu Xiling stopped talking, tacitly deciding to continue their discussion in the room.

On their way back, they encountered two beautiful young women. Fu Xiling seemed familiar with them and stopped to chat for a while.

Shi Zhi waited by the elevator, glancing at them with a probing gaze.

She recalled their first meeting, where Fu Xiling had lounged lazily on a bar sofa like an unrestrained playboy.

Someone like him… probably wouldn’t get serious about anyone, right?

Shi Zhi temporarily set aside her suspicions about Fu Xiling. Once back in the room, she got straight to the point. “A couple of years ago, there were rumors about a convention center being built near the bar. But those rumors fizzled out. The reason you appeared at the bar… does it have something to do with progress on that convention center project?”

The room had been cleaned, the floor spotless, and the used water bottles cleared away.

Shi Zhi sat on the sofa and shielded her eyes from the sunlight with her hand.

Fu Xiling hadn’t expected her to bring up this topic, casting her a surprised glance.

Today, she wore a prim, girlish beige dress that resembled creamy cheese.

But her determined gaze didn’t match the innocent vibe, exuding an aura of ambition instead.

Shi Zhi had started noticing things after summer break.

In the past two months, the bar’s revenue had improved slightly. At first, she thought nothing of it and even attributed the extra earnings to Fu Xiling’s extravagant spending.

But as someone who spent her days in the bar, she had noticed unfamiliar faces showing up on their street.

Those faces weren’t just at the bar; they’d also been spotted in other shops on the street—at noodle houses, stir-fry restaurants, and so on.

Shi Zhi dug into the bar’s daily transaction records.

Fu Xiling’s bills were easy to identify. His lavish spending left clear traces, making his tabs unmistakable.

Even excluding his expenditures, the bar’s earnings had improved.

For a street being phased out by the times, without entertainment venues, shopping centers, or office buildings, this was unusual.

Shi Zhi speculated that those unfamiliar faces were there for work-related purposes.

Fu Xiling gave her a thumbs-up. “You’re sharp. There’s news about the convention center project. But what do you want from it?”

If even someone with Fu Xiling’s wealth was taking action, it must be a lucrative opportunity.

Shi Zhi thought for a moment. “I guess it’s not just your family that’s interested. Many others probably want a piece of the pie.”

Once the convention center project kicked off, the area would see a surge in traffic.

Shi Zhi’s uncle and aunt, as small-time business owners, didn’t have the connections to get wind of this. But plenty of wealthy enterprises did, and it couldn’t be just Fu Xiling making a move.

Shi Zhi offered to use her knowledge of the local businesses to provide Fu Xiling with insider information.

“If you can use my information to get what you want, I’ll need some compensation.”

Fu Xiling enjoyed watching Shi Zhi slow her speech and deliberate as she spoke, looking more like a businessperson than he did.

“How much do you want?”

“That depends on how much you can gain from that street.”

Fu Xiling suddenly laughed. “If my cousin had your brains, my uncle wouldn’t have been so furious with him that he ended up having a stroke.”

Fu Xiling’s ambitions were immense.

He knew the area wasn’t just slated for a convention center but also a shopping mall and a subway station.

If he could establish a foothold there, the profits would be substantial.

He didn’t just want a few shops. He wanted every shop.

Fu Xiling waited for Shi Zhi to name an exorbitant price, but she simply said, “150,000.”

Had Shi Zhi been more experienced in negotiations, she’d have known that exposing her bottom line too early left no room for bargaining and gave her counterpart the upper hand.

Luckily, her counterpart was Fu Xiling.

He wasn’t interested in exploiting her and kindly pointed out, “That’s too low.”

Shi Zhi wasn’t greedy. “I only need 150,000.”

150,000 was even less than the pile of cash she had returned to him previously.

Many veteran businesspeople couldn’t resist the allure of money, yet Shi Zhi had an air of uprightness—“a gentleman loves money but earns it rightfully.”

Fu Xiling appreciated her style. “If you were representing a company on my cooperation list, I’d choose you over everyone else.”

Shi Zhi frowned. “What do you mean? Are you saying you… don’t want to cooperate with me now?”

“I very much want to cooperate with you.”

But Fu Xiling wouldn’t pass up the chance to probe her further. “I’m just curious—are you always this harsh with your suitors? Or did that guy do something that really pissed you off?”

Fu Xiling was referring to the boy Shi Zhi had slapped back in the day.

She wasn’t one to open up to people easily. In any other situation, no matter who asked, she wouldn’t have answered.

But now, Shi Zhi was the weaker party.

Information about the shops was something Fu Xiling could uncover sooner or later. The only advantage she had was saving him time.

Fu Xiling smiled at her from across the table, waiting for her to speak.

Shi Zhi held back her temper as she recalled—

She didn’t hate dating; she just didn’t want to date anyone. She wasn’t prone to violence.

If that boy hadn’t gone too far, she wouldn’t have hit him.

The boy’s name was Li Mingtao. They had been desk mates for a month.

When the class rearranged seats by grades, Li Mingtao’s mid-ranking scores placed him far from Shi Zhi, who was always in the top three.

They naturally drifted apart.

From Shi Zhi’s perspective, Li Mingtao was just another classmate—someone she felt nothing for.

When he first expressed his feelings, Shi Zhi had clearly rejected him.

What disgusted her was his subsequent behavior.

Li Mingtao was ostentatious, telling everyone about his feelings for her.

Whenever Shi Zhi entered the classroom, the atmosphere would feel off. And sure enough, on her desk, she’d find a pile of random “gifts.”

Snacks, drinks, breakfast, stationery, stuffed toys, flowers…

Shi Zhi returned them all.

But Li Mingtao didn’t give up. He continued his performance of being the “devoted lover.”

At the school sports event, he read a poem aloud with hidden confessions embedded in the lines.

At a cultural performance, he sang a song with altered lyrics to reference her.

Once, after finishing the morning exercise, Shi Zhi returned to find her textbooks had been re-covered in new wrappers.

There were countless incidents like this, though most were now a blur in her memory.

She only remembered feeling disturbed. It was infuriating.

“If you came home and found someone tampered with your water bottle, would you dare drink from it?”

Li Mingtao might have meant well, switching the water to milk or something warm, but no one liked having their personal belongings touched by a stranger. Neither did Shi Zhi.

Fu Xiling remarked, “He deserved that slap.”

He still wanted to ask about her name, but Shi Zhi’s patience was wearing thin. She stared at him blankly, clearly conveying: Are you done yet? Can we focus on the real topic now?

Without delving into the specifics of her insider information, Fu Xiling simply said, “Pleasure working with you.”

“Mm.”

This was their third transaction. By now, they had established a basic level of trust.

Shi Zhi shared the details she knew with Fu Xiling—

There were 36 shops on the street.

Over 20 were leased businesses. The landlord who owned the most properties was an elderly man named Old Tian.

Shi Zhi’s aunt and uncle were on good terms with Old Tian, often calling him “Dad” and visiting him during holidays.

If Old Tian could be persuaded, they’d control half the street.

“The tea shop and liquor wholesale are owned by the same person. They mentioned selling the business last year, with an asking price of 750,000. The three stores behind the noodle shop are sub-leased; there’s no point negotiating with them…”

Fu Xiling listened intently.

He realized Shi Zhi wasn’t born with a business mind. She was simply forced by life to calculate every step to secure her future.

She wanted to seize every opportunity to turn her life around.

But she was only a third-year college student.

Where were the family members who should have been protecting her?

After finalizing their deal, Shi Zhi prepared to leave, insisting she had to get back to the bar to keep an eye on things. She refused to stay for lunch.

Fu Xiling grabbed his car keys. “I’ll drive you back.”

“No need. Since we’re working together now, it’s better if the neighbors don’t see us together.”

“Then let me call you a cab. It’s too hot outside; I don’t want you to get heatstroke.”

Regarding their partnership, Shi Zhi had one concern.

She stood at the door. “Fu Xiling, this time it’s just about money. Let’s not get too close.”

Fu Xiling understood her meaning perfectly.

“Not getting too close” meant no arm-linking, no kissing, no intimacy.

She was drawing a line, testing him.

“No problem.”

Fu Xiling’s expression was calm, as if to say, That’s how it should be; no need to mention it.

Shi Zhi gave an “OK” hand gesture and left.

After that, Fu Xiling didn’t contact her.

The next time she heard from him was on a stiflingly hot night.

“When are you free? I’ll come find you.”

“For business.”

Shi Zhi told him to come after 1 a.m. She also instructed him to avoid the bar’s main entrance, use the back door, turn right, and take the stairs by the storeroom.

Her room was the innermost one on the third floor.

Shi Zhi, unusually patient, sent a long string of instructions. Fu Xiling replied with a single voice message.

His tone carried a teasing smile. “Boss Shi, are we sneaking around like lovers?”

Shi Zhi ignored him.

At 1 a.m., the bar closed.

Wan Ran, Ling Ling, and Old Qian all left, happily waving goodbye and announcing their plans to visit the night market.

Shi Zhi waved back, unlocked the back door, and returned to her room.

She was wearing headphones, listening to an online lecture, and didn’t notice when Fu Xiling arrived.

She only realized someone was there when one of her earbuds was plucked out.

Shi Zhi reflexively elbowed backward, but Fu Xiling blocked her.

“Why didn’t you knock before coming in?”

“I did. I also heard you humming, but you didn’t respond.”

Fu Xiling wore a short-sleeved designer shirt over a tank top, looking like he had just walked off a runway. “You live here?”

“Mm.”

Shi Zhi’s room was cramped.

The window was small, making the space stuffy. The wardrobe was an old model with mirrored doors that took up a lot of space.

A standing fan worked tirelessly in the corner.

A few freshly laundered clothes were draped on the single bed, not yet put away.

There was only one chair, which Shi Zhi used for studying.

She dragged it out. “Have a seat.”

“I came to talk about your aunt and uncle.”

Instead of sitting, Fu Xiling helped Shi Zhi hang up her clothes in the wardrobe.

Just as he began, he stopped abruptly, his senses sharp. “Is there someone else in the bar?”

Aside from Wan Ran and Ling Ling, no one else should be around. They had said they were going to the night market. Could it just be a coincidence?

Shi Zhi listened carefully.

The slow, almost dreamlike sound of someone climbing the stairs was unmistakably Ling Ling…

Ling Ling had a habit of entering rooms without knocking. Shi Zhi quickly grabbed Fu Xiling’s arm and shoved him into the wardrobe.

“You just—”

Before she could finish, Fu Xiling, for reasons unknown, pulled her in as well and closed the wardrobe door.

The cramped space was pitch black. Ling Ling’s footsteps grew louder.

Shi Zhi whispered angrily, “What is wrong with you?”

Fu Xiling chuckled. “I’m afraid of the dark.”

It sounded like he was fidgeting with the hangers, causing a faint scraping noise above them.

Before Shi Zhi could retort, the bedroom door opened.

Ling Ling’s puzzled voice drifted in. “Where did Shi Zhi go?”

Ling Ling dialed Shi Zhi’s phone, which vibrated on the bed.

Muttering to herself, she said, “Why would she leave her phone behind?”

Inside the wardrobe, the smell of wood and detergent mingled in the air.

Shi Zhi’s back was pressed against Fu Xiling’s chest.

The fan outside was doing its best, but the summer heat remained oppressive.

Fu Xiling’s breathing was clear and uncomfortably close to her ear.

Ling Ling, stubborn as ever, refused to leave and decided to wait in the room for Shi Zhi’s return.

In the faint light slipping through the wardrobe slats, Fu Xiling nudged Shi Zhi’s shoulder. Just as she turned to glare at him, he leaned in to speak.

As he moved, his nose—or maybe his lips—brushed the corner of her eye and slid along her cheek. Shi Zhi’s breath hitched.

Fu Xiling froze for a moment, then whispered, “Is your silly little friend planning to stay here all night?”