Chapter 16: Is This… Acting Cute?

Xie Qian had already booked a hotel in the city center in advance—Shi Zhen’s sofa was far too small. One night was already pushing it.

After dinner, the two discussed it and decided that Shi Zhen would walk Xie Qian to the hotel before heading home.

Recently, Xiaoshan had been working on tourism development, and a lot of thought had gone into the street decorations. Plus, both of them were bundled up, so they quickly agreed to take a walk to the hotel.

It was about a thirty-minute walk, and with navigation, there was no way to get lost.

People on the streets were rushing about, their footsteps crunching on the snow, creating a clean, soothing white-noise melody.

It had been years since Xie Qian last felt the sensation of walking on snow. Winters in Shulin felt like a child that never grew up—mild, gentle, and non-threatening.

Snow was even rarer. Shulin had pleasant weather nearly year-round, unlike the Northeast where the four seasons were distinct.

The two didn’t speak much on the way—first, because opening your mouth let in cold air, and second, because they were bundled up so tightly they couldn’t hear each other anyway.

It was Saturday, and many parents had brought their kids out to see the ice sculptures.

Layers of ice walls stacked together looked like a crystal palace, provoking an irresistible urge to poke at them.

They walked quietly until a young couple with a little boy approached from the opposite direction.

The little boy darted around like a curious kitten, touching everything in sight.

Xie Qian watched as the boy’s delicate little fingers reached straight for a power pole next to an ice sculpture. That pole looked old and worn.

It was severely damaged, and maintenance workers had put a warning sign underneath to caution passersby not to touch it.

Seeing this, Xie Qian immediately shouted in a deep voice, “Hey, kid! Don’t poke at the power pole—are you dumb?!”

Startled, the boy quickly pulled his hand back and immediately burst into tears, running back to his mother crying, “Waaah! Mommy, I’m scared!”

The boy’s mom looked young, probably born in the ’90s.

She took his hand and walked a few steps forward. When she saw the warning sign, her face darkened.

Then she smacked the boy on the butt. “Scared? You’re touching everything in sight! If that man hadn’t shouted, you could’ve died!”

The boy wailed louder, begging for mercy, “Waaah! Mommy, I was wrong! I won’t do it again!”

The father stood off to the side, amusedly watching his son get scolded, chuckling quietly.

Xie Qian’s expression didn’t change as he walked past the little family.

The boy’s mom thanked him repeatedly, and he simply nodded slightly in response.

Shi Zhen turned to glance at the man beside her, but his scarf covered most of his face, so she couldn’t see his expression.

She gently tugged on Xie Qian’s sleeve, and when he looked at her, she gave him a big thumbs up.

Who would’ve thought Brother Xie had such a warm heart?

Xie Qian paused for a second, gave a small nod, and acted like it was no big deal.

No one noticed that under his earmuffs, his ears had turned bright red.

The hotel Xie Qian booked was the best five-star hotel in Xiaoshan. From the outside, it looked like a lavish, golden castle.

Following the bellhop’s guidance, the two took the elevator up to the top floor.

It was Shi Zhen’s first time seeing the inside of a presidential suite. What could she say? It was at least a hundred times better than her own home.

Xie Qian looked around at the relatively ordinary decor with a frown, inspecting the room.

Though the warm, golden lighting made the place look luxurious, it also highlighted many hidden flaws.

For instance, the dining table was way too small—far from the standard of a presidential suite. The chairs were completely ordinary. At the very least, shouldn’t they have some diamond inlays?

The TV was too small, and the bathtub in the bathroom was tiny. Plus, there were no anti-slip features in the bathroom. Totally unacceptable.

Shenghui also ran service businesses. If they were all at this level, they’d have been shut down from complaints long ago.

Meanwhile, Shi Zhen was marveling inwardly—Wow, this sofa is huge! And this lamp is so vintage and pretty! This carpet is soooo soft ahhh!

Then she heard Xie Qian mutter, “This hotel’s no good. Bear with it for a bit, little sis.”

Shi Zhen: …

Bro, what are you saying?

How are you able to say such cold-hearted things while standing in this giant, sparkling room?

She kept her internal complaints to herself and didn’t dare say them out loud.

The room was warm—floor heating and all.

As soon as they entered, a wave of cozy heat hit them. Xie Qian immediately stripped off his fuzzy outer layers, feeling like his soul was finally free.

He poured a cup of hot water and handed it to Shi Zhen. “Here, have some water to warm up.”

Shi Zhen took the cup and said, “Thanks.”

Then she sat on the sofa, sipping it slowly in tiny little sips like a bird pecking.

Xie Qian casually tossed his coat over the sofa’s armrest and collapsed into a soft round chair.

Watching Shi Zhen drink like a little hamster and seeing her cheeks turn red from the warmth, Xie Qian felt a nameless joy rise in his chest, curling into a smile.

How can someone even look this fun just drinking water?

Xie Qian had been single for almost thirty years and rarely interacted with women. Most of the ones he met were corporate executives.

It was his first time observing someone outside a work environment like this.

Maybe it was the cozy ambiance of the room, or maybe the comfortable temperature had relaxed him.

Suddenly, he remembered something Lan Zezhong once told him:

“You know what the happiest thing in the world is? Simple—wife, kid, and a warm bed.”

He felt like he was finally starting to understand what that meant.

Shi Zhen, of course, had no idea what Xie Qian was thinking. She was focused on how insanely hot the water was.

But since Brother Xie had poured it for her, she couldn’t just not drink it.

The first sip scalded her tongue, making it go numb. She resisted the urge to chuck the whole cup and pretended to take a few more sips, trying to look composed.

Then she quickly put the cup down on the table.

“Wanna play something?” Xie Qian asked with a smile. “Like some indoor games or something? It’s too cold outside—better to have some fun inside.”

Shi Zhen felt like there was something vaguely off about what he said, but the weird vibe disappeared quickly.

She started seriously thinking: What games can you play indoors?

“Fight the Landlord!” she blurted out, suddenly remembering playing poker with Zhaocai and Jinbao. “Let’s play Dou Dizhu, okay, Brother Xie?”

She looked up at him with sparkling eyes full of pleading—like a puppy. It was impossible to say no to that face.

Xie Qian felt his heart melt, and adrenaline rushed through him like a speeding train.

Is this… her acting cute?

“Sure.” His mouth was moving on its own. “Whatever you say—anything’s fine.”

“Then let’s call Zhaocai over!” Shi Zhen added shamelessly.

Last time, the three of them had had a blast. Zhaocai had the best poker face—lost several rounds and still kept smiling like nothing happened. Never once threw a tantrum.

“Zhaocai?” Xie Qian looked puzzled. “Someone still has that name?”

Shi Zhen burst out laughing. “It’s that bodyguard from your company—the one with a scar on his nose. You saw him just the other day.”

When Shizhen said that, Xie Qian finally remembered—so it was that guy.

You couldn’t blame him for not knowing. The company’s system was just too ridiculous. During one of his inspections, he found out someone was called “Cuihua.”

Who would’ve imagined “Cuihua” turned out to be a rough-looking guy over 1.8 meters tall?

Xie Qian immediately checked the employee roster and discovered plenty more names like that—such as Taohua (Peach Blossom), Laicai (Bringer of Wealth), Tianfu (Bringer of Blessings)…

When he asked the agent, he found out the rule that code names couldn’t be changed once reported was originally meant to make management easier. But the agent hadn’t expected everyone’s code names to be so… unique.

During a meeting, Xie Qian abolished that rule and switched things up—people would now be referred to by numerical IDs during missions.

“Alright, I’ll call him over,” he said.

With that, Xie Qian made a call to the company. Within ten minutes, Zhaocai arrived.

The moment the door was knocked, Shizhen darted over like lightning to open it, flashing a wide smile at the man outside. “Zhaocai-ge! We meet again!”

Zhaocai scratched his head awkwardly. He glanced past her at Xie Qian and said shyly, “Little sis, our President Xie has changed the rules already. Just call me by my real name—Liu Yi. The ‘Liu’ with the knife radical, and the ‘Yi’ that means loyalty.”

Upon hearing that, Shizhen looked at Xie Qian with admiration sparkling in her eyes. “Xie-ge, you’re amazing. You’ve done so much just this morning.”

Cleaning the room, buying a phone, inspecting the company…

Xie Qian shrugged and raised an eyebrow. “Piece of cake.”

Liu Yi had brought a brand new deck of poker cards. The three of them moved the sandalwood coffee table in front of the TV, sat around in a circle, and started playing.

Maybe she’d picked a bad spot or something, but Shizhen lost six rounds in a row—barely winning a single hand.

Before the next round started, she silently chanted in her heart: Spirits of the heavens and earth, please bless me with good cards!

She drew her hand and instantly froze.

Two threes, a four, two fives. Seven, eight, ten, J—no nine. The highest card was a King.

“Ughhh, I quit! Heaven wants me dead!” she wailed dramatically.

Seeing how her lips pouted so much you could hang an oil bottle from them, Xie Qian chuckled and said, “Let’s finish this round, then I’ll switch seats with you. Must be bad feng shui where you’re sitting.”

Liu Yi, of course, had no objections. One was his boss, the other… was the person the boss was clearly protecting. He couldn’t afford to offend either of them.

So he went along with Xie Qian’s words, “Exactly. It’s definitely not your problem. That seat’s just cursed.”

Shizhen: Why does this feel like two grown men humoring a child…

As expected, she lost badly again this round. Another little white strip appeared on her face.

“Xie-ge, switch seats with me!”

She didn’t want to stay in that cursed spot a second longer!

Obediently, Xie Qian got up and sat in the seat Shizhen was so eager to flee from.

Once he drew his cards, he was the one left stunned.

Two Jokers, four twos, and a straight from three to King. If he called landlord, he could practically sweep the game in one go.

He sighed and glanced at Shizhen next to him.

She was full of fighting spirit, thinking: If Xie-ge won so many rounds here, this must be a lucky seat!

Without even looking at her cards, Shizhen declared confidently, “I’ll be the landlord!”

Xie Qian was speechless. He really didn’t want to crush her confidence, so…

Shizhen: “Pair of sevens.”

Xie Qian: “Pass.”

Shizhen: “Six-seven-eight-nine-ten, a straight.”

Xie Qian: “Pass.”

Liu Yi: “Nine-ten-J-Q-K beats that. Pair of threes.”

Xie Qian: “Pair of twos. Single three.”

Liu Yi: “…”

Shizhen: “…”

Her hand may have sucked, but that didn’t mean she didn’t know how to play—or that she couldn’t tell Xie Qian was obviously going easy on her.

Her eyes locked suspiciously onto him. Shizhen suddenly lunged forward and leaned in close to peek at his hand. “Xie-ge, are you throwing the game for me?!”

The moment she saw his cards, she immediately deflated. “Xie-ge, playing easy like this is no fun! You can’t do that! You’re just like Uncle Shi—he always lets me win too!”

Half of her body ended up leaning into Xie Qian’s chest. The two of them were so close that he could even catch a faint whiff of lime from her hair.

He leaned slightly forward, lowering his head to gaze at the side of her face.

Her fair cheeks had a few faint freckles—not only did they not detract from her looks, but they added a sense of realism and charm.

Shizhen was focused on inspecting the cards. Xie Qian, meanwhile, was focused on inspecting her.

Off to the side, Liu Yi was mentally shipping them with even more enthusiasm.

Damn… isn’t this the real-life version of “Overbearing Big Bro Falls for Me”?!