She made up her mind and sent Fang Jiangyi a message.
"I'll get Changling's project plan as soon as possible. I'll meet Third Brother frequently these days."
She did as she said. Riding on the lingering warmth from their previous encounter, she acted like a young girl in the first flush of love, finding all sorts of excuses to be around Lu Qianzhou again and again.
Outsiders thought their relationship remained unaffected by what had happened before. News about them was all over the place, and even photos of her meeting Lu Qianzhou in private were taken by paparazzi.
But more often than not, Jiang Yue was around. She was much more idle than others and clung to Lu Qianzhou tightly.
On this day, during a basketball game, she finally waited for an opportunity when Jiang Yue was absent due to some business. Yan Xia was like a die - hard fan of Lu Qianzhou, shouting and clapping for him from the sidelines.
Lu Qianzhou didn't show much reaction, but his group of playboy friends were extremely excited. Every time a teammate on his team scored a goal, they would wave and whistle in her direction, as if seeking her encouragement.
Lu Qianzhou only played the first half of the game. So during the halftime break, he came to the spectator stand and sat next to Yan Xia.
She reached out and handed him a bottle of water.
Lu Qianzhou smelled of sweat. His bangs were damp with sweat. He was wearing a sports suit, with knee pads and wristbands on. He tilted his head back and gulped down most of the water, then wiped the water off his lips and said,
"You've been seeing me quite frequently lately. Aren't you afraid Fang Jiangyi will get suspicious?"
"Fang Jiangyi needs me. I have to put on a show for him." Yan Xia looked at the basketball court. "And it was you who weren't afraid of suspicion before. Are you scared now that you see me around you so often?"
She didn't know what their relationship was now. She had wanted to ask Lu Qianzhou several times, "Are we together?"
But she didn't dare and couldn't. She could only let their ambiguous and unclear relationship develop.
"Still for the Xinghaiwan project?" Lu Qianzhou asked.
"Yeah." Yan Xia seemed calm. "But you said this project is very important and you won't give it to him. So don't worry. I won't touch it."
Lu Qianzhou didn't say a word.
Yan Xia added, "It's really strange that Miss Jiang didn't come today."
Lu Qianzhou scoffed. It seemed he could guess what was on her mind. Suddenly, he wrapped his arm around her shoulder and grabbed the back of her neck, forcing her to turn her head and look at him.
There was a faint smile in his eyes. "After the Xinghaiwan project is over, I'll sort out our relationship properly."
Did his words mean it was going to end or start?
But Yan Xia also knew that this wasn't the right time.
She pursed her lips and said, "Miss Jiang has been following you around lately."
He smiled. "So?"
Did he really not understand or was he just teasing her and looking for amusement?
But Yan Xia was a bit of a tsundere. Since he asked deliberately, she didn't want to say anymore.
"You know everything but still want to tease me."
She subtly wove in and out of Lu Qianzhou's life, often going to his villa. She would prepare dinner for him before he got home, play games with him, and exercise with him in the morning. Their relationship was very harmonious.
Lu Qianzhou seemed to completely misunderstand her intentions and didn't suspect her at all.
One day, she finally found an opportunity. Lu Qianzhou's special assistant came to the villa to see him. Maybe he brought some confidential documents to report on work. Yan Xia subtly paid attention. She prepared a plate of fruits and took them upstairs herself. Quietly, she stopped outside the study door.
The door was half - open. She hid outside and listened to the conversation between Lu Qianzhou and his special assistant.
She was too far away to hear clearly, but she still caught keywords like "Xinghaiwan" and "bidding base price".
After listening for a while, when she sensed that their conversation was about to end, she knocked on the door and walked in.
The special assistant nodded and smiled at her.
Yan Xia glanced at the computer in front of Lu Qianzhou and handed him the fruits.
"Third Brother, I just received some news. I have some important matters to deal with, so I'll go back today."
Lu Qianzhou said okay.
The special assistant also nodded and said, "Mr. Lu, then I'll leave first."
As expected, they were about to leave. Yan Xia quickly seized the opportunity and said, "I've sent Wen Liang back. Since there's a driver available, could you please ask the driver to take me and the special assistant back?"
After getting in the car, the special assistant sat very nervously in the front passenger seat, while Yan Xia sat in the back, secretly planning how to get the document in his hand.
The car had already smoothly driven out of the villa area. She started chatting with the special assistant.
"You came to see Third Brother so late. It's for the Xinghaiwan project, right?"
The special assistant said, "Yes. Mr. Lu is determined to win this project and has made a lot of preparations."
Yan Xia said, "Third Brother attaches great importance to this project."
The special assistant replied, "Naturally. Whether this project succeeds or not determines the future development direction of Changling."
Moreover, Lu Qianzhou was different from Fang Jiangyi. Lu Qianzhou was protecting the interests of the enterprise he founded himself, so he must be more concerned.
Yan Xia understood.
The car drove on for a while. Since Yan Xia was in the car, the driver changed the original route and was going to drop her off first.
When the car drove onto an old and rather complicated road, Yan Xia looked down at the dense little red dots on her arms. Suddenly, she slapped the driver's seat in the front row hard, signaling him to stop the car.
The driver stopped the car nervously on the side of the road. Looking back, he saw Yan Xia leaning on the seat, covering her chest and gasping for breath. She was having difficulty breathing, and her exposed skin such as her neck and arms was covered with red dots. He had no idea what was wrong with her.
This was Lu Qianzhou's younger sister. If something happened to her in his car, no one could bear the responsibility.
"Miss Lu, are you okay?" the driver was a bit flustered.
The special assistant was also startled. He got out of the car and opened the back - seat door to check on Yan Xia's condition.
She covered her chest and gasped, frowning and grabbing the special assistant's hand. "I accidentally ate some mango at Third Brother's... I'm allergic to mango... There's a pharmacy nearby. Go and buy me some allergy medicine!"
She managed to get the words out with difficulty.
The special assistant looked back at the complicated road conditions and the bustling crowd.
Yan Xia urged painfully, "Hurry up..."
"Okay, Miss Lu. Please wait a moment." The special assistant quickly agreed. He took out his phone, used the navigation to find a pharmacy, and rushed towards it.
After getting rid of the special assistant, Yan Xia told the driver,
"Could you please go and get me some hot water?"
The driver thought this was just some quirk of the rich. After all, these rich people never did any housework. Since Miss Lu had given the order, he had to obey.
So both the driver and the special assistant were sent away, and Yan Xia was left alone in the car.
She stopped gasping for breath. Frowning at the red dots on her body, enduring the overwhelming itch, she leaned forward and grabbed the folder the special assistant had left on the front passenger seat. She opened it and quickly flipped through it, finding the Xinghaiwan project documents.
It included the planning scheme, the bidding plan, the implementation plan and other additional documents.
She quickly took out her phone and took photos of all the document contents, saving them on her phone.