Forced to Marry a Female Billionaire CEO

"You," Wong Qifu said with a playful smile. Her tone was soft and coquettish, a little flirtatious yet teasing, like a cat's paw scratching at Xu Ke's heart.

Bringing up past embarrassments, especially ones that made his scalp tingle just thinking about them…

Xu Ke's face immediately turned red. "No! Don't talk nonsense!"

He knew Wong Qifu was just talking about the time at her doorway when he'd failed to speak or make eye contact with her, wandering off dejectedly afterward.

But could you really call that being heartbroken? No way!

Wong Qifu laughed again. "There's a surveillance camera where you were standing. Should we pull the footage? I think it was around February 5th."

"Stop joking. Why would a chairperson pull security footage? Let's talk about something serious." Xu Ke's face grew even more flushed as he quickly tried to change the subject.

A voice came from the other end of the line, "Director Wang, be careful..."

It was clear Wong Qifu was getting into a car. After she settled in, a door slammed shut on her end. "Changing the subject, are you?" she asked. "Does that mean you admit you get upset when I don't answer your calls?"

"Am I a child? Why would I get upset over something like that?" Xu Ke's eyebrows knitted together. Why was she dredging up his past embarrassments so relentlessly?

Wong Qifu countered, "Aren't you?"

Xu Ke was about to retort but froze.

He vaguely remembered this conversation. It sounded familiar. A few days ago, hadn't he teased her in the exact same way during a call?

Xu Ke understood immediately. She was holding a grudge!

"Yes, yes, yes, I'm a child. I was wrong. Please, just let me off the hook." Xu Ke could only beg for mercy, otherwise they'd never get back to the topic at hand.

"Hmph. Fine, let's get down to business," came the reply, carrying an imperceptible hint of pride and triumph, as if a great vengeance had been achieved.

Xu Ke chuckled to himself, the corners of his mouth turning up. How could a chairperson still act like such a child?

"The auction went smoothly today," Xu Ke said. "I got the antique I wanted."

"How much did you spend?"

"Six million."

"Why so cheap?" Wong Qifu sounded surprised. She remembered the ring her father had bought—the Dragon Essence Ring that had revived Xu Ke—was worth far more than that.

"Well, here's what happened..." Xu Ke recounted his story of stumbling upon a treasure, as well as the strange behavior of Master Jintong and Xie Jiancheng.

After listening, Wong Qifu was silent for a moment before speaking. "I've looked into Xie Jiancheng. He's a bit younger than my father and a bit older than me. He's a very shrewd man; he doesn't do things without a reason."

"From his actions, it's clear he's making gestures of goodwill, which means he must want something in return. If I'm not mistaken, he'll make another move soon to reinforce his friendly overtures."

Just as Xu Ke was about to speak, the doorbell rang. DING-DONG.

"Elder Tang, could you get the door, please?" Xu Ke called out.

Tang Yingchang opened the door.

"Hello, I'm a staff member from the Deyun Hotel," a voice said. "Mister Xie Jiancheng asked me to deliver this invitation to you."

Xu Ke said to Wong Qifu, "Looks like your guess was spot-on."

"Go see what it is," she replied.

Xu Ke walked to the entrance. A young man in a blue suit was smiling as he handed a dark red envelope to him.

"What's this invitation for? Isn't the auction over?" Xu Ke put his phone down for a moment and took the envelope.

"It's for a banquet hosted by the Xie Family and the Bai Family at the Deyun Hotel tonight," the man in the blue suit said humbly, his attitude impeccably respectful. "Mister Xie would like to entertain the distinguished guests from out of town and hopes Mister Xu will grace the event with his presence."

A thought struck Xu Ke. "From out of town?"

"That's right."

"So Shi Hongda and the people from the Northern Dragon Guard will be there?" Xu Ke raised an eyebrow.

"That's right."

"Is it a large affair?"

"It's more of a private dinner. No other Sui City families will be participating."

Xu Ke smiled and nodded. "Alright, I'll be there."

The man in the blue suit brightened up. "Then I won't disturb you any further. We hope you will attend on time, Mister Xu. If you require anything at all, please don't hesitate to ask any of our Deyun Hotel staff."

"Okay." Xu Ke nodded.

SLAM.

The door closed.

Xu Ke handed the invitation to Tang Yingchang and walked back into the living room. "You heard all that, right?" he asked into the phone.

"I did. Be careful tonight. Maybe you'll find out why he's being so nice to you," Wong Qifu said.

"Understood!" Xu Ke nodded, then glanced at the box on the table. "Also, I got the Jade Mountain Lotus. If you need to do any favors for anyone, feel free to use it."

The Jade Mountain Lotus was actually quite valuable…

"You don't need it yourself?" Wong Qifu was startled.

In front of Wong Qifu, Xu Ke dropped all pretense. "Are you kidding? A genius like me needs medicine?! I don't!"

"Then give me the cup. I'll sell it for some cash. A national treasure-grade artifact would do wonders for my finances."

"Stop it!" Xu Ke coughed dryly.

"Alright, I rarely get time to call you in the middle of the day. It's not so you can brag to me," Wong Qifu cut him off.

Xu Ke rubbed the back of his neck and coughed again. "You don't have to be so blunt."

Wong Qifu went quiet for a moment. When she spoke again, her tone had softened unconsciously. "By the way, when are you coming back?"

Xu Ke grinned, his tone teasing. "I'll head back as soon as I'm done. Is our hundred-kilometer long-distance relationship getting to you? Miss me already?"

Wong Qifu's voice went flat. "Say that again."

"I take it back! I'll be back tomorrow," Xu Ke said, immediately behaving.

Why can't she take a little teasing?

Then, out of nowhere, Wong Qifu asked, "Has that little girl from the Bai Family done anything to you?"

Xu Ke, who had been on his best behavior for less than two seconds, broke into a wide grin.

Still pretending you don't care? Still pretending you're not jealous?!

"No, nothing… except for that one time she came knocking on my hotel room door in the middle of the night…" Xu Ke trailed off, trying to be mysterious, clearly enjoying flirting with danger.

"Oh, really? Very impressive," Wong Qifu said calmly. "Trying to build suspense, are we? Do you believe me if I say I could go find another man in this hotel right now?"

Xu Ke's face fell. "I was wrong, I was wrong! I didn't do anything! She came looking for a duel in the middle of the night. I didn't even let her in the door! There are security cameras in the hallway!"

Xu Ke wanted to slap himself. How could he play these stupid games when they were already long-distance?

"Fine, I believe you," Wong Qifu said, then suddenly delivered a knockout blow. "But when you get back, you'd better be ready to turn over your *rations*. I'll be checking to see how much you have left in stock."

She wasn't naive, even if she lacked experience. One look at Xu Ke would tell her if he'd been up to anything…

But hearing this, Xu Ke's mind processed the information, then went blank. His breathing quickened. "What did you say? We… we haven't even done *that* yet… Isn't this a little… inappropriate?"

This was too exciting. He suddenly couldn't wait to go home.

Wong Qifu laughed in exasperation. "Where did your mind go? I meant you should handle it yourself!"

Is that all this man ever thinks about?