Chapter Fifty: Impossible to Love You

The dinner ended amidst the bickering and glaring between Yuwen Si and Mai Xijun. Yuwen Si pursed his lips and declared, “Sooner or later, you’ll fall right into my hands!”

“Hmph!” Mai Xijun scoffed, lifting her chin in disdain, her expression clearly saying, “I can’t even be bothered with you.” Someone like Yuwen Si would never understand the power of humanity unless you gave him a dose of rat poison!

When it came time to pay, Mai Xijun stared at the bill in shock, her eyes wide as she counted the digits, tens, hundreds, thousands, all the way up, three times over. Damn it, had those two idiots come here just to eat her into poverty?

“Miss, you owe me a favor now. Remember to pay it back someday!” Yuwen Si said, pulling a card from his wallet.

Mai Xijun immediately turned to look at Shen Yanlie, as if seeking his opinion. He merely shrugged nonchalantly.

Seeing that Shen Yanlie had no objection, she knew she couldn’t refuse. This scoundrel knew full well she wouldn’t have that much cash on her, and yet he still set her up!

“Fine, I’ll pay for dinner today,” Yuwen Si said with a flamboyant wink. “Pay me back when you’re able, all right?” Mai Xijun had just pressed her palms together to thank him, but the smugness on his face made the words stick in her throat. Her smile vanished instantly.

Yuwen Si was definitely not a good person! She couldn’t be fooled by his so-called “kindness”—no, she’d better keep her distance. The man was a menace!

As they left the hotel lobby, Shen Yanlie pulled Mai Xijun into his arms, his large hand resting on her waist. She tried to resist, but it was already too late.

“Yuwen Si, find your own way home!” Shen Yanlie called, opening the car door and stuffing Mai Xijun into the passenger seat.

With long legs striding elegantly, he circled the Cayenne Turbo S, opened the driver’s door in one smooth motion, and got in. By the time Yuwen Si realized what was happening, Shen Yanlie had already started the engine.

Yuwen Si slapped the window and tugged at the handle. Surely they weren’t going to leave him here? He’d thought Shen Yanlie was joking! “Hey! Shen Yanlie, you can’t just leave me here! Hey!”

He kept pounding on the glass, making Mai Xijun’s ears ring. She quickly rubbed at her ear to ease the buzzing.

“Um—”

“If you know what’s good for you, keep quiet!” Shen Yanlie cut her off coldly. His face was dark, his displeasure obvious. Had she angered him again?

“What kind of man is so petty…” Mai Xijun muttered under her breath, glancing back to see Yuwen Si already left far behind.

Yuwen Si chased after them for a few steps before giving up, frustrated as he pulled out his phone—only to find it dead. Damn it! Since meeting Mai Xijun, his luck had completely run out. Had he ever been cursed before? Had Shen Yanlie ever abandoned him like this? And to top it off, his phone was dead? Mai Xijun was a walking disaster! And after he’d just paid her dinner, too. Ah, poor choice of friends!

﹡　﹡　﹡　﹡　﹡

In the car.

Mai Xijun covered her mouth to stifle a cough, as if trying to bolster her courage. Shen Yanlie seemed to sense her discomfort—more precisely, he saw right through her thoughts. A faint, beautiful smile crept onto his lips.

She turned and caught the smile, quirking her own mouth. “So, am I officially included now?”

He smiled but said nothing. Mai Xijun frowned. “I already bought you dinner. You promised—keep your word! No backing out!”

Her resolve was clearly fading; after all, she hadn’t paid for the meal herself, and she couldn’t be sure she’d really cheered him up tonight. She wouldn’t feel at ease until she repaid Yuwen Si, but why did she need to feel at ease in the first place?

“Can I say you were always on the list? Hmm?” That last hum lingered, a bewitching note teasing the air.

“What?” Mai Xijun’s temper flared, her voice almost a shout. So he’d been toying with her all along?

“Nothing. All you need to do is go to Paris. I’ll have someone arrange everything for you there. The rest is up to your abilities.” His deep, mellow voice and calm tone cast a shadow across her brow that would not soon lift.

“In the future, whatever you want—if you ask, if you need it—as long as I’ve promised, I’ll make it happen. Even if you want a whole city, I’ll give it to you!”

He spoke each word steadily, his eyes—usually sharp and unruly—now full of genuine sincerity.

What kind of man was he, really? Just moments ago, he’d been ready to charge her two thousand three hundred for “administrative fees,” and now he could casually offer her a whole city with a wave of his hand?

Mai Xijun let out a soft laugh through her nose. Of all people, he was the one she could never read.

“As long as you ask, I’ll give my all—not just try my best,” he said, the warmth and certainty in his tone making it clear he wasn’t just speaking lightly.

“…Then if I ask for Eurasia, will you give it to me?” For some reason, her eyes suddenly filled with tears as she fixed him with a cold, piercing gaze, her words sharp with frost.

There was a moment of silence. He stared straight ahead, not meeting her eyes. His lips parted slightly: “Anything but Eurasia. Anything but my life. Anything else, I’ll give you.”

“Then I want you to love me!”

Her words burst out almost before he’d finished speaking. His hawk-like eyes snapped back to her, sharp enough to tear her apart.

For an instant, chaos and pain flashed across his face, a storm of darkness gathering in his eyes. The cold, black gaze stabbed straight into the most vulnerable part of her heart, leaving her breathless with pain.

“Impossible.” He turned his head, his voice flat and cold, each word like a knife—unyielding, merciless, brooking no argument.

He turned the wheel, pressed the brake, and pulled over to the side of the road. “Get out.”

Mai Xijun’s eyes, already stinging, stared at him as if trying to see through him, before she hesitated.

While she was still hesitating, he was already done. He personally unbuckled her seatbelt. “While I still haven’t gone back on my promise, disappear from my sight!”