Dealing with Tigers

While strolling on the street, suddenly, several bold characters caught my full attention: “A Woman Beats the CEO of Qi Group! Exclusive Report by Western Weekly!” Wow! Great! Great!! Women can indeed surpass men in spirit!! I pushed open the glass door covered with posters, picked a copy of “Western Weekly” from the magazine rack, paid for it, and exclaimed with a mouthful of delight, “This is quite something!” People around me looked at me with puzzled expressions. “Ahem,” I cleared my throat, proudly pointing at the cover and reading aloud, “A woman ‘clubs’ the CEO of Qi Corporation! ‘Clubs’ the CEO of Qi Corporation! ‘Clubs’ Qi Yufeng, CEO of Qi Corporation!” Oh dear, his infamy is spreading far and wide, how pitiful~ I flipped to that page, oh, there’s even a photo! It’s quite blurry, probably taken from a distance, but you can see a tall figure in the frame practicing his swing – who else could it be but Qi Yufeng? And the main character, the other figure in the shot, is sneakily holding up a bundle of golf clubs. Uh, that… that person… Ah! TAXI!! I rushed into the Qi Corporation building, panting, heading straight to the top floor. Everyone on the way gave me sly, knowing looks, as if to say, “Who else could it be but you?” Paparazzi are so unscrupulous! If only he had published more photos, the truth would have been clear. I didn’t actually hit him; as soon as I raised the club, Qi Yufeng coughed twice. Whether he was faking it or not, my guilty conscience made it real. I quickly put it down and acted like nothing happened. I pushed the door open, and there was Qi Yufeng, busy approving documents. “You’re here?” he said without looking up, knowing it was me – after all, I’m the only one who dares to barge in without knocking. But would it kill him to act surprised? I strutted over to him, spread the magazine on top of his paperwork, and surrendered. He glanced at it and said impatiently, “Move it.” The situation wasn’t looking good! I quickly clung to him, wailing loudly. He didn’t bother with me, letting me hold him while he continued to read with one hand. I clung tighter and cried louder, and finally, he couldn’t take it anymore. He slammed his file folder onto the desk, took off his glasses, closed his eyes, and rubbed his brow, “Enough, what do you want to say?” I took a deep breath, having gotten my way, but didn’t dare to laugh. “Why did you lie to me? That day I was just frustrated and wanted to vent, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it, so you can’t punish me.” He scoffed, “You just didn’t dare.” That shut me up. “Because if I didn’t die from it, when I woke up, you still wouldn’t escape!” I had nothing to say; I was indeed feeling guilty. Seeing me silent, Qi Yufeng gave a self-deprecating cold laugh. “Liu Yixia,” he pointed at my chest, “Is there anything in here?” “Whatever I do for you, you won’t notice, and when the time comes, you’ll still walk away happily, leaving me behind!” His dark eyes seemed to swirl me into a vortex, everything started to distort. I had never seen him like this before, or perhaps, never taken him this seriously. I am indeed selfish because I’m too lazy to invest, but I can honestly confess, I like him, I get jealous for him, but so what? It’s just a strange kind of liking, easy to come by, easy to leave. Why take responsibility when I’ve already accepted the inevitable outcome? “I know I can’t use strong methods with you, so I wanted you to feel it, but ‘liking you,’ whether said or not, it’s all the same. You’re foolish to care!” “No, your heart isn’t empty; it’s too full. It was full when you came, and it will be full when you leave. I can’t even find a crack to squeeze into! I wish Li Kexuan had never existed in this world; he should have died!” “You can’t say that about Kexuan,” he started to laugh, a terrifying laugh. “Kexuan? Why don’t you call me Yufeng?” He pushed my head down, our noses touching; his lips nearly met mine with every word. “But without him, there would be no beginning for us, nor would we end up like this today.” “Xia, the two-month deadline is almost up, what are we going to do?” His breath was hot on my face, but my body was trembling with cold. He seemed like a beast, lingering at his prey’s neck, contemplating where to take the first bite. “I’m not enough; I want to lock you up, to possess you, but you’ll still think of escaping, won’t you?” After a long silence, I still had no words. He let me go, “Go back, learn to cook from Fourth Sister, I’ll eat when I come back.” It’s not that I don’t feel it, but why do I have no reaction? I only felt cold, even on a hot summer day. When I closed that door, I heard the heavy sound of something being thrown. Maybe I couldn’t accept it; his helplessness, his bitter smile, all tearing at my heart mercilessly. Everything was rotten, how could there be no gaps? Broken and mended, how could there be no space? 28 “Ah!! It wasn’t like that, it was just a prank, I didn’t actually hit him! — Why are you crying… — It wasn’t a ‘clubbing,’ they wrote it wrong — Please don’t cry, I beg you, I’m good to him, look, I’m cooking for him now, how good am I? — Oh, how could I poison him? I’m not that bad! — I’m not chatting anymore, there’s an incoming call, anyway, I won’t harm him, you can rest assured, bye!” Damn! I was about to smash the phone with my spatula. Not only had the paparazzi had their fill, but now Gu Yuechai calls, crying as if I had actually killed Qi Yufeng! The kitchen was in a smoky mess, with one hand on the phone dealing with the butler and the other stirring the rice. Outside, Mrs. Lin had come specially to clean, and Fourth Sister was chatting with her, “Miss, you’re really something, we knew it was you right away, ho ho ho~” “Yes, he’s so handsome, who would dare touch him usually? You’ve really vented for us~” “Only you dare to do this, making our young master behave so well, oh ho ho ho~” I threw the phone, and Fourth Sister caught it with her Phantom Eagle Claw, placing it back. “I’ll handle it myself! You guys go rest.” “Alright.” “Hey, what’s wrong with the miss?” “Shh, I’ll tell you, I heard the young master is coming back to eat her cooking, so, mm-hmm~” “Oh, I knew it, young people, ho ho ho…” Their laughter faded into the distance, and finally, I couldn’t help it, raised my spatula, and shouted at the spinning range hood… Every following day, I lived in panic, yes, panic, not an exaggeration at all. I believe there’s a psychological phenomenon everyone can relate to. It’s like when you buy a monthly swimming pass, you’re initially very enthusiastic. But as time goes on, you become lazy. However, when you realize it’s about to expire, you feel like you’ve wasted your money, so you start swimming frantically, as if you could make up for all the missed sessions. It’s like a petty mindset of ‘I’m going to wear out this pool!’