12 Sudden Encounter

"What...what do you mean? I honestly have no goal, I think there may be a misunderstanding!"

'What a performance.' Li Qian held in a chuckle as he watched her play the innocent card. Her face crumbled as if he had hurt her and her eyes held a bit of tears as they widened. All together she was the perfect image of a white lotus, if it was another man maybe they would fall for this act but he would not. There was nothing he said that could warrant that expression nor did he raise his voice. Even if she acted more pitifully he would not bat an eye, he never had the best reputation regardless. Sipping his coffee he felt no need to respond to her 'act,' there was only approximately 2 minutes left of him sitting here. If she wanted to spend her time playing this game it would only end in her loss. If she had dropped her act and used this time to propose a business deal, he might be inclined to actually listen to her. Just her being frank or knowing when to drop the act and be straightforward, would make him see her in a better light.

However, he could see that she had committed to the "white lotus" act. "Well it seems that we have nothing left to discuss."

Taking out his wallet he left exact change for his drink before getting up.

"Wait!!!" The woman quickly got up from her seat and became panicked at his action. Her father and her had put in great efforts for her to meet with him, he could not leave like this! She wasn't sure what to do but grabbed the tip of his sleeve in a hurry. Chu Yao could not believe that she had been reduced to doing such cheap moments, even as she reached for the sleeve she knew that was the wrong move. It made her look desperate first and foremost but who told this man to leave so quickly?! Within their society she had maintained a 'good girl' image of a perfect lady who was fragile like the wind. In the beginning she hated to act as such but realized that it was the quickest way to get a man to treat her right. Yet, every single thing that she was proud about seemed like dirt in front of this man. Not to mentioning him not giving her any face, he did not even bother to speak any pleasantries! There were rumours that Li Qian was ruthless and was cold towards women, but she did not think that it would apply to her as well. No men could not be conquered and she was sure he would be the same.

Quickly releasing his sleeve she went back to her pitiful expression. When she had spoken out loud to stop him her voice had accidentally raised volume. She was well aware that she had attracted attention and had to maintain her image now that there were eyes on her. "Sorry, I did not mean to grab your sleeve. Please forgive me for that, I was just too shocked at how quickly you were leaving. Surely there has been a misunderstanding, I don't think I have done anything to offend Mr. Qin."

His eyes were filled with annoyance as he looked at the woman in front of him. Even after all this she chose to go back to her white lotus act and had the nerve to grab his sleeve. Thankfully, there was no skin to skin contact or he would have been compelled to use some sanitizer on the spots touched. "There is no misunderstanding, I am clear on what is happening here Ms. Yao. I came here out of respect to my grandmother, there will be no other time." He then turned around again and prepared to leave before he heard her speak again. 'Does this woman have no shame?' He truly could not understand her mindset, what part of his actions were not clear to her? If she had thought that the 'audience' she had gathered by this little scene was enough to sway him then she had not done her research.

"Mr. Qi don't you think that this is a bit too rude? After all, grandma was the one who requested this meeting for us. To not even talk to me but leave after two minutes -"

"Five minutes."

"What.."

"I had spent five minutes of my time here Ms. Yao and another two caught in this stupid conversation. More minutes than you rightfully deserve, what you want will not happen. Leave now and save yourself some face, lest you lose even more of it."

A crack formed on her pitiful expression as her eyes were filled with anger. "Face? I'm surprised you're mentioning it since between the two of us, you are the one who does not have one. I came here today out of respect for grandma, who had spoken very highly of her 'respectful' grandson. None of which I can see her, it seems that the one with the misunderstanding is grandma, I'll be sure to clear it up."

'At last, there is her true face..' With just some provocation and anger she had let go for her image to openly disagree with him. Which was all fine until she had chosen to verbally threaten him with his grandmother. His eyes turned dark as he stared at her in silence. Her face was red with complete confidence in her eyes that she was in the right. That kind of gross cockiness was just 'low class' in his opinion. Picking up the coffee cup he had finished, he dropped it at her feet - close enough to shock her but not harm her. With that, all the onlookers that looked over secretly were now openly gaping at them.

"Please feel free to tell her that I did this as well, if you think that any of your petty tricks would faze me then you are sorely mistaken."

It seemed that his last sentence was the final push she needed to raise her voice even higher. "Are you crazy?!?! Do you even know who I am! How many men would beg to spend a lunch with me?!"

Internally he thought, 'if that was so why are you not with them right now. Instead of begging him for his attention like a spoiled child.' Part of him wanted to say that out loud but that would not be enough for her to listen. Quickly scanning the room he saw a lone woman in the booth across from them. From a behind view she looked decent and was interestingly enough one of the few people who were not watching their interaction. Seeing that she was close enough for him to grab, he walked over to her and leaned down next to her ear before whispering his words quickly. "Sorry, let me bother you for a second."

Picking up a tissue he used that to gently place a hand on her wrist and pull her over to a standing position. His touch was light and he kept a good distance from the woman, he did not want to make her uncomfortable physically despite throwing her into the spot light. It was not his intention to resort to such extremes like using a random woman but he did not want to waste more time. The best way to shut down a woman is say another one was better. Turning around to face Chu Yao again he spoke again for what he hoped were his last words in this conversation. "Frankly speaking you disgust me. Your face, body, personality none of which are my type. Who you are means nothing to me, before today I did not even know your name. I would rather spend my time speaking to this woman here than you. Now if you'll excuse me, I have better things to do than waste another second here. Stop me again and I will cancel all related projects with Yao industries. Do not test me further Ms. Yao."