Chapter 82 — Mule Head Jiang

After chatting, Pei Yueran called Li Chuanmo to tell him that she had arrived safely and also delivered the gifts.

Director Zhou was indeed impressed. Bird's nest, abalone, prime beef, exotic fruits. He even got her a gift certificate— a weekend getaway to the best five-star hotel in city A.

He was very generous.

Li Chuanmo meekly said it was nothing and told her to enjoy her stay but not prolong it. He was missing her already.

Pei Yueran teased him, "Stop being such a baby."

"Whatever, I'm more your baby than anyone else."

Pei Yueran grinned happily.

"My regards to your family. By the way, would you be seeing your friend?"

"That's true. I'll call her now. I'll find out how the case is coming along and if she's getting on well with Philip."

"Alright." He went silent so Pei Yueran thought he had ended the call, but he finally spoke up.

"I love you."

Pei Yueran's heart missed a beat due to the sudden happiness.

"I love you too."

After they ended the call, she called Su Qianhua.

*****

Looks can be very deceiving.

This was Su Qianhua's conclusion after spending a few hours in Jiang Philip's company.

According to her, his dress sense was so terrible that it made her eyes red, but that was resolvable. Her first major problem was that he ate like a bird.

During their lunch, he could barely finish a bowl of noodles, whereas she polished off two bowls, in addition to two bowls of rice and other side dishes.

How could she be sure he was healthy when he ate so little? She couldn't even tell if he had muscles or not, his terrible dress sense covered that up.

But that too could be managed. Even if he didn't eat much, as far as he was healthy enough, it was okay. Her younger brother had once been hospitalized for malnutrition, and it scared her silly at the time, that was why she was so particular about food.

But he was healthy now and still ate in small portions, so she understood that it wasn't about eating much, but about healthy eating.

The final straw that she could not put up with was his stubbornness.

They had discussed the case and agreed to file it at the police station today, but at the last minute, Jiang Philip stalled. He said he wanted to track the hacker independently and find him first before reporting to the police, in order to avoid beating the grass and startling the snake.

When he said this, Su Qianhua looked at him as if he had grown another, nonhuman head. Was he joking? If you could just catch thieves whenever you liked, what was the use of the police force then?

But Jiang Philip could not be persuaded. Although he said it in a sweet voice, he remained impossible to cajole or coerce, and Su Qianhua remained pissed.

That said, Su Qianhua's unit could not handle the case, but she had a high ranking acquaintance in a relevant department that could help. She had already contacted him concerning the case and he was ready to take it on.

The only problem now was Mule Head Jiang.

Su Qianhua had just stormed out on him in anger and entered her car when Pei Yueran called.

"Hi Qianhua. How are you?"

"Exasperated and at the point of killing someone, thank you. You?"

"Shocked and totally curious. Who angered you to this extent?"

"Who else if not Mule Head Jiang?"

"Mule head what?"

Su Qianhua took a deep breath.

"Jiang Philip. Ran, I thought you had brought fortune my way, but instead you have given me a truckload of annoyance and a stubborn head to boot! I've never met a more annoying man in my life!"

"Waoh slow down! Philip? I was sure he's your type though. I thought both of you would hit it off at first sight. What did he do?"

"Oh, I thought he was my type too, but he's so infuriating. He's as stubborn as a mule and won't change his mind."

"Ohhhh." Pei Yueran went silent.

"What does that long exclamation mean?"

"Qianhua, you're a pot calling a kettle black, you know?"

"You mean I'm a mule head too?"

Pei Yueran laughed before saying, "Honestly you know this as well. The major thing with you is that you don't know how to take "No" for an answer, as well as the fact that you hate making compromises. If it isn't going to be your way, you would rather it wasn't done at all."

"So I'm this stubborn? How come I didn't know?"

"You really don't know how pigheaded you can be? Once you decide on something, changing your mind is harder than ascending to immortality." Pei Yueran said jokingly, to soften her words.

"I guess it's a type of occupational hazard." Su Qianhua said sheepishly. She knew she could be adamant sometimes, but she preferred to think of it as being determined or unyielding in order to achieve her goal.

"It doesn't change the fact that you're the sweetest girl alive, but you might need to consider diplomacy in this instance. It's primarily his business after all.

"Besides, don't just look at him and think he's a dumb tourist, he's actually good at this sort of thing. He singlehandedly traced the IP address to your city and has a plan. You should ask him and work together."

"You're right, I'll talk to him. Wait, did you just say "your city"?"

Pei Yueran was completely nonplussed. "I said that?"

"Yeah. So city M has finally snatched you from us. Or should I say Chairman Li has snatched you? Oh, this is so sad!", Su Qianhua said with fake tears and sadness.

"Get off my phone, you!" Pei Yueran said in mock anger, while Su Qianhua laughed gleefully.

"I'm leaving already— it's time to go and coax my new target. But stubbornness, horrible dress sense and less-than-desirable eating habits aside, he is damn handsome!"

Pei Yueran went speechless at this sentence. Was his handsomeness the only good thing about him?

This friend of hers was too shallow, and Pei Yueran told her so.

"Shallow my foot. Leave me alone. After all, it's better to cry in a BMW than on a bicycle. So also, it's better to have such a good looking face to look at when I'm angry. It's easier to forgive a handsome guy than a not-so-handsome one!"

"I've heard you la. But are you really not planning to explore another relationship? Not every man is like that scumbag, you know."

Two years ago, Su Qianhua was in a relationship with a lawyer she met in the course of work. They were already talking about getting married, but he suddenly called everything off.

It turned out that the owner of the law firm he worked for promised to make him a partner of the law firm if he married his daughter. Needless to say, he broke Su Qianhua's already fragile heart totally.

"Nah, I'm done with relationships. I'm only up for flirting and short flings."