Chapter 29

Chapter 29: The Director Has No Shame

Compared to a demolition payout, a single deal worth millions—sometimes tens of millions—was intoxicating.

Anyone with a brain knew which mattered more.

Xiao Ying Chun was still frowning when the door opened again.

“Buy what you want. Look for yourself,” she said without lifting her head, the words automatic now.

The person who entered walked straight to the counter. His voice was loud with excitement. “Ying Chun! I finally found you!”

Xiao Ying Chun snapped her head up—and met a face so greasy it made her skin crawl.

Liu Wei Min.

For a second she thought she was imagining it. She blinked hard. He was still there.

“Director Liu?” she said, stunned.

He laughed. “What director? Call me Brother Liu.”

Xiao Ying Chun stared at him. She couldn’t make the words come out.

Liu Wei Min didn’t seem to care. He scanned the room like he owned it, then dropped a backpack and a suitcase onto the table by the window.

“Ying Chun, why did you quit so suddenly? Do you have a problem with me? Did we have some misunderstanding?”

His eyes locked onto the tissues under the counter. He yanked out two and wiped sweat from his forehead, breathing like he’d run across town.

Xiao Ying Chun didn’t indulge him. She looked him in the eye, expression flat. “Director Liu, are you here to give me my commission?”

His smile faltered. “That commission isn’t up to me…”

“But weren’t you the one who said that deal was closed by you,” she pressed, “and had Boss count the commission under your name?”

She didn’t soften her tone. Not even a little.

The man who stole her deal, who crushed her at work until she quit—she had no intention of saving his pride.

Liu Wei Min’s jaw tightened. Then he bit out, “Fine. I’ll give it! If it’s yours, I’ll give it to you.”

Xiao Ying Chun said nothing. She simply held out her hand.

Liu Wei Min’s smile froze. “Well… I didn’t get it yet.”

“Then why are you here?” Xiao Ying Chun asked.

He paused, then looked at her with an exaggerated, earnest stare.

“Ying Chun, this is what I was thinking back then. You know that deal was huge. If it was credited to you, the commission was two percent—about 100,000.”

“If it was credited to me, it was three percent. That’s 150,000!”

“And Boss would think more highly of me. I might even get promoted. Then wouldn’t you be able to take my position?”

He spread his hands like he was explaining something noble. “It’s my fault. I thought of it and told Boss right away. I didn’t explain it to you first.”

“Later I planned to give it to you once the money hit, as a surprise. But then you quit!”

He leaned closer, voice full of melodrama. “I regretted it so much. I searched everywhere for you. My throat is on fire… do you have water?”

He asked, but his gaze had already slid to the bottled water on the counter.

Xiao Ying Chun didn’t budge. “Director Liu. Your story sounds nice. What are you here for today?”

“If you came to apologize, I’ve heard it,” she continued coolly. “But until the money is in hand, I don’t accept your apology.”

“If the money arrives, I’ll treat you to a meal. Then I’ll admit I was petty and apologize to you.”

“Sure, sure,” Liu Wei Min said quickly, swallowing hard. He reached for the water.

“One bottle is two yuan,” Xiao Ying Chun said. “No credit.”

His hand stopped. His face twitched. Then he still picked it up and paid with his phone, forcing a laugh like he was joking.

“Ah, the little young lady has a temper. Understandable. Totally understandable…”

He gulped down half the bottle in one go. When he finally caught his breath, his tone dropped, as if he were about to confess a secret.

“Ying Chun,” he said, “at the company you were my subordinate, but you’re only six years younger than me. Honestly, I treated you like a sister.”

He looked at her like he expected gratitude. “After you quit, I realized… the way I targeted you, the way I pressured you—it was because I was afraid I cared too much about you.”

“You left and I kept thinking about you. I dreamed about you. That’s when I understood you were already in my heart.”

“I took time off. I told people I was visiting my uncle, but really I came for you.”

His voice warmed with fake sincerity. “I came to tell you—I like you. I want to be with you.”

Xiao Ying Chun lowered her eyes and stared at her own arm. Goosebumps covered her skin in a dense sheet.

He stole her commission, smeared her at work, then traveled all this way to confess once she’d quit.

Disgusting.

She let him talk until he ran out of prepared lines. Only then did she ask, calmly, “Are you finished?”

Liu Wei Min’s eyes shone with oily affection. “I’m finished. Ying Chun, can you accept me?”

“I want to marry you,” he pushed on. “Make you my bride. I’ve been longing for you day and night—”

Xiao Ying Chun cut in. “Then it’s my turn.”

“First, I very, very, very much hate you.”

“Whether you give me that commission or not, I will not accept your confession.”

“Now or in the future, I don’t want any ties to you at all.”

“If you’re here to buy something, buy it and leave.”

“If you’re here to harass me, leave right now.”

Liu Wei Min stared, clearly stunned. He’d assumed the commission would make her play along—give him an opening. A chance to get close, to start working on her.

Instead, she slammed the door in his face.

“Ying Chun, don’t be like this. I—”

“You what?” Xiao Ying Chun snapped. “Are you buying or not? If you’re not buying, get out!”

She grabbed the broom and lifted it in warning.

Liu Wei Min’s expression twisted through a few ugly colors. Finally he gritted his teeth and backed down. “Fine! I’ll buy. I’ll buy, okay?”

Then he started dragging it out on purpose—asking prices, flavors, complaining, stalling.

Xiao Ying Chun’s patience snapped. “Buy it or don’t. If you keep talking, I won’t sell to you.”

Liu Wei Min jumped like he’d been slapped. He grabbed a random pile of small snacks in a panic. “These. Just these. Ring it up.”

Xiao Ying Chun moved with practiced speed—bagging, weighing, calculating. “Fifty-six yuan and eighty.”

He paid, then looked at her with that same greasy smile, like shame was a concept he’d never learned.

“I’m staying at my uncle’s place for a few days,” he said softly. “I won’t give up on you. I’ll come find you again.”

Xiao Ying Chun rolled her eyes openly. Once she confirmed the payment, she didn’t give him another glance.

Liu Wei Min finally left, awkwardly clutching his bag.

Xiao Ying Chun watched the door, frowning.

Why did he switch so suddenly—from a director who bullied her and stole her commission to a so-called pursuer?

It wasn’t normal.