Heavy rain poured down like a waterfall, mercilessly lashing the city.
Lin Ze rode his battered, folding electric bicycle through the stream of traffic, his raincoat already soaked through.
A layer of mist covered his visor, blurring his vision.
Yet, his eyes remained fixed on the designated driving order on his phone: License Plate A, white Porsche, destination Wangjiang Pavilion.
When he arrived at the destination, he saw a man in a sharp suit holding a black umbrella, pacing back and forth with an expression of utter impatience amidst the curtain of rain.
Looking at the suited man with the umbrella, Lin Ze spoke up, "Mr. Li, your car keys..."
Before he could finish his sentence, Lin Ze's body suddenly stiffened, and he froze in place.
The stark contrast made his eye sockets smart with pain.
The man before him turned out to be none other than his former college lackey—someone who used to follow timidly behind him.
Yet now, he was dressed in a tailored suit, chauffeured in a luxury car, and glowing with success.
A bitter smile crossed Lin Ze's lips.
In contrast, his own family had gone bankrupt two years ago.
He had plummeted from a wealthy second-generation heir into a debtor, reduced to working as a designated driver braving the wind and rain just to make a living.
He quickly lowered his head.
Li Yufei snapped irritably, shouting, "What is wrong with you? Why are you taking so long?"
Rainwater streamed down Lin Ze's helmet and into his face mask.
Remembering that the fee for this ride was quite substantial, Lin Ze didn't bother to wipe it away. He hurriedly bowed and explained, "I'm sorry, the rain was just too heavy today."
He nodded and bowed profusely, keeping his posture very low.
In the adult world, one had to bend the spine just to survive.
Li Yufei refused to let up, raising his volume, his words as sharp as a blade: "Sorry! Do you know how precious my time is? You've wasted all of it!"
"What is going on?" A cold voice rang out.
Lin Ze looked in the direction of the voice.
The familiar face under the brim of the umbrella struck him like a bolt of lightning.
His breath hitched, and a sense of humiliation choked his throat. He wished the ground would just open up and swallow him!
Never in his wildest dreams had Lin Ze expected that his reunion with Su Qingqing would find him in such a wretched state.
Su Qingqing—the girl he used to keep as a kept mistress.
At this moment, she was wearing a light blue long dress, still as dazzling and stunning as ever. Holding the umbrella in one hand, the exquisite LV bracelet on her wrist gleamed brilliantly, hurting Lin Ze's eyes.
Why was she here?
What was her relationship with Li Yufei?
……
Su Qingqing's gaze fell upon the meek, head-bowed designated driver, a trace of suspicion flashing in her eyes.
Those eyes... she somehow felt she had seen them before.
Clicking her black high heels against the ground with crisp sounds, she walked slowly closer in her light blue silk long dress.
Seeing this, Lin Ze lowered his head even further, not daring to look up.
Li Yufei immediately put on a flattering smile. "President Su, sorry to keep you waiting. This driver was dawdling and dragging his feet, but I'll take you home right now."
With that, he glared at Lin Ze and snapped impatiently, "What are you standing there frozen for? Drive!"
Lin Ze stiffly got into the driver's seat. The cedarwood fragrance inside the car, mixed with the warm air from the air conditioner, failed to dispel the chill on the back of his neck.
In the rearview mirror, he saw Su Qingqing resting her eyes, while Li Yufei chattered away obsequiously beside her.
Looking at President Su, Li Yufei felt secretly triumphant.
The newly appointed president of the company turned out to be his college classmate, Su Qingqing.
Who could have imagined that Su Qingqing, who had been so inconspicuous in college, would now turn out to be the daughter of the president of the Su Group, and the heir to the Su Group itself?
He had liked Su Qingqing back in college.
It was just that the goddess had that annoying rich kid Lin Ze by her side back then.
And now, not only was he her subordinate, but he was also her old classmate.
It was a golden opportunity of proximity. He had to seize it properly.
These days, which man didn't want to take a shortcut?
At the thought of this, Li Yufei couldn't help but speak up: "President Su, do you remember that rich kid from our class who chased after you back then? He relied on his family's money and harassed you all day long. In the end, his family went bankrupt during our junior year, and he couldn't even get his diploma. Who knows what low-end job he's stuck doing somewhere now!"
Looking at Su Qingqing, who was now even more beautiful with an air of cold nobility, Lin Ze listened to Li Yufei's taunts echoing in his ears. His hands gripped the steering wheel so tightly that his knuckles turned white.
He remembered the first time he saw Su Qingqing at the bubble tea shop in college. She was dressed plainly, wearing a mask with only a pair of bright, large eyes exposed.
Once, by chance, Lin Ze saw Su Qingqing without her mask.
He had fallen in love with her at first sight, captivated by her astonishing beauty.
From then on, he waited at the bubble tea shop where she worked every day for her shifts, stuffing all sorts of snacks into Su Qingqing's desk, launching a grand and mighty pursuit.
Later, when her grandfather was in a car accident and her family had no money, Lin Ze managed to seize the opportunity and forcefully entered her life, keeping her as his mistress for two hundred thousand.
At the time, driven by injured pride, thinking of how he had chased Su Qingqing for so long without her agreeing to be with him, he had originally intended the two hundred thousand as a gift for her.
Yet the words on the tip of his tongue turned into "kept woman."
……
Clearly, two hundred thousand was merely the price of a watch to him back then, yet it had been a profound insult to her.
Whenever he thought of Su Qingqing's tear-reddened eyes back then,
Lin Ze felt an endless wave of guilt.
Su Qingqing probably hated him to the core by now...
In the backseat, Su Qingqing's pretty eyes flashed with displeasure as she said coldly, "Shut up. You are not allowed to bring him up!"
Li Yufei quickly curried favor with a smile. "Right, my fault. Why did I go bringing up that insignificant person for no reason?"
Lin Ze's heart sank to rock bottom...
Su Qingqing didn't even want to mention him.
Did Su Qingqing hate him that much? If she recognized who he was, she would surely exact a ruthless revenge.
At the mere thought of this possibility, Lin Ze couldn't help but gasp.
Surely this woman wasn't that vengeful!
Back when they were together, he hadn't really done anything terrible to her...
No, he absolutely could not let her discover his true identity...
Su Qingqing spoke up, "Have the driver drop you off first."
"President Su, let me take you home first."
Su Qingqing remained silent and closed her eyes.
Seeing Su Qingqing's unapproachable demeanor, Li Yufei didn't dare to say anything more.
He barked at Lin Ze in the front, "What are you staring at? Turn the temperature up!"
Li Yufei turned around and said gently, "President Su, I'll be heading out first. Send me a message when you get home."
The sound of the car door closing echoed.
Left alone in the car with Su Qingqing, Lin Ze felt the atmosphere grow awkward and oppressive.
The car drove into the Country Garden residential complex and parked in the underground garage.
Looking through the rearview mirror, Lin Ze saw Su Qingqing with her eyes closed in the backseat.
Was she asleep?
How was he supposed to wake Su Qingqing up?!
As Lin Ze was torn with indecision, a strange mechanical voice rang out in his mind:
[System binding in progress—]
[The system detects the host is 19 years old and has never been in a relationship. The system is automatically binding. Congratulations to the host for successfully binding the Romance Strategy System.]
[The system detects that at 19 years old, you are a college sophomore. After class, you pass by the school bubble tea shop and see Su Qingqing working. You fall in love with her at first sight.]
[She is shaking bubble tea. In the scorching summer heat, sweat trickles down the girl's graceful neckline, leaving you parraved and perversely craving to taste it. From then on, you frequently visit the place where the girl works to peek at her.]
[Mission: You are nineteen years old and have met a female classmate who makes your heart flutter. The first step of liking someone starts with getting to know them. Take the initiative to greet Su Qingqing and introduce yourself.]
[Reward: Attribute points +2, ten thousand yuan in cash.]
[Failure penalty: Bank card frozen for 1 week.]
Wait!
He wasn't nineteen.
He was already twenty-three.
He and Su Qingqing had broken up two years ago.
This system was obviously malfunctioning; the time and their relationship were completely wrong! Staring at this romance system mission that was four years late, he fell into a silent daze.
Besides, why did the system phrase things so obscenely?
Back then, he had wanted to taste Su Qingqing's hand-shaken bubble tea, not anything else!
!!!
The system was the perverted one, seeing perversion in everything!
Still, the mission wasn't difficult.
It was just saying hello.
Besides, he also wanted a chance to start over and make up for past regrets.
Yet... it was all too late.
Lin Ze smiled bitterly in his heart.
When he found out his family had gone bankrupt, he had transferred all the money he had left to Su Qingqing and then vanished.
After all, using money to force her to be with him in the first place had simply been taking advantage of her misfortune.
Now, Su Qingqing probably held nothing but boundless hatred for him.
If she recognized him, she would probably humiliate him the way one would humiliate a dog.
However, ten thousand yuan...
In Lin Ze's mind, he thought of his mother in the hospital who urgently needed medical expenses.
His family needed money desperately right now.
Besides, he was still wearing a face mask.
Just by saying hello, he could get ten thousand yuan.
The temptation was simply too great...