Chapter 424: The Men’s Open Strife and Veiled Struggle

Translator: Atlas Studios  Editor: Atlas Studios

The two men’s stubbornness did not sustain long.

When Zhang Manhua returned to her seat with the remote control for the heater, Ji Ziming finally released Pei Ge’s hand and shook Wen Qimo’s.

“Hello,” he greeted, his face a mask of gloom and coldness.

Seeing him take his hand, Wen Qimo’s face broke into a warm and gentle smile. “Your reputation precedes you, CEO Ji. You are kind of my idol.”

Ji Ziming’s eyes narrowed at the man’s words, and he tightened his grip around his hand, as though he were attempting to break it.

Despite the tight grip, Wen Qimo’s smile did not falter and, in fact, glowed like a spring sun.

Of course, his grip around Ji Ziming’s hand also tightened.

The two women in the private room were totally oblivious to the open strife and veiled struggle going on between the two men.

Zhang Manhua, for her part, was amused by the two males’ handshake and thought to herself, My daughter’s superior and boyfriend are truly fine specimen of men.

Just their faces are very pleasing to the eye!

Compared to the mother’s admiration, the daughter’s imagination was much wilder. She looked at the two handsome men on her flanks that were shaking hands with no signs of stopping.

Noticing that both were staring intently at each other, her heart pounded faster.

Ah, ah! Qimo is gay! Could he be attracted to this annoying fellow?

Moreover, she had not heard any gossips of this annoying fellow having an ex-girlfriend or had seen him with any woman. Could he…

Shivers ran down her spine as this thought came to her. She shook her head madly.

No, no, no, it can’t be! This annoying person di-did all those things with me… How can he be the same as Qimo? I must be letting my imaginations run wild.

While she tried vehemently to deny this, she still found the look in their eyes to be slightly odd.

The men that were secretly contesting with each other felt her gaze on them at this point.

Wen Qimo saw the weird look she was giving them and, after pondering for a while, understood what it meant.

He looked at her helplessly and, in that moment, lost all his desire to wrestle with Ji Ziming. In the end, he directed a sympathetic gaze at the latter.

Ji Ziming, of course, did not know that the woman, who was presently thinking of Wen Qimo’s ‘sexual preference’, was mistaking their secret bout for something else. Actually, even if he pondered on this for so long, he would still have no way of knowing what her mind was currently conjuring.

Nonetheless, he felt discomfited with her stare.

And when he saw the twerp’s look of sympathy, he felt even more discomfited.

In that moment, he, too, lost all his desire to wrestle with him and, like throwing garbage, released his hand with disgust.

When she saw the men finally release each other’s grip and the look of disgust Ji Ziming give the other, she was indescribably relieved.

“Xiao Wen, so you already know Xiao Ji?” Zhang Manhua did not hear his self-introduction but managed to catch the word ‘idol’ from his last statement.

“Ke ke, I don’t know him personally and only heard talks about him.” Wen Qimo chuckled.

She was a little surprise by his reply.

“Yi, is Xiao Ji so famous?” She stared at Ji Ziming with amazement and surprise.

Wen Qimo nodded with a smile. “Mhm, CEO Ji is pretty well-known in our circle.”

Ji Ziming’s eyes grew piercing cold at his remark.

“I heard of Mr. Wen’s name before, too.” This was Ji Ziming’s first response as he regarded him coldly.

“Oh? CEO Ji actually heard of me before?” Wen Qimo appeared surprised by his statement.

“I heard that Mr. Wen is highly valued by Qiming Group’s President Ji, his daughter being especially fond of you,” he said coolly.

The victorious smile on Wen Qimo’s face faded in that instant once he heard his words.

Only then did Zhang Manhua realize that something was not right between her future son-in-law and daughter’s superior.

“It is good that Xiao Wen is valued by the president of his company!” Closely observing the two men’s interaction, she finally realized that they were at each other’s throats and promptly laughed aloud in an attempt to mediate between them.

Wen Qimo’s smile blossomed again when Zhang Manhua said that.

“I didn’t expect that CEO Ji would pay so much attention to me; I’m really flattered.” He was smiling when he looked at Ji Ziming, but no smile could be seen in his warm eyes.

Ji Ziming glanced at him briefly, cocked a brow slightly, and simply slunk back into his seat beside Pei Ge.

“Ke.” Knowing that Ji Ziming was disgusted with him, Wen Qimo did not provoke him further. He also returned to his seat and chatted with Zhang Manhua.

Once the two men’s open strife and veiled struggle concluded, the private room’s air became even more tense.

Even the obtuse madam in the room could feel this.

Thankfully, the waitress was soon serving the dishes ordered by the two women.

Looking at the dishes on the table, Zhang Manhua was quick to host.

“Xiao Wen, Xiao Ji, let’s eat! I hope you two don’t mind us ordering random food as we don’t know what you like.” Zhang Manhua invited with a smile.

Wen Qimo shook his head in response to her words and said sincerely, “Auntie, I’m not fussy about food; I like all the dishes you ordered.”

He then shifted his gaze on to Ji Ziming.

“However, I heard that CEO Ji is very particular with his food and seems to… only eat those cooked by top chefs.”

Immediately after he said this, Zhang Manhua’s eyes widened, and she looked over at Ji Ziming with a tight face.

Who knew that, Ji Ziming, who had a perpetually cold face, would suddenly smile at her?

“It’s just a rumor, Auntie; I’m not picky at all.”

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