The sky seemed gently covered by a layer of profound gray silk, the moonlight clear and soft, casting a blue radiance upon the earth.
Beneath the shroud of nightfall on Longshan Road, within the living room of Shen Lingshuang's villa.
Qiu Tu and Shen Lingshuang sat opposite each other.
Shen Lingshuang cradled the chubby Xiao Bai in her arms, pursing her lips as she stroked the dog's fur.
Meanwhile, Qiu Tu sat across from her, exhibiting no signs of discomfort.
Being a scumbag is just like being a con artist, you should have the basic professional ethics: no ethics...
If a woman feels aggrieved, sad, heartbroken, you become tender-hearted. Then...
What about the other women? You simply couldn't allocate your time to them all.
Who wouldn't want to monopolize all of a man's time?
So, faced with Shen Lingshuang's deliberate show of anger, Qiu Tu remained incredibly calm.
Shen Lingshuang said nothing, and he followed suit.
Shen Lingshuang petted the dog, and Qiu Tu... caressed Shen Lingshuang's leg.
It was only after Shen Lingshuang's waist softened from Qiu Tu's touching and her face flushed red that she could no longer hold back.
Her face reddened as she glared at Qiu Tu, "You, you, you're really shameless!"
"Just touching without saying a word!"
At this moment, Qiu Tu looked up at her in feigned bewilderment, "Ah? You didn't speak, I thought you liked it."
Shen Lingshuang glared at Qiu Tu, then retracted her slender legs and sat down on her cute bottom.
Then, still pouting cutely, she said, "I just can't be bothered to deal with you."
She muttered under her breath, "Previously, you released me from the Public Security Office, tricking me into thinking you were giving me freedom. But in reality, you had me concoct the 'Cataclysmic Awakening Potion.'"
"After I finished the potion, you left me at home, for over ten days at a time."
"Then, you started to get the wrong idea, touching and kissing me, and even... using your leg..."
"And after that, you were gone again for half a month."
"Just when I thought you were back, you dumped a pile of Cataclysmic Materials and left without speaking much."
"And then you vanished again for another ten days."
"I have no idea what you consider me. Your personal alchemist? Your personal forger? A little nanny at home?"
Women are creatures who often don't mean what they say.
If they are truly angry, they would ignore you outright or simply leave.
But when they start to talk, it mostly means they've calmed down quite a bit.
So, despite how much Shen Lingshuang prattled on, it proved that she still wanted to properly interact with Qiu Tu.
So, Qiu Tu took the opportunity to climb up the stick.
He plopped down next to Shen Lingshuang, shooing Xiao Bai to the ground, then wrapped his arms around Shen Lingshuang's shoulders and reassured her, "I've been busy..."
"I've handled several big cases recently and took down a few enemies."
"My position keeps getting higher."
Speaking of this, Qiu Tu couldn't help but boast a little, "Guess, what is my position now?"
The last time Qiu Tu had shared his position with Shen Lingshuang, he was just the Deputy Head of the Political Department.
In a short span of time, he had climbed the ranks again, and so he presumed Shen Lingshuang would never guess.
Yet to his surprise, Shen Lingshuang pouted, glanced at Qiu Tu, and said haughtily, "What else could it be?"
"Acting Bureau Chief, of course."
Qiu Tu was taken aback, then looked at Shen Lingshuang in surprise, "You already know?"
The young girl leaned lightly on Qiu Tu's shoulder and said coyly, "Of course, I know."
"After you became the Head of the Political Department, I suddenly had many friends around me."
Upon hearing this, Qiu Tu couldn't help but look at her.
Perhaps it was the age of growth. Not having been in contact with the girl for over a month, she seemed to have grown a bit more.
Though still somewhat green, her eyes and brows had taken on a few more traces of a woman's charm. Her large eyes, still clear, contained a hint of the melancholy of a young girl in love.
Perhaps having just bathed, her jet-black, lustrous hair draped over Qiu Tu's shoulder, carrying a light fragrance. Occasionally, a few strands tickled Qiu Tu's cheek, causing an itching sensation.
"Friends? What friends?"
Shen Lingshuang stretched out her hand, counting off on her delicate fingers, "Neighbor Aunt Wang. Aunt Liu across the way. Sister Tian who likes to do handcrafts. Sister Xie who loves cooking…"
Qiu Tu was taken aback, "They are all...?"
Shen Lingshuang nodded and precociously said, "They're all people who want to curry favor with you."
Her eyes gleamed, "Longshan Road was previously the center of power in Xinjie City. After the Sanctuary arrived, they all lost their influence."
"So, they want to hitch their wagon to a new person of influence, to recover their former glory."
"And you... an executive from the Investigation Bureau and a local of Xinjie City, obviously became their prime target."
Saying this, Shen Lingshuang continued, "Of course… they did not expect your rise to happen so swiftly."
"So, their gradual plans got a bit disrupted. When they came to see me, the changes in their expressions were almost too obvious to hide."
"So... after a few probing questions, I was able to find everything out~~" Saying this, Shen Lingshuang pouted smugly.
Hearing this, Qiu Tu glanced at Shen Lingshuang in his arms in surprise.
To be honest... although Qiu Tu had long known that Shen Lingshuang was smart and understood many things because of her family background.
But perhaps because her potion refining seemed unreliable, he had never considered her to be a dependable assistant.
But... just by interacting with those from Longshan Road and The Five Elders, she was able to guess so much insider information and even extract so much information.
Qiu Tu suddenly had a refreshed impression of her — this young lady seemed to have something. Worth developing...
Conveniently, Qiu Tu had already become the Deputy Director and was serving as Acting Bureau Chief. His responsibilities were ever-growing, and he needed more assistants to lend him a hand.