Lin Yifan was speechless, he had just said this to the finance department staff a moment ago, not expecting it to happen to himself so quickly.
Then, he hurriedly drove back to explain the situation to An Qi.
In fact, he didn't need to do so at all; but a person can't be without conscience; An Qi helped him when he was at his most down and out, offering a helping hand to get him through tough times, and he couldn't just forget that; what's more, An Qi was still in danger, so he couldn't just ignore her.
Half an hour later, he returned to Antian Group; he rushed upstairs and then arrived at the door of An Qi's office before knocking gently.
After knocking twice, a voice came from inside the office: "Who is it?"
"It's me!" Lin Yifan replied.
"I don't want to see you, get lost!" came an angry voice from inside.
"President An! I know it was wrong of me to leave without permission, please give me another chance," Lin Yifan pleaded.
"No more chances, just get lost!" An Qi continued to shout angrily.
"Are you sure? President An! Think it over carefully!" Lin Yifan was no longer pleading but threatening. He didn't believe An Qi would actually send him away.
However, sometimes things don't go as expected; the next moment, An Qi told him to leave: "Sure! Get lost now!"
After being rejected time and again, Lin Yifan stopped begging shamelessly and said, "Then I'm leaving! Bye!"
Afterward, he took the elevator down to the first floor, and suddenly his phone rang - it was a call from An Qi. He knew she had changed her mind, so he picked up and asked: "Changed your mind?"
"Change my ass, come up and return the car key!" An Qi replied on the other end and then hung up.
"What the hell! She really means it?" Lin Yifan was visibly confused; An Qi's response completely took him by surprise.
But since she didn't care about his safety anymore, why should he continue to be so persistent? So he took the elevator back up to return the key.
Upon entering An Qi's office, Lin Yifan saw Zhou Jiajia comforting An Qi's emotions.
Then, An Qi suddenly changed her tune: "I'll give you one more chance; if you leave without authorization again, I won't want you anymore."
"Thank you, President An, for your forgiveness!" Lin Yifan knew that President An's change of heart was mostly thanks to Zhou Jiajia's efforts.
The fact was Zhou Jiajia didn't want Lin Yifan to leave either, first because An Qi's sister was still in danger, and second because she wanted to see Lin Yifan every day.
"Get out!" An Qi commanded.
Lin Yifan obediently left, not to disturb any further.
In the afternoon, he didn't go back to the company but stayed quietly at Antian Group.
In the evening, after sending An Qi and Zhou Jiajia home, he drove out to have dinner. On the way, he received a call from Su Qingqing.
Su Qingqing mentioned that she had something to discuss with him, so they agreed to meet for dinner.
Upon arriving at the western restaurant reserved by Su Qingqing, Lin Yifan pushed the door open and looked for her.
At that moment, Su Qingqing raised her hand and called out: "Mr. Lin! Over here!"
Her action caught the attention of the opposite sex who had been observing her for a while, these men were curious to see what the boyfriend of such a pure and beautiful woman looked like.
Gazing at Lin Yifan's tall stature and rugged appearance, they suddenly felt overshadowed, inferior by comparison.
Seeing Su Qingqing wave at him, Lin Yifan walked over with long strides, then sat down and inquired, "Long time no see! How have you been lately?"
"Not bad! How about you?" Su Qingqing asked.
"So-so," Lin Yifan answered before getting to the point, "What did you want to talk to me about?"
"I've got some good news to tell you!" Su Qingqing replied with a face full of smiles.
"What good news?" Lin Yifan asked.
"Did you make ten million for me?" Lin Yifan ventured to ask. Other than that, he couldn't think of any other good news she could be bringing to him.
"Bingo! You guessed it!" Su Qingqing replied, elated.
However, Lin Yifan's reaction was subdued and colorless; ten million no longer impressed him.
"Thanks!" he said coolly, then continued to eat his steak.
"What's wrong? Why aren't you happy? Isn't ten million enough for you?" Su Qingqing asked anxiously; Lin Yifan's demeanor pained her heart.
She had been trading stocks at home every day; now that she had finally made ten million, his reaction left her feeling cold.
"Not enough! I need so much money now that I can barely breathe," Lin Yifan shook his head, answering with resignation.
The demands from Zhou Jiajia's parents were too high; they wanted him to produce fifty billion before they'd agree to the marriage with Zhou Jiajia. Therefore, he felt immense pressure every day.
"What exactly happened to you? Why do you need so much money?" Su Qingqing asked, curious.
Lin Yifan was a bodyguard; logically, he shouldn't need that much money, should he? Why?
"You don't need to know that; I'll take care of my own problems," Lin Yifan replied.
He didn't want to pass his troubles onto others. If his issues affected someone else's life, that would not be right.
Since Lin Yifan didn't want to talk, no amount of questioning from her would be useful. Therefore, Su Qingqing simply moved on to the main point, asking, "Do you... still remember... you once promised me that if I helped you make ten million, you would give me a reward?"
"I remember! Tell me, what reward do you want?" Lin Yifan answered promptly.
After a long moment, Su Qingqing finally answered softly, filled with anticipation, "I want you to be my boyfriend!"
Lin Yifan spit out the water he had just drunk, clearly startled.
"Why are you so agitated? Are you trying to weasel out of it?" Su Qingqing questioned with a frown.
"Um... that... Miss Su, haven't I told you before, I already have a girlfriend. Why would you set such a condition? Aren't you just making it hard for me?" Lin Yifan was at a loss for words, wondering what she was thinking.
"I don't care! I want to be your girlfriend," Su Qingqing threw a tantrum, stubbornly willful.
"Then let me be clear here too, I won't break up with my girlfriend," Lin Yifan stated firmly.
"You liar, you said any reward would do, didn't you? Why can't you honor this one?" Su Qingqing felt hurt.
She had taken a chance on Lin Yifan's promise, and now that he couldn't fulfill it, it deeply saddened her.
"This is a matter of personal feelings. Why would you want this? If you think by forcing me to agree, I would wholeheartedly be with you, you are mistaken," Lin Yifan said, somewhat angrily. He detested being coerced by others more than anything.