Living in a county town, starting as a stock market maker...

Jazz music was playing in the bar, the saxophone tune was languid, but Gu Ming found it jarring.

He looked at Su Qingying in front of him.

This usually calm and professional investment banking elite was now staring intently at him with a desperate look, waiting for an answer.

College classmate?

Investors?

Alternative options?

Oh shit.

This question is a death trap.

Gu Ming's brain, that brain comparable to a supercomputer, stopped thinking at this moment.

Since his rebirth, he has faced Zhou Jianjun, Li Li, and even Shen Guodong, and he has never hesitated.

Because in his eyes, all problems can be analyzed and ultimately transformed into a mathematical problem about benefits and risk-reward.

But this won't work for the problem at hand.

It disregards logic and costs, focusing solely on human nature.

Human nature is one of his few blind spots.

What's the answer to "college classmates"?

Being too distant is tantamount to a death sentence.

Answer the question "Investors"?

That's too cold-blooded; it's no different from calling her a tool.

What's the answer to "You are a very important friend to me"?

Damn it, this is the kind of "friend zone" card that only the worst man of this century would give.

As for the "alternative option"... if he dared to nod, he had no doubt that Su Qingying would throw the remaining whiskey in his glass in his face, then disappear from his world without looking back, clad in her high heels.

It’s over.

Barbie Q is here.

Gu Ming's Adam's apple bobbed up and down. He opened his mouth, but found that his vocal cords were being choked and he couldn't make a sound.

Any explanation, under Su Qingying's clear-headed and cruel gaze, seemed pale and hypocritical, like a scumbag making excuses.

His silence was the answer.

one second.

two seconds.

ten seconds.

The light in Su Qingying's eyes, the glimmer of hope, gradually dimmed.

Instead, a strong sense of self-deprecation emerged.

"Oh."

She suddenly laughed.

"See? I knew it."

She stopped looking at him, as if even a glance would be torture for her.

She turned her head towards the bar, raised her hand, and snapped her fingers.

"Waiter, another Double, please."

She didn't wait for Gu Ming's reply; she had already gotten her answer in her own way.

He picked up the double whiskey that had just been refilled, tilted his head back, and drank it all in one gulp.

The spicy liquor slid down her neck, and her condition changed.

One cup.

Another cup.

She wanted to use this golden liquid to wash away those inappropriate thoughts, those inappropriate questions, and the man who had disappointed her, all from her mind.

Alcohol is a catalyst.

It can make cowards brave, and it can also make elites shed their disguises.

Su Qingying's usually calm face quickly flushed crimson.

Her sharp eyes began to become hazy, misty with moisture.

It seems... I'm really drunk.

Suddenly, her body swayed, her head tilted, and without any warning, she gently leaned against Gu Ming's shoulder.

Gu Ming froze.

A unique scent, a blend of Macallan 18-year-old liquor and her perfume, filled his nostrils.

The soft touch came from his shoulder, making half of his body feel numb.

"Feed..."

He was about to say, "You've had too much to drink," when he heard her drunken, indistinct whispers in his ear.

That voice was no longer the cool and rational tone of a female elite.

Instead, she was soft, fragile, and carried a hint of grievance that she herself was unaware of.

"Do you know...?"

She nuzzled her head against his shoulder.

"In investment banking...each of us is like a sophisticated machine..."

"Who to meet, what to say, what clothes to wear, what drinks to drink... every step requires careful calculation of risk and return... a single wrong expression could cost you tens of millions in business..."

"You can't make mistakes, you can't have emotions, and you absolutely can't... have weaknesses..."

"I'm so tired..."

She uttered those last three words almost in a whisper, very softly, yet they struck Gu Ming's heart with a heavy blow.

He had never seen Su Qingying like this before.

Stripped of all her glory and armor, she was like a lost child, revealing her defenseless side to him.

"And then...and then you appeared..."

Her voice, tinged with a hint of drunken murmur, continued to ring in his ears.

"You're...a very strange person..."

"You never play by the rules... You're savage, you're brutal, you're vindictive... but you always manage to create miracles..."

"I watched you... watched you, step by step, from this small place of Hegang, turn the impossible into possible..."

"As I look at you, I think... I think you're the craziest investment I've ever seen in my career..."

On one hand, I can't help but feel...jealous of you...

"I envy your freedom, I envy that you can do all the things I want to do but don't dare to do without restraint..."

Gu Ming listened in silence.

He could feel that the woman leaning on his shoulder was getting a little hot.

He could even feel her warm breath as she spoke, spraying against his neck, creating a distracting, ticklish sensation.

He knew he should push her away.

As a rational adult, he should immediately end this ambiguous situation, take her home, and then pretend nothing happened.

However, he was unable to move his body.

Just as he was hesitating, an even more deadly move occurred.

A slightly cool hand, without him noticing, gently covered the back of his hand, which was resting on the table.

The texture was delicate and smooth.

Gu Ming felt his heart skip a beat.

He could clearly feel the stark contrast between the slightly rough skin on the back of his hands and her well-maintained hands.

It’s over.

This woman did it on purpose.

She definitely did it on purpose.

This is playing with fire.

Gu Ming cried out in his heart, trying to use reason to suppress the heat that surged up from his tailbone.

Su Qingying seemed completely unaware of how outrageous her behavior was.

Or perhaps, in her drunken state, she was enjoying the feeling of breaking the rules.

He slowly raised his hazy, intoxicated eyes, which were damp with moisture and drunkenness, his gaze unfocused.

She just watched him quietly, as if admiring a work of art that belonged to her.

Everyone says I'm smart...

Her voice became lower and hoarse, with a seductive quality.

"But sometimes I feel like I'm the dumbest person in the world..."

"I can calculate the rate of return on every project, I can calculate the valuation of every company... but I just can't calculate my own heart..."

Before he could finish speaking...

Her fingers moved.

His slender index finger was painted with light pink nail polish, which slowly moved upwards from the back of his hand.

It slashed across his wrist.

He glided across the Patek Philippe that represented his current status.

It brought a chilling shiver down one's spine.

Gu Ming felt his breath catch in his throat.

At this moment, every muscle in his body was taut to the extreme.

You could clearly smell the fragrance in her hair, mixed with the scent of whiskey on her breath, creating a unique aroma that stirred primal desires.

Finally, she stopped.

She moved even closer.

He was so close that he could see the fine downy hairs on her face and her long, trembling eyelashes.

She leaned close to his ear.

In a voice only the two of them could hear, full of hints and provocation, she asked the astonishing question softly, word by word:

"if……"

"I... I won't follow the rules this time either..."

"What...would you do?"