The small black thing was exquisitely made, with a tiny purple flower embroidered on it.
It was indeed half-finished—
Li Qianfan looked down at the small cloth patch, silent and still.
Mo Hongti stood there, looking down at him, also without a word.
In her eyes, however, a smugness emerged: "If I get my hooks into you, where can you run?"
The slowly moving train gradually decelerated, and finally stopped.
As the doors opened, the passengers, who had been holding it in for too long, quickly disembarked.
Within a mere two minutes, all the passengers in Li Qianfan's carriage had exited.
Only then did Li Qianfan pick up the small black cloth patch between two fingers and stand up.
"Little brother, you can consider it a gift from me."
Mo Hongti said softly, "Remember, don't wash it."
*Pa!*
As she finished the word "it," something appeared on her face, obscuring her vision.
Before she could react, she felt a push on her left shoulder and stumbled backward.
Her knees caught the edge of a seat in the aisle, and she fell onto it with a *plop*.
The object that had suddenly covered her face dropped.
Then she saw Li Qianfan.
Li Qianfan walked briskly towards the carriage door and said coldly, "Mo Hongti, put away your little tricks. I'll say it again: you're not qualified to flirt with me. If you know what's good for you, get lost."
"Nonsense!"
Mo Hongti suddenly erupted in fury and shot to her feet.
She yelled at Li Qianfan, "I'm the Queen of Black Nights from Qingyun, with hundreds of millions in private savings! In 28 years, I've married eight husbands but remained pure as jade! I've never even held a man's hand! How dare you say I'm not qualified to flirt with you?"
Li Qianfan showed no reaction and continued to walk briskly off the train.
Mo Hongti gritted her teeth, bent down to pick up the small cloth patch from the floor, and rushed to the door, her high heels clacking urgently.
Several station staff who had come to clean arrived at the carriage door.
They suddenly saw a beautiful woman rushing to the door and quickly stopped.
Then they saw this beautiful woman—
Screaming at a young man who was quickly descending the exit stairs: "Li Qianfan! One day, I'll have you!"
The station staff were stunned.
Before they could react, Mo Hongti leaped off the train, not caring if she twisted her ankle, her high heels transforming into spinning wheels as she chased after Li Qianfan.
"Are girls this open nowadays?"
The staff exchanged bewildered glances.
*Click.*
*Click-clack—*
Hearing the hurried footsteps from the underground corridor behind him, Li Qianfan, on his way to the ticket gate, felt a headache coming on.
Women like her were like a ball of fire.
They could burn themselves and others.
And she was smart enough not to give Li Qianfan any opportunity to be harsh with her.
Li Qianfan reached the ticket gate and stood behind the queue. Mo Hongti also ran up behind him.
He turned to look.
Mo Hongti, with sweat on her forehead and her face flushed red, had lost the "fierce" demeanor she had moments ago when vowing to have him. Instead, she smiled gently at him without speaking.
A sticky candy.
Li Qianfan thought of this type of clingy candy, perfectly suited for Mo Hongti.
11:40 AM.
Li Qianfan exited the underground entrance of Sijiou South Station.
Many cars were waiting by the roadside.
The dedicated taxi lane was backed up for a long distance.
As Li Qianfan looked east, Mo Hongti spoke, "Little brother, where are you going? My car is over there."
When she decided to buy a ticket and come to Sijiou with Li Qianfan, she had already arranged for someone to be here in advance.
Ignoring Mo Hongti's overture, Li Qianfan stood by the roadside, looking around.
Everyone else assumed he was looking for a car or someone to pick him up.
He wasn't.
Li Qianfan was searching for someone who might be in Sijiou.
That person's surname was Du!
The crowds coming and going, the bustling sounds—everything seemed normal.
Li Qianfan, secretly relieved at finding nothing amiss, suddenly looked up at a small building across the street.
This building, directly facing the exit, housed a hotel.
Li Qianfan's sudden glance was a purely instinctive reaction to a sense of impending danger.
What he didn't know was that at the very instant he looked up, the curtain in a fourth-floor window was swiftly drawn, concealing a pair of resentful eyes.
Li Qianfan saw nothing unusual and chuckled at himself, thinking his nerves were too frayed.
His sudden action caught Mo Hongti's attention. Just as she was about to ask what was wrong, she saw a black SUV drive from the west and stop across the street.
The driver waved towards them through the car window.
It was Zhang Bao.
Li Qianfan knew him.
That night, when he had caused chaos at Victoria Plaza, he had almost embedded Zhang Bao in the elevator door with a kick.
"Little brother, get in the car."
Mo Hongti said, "No matter what you're here in Sijiou to do, you need to find a place to rest first, right? I have a small foot spa here. Let's go there first. Sister will personally give you a foot massage to sincerely thank you for helping me through my difficulties. Once you've rested, you can go take care of your business. Sister promises, I won't pester you anymore."
Li Qianfan ignored her, took out his phone, and walked to the side.
He began to call Ye Tianjiao: "Aunt Jiao, is the village ready?"
Ye Tianjiao's voice was grave, "The Eight Elders are all prepared. We just need to wait until 4 PM to open the ancestral hall doors."
Unless it was a holiday for ancestral worship, the Li family village could only open the ancestral hall doors after 4 PM.
It was not yet noon.
Li Qianfan glanced at Mo Hongti and nodded to the phone, saying, "Alright, I'll be at the village before 4 PM. Don't bother picking me up, I'll get there myself."
After arranging the time with Ye Tianjiao, Li Qianfan walked up to Mo Hongti, "I'll give you face and let you treat me to a meal. I'll handle my business after 3 PM, and you can return to Tiandong."
"Okay, I'll listen to you."
Mo Hongti nodded vigorously and reached out to hold Li Qianfan's arm.
Li Qianfan dodged.
"Little brother, you just said that before 3 PM, I belong to you. As a man, you can't go back on your word."
Mo Hongti clung to him again, "Unless, you're afraid I'll flirt with you."
Damn it, I'm not afraid of you—
Li Qianfan cursed silently, but found himself being led by the arm by her towards the car across the street.
"Mr. Li, Ms. Mo, please."
Zhang Bao, standing by the car, glanced warily at Li Qianfan before bowing and gesturing.
"Thank you."
Li Qianfan thanked Zhang Bao and then stepped into the car.
After Mo Hongti got in, Zhang Bao immediately closed the door.
The car started and slowly drove east.
From a window in that small building, the curtain was once again lifted.
Du Junlin, dressed in a white casual tracksuit, watched the direction the car was heading and asked softly, "Auntie Yaqing, the woman in red next to that waste isn't Su Ziyu, is she?"
"Definitely not. Didn't you see how indifferent Li Qianfan was to her?"
Shanjian Yaqing replied, "Besides, Li Qianfan must have anticipated that you wouldn't let this go. He wouldn't dare bring Su Ziyu with him this time."
Du Junlin asked again, "Then it's okay for me to use this woman to warn that waste, right?"
"A sparrow that Li Qianfan barely cares about—you can do whatever you want with her."
Shanjian Yaqing chuckled contemptuously and asked, "How do you plan to use her?"
"There are certainly many old and ugly bachelors in the outskirts."
Du Junlin lowered the curtain and said indifferently, "If that waste insists on going to Li family village, then send that woman to be married to an old bachelor."