Yang Zhao didn’t explain at all, and the displeasure from moments ago had already vanished. “Of course not. I’m not like you, flitting around like a flower-loving butterfly.”
As she spoke, she reached out and pulled Hua Man, who was standing in front of her, to her side. “Ignore her.”
But then she recalled Li Miaohe’s words and couldn’t help bursting into laughter.
How was Hua Man so adorable?
Seeing that her big bodyguard was about to get angry, she suppressed her laughter and shot Li Miaohe a light glare. “Don’t make fun of my Manman.”
Li Miaohe was baffled. “You laughed the loudest.”
Yang Zhao replied righteously, “You heard wrong.”
Li Miaohe couldn’t outargue her and didn’t bother trying. Instead, her interested gaze fell on the person at Yang Zhao’s side. “Not going to introduce her? We’ve known each other so long—how come I’ve never heard you have a girlfriend?”
Hua Man looked at Yang Zhao, waiting for her to explain.
Under Hua Man’s substantive gaze, Yang Zhao lifted her eyes. A rebellious impulse surged, and she flashed Hua Man a provocative smile before deliberately telling Li Miaohe, “Now you’ve heard.”
Her long finger pointed at Hua Man. “Hua Man—Hua as in China, Man as in romance. My brand-new girlfriend.”
It was one thing to pretend in front of strangers, but in front of Yang Zhao’s acquaintances, Hua Man saw no need to keep up the act. She directly poked the hole. “Fake.”
This was probably like the leader serving her food and her spinning the table, right?
Hua Man thought expressionlessly.
“Still jealous?” Li Miaohe was surprised and quickly explained, “Your lady here and I are just classmates. We don’t keep in touch much— we’re not close.”
Hua Man was choked up. Was her acting that good?
How could Li Miaohe believe her performance from just now so thoroughly?
“Alright, if we keep teasing, she’ll get mad.” Yang Zhao suppressed her laughter as she explained, “Hua Man, my personal bodyguard.”
Li Miaohe sucked in a cold breath. “No way—it’s really fake?”
She had observed them for a while. The eldest miss and this woman named Hua Man chatted and laughed together—who would believe they were just employer and bodyguard?
Li Miaohe eyed them suspiciously. “You two aren’t playing some kind of game, are you? Am I part of your play?”
As she spoke, her gaze landed on Hua Man. “Who would’ve thought—you’re into such kinky stuff?”
Yang Zhao shot her a cool glance. “Shake your brain around before you speak.”
Hua Man had felt uncomfortable at the other woman’s words, but now she was immediately on alert.
Fortunately, the other didn’t get angry at the eldest miss’s remark. Instead, she looked at them curiously. “So protective?”
Yang Zhao lifted her chin and introduced to Hua Man, “Li Miaohe, an ordinary classmate. Her brain’s not quite right—ignore her.”
Li Miaohe: ???
Yang Zhao didn’t care about her feelings at all. Once Hua Man finished eating, she directly pulled Hua Man and left.
“Hey?” Li Miaohe hurried after them. “I’m still here!”
“Something wrong?” Yang Zhao stopped, impatience creeping into her tone.
“You’re really her bodyguard?” Li Miaohe asked Hua Man, her gaze fixed on their joined hands.
Hua Man nodded. “Yes.”
“Fine.” Li Miaohe nodded. “Sorry about earlier, then. My words were a bit offensive—I thought you two were that kind of couple.”
Hua Man hadn’t expected her to apologize proactively, so her impression of her improved slightly. “It’s fine.”
“Then can we add each other’s…”
Li Miaohe was about to pull out her phone when the eldest miss’s gaze suddenly swept over.
Li Miaohe: “…”
That look seemed like she wanted to cut her into a thousand pieces.
This eldest miss was crazy, with an impressive track record, and her family had power and influence—any trouble she caused could be smoothed over.
Li Miaohe could only regretfully give up and wave her hand. “See you. Rest well.”
Yang Zhao ignored her.
They walked back to the parking spot in silence.
Just before getting in the car, she couldn’t hold back and turned around. “What do you think of Li Miaohe?”
Recalling how Li Miaohe had apologized to her earlier, Hua Man nodded. “She seems alright. Not like what I imagined.”
Yang Zhao’s expression darkened instantly.
She got in the car with a cold face.
Hua Man followed behind her. As half her body leaned into the car, she heard Yang Zhao’s angry voice. “Don’t get in. Get out!”
What tantrum was this eldest miss throwing now?
Hua Man frowned and stepped back a few paces, closing the car door.
The afternoon schedule started at one o’clock, leaving half an hour for rest.
The weather was great that day—clear skies, and now at midday, it was the hottest time. Hua Man had only stood there for two minutes before breaking into a sweat.
The driver’s door suddenly opened, and the driver came down with an umbrella.
“Miss Hua, the sun’s intense outside. Hold this umbrella.”
Hua Man glanced toward the back seat but didn’t take it. “Thanks, no need.”
The driver was extremely troubled and insisted on handing it over. He lowered his voice. “This is the eldest miss’s order.”
At that, Hua Man’s eyes flickered slightly.
In the end, she took the umbrella. “Thanks.”
Holding the umbrella to block the blazing sun felt much more comfortable than before.
Hua Man subtly let out a breath of relief.
But she hadn’t stood there for long before the driver’s door opened again. The driver came down with two bottles of water, his expression awkward. “Miss Hua, have some water.”
Hua Man: “…”
Holding the chilled iced water, she pondered for a few seconds, then suddenly felt like laughing.
The eldest miss’s intentions were actually pretty easy to guess.
But she deliberately didn’t want to let her have her way.
Sure enough, not even five minutes later, the driver’s door opened again. The driver, drenched in sweat, came down empty-handed this time. He opened the back door and said to Hua Man, “Miss Hua, get in the car.”
“No need.” Hua Man glanced inside. The eldest miss had reclined her seat and was lying there with her eyes closed, seemingly asleep. Expressionlessly, she said, “The eldest miss told me not to get in.”
No sooner had the words left her mouth than Yang Zhao, who had her eyes closed, suddenly opened them, full of anger. “Get in here!”
Seeing her exasperated look, Hua Man’s eyes flickered.
“Miss Hua, please get in.” The driver wiped the sweat from his forehead. “It’s the middle of the day—don’t get heatstroke.”
“Alright.”
Hua Man nodded, folded the umbrella, and got in the car.
The AC was on inside, cool and refreshing—a stark contrast to the furnace-like heat outside.
Hua Man sat down in the car.
“You’re doing this on purpose.” Yang Zhao unceremoniously exposed her.
Hua Man: “I don’t understand what you mean.”
“I think you understand my meaning perfectly.” Yang Zhao wasn’t someone who could be easily fooled. She put on a stern face. “Hua Man, you’re doing this on purpose.”
She clearly knew that when she sent the umbrella, it was already a way out, but Hua Man deliberately refused to get in, forcing her to invite her multiple times.
Hua Man sighed. “You told me to get out.”
Yang Zhao clenched her fists. “So what?”
Hua Man decided to reason with her properly. “I didn’t do anything to upset you.”
The eldest miss’s temper flared inexplicably, and she felt like she was caught in the crossfire.
“You did.” Yang Zhao glared at her.
“When?” Hua Man countered. “What did I do to make you angry?”
Yang Zhao was stumped.
What had she done?
Hua Man hadn’t done anything.
It was her possessiveness acting up. Seeing Li Miaohe want Hua Man’s contact info had made her want to go crazy.
Learning that Hua Man had a good impression of Li Miaohe made her want to go even crazier.
At that thought, her eyes flickered.
Her possessiveness toward Hua Man seemed to be multiplying day by day.
“Can’t say?” Seeing her silent for so long, Hua Man knew it and continued, “Then you’re just being unreasonable.”
“Even if I’m being unreasonable, so what?” Yang Zhao crossed her arms, asking righteously.
Hua Man was choked.
She really couldn’t do anything about it.
She simply closed her eyes. “There’s still the afternoon match. Rest up.”
She chose to go silent.
But the eldest miss clearly wanted to keep bickering. She grabbed Hua Man’s arm and shook it. “Don’t sleep. Explain it to me. I’m being unreasonable—what are you gonna do about it?”
“Nothing.” Hua Man lifted her eyes to glance at her. “As long as you’re happy.”
With that, she pushed the eldest miss’s hand away and closed her eyes again.
Yang Zhao felt stifled. She hated Hua Man’s current cold attitude toward her. Though she had indeed taken it out on Hua Man earlier, she couldn’t admit she was wrong.
She grabbed Hua Man’s hand again, giving her one more chance. “What do you think of Li Miaohe?”
At that, Hua Man opened her eyes.
In that instant, she suddenly seemed to understand something.
Facing the same question a second time, she gave a different answer. “Nothing special. Not as good as you.”
Sure enough, Yang Zhao’s expression softened immediately.
She turned her head away stiffly. “Fine. I was being unreasonable earlier. I’ll give you some compensation for emotional distress. We’ll pretend it never happened.”
Hua Man: “…Sure.”
That settled the matter.
After bustling around all morning and waking up so early, Hua Man was genuinely tired. She had only meant to use rest as an excuse to brush off the eldest miss, but unexpectedly, she fell asleep shortly after closing her eyes.
She rarely dreamed.
After shooting arrows all morning, even her dream was about archery. Somehow, it became a match between her and the eldest miss.
In the end, she won, and the eldest miss, furious, drew her bow and aimed it at her.
As the sharp arrow hurtled toward her, she jolted awake in shock.
It felt like she had kicked something. The moment Hua Man opened her eyes, she saw an enlarged face right in front of her.
“Awake?” Yang Zhao sat back in her seat and asked curiously, “Nightmare?”
It was strangely amusing—she could see so many unguarded expressions on her face.
Her gaze inevitably fell on Hua Man’s foot, and she couldn’t help curving her lips. That instinctive kick when she jolted awake had been cute too.
“Sorry.”
Hua Man developed a headache. A bodyguard sleeping more soundly than the employer was too unprofessional.
“You should apologize to me.” Yang Zhao crossed her legs as she spoke. “Manman, you dirtied my pants.”
Hua Man instinctively looked down. A glaring shoe print stood out on the eldest miss’s white pants.
Recalling the sensation of kicking something when she woke, she inhaled softly. “I did that?”
“Who else?” Yang Zhao raised her brow. “Did I kick myself?”
“Sorry.”
Hua Man lowered her head and apologized again.
Yang Zhao looked at her with a half-smile. “Fine. Since it’s you, I can be magnanimous and forgive you.”
The words were intriguing, and Hua Man’s breath hitched slightly.
“…Why?”
“Why?” Yang Zhao chuckled meaningfully. “Dare I answer if you dare to hear?”
Hua Man fell completely silent.
She didn’t dare.
Pretending otherwise, she lifted her hand to check the time and immediately stood. “Time’s about up. We should head back to the competition area.”
Seeing this, Yang Zhao’s eyes darkened.
What a coward.
So what if she kept dodging?
She was determined to have Hua Man.
After all, there was nothing she wanted that she couldn’t get.
*
After a full day of events, by the time they returned to the hotel, Yang Zhao was exhausted.
“Come here.” She turned her head. “Massage me.”
“Me? I don’t know how.” Hua Man stopped in her tracks. “The hotel should have professional massage services.”
Yang Zhao: “I want you.”
“I’m clumsy and can’t control the pressure.”
“Just come over. Why so much talk?” Yang Zhao urged impatiently. “Hurry.”
