Before Qin Jiran could even voice out his misgivings. Yan Qing Shan"s bland tone reverberated in his ears."You were taking too long. So I figured that it would be better to have tea and snacks while we were waiting."
He was stupefied. Qin Jiran was rooted in his spot with those words. Did that mean she has long finished hacking into the CIB database? And that all the while he"s struggling with the mainframe"s security, she has already gone up and hacked it, and even freaking had the time for tea.
Qin Jiran"s world view broke into tiny fragments. Monstrous. This woman was just monstrous. He had an inkling that it was possible for him to lose. And he really did. By a large margin at that. He should have listened to that little voice and saved himself from this psychological blow.
He glumly dragged his feet which were heavy as lead to the hateful bunch of apathetic and oblivious people. He flopped himself resignedly in one of the consort chairs. He was lamenting in his misfortune when a plate of sandwich and piping hot tea was held out in front of him.
He looked up and saw the cold face of Yan Qing Shan holding out the food. The contrast was comical. It made Qin Jiran"s collapsing heart ease up. He took the food and quietly ate.
"Haha. Welcome to the We Lost to Yan Qing Shan"s Club, my friend." Xu Lei"s teased him while playfully slapping his shoulder. Qin Jiran glared at the unfeeling jerk. But did not retort because it was true. Both of them lost to her anyway.
Yan Qing Shan observed their banter. A sense of tranquility was.h.i.+ng over her as she sipped her tea.
Jia Yi Lan watched Yan Qing Shan from the sidelines. Her newly done soft waves framed her small, cold face perfectly. Soft phoenix eyes emphasized her caramel brown pupils. Proud pert nose and naturally reddish lips.
She was a beauty that was obscured and inconspicuous. That and her heaven-defying abilities. All of it was hidden so deep. Jia Yi Lan was sure that none of them wouldn"t even take notice if she didn"t want them to.
She poked her brother and the two gluttons by her side. Jia Yi Lan said something which only they could hear. Afterwards, she smiled her signature gentle smile when Yan Qing Shan turned to her questioningly. Her useless brother yelped too loudly when she pinched his waist and caught Yan Qing Shan"s attention.
Jia Yi Lan glanced at Ning Xie Zhi signalling him to speak. Their actions also took the other four"s notice.
"Jie jie. About the next challenge. The four of us decided to merge it into one."
Yan Qing Shan c.o.c.ked her brow at them and waited for Ning Xie Zhi to continue.
"We figured the other four already gave you a hard time. We won"t be following their steps. We have already acknowledged you Qing Shan Jie jie. However, it would be great if you could do us a simple favor."
She frowned, wondering what this favor the four of them could be asking. As far as she knows, they couldn"t possibly be lacking anything.
"If it"s within my abilities, then you can have it."
Yan Qing Shan replied, trying to make her cold voice sound a.s.suring. She really needs to practice injecting more of her real emotions to her voice and expressions. Anymore of this and she"ll be proclaimed an ice block. Not that she wasn"t already. Sigh.
A delighted smile lit up Ning Xie Zhi"s angelic features. Even Chen Luo"s usually silent and strict face softened up into a rare ecstatic smile. Which by the way astonished the Aces to oblivion. Because that megane"s* smile was rarer than snow on the dessert.
The twins high-fived loudly with Jia Wei Ren even whistling. Yan Qing Shan was dumbfounded at their actions, that she began to doubt. Was it really a simple favor?
After they have calmed their emotions, Ning Xie Zhi, with voice still tinged with excitement, voiced out their request.
"I"ll go on a limb here, Jie jie. You have won all of our acknowledgement. Even beating the two leads. Therefore, you can become our cla.s.s" Ace Sovereign. With that given, will you cook us a feast for today"s lunch?"
Yan Qing Shan repeated Ning Xie Zhi"s words in her mind. Her expression internally changing myriadly.
"My brother, are you making me a sovereign or a cook?"