Zhao Ming got himself tricked out of the house by Xu Ye without ever quite understanding how.

On the way over.

Zhao Ming asked several times running, "Where exactly are we going?"

And Xu Ye fobbed him off every time.

Until… they reached the destination, and Zhao Ming saw Yu Jiaying standing outside a shop that had no sign up yet. Then he came alive.

"Xu Ye, you son of a— what possessed you to bring me here to see her?"

"We're here now. Get out."

Xu Ye pushed the door open and got out, but Zhao Ming stayed glued to his seat and refused point-blank to move.

Standing at the entrance, Yu Jiaying saw Xu Ye get out of the car and appear to be talking to someone still inside. She put a hand up against the sun, and once she'd made out who was in the passenger seat she walked briskly over and rapped on the passenger window.

Only then did Zhao Ming lower the glass, wearing a smile worse than a grimace. "Long time no see, Jiaying-jie."

"Get out here!"

"Right away."

Zhao Ming undid his seatbelt and got out, and walked into the shop after Yu Jiaying, making faces at Xu Ye the whole way as if to say: Are you out of your mind? Didn't I tell you ages ago I didn't want to run into this tomboy?

The truth was Xu Ye had brought Zhao Ming along because he had no other option. He was here to see Yu Jiaying in order to provoke Zheng Bin, and since he had no way of contacting Zheng Bin himself, he'd called Zhao Ming in as a "middleman," to pass certain information along at the appropriate moment.

"Well? The place looks all right inside, doesn't it?" Yu Jiaying asked, with a great deal of satisfaction.

Xu Ye clapped Zhao Ming on the shoulder, went forward and started laying it on for Yu Jiaying. "It looks great. Clean, generous, high-end. You must have hired a professional designer."

"The designer drew everything to my instructions."

"Impressive."

"From the door…