The Master's Mask Unveiled Again

Chapter 239: Chapter 238: Do You Like Me?

The elegant and cool breath was uncomfortably close.

Lu Mian blinked her eyes and shifted her position uneasily, finally managing to put a little over ten centimeters between herself and Xiao Qimo.

She let out a sigh of relief in her mind.

“Director Qimo, please speak.”

The other party was so serious that it must be something important. Lu Mian straightened her expression and listened attentively.

It almost had the air of a meeting between two powerful figures.

This earnest tone actually calmed Xiao Qimo down abruptly.

The mix of anger and helplessness faded a bit, and the words that rushed to his lips were reconsidered in his mind.

After pausing for a moment, he stared honestly at Lu Mian, his smile carrying the grace of a gentleman, though his voice sounded a bit heavy, “There has never been anything between Sui Yuan and me from beginning to end.”

“…”

Lu Mian crossed her arms, slightly tilting her head up to meet the man’s gaze, not detecting any trace of lie, but rather a few hints of… heat.

“Oh.” Since he said so, she chose to believe him.

“…” Xiao Qimo held a friendly and kind smile, his voice growing heavier, “That’s it with just ‘oh’?”

Lu Mian’s brows furrowed in confusion. If there was nothing, there was nothing; it would suffice to explain clearly. Why speak with such a temper?

Director Qimo shouldn’t be the kind of person who is emotional.

Lu Mian: “It’s good that there’s nothing.”

Xiao Qimo to himself: It was my own choice, my own choice, my own choice.

“Lu Mian.” Xiao Qimo leaned against the back of the sofa with his hands, bending over to look at Lu Mian, his demeanor changing beneath the gold-rimmed glasses, his eyes either bright or dark, deep and mysterious.

He took a deep breath, his voice low and husky, “After all this time, haven’t you noticed anything?”

His words carried helplessness and sorrow, causing Lu Mian to become somewhat perplexed and scrutinize Xiao Qimo openly.

The magnified perfect face in front of her made her involuntarily move her fingers, giving rise to an impulse to trace his contours stroke by stroke.

“What?” She was somewhat distracted.

For Xiao Qimo, it felt like punching into cotton.

He understood all too well what Lu Mian’s “disinterest in love” meant; she truly had no interest.

Yet, she had a face that was “unwittingly seductive.” @@novelbin@@

“I was saying—”

Xiao Qimo paused, the rest of the words not yet fully developed when, almost simultaneously, two vibrations sounded in the quiet office, coming from different directions, signaling the arrival of text messages.

It was the sound of text messages.

It broke the strange atmosphere of the room.

Lu Mian and Xiao Qimo averted their gazes from each other and shifted their attention.

Lu Mian shrank back into the sofa and took out her phone from her pocket.

Xiao Qimo straightened his cuffs and picked up the phone on his desk. His lips pursed into a line and his eyes darkened as he read the message. The interruption annoyed him, yet it seemed timely, reining in some of his thoughts.

In a daze, Xiao Qimo had already opened his phone, receiving a lengthy message, similar to an advertisement, from a number.

Getting such a message on a private number wasn’t surprising for the man; sure enough, it was about a new real estate project launched by some company.

After a glance at the content, Xiao Qimo put away his phone calmly.

Meanwhile, Lu Mian stood up, her face expressionless, and said, “I’m going back to the classroom,” before turning to walk towards the door.

This indifferent and unconcerned demeanor was as if the previous scene had never occurred.

Xiao Qimo watched the receding figure and sighed subtly without leaving a trace.

“Um…” Lu Mian seemed to sense something, her long legs halting after two steps, and she turned around with a hint of confusion and puzzlement.

Xiao Qimo smiled warmly.

“Were you about to say…” She tilted her head slightly, her tone a bit unnatural, “you like me?”