Qin Yunxuan immediately pulled her hand away from Chen Xiyuan’s, as if she’d touched something scalding.
“Um… I didn’t mean to!”
Qin Yunxuan stammered, feeling a bit awkward herself.
She’d gotten way too into the movie and completely forgot she was out with Mu Zhiyan, not Chen Xiyuan!
A flicker of embarrassment crossed Chen Xiyuan’s face too. She pretended to smooth her hair, but there was a hint of displeasure in her eyes.
If she really minded, would she have let him hold her hand in the first place?
But his reaction was so strong—was he repulsed by her?
Ugh, you were the one who reached for my hand first, and now you’re acting all disgusted? Ha! Men!
Qin Yunxuan was at a loss too.
As a woman, she had zero dating experience, let alone having to navigate things from a man’s perspective with a girl. She just figured that Qin Lang and Chen Xiyuan were supposed to be fake couple. But if Qin Lang had held her hand, what did that mean?
Taken to the extreme, it was a breach of their original agreement—basically, hooligan behavior.
Of course, that made Qin Yunxuan uncomfortable.
But why did Chen Xiyuan’s face fall even more after she apologized?
Was her apology not sincere enough?
“I’m really sorry—I didn’t mean to hold your hand!”
Qin Yunxuan said again, earnestly this time. “Please don’t get the wrong idea!”
Chen Xiyuan was so frustrated she could cry. What did that mean—that he just didn’t like her?
“It’s fine.”
Chen Xiyuan forced herself to stay composed, speaking in a calm tone. “I just remembered I have class this afternoon, so I’ll head back first.”
With that, she turned and walked away.
Qin Yunxuan was confused. “But weren’t you going to look at dresses this afternoon?”
“Forget it. Nothing worth seeing anyway.”
Chen Xiyuan kept walking as she spoke, quickening her pace, and her eyes quickly welled up with tears.
Back in the theater, when Qin Yunxuan had taken her hand, Chen Xiyuan’s heart had been pounding like a deer in headlights. She’d barely paid attention to the entire movie—all her focus had been on Qin Lang’s hand!
Warm. Strong. Slightly rough.
And it carried an electric current that sent tingles all through her body.
She thought it was a signal from Qin Lang. But the moment they walked out of the theater, he completely denied it!
Was she that kind of fickle woman?
Was she that kind of shameless woman?
If he truly had zero feelings for her, why hold her hand and stir up her emotions like that?
All her hopes—gone in an instant, shattered by Qin Yunxuan’s apology.
So she chose to leave.
“How strange… she looked like she was angry? Was it because I didn’t apologize sincerely enough?”
Qin Yunxuan furrowed her brows slightly. Even though she was a woman herself, she had to admit… women were such a handful.
“Whatever. This works out too—I’ve got my own things to take care of.”
Just then, her phone rang.
“Qin Lang, can we talk now?”
It was Xiao Ruolin on the line.
Qin Yunxuan let out a soft laugh. “So, you’ve made up your mind, President Xiao?”
“Yes. I think we need to have a proper discussion and iron out the details.”
After hanging up, Qin Yunxuan headed straight for Xiao Ruolin’s company.
Half an hour later, in the conference room of Feixing Network Security.
Xiao Ruolin waited quietly for Qin Yunxuan to arrive.
“Qin Lang.”
She greeted him as he walked in.
“You look… a bit worn out, President Xiao,” Qin Yunxuan said with a smile.
Xiao Ruolin gave a wry smile. “With a project worth over a hundred million on the line, it’d be strange if I could sleep well.”
Qin Yunxuan chuckled. “But your returns will be far more than a hundred million. We both know how massive the network security market is right now—it’s a giant, untapped pie. And my antivirus software is the perfect tool to slice it.”
“With this software, you’ll be able to capture the biggest share of the profits. The returns—hundreds or even thousands of times over—are well within reach.”
Xiao Ruolin studied Qin Yunxuan for a moment. “Qin Lang, I’m genuinely curious. You seem so confident in your software—why not just build the business yourself? If you really wanted to, I’m sure plenty of VCs would line up to fund you.”
Qin Yunxuan shook her head. “The antivirus space just isn’t my thing. I don’t have any passion for it.”
“Oh? So you don’t see the value in this market?”
To Xiao Ruolin’s surprise, Qin Yunxuan actually nodded. “Right. It’s too small. I really don’t think much of it.”
Xiao Ruolin drew in a sharp breath. The network security sector—too small? That was quite the bold claim!
But then again…
For a junior in college to have independently developed such cutting-edge antivirus software—who could say what Qin Lang’s future held?
“The world is big, and no one can keep all the money for themselves, right?”
Qin Yunxuan let out another light laugh. “Besides, I don’t have any start-up capital right now. So trading this software for a hundred million in seed money is a pretty great deal for me. After all… time is far more valuable than money.”
Xiao Ruolin nodded, deeply moved.
What surprised her most, though, wasn’t his talent—it was how open-minded and farsighted he was at such a young age. That was even more remarkable.
“Let’s cut to the chase, President Xiao. I doubt you called me here just for small talk.” Qin Yunxuan smiled. “I assume you’ve thought through my terms by now.”
“Right. One hundred million yuan for a ten-year exclusive license. My board and I discussed it, and we’ve agreed.” Xiao Ruolin’s smile carried a hint of reluctance. “But… I’d like to split the payment into two installments, to be completed within one month.”
Qin Yunxuan raised an eyebrow.
“You might not realize this, but a lot of companies are pretty tight on cash flow right now. Coming up with a hundred million all at once isn’t easy for any business. So I need a little time to raise the funds.”
Qin Yunxuan frowned. “Can you guarantee that all the money will be in my account within the month?”
Xiao Ruolin nodded. “I’ll give you fifty million upfront. The remaining fifty million will follow in a month. If I go past the deadline, the contract is void, and I won’t try to recover the first fifty million. Sound fair?”
Qin Yunxuan looked at her with surprise. This woman had some serious guts.
No wonder her network security company was doing so well.
“Alright, deal. Bring on the contract.”
When working with someone bold, Qin Yunxuan could be just as straightforward.
