Chapter 46

Xu Yanfeng didn't believe it, looked around, and besides this woman, he saw no one else, so he turned his gaze back to Huang Shiyu's face: "I remember the designer I signed was Xia Xi."

But need to be concise, not add extra. Let's translate each line precisely.

We'll need to keep the meaning but not add explanatory words.

Let's do line by line.

Xu Yanfeng didn't believe it; he looked around, but aside from this woman he saw no one else, so he turned his gaze back to Huang Shiyu's face and said, "I remember the designer who signed was Xia Xi."

Translation: Xu Yanfeng didn't believe it, looked around, and besides this woman, he saw no one else, so he turned his gaze back to Huang Shiyu's face: "I remember the designer I signed was Xia Xi."

He didn't believe it; he looked around, but besides this woman he saw no one else, so he turned his gaze back to Huang Shiyu's face.

Ok.

Huang Shiyu suddenly saw an important figure, was shocked, blinked twice, froze, blinked a few more times, finally realized, and said, "Could it be that this villa is yours?"

Translation: Huang Shiyu suddenly saw a big shot, shocked, blinked twice, froze, blinked a few more times, finally realized: "Could this villa be yours?"

The important figure was shocked, blinked twice, froze, blinked a few more times, and finally realized.

Thus: Huang Shiyu suddenly saw an important figure, shocked, blinked twice, froze, blinked a few more times, finally realized: "Could this villa be yours?"

Xu Yanfeng frowned, did not answer but asked back, "Where is Xia Xi?"

Translation: Xu Yanfeng frowned, not answering but counter-asking: "I'm asking you, where is Xia Xi?"

He didn't answer but asked back: "I'm asking you, where is Xia Xi?"

The man's voice was cold and clear; Huang Shiyu felt a jolt, suppressed the gossip bubbling up inside, and answered truthfully, "Measuring the room is such a small matter; I, as the assistant, can handle it—there's no need for Engineer Xia to personally do it."

Translation: The man's voice was cold and clear; Huang Shiyu felt a jolt, suppressed the gossip bubbling up inside, and answered truthfully: "Measuring the house is such a small matter; my assistant can handle it, Xia Gong doesn't need to come in person."

"The man's voice was cold and clear" means the man's voice was cold and clear; "Huang Shiyu felt a jolt" means Huang Shiyu felt a jolt; "suppressed the gossip bubbling up inside" means suppressed the gossip bubbling up inside; "answered truthfully" means answered truthfully.

Xu Yanfeng said, "I've paid so much in design fees—couldn't I still get Engineer Xia to personally handle it?"

Translation: Xu Yanfeng: "After paying so much in design fees, how could you not get Xia Gong to personally handle it?"

"No," Huang Shiyu waved his hands frantically, eager to speak up for Xia Xi, "That's not what I meant; the follow‑up work—producing the design drawings, contacting the construction team, finding custom manufacturers and material suppliers—will definitely be done by our Engineer Xia personally, not by me."

Translation: "No." Huang Shiyu waved her hands frantically, eager to speak for Xia Xi: "That's not what I meant; the follow‑up work—producing the design drawings, contacting the construction team, finding custom manufacturers and material suppliers—will definitely be done by our Xia Gong in person, not me."

The follow‑up work—producing the design drawings, contacting the construction team, finding custom manufacturers and material suppliers.

Xu Yanfeng walked a few steps, leaving clear footprints on the dust‑covered floor, stood before the unfinished floor‑to‑ceiling window, back to Huang Shiyu, and said, "Why don't you tell me—she isn't coming to hear my demands, so how will she produce the design drawings, just from her own imagination?"

Translation: Xu Yanfeng took a few steps, leaving clear footprints on the dust‑covered floor; he stood before the unfinished floor‑to‑ceiling window, back to Huang Shiyu, and said: "Then tell me, she won't come to hear my demands—how is she supposed to produce the design drawings, just by her own imagination?"

Leaving clear footprints on the dust‑covered floor, standing before the unfinished floor‑to‑ceiling window, back to Huang Shiyu, he said.

Huang Shiyu was left speechless by the retort, his face flushing red.

Translation: Huang Shiyu was left speechless by the retort, her face flushing red.

She returned to the office in a taxi, dusty and disheveled, happened to run into Xia Xi coming out of the office, and Xia Xi raised an eyebrow in surprise at seeing her, saying, "How did you come back so quickly?"

Translation: She returned to the office in a taxi, dusty and disheveled, and happened to run into Xia Xi coming out of the office; Xia Xi raised an eyebrow in surprise at seeing her: "How did you come back so fast?"

She returned to the office in a taxi, dusty and disheveled; she happened to run into Xia Xi coming out of the office; Xia Xi raised an eyebrow in surprise at seeing her.

Xia Xi finished speaking, glanced at the electronic clock on the wall, and realized that from when she left to when she returned had taken a little over an hour.

The villa was over six hundred square meters; measuring it would take considerable time, and she thought Huang Shiyu would spend an entire afternoon there.

Seeing her, Huang Shiyu looked like a child who had been wronged outside and had come home to see their parents, pursing her lips as she said, "The client asked you to go personally to measure the house and, by the way, discuss some renovation ideas."

Xia Xi frowned; that Mr. Guan seemed easygoing, so why would he make such a strange request? Measuring the house—whoever does it does it—why must she go? Huang Shiyu looked around; this was a public place, some things couldn't be said, so she pulled Xia Xi into the office, carefully closed the door, and revealed the truth: "Do you know? The true owner of that villa isn't Mr. Guan, it's Mr. Xu!"

"Mr. Xu?" Xia Xi's heart skipped a beat, and a guess sprang to mind unbidden, but she was unwilling to accept it, so she asked Huang Shiyu for confirmation: "Which Mr. Xu?" She didn't even notice herself, but her voice trembled slightly.

Huang Shiyu lifted her eyelids and glanced at Xia Xi's complexion, which was far from good; she didn't beat around the bush, directly announcing the answer: "Xu Yanfeng, your……" ex-boyfriend.

She swallowed the last three words back.

Don't forget, she too is a graduate of Nancheng Daxue; how could she not have heard the story of Xia Xi and Xu Yanfeng? Although she was a few years behind them. That classic tale of a girl chasing a boy and succeeding has been circulated for ten or twenty years quite normally, especially since both were prominent figures.

Even if she had never seen Xu Yanfeng in person before, the moment she saw him today she recognized him—of course because she had seen his photos on the campus bulletin board during school.

After all, Xia Xi was her direct superior; Huang Shiyu, no matter how curious she was about their current relationship, dared not ask at such a time.

Upon hearing the three words "Xu Yanfeng," Xia Xi's suspended heart finally died, and her thoughts were carried back to that Friday night when Xu Yanfeng and Lu Mingji had a brief conversation.

Xu Yanfeng said he had a private project he wanted to cooperate with Broad and Elegant on; Lu Mingji didn't think much about it at the time and agreed outright.

Afterwards, Lu Mingji explained to her that if Xu Yanfeng later showed up in person and she found it inconvenient to appear, he would assign another designer to handle it; if Xu Yanfeng insisted she take it on, they would think of another way to refuse.

You can't force a cow to drink if it doesn't want to.

Xu Yanfeng probably guessed she didn't want to get involved with him, so he had Mr. Guan act as a front; once the contract was settled, the matter was a done deal, and then Xu Yanfeng reappeared to give her an unexpected "surprise."

That's also why Guan He seemed so easy to talk to. Moreover, the luxury car she saw exiting the parking lot yesterday after work felt familiar precisely because she had seen Xu Yanfeng drive it! It's annoying that she didn't realize it then; otherwise she would never have signed the contract today.

Xia Xi slapped her forehead—she had been taken in.

What a scheming man! Huang Shiyu watched Xia Xi's expression shift repeatedly, then asked cautiously, "Are you going?"

She had failed to communicate with Xu Yanfeng at the villa, wanted to call Xia Xi to explain, but upon pulling out her phone discovered she hadn't charged it before leaving; the phone had automatically shut off, so she could only run back to inform her.

Tomorrow is the National Day holiday; if we don't get the housing data today, we'll have to wait until after the break to continue, and the schedule will be delayed right away.

Xia Xi sat on the sofa, brow furrowed in deep thought, unable to decide for a long time; if she went, she would fall into Xu Yanfeng's hands—he was the party A, she the party B, and many things would be restricted. But if she didn't go…… "How much is the penalty?" Xia Xi suddenly asked.

Huang Shiyu thought about the breach-of-contract compensation clause, then counted on her fingers silently; not calculating she wouldn't know, but once she did she was shocked, and she clicked her tongue: "It should…… be quite a lot. Three times the design fee, a seven-figure sum."

Xia Xi was so angry she ended up laughing.

A seven-figure sum—paying it isn't impossible, it's just excessively painful.

Most people will bow their heads in the face of money; she had known this principle for years.

Composing herself, Xia Xi made a decision, sprang to her feet, grabbed her bag and phone; Huang Shiyu had brought the tools, so she didn't need to carry them. She tilted her head and said resolutely, "Let's go—finish measuring early and be done early."

"All right." Huang Shiyu trotted along behind her.

When they went, Xia Xi was driving; traffic was a bit heavy, about forty minutes, and they arrived at Villa No. 8, Jinxiutianfu.

Huang Shiyu was surprised that Xu Yanfeng was still there, as if he were certain she would summon Xia Xi.

Xia Xi gave the man standing in the front yard a casual glance; he wasn't dressed formally like before—just a simple, clean white T-shirt, black casual long pants, with a black thin windbreaker over them, broad shoulders, narrow waist, long legs, excellent proportions; standing there casually he was more eye-catching than a male runway model, his slender fingers holding a cigarette, his gaze toward her deep as a cold pond.

Averting her gaze, Xia Xi pretended not to have seen him and strode into the villa.

"Give me the rangefinder."

Xia Xi reached out a hand to the side; Huang Shiyu immediately pulled the rangefinder from her canvas bag and handed it to her. Xia Xi stuck the rangefinder on the wall, glanced opposite, called out the numbers, and Huang Shiyu recorded them in her notebook.

Soon they finished measuring one room and moved on to the next.

Xia Xi thought to herself, this counts as doing it personally, right? Let's see what else he can pick at.

Xu Yanfeng had entered at some point, his tall body slipping between Xia Xi and Huang Shiyu, separating them. Xia Xi caught a faint whiff of tobacco smoke, suddenly turned her head, and her nose brushed the man's chin—he was actually that close to her.

"Mr. Xu, what are you doing?" Xia Xi's whole body stiffened, her breathing disrupted.

Xu Yanfeng ignored her, tilted his head slightly, and said to the annoying person, "You go out first; I have a few things to say to the designer."

Huang Shiyu: "……"

The meaning lies not in the wine; she had long seen that Xu Yanfeng was coming for Xia Xi. Though they say they broke up years ago, it seems not—it's like broken lotus roots still connected by threads, hard to part, hard to let go, a relentless tug-of-war.

Huang Shiyu glanced covertly at Xia Xi, but she showed no reaction.

"Get out!" Xu Yanfeng's voice grew sharper by two points.

Huang Shiyu jumped in shock, hastily clutching the notebook as she retreated; reaching the door, she couldn't help but turn back for a glance—Xu Yanfeng's lips moved, though it was unclear what he said, and then he shoved Xia Xi against the wall and bit her.

It was a bite, not a kiss.

That fierce aura held no hint of flirtation—it was pure aggression and assault.

Huang Shiyu let out a soft "Oh my," lifted the notebook in her arms to cover the lower half of her face, leaving only her eyes visible, which widened in shock.

She didn't dare linger long; after a couple more glances she slipped away.

I've never seen such an intense scene in all my life...

Xiao Huang: Family, you shocked me (ΩДΩ)(End of chapter)