Three years ago, when he gave her this offer, she was revolted. The man looked so polite and presentable on the surface, but he was such a womanizing b*stard. At the time, she had felt sorely insulted and enraged. It was the first time in her life where she had cursed at someone. She had told him, "In your dreams, I'll never accept such demeaning conditions! To even suggest that is insulting!"

He had been eerily unfazed facing her anger. He merely shrugged at her and explained openly that he respected her choices, but he wished she would keep his suggestion an option. He had even told her that if she came into any trouble in the future and need his help, he would always willing to lend a hand as long as she agreed to his conditions.

At the time, even though she wasn't by any means rich, she could take care of herself just fine. She was incensed by his shamelessness, and she whipped her head around and stalked away in a fit of anger. She remembered cursing him internally for a long time, mocking him for being such a misogynist. To have the audacity to think he was able to purchase a woman's dignity with money!

At the time, she was so sure she wouldn't find herself in that position, even if it meant that her quality of life would have a drastic increase, even if there were people around her who eventually opted for that lifestyle, her conviction didn't move.

At least until… when Qin Yinan found himself in trouble…

She knew plenty of rich people, but they weren't in any way related or indebted to her in such a way that they would loan her a huge sum of money for no reason. The only person she could think of was Jin Ze, who needed something from her.

Jin Ze finished sipping the tea in his cup before placing it back on the table. He extended his tapered finger to press on a button on the phone to make a call. "Didn't we receive a call from a Mr. Qin Yinan this morning? Give him a call back on my behalf. Tell him I'm interested in his company's products. Get him to prepare a detailed proposal, and I'll meet him personally tomorrow afternoon at 6:30 pm."

After hanging up, Jin Ze turned to look at Cheng Qingchong's lowered face before saying, "You don't need to give me an answer now. You heard the call. I agreed to meet Qin Yinan tomorrow night. I will bring a contract with me to that meeting and…"

Jin Ze paused before his tone dropped one pitch seductively lower. "… Qingchong, I believe you should know how to make me sign that contract."

After that, he pulled out his phone to wave it at Cheng Qingchong. "…Tomorrow, 6:30 pm, before I head into that private room with Qin Yinan, I will take a look at my phone. Your answer will decide Qin Yinan's fate."

Jin Ze flashed a gentlemanly smile at Cheng Qingchong before pocketing his phone and standing up. He smoothed out his suit and said slowly, "Alright, I have a dinner meeting tonight, where are you off to? I'll drive you."

…

Cheng Qingchong, in the end, rejected his offer. She called a cab to get back to Qin Yinan's house.

It was a Friday, and it was around the time when people got off work, so the traffic was slow. Cheng Qingchong took one hour and twenty minutes to finish the journey that would normally take her half an hour.

When she arrived, Mrs. Cheng had already prepared dinner, and Qin Yinan was already home from work.