C8 Chapter 8

That afternoon, the Qin Group team showed up right on schedule.

When Su Jiyue saw who’d come from headquarters in the conference room, she froze—Qin Yaochen was here in person.

“Miss Su, this is the acquisition agreement for Qingyue Yuanlin Studio,” Qin Yaochen’s assistant said as Su Jiyue walked in, placing the documents in front of her. “If everything looks good, we can start moving it through the standard process.”

Staring at the agreement, Su Jiyue still resisted. “I want to know why your company suddenly wants to buy my studio.”

“The Qin Group is planning to expand into landscape design,” the assistant explained dutifully, answering her question. “And in the industry, your studio is one of the teams we’re most optimistic about.”

Su Jiyue curled her lip. “With the price you’re offering, you could start a brand-new landscape design studio from scratch. Why go through all this trouble to acquire an outside studio? Wouldn’t it be harder to integrate?”

“Is it hard to integrate with me?” Qin Yaochen cut in the moment she finished, his tone inexplicably sharp.

“I… that’s not what I meant…” Su Jiyue started explaining on instinct. “I’m just saying… it’s not only me. There are other people in the studio, and integration is bound to have issues. It might be better if you—”

“Su Jiyue, I came today to move this along, not to argue with you.” Qin Yaochen’s face stayed rigid as he shoved a pen into her hand. Only after she signed under the weight of his pressure did a faint look of satisfaction finally appear.

What he didn’t realize was that, to his assistant, the scene was downright shocking. Since when did their CEO get this unreasonable?

Under Qin Yaochen’s intimidation, Su Jiyue signed her name—yet she couldn’t shake the feeling she’d just signed her life away.

After watching Su Jiyue sign the paperwork with clear satisfaction, Qin Yaochen left Qingyue first and dumped the rest of the process on his assistant.

“Miss Su, looks like we’ll be working together from now on. I’m Director Qin’s personal assistant—my last name is Jin.” After Qin Yaochen left, Assistant Jin stepped in with an eager smile and offered a friendly greeting.

“Looking forward to it.” Su Jiyue shook his hand politely, then had Cai handle the follow-up with him.

She wasn’t sure why, but when she saw Assistant Jin’s outstretched hand, she suddenly thought of the postnuptial agreement Qin Yaochen had made her sign yesterday—one clause said she wasn’t allowed to casually socialize with other men. On impulse, she pushed all the remaining coordination onto Cai.

It wasn’t until around five in the afternoon that Cai came in with an update: the handoff was basically finished, and even the legal documents had already been issued. After marveling at how connected Qin’s people were, Cai headed out for the day in high spirits.

Su Jiyue checked the time, stretched, and went right back to work.

She had to finish everything in her hands before the entire acquisition process wrapped up, or there could be legal trouble later. So she slipped into full workaholic mode—and by the time she finally snapped out of it, it was already 9:30 p.m.

“Oh my God, it’s this late!” she blurted, scrambling to pack up.

The moment she stepped out of the building, she saw Qin Yaochen’s car parked there.

In mid-October, the days were still mild, but the temperature dropped at night. Qin Yaochen, waiting in the car, saw Su Jiyue shiver. Without a second thought, he opened the door, swung his long legs out, and walked over.