“Are you alright, Sister Hua?” Ye Xiong was knocking on the door to Du Yuehua’s room.

“I’m fine… I’m just a little tired. I’m going to take a nap, so please, return to work!” Du Yuehua ushered.

“Alright, I’ll take my leave then. Remember our promise, I’d better get that kiss when you lose,” Ye Xiong reminded teasingly.

“Hurry up and go, you’re almost out of time,” Du Yuehua urged.

Honestly speaking though, she strongly doubted that Ye Xiong would be able to complete the task as the client was extremely difficult to deal with. So much so that even if she had personally negotiated with the client, she still felt that her odds of success would only be 50-50. As such, she felt that there was no way that Ye Xiong, who with the assistance of Lil Mei’s broken English, would be able to pick up the client.

With these thoughts still echoing in her mind, Du Yuehua climbed onto her bed and fell into a deep slumber. By the time she woke up, she realized that she had overslept and that the time was already around seven in the evening.

She hurriedly dug out her phone from underneath her pillow and noticed that she had missed a dozen phone calls. She found it odd that she had not been startled awake by the calls.

She tinkered around with her phone and noticed that it had been switched to vibrate mode without her knowledge.

Without even needing to think about it, she knew that it was definitely Ye Xiong’s work. He must have switched her phone to vibrate mode while she was not paying attention.

‘I didn’t expect that carefree b*stard to be so meticulous. He had even considered the case where I’m startled awake by my phone.’ Suddenly, a bad premonition dawned on her.

Du Yuehua quickly brought out her phone and dialed Lil Mei’s phone number. The only thing that she wished to know at that moment was the result of the negotiations.

“Lil Mei, what’s the progress regarding the client?” Du Yuehua asked.

“No clue.”

Lil Mei’s angry voice reverberated from the phone.

Turns out, Lil Mei had not accompanied Ye Xiong during his meal with the client. As a matter of fact, Ye Xiong had taken it upon himself to meet the client, and he had not even informed her about his actions. It was only after thoroughly searching that Lil Mei found out where Ye Xiong had taken the client to. He had taken the client for a stroll in Luo City.

What kind of place was Luo City, you ask? It was an entertainment city where foot massages, footbaths, and saunas were all bundled into a single package. It was heaven for males, but hell for females ¹ . Not only had Ye Xiong not brought the client to visit their hotel, he had brought the client for a “therapeutic” session. How could Du Yuehua not be outraged at this?

“How’s he going to communicate with the client without your help?” Du Yuehua asked in a puzzled tone.

“He might’ve hired an interpreter. We’ll know the answer once he reports on his costs,” Lil Mei spat bitterly.

“That’s enough, I understand the situation now.”

Du Yuehua hung up and dialed Ye Xiong’s number immediately. Much to her chagrin, however, he had turned off his phone.

“I should’ve guessed that he would turn off his phone. He’s in Luo City after all. That rascal really isn’t able to carry out anything positive, is he?” Du Yuehua complained furiously as she threw her phone onto the table.

Every shred of respect that he had gained earlier was now gone.

It was at this moment, however, that her phone suddenly rang. It was the client.

Du Yuehua hastily answered the call, and she nervously explained in English, “Mr. Klien, let me first apologize on behalf of my employee. I’ll make sure to heavily discipline him when he gets back…”

“What’s there to discipline? Mr. Ye is amazing! Ms Du, I’ve already made my decision. I’ll go to your hotel and sign the contract first thing in the morning.”

“Wait, what? Contract?” Du Yuehua was caught off guard. It took a while for her to recompose herself, but when she had finally done so, she meekly asked, “Mr. Klein, is Ye Xiong…”

“Mr. Ye Xiong is an excellent companion. He’s very good. I’m extremely pleased with his service. Also, his English is extremely good. I’m truly pleased… We shall meet again tomorrow, Ms Du.”

Du Yuehua stood like a log after she hung up the phone. She was finding it hard to come to terms with the new circumstances.

‘Ye Xiong knows how to speak English?’

‘He even managed to bring in such a difficult client!’

She had not expected the carefree rascal to be so capable. After all, as mentioned previously, she had doubted even her own abilities to bring the customer in.

At that instant, her phone rang. It was a call from Ye Xiong.

“Sister Hua, are there any leftovers? I’m about to die of starvation.” Ye Xiong’s listless voice echoed from the phone.

“Where are you now?”

“I just left Luo City. I’ve got no clue where Klein gets his stamina from. Not only did he hire two escorts, but he even lasted over two hours. I’ve waited for so long that I almost fell asleep.”

“Didn’t you get an escort of your own?”

“Do I look like that kind of person to you?” Ye Xiong was outraged. He patted his chest and announced, “I swear to the heavens if I’m ever caught hiring an escort, punish me by growing *** on my dong!”

“Eww!” Du Yuehua chided.

She then moved from her spot and walked over to the fridge in her kitchen. After looking around in the fridge, she suggested, “I have some ingredients at home. Come over and I’ll treat you to dinner as a reward.”

Securing such a huge client had thrilled Du Yuehua, so much so that she had invited a man over on the spur of the moment.

Du Yuehua had just finished preparing the ingredients when her doorbell rang.

Upon opening the door, Ye Xiong came rushing into the kitchen as if he was a hungry ghoul. To his disappointment, however, the dishes were still not ready.

“I didn’t expect you to arrive this early. Just wait for a while.”

Du Yuehua was about to start cooking when suddenly, Ye Xiong stripped off her apron and chased her out of the kitchen.

“You’ll be the one who does the waiting. I’ll be the one cooking today.”

“Are you sure you can manage? My palate is quite sophisticated.”

Du Yuehua was slightly worried, as she would need to cook the dishes all over again if Ye Xiong were to create something that was not to her liking. It would be quite tedious.

“A male must never say that they’re incapable.” With that, Ye Xiong pushed Du Yuehua out of the kitchen and slammed the door shut.

As such, Du Yuehua was forced to wait at the dinner table. Nevertheless, upon recalling that he had managed to pick up a difficult client like Klein, she felt that there was a possibility of him surprising her, and she was slightly excited at this prospect.

A dozen or so minutes later, Ye Xiong placed a bunch of dishes on the table. These dishes contained all sorts of designs and fragrances, and upon seeing them, Du Yuehua could not help but be amazed.

Sweet and Sour Pork Ribs, Steamed Sea Fish, Fried Luffa and Meat Strips, and Vegetables with Soup. On their own, all these were but simple dishes. However, with Ye Xiong’s skill, they had become mesmerizing dishes on their own right.

“Go ahead and try them!” Ye Xiong said with a smile.

Du Yuehua picked up a piece of the luffa with her chopsticks, and after munching down on it for a few moments, her eyes instantly lit up. Following that, she gave every other dish a try. Once she was done, she put down her chopsticks and stared at Ye Xiong with admiration.

“How was it?” Ye Xiong asked worriedly.

After all, it had been over two years since he had last set foot in a kitchen, and while he had indeed earned a number of top chef rewards during his squad training, it had still been a long time, nevertheless. His skills might have deteriorated since then, and as such, he was unsure whether his dishes were to her liking.

“They’re… They’re delicious!” Du Yuehua paused slightly before answering.

Honestly speaking, the food that she had just eaten was the tastiest she had ever experienced. She was stumped at how he even managed to do so, as these dishes were simple but inexplicably scrumptious.

“Do eat more if you find them to your liking.” Ye Xiong chuckled.

“Oh yeah, where did you learn how to cook?” Du Yuehua asked.

As part of Huaxia’s strongest special forces, he was forced to go through the most militarized and most holistic of training. It was not solely gunplay and hand-to-hand combat lessons, and included a multitude of daily skills in its curriculum as well. Each skill was to be properly mastered.

“Especially this steaming red Sweet and Sour Pork Ribs. It’s just too damn good. Not only is it smooth and not greasy, but it also melts the moment it enters the mouth. It must be the recipe of some master chef,” Du Yuehua praised as she ate.

Suddenly, she noticed that Ye Xiong was frozen stiff. His chopsticks were suspended in mid-air, and he did not move a single inch.

Scenes of past events were flooding his mind like a slideshow.

Leading the team of six elite soldiers was their captain, Ye Xiong, who possessed the greatest martial art capabilities. He was codenamed, the God of Death.

Then there was the squad leader, Qiao Yang, who excelled at life skills. He had multiple codenames, but his culinary skill was unparalleled within the squad. Furthermore, he was also capable of taking on various aliases depending on the situation they were in.

Other than that, there was also Lu Meng, codenamed Hawkeye; Zhao Yishan, codenamed Mountain King; Zhao Chuanguo, codenamed Hound; and Xu Xiaofeng, codenamed Demoness.

All these members were dead, and yet, Ye Xiong was still enjoying life.

A streak of loneliness flashed across Ye Xiong’s eyes and had not gone unnoticed by Du Yuehua.

‘This man definitely has a significant backstory!’

A strong urge to console Ye Xiong sparked within Du Yuehua’s heart.