The Ice-Queen Actress Used Her Acting Skills to Reel Me In! - Chapter 11

Shen Niannian had recently become a regular at Qin Zhaoman’s private café. She didn’t come every day like clockwork, but whenever she had free time, she would drop by for a while.

Before she knew it, she had met all the café’s few patrons.

The other customers all fit the social class Qin Zhaoman associated with—without exception, they were influential figures with political backgrounds.

Shen Niannian was good at conversation, had a clean reputation, and when no interests were at stake, she was effortlessly adept at winning people over.

The most obvious sign of this was that the twins noticed an increase in customers lately. Normally, Qin Zhaoman would sit alone for about twenty days out of the month, but now, there were at least two or three days a week when extra guests would show up.

The twin sisters placed Shen Niannian’s coffee and dessert on the table and whispered their recent observations: “Last time, Miss Anna was really disappointed when she came and found you weren’t here.”

Qiao Qiao pushed the door open. The twins weren’t intimidated by her and greeted her with a smile, asking what she’d like to drink today.

Qiao Qiao ordered her usual cocktail and asked, “What are you two telling Niannian?”

The twins explained, and Qiao Qiao sat down across from Shen Niannian, blinking before letting out an exaggerated sigh. “Except for Boss Qin coming less often, it seems like everyone else is coming more.”

She shooed the twins away, her eyes teasing as she said, “Niannian, seems like you’ve gone off track a bit.”

Shen Niannian closed her laptop. She had also noticed that Qin Zhaoman had been coming around less frequently, but she didn’t see this as a sign of failure—rather, she found it quite interesting.

If Qin Zhaoman wanted her to leave, she would have found a roundabout way to say so. Avoiding her like this wasn’t Qin Zhaoman’s style at all.

Shen Niannian looked at Qiao Qiao and countered, “How so?”

Qiao Qiao thought for a moment before saying, “How to put it… The last person she avoided like this was her uncle.”

She clicked her tongue and corrected herself, “Actually, now that I think about it, maybe you’re not off track after all.”

Shen Niannian knew about Qin Zhaoman’s uncle and had heard some things. She asked, “I heard Boss Qin has been pressured into marriage?”

“Mm,” Qiao Qiao confirmed, then, as if suddenly remembering something, cleared her throat and said with deliberate nonchalance, “Pressured to marry a man.”

Shen Niannian didn’t need the clarification, but given Qiao Qiao’s reaction, she felt it necessary to explain.

“That wasn’t what I meant.”

Qiao Qiao’s cocktail arrived just then. She took a couple of sips and grinned. “I know. Who wants to get married these days anyway?”

Shen Niannian’s phone rang. She answered, spoke briefly, and after hanging up, began packing her things. “I need to go to Boss Qin’s office building. Are you coming?”

Qiao Qiao hesitated before asking, “You’re going there to look for her…?”

Shen Niannian could tell what she was thinking from her expression and explained, “Some small projects from my company are collaborating with Zelmer’s business. I’m going to check on them, then head back with them.”

Relieved, Qiao Qiao picked up her bag. “Then I’ll go with you. If Qin Zhaoman happens to be free, I’ll take you to her office to say hello.”

Shen Niannian thanked her and promised to bake her an extra two bags of homemade cookies.

Qiao Qiao was a regular at Qin Zhaoman’s company. After a quick greeting to the receptionist, she led Shen Niannian straight inside.In the elevator, Qiao Qiao glanced at Shen Niannian, who was bundled up so tightly only her eyes were visible, then glanced again.

Unable to contain her curiosity, she asked, “If I weren’t here, how were you planning to get in?”

This level of disguise was practically guaranteed to get stopped by security.

Shen Niannian reached into her pocket and pulled out an employee ID—her secretary Li Ruo’s. “Swipe this.”

Qiao Qiao nodded, then said, “Still… it’s good you dressed like this. A lot of Qin Zhaoman’s employees are your fans.”

Remembering something from the past, she burst into laughter. “When you won Best Actress for the first time, people in this building were screaming like crazy. Qin Zhaoman was so confused—she thought the World Cup wasn’t happening that week. Hahahaha!”

Shen Niannian laughed too. “And then?”

Qiao Qiao said, “Then she went and watched your movie. After that, we went to see every one of your films. I guess you could say Qin Zhaoman is kind of a fan too.”

Shen Niannian thought about Qin Zhaoman’s usual demeanor and said, “I wouldn’t have guessed.”

Qiao Qiao nodded in agreement. “Zelmer’s thoughts are always hard to read. Classic capitalist.”

Shen Niannian chuckled at that.

Qin Zhaoman’s secretary, recognizing Qiao Qiao, informed them that Qin Zhaoman was in a meeting. She didn’t recognize Shen Niannian and added, “This young lady is welcome to wait in the lounge as well.”

Qiao Qiao said, “We won’t disturb her. We’ll just take a quick look from outside. Which meeting room is she in?”

The secretary told them the location. Shen Niannian followed Qiao Qiao out of the elevator, quietly trailing behind her without interrupting.

The meeting room had fully transparent glass walls. Inside, Qin Zhaoman sat in the first seat by the window on the left, pressing a document against the table as she coughed softly. She took a sip of water, which seemed to help for a moment, but soon she was coughing again.

Shen Niannian watched from a distance before asking, “Is Zelmer sick?”

Qiao Qiao didn’t think it was a big secret. “Zelmer has weak lungs. She always coughs a lot in winter.”

Shen Niannian thought this sounded worse than just a seasonal cough. “Has she seen a doctor?”

“Of course,” Qiao Qiao said. “This is actually an improvement. She used to cough all year round—now it’s just winter.”

Shen Niannian looked back at Qin Zhaoman, who was still sipping hot water. “She can’t just cough like this all winter.”

Qiao Qiao sighed. “I know, but it’s been like this for years. There’s not much we can do.”

Shen Niannian didn’t respond, just kept watching.

Even after the Yahe Group representatives had finished their contract discussions, Qin Zhaoman’s meeting still hadn’t ended. Shen Niannian didn’t wait any longer and left with her own company’s team.

Half an hour later, the meeting room door finally opened as people filed out. Qiao Qiao, nearly dozing off from playing games on her phone, wandered in and said, “Come on, let’s grab dinner. I found a new place—tell me what you think. If it’s good, I might buy it.”

Qin Zhaoman glanced past her shoulder.

Qiao Qiao turned to look behind her, then plopped into the chair across from Qin Zhaoman’s desk, teasing, “Oh? Who are you looking for?”

Qin Zhaoman ignored her. “Don’t you have your own company to run? Why are you always hanging around mine?” Qiao Qiao sighed, “As if going over there would stop me from losing money. Besides, didn’t I come here to learn how to make money?”

Qin Zhaoman coughed again. Her cup was empty, so Qiao Qiao picked up the glass pitcher and poured her another glass of water.

After taking a sip, Qin Zhaoman asked, “Why did you bring Shen Niannian here?”

Qiao Qiao replied, “No reason, really. Just wanted to drop by. Then Niannian saw you coughing and asked what was wrong. She said it’s not good to keep coughing like this—just showing concern, you know?”

As she spoke, she sighed again. “I’d love to have a friend like Shen Niannian too. Her family’s issues aren’t something you can’t handle. Have you really not considered it?”

Qin Zhaoman said, “You’re my friend too. Why don’t I see you showing me any concern?”

Qiao Qiao laughed. “Hilarious. I’m not your number one friend, am I? Isn’t this the real number one?” She patted the conference table gently and cooed, “Desky, did you hear that? President Qin is calling you. Hurry up and burn yourself to warm the air—do what a number one friend should do.”

Qin Zhaoman chuckled, then rolled up the document in her hand and used it to violently suppress the dissatisfaction of her number two friend.

In the car, Shen Niannian fanned herself. The central air conditioning in Qin Zhaoman’s company was set too high and covering up like this made her quite hot.

Secretary Li said sympathetically, “Couldn’t you just wear sunglasses?”

Shen Niannian replied, “If someone recognized me, it’d cause trouble for Qin Zhaoman.”

Hearing Qin Zhaoman’s name, Secretary Li couldn’t help but sigh. “There’s only a week left of the one-month deadline. Has Qin Zhaoman shown any signs of changing her mind? Otherwise, we should start reaching out to the other backup… I mean, the other potential partners now.”

“No need. Qin Zhaoman is worth spending the full month to win over.”

Shen Niannian flipped through the nearly finalized contract and said, “Stop at the supermarket up ahead. Buy me some rock sugar and crystal pears, and two pounds each of silver ear fungus and red dates.”

Secretary Li asked, “Are you making soup?”

Shen Niannian nodded. “Mm. Qin Zhaoman’s been coughing. We have the herbs at home, but no sugar or pears.”

Secretary Li hesitated. “What if she still doesn’t change her mind in the end…?”

“Then I won’t make it.”

Secretary Li couldn’t help but laugh. “You really meant it when you said one month—no extensions. I thought you’d ease into it. So direct?”

Shen Niannian closed the contract. “There’ll be a transition, but it doesn’t need much effort. She won’t care.”

If she had more time, she’d gladly spend it becoming friends with Qin Zhaoman. But she was completely out of time.

Qin Zhaoman had always known her intentions, and her stance was clear. Frankly, Qin Zhaoman was far more principled and reasonable than most men. She wouldn’t dwell on someone she didn’t care about.