Release that Man

Holding the cup, he sipped twice. Seeing how the girl opposite him had lost interest in him, Edward touched his nose out of embarrassment. “Cough! Actually, your observation does impress me… even though you are still slighter weaker than me.”

He he… Ye Shuang sipped at the tea calmly. “An old man who cannot find a girlfriend has no right to tell me that.”

Edward almost spat out the tea. He coughed and then used the napkin to hold his coughs back. He cleared his throat and then tried his best to remain calm. “What are you talking about? Of course, I have a woman in my life.”

“That is not a girlfriend—don’t think I won’t notice the difference.” Ye Shuang looked down on him. “Based on your get-up, you’re the quintessential single man. Your phone model, the home page, and the lack of couple’s accessories and tattoo…”

Edward turned shame into anger. “Why would you think I would follow the trend of these stupid youths?”

“Stop kidding yourself. You want to be stupid but couldn’t find someone to be stupid with you. You must be envious of them right…” Ye Shuang did not hold back.

…

Actually, if they were really splitting hairs, Edward did not possess such a sharp and unique analytical mind. In comparison, Edward was more familiar with setting up traps. However, practice makes perfect. After he had done the same bad things for a few times, the other similar bad things would not be that difficult. Because of that, Edward’s analytical power was not worse than a normal police detective.

Conversely, Ye Shuang was completely different from Edward. She learned psychology from Luo Mingxin and then used that skill to trick and lie to reach her own goal. In other words, Ye Shuang was more familiar with analysis before learning the skill of setting up traps… or the skill of lying and cheating.

Since there were so many similarities between them, even though one of them had a rather unbecoming personality, in their conversation, it was natural for them to find resonance in each other. After getting to know each other further and noticing that they danced over the line of morality, Edward and Ye Shuang felt comfortable and satisfied with their company.

“Oh, they’re having an affair.” For example, Ye Shuang used her cup to clink against Edward’s. “Of course, who would still touch and kiss like that at their age? Of course, this could be a second marriage, but you probably did not notice this. There is a white circle around the man’s left hand’s pointing finger, a sign of a wedding ring.”

If this was a divorced man, and he removed the ring after the divorce was finalized and then got to know his current girlfriend… As fast as the process might be, it had to take at least a month, right? The trace of the ring would have lightened if it was that long.

Edward did not believe it, but Ye Shuang was adamant. He thought about it and decided to see it for himself. Therefore, he held the cup and stood up. He walked past five tables to the couple and casually turned his head… What the f*ck! There’s actually the sign of a missing wedding ring!

Edward’s expression almost twisted in that moment. He tried his best to maintain a steady gait as he walked past the couple to head to the counter to ask for a set of desserts before returning to his seat. Ye Shuang smiled and added a jab. “So, I was right this time, wasn’t I?”

As he sat down with dissatisfaction, Edward pouted. “Fine, it is your victory this time, but… I have to say this. Your victory is not because you have a clearer analysis—at most, this only proves that you have a better eye sight than me.”

“No matter the reason, the result is the most important.” Ye Shuang shrugged. “After all, the result is that you’re wrong, and if this was a serious case where you made a mistake and went back to explain, ‘I should have been correct, but I just did not notice a XXX’… do you think that reason would be accepted?”

Edward thought about it and said, “You are right, so I’m not shirking away from this defeat… I demand another round, loser gets the next drinks!”

“It’s enough.” After hearing that, Ye Shuang’s rather arrogant expression turned into helplessness. “You’ve lost five rounds, and I’ve lost four rounds… Combined with the earlier sets, the two of us have drunk at least two liters of tea already… It’s not the issue of money—I really don’t think tea can be that expensive—but don’t you think it’s a bit much for the stomach?”

Edward finally found something that he could easily beat Ye Shuang at, and he patted his round belly proudly. “No, I don’t feel uncomfortable at all.”

His storage was much bigger than hers!

Ye Shuang thought about it. “Fine them, but I think it’s rather limiting if we just sit here. How about we continue this outside? There are more people on the road, and we can bet on something else…”

Edward accepted the challenge. To be honest, he was getting quite fed up of the tea.

…

After leaving the café, since Su Zheng did not reply. Ye Shuang followed Edward to earn some affection. Even though temporarily, she did not know the man’s relationship to Karen, but it could not hurt to get to know the man. Furthermore, after some back and forth, Ye Shuang admired the man’s talent… not because of his professional skill but because of his life experience. A man’s life experience was his worth; actually, it was the same for a woman as well.

The type of life someone had lived not only represented their ability but also the standard of their life. Ye Shuang still had not understood Edward’s trump card, but since the man was able to comment on all sorts of occupations from the crowd that wandered down the streets, this proved that Edward knew more things that Ye Shuang expected.

I wonder if I can ask Karen to help me make an introduction later. Based on the good experience that we’ve had this morning, that should be fine, right? Ye Shuang thought as she strolled next to the man.

“By the way, I’m going to a friend’s working place for a look. I hear he recently met a very good talent.” Edward interrupted Ye Shuang’s thought. “I see you have nothing else to do, why don’t you come along?”

Huh? Ye Shuang was overjoyed. She had not figured out how to get into the man’s good book, and he was already extending an olive branch.

“No problem. After all, my friend has not yet returned my call,” Ye Shuang accepted happily. Then Edward turned to walk down a path that she was very familiar with.

This must be a coincidence… They chatted as they walked. They just took two steps when a familiar person entered their view.

“Eh? That person…” Ye Shuang halted and saw Xia Cheng from faraway. It was not strange for Xia Cheng to be at James’ studio. After the man wanted to pursue the girl, how could he succeed if he did not show up?

But other than that, Xia Cheng had a sexy woman next to him… This was surprising—was he not afraid of causing a misunderstanding?

The woman flirted with Xia Cheng, who kept glancing at his watch. “Where is the handsome man you promised me? Hugging him will earn me one hundred, and if we kiss in the view of at least two people, it’s five hundred, right?”

“Yes,” Xia Cheng answered impatiently, “I’ll tell you when I see the target.”

Even though the distance was great, Ye Shuang could still hear it. Without wasting much intelligence, she read through the man’s plan easily.

Edward also noticed the strange reaction Ye Shuang had. He turned down her direction and asked, “What’s wrong? …Oh, it’s that man?”

As he spoke, condescension appeared on his face. Even Ye Shuang was able to tell what was happening, much less Edward, who had already chatted with Xia Cheng for ten minutes earlier. To Edward’s disappointment, it was one thing for the man to really lower his standard to hiring a hooker, but he did not go one step further to find a child…

After all, when a woman went after a man beyond her league, she might be ostracized by the other females, but when she carried a child with her, this represented something more, and the whole incident would become more serious.

Even though this kind of framing was rather unsightly, Xia Cheng could even miss out on the most important detail, what else could he expect from someone like Xia Cheng?

The more he thought about it, the angrier he became. Edward shook his head disappointedly. “Just ignore him, he’s an idiot. He’s going to lose his job soon… By the way, I said I was going to visit my friend. How about we exchange name cards—how else am I going to introduce you later?”

Ye Shuang ignored Xia Cheng and said, “My name is Ye Shuang. You can call me whatever.”

Edward nodded. “Nice to meet you, Miss Ye. I am Edward…”

That name is so familiar. It’s common for foreigners to share the same name.

“I think you might know my friend, he’s quite famous. His name is James…”

This name is familiar as well…

“Now that I think about it, Miss Ye, your name is very familiar. I seem to have heard it before…” Edward said with some confusion.

Ye Shuang stared at Edward expressionlessly for three minutes. “Xia Cheng probably told you about it yesterday or this morning. I share the same name as my partner, the male Ye Shuang.”