“I’m not interested.” Right now, Zhen Jiu’er’s mind was completely filled with her Ninth Imperial Uncle.

The Lu family’s Ninth Master held no appeal for her whatsoever.

Behind the two men in black suits, a low voice rang out: “I’m afraid, Miss Zhen, that isn’t up to you.”

“That’s Ninth Master’s gold-medal assistant, Ji Mingyu!”

Qiaoqiao’s sharp eyes recognized him instantly.

She carefully tugged at Zhen Jiu’er’s sleeve: “Jiu’er, he’s… I heard he’s brilliant at everything, incredibly formidable — don’t, don’t provoke him.”

“Heh, you flatter me, Miss. This is a civilized, law-abiding society — I’m not that unreasonable a person.”

Ji Mingyu stepped forward.

“Mr. Ji.” The two bodyguards immediately made way.

Zhen Jiu’er looked up, meeting Ji Mingyu’s gaze: “Since you know this is a civilized society, then you should also understand — no one has the right to force me into something I don’t want to do.”

“Jiu’er…” Qiaoqiao trembled with fear.

Ever since Jiu’er had fainted and woken up this time, she’d truly seemed like a different person.

The old Jiu’er never had this kind of nerve!

Ji Mingyu looked down at Zhen Jiu’er, who stood at least half a head shorter than him, a flicker of imperceptible surprise crossing his eyes.

This little girl really was out of the ordinary.

So many people fought tooth and nail just for a chance to meet Ninth Master.

Now Ninth Master was personally inviting her, and she’d tried to refuse — twice in a row?

“I hear you’re graduating this July?”

Ji Mingyu’s gaze landed on the work uniform Jiu’er wore. “Want to stay on at Jiangzhou First Hospital?”

“What business is that of yours?”

“Do you not realize our Ninth Master owns thirty percent of the shares in Jiangzhou First Hospital? And if he wanted to, he could buy the whole thing outright in minutes.”

“What does that have to do with me?” Zhen Jiu’er’s attitude remained unchanged, not a flicker of emotion on her face.

Ji Mingyu narrowed his eyes.

He’d seen plenty of people who feigned retreat just to get closer to Ninth Master, but this one — he still couldn’t read her.

Was she genuinely uninterested, or was this a game of playing hard to get?

“Little girl, play too many games and it stops being fun.”

Either way, Ninth Master wanted to see her tonight. Whether she wanted to go or not, she was going.

“Miss Zhen…”

He hadn’t expected Zhen Jiu’er to grab Qiaoqiao’s hand and turn to leave without another word.

Not even a shred of courtesy given!

This didn’t look like playing hard to get at all — she genuinely didn’t want to see Ninth Master.

Ji Mingyu’s expression darkened, and the two bodyguards immediately stepped forward, blocking Jiu’er and Qiaoqiao’s path again.

“Mr. Ji, have you forgotten what you just said? This is a civilized society!” Anger simmered beneath Jiu’er’s voice.

The smile vanished from Ji Mingyu’s face. He glanced at the still-trembling Qiaoqiao. “This would be the Qiao family’s Third Miss, Qiaoqiao? I hear your father’s been investing in a major project lately…”

“Mr. Ji, my father and I aren’t close, you… my business has nothing to do with my father…” Qiaoqiao shuddered all over.

“In that case, if I had someone buy back that project, it wouldn’t matter to you at all?” Ji Mingyu curved his lips into a smile.

Qiaoqiao nearly dropped to her knees!

The Qiao family had run into a lot of trouble recently — they were counting on this project to turn things around.

If her father found out she’d cost him this project, he’d be furious to death.

Zhen Jiu’er drew a deep breath, then slowly exhaled.

Her indifferent gaze settled on Ji Mingyu: “Fine. I’ll go back with you.”