136: Rate Chapter 136

"Don't ask."

"Fine, let me rephrase it." Lin Fan leaned against the rock wall with his arms crossed over his chest in a relaxed posture. "President Su, how do you think I performed? Give me a score, out of ten."

Su Qingxue's temple twitched.

"Are you out of your mind?"

"Then I won't ask for a score." Lin Fan nodded. "Well, I'll rate myself. That sound just now... I mean that final sound you couldn't hold back, I think it's at least an eight out of ten."

"Lin Fan!"

Su Qingxue shouted at him, her voice echoing twice around the partition. After shouting, she was stunned herself.

When had she, Su Qingxue, ever shouted at anyone?

She hadn't shouted when the old men on the board of directors joined forces to force her hand.

She hadn't shouted when investors withdrew their funds and stock prices plummeted, nor had she shouted when she was trapped on the Deserted Island and almost eaten by people.

Yet she was driven to it by this guy with a monthly salary of 3,500.

Lin Fan raised his hand. "Fine, fine, fine, I won't say anymore."

Su Qingxue stood supporting herself against the rock wall, her chest heaving heavily a few times. Once she caught her breath, she freed up a hand to pick up the shirt on the mat.

The shirt was wrinkled beyond recognition, with sweat stains, dust, bloodstains, and all sorts of messy marks mixed together.

She picked it up, took a look, and frowned.

Could this shirt still be worn?

She could wear it, but after all, this shirt had been used as padding underneath and had...

Lin Fan knew what Su Qingxue was thinking. He walked over to the supplies area and took out a few pieces of clothing.

"Wear these."

He tossed them over, and Su Qingxue caught them. They were a pair of dark blue jeans, a white short-sleeved T-shirt, and a thin gray jacket.

They were women's clothes, and they were clean.

Su Qingxue was momentarily stunned.

"Where did these come from?"

"Picked up on the beach."

Su Qingxue pulled out the jeans and glanced at the tag—size M. She wore size S.

"It's too big."

"Make do with it. You're not walking a red carpet."

Su Qingxue said nothing more. She unfolded the T-shirt and looked at it: a white crew neck, pure cotton, without any logo. It was eighteen tiers lower than the luxury brands she usually wore.

But it was clean.

On this island, the value of the word "clean" surpassed any brand.

"Turn around."

Lin Fan clicked his tongue.

"President Su, just now you even..."

"Turn around."

Lin Fan turned around.

The rustling sound behind him lasted for about two minutes.

During this time, Su Qingxue cursed softly—probably because the pants were too big and couldn't stay up around her waist. She rummaged around for a long time and tied them up with a piece of rope she found somewhere.

"All right."

Lin Fan turned back around.

Then his gaze paused for a beat.

Su Qingxue stood in the light at the entrance of the partition.

White T-shirt, dark blue jeans.

Her hair was still loose since there was no hair tie to secure it, but she smoothed it with her fingers and gathered it all to one shoulder.

The scratch on her face was still there, and a bruise on her cheekbone had not faded.

But her entire demeanor had changed.

It hadn't changed for the better in the usual sense, but shifted in a completely different direction.

When she was at the company, Su Qingxue wore professional attire, which exuded a sense of distance.

When you saw her, your first reaction wasn't how pretty she was, but rather not to get close.

Now that she changed into this casual outfit, that sense of distance was gone.

The neckline of the white T-shirt was slightly wide, exposing most of her collarbones.

Although the jeans were a size too large, after being cinched with the rope, her waistline was pulled in tightly, and the excess fabric bunched into a small fold at her waist. It didn't look bad; instead, it had a casual vibe.

The most crucial part was her feet.

She wasn't wearing shoes.

Barefoot on the rough ground, her ten toes curled slightly, and the bones of her ankles formed a smooth, rounded arc.

Su Qingxue standing there barefoot in jeans looked like a completely different person from the cold-faced president who used to wear high heels and business skirts.

How should I put it?

Before, she was the kind of pretty you didn't dare to touch.

Now, she was the kind of pretty you wanted to take home.

Lin Fan looked her up and down from bottom to top, recalling the tactile feel from just now, before pulling back his gaze with relish.

"Quite big."

"It is indeed a size too big."

"I wasn't talking about the size."

Su Qingxue didn't take up the comment. She walked out of the partition, came up beside Lin Fan, and said, "Call Wang Lan back."

Lin Fan turned his face to look at her.

"What are you going to do?"

Su Qingxue didn't answer him, but instead asked back, "What, planning to pull up your pants and deny everything?"

Lin Fan looked at her for three seconds, asked no further, went out to the cave entrance, and shouted upwards.

"Zhang Tao!"

After about half a minute, Zhang Tao's voice came back from afar.

"Brother Fan! Coming!"

A minute later, Zhang Tao walked in carrying a bundle of dry branches, followed closely by Wang Lan, who was also carrying a small bundle.

"Brother Fan, you called me?" Zhang Tao dumped the branches next to the campfire and patted the debris off his hands.

"I called Wang Lan."

Zhang Tao was slightly startled and instinctively glanced back at Wang Lan.

Wang Lan put down the branches, wiped her hands, and walked over toward Lin Fan's side.

Her pace was neither too fast nor too slow, and the expression on her face maintained a just-right submissive look. Knowing that Lin Fan had taken Su Qingxue, she figured it was probably time to distribute rewards for contributions.

"Brother Fan, you looking for me?"

Lin Fan tilted his head toward Su Qingxue.

"It's not me, she's looking for you."

Wang Lan's gaze shifted to Su Qingxue.

She swept a glance over Su Qingxue's new clothes—jeans, white T-shirt, clean and neat.

With this outfit, coupled with that sense of distance of someone who had just stepped out of the partition, even a blind person would know what had happened.

Wang Lan quickly calculated in her mind: what did Su Qingxue want with her?

To make a show of force? Or did she want to use Lin Fan's momentum to suppress others?

She walked toward Su Qingxue with very steady steps.

On this island, none of the women who managed to survive until now were that simple.

Wang Lan considered her brain to be sharper than Liu Feifei's and clearer-headed than Song Ya's.

She guided Zhang Tao with the purpose of letting Lin Fan see her value—not only could she read the situation, but she could also help Lin Fan bloodlessly conquer this tough bone named Su Qingxue.

She thought her move was brilliant.

"President Su." Wang Lan stopped less than a meter away from Su Qingxue. "You were looking for me?"

Slap!

A fierce and crisp slap across the face.

Without any warning, without any preamble.

Su Qingxue used all her strength in this strike, and even because of the momentum, her foot slid half an inch on the rock surface.

Wang Lan's head was knocked to one side, her cheek visibly turning red as five fingerprints quickly emerged.

Wang Lan didn't cover her face, nor did she cry out.

She paused for two seconds while maintaining the posture of her head being knocked to the side, and then slowly turned her head back.

Her first action wasn't to look at Su Qingxue, but to look past Su Qingxue's shoulder at Lin Fan behind her.

Lin Fan didn't even change his sitting posture; obviously, Su Qingxue had already given him a heads-up.

Su Qingxue looked at Wang Lan. "Looking at him is useless."