Xu Ai was still a little dazed when a waiter came over to sweep up the shattered pieces of the wineglass on the floor.
Why was Su Xuan just everywhere she went?
She should really leave if he was here.
Xu Ai picked up her handbag and bowed to those people. "My apologies, but I have to leave." Then, she proceeded to step away.
Lin Shen froze for a second and then shouted out, "Xu Ai!"
Xu Ai paused, but only for a split second. Suddenly, she didn't want to give in to him anymore and didn't want to hear him speak anymore. She kept on walking outside without looking back. She told herself that she owed him nothing for the past three years.
"Ms. Xu! Don't just leave!" President Chen ran to her and stopped her. "Is it our sudden presence that disturbed you?"
"No, I just remembered I have some things left undone. I want to head back earlier." Xu Ai shook her head.
"Are they important things?" President Chen looked at Xu Ai. "Some friends of mine over at section V heard me talking about you and wanted to meet you. I made a statement that Ms. Xu is an absolute beauty and a perfect match for Young Master Su. Now that you're here, don't just leave hastily like that. Just come over and say hello!"
That gave Xu Ai a headache. "I'm so sorry, but maybe next time! I'm just really…"
"Ai-Ai, isn't Young Master Su your boyfriend? Shouldn't you let him know if you are about to leave? Since you came with Young Master Su, if you leave without telling him, wouldn't he be worried if he couldn't find you later?" Cheng Yanyan suddenly spoke.
Xu Ai turned around slowly to look at Cheng Yanyan.
Ai-Ai?
Since when are we this close?
"Indeed, Ms. Xu. If you decided to leave, you should probably give Young Master Su a heads up! Just in case Young Master Su gets worried about you. I remember the day you got drunk, Young Master Su left a dozen of us at the restaurant and drove you back himself," President Chen added.
"Yes, if you're not in a hurry, who knows when we will meet again after today. A few friends in my field have heard us talking about you and would like to meet you in person." President Yang chortled, "They have been staring at their phones these days to look at the news images, and they said their old eyes can't see the photos clearly and would like to meet you in person someday. They thought they wouldn't get a chance to meet you today. What a pity."
"Exactly. Young Master Su hid you from us and didn't say a word about you coming here," President Chen grunted, "That was very unprofessional of Young Master Su."
The two of them managed to block Xu Ai's direction with only their words. Their kind words and zeal made Xu Ai feel that it was very uneasy to leave.
To her side, a bright and beautiful smile appeared on Cheng Yanyan's face as Xu Ai stared at her. Cheng Yanyan acted all nice and friendly by referring to her as "Ai-Ai" all the time. She commented, "Let's go to section V. I haven't met Young Master Su yet. I just got here, and I knew Lin Shen's here, so I came to find him."
Xu Ai glanced at Lin Shen.
Lin Shen pressed his lips together and didn't say a word. His face was expressionless.
Xu Ai looked at the way he stood with Cheng Yanyan and suddenly thought, What could come of going to section V and finding Su Xuan? Su Xuan would probably just bully me and not devour me. Besides, if I'm facing Su Xuan, then I wouldn't have to feel the pain when I face Lin Shen and Cheng Yanyan.
Evidently, when presented with a choice, humans would choose the option that gave them benefits and prevented harm.
So then, she smiled and nodded. "Alright!"
Now that she had agreed, President Chen and President Yang became very happy. They gestured for her to come along to section V with them.
Xu Ai was treated like a VIP by their kind humility, so much that she walked in front of the group.
Cheng Yanyan reached out to grab the frozen Lin Shen. "Come on, my daddy would be so happy to see you." Her tone was cheerful.
Lin Shen avoided her hand and nodded.
Cheng Yanyan was not angry by the way he dodged. She still kept a smile on her face and accompanied him to section V. She whispered surreptitiously, "I had no idea that Ai-Ai's boyfriend is really Empyrean's Su Xuan. I didn't even believe it at first."
Lin Shen did not respond as if he did not hear her.
Cheng Yanyan murmured, "You truly can't judge a book by its cover! I just never imagined what they look like when they're together. Have you seen them together yet?"
Lin Shen turned his head to glance at her.
Cheng Yanyan paused, then she smiled at him immediately. "I'm just curious; I don't mean anything else. Let's go, they're already inside. Aren't you curious too?"
Lin Shen turned his head and waded into the room slowly.
Cheng Yanyan clenched her palms which already began to sweat and followed him.
Section V was significantly less populated, but by the looks of it, it was obvious that this was the place where the real high-class socialites hung out.
There were only a few dozens of people scattered around here, compared to the hundreds of people in the boisterous atmosphere of the other section where they came from.
President Chen and President Yang led Xu Ai past two partition walls and came to a dimly lit partition wall. President Chen's clear voice came up, "Haha, Young Master Su, guess who President Yang and I found? You hid her well, but you didn't hide her from our eyes."
Xu Ai stopped in desperation.
"Huh? Please go in, Ms. Xu!" President Chen stepped in but didn't see Xu Ai following him, so he turned around and hollered at her.
Xu Ai could only take a deep breath and brace herself, then she finally stepped inside.
The area was rather spacey despite being dimly lit, and seven to eight people sat around casually. One of the genuine-leather sofas beside the window was occupied by a young and handsome person. He had a casual outfit and a wine glass in his hands. He slouched on the sofa lazily like he was in the comfort of his own home.
Who else could it be but Su Xuan?
Only he was daring enough to pull off a casual outfit at a fancy wine party and still look elegantly appropriate.
Speaking of the way he monopolized the genuine-leather sofa, the six or seven people surrounding him were clustered into cliques of twos and threes. Even though they seemed comfortable, they were nowhere as free as him. Besides, the others were donned in formal suits and ties with their slicked-back hair, but only he was different.
But, in spite of his "informality," the charm and aura that emanated from him were domineering enough that no one dared to look down on him.
Xu Ai saw him twice in one day. Seeing him again at night, despite being mentally prepared, she still felt angry at the sight of him.
She wanted to punch him when she saw him like this!
"Young Master Su, look, isn't this Ms. Xu?" President Chen laughed as he looked at Su Xuan, then he turned around to urge the crowd, "Which one of you said you haven't met Ms. Xu in person yet? Now I brought her to you, you have to buy me drinks next time."
"So this is Young Master Su's girlfriend?" A man stood up suddenly.
"Of course!" President Chen was rather proud. "What do you think? Ms. Xu is much prettier in person than in photos, right?"
"Mm-hmm, she really is much prettier in person!" The man came over and reached out his hand to introduce himself. "Hello, Ms. Xu. I am Yuan Qiang of Featherlite Technology."
"Hello!" Xu Ai could only reach out to shake his hand.
Another person stood up to shake hands with Xu Ai and introduce himself. "Hello, Ms. Xu. I am Zhou Xiaobo of Jiayi."
"Nice to meet you!"
Another person came up to her. "Hello, Ms. Xu. I can't believe I get to meet you so soon. I'm from Qi'an…"
"Enough of you circling around my girlfriend. You're making me dizzy with all the movement. She can't remember you all in one sitting." Su Xuan's slow and beautiful voice came up all of a sudden.
"Come on, Young Master Su, is it because your girlfriend is too beautiful and you don't want her to shake our hands? Don't worry, we're old, we can't steal her from you." A man laughed.
"I'm not worried about you stealing her away from me. It's just that we're all good friends here, and she will get to know all of you eventually. You don't have to be so adulating." Su Xuan put down his wineglass and waved at Xu Ai. "Come here."
It was as if he was the one who brought her here.
"That's true." Someone chortled and looked at Su Xuan. "Now that you've intervened on our self-introductions, then later you need to introduce us to Ms. Xu properly in case she doesn't recognize us when we run into her on the streets next time."
"Sure!" Su Xuan nodded with a grin.
Xu Ai didn't move. She thought, Now that I have met everyone, perhaps I should come up with an excuse to leave.
"Come here!" Su Xuan looked at Xu Ai with smiling eyes. "You are blocking the entrance if you don't come in. How are the other people behind you supposed to come in?"
Xu Ai turned around and remembered that Lin Shen and Cheng Yanyan were still behind her. She couldn't help but move her feet to go to him.
Before she reached him, Su Xuan reached out and grabbed her hands to pull her to his side and let her sit down. "Anything you would like to drink?" he asked with his soft and low voice.
Xu Ai glanced at him and wanted to get away, but she saw Cheng Yanyan hauling Lin Shen to a middle-aged man standing not far from them. She slowly asked, "What drinks do they have here?"
Su Xuan smiled. "Hard liquor; want some?"
Xu Ai glowered at him for dropping the clanger. "No." She shook her head.
"Then have some water like me!" Su Xuan picked up a kettle from the table and poured her a glass of water.
Xu Ai just realized the wineglass that he was holding didn't have wine inside but water, and she didn't object and nodded.
Drinking water at a wine party, he sure is unique!
On the other side, Cheng Yanyan already took Lin Shen to see President Cheng. She said cheerfully, "Daddy, look who I brought here?"
"Heh heh, Lin Shen! I haven't seen you in a while." President Cheng looked at Lin Shen with gentle eyes and teased Cheng Yanyan, "I wondered why Yanyan disappeared after she came here; it's clear that she was looking for you. She mentioned you in front of me quite often. It's been such a long time; how come you never paid us a visit?"
Lin Shen looked at President Cheng as Cheng Yanyan grabbed onto him. He greeted, "Uncle Cheng."
"How's your mother?" President Cheng smiled and asked as he gestured for them to sit down.
"She's doing well!" Lin Shen sat to the side.
Cheng Yanyan tucked closely next to Lin Shen.
President Chen asked him a few more questions, to which Lin Shen answered one by one. He wasn't constrained or crude. Instead, he was rather casual, much unlike his usual ways.
Xu Ai held her glass of water and sipped slowly. She didn't want to hear the conversations from the other side, but President Cheng, Lin Shen, and Cheng Yanyan's voices still traveled into her ears.
Before, she would never have imagined a situation like this, with Lin Shen bringing his girlfriend along and talking to his girlfriend's father. Yet, she was sitting on the side not far from them like a total stranger, watching the scene of meeting the parents.
Suddenly, she thought, Throughout my entire life, this has got to be the most ridiculous thing I have experienced so far.
Even the encounter with Su Xuan still couldn't compete against the ridiculousness of watching this scene.
Perhaps God thought her life was too happy and sent Lin Shen to her life as the obstacle that she could never overcome.
"Look at that, they're having small talks!" President Chen laughed as he pointed to the three people and joked with President Cheng, "President Cheng, this President Lin isn't your future son-in-law, is he?!"
Xu Ai looked at Lin Shen. He just sat there in complete silence.
President Cheng burst into laughter, "Haha, if my daughter could marry Lin Shen in the future, then she would be unbelievably lucky!"
That just meant President Cheng was not opposed to it!
"Daddy!" Cheng Yanyan crooned coyly like she was acting shy, then she glowered at President Cheng, dissatisfied. "What are you talking about?"
"Weren't you the one who kept talking about Lin Shen in front of me? And now you're acting shy?" President Cheng smiled at Lin Shen. "I have always liked Lin Shen. I've watched him grow up and become a more and more outstanding man."
Lin Shen lowered his head slightly. "Uncle Cheng, you are flattering me too much!" The emotion in his voice was hard to decipher.
"You kid, still think of me as a stranger!" President Cheng shook his head and laughed, then he told everyone, "They study at the same university. Lin Shen is going to graduate this year! Yanyan is still a junior, so she still has one more year to go."
Everyone else nodded.
Someone complimented, "Ms. Cheng and President Lin seem like a perfect match."
Someone exclaimed, "It's great to be young! We're getting old!"
Someone sighed, "Isn't that true! Think about when we were young, and look at them. Huh? Young Master Su, why are you serving Ms. Xu water? Don't girls hate drinking that?"
Su Xuan smiled. "Drinking water douses the fires inside!"
"It's summer; how's there fire inside you?" the man retorted.
[TL Note: These are traditional Chinese medicine jargons.]
Another person commented, "You don't understand. There's a different kind of fire burning in Young Master Su because he's got such a beautiful girlfriend."
That was enough to make everyone laugh out loud.
Xu Ai couldn't help but blush. What kind of people are these! She couldn't sit tight anymore.
Su Xuan tilted his head to look at Xu Ai. She was donned in an icy-blue evening gown that showed off her elegant shoulders. The well-tailored dress hugged her figure like a glove, making her look fresh and eye-catching but not overly seductive or tacky. It was just elegantly pleasing to the eye. Especially now, under the dim lights, her flushed cheeks brought out and complemented the roses along the hem of her dress. He suddenly chortled.
"See, I'm right! Young Master Su's got the fire burning in his eyes," the man added.
Everyone looked in Su Xuan's direction, then they all laughed out loud again.
All eyes were looking at Xu Ai, and among them, one person's eyes made her especially want to block their view with her hand. It made her want to put down her glass and walk out of here.
Su Xuan held onto her and looked at everyone, and then his gentle voice laughed helplessly, "Please don't say everything in front of her. I'm thick-skinned, but she's thin-skinned. If you scare her away, then I won't stay here with you."
"Please don't. If Ms. Xu is thin-skinned, then we won't say things like that anymore," the man immediately promised.
"Ms. Xu can't leave. If you leave, then for sure Young Master Su will ditch us." President Chen remembered something and smiled. "Don't you know? Young Master Su did another heroic deed today, and it has something to do with Ms. Xu."
"Hadn't Young Master Su done enough heroic deeds ever since he came back to China two months ago?" another person chimed in, "Do tell, what heroic deed did Young Master Su accomplish today? Will we see it on the news tomorrow?"
"Mm-hmm, maybe we will, since after all, it was so epic!" President Chen deliberately kept them guessing as he turned to Su Xuan. "Wouldn't you agree, Young Master Su?"
Su Xuan looked at President Chen with a smile. "The news sure traveled fast to you!"
"Of course, I am, after all, under Su Yun! If I don't have my ways to get new information, then how do I get paid?" President Chen laughed out loud.
"Tell us! Tell us!" someone urged.
President Chen raised his wineglass and took a sip, and then he proceeded to clear things up for everyone. "Today, it was said that Young Master Su stood up Billion Suns in order to be with Ms. Xu. The people from Billion Suns were furious. It was a contract worth a few billions, and it flew away, just like that."
"What? Seriously?" Someone was shocked.
All eyes turned to Su Xuan simultaneously.
Xu Ai was also deeply shocked as she stared at Su Xuan. He was with her today. She knew about Billion Suns, an international company. He actually…
No way...
She couldn't believe that she was the reason why he stood up Billion Suns. After all, when she ran into him today, he looked free and careless, like he had nothing to do.
President Chen noticed the shocked expression on Xu Ai's face. "You didn't know about it, Ms. Xu?" he asked in surprise.
Xu Ai thought to herself, How was I supposed to know? She shook her head and said, "You must be mistaken, President Chen. Today, he…"
"I went to the hospital with you and your grandmother to visit a patient. Then, I took you all to lunch." Su Xuan interrupted her slowly and casually. "You threw a tantrum at me and said I didn't do a good job and pushed me against the wall. Grandma's heart ached for me, and then…"