Tang Shi looked up and gave Gu Qingcheng a quick glance before replying, "About 500 yards to the east of the clubhouse."
Having responded to the caller, Tang Shi hung up.
"Had someone come to pick Tang Shi up? Did that mean that she wouldn't have to give him a ride?"
Clutching her car keys, Gu Qingcheng hesitated, deep in thought. Finally, since she wasn't able to come to a conclusion, Gu Qingcheng stole a glance at Tang Shi to gauge his intentions. Keeping her eyes lowered, she tried to size up the situation. Since Tang Shi had told the person who had come to pick him up his whereabouts, she'd assumed that he would no longer need a ride from her. In fact, he could be waiting to be picked up right now. From the moment he'd seen her until now, he'd completely ignored her and not acknowledged her existence, so now he was probably just not showing her any courtesy.
After much thought, Gu Qingcheng looked directly at Tang Shi and said, "Mr. Tang, drive slowly and travel safely. Good-bye."
At her words, Tang Shi appeared slightly stunned.
But Gu Qingcheng had already begun to take a step forward, planning to walk away from him.
Although it was late at night, the streets of Beijing were still packed with traffic, and the night air was pierced with the sounds of car horns, alarms, and screeching brakes.
Tang Shi kept up his aloof demeanor as he watched Gu Qingcheng taking a step forward and walking slowly past him.
Just at the moment when she was brushing past him, Tang Shi suddenly took two strides forward, reached out, and grabbed Gu Qingcheng none too gently into his arms, before pushing her onto the hood of her car. He then lowered his head and began to kiss her violently.
The swift action triggered Gu Qingcheng's car alarm, which emitted an ear-piercing sound that brought many stares from shocked passers-by. But Tang Shi seemed oblivious to it all and continued to devour Gu Qingcheng's lips.
Her lips were as gentle and sweet as they had been before, laced with a refreshing aroma.
At first, Gu Qingcheng was shocked. Then, when she felt the searing heat rising from her lips, she instantly recovered her senses and began to struggle with everything she had.
Tang Shi caught her flailing hands in one hand and, with his free hand, he cupped her chin as he used his body to restrain her, continuing to kiss her with even more force.
He continued kissing her until Gu Qingcheng eventually lost her will to fight back and became soft and pliant. It was only then that he gradually relaxed his restraining hold on her.
The kiss that had started so violently had also turned gradually gentler.
While his breathing became increasingly heavy, Tang Shi's hands, inhibited by the barrier of her clothes, roamed erratically over Gu Qingcheng's body until he arrived at the zipper at the back of her dress.
Gu Qingcheng froze, and she raised her hand, intending to stop him from going further, when suddenly, from across the road, a car's horn tooted, followed by someone saying, "Bro."
Tang Shi stopped abruptly. Lowering his head, he sucked in two deep breaths before opening his eyes slowly. Placing his lips against Gu Qingcheng's ear, he breathed hot air as he said, "Spend one day a month with me, and I will let you join Sheng Tang as an employee."
Gu Qingcheng frowned before realizing almost instantaneously the meaning of what Tang Shi had just said. She raised her head and looked into his eyes.
What she saw was a Tang Shi who was totally different from the one who had just kissed her with white-hot passion. This Tang Shi resembled the cold fish of earlier in the evening who seemed a little impatient as he added, "Same arrangement as before: you'll come to see me on the tenth day of every month. However, it will be different now. In the past, you used to come to keep me company, but now I want you to sleep with me."
Tang Shi had deliberately enunciated the words sleep with me.
Taken aback, Gu Qingcheng looked shell-shocked. Tang Shi released her and nonchalantly smoothed his slightly crumpled clothes. He casually threw her some parting words, "Think about it." He then strode purposefully to the car, opened the door, and slid onto the seat.