It was one o'clock in the early morning, and the streets of Hangzhou felt gloomily quiet in the period between late autumn and early winter.
Lin Yao's eyes were a bit misty, and the night bus she was waiting for still hadn't appeared yet. But she had no choice but to hold her bag close to her as she stood at the bus stop and continued waiting.
"Young lady, where are you heading?" A classic yellow taxi cab, an unlicensed, illegally operated private car, parked in front of her.
At that time of night, it wasn't safe for single women to take a taxi cab alone, and Lin Yao was even more apprehensive of taking a yellow cab.
God knows where they would take her?
She turned around resolutely and pretended that she didn't see the car.
The yellow cab driver was obviously pretty thick-skinned and appeared convinced that Lin Yao would take his cab. He waited in front of her instead of leaving.
Since she was at the bus station, Lin Yao couldn't wander far, so she had no choice but to act like she hadn't seen anything.
The original yellow cab hadn't left yet, but another black car stopped. She glanced at it from the corner of her eyes and saw that it was a luxury car owned by an individual.
Lin Yao secretly lamented how someone could drive such a luxurious car yet still be a chauffeur to earn extra money!
She continued ignoring them and waited for the cars to leave.
"Beep—" The horn blared harshly in the quiet night.
Lin Yao was taken aback. She didn't expect the yellow cab driver to actually honk at her.
Knowing that it was early in the morning before dawn, and they were right next to a residential building, why would he honk?
Lin Yao was appalled by the yellow cab driver, but she also had a bad feeling inside. Perhaps the person inside the black car wanted her?
The feeling reached its peak when she saw the black car's back door suddenly open.
Lin Yao's heart pounded wildly in her chest, and her intuition told her that she should leave this area that instant!
"Bus route no. 256, heading to East Railway Station…"
The automated voice of the bus stop sounded in the nick of time, and seemed so melodious to Lin Yao's ears, even though the bus wasn't headed toward her home.
To be more precise, 256 passed by East City, but it didn't stop at her residence. It merely passed through East City, then turned around and headed in another direction.
In other words, after she got off the bus, she would have to walk a long way before returning to her place!
It wasn't a wise choice, but...
Lin Yao saw a tall man dressed in black step in front of the black car, face covered in shadow. He seemed to be approaching her!
Perhaps she was really being targeted?
At this point, she had no choice but to rush onto the bus.
"Whoosh---clank!" The bus doors closed heavily.
Inside of Bus No. 256, Lin Yao turned her head to look out the rear window and saw that the man in black was still standing in the same place, and, although she couldn't see his facial features clearly or read his expression in the dark, she was quite certain that she didn't know him.
Perhaps she was just being paranoid.
The bus drove further and further away, and, after turning a corner, the black man and black car were out of sight.
Lin Yao leaned back weakly against her seat, and her lurching heart finally slowed. She felt as if she had just been saved from the brink of death.
After she snapped back to reality, she wanted to laugh and cry at the same time.
******
After the bus drove away, the yellow cab also left.
That intersection returned to quiet after a short while of clamor, and only a few orange street lights stood alone amid the dark night.
Qin Rongze stared at the empty intersection for a few seconds before snapping back to reality.
Seeing him turn around, Liang Kaiwen hurriedly opened the door for him.
Qin Rongze sat back into the car with a somber expression on his face and didn't say a word.
Liang Kaiwen discreetly glanced at Qin Rongze from the rearview mirror, and, when he caught sight of the sulky expression on his face, his lips moved slightly.
Not long ago, they had just finished a video conference with the United States' UNITEX Group.
As they passed by the rouge district, Qin Rongze suddenly asked the driver to turn around and return here. His motive was obviously to help the little girl who was being harassed by the yellow cab driver on the roadside.
Liang Kaiwen had never suspected that his chairman had such a charitable side to him.
It's a pity that the little girl didn't appreciate his compassion at all. His venerable chairman had just stepped out of the car when the girl rushed into the night bus like a frightened rabbit, and then the bus drove away.
By the looks of it, she had been truly terrified.
This was too hilarious...No!
The compassionate chairman stood at the intersection and endured the cold wind for a while. Ah, he's too pitiful!
Damn that girl!
Liang Kaiwen had finally managed to adjust his composure and facial expression to show his resentment and bitterness toward the girl.
It was still silent inside the car.
Qin Rongze didn't speak, so Liang Kaiwen and the driver dared not be the ones to break the silence.
"Ahem, chairman?" Liang Kaiwen looked at Qin Rongze's icy side profile and asked tentatively, "Are we waiting?"
Wait?
Who are we waiting for?
Didn't he just witness him getting snubbed?
Purposefully asking while knowing the answer? How rude!
Qin Rongze was fuming with rage inside, so Liang Kaiwen's question hit a nerve.
He untied his tie and said nonchalantly, "Go back to the company and finalize the co-partnership contract with UNITEX today!"
Liang Kaiwen felt at a loss for words. It was one o'clock in the morning at the moment. What had he done to deserve this?
Besides, UNITEX was a United States corporation that operated in the casual fashion industry and was one of the world's top five fashion retail conglomerates. How could a partnership with such a corporation be finalized so easily?
If he had the ability to finalize things with UNITEX overnight, would he still be a mere assistant?
At least, at least...he would have to be a senior assistant right?
Liang Kaiwen muttered discreetly.
Qin Rongze finally regained his composure and realized that there had to be something extremely urgent going on for a young girl to be out so early before dawn.
"Help me investigate that girl just now, she…"
The words were on the tip of his tongue, but he couldn't bring himself to finish his sentence because of a sudden sense of shame.
Where does she live? Why go out so early in the morning before dawn?
Qin Rongze was anxious to find out things about her, but the girl always ran away as soon as he saw her, never giving him any chance at all.
Although he had lived so many years, this was the first time he had experienced this kind of thing.
"Boss, are you for real?" Liang Kaiwen's eyes widened in an exaggerated expression of surprise. "I mean, chairman, you see, this is the first time we've seen her, and this is just a chance encounter... how would I even know where to find her?"
In this case, even saying that it was a chance encounter was an overstatement.
Liang Kaiwen grew up in the United States. He liked tall, curvy, and vivacious girls. He had no interest in petite and timid types like her, so he didn't pay careful attention to her.
Liang Kaiwen only remembered that the girl seemed to be young and not particularly tall. In short, she was basically indistinguishable from most young girls in China and there was nothing special about her. How was he supposed to find her? Where should he search?
Qin Rongze said, with some difficulty, "She, she probably works on the 23rd floor of Orlando."
Liang Kaiwen suddenly understood that this was no chance encounter. Qin Rongze had clearly had his eyes on her for a while now!
He suddenly got a bright idea."Chairman, the bus route is actually quite rigid and predetermined. If we go now, we might be able to catch up to it."
Once they had found the girl's whereabouts, the chairman would probably let him get off work right?
This was much easier than fretting over the UNITEX contract all night, at least, Liang Kaiwen thought so.
The question was, would the chairman agree with his proposal?
Wait, what did he just say to the chairman?
As Liang Kaiwen stared at the indifferent facial expression and aloofness in the chairman's eyes, his heart pounded in his chest.
What had possessed him to blank out and brazenly suggest that his chairman go chase after a bus?
Liang Kaiwen felt his career crumbling with every silent second that passed, but he still wanted to give it a last-ditch effort, er, no, a remedy. "Chairman, what I mean is…"
Just as he was about to speak, Qin Rongze also opened his mouth and said, at the same time, "Why haven't you gone yet?"
Liang Kaiwen was once again dumbfounded.