"Book two seats at the Caipeng," Zichen tells his manager. They left the hall an hour ago. He is sitting on his leather chair in his office. He is excited for tonight, very excited. The fact that Shi Lian agreed to his invitation was a big success for him and he will make sure to make this evening as memorable as he can, for her, for both of them.
"Sir, I have booked the seats" his manager informs him, closing his laptop. Rong is a faithful and loyal manager Zichen can ever ask for. He has been working with Zichen for more than seven years right after he was promoted to Chairman. Zichen trusts him the most, asks tips from and questions which he is curious about. He is like a brother to him and he cares about him.
"Good" saying this Zichen glances at his watch and sighs because there are another two meetings in less than 7 minutes. Business meetings give him headaches; the blathering of those old sulky businessmen made the room feels like a vendor street shop sometimes. He nudges the bridge of his nose out of frustration and continues the work that he was doing.
**
The light wind makes her hair float sideways, revealing her fair beautiful face as she looks out of the window of the car. Shi Lian sits at the passenger seat of her car, gazing out of the car window, enjoying the scenic view of Shanghai. She told the driver to roam around the city and return after when she says. She doesn't want to go to the company now. Her head is packed with thoughts, thoughts about him, the meeting tomorrow, and the dinner. She can't believe she agreed to go to dinner with him. Her hand automatically finds her phone and she dials Evelyn's number. Within a second, Evelyn's voice fills the car. "Hey, is everything alright?"
"Yeah, fine. Just wanted to hear your voice" Shi Lian's voice comes as tired and frustrated and Evelyn is quick to catch on to that.
"Yeah, now tell me what happened that pissed you"
"My best friend" she chuckles feeling relaxed. She can share anything with her best friend and Evelyn gives her advice that works for Shi Lian. "Attended a meeting. God! It was so tiring! And then this egoistic jerk says he wants to have dinner" she rolls her eyes.
"Is he harassing you or something?"
"I guess. And I agreed to go with him, I can't be in the same room as him"
"Seriously? What the hell did that bastard do?!" she yelps furiously with a defensive tone for her friend.
"You know about the 'I-slept-with-a-stranger thing... he is the guy."
"What? Oh my lord!" she exclaims with extreme surprisement.
She knows how difficult it was for her best friend to endure it. She blames herself for not taking good care of her and leaving her alone when she knew her alcohol level is low. She curses again and again unable to comprehend what to say next.
"I know. No wonder I felt familiar when I first met him but I couldn't recognize him. I wouldn't be knowing his identity till now if he didn't volunteer to tell it. He confessed that he was the guy with whom I slept with. He searched for me shortly after I left but I have already flown to China. Gosh! Can't believe I am having dinner with him!" Shi Lian rolls her eyes, releasing her evolved thoughts that were stored for a long time.
"Why can't you just reject him? You are the heiress of Mo Corp, you hold utmost power so it's a piece of cake for you to kick his ass" Evelyn suggests.
"He holds more power than me. half of China's economic power is handled by him and his company."
"Shit! The situation looks muddy and suuckky!" she curses and panics for Shi Lian.
She wants to help her overcome this problem but what she can do? She can't do anything by sitting here in her room in America.
They talked for a while and saying each other goodbyes, she hangs up the phone and tosses it on the seat next to her. She falls again into her dreamy world, thinking about all that is happening around her. She wishes to have a solution to every problem she is having in her life.
Waking up from her daydreams, she orders the driver to take her to the company now to which the driver nodded. Her father will worry if she spends too much time alone without notifying anything. Ruxi knows that Zichen wanted to discuss something with her and that she must have told this to the Chairman now. If she takes more time, they will be suspicious of her relationship with Fu Zichen which she doesn't want anyone to find out.
**
She takes the ground-floor elevator and hops inside. Pressing the button of the floor number she waits for her destination. The elevator opens up and she steps outside, carrying some files with her which Zichen provided them during the meeting. She goes straight to Ruxi's office to keep the files in a safe place and then go to her father's. as she walks to the office, she can feel all the staff members' eyes on her, staring at her so hard as if they can produce a laser beam through their eyes. the staff's behavior towards her is the same as it was on the first day except for some who got the chance to work with her.
The staff doesn't know her identity yet, nor do they know why she is always inside Ruxi's office and frequently visiting the Chairman's office. They gossip about her, blab various things predicting what she might be doing o how she got the job.
Shi Lian is aware of their thinking but she never went straight up to their face and confront them, she just ignored them like they are nothing.
She knocks on the door of Ruxi's office and waits for a reply.
"Come in!"
With a smile, she enters inside and closes the door from behind. As she turns after closing the door, two hands grab her by her shoulder. "You have to tell everything" Ruxi demands, looking into her eyes, grabbing her by her shoulder.
"A-Alright," she says in a second and asks her to sit and talk. They both take seats, Shi Lian, at her usual place, and Ruxi sits beside her.
"Well, what do want to know?" she asks after she comfortably adjusts herself. She guesses that she might be asking about her stay with Zichen after the meeting and if her guess is right, she does not have any idea what to say. She can't just spill the truth, so she has to lie. She has no option other than to make a story to save her ass from Ruxi and her questions.
"About you and Fu Zichen" she eyes her and her expression is neutral.
"W-what about me and him?" she looks away, avoiding her gaze. Looks like she has to make up a story and fast.
"What did you both talked about after I left? I am way too curious and my soul will not sit calmly until I know what happened"
"Nothing happened. We only talked and discussed our collaboration and…" she stops halfway. She is not sure if she can tell her about the dinner or not. He asked only her to have dinner apart from all the representatives of Mo corp, this is enough to raise everyone's suspicion and Ruxi is in no way a dumb woman who won't have this thought lingering inside her head. What will Shi Lian do?
"And?" Ruxi asks with impatience.
"And he says he looks forward to our collaboration" she smiles and chooses not to tell her about the dinner.
It will be fine because this dinner will be the last dinner she is having with him. After this, she will try not to cross paths with him but that seems impossible. They are partners now and it's obvious to cross paths with one another. Anyway, she will have nothing to do with him in the future or after their partnership ends. She is determined to get far away from him but fate has made her fall into his arms again and again.
"That's all? Spill everything" she demands again.
That's all we talk ed nothing else, really" she is quick to coil her lie on her and made her believe whatever she said is true.
"I don't-" *Knock* *Knock*
"Who is it?" Ruxi yells.
The door opens and Zhang Hao appears with a knowing smile plaster on his handsome face. "The Chairman asked for Young Miss presence" states he and then turns to face Shi Lian, "Young Miss"
Shi Lian gets up and walks to Zhang Hao, he nods and Shi Lian goes to her father's office.
Zhang Hao bows lightly to Ruxi and closes the door leaving Ruxi alone before she can get Shi Lian to spill everything, again.