Their restaurant booking was for seven but Li Zixun was already waiting for Su Qiao when she arrived on the dot. It was the new fancy Michelin three-star with fusion cuisine that she'd made a mental note to check out one day so this was a nice surprise of sorts. She hoped that the conversation they were about to have wasn't going to be so aggravating that she wouldn't be able to enjoy the food.
The private room that Lin Zixun had requested had a gorgeous view from its ceiling-to-floor windows overlooking the river that coursed through the centre of the city. The sun had already set and the evening skyline was full of city lights against a backdrop of an indigo horizon. This restaurant insisted on a casual elegant dress code and Lin Zixun had traded his jacket for a waistcoat that was of a dark grey with a faint silver paisley print. On a less confident individual, it might have appeared frivolous and over-the-top but he pulled it off with a natural flair that Su Qiao could admire.
Lin Zixun turned to greet Su Qiao when the waiter led her through the door. Perhaps out of politeness, he'd yet to take a seat and was standing by the windows when she entered. She didn't miss how his eyes brightened when he caught sight of her in her simple sleek black dress.
"You're beautiful, Ms Su," he said, frank with his compliments the way his brother never was. For the nth time since dumping Lin Zizhou, Su Qiao marvelled at her bad taste. What exactly had she seen in Lin Zizhou? The man was cold, taciturn, and stingy with his affections. Whenever she dressed up for him he'd either failed to notice her efforts or commented on them like they were part of an employee's quarterly performance evaluation.
Why had she ever found that attractive? Was it just because of the influence of the novel or had she really been in love with such a boring man?
She flashed him a hint of her dimples as she returned the compliment. The waiter tried to help her with her seat but Lin Zixun took over his task smoothly before taking his place across from her. The last couple of times Su Qiao had met him, the atmosphere between them had been strange, but tonight, it was surprisingly genial as they made their respective orders and waited for the sommelier to finish introducing their wine and leave them alone before delving into the reason for this meeting.
"I've heard the stories about Lin Zong's direct approach to business negotiations and found them very inspirational." Su Qiao was the one to broach the subject. In the past, she might have bothered with keeping up appearances by engaging in niceties first but Lin Zixun gave her the vibe that he wouldn't begrudge her if she skipped over the meaningless talk. "I trust that Lin Zong would be happy if we went straight to the point?"
Lin Zixun grin was boyish. He was six or seven years older than her, if she recalled correctly, but so much livelier than his younger brother was. She might be falling into that age-old habit of traditional families by constantly comparing the two siblings but it was irresistible, especially when her favourite hobby now was to spitefully nitpick at her ex's faults.
"If Ms Su insists," he replied.
He held up his wine glass to toast her and she responded in kind, bringing the rim up to her lips after to take a sip—
"Will you marry me?"
Su Qiao's wine promptly found the wrong pipe. She choked and spluttered, Lin Zixun rescuing her glass from her slack fingers as she grabbed the napkin from off her lap to cough into.
She could hear his quiet chuckling. The bastard must have done it on purpose, for the shock factor more than anything.
Shooting him a mild glare, she regained her composure as quickly as she could. "Just so you know, you're not endearing yourself to me."
"My bad," he apologised but she doubted that he was as contrite as he looked. "I was merely trying to obey Ms Su's wishes."
"So you were. I'll get to the point too then; the answer is no." She showed up to make a deal, she didn't show up to deal with nonsense. If this was all Lin Zixun was going to offer, then it was a mistake to even consider him as a potential ally.
But Lin Zixun didn't seem fazed by her blunt refusal. He graciously refilled her water glass before leaning back in his seat. The dim, intimate lighting cast shadows on the sharp planes of his face and Su Qiao once again detected that undercurrent of danger that he was so capable of disguising at will, under that harmless friendly facade of his.
"Ms Su hasn't had much business experience yet, I'm guessing?" he asked seemingly out of nowhere.
Su Qiao raised a slender eyebrow. "Lin Zong's point being?"
"While it's good to maintain a firm stance on your position, a flat-out refusal right at the start will more likely than not close all your opportunities before you even learn about them." His tone was light, as though he was just having a casual conversation with one of his company's interns instead of just proposing the most ridiculous suggestion Su Qiao had ever heard.
Quite literally proposing.
"Even if you aren't keen on the suggestion, the most effective move at such an early stage in the discussion isn't to say no, it's to ask why."
She met his eyes firmly. After weeks of unusual behaviour from him, such as how he went from avoidance to making sudden contact or all the subtle things he'd been doing in the background to help protect her, Su Qiao had to admit that the slight niggling interest she had in his motivations had developed into a burning curiosity.
"All right, I'll indulge you," she replied. "Why?"
Lin Zixun's nod was pleased. "I'm glad you asked. Consider the benefits of such an arrangement, Ms Su. You'll receive a loving husband willing to support you in any of your endeavours and I'll receive a loving wife that'll put my old grandfather off any future attempts at matchmaking me."
"I wouldn't be so sure about 'loving'," Was Su Qiao's wry retort. "And really, is that the only reason? Let's be honest with each other, Lin Zong. Not so deep down inside, I'm very superficial. Not to mention petty, vengeful, and ambitious. Are you sure these are the qualities you'd like in your ideal spouse?"
She didn't expect him to be put off by her list of adjectives and sure enough, he didn't so much as bat an eyelid. "Who is Ms Su directing those feelings towards?" he asked cheerfully. "That new stepsister of yours? The Su Family? My brother?" He toyed with the stem of his wine glass, rolling it casually between his thumb and index fingers, the small gesture distracting Su Qiao momentarily before she forced her thoughts to focus.
"And what of it?" She rested her chin on her hand as she observed him intently, trying to look for any tells that might give away his true emotions on the matter. "If I tell Lin Zong that I want to inherit the Su Family, that I want to drag our beloved siblings off their pedestal for good, what are you going to say in return?"
Lin Zixun's fingers stilled. His eyes were very dark as they bored into hers. "I'd say, it would be a pleasure working with you."
His reply was so soft that Su Qiao had barely caught it but although she schooled her expression into impassivity, she alone knew just how tempting his offer was.
A quiet laugh spilt from her lacquered lips. "Lin Zong doesn't sound like a good older brother," she joked with a hint of mockery.
Lin Zixun inclined his head in acknowledgement. "Ms Su doesn't sound like a good older sister too," was his flippant reply. "Clearly, we're meant to be."
Su Qiao's scoff was amused. "Your idea of a match made in heaven is a mutual desire to ruin other people's lives?"
"Only certain named individuals," Lin Zixun replied modestly. "And I never said anything about this match coming from heaven."
True. Su Qiao was no angel and she was certain that Lin Zixun wasn't either. She drummed her fingers on the table and allowed herself to consider his bizarre proposal seriously for the first time since hearing it.
"It's a win-win," Lin Zixun coaxed, as though he could tell that she was relaxing her hard stance. He probably could read her better than she could him and Su Qiao vowed to work on this so that he would have less leverage on her in future negotiations. "We'll collaborate where necessary but respect each other's decision-making space as equals should, of course."
Su Qiao hummed. "A win-win deal is alluring," she conceded. As far as she could see, there were obvious benefits for both of them and the losses existed in tandem too, the biggest one probably the hit their reputations would take in their shared social circle. Getting together with her ex-fiancé's brother shortly after breaking off her engagement was the sort of scandal that would have left her reeling in her previous lifetime.
It was rather exciting now. She would like to see her father's reaction. She would love to see Lin Zizhou's.
But marriage…sounded like they were taking things one step further than necessary. "I would like to suggest a compromise, however."
Lin Zixun smiled amicably. "I'm all ears."
"A fake marriage will have too many troublesome logistics. Since prenups are enforceable in our country, we would have to get those sorted to protect our individual assets, which surely you would be amendable to, as the richer party in this negotiation. Divorce would also be messy both in terms of the court process and also how we're going to sell our 'falling out' to our respective families." She tried to present this to him in a rational fashion. The Lins, as far as she knew, had an incredibly traditional clan head and if Lin Zixun's main purpose of forming an alliance with her was to appease his grandfather, the stigma of their inevitable divorce was going to be counterproductive.
Lin Zixun listened to her talk. He didn't interrupt, gave her appropriate voice cues to show that he was paying attention, and even helped her to pick up where she left off when the waiter interrupted with their starters.
"Therefore, I'd like to suggest a fake dating scenario instead," Su Qiao concluded. "The aftermath would be far simpler to handle." After how acquiescent he'd been for the duration of her explanation, she fully expected him to agree without much fuss.
But she'd underestimated his knack for defying her expectations.
"I think Ms Su is mistaken." Lin Zixun cut into his fresh scallops, which were marinated in white wine, ginger, and paprika. "It wasn't my intention to invite you to parade a fake relationship in front of everyone with me."
He paused momentarily before continuing. "I was perfectly serious when I asked you to marry me just now. I still am."
"..."
Blinking innocently at her aghast, he gestured towards his plate. "Would you like to try some of my entrée?"
"..."
She most certainly would not.