"Slow down... stop! Lift your foot..."
Having walked down the pedestrian bridge and standing on the crosswalk at the roadside, Ye Wan tugged on Lu Changchuan's sleeve, "Give your family a call!"
Lu Changchuan fished out his phone from his pocket.
He unlocked it, opened the contacts, and adeptly dialed the top-listed number.
Beep, beep-beep...
The call connected.
Across the street, Rong Qian watched Lu Changchuan and Ye Wan thoughtfully while his phone vibrated intensely.
Should he answer it?
Or should he, really?
A mature and sensible special assistant should efficiently guess his boss's intentions.
Aside from the old lady and the lady of the house, the ninth master had never shown any favor to other women.
This Miss Ye...
Remembering the ninth master's loss of composure that night and his docile demeanor being led down the bridge by Ye Wan moments before, Rong Qian felt entirely justified as he slipped his phone back into his pocket.
The phone rang for a long while without answer, and the man's expression remained calm, "You go ahead, I'll be fine in a while."
"Then I'll just sit with you for a bit," she insisted.
Ye Wan led Lu Changchuan to a table in front of a convenience store, then bought two bottles of water and handed one to Lu Changchuan, "Don't worry. Your family might be busy, but they'll come looking for you in a bit."
She had been eating along the way but hadn't managed to drink any water.
Ye Wan was genuinely thirsty.
After guzzling half a bottle with vigorous gulps, Ye Wan sighed in satisfaction, then turned her head just in time to see the sizzling oil at the barbecue stall next door.
A gust of wind carried the smoke and the enticing aroma of cooked meat.
Ye Wan blinked, "So, do you feel like having some barbecue?"
"No thanks..."
"No, you do!"
Setting down the water bottle, Ye Wan stood up decisively and walked over.
Coming back, she held a tray loaded with spicy skewers, their aroma tantalizing.
The lamb was fragrant, the beef tender, the rice cakes soft yet chewy, and the green beans crisp and sweet.
Ye Wan ate with gusto, and didn't forget to urge Lu Changchuan, "Try a bite, it's really delicious, smell it..."
Seeing that Lu Changchuan wasn't tempted, Ye Wan expressed her understanding, "If I were you, lost and unable to find my home, I probably wouldn't feel like eating either."
"But don't worry..."
Pounding her chest with a pledge, Ye Wan said, "I'll stay with you. But only for an hour, if your family hasn't come after an hour, I'll have to ask the police uncle to take you home."
"Okay. Thank you!"
Lu Changchuan nodded.
The girl sat less than a meter away, eating from one skewer to the next with great relish.
She sipped water to cool the burn from the spices then continued to eat with vigor.
Lu Changchuan couldn't fathom how the prominent Ye family of Sicheng raised such a... down-to-earth first beauty of Sicheng.
Remembering the moment when she clung to his waist and toppled him over, the last shred of anger in Lu Changchuan's heart dissolved completely.
Noticing Lu Changchuan's gaze on her, Ye Wan followed his line of sight to look behind her.
There was nothing there.
"Since we've met, it's a kind of fate," she said casually.
"My name is Xiaowan, what's your name?"
"Xiaowan, hello, I'm... Lu Chuan."
As soon as he spoke, Lu Changchuan hesitated internally.
From pretending not to see her when he clearly could, to pointing in the wrong direction and following her off the bridge, to now telling her a fake name.
Deceiving people like this wasn't something he would have done or scorned in the past.
Yet now, he had done it three times in just a moment.
He was...
Before Lu Changchuan could come to any conclusion, he saw Ye Wan freeze, then her eyes curled into a smile.
"While eating skewers, I've met someone named Lu Chuan. Haha, God sure has a sense of humor!"
She laughed heartily, without a trace of concern for the image expected of a beautiful woman.
A light laugh tinged Lu Changchuan's eyes.
The next instant, Ye Wan's smile vanished abruptly, "Lu Chuan, we're friends now, right?"
Without waiting for Lu Changchuan to nod, Ye Wan eagerly continued, "Since we're friends, can you do me a favor, please?"
"Please, please..."
She pleaded with hands clasped together, her voice soft and pleading.
The girl had a pair of exceptionally beautiful eyes.
Right now, they shimmered with innocence, clear as a fawn's.
Just as he spotted the black Ferrari parked by the road and the young man storming out of the driver's seat, Lu Changchuan subconsciously nodded, "Okay."
"Ye Wan!!!"
An angry voice erupted from behind Ye Wan, "Who is he?"