"Thank you. So do you." And he truly did. Red was a color men routinely steered clear of in order to avoid looking gaudy, but on him, it only enhanced his inviolable aura.
"Shall we?" He held out his arm.
She nodded and placed a hand on it.
As they walked, she asked, "Are you sure tonight will be safe?"
Li Chuanmo nodded firmly. Then he brought out a jewelry box. In it was a wristwatch designed like a bracelet . As he helped her put it on, he said, "This uses the lastest version of GOLEM. Keep it on you at all times."
"You mean you improved on it again? But when did you launch this one? I haven't heard about it."
"I only added a few features and a nano chip. And it isn't going to be launched. I designed it for you."
He had spent a few weeks working on it and thankfully, it was ready in time.
Pei Yueran was pleasantly surprised, "Oh, so I get a one-of-a-kind version? That's so sweet."
"Be careful, okay?"
"You too Chuan." She said with a hint of worry. For all they knew, he could also be a target.
Li Chuanmo nodded. He could take care of himself. The only person he was worried about was her. She was now his lifeblood. If anything happened to her...
He couldn't bear even thinking about it.
"Okay, let's go and enjoy the party." Pei Yueran said with forced cheer.
Li Chuanmo bopped her on the nose, "Don't pretend. It's obvious you don't want to go at all."
Pei Yueran's face crumpled, "Either way, I still have to go, so let's get on with it."
Just as they got to the car waiting to take them to the venue, Qiao Mingran hurried towards them.
"Yue'er, I wanted to give you this before you go," she said, holding out a jewelry box. "It was given to me by my mother, and she got it from her own mother."
"I planned to give it to you later, but I think it would look good on you tonight.
Pei Yueran hesitated, but then smiled as she took it, "Thank you."
"May I put it on for you?"
Pei Yueran nodded.
It was a set of rose gold jewelry with a simple design that matched her hair color and complemented the dinner gown she was wearing.
"It's beautiful, thank you."
"I'm glad you like it. Get going now, we'll be right behind you."
The car that was taking them to the venue was a fully armoured Rolls Royce Phantom Limo. Pei Yueran didn't recognize the chauffeur, but he was a very jovial person who started making conversation as soon as they got in.
When Pei Yueran looked questioningly at him, Li Chuanmo shrugged. This was the leader of the men on today's assignment, Charlie.
He talked about everything from the weather to the places he had seen in the Capital and Li Chuanmo put up with it, until he started to tell the story of how they met abroad.
"Did you know that Big Boss can lie without batting an eyelash? On one of the days I went to check on Fred, the police came, saying they had received a tip-off that there was a criminal hiding out in his apartment.
"Not only did he convince the police that there was no such thing, he was able to make even me believe that I was his cousin's husband that came to visit.
"He sounded so convincing that they were fooled."
"That's enough," Li Chuanmo interjected, before he immediately shut off the intercom and cut off communication.
"Isn't it rude for you to cut him off so suddenly?"
"Charlie talks far too much."
"But I was enjoying this part of our conversation." Pei Yueran said honestly. Although Charlie joked a lot, the respect he had for Li Chuanmo was clear from his voice.
She was also getting invested in the story of how Li Chuanmo saved their leader.
"I already told you the whole story earlier."
"You didn't tell it with as much details, and your version was not this engaging either." She teased.
Li Chuanmo sighed helplessly. At least it was good that she was having fun. It would take her mind off tonight's events for a while.
*****
"We're all set for tonight Boss."
"Good. Move in exactly at the time we gave on the calling card. We should be polite to the end." It was the familiar high-pitched voice.
"Roger that Boss." The man replied respectfully.
"Don't say that, you sound even more idiotic than usual."
"I'm sorry Boss."
The line went dead.
*****
The banquet had just began when Han Leifeng arrived. At the entrance, he presented the gold-embossed invitation card that Gao Tinghua sent to him and one of the staff respectfully showed him to his seat.
As it was such a high class event, the staff were very polite, careful not to offend any guest. Even the person with the least influence here could destroy an average person ten times over.
Han Leifeng took a glass of champagne proffered by one of the servers as he looked around. Since he came with an agenda, he wanted to see who was around so that he could go mingle and form connections.
The faster he spoke to those potential business partners, the earlier he could go home.
He had just concluded a promising discussion with the president of a home shopping network company when the Gao family arrived. He and the president had agreed to meeting later to talk further and even fixed a date. Han Leifeng was pleased with the progress he was making.
After the MC gave them the floor, Qiao Mingran and Gao Zhipeng went upstage.
"If I may have your attention." Qiao Mingran began, then paused until the guests were looking in her direction before continuing, "Thank you for attending this introductory banquet.
"Many of you may not know, but our elder daughter has just returned, and this will be her first introduction into society. Due to some matters that happened years ago, she didn't grow up here in the Capital and instead stayed with our relatives abroad."
This was the final version they settled with. In order to seemingly maintain peace, they didn't put out the entire story. Besides, it was the Capital. Being too truthful would only bring harm and no benefits.
Gao Zhipeng took over and said, "But now, we have decided it's the right time to have her familiarize herself with her home. So we're using this opportunity to introduce to you all our daughter, Gao Tingyue."
Applause rang out from all directions as a figure in red slowly walked onstage. Just based on her carriage, many guests nodded in appreciation, and a few heads were already calculating, planning to find out if she was still available for a marriage alliance.
Han Leifeng had no such plans. Infact, he wasn't even interested in seeing what the so-called "long lost daughter" looked like.
He was still looking around, trying to search for the next person he planned to talk with when he heard the voice he could never forget even if he died and lost all his memories.
"Good evening everyone. I am Gao Tingyue."