Lin Jinshen.
The marriage partner she had chosen herself.
Lu Yi was sure that the other party had not recognized her, or had only found her vaguely familiar. In short, the look had been very indifferent, as if they were just passing strangers with no other emotions.
It was only now that she realized that the hotel where they were holding the exhibition, the Huating, was a high-end luxury hotel brand under the Huayu of the Lin Group.
When they parted after dinner, Yu Yin teased, "Will I see you again?"
"Yes."
Yu Yin closed her eyes and took a deep breath, hating the fact that she had failed to convince him.
The reason for the meeting was actually quite simple. Lu Yi did not have a bad impression of Lin Jinshen. Whether it would work or not would become clear after they met and got to know each other.
"Let's go."
Yu Yin's car was a top-of-the-line Porsche 785, a supercar with the classic white exterior and red roof.
Lu Yi's car was a green British Mini, which she bought after receiving an offer from Yixing. It cost more than 300,000 yuan, which was still a bit expensive for the working class, but it was not unaffordable. Colleagues had asked if she had paid for it in full or taken out a loan, but she had not mentioned it again.
She felt comfortable driving it, and she had not driven the family's other cars much.
When she returned home, her parents were still awake.
Lu Kangcheng, Lu Yi's father, usually worked in his study, but now he was drinking tea in the living room.
Lu Kangcheng is the eldest son of the family. Since he was a student, he has helped the family run the business. Later, when the family business was handed over to him, he dared not let up. He looked after the Lu family and all the employees in the group.
However, he doesn't interfere too much in Lu Yizhe's career choice. He does not ask her to help out in the company. At this stage, he just hopes that she will do what she likes and be happy.
Lu Yizhe puts down the car keys, puts on slippers, and stays with her to watch some TV.
Lu Kangcheng has a few words for her about working overtime and asks, "Why don't you just change companies? Your Uncle Chen's son runs a cultural company, so it would be easy for you to go there and say hello."
"No need. Once this project is over, I'll have some free time, and I promise to get to and from work on time."
"That's fine, as long as you have your own ideas. Just let me know if you can't make it." Lu Kangcheng smiles and lets her go.
Lu Kangcheng's mother Xu Shuyi asked her about the alliance marriage. Even though it was an alliance marriage, she still had to like him. She said that there was no need to rush into a decision and that it would never hurt to get to know him better.
"How did your chat go?" Two days ago, Xu Shuyi had given her Lin Jinshen's contact information and asked them to chat first and set a time to meet.
Lu Yi had been busy at work these days and had forgotten about it, and the other person obviously hadn't paid attention either, as they hadn't added each other as friends yet.
To reassure her mother, Lu Yi nodded and said, "We had a good talk.
"That's good. You young people should chat more, and when you've had enough, meet again."
"Okay."
Lu Yi replied, holding the phone in her hand as she thought about finding the recommended contact and adding them.
"Get some rest early."
"Dad, Mom, I'm going to bed first."
Lu Yi went upstairs and before she opened the door, she heard the soft meow of Puff.
Puff is a three-flowered cat, picked up on a walk. It's a small one, touching the porcelain on Lu Yi, crouching with a long-term meal ticket. She was named Puff because she was thin at the time, hoping to become strong. What she didn't expect was that now the cat was just like its name, becoming a truck in the cat world. He doesn't like to move, he's sleepy, he loves to eat, and he's not picky.
It usually stays in Lu Yi's bedroom and doesn't come down easily.
Only when she returns does it meow a few times in a husky voice to let her know that it is open for business.
Lu Yi crouches down to rub Puff's head and gives him some freeze-dried chicken breasts. She can't give her too much, because Puff can't get any fatter.
She goes to the dressing room to change and to the bathroom to remove her makeup. Puff follows her with elegant cat-like steps, staring around as if inspecting the place. This is almost her daily exercise.
After the inspection, she went back to her nest and lay down.
After taking a shower, she changed into her pajamas.
Lu Yi took out her phone and saw a message from Yu Qian. Since the project acceptance was delayed, she asked how long she had waited and if Li Chengming had made her feel uncomfortable again. She replied that no, it had gone very smoothly.
Yu Qian apologized and said that she felt bad for leaving her alone during the movie.
[I'll buy you coffee when I get to work!
"Okay, thank you."
"I should thank you, Lu Yi. I want to be in the same group with you next time!"
She also sent several heart emoticons.
Lu Yi smiled and replied, "Good night. Then a notification with a red dot appeared. She clicked it to see a new friend request. The profile picture was a picture of a glacier at night, and the nickname was "Pioneer".
A pioneer?
The add path showed recommended contacts.
She left the chat box with Xu Shuyi and scrolled up to see the recommended contact.
Lu Yi's mind conjured up the image she had seen tonight: cool and distant, quite compatible with WeChat.
She put the phone down and just requested to be friends before going to bed.
There was no other reason, she just didn't want to have an awkward conversation right after adding someone as a friend.
-
Lin Jinshen returned to the Lin family late at night after finishing work.
He went to the island counter to pour himself a glass of water. Before he finished drinking it, Lin's mother, Qin Ruyun, came downstairs in her pajamas and said there was some pear soup left in the kitchen.
"Eat it before you go to bed."
Lin Jinshen knew that he wouldn't be able to sleep for a while when she said that.
The pear soup was even sweeter after being chilled, and the white porcelain spoon made a slight crunch when it hit the edge of the bowl.
Qin Ruyun asked, "How did your talk with Miss Lu go?"
"We didn't talk," Lin Jinshen replied quietly.
Qin Ruyun frowned, "Why didn't you talk? Did you not talk to her, or did she not have anything to say to you?"
Knowing her son, she thought it was either way.
Lin Jinshen finished the pear soup in two bites, pulled out a paper towel to wipe his mouth, and said, "I'm busy at work, I haven't added her yet."
"Qin Ruyun was speechless for a moment and said, "If you don't want to marry into the Lu family, your father and I can talk to the other side, but since you have decided to make contact, this attitude of yours doesn't show much respect for the girl, does it?"
"I understand."
"Don't just say you understand, we are not the only ones who have made contact with the Lu family. Qin Ruyun was very satisfied with Lu Yi, as she was outstanding in appearance, family background, and education, and had a gentle personality that made her easy to get along with, with nothing to find fault with.
"Add now."
"I'll be watching you."
Lin Jinshen looked back.
He frowned, expressionless.
Qin Ruyun always wondered what Lin Jinshen looked like in this state. Neither she nor her husband looked like that, and they had a daughter who was also a treasure. Later, she found out that they looked like her late grandfather.
Lin Jinshen took out his phone and sent a friend request under Qin Ruyun's watchful gaze.
"Add a note!" Qin Ruyun reminded him.
It was too late, the request had already been sent.
The matchmaking ended there, Lin Jinshen put down his phone and said, "You go get some rest.
The friend request never went through. He didn't really care.
The request went through at midnight, by which time Lin Jinshen had turned off the lights and gone to bed. A new dialog box appeared, the system reminding him, "You are already friends, you can start chatting.
Selene, the Greek word for moon.
He saw it in the morning, looked at it, put the phone down, got up and washed up.
-
The two of them had added each other as friends, but they only had a few chats.
Strictly speaking, there were no conversations other than the polite ones where they identified themselves.
[Hello Miss Lu, I'm Lin Jinshen.
Hello, Lu Yi.
Lu Yi thought he would say more, but that was really all there was to it. She wasn't the type to take the initiative, and since the other person didn't seem to want to continue, she didn't want to interfere. She put her phone down and went back to work.
The exhibition she was in charge of was about urban space. It was one of the most interesting projects she had worked on since she started curating. The team wanted to create a sense of spatial narrative, with the spatial design and layout closely following the theme, so that the space was not just a container, but also allowed the audience to have an immersive experience.
The use of sound, light and shadow, and scent enhances the narrative power and makes the story more engaging.
On the day of the exhibition, Lu Yi arrived early to prepare.
Her colleagues arrived one by one.
"Have you heard? Li Chengming has been kicked out of the project," Yu Qian asked in a mysterious whisper.
Lu Yi was making coffee, her eyebrows lowered and she said, "I don't know."
"Bao, how did Li Chengming suddenly catch up when he was struggling earlier? I heard that you ignored him for hours."
Lu Yi had told her in advance that whenever there was news from Party A, she should let them contact Lu Yi, and if she felt it was too loud, she could turn off her phone. She really did that, and it felt really good to turn off her phone.
After she went to work, she realized that Li Chengming had been ignored by Lu Yi when he went there, and after the matter was settled, the boss did not hold him accountable.
Then there was the matter of Li Chengming being kicked out of the project team.
It can be called a contemporary cool story.
"Bao, tell me the truth, is there someone behind you?"
As it happened, someone came over to connect, interrupting the conversation between the two. After Lu Yi finished dealing with it, she asked Yu Qian what she had just said.
Yu Qian shrugged his shoulders and laughed, "I was just joking about someone being behind you. If there really were, they wouldn't have been tolerated for so long."
Lu Yi smiled.
"This is the first time I've heard of someone being kicked out of a project when it was almost over. I couldn't stand him for a long time. He took advantage of being the client and didn't treat us like human beings. How much anger did I take from him during that time? He was angry and humiliated when he was rejected by the girl he was chasing, and he put people in a difficult position. To me, what he did was not chasing after her, it was clearly bullying."
Yu Qian was indignant and had a lot to say.
Lu Yi put a hand on her shoulder and said, "It's good that it's finally over.
Yu Qian clasped her hands in prayer, "Buddha bless, I hope the next party is a normal person.
After working until the afternoon, Lu Yi received a new message.
Pioneer: [Are you free to meet today?
It was sudden and direct. I don't know if it was an invitation squeezed in between busy schedules, or if he just happened to have this time available. Following the principle of not wasting time, he arranged this meeting that had to be had.
Lu Yi thought for a moment and replied, "I have time after work.
As for the location, Lin Jinshen asks if she would mind meeting in the coffee shop downstairs from her hotel. Of course she doesn't mind, and she doesn't even have to be in the coffee shop; she sends her location.
Lu Yi: "We're at your hotel right now.
Pioneer: "See you at the exhibition hall at 7 o'clock."
Lu Yi: "Okay."
In just one minute, the time and place for the meeting are set.
Lu Yi does not resent this efficiency. To a certain extent, they should come to an agreement. Since this is a marriage alliance, they can just do business as usual.
After work, Lu Yi had dinner with her colleagues.
One colleague said that there was a new movie with a good reputation recently, and asked her to watch it with him. Lu Yi said she had something else to do.
"What is that? Is that an excuse to turn us down?"
"Blind date," Lu Yi said calmly.
Yu Qian almost choked, her face turned red with suffocation, and she looked her up and down: "A beautiful woman of your caliber has to go on a blind date?"
"It was arranged by my family."
Not many people in the room had not been urged to get married, and they showed knowing expressions: "But aren't you two going on a blind date and having dinner together? It's not going to be a first-class miser, is it?"
"..."
Everyone looked sad, anticipating what might happen to her later.
The topic of blind dates had been brought up, and basically everyone at the table had had experiences with them. There had been many strange ones, including a stingy guy who had been nicknamed "Tissue Brother" by his colleagues. There was no reason for this nickname other than the fact that this guy even wanted to choose the paper towels at the restaurant, down to the exact number of sheets. It was a pity he hadn't studied mathematics.
A colleague asked, "Have you seen the pictures? What does he look like?"
Lu Yi nodded and said it was all right.
"That's it. The guy's photos look good, but nine out of ten of them are gay."
"..."
During the meal, the person in question didn't know that there were already several hats on his head.
Lu Yi laughed silently, which eased the tension in front of her.
-
The meeting ended, and Lin Wenjun called out to Lin Jinshen.
"Auntie," Lin Jinshen called out politely.
Lin Wenjun had short hair and had always been determined and bold in her actions. She was also a maverick and was one of the few directors at this board meeting who supported Lin Jinshen.
Lin Jinshen was willing to spend US$200 million to complete the acquisition of the boutique hotel chain KS, but the positioning of KS did not match that of Huayu. Among the dissenting voices, some thought it would damage the brand's image, while others thought it was a gamble. A rational decision would be to maintain the status quo and develop steadily.
But Lin Jinshen was determined. If the acquisition was successful, the brand portfolio would be more comprehensive, and the future growth and development of the brand would be unlimited by leveraging Huayu's existing business engine.
"Take your time, there's no rush. Fang Dong and the others are right. No one wants to ruin the Wah Yu brand. We'll continue with the plan, and I'll help mediate."
Lin Wenjun was very pleased with her nephew. He had both iron will and thunderous measures. She had nothing to worry about if she left the group in his hands.
"I understand."
The assistant brought in tea, the bitter taste of which softened the tense atmosphere at the end of the meeting.
Feeling a bit idle, Lin Wenjun asked about something she had heard some time ago: "I heard that you agreed to an alliance with Miss Lu."
"Yes."
"Have you met her?"
"No." Lin Jinshen had already put that matter behind him. His mother kept bringing it up, urging him to arrange a meeting, which annoyed him. He didn't think it was necessary to meet, as the two families could discuss and confirm the wedding date, and then choose an appropriate time to inform everyone.
Qin Ruyun was angry: "How will you know if you don't meet?"
"It doesn't matter if you like each other or not."
"Nonsense! If you're willing, the girl might not be willing. I heard that the Zhong family from Ocean City is also interested. You should meet them earlier."
Lin Jinshen still didn't take it seriously: "I know."
Qin Ruyun was sure that he was just paying lip service and didn't really care. She called several times a day.
"Your mother is also worried about you. You're not young anymore, it's time to settle down." Lin Wenyun slowly sipped her tea.
Meanwhile, Qin Ruyun's phone rang again.
"..."
Lin Wenyun guessed that it was his sister-in-law calling and spoke up for her: "You know what your mother wants, so if you don't want to be happy, at least pretend."
Lin Jinshen lowered his dark eyelashes, and after two seconds, he looked at the other person's friend, Selene, whom he remembered.
The note had not changed, so he asked if she was free to meet today.
After half a minute he got a reply.
Selene: [I am free after work.
Less than a minute later, Lin Jinshen called Qin Ruyun again to tell her that they had set a time to meet.
Lin Wenjun was quite surprised: "That was fast, you must be kidding your mother."
"No, it's just been confirmed," Lin Jinshen put the phone down, dialed the intercom, and told his assistant to cancel the rest of his schedule for the day.
Lin Wenjun smiled as he drank his tea. It was astringent and bitter at first, but then it had a sweet aftertaste. She enjoyed it and said, "This young girl seems quite interesting as well.
Lin Jinshen said, "Auntie, I'm afraid I'm going to have to trouble you with the KS takeover."
"Don't worry, I'm here. Go about your business, don't keep the young lady waiting." Lin Wenjun guessed that the two of them had a dinner date, so she didn't bother them anymore and got up to leave the office.
Lin Jinshen had already sent the address to the driver, and it was a 20-minute drive away.
Summer days are long, and it wasn't dark until 7:00 p.m.
The car slowly and steadily pulled into the hotel lobby.
Lin Jinshen looked up and saw a slender figure in front of the car window. The other person was holding a light-colored parasol with the brim tilted to cover his face. The slender figure was leaning sideways, with shapely arms, fingers holding the black handle of the parasol. A light blue skirt, thin strapped sandals, she walked with a kind of quiet beauty of the rain south of the Yangtze River.
His gaze lingered for two seconds, maybe more.
It wasn't until the other person walked up to the revolving door and the parasol dropped that she tightened the handle and closed the umbrella, revealing her face underneath.
She had just pulled her hair into a loose bun with a hairpin, with two locks at her temples, her lips red and her teeth white. Beneath her long, dark eyebrows, there were two clear, beautiful eyes, slightly flushed at the bottom, shining brightly in the reflection of the natural light.
Lin Jinshen recognized her.
They had met at the hotel yesterday, but he wasn't sure.
After meeting her, he felt that her WeChat nickname fit her perfectly.
Lu Yi didn't know that Lin Jinshen had seen her first. After she went in, she waited for someone in the lobby. She was about to send a message that she had arrived when she noticed a pair of shiny black men's leather shoes under her lowered gaze.
She looked up and met two cold, deep eyes.
Lin Jinshen was still dressed in dark formal clothes. His tall frame supported the silhouette of the suit, and his tie was by Stefano Ricci, fastened with a silver tie clip. The overall style matched his personality: cold, distant, and meticulous to the point of rigidity.
He spoke in a low voice, "Miss Lu."