Chapter 1: Hong Kong's aristocratic families value face the most

Lin Shutang first met Li Yansheng in a lecture hall at Peking University. He was a prominent entrepreneur invited by the university to give a speech, while she was a work-study staff member. Throughout the entire meeting, they didn't exchange a single word.

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The speaker on the stage finished his speech when Lin Shutang came in, holding a half-filled paper cup of cold water. It was for Li Yansheng, to collect his cigarette ash.

She hadn't been prepared because she didn't know about it. Just now, when Li Yansheng walked past Lin Shutang on stage, she smelled a faint scent of cigarettes and realized he was smoking. In a hurry, she didn't have time to find an ashtray, so she used a paper cup instead.

The hand that placed the cup was white and had very thin skin, and the bluish-gray veins on the back of the hand were clearly visible.

Li Yansheng looked up, and what caught his eye was a girl's face, paler than her hand. She looked completely bloodless, as if she would die in the next second. She wore a long black trench coat, a haphazard bow tied around her waist. She was noticeably thin, and her whole body exuded a sickly look.

The girl moved very quietly throughout the whole process. After putting down the cup, she returned to her seat on the side of the podium and stood quietly.

Li Yansheng's gaze didn't linger on Lin Shutang for long before his phone vibrated. It was a work call from someone under him. He had a lunch appointment with a business partner.

He turned his head and looked apologetically at the school leader beside him.

The school leader understood and stood up to personally escort the person out. Lin Shutang hurriedly followed, carrying her belongings. Her mission this morning was to entertain Li Yansheng.

"I still have some work to deal with today. I will definitely come and apologize next time."

"Mr. Li, you're too polite. I'd also like to thank you for your contribution to Peking University. I apologize for the inadequacy of our hospitality. I hope you will bear with me."

Li Yansheng had a faint smile on his face: "Stay, I'll drop you off here."

Lin Shutang stepped forward and handed the paper bag in his hand to the assistant next to him. The paper bag had the emblem of Kyoto University printed on it, and inside was a commemorative gift from the school.

They donated two buildings. Regardless of whether they like it or not, we still have to do what we should do to show our gratitude.

Two minutes later, the driver drove the car to the door of the lecture hall. Li Yansheng said his farewell words again before getting in the car and leaving.

Lin Shutang stood there looking at the back of the car going away, with the faint smile on Li Yansheng's face before he left still imprinted in her mind. She recalled what her friend said yesterday when she knew that she would be working as a staff member today - those wealthy families in Hong Kong value face the most, and they pay more attention to etiquette when they go out, and they will not make things difficult for others.

This is true, it is indeed so.

The lecture only lasted for the morning, and there was nothing to do in the afternoon, so the counselor asked Lin Shutang to leave.

Lin Shutang was studying philosophy, so she didn't have much to do. So, besides her studies, she usually worked part-time.

She has good grades and no one needs to worry about her thesis. When her counselor and tutor know that she works part-time, they are all supportive.

Lin Shutang took out his phone and called back: "Sister Luo, I'll be there in about ten minutes."

Sister Luo, the owner of her part-time flower shop, was very kind. Knowing that Lin Shutang was a graduate student, she didn't require her to come every day, but only said that she could help out in the shop when she had time, and that she would be paid by the hour.

Business was booming at the flower shop. Shortly after Lin Shutang arrived, the shop received over a dozen orders. Some of the orders were for home delivery, so Lin Shutang hurried out with several wrapped bouquets.

At five twenty, there was only one delivery order left. Lin Shutang looked at the map and found that it was not very far away, so he finally breathed a sigh of relief.

He was busy all morning and just had a quick bite at noon before going to the flower shop. When his nerves suddenly relaxed, Lin Shutang realized that he was so hungry that his chest was sticking to his back and he even felt a little dizzy.

She didn't dare to continue and parked her electric bike on the side of the road to rest for a while.

Maybe she was too tired today. As soon as she sat down, she felt dizzy in front of her eyes. Before she could put the candy she had peeled into her mouth, she fell to the side.

In the last moment before she lost consciousness, Lin Shutang wondered if she was going to die. If she were given another chance, she would definitely find a way to stay as far away from the Feng family as possible.

When Lin Shutang woke up, he was already in the hospital.

"You're awake." The nurse changed her IV drip: "You collapsed on the side of the road and your friend took you to the hospital."

Lin Shutang looked around the ward and didn't see anyone else. He asked, "Where is the person who brought me here?"

"I'll take you there, pay the medical bills, and then I'll leave." The nurse then pushed the cart out the door and turned back to add, "Oh, by the way, this is the last bottle of medicine. After you get this, you can leave. Also, your health is very poor right now, so don't donate blood for the time being."

“Okay, thank you!”

After the nurse left, Lin Shutang leaned on the bed and stared at the IV in a daze.

The Feng family wouldn't care about her. As for her friends, Lin Shutang only had one, her roommate. If her roommate had sent her here, no matter how busy they were, they would have sent her a WeChat message to let her know where they were going. They wouldn't have left without a word.

She just asked the flower shop owner on WeChat, and he said no.

So who sent her to the hospital?

Unable to guess who it was, Lin Shutang planned to check the surveillance footage after the IV was finished. When she reached the monitoring room, she was stopped by security, who said they had a rule not to allow outsiders in. If she really wanted to see it, she would have to call the police first, and they would bring her in.

In this case, Lin Shutang had no choice but to give up.

Elsewhere, in the hotel's presidential suite, the assistant finished reporting on his work. Thinking of today's events, he hesitated and spoke again, "The hospital said Miss Lin woke up an hour ago and left after getting the injection."

Although the boss usually does charity work, it's mostly because of his mother. This is the first time he has helped someone he met on the street without any ulterior motive.

It was also a coincidence. Beijing was so big, and he ran into the same person again in the afternoon, just after meeting him for the first time in the morning. When his boss ordered him to be sent to the hospital, he couldn't believe it, thinking he had misheard.

Li Yansheng stopped flipping through the documents and looked up at him.

The assistant explained: "It's the lady we met on the roadside today."

After figuring out who he was talking about, Li Yansheng nodded, and the scene he saw today emerged in his mind.

A young girl in her twenties fell on the lawn by the roadside, holding a bunch of scattered peonies in her hand, with a few petals fallen on the ground.

The face was buried in the hair, with only a small part of the cheek exposed, and it was so white that it was dazzling. If you didn't look closely, you would think he was lying on the grass to rest, and you wouldn't realize that he was unconscious.

The girl was not very old, but her physical condition was very poor, even worse than that of an old lady on the street. The doctor said it was due to excessive blood loss.

There were needle holes on both of her arms that had not yet healed, probably from blood draws.

The assistant thought the boss had other instructions, so he waited for a while, but when he didn't hear anything else, he quietly left the room.

After closing the door, the assistant secretly complained that he had thought that the boss might have some special feelings for this girl, but now it seems that he was overthinking it.