Chapter 30 Dinner Invitation

Zhan Lintian was still asleep, his head buried in Jiang Xia's shoulder, his arms around Jiang Xia's waist, his body swaying gently.

Jiang Xia chuckled, amused by his little gesture: "What are you doing? Hmm?"

Zhan Lintian was extremely sleepy. He rubbed his face against Zhan Lintian's neck, smelled the faint fragrance on his hair, and whispered in his ear, "How much longer?"

"Okay." Jiang Xia turned around in Zhan Lintian's arms, leaned back slightly, and held the biscuit between her index finger and thumb, gently pressing it to his lips.

Jiang Xia smiled and said, "Let's try it and see if it tastes good."

Zhan Lintian opened his mouth as if to eat, but suddenly tilted his head and gave Jiang Xia a quick kiss on the cheek; then, while Jiang Xia was in a daze, he gently sucked on the small mole on his right cheek.

The person in her arms was startled, pushed him away with both hands, and whispered, "President Zhan..."

What's your name, Mr. Zhan? Zhan Lintian frowned, as if punishing him, and tried to kiss his lips, which still tasted sweet from the cream earlier, warm and soft... making him itch with desire.

He wanted to go further, like he had imagined before, like Wu Zhou kissing Jiang Xia, to pry open his lips and explore deeper...

He wanted to see Jiang Xia blush.

He separated slightly, and when he tried to get closer again, Jiang Xia's hand suddenly pressed between the two of them.

The young man in her arms looked up and whispered, "Just this little kiss today."

Is that all?

Zhan Lintian brushed Jiang Xia's hand away and said matter-of-factly, "Is this it? We're..."

Before he could finish speaking, he suddenly stopped, momentarily at a loss for words.

We are... friends.

Hmm? A friend?

He suddenly snapped back to reality, realized something was wrong, and woke up with a start.

In the room, Zhan Lintian sat up, turned on the bedside lamp, and pressed his hand to his forehead. He had been thinking about Wu Zhou and Jiang Xia lately, and he had such a strange and absurd dream.

In my dream, I was kissing Jiang Xia's lips, and I even wanted her to open her mouth so that I could...

Jiang Xia is a man.

Zhan Lintian got up, walked to the window, and lit a cigarette. In the flickering light, he knew that Wu Zhou was a good person and met Jiang Xia's criteria for choosing a spouse.

However, he was not Wu Zhou after all, and could not guarantee that Wu Zhou was necessarily a good man.

If Wu Zhou changes his mind later, Jiang Xia will fall into the trap of the Wu family twice.

Zhan Lintian frowned slightly; the only person he could guarantee was himself…

He took out his phone to send a message, but it was 3 a.m., and his friends in China were all asleep, while people in different time zones abroad were still awake.

He didn't disturb him; after finishing his cigarette, he lay back down and fell asleep again.

I've probably been thinking too much lately, which is why I dream about it at night.

Sunlight streams into the house, signaling the start of a new day.

Before going to bed, Jiang Xia changed his work hours on the company's internal software, changing his workload to 11:00 AM to 8:00 PM.

The company allows employees to work flexibly, as long as they change their time in advance and clock in on time on the day.

When he woke up, it was already 9:30.

Jiang Xia was half asleep, her eyes blurry. When she drew back the curtains, the bright sunlight dazzled her. It had been a rare winter day with such good weather, and it would be like this for many days to come.

Because Wu Ming's engagement banquet was held outdoors, Jiang Xia specifically checked the weather after learning about it.

The Wu family had already considered this point.

After Jiang Xia got up and washed up, he heated up the baked buns from last night, ate some with milk and fruit, and regained his energy.

After finishing his meal, he changed his clothes before checking his phone for messages.

He replied to the team members' questions in the project work group: "I'll handle them all when I get to the company."

Zhan Lintian sent him a good morning animated emoji, featuring a little person exercising with their hands on their hips.

Jiang Xia replied, "Good morning."

Zhan Lintian immediately replied: "Are the baked buns from yesterday still tasty after they've cooled down? Would you like me to bake some fresh for you?"

Jiang Xia thought to himself, "He's looking at his phone so early in the morning? He must be busy, probably with work."

“It’s delicious, and there’s still a lot left. I’m going to take it to the office to heat it up today; there’s a microwave there.”

Zhan Lintian typed, and after a long time it showed "typing", he finally only sent one sentence: "You said last time that you would bake cookies for Wenwen in a few days".

"Um... not too sweet." Zhan Lintian sent another message.

“Okay, I’ll go prepare the molds and make it for her today. What kind of small animals does she like?”

"There's no need to rush."

"I don't want the children to wait too long," Jiang Xia chuckled.

Zhan Lintian chuckled: "Then I'll come and pick it up tonight."

Zhan Lintian originally wanted to ask Jiang Xia whether he liked Wu Zhou or not, and whether he liked him enough to want to date him.

But the words were on the tip of his tongue, and he swallowed them all back down.

Jiangxia News: "I'm going to work now."

Today the temperature is high, and Jiang Xia is only wearing a gray-black checkered shirt suitable for autumn.

He rarely wears dark-colored shirts, but this one has wide sleeves with tapered cuffs and a matching fabric tie at the collar, breaking the original somberness.

Worried about the wind and temperature dropping in the afternoon, he specially brought a short, thin jacket with a Cuban collar.

He put on his name tag, grabbed his briefcase, went downstairs to his car, entered the company, and resumed his work routine.

After recharging last night, Jiangxia improved her work efficiency and stopped getting bogged down in endless internal struggles, preparing for tonight's cookie-baking task.

In the afternoon, Yinghua went to the company to discuss cooperation with the leaders.

He needed two interpreters for the conference. Since Jiang Xia had already been chosen, he did a favor by contacting the relevant leaders at Jiang Xia's company and asking Jiang Xia to recommend his apprentice to help.

This also provides an opportunity for Jiang Xia to expand his network, as he can bring a trustworthy person to the meeting.

As he was leaving, Ying Hua walked to Jiangxia's workstation, leaned over the partition, and asked with a grin, "Let me ask you, what's going on between you and Wu Zhou lately?"

Jiang Xia's eyelids twitched when he heard Wu Zhou's name, but he quickly composed himself, looked up and smiled, "Perhaps it's because President Wu has been busy with Wu Ming's affairs lately. I have a good relationship with Wu Ming, so he's been paying more attention to me."

"Really? But it wouldn't be bad if you could get in touch with Wu Zhou. Wu Ming doesn't have any real power in the Wu family, and his relationships with outsiders are mostly just about partying and having fun. He can't be of much help once he leaves the entertainment industry. Wu Zhou is much more reliable."

Ying Hua is straightforward, and he was the one who took the initiative to bypass Wu Ming and privately befriend Jiang Xia.

"See you at the meeting the day after tomorrow."

Jiang Xia said, "Okay, I'll see you downstairs."

Once downstairs, Yinghua naturally asked, "You've been getting close to Zhan Lintian lately. If you're having meals or going out with him, take me with you. It's been raining so much these past few days, I'm practically turning into mold."

Jiang Xia paused for a moment before replying with a "good."

He always felt that Ying Hua's words had a hidden meaning. It seemed that Ying Hua and Zhan Lintian had a good relationship, but not that good one.

However, he didn't quite understand the intricacies of the matter. If it were in the past, he would have contacted Wu Ming to inquire about the situation...

But now... he can only ask someone else.

I can't ask President Zhan directly; what if he has secrets he can't know...?

Jiang Xia couldn't trouble Zhan Lintian, who had helped him so much. So, after much deliberation, he could only think of Wu Zhou as someone who could help him solve his problem.

He hesitated for a moment, then sent a message to Wu Zhou, briefly explaining the matter.

I thought Mr. Wu was very busy, and with a hangover from last night, he should still be resting. But I didn't expect that it would be gone for a short time after I sent the message.

Wu Zhou replied: "If you are free during afternoon tea break, we can meet and chat."

Jiang Xia pursed her lips, looking at the text. Wu Zhou was doing it on purpose.

Things that could be clearly explained via WeChat, they insist on meeting up in person to talk about.

Jiang Xia slammed his head on his desk and finally typed helplessly, "Okay, thank you, Mr. Wu."

"I'll book a restaurant near your company and come pick you up."

Jiang Xia slumped over the table, typing, his eyes glazed over: "Okay."

Team Leader Jiang was distracted, and a team member asked him what dishes he wanted for lunch.

"Jiangzu, would you like sweet and sour pork or sweet and sour fish for today's main course?"

"Team leader? Team leader?"

Jiang Xia quickly came to his senses and said with a smile, "I have an appointment with someone at noon today, so I won't be ordering from that restaurant. Could you please tell the owner to deduct my lunch bill?"

The team member made a gesture: "Okay."

When lunch break came, Jiangxia felt that the longer time passed, the better.

But hiding like a turtle won't help you escape.

He received a message from Wu Zhou that the other party's car had arrived downstairs.

Jiang Xia grabbed his coat and quickly went downstairs. Wu Zhou was still feeling unwell. The driver drove, and he sat in the back seat.

When Jiang Xia got into the car and saw his appearance, he said in a low voice, "Was the liquor I prepared yesterday too strong?"

Wu Zhou looked at him, his voice still noticeably hoarse: "No, it's something else."

Last night, after I forced Wu Ming to go home, Wu Ming had nowhere to vent his resentment, so he could only smash things at home.

Wu Zhou instructed everyone not to tell his grandfather, who was already resting.

He watched coldly as Wu Ming went mad.

“You can jump off the building, but I can only guarantee that Jiang Xia will attend your funeral.”

"But I hope that you won't cause any trouble before the engagement banquet, before I reach an agreement with the Xie family."

Wu Ming gritted his teeth and looked at his older brother with red eyes.

"I see."

This matter must be handled smoothly, and Jiang Xia must not find out... especially about Xie Xingzhang's pregnancy and abortion.

Jiang Xia strongly disapproves of premarital sex, and if he finds out...

He couldn't accept that Jiang Xia looked at him with disappointed eyes.

Wu Zhou ignored his distraught younger brother and turned away without a second thought.

Wu Ming was too exhausted to think about his brother's attitude anymore. He could only sit dejectedly on the sofa in the room. The situation had developed beyond his control. He could only comfort himself that Jiang Xia had not lost weight and even looked well, which meant that he had a good appetite recently.

Jiang Xia doesn't like to eat when he's sad, but he seems to be doing alright now, so he probably doesn't know the whole story...

Wu Ming clutched his hair, trying to calm himself down and suppress the intense unease...

An uneasy feeling spread through the car. The cramped space left Jiang Xia with nowhere to hide, and he couldn't help but think about what happened last night.

Jiang Xia said softly, "Mr. Wu, if you're really not feeling well, you should rest first. I won't bother you any longer."

He said this, nodded slightly, and prepared to get out of the car.

Wu Zhou grasped his hand and whispered, "No need, I just need to rest for a bit."

"Uncle Lin, let's go to the nearby Shike Chinese Restaurant."

"Okay, Mr. Wu."

The car started moving, and Jiang Xia had no chance to get off.

When Jiang Xia followed Wu Zhou to the private room in the restaurant, the food was about to be served.

Wu Zhou answered his questions.

"It's normal for Yinghua to get close to you."

“Yuanxing Fund, under Zhan Lintian, is a hot investment company recently.”

"Yinghua wants to attract investment from Yuanxing. As the person with the most influence at Yuanxing, he needs to strengthen his relationship with Zhan Lintian. You are the intermediary."

Jiang Xia tilted her head in confusion: "But weren't they friends before me?"

Wu Zhou chuckled and slowed his speech: "In recent years, Zhan Lintian's investment focus has mostly been on the technology sector, with very little investment in the traditional publishing industry. He wants to show Zhan Lintian through cooperation with you that this is a business that can only make money and will not lose money."

In essence, Zhan Lintian will not lose money; he may even make a profit.

However, for an investor, if he could invest his ten million in a more profitable sector and gain two million, but instead invest in Yinghua's project, his ten million would only yield a profit of one million, which would result in a loss of one million.

Therefore, Ying Hua needs to use personal connections to further reduce Zhan Lintian's sense of loss.

At least as Zhan Lintian's benefactor, Jiang Xia should be given a share of his own projects by Ying Hua, in order to reduce the sense of loss that General Zhan felt from investing in his company by improving Jiang Xia's self-worth.

After all, if Zhan Lintian wanted Jiang Xia to gain prestige in the publishing industry, simply throwing money around a million wouldn't be enough.

Jiang Xia understood the implications and thanked him, saying, "I understand, Mr. Wu."

In that case, I just need to avoid taking it upon myself to arrange the gathering.

Yinghua is a smart man, and he probably wouldn't put himself in such a precarious position.

After solving the problem, Jiang Xia breathed a sigh of relief and then realized he was hungry.

But seeing the table full of food, he said softly, "It seems like there's a bit too much."

Wu Zhou said, "I told them to make each portion a little smaller, and to make several different kinds. You can try making several different kinds."

Jiang Xia's face flushed slightly. He subconsciously thanked her and interrupted the conversation by saying he was eating.

One should not speak while eating or sleeping.

The pumpkin and red date soup had just the right amount of sweetness, which instantly whetted Jiangxia's appetite.

Then he silently covered his mouth, lowered his head and looked to the side, wondering if he would be embarrassed if he ate too much.

The food has been absolutely amazing lately.

Just as I finished eating, my phone vibrated on the table, the screen lit up, and a message popped up from President Zhan: "Are you free at noon? I'd like to invite you to lunch as a way of thanking you in advance for the cookies you made for Wenwen."

Jiang Xia hadn't replied yet, so he looked at Wu Zhou. Wu Zhou had clearly noticed him too, and said, "Don't worry about me, you can reply."

Jiang Xia chuckled awkwardly and quickly typed: "Having dinner with President Wu."

Zhan Lintian had just put on his coat when he saw this message. He narrowed his eyes and asked, "You've started talking?"

.

A note from the author:

after a while.

Wu Ming: Jiang Xia probably doesn't know yet. He has a good appetite and doesn't look as thin anymore.