After she sobered up the next day, she began to think carefully about the first time she met Xi You and the familiar feeling he gave her. She then realized that it was him who was there two years ago.
The first reaction was that it was ridiculous.
Thinking back to Xi Youlin's attitude when he first met her, it now seemed that there was some clue to his reaction.
He recognized her, but she had completely forgotten him.
She instantly felt so ashamed that she wanted to find a crack in the ground to crawl into.
Why did it have to be him? "You recognized me last time at that Japanese restaurant, didn't you?" Tao Anwen stared at him intently, her arms folded across her chest, a hint of pride on her pretty face, but her tone was light.
Xi Youlin laughed and lowered his eyelids: "I thought you were pretending not to know me that time, but I didn't expect you really didn't remember. When did you remember it?"
"A few days ago, I was drunk and accidentally bumped into someone, just like when I bumped into you at the S Night Bar that year. Suddenly I realized that you were that person back then."
"Can't you change your habit of bumping into people when you're drunk?" Xi Youlin frowned subconsciously, and his ruffian words were filled with obvious displeasure.
"It's none of your business." Tao Anwen retorted instinctively.
"Tsk, Miss Tao's temper is really amazing." Xi Youlin sneered: "Then what do you mean by bringing it up now?"
"It's nothing. I just wanted to tell you in case you thought I was pretending not to know you. Don't worry, I won't hold you responsible. Don't be nervous. After all, we are all adults and this kind of thing is inevitable..."
"Inevitable?" Xi Youlin narrowed his eyes: "Ms. Tao is more open-minded than I thought. What do you mean by inevitable?"
"Why are you so troublesome? I told you today because I was afraid you might misunderstand..."
Xi Youlin rolled his eyes: "What misunderstanding? Misunderstanding that Miss Tao abandoned me after having sex with me, and was afraid of being entangled by me, so she fled two years ago. Two years later, when we met again, she didn't want to be responsible for me, so she drew a line?"
The conversation was getting more and more off track, and Tao Anwen could hardly understand it.
"Xi Youlin, explain yourself clearly. What do you mean by I abandoned you and ran away, and I don't want to be responsible for you?" Tao Anwen asked angrily.
"So you want to be responsible for me?"
The anger that had just burst out of Tao Anwen was completely extinguished by his question, leaving her speechless.
Just then, a group of high-spirited teenagers, wearing black and white school uniforms, came up from behind. One or two of them were spinning basketballs in their hands, walking backwards and chatting and laughing with their friends.
Seeing that the boy who was dribbling the ball was about to hit Tao Anwen, Xi Youlin instinctively grabbed her wrist and pulled her into his arms. The cigarette butt between his fingers fell to the ground. He hugged her waist, gently turned her, and protected her in his arms.
The boy bumped into Xi Youlin's shoulder and immediately turned around to apologize. Especially when they met his sinister peach blossom eyes, they shuddered and their apology became more sincere.
Xi Youlin had no intention of arguing with these teenage kids, and signaled with his eyes to let them go.
When she was held in his arms, a familiar minty scent wafted through her nostrils. Tao Anwen was startled. When she saw his warning look towards the young men, her heart moved slightly and she slowly withdrew from his arms.
His arms felt empty, and Xi Youlin withdrew his gaze, looked at her profile hidden by her hair, raised his eyebrows, and pulled her directly to the parking lot.
"Xi Youlin..."
Tao Anwen frowned and was about to resist, but he suddenly let go of her hand.
Xi Youlin turned around and looked at her, his beautiful peach blossom eyes filled with unpredictable emotions: "Is your Tao family planning to form a marriage alliance with the Rong family in the near future?"
Tao Anwen raised her hand to hook her hair, then looked up at him, without denying it, but remained silent.
"You want to get married?"
"Whether I want to get married or not is not that important." A faint smile appeared on Tao Anwen's lips.
"With the strength of your Tao family, you actually look up to the second branch that was kicked out by the Rong family. Chairman Tao is so famous, he shouldn't be so confused, right?"
"He is not stupid. He can calculate everything to maximize his benefits. But he has a fox spirit who is good at talking to him. Even though Rong Chong was kicked out of the Rong family, he is still named Rong, and Rong Yi is liked by Old Lady Rong. Marrying a daughter and tying him to the Rong family is a good deal for him."
Xi Youlin's brows darkened, and his handsome face showed an unclear emotion. He leaned back on the hood of the car, took out a cigarette box from his trouser pocket, took out a cigarette and put it between the corners of his lips. Just as he was about to light it, the cigarette box was snatched away.
Tao Anwen also took out a cigarette from her pocket and placed it between her red lips. She leaned over, lit the cigarette, took a deep breath into her lungs, and slowly exhaled gray smoke rings.
"Are you still smoking?" Xi Youlin glanced at her skillful smoking technique and asked with a lowered eye.
Tao Anwen tilted her head and shrugged nonchalantly: "It's just smoking a cigarette, is it that difficult? I can also fight. I've been doing this since I was in school."
It seemed that from the moment Chen Man entered the door, she had been implementing the word "bad kid" until now, and she has not been able to completely eliminate this temper.
I guess this life will be difficult.
Xi Youlin glanced at her leisurely and nonchalant face, reached out to snatch the cigarette from her lips, took a deep breath, and threw it on the ground to annihilate it: "You practiced Taekwondo to get a red belt just for fighting?"
"Do you want to try it out in practice?" Tao Anwen asked unhappily after her cigarette was taken away.
"Tao Anwen, for you, can you marry anyone?"
"Why are you asking that?"
"Actually, I'm the same as you. It doesn't matter who I marry."
Tao Anwen frowned: "What do you mean?"
"What do you think, if our Xi family and the second branch of the Rong family propose to your Tao family at the same time, which family will your father favor?"
Seeing his amused expression, Tao Anwen's surprise flashed across her eyes, and she was more puzzled: "Xi Youlin, what do you mean?"
"It means that Rong Yi wants to marry you, but there is no way. I want to marry you."
Tao Anwen: “…”
"Are you okay?" She was speechless for a while, looking at him as if he were a retard.
If you have nothing to do, go eat some Lycoris Radiata!
"You think I'm kidding?"
"What else? What's the benefit of marrying me? Don't say it's because of our brief romance two years ago. That's not worth mentioning, okay? I think you, Third Young Master Xi, have had a lot of this kind of experience."
"A lot?"
Xi Youlin rolled his eyes with a sneer, stood up angrily, and then suppressed his anger. He took out a business card from his pocket and stuffed it into her hand: "Fuck... Believe it or not, forget it. Think about it yourself, do you want to marry Rong Yi or me, and contact me when you have thought it through."
After that, he walked to the driver's seat, opened the door, and paused for a moment: "You don't have to think about why I want to marry you. You just need to know who you marry will be better and more helpful to you."
Tao Anwen frowned, looking at the business card in her hand, stunned for a moment, and asked in a mysterious way: "If I think it over and decide to marry Rong Yi, do I need to inform you?"
"I say, Tao Anwen, are you stupid? Or do you want to piss me off to death? In what way am I inferior to Rong Yi? Regardless of family background, looks, or talent, I am far better than Rong Yi."
Seeing him counting his own advantages on his fingers in frustration and looking very arrogant, Tao Anwen couldn't help but cover her lips with her business card and laughed.
"What a joke."
Xi Youlin looked at her smiling face, and the anger in his heart instantly disappeared, and he muttered sullenly.
Tao Anwen suppressed her smile and asked, "Are you serious?"
"What?"
"Marry me."
"Otherwise? Do you think I'm joking?"
"Didn't you say last time that I'm far from your type?"
"It's still a long way to go...hiss, Tao Anwen, let go, let go, it hurts..."
Xi Youlin had just finished speaking with confidence when Tao Anwen, with murderous intent in her eyes, grabbed his arm and pulled it back, causing him to cry out in pain with his teeth bared.
"Not even close. You still want to marry me. Is there something wrong with your brain?" Tao Anwen shook off his hand angrily, glared at him and cursed.
Xi Youlin stood firm and rubbed his arm that she had almost broken: "Rong Yi and I don't have a good relationship, I just want to ruin his marriage."
"that's all?"
"What else?"
Tao Anwen rolled her eyes and turned away without saying a word.
Seeing this, Xi Youlin immediately stepped forward and grabbed her: "Hey, why are you running?"
"So, you just use me as a tool to take revenge on Rong Yi, right? Then you don't have to wait for me to think about it. I can tell you the answer right now. I choose Rong Yi. Even if the second branch of the Rong family is a dangerous place, I will jump into it without hesitation."
Seeing her overwhelming anger, Xi Youlin quickly walked over again and stood in front of her.
"Get out of the way." Tao Anwen stopped and raised her hand to hit him: "Do you believe me..."
But when she was halfway through swinging her hand, he clamped it: "Are you still excited?"
Tao Anwen subconsciously bent down and turned to break free from his hand, and punched him again, but was blocked by Xi Youlin.
After several rounds, Tao Anwen didn't gain any benefit at all. Seeing Xi Youlin's leisurely look, she was very angry. She didn't expect Xi Youlin's skills were also good.
In the end, she had no choice but to step on his foot unexpectedly with her high heels.
"hiss……"
Seeing that he suffered a loss, Tao Anwen felt relieved.
"Rong Chong had a project that was in deficit some time ago. I specially asked someone to check it out. On the surface, the project was in deficit, but there was actually a mystery. He later wanted to find John from M&K International to cooperate with him, so he could cover up the dirty side of his project. But John didn't think highly of him at all, so he set his sights on your Tao family."
"He is clearly trying to drag your Tao family into this trap. Once your Tao family gets on this pirate ship, it won't be difficult to get out with Chairman Tao's methods, but it will inevitably get you into trouble."
Xi Youlin calmed himself down, suppressed the pain, and spoke slowly. Every word he spoke fell clearly into her ears, shocking her deeply.
She frowned. She knew there must be interests involved, but she never imagined that Rong Chong wanted the Tao family to pay for him, so he chose the marriage.
"This loss-making project of his is no secret in the industry. It's only a few hundred million, Rong Chong can still afford to lose it. Even if your Tao family knows about it, you won't take it to heart. But...what if the law is involved?"
The reason why Taoyuan can maintain its position as one of the four major families in Beidu through the wine industry is nothing more than its reputation over the past century. In addition, Tao Hongmin’s business acumen has made the word of mouth Taoyuan go international and even to the world.
Once Tao Yuan's reputation is damaged, there will definitely be great turmoil, so over the years, Tao Hongmin has always paid great attention to the company's image and will not tolerate any damage.
Not to mention the legal implications.
"You said it was to ruin Rong Yi's marriage, but I actually had two considerations. One was to stop the loss for your Tao family in time, so that your century-old foundation would not be ruined by Rong Chong, that rat shit. Isn't that a pity?"
"Secondly, Xi and Tao are both from the four major families in Beidu. A marriage between the two families has only advantages and no disadvantages. It is also the most suitable. My family makes cars, and your family makes wine. There is no conflict of interest in business, but we can use each other's reputation to move to a higher level. Why not do it?"
Tao Anwen pursed her lips, thinking that there was some truth in what he said.
Such a marriage is actually the best outcome for her current situation.
Since marriage is inevitable, why not choose your own marriage partner?
Xi Youlin was a little fickle, but there was no real relationship between the two of them. She could totally live their own lives after marriage, and he could be as fickle as he wanted.
Moreover, if Chen Man knew that the other party was from the Xi family, she would probably be so embarrassed that she would turn green, right?
Xi Youlin has a good relationship with Rong Zhan. He can be a powerful backer for himself, and also a sharp blade to stab Chen Man and her son.
Indeed, why not?
"What do you think? Do you still want to jump into Rong Yi's fire pit, or throw yourself into my arms?" Seeing that she was thinking so seriously, Xi Youlin spread out his hands confidently and asked with a smile.
Tao Anwen rolled her eyes at him with disdain: "Is this your own idea, or your Xi family's idea?"
"My idea is also the idea of our Xi family. My mother will not object, and my eldest brother will also agree."
"Then when will you come to propose marriage?"
"What date did you choose?"
"This Sunday?"
"So anxious?" Xi Youlin raised his eyebrows with a smile, but couldn't help but said, "It seems that you still want to marry me."
Tao Anwen waved her hand as if to attack, but Xi Youlin raised his hand to block his face: "Don't hit people in the face."
Tao Anwen suppressed her laughter and took her hand back: "I'll wait for you at Tao's house on Sunday. Now I'm leaving."
Xi Youlin raised his eyebrows, looked at her back as she got into the car, and snapped his fingers leisurely: "Okay, next... we have to go back and pick an auspicious day to get married first."
(End of this chapter)