Chapter 47 Amber: The way you look at her is like something you've done hundreds of times...
Ningjiu never imagined this.
He will come back after he leaves that night.
But after that absurd, dreamlike experience, the mark between her legs shattered her self-comfort, and now a kiss of unknown origin has left Ning Jiu feeling genuinely confused.
The final day of the summit.
"Your boyfriend arrived much later than I expected."
"......"
The burning marks on her inner thighs, pressed against his, felt faintly warm, telling her that what happened last night was not a dream, but real and passionate.
The tears welling up in his eyes as he leaned on her shoulder were so obvious that Ning Jiu admitted that for a moment she was truly swayed by him when he spoke of Xiao Bai.
But the summer breeze that blew in from the terrace where they were embracing at night was surprisingly cool, even though it was the hottest season.
Ning Jiu couldn't help but wonder if everything from discovering the bite marks that had inexplicably appeared between her legs that morning to being pulled into a kiss on the terrace was part of his plan.
She heard the sound of the door opening outside, and her back tensed instinctively. Everything returned to the cruelest reality. Her gaze swept over the man's composed expression, and she laughed self-deprecatingly.
real......
I almost got scammed by him.
Through the door, Ning Jiu could almost hear Su Ming anxiously asking Lian Zhuoxun for directions. It was normal for him to feel surprised and worried when the phone call was suddenly cut off.
As Qiao Bolin watched, the girl, who had been at a loss, calmed down in a short time. Without hesitation, she quickly distanced herself from the two, straightened her skirt, and wiped away all the smudged lipstick from her lips in one smooth motion.
He just watched her do all of this quietly from beginning to end.
In the corridor, Lian Zhuoxun saw Su Ming trying to go to the terrace after hearing the noise. Remembering that Qiao Bolin was still there, he quickly reached out to stop him, but Su Ming acted as if he hadn't heard him and opened the terrace door.
The night breeze, carrying the sound of cicadas, swept over them. The dim yellow wall lamp cast two long shadows, which were spaced a short distance apart.
Lian Zhuoxun stood aside, feeling that the atmosphere between Qiao Bolin and Ning Jiu was a bit strange, but he couldn't figure out what had just happened, so he didn't dare to speak up.
Su Ming subconsciously cast a hostile glance at Qiao Bolin. Ning Jiu noticed his hesitation and approached him without hesitation to soothe his emotions.
“I’m fine,” she said, naturally crouching down to pick up her phone from the floor. “I was trying to make a call from the terrace, but I tripped over the carpet and the call dropped. I hope I made you worry.”
Compared to her indifference and estrangement towards Qiao Bailin, the care and intimacy she showed towards him were clearly more obvious.
Su Ming's throat tightened, and the anger that had been building up inside him dissipated considerably thanks to Ning Jiu's perfectly timed reassurance.
“So that’s how it is,” he said, noticing the gazes of Qiao Bolin and Lian Zhuoxun. He intentionally or unintentionally moved in front of Ning Jiu, subconsciously asserting his dominance. “When I heard you hang up, I thought you had run into some trouble. I’m glad you’re alright.”
We have indeed encountered trouble, and it's quite significant.
Feeling the burning gaze behind her, Ning Jiu responded softly, preparing to leave with Su Ming, when she was stopped by a clear male voice behind her.
"Miss Ning, what about the answer to the question we discussed earlier?"
"......"
The surroundings were so quiet that even the sound of the wind could be heard clearly. Ning Jiu stiffly turned around, but Su Ming, who was beside her, spoke first.
"What's the problem?"
Ning Jiu had known him for a long time and could sense the wariness hidden beneath his polite tone.
Qiao Bolin may not have noticed, or he may have noticed but simply didn't care.
“I was talking to Miss Ning about…” He paused for a moment before continuing, “about the banquet to be held at the summit tomorrow.”
As soon as he finished speaking, the atmosphere relaxed considerably. Su Ming seemed to have been reminded of something and turned to look at Ning Jiu.
"Xiao Jiu, are you interested in the dinner party?"
On the last day of the EZGT Summit, the organizers will host a grand gala at the adjacent winery, which all participating guests and professors are welcome to attend.
It is said that the banquet following the last summit was so lavish that it was breathtaking, and the budget for this summit is twice that of the previous one.
Su Ming was actually quite interested in the banquet, but if Ning Jiu left early because she wasn't feeling well, he would rather go back to Shanghai with her.
Hearing Su Ming's surprised voice, Ning Jiu gritted her teeth and looked up, meeting Qiao Bolin's calm, dark eyes.
He was threatening her.
He dared to attend the banquet, or expose their affair—he dared to do those things when the three of them were in the lounge before, so what wouldn't he dare to do now?
Ke Ningjiu couldn't understand what he wanted to do by going to such lengths to get her to attend the banquet.
Having made Qiao Bolin's point, Ning Jiu could only acquiesce for the time being.
The following evening, she changed into a suit sent in advance by the organizers. The light pink dress was fitted and the hem swayed slightly as she walked, adorned with tiny crystal beads that reflected a faint halo under the lights.
The already bright pink color made her snow-white skin even more radiant. Her beautiful shoulder and neck lines were clean and smooth, and her collarbone was faintly visible, like a thin layer of morning glow on the surface of ice.
When Shang Lin saw Ning Jiu enter the venue arm in arm with Su Ming, her eyes lit up and she couldn't help but laugh.
"Sweet wine, you look great in pink."
Su Ming, dressed in a well-fitting light gray suit, followed Shang Lin's gaze and saw the girl's snow-white skin and swaying skirt under the crystal chandelier. He felt his breath catch in his throat slightly.
Perhaps only Ning Jiu herself doesn't know that her lively and carefree demeanor at this moment, if she inadvertently falls on someone's gaze, regardless of whether it contains any emotion, is enough to shake their heart.
And this very person is now holding his hand.
As soon as Su Ming thought about it, his eyes darkened, and he turned his gaze to the dance floor in the center of the hall. When he wanted to invite Ning Jiu to dance, she seemed to see something, and a look of surprise flashed across her face.
"I think I just saw someone I know," he said, though he wasn't sure himself. "You guys wait here for me, I'll be right back."
Su Ming felt the soft touch on his wrist loosen, and the girl who had been holding his arm lifted her skirt and walked towards the corner dining table, leaving only her slender and graceful back.
After entering the winery hall, Ningjiu vaguely saw a familiar figure in a corner.
At first, she thought she was seeing things, since the person had clearly boarded a flight to Paris, but upon closer inspection, it really was Pei Yueli.
"Weren't you on a business trip to Paris? What are you doing in Potsdam?"
When Ning Jiu met the woman's bright eyes, her first reaction was surprise.
Pei Yueli was eating a small cake on the table, her emerald green high-slit mermaid dress dazzlingly beautiful. When she saw Ning Jiu arrive, her mouth was still puffed out. After searching around the table, she familiarly took out a piece of Ning Jiu's favorite cherry pudding for her.
"My boss is sick."
Concise and to the point.
“It was supposed to be a fashion show in Paris, but suddenly they said they had something to do and had to fly to Germany today. If they were going to fly, they would have, but they insisted on dragging me along,” she shrugged, a working person’s unspoken suffering. “But then I thought, you’re here too, so it doesn’t matter.”
Ning Jiu roughly knew who Pei Yueli meant by "boss".
Yu Kelin (Karin) is the son of the head of the Asia-Pacific region of Kailin Group and the prospective successor to the next leader of the Asia-Pacific region.
Kailin Group, a world-leading high-end fashion group headquartered in France, has been expanding its business in the Asia-Pacific region in recent years, and has almost occupied half of the fashion and design field.
"Kailin Group has been gaining momentum in Greater China recently, and the group's stock has been rising continuously."
Ning Jiu took a spoonful of the cherry pudding in her hand. The taste was different from what she usually ate, but it was sweeter and more to her liking. Just one bite, and her mood improved.
"Such a good job paired with a crazy boss?" She put herself in Pei Yueli's shoes and weighed the pros and cons for her. "Should we try switching departments?"
“He’s the one who decides whether to change departments,” Pei Yueli said through gritted teeth, glancing in a certain direction before looking away. “Fine, let him be sick if he wants. Once my job is stable in a couple of years, I’ll apply to go to the European or North American region, and then I can get rid of him.”
Ning Jiu then recalled the large order she had seen from Dou Miao a few days ago.
"By the way, your company..." she trailed off, "...has there been any recent demand for psychological counseling?"
“I’m just a junior employee, orders of this level don’t even come to me,” Pei Yueli thought Ning Jiu wanted to start with Kailin to see if there were any new opportunities for the studio. “I’ve been having a bit of a falling out with my idiot boss lately, but I’ll definitely ask around for you in a while!”
Ning Jiu gave a soft "hmm," becoming increasingly certain that the order was most likely a scam.
On the second floor of the winery, on the railing with sheer curtains hanging down, a handsome man with mixed-race features raised his hand to stop the waiter from pouring him more wine. After the waiter left, only the two of them remained on the railing.
His impeccable face is like a work of art among Parisian treasures. His sharp and delicate features combine the softness of the East with the strength of the West. He has a charming gentleness when he talks and laughs, but when he is reserved, he is like a sharp blade that makes people afraid to approach him.
Yu Kelin glanced at the corner downstairs with amusement. It was only a glance, but he felt an extremely oppressive gaze sweep over him, so he slowly withdrew his gaze.
"She has very beautiful eyes."
His French was spoken with elegance and composure, and his words were a heartfelt compliment.
Amber pupils are the closest to golden pupils among pure Asians and are extremely rare.
Ning Jiu's eyes were already strikingly bright in high school, though they were brownish-yellow in color. As she grew up, her pupils gradually lightened, becoming more golden-brown, and they shone especially brightly under lights.
Qiao Bolin, who was beside him, did not respond. The veins on the back of his hand were slightly bulging. Yu Kelin chuckled and was not disappointed by Qiao Bolin's avoidance of the topic. Instead, he took the opportunity to bring up another topic.
"You know, sometimes the eyes are more honest than the mouth."
The probing words should have been left unsaid, but Yu Kelin caught a glimpse of Qiao Bolin's unmoved expression out of the corner of his eye, which only made him more curious.
"I can't see you in her eyes, but you see it in hers—"
It's like you've done it hundreds of times.
Yu Kelin ultimately didn't say the second half of his sentence.
From the moment that person entered the banquet, Qiao Bailin's gaze never left her.
The sheer fabric subtly outlined the girl's graceful figure, like moonlight emerging from the morning mist. Her pale pupils shone even brighter due to the refraction of light, like starlight shimmering under the moonlight.
Not only did Su Ming glance in her direction from time to time, but many of the guests in formal attire also unconsciously focused their attention on her. She, however, was oblivious, chatting and laughing with Pei Yueli, leaning forward on the table, her swaying skirt revealing a slender section of her ankles, making her skin appear even whiter.
It was as if the moment she appeared, the pent-up restlessness of the past five years would surge forth like a spark igniting a fire. Qiao Bolin withdrew his gaze, noticing his fingers beginning to tremble slightly. He subconsciously wanted Lian Zhuoxun to offer him a cigarette, but Yu Kelin keenly sensed his unusual behavior. The playful expression on his face instantly turned serious, and he reached out to stop him without hesitation.
"Now that you can see her, she won't want you to end up like this."
Lighting a cigarette not for the pleasure of smoking, but simply holding it in your hand until it burns out and letting the white smoke be inhaled into your lungs—what's the difference between that and slow suicide?
After listening to Yu Kelin's words, Qiao Bolin looked expressionlessly at his right hand, which was trembling even more violently, and only gave a self-deprecating smile.
“You’re wrong,” he said firmly. “She won’t care about me.”
He was never that important to her.
“But you won’t let go.” Yu Kelin understood Qiao Bolin’s personality.
"I won't."
So... here's the question.
"But you also know that she has a boyfriend now."
Yu Kelin's expression became meaningful.
"What are your plans next?"
Near the wine tasting area on the first floor of the winery, Su Ming took a glass of white wine from a waiter and drank it absentmindedly, glancing at the corner table every now and then. Suddenly, he heard a loud exclamation coming from the dance floor in the center. Looking in the direction of the sound, he saw that a couple who had been dancing just now had suddenly knelt down on one knee and proposed to each other.
Proposing at the winery dinner following the successful summit was undoubtedly a grand and romantic moment. The surrounding guests were caught off guard, but after they came to their senses, they cheered for them. The woman accepted the proposal with tears in her eyes, and the man cried tears of joy. He carefully put the ring on the woman's finger, and the two shared a deep kiss, pushing the atmosphere to a climax in a short time.
The wine glass in Su Ming's hand was gently tapped, making a crisp sound. He turned his head and saw a tall, silver-haired boy standing beside him. His handsome and refined face seemed familiar, but he couldn't quite place who he resembled.
"Hello Mr. Su, I am a staff member of Null-J Tech. You can call me Nolan."
Chu Jingnian observed Su Ming's expression and gave him a friendly smile.
"They're so beautiful, aren't they?" The gaze fell on the couple in the center of the dance floor, finally united in the blessings of the crowd. "Making a promise in the most prominent position, achieving a wonderful union, with the whole world witnessing that you are each other's one and only, this must be the ideal proposal scene for many lovers."
Su Ming sensed the hidden meaning in Chu Jingnian's words, turned around, and asked him politely.
What do you mean by that?
"That's right, when we at Null-J Tech were planning this dinner, there was actually a hidden event in mind."
Chu Jingnian put on a harmless expression and explained to him.
"The staff has prepared an interactive game for couples, and will provide wish cards, random question balls, and even more surprising and romantic props. After observing you and Ms. Ning, we think you are a perfect match, so we would like to invite you to participate to make this event even more perfect. What do you think?"
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Author's Note: Little Qiao started setting a trap, but little did she expect to get herself caught in it... The synopsis is coming soon!
Babies, try to read the next chapter right on time, those who understand are already crying [sunglasses] (dare not take off sunglasses.jpg)
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P.S.: Berlin's trembling hands here are due to anxiety-induced tremors caused by intense emotional turmoil after the breakup, a type of somatic reaction. Sweet Wine is unaware of this.
His current thoughts are just his thoughts, and may not necessarily reflect Sweet Wine's true feelings. There are still many things the two haven't discussed openly.
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