Chapter 23 Qinghu Restaurant
The sunlight filtering through the city buildings shone on Xu Qingmin's face, casting flickering shadows.
The driver drove quietly, with soothing music playing in the car, and Li Muzi mechanically reported the itinerary to Xu Qingmin.
"Mr. Xu, Mr. Chen from Lijiang Group is having a cocktail party next week. They're all bringing female companions. Who would you like to bring?"
This Mr. Chen has a peculiar habit: the female companions he brings are not his official girlfriends or wives. If he likes a female companion brought by his business partners, he will take her away, play with her for a while, and then break up with her. In fact, to put it bluntly, Mr. Chen's party is a party for these businessmen to choose their "concubines".
Mr. Chen only treats women as playthings. His business dealings are somewhat shady, but they don't completely cross the line, and nobody cares about him.
The Xu Group has grown larger and larger in recent years, but it values harmony and making money. Generally, as long as there is no conflict of bottom line, Xu Qingmin is willing to maintain a superficial peace.
“Take Song Yilin with you.”
Upon hearing this name, Li Muzi turned around to observe Xu Qingmin's expression in the back seat.
I tentatively asked, "Would Director Song be willing to go?"
Xu Qingmin flipped through the tablet in his hand, saying without looking up, "Just tell her, she'll go."
A man who is desperate to climb the social ladder, a woman who wants to seize every opportunity, dares not offend him. Song Yilin is more sensible and better at assessing situations than before.
Li Muzi sent an invitation to Song Yilin with uncertainty.
Unexpectedly, Song Yilin immediately replied: "Thank you for the invitation, I will definitely be there."
Li Muzi suspected that Song Yilin probably didn't know what the party was about.
Does the fact that his boss asked Song Yilin to be his date at this party mean that his boss is starting to take revenge for the betrayal he committed years ago? But it's been 13 years, isn't that a bit petty?
However, since the nail wasn't stuck in his own flesh, he had no right to speak. Whether or not to forgive is a decision made by the victim, not by the bystanders.
Song Yilin was racking her brains trying to find a reason to apologize to Xu Qingmin when Li Muzi's text message came in.
She didn't know if Xu Qingmin held a grudge against her, but she definitely had to apologize.
After replying to the text message, Li Ke rushed in, displaying her hurried nature.
"Director Song, Mr. Shen wants to order a car. Look at the price."
The class monitor was straightforward and made a decision in less than half an hour. Li Keren was also honest; she said she would set the price according to her authority, and she really did. Back in the Yishi store, she and Wang Qianqian worked together very well, and they could tell with just a glance whether someone was trying to take advantage of a friend or genuinely doing a favor.
Since the other party had already ordered the car, Song Yilin had to go out and greet them.
"Squad leader, thank you for your support. When I handed over the car, I made sure that Li Ke thoroughly inspected it before handing it over to you, making sure there were no problems."
"I also want to thank you for giving me such a good policy. Um, let's have dinner together."
Song Yilin's smile was slightly stiff. Normally, clients wouldn't ask to eat together; only a very small number of company purchasing departments would have a meal together. But the class monitor's situation was special; it seemed like she couldn't refuse this meal.
"Okay, I'll send it to you after I've set the location."
"What location do you want? You haven't been back to Jianghai City for years, how would you know where to find good food? I'll send you the location in a bit."
Shen Youheng's words left Song Yilin speechless; she didn't want to have too much to do with him.
Should we invite Yi Tiantian along? But that seems a bit disrespectful, considering we just spent hundreds of thousands to buy a car from her.
Forget it, I'll figure out a way to distance myself from it later.
Song Yilin made a point of going home to remove her makeup and change into sportswear before going to meet Shen Youheng.
Just as I was about to leave, my mother stopped me: "You're going to have dinner with a decent man like this? Your class monitor used to have a crush on you, right? When you meet a young, handsome guy, you can spend an hour fussing in front of the mirror. But you go to meet a decent man like this? When will you ever have a boyfriend?"
"The man I'm with today is too old and not my type. We're just having dinner because of work. Remember to leave the door open for me."
Ms. Meng, furious, shouted from behind, "No way! No way!"
The restaurant that Shen Youheng invited her to was more like a ship than a restaurant.
After ordering their food in advance, the staff put the dishes on the boat when they arrived, and then drove the boat into the lake. They enjoyed the beautiful scenery while dining. It has to be said that Shen Youheng put a lot of thought into choosing the location today.
Guests can order food and drinks in advance, then take a boat ride on the lake. The shore is lined with willow trees, and there are pipa, guzheng and flute instruments on the boat. Guests can play these instruments at their leisure or call a musician over.
Beautiful scenery, delicious food, beautiful scenery, elegant music.
The scene before me has a feel of a traditional Chinese ink painting of a water town in southern China.
Song Yilin became interested and picked up the guzheng on the boat to play it.
The music was melodious, and the person playing the piano, whose face was full of shrewdness in the workplace, actually had a touch of gentleness.
When the song ended, Shen Youheng was still immersed in the music and hadn't recovered for a while.
The way he looked at Song Yilin was a little different.
"Yilin, I didn't know you could play the guzheng."
“I was forced to learn it by my mother. When I was a child, a blind fortune teller said that I would definitely marry into a wealthy family in the future, but man proposes, God disposes.”
Actually, Song Yilin's mother thought that Song Yilin was a beauty from a young age and would definitely marry into a wealthy family, so she forced her to learn many skills that are essential for daughters-in-law of wealthy families.
So she doesn't know what she likes right now, but she definitely doesn't like being a rich lady.
Whether life is bitter or sweet, she likes that her life is full of everyday joys.
When the boat reached the middle of the lake, she finally understood why Shen Youheng insisted on treating her to dinner.
The last vestiges of friendship I had for Shen Youheng vanished completely.
In the large boat in the middle of the lake, the man who had been dating him for several years sat in the main seat.
Their eyes met across the lake, which was more than ten meters away.
Shen Youheng was betting that Xu Qingmin still had feelings for Song Yilin, or perhaps some kind of classmate bond. It would be inappropriate for classmates not to exchange a few words after bumping into each other in a place like this.
Shen Youheng pretended to be surprised to run into Xu Qingmin: "Um, since we've met by chance, I'll go say hello. Do you want to come along?"
She's here. If she doesn't greet people when they see her, they'll assume she has some kind of relationship with Shen Youheng.
Shen Youheng went to negotiate with Li Muzi. When Li Muzi saw that it was Song Yilin, she let their boat approach and allowed Song Yilin and Shen Youheng to board the boat together.
From the moment Song Yilin boarded the main ship, Xu Qingmin's gaze towards her always seemed unfriendly.
It seems Xu Qingmin is still holding a grudge against her for slapping him last night.
"Mr. Xu, what a coincidence! I rarely come to Qinghu Restaurant for a meal and I just happen to run into you."
Shen Youheng's sycophantic behavior is even more obsequious than hers. Song Yilin, who loves flattery so much, can't stand it anymore. What exactly does Shen Youheng need to ask Xu Qingmin for help with? Why does he keep trying to get close to Xu Qingmin?
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