31. Snow in a silver bowl
"Li Xiran, I'm an adult now."
Shang Xinuan was held in Li Xiran's arms and could feel his strong restraint, but at the same time his strength was restrained and controlled, as if he was afraid of hurting her in the slightest.
His love, it seems, was like this before.
Anything she liked, regardless of the difficulty, Li Xiran would always find a way to get it to her.
But if she takes another step closer, he will restrain himself and retreat behind the paper window.
Countless times, she had seen the emotion that flowed naturally in his eyes.
But in the blink of an eye, it became a romantic illusion in a young girl's youth.
It was precisely this hesitation and indecisiveness of his that completely broke the young lady's heart.
Four years of unrequited love turned into an empty, unresponsive loneliness, to the point that she was heartbroken and wanted to give up on him.
For the pampered little princess, every approach that felt ignored felt like an approach to pain.
She admitted that she couldn't endure the hardship and compromised with her youth.
Shang Xin sniffed and struggled to get out of Li Xiran's arms.
Then I heard him let out a low, cold hiss, as if a wound had been touched, and even his brow furrowed.
The young lady, unsure if he was injured, remained stiff and motionless. "Li Xiran, are you hurt?"
Li Xiran's voice trembled slightly, "I don't know, it's possible."
Shang Xinuan's large, watery cat-like eyes darted around frantically, as if she were forcing herself to remember, "Was it the injury from falling from the building, the injury from sailing just now, or the injury from when you jumped into the sea?"
A low, soft chuckle escaped Li Xiran's throat. "Perhaps the injury from the fall hasn't healed yet, or maybe he pulled a muscle while sailing, or perhaps it was from jumping into the sea..."
"Li Xiran!" The young lady bit her lip and said fiercely, "If you keep teasing me like this, I'll get angry."
Li Xiran then gently rested his head on her shoulder blade, saying, "Nuan Nuan, I really feel a little unwell."
Shang Xinuan could no longer tell if he was deliberately playing the victim to gain her pity, or if he was genuinely hurt. "Where is your room?"
"Second floor."
Helpless, Shang Xinuan could only support his shoulders and escort him to the luxury suite on the second floor.
"Damn capitalists." The young lady threw Li Xiran into the bathroom and stood in the living room with her hands on her hips, saying this.
While the staff stayed in twin rooms, he lived in a room that was as complete as a small apartment, complete with a living room, study, and screening room.
“Miss Capitalist.” Li Xiran came out just in time, wrapped in a bath towel, and pointed to the room next to the master bedroom, saying, “There is another bedroom here, you can move in as well.”
Shang Xinuan didn't expect Li Xiran to come out so quickly. His skin was pinkish-white from the mist, and his hair was still slightly damp and messy, lying on his forehead.
But it must be admitted that Li Xiran, fresh from his bath, did indeed exude a more alluring hormonal scent than usual.
"I'll leave if you're alright." She kept in mind that she still felt awkward and wasn't prepared to make up.
"Nuan Nuan." Li Xiran wanted to stop her, but the young lady had already opened the door and slipped out of the room.
After covering her chest to calm her racing heart, she realized that her clothes had been soaked by Li Xiran's embrace.
She has already changed her clothes twice this morning!
The young lady was extremely frustrated.
Back in the room, Xiao Su was unpacking the boxed lunch provided by the restaurant.
"I still can't understand why the itinerary was changed at the last minute. The restaurant only had time to prepare boxed lunches." Xiao Su started complaining as soon as she saw her. "Otherwise, I could have taken you to try that seafood noodle restaurant on the shore at noon."
"What a pity." Shang Xinuan took out her bathrobe and went into the bathroom dejectedly.
Why did you take a shower and change clothes again?
“...”
As the water flowed down Shang Xinuan's head, it also stirred up a storm of memories.
When did you realize you liked Li Xiran?
She hesitated for quite a while after receiving her offer to study abroad in her senior year of high school.
At first, she thought it was the shadow of resistance left by her tragic childhood experience in Paris. Later, at a family dinner, Shang Zun jokingly said that he wanted to introduce Li Xiran to a girlfriend, saying that the girl was Shang Xinuan's distant aunt and was about to graduate from NYU and return to China.
Shang Xinuan has a deep memory of that aunt. In her impression, she was a beautiful and outstanding girl who was the epitome of "other people's children" in the eyes of parents since she was a child.
If the two are truly in love, it would be a well-matched marriage.
Shang Xinuan was inexplicably depressed for a whole week as her aunt's return to China began.
Every day, it felt like a wad of lint was stuck in her chest, making it hard for her to breathe.
Upon hearing that her maternal grandfather had brought her aunt home to meet Li Xiran, the young lady skipped her homeroom teacher's class and ran back home.
Just as she was rushing angrily toward the study, she bumped into Li Xiran's arms at the corner.
The scent of cedar and herbs instantly enveloped her, and above her head, his deep, gentle laughter asked, "Were you looking for me?"
In the deep spring courtyard, the wind rustled through the flowers and leaves. She looked up and stared intently into his amber and jade-like eyes. "Are you going to date my aunt?"
The man raised an eyebrow. "But your aunt brought her boyfriend. Interfering in other people's relationships is immoral."
The young lady paused for a second, the fuzz in her heart seemingly vanishing instantly. Her upturned expression was full of slyness and liveliness. "Is that so? That's indeed immoral. I'd probably get a severe scolding, and in bad cases, I might even get beaten up."
"That serious!" Li Xiran stood lazily, propping his arm against the corner of the wall, echoing her words, "Then it's definitely not something that can be done."
"Yes!" the young lady nodded. "Just think of it as your grandfather owing you a girlfriend. He'll introduce you to someone suitable later."
Li Xiran smiled with narrowed eyes, and lightly tapped the tip of her nose with his fingertip. "Okay, I'm not in a hurry."
It was this time that she became completely certain that she liked Li Xiran.
The young girl's budding heart also ignited a field called youth on this late spring night.
Later, after the final mock exam of her senior year, she ranked among the top ten in the entire school.
When the parents' meeting was held as usual, she rushed to Li Xiran's office and said in a coquettish tone that Shang Zun and his uncle and aunt were both busy and insisted that he come to attend.
The little girl was simply stubborn, and wanted to subtly tell Li Xiran that these were the results of his tutoring.
She could use this as an excuse to reject her grandfather's suggestion to study abroad and stay in Shanghai to attend university.
Even on his college application form, he chose Shanghai University, which was closest to Li's residence.
It seemed that as long as she did this, she could stay by his side.
He can also know immediately all the girls who appear around him.
"Nuan Nuan, are you alright?" Xiao Su suddenly knocked on the bathroom door. "You've been in there for a long time."
Shang Xinuan suddenly snapped out of her reverie, "That's good."
After lunch, Xiao Su said that Chen Ti had arrived, so she changed into a dress and ran out excitedly.
Shang Xinuan yawned and fell onto the bed. When she woke up again, it was almost dusk at sea.
"You slept all afternoon." Xiao Su had returned sometime earlier and was lying on the bed playing on her phone. "The cruise banquet is in a bit, get up and put on your makeup."
The young lady then stretched and got out of bed barefoot, choosing a red sequined halter dress from the wardrobe.
Her long, chestnut-brown curly hair cascaded down her alluring cleavage, and her slender, swaying waist was like a flickering ember of a midnight fire.
As expected, the young lady once again became the focus of the entire banquet, attracting attention wherever she went.
Shang Xinuan simply sat in the lounge area in a corner of the ballroom, holding a glass of champagne. Her skin appeared even paler under the dim lighting.
"Beautiful lady, I've seen you sitting here alone for a long time." A man in a casual suit took the initiative to strike up a conversation.
The young lady glanced at him, her haughty air emanating from her indifferent gaze.
She wasn't a heavy drinker, but she had been very upset lately, so there were already two or three empty champagne glasses in front of her.
With her cheeks flushed, she didn't even bother to look back.
"Beautiful lady, I'm an intern in the CEO's office. Which department are you from?" But this indifference didn't deter the person. He even sat down next to her, his arm affectionately draped over the back of the sofa behind her. "Judging from your appearance, you must be a spring recruitment intern, right?"
Shang Xinuan used to attend banquets in Shanghai's wealthy second-generation circles, where people knew each other but didn't know each other. There were always people who would promptly warn those playboys with unrealistic ambitions not to mess with the eldest daughter of the Shang family.
So this is the first time the young lady has ever met such a rude person.
The strong fragrance emanating from the person next to her was particularly pungent. Shang Xinuan frowned and looked down at him coldly, saying, "I advise you to stay away from me."
"We're all colleagues, let's get to know each other." The man was so focused on admiring the stunning beauty in front of him that he didn't notice the sudden, tense atmosphere around him. "You're so beautiful, let me guess, are you from the administration and finance department, or the design and marketing department?"
The young lady took a deep breath, almost choking, "Guess again, I'm afraid I'll scare you."
"It can't be someone from the construction quality supervision department, can it?" the man said excitedly. Even though she was unresponsive, he still shamelessly tried to start a conversation, "I saw you on the beach this morning, but unfortunately you had already left by the time I got there."
The young lady gritted her teeth, her patience already exhausted under the influence of alcohol.
However, considering that this was not her home turf and she did not want to attract Li Xiran's attention, she was unwilling to have a conflict with him.
Then she grabbed the sofa armrest and slowly got up.
As a result, the man also got up and tried to help her by the arm, but the young lady shook him off.
"Can't you understand human language?" the young lady snapped angrily. "Stay away from me."
"Beautiful lady, I'm just being polite by greeting you, why are you being so rude?"
Who are you?
"You dare to challenge me?"
The young lady gave the man a haughty and indifferent look from head to toe, her sarcastic gaze like the thorns of a proud rose.
"Beautiful lady, that's going too far."
When the man persisted, Shang Xinuan simply turned around and tried to leave from the other side.
Unexpectedly, the man quickly circled around and blocked her path, saying, "We need to make this clear. What do you mean by 'I'm not worthy'?"
"You know, hundreds of thousands of people submitted their resumes to Li's Group during this year's spring recruitment season, but I was the only one who received an offer from the President's Office. So many people want to get to know me." Because the Board of Directors' Office never selects interns from campus recruitment, positions within the President's Office are the most sought-after in previous years. This signifies that one will be given special training and will be assigned to middle and senior management positions within Li's Group in the future.
"Really?" Shang Xinuan caught a glimpse of a familiar figure out of the corner of her eye, and even the pungent fragrance was dispelled and enveloped by the cedar. "That Li Xiran really has a bad eye for people!"
"Beautiful lady, you've had too much to drink." The man probably didn't expect an intern to dare to openly criticize the chairman like this, and he found the wild rose in front of him even more appealing. "Let me help you to rest for a while and sober up."
As he spoke, he reached out to put his arm around the young lady's shoulder.
Before he could even touch Shang Xinuan's hair, his wrist was gripped by a force so strong that he couldn't break free.
"Who is it! I didn't see anyone..." The man's good time was interrupted, and he turned his head in annoyance. The next moment, his expression was filled with fear. "Chairman... Chairman."
"Are you bullying a girl?" Li Xiran's expression, which usually carried a faint smile, was now filled with a gloomy and oppressive feeling.
"No, no. It's just that my girlfriend and I had a fight, and we had a disagreement."
Upon hearing this, the once bustling dance hall fell into complete silence.
"Girlfriend?" Li Xiran pointed at the young lady. "Yours?"
The Li family has very strict and clear regulations on workplace harassment. Those who commit serious offenses will be directly dismissed and added to the Li family's blacklist.
This man clearly knew, which is why he lied to Li Xiran.
But of all people he could have provoked, he ended up with the person he should never have touched.
"Nuan Nuan, do you know him?" Li Xiran looked at the young lady again, his face softening back to its usual gentle expression. She almost thought he was going to change his expression any second.
"Li Xiran." The young lady was completely intoxicated by the aftereffects of the alcohol. She stretched out her finger and poked his heart sharply. "How do you choose your employees?"
"How could someone like this, who engages in workplace sexual harassment and lies, be selected from hundreds of thousands to work in the CEO's office?"
"Won't the Li family be ruined by this kind of scum?"
"Chairman, I..."
"Shut up."
The young lady's feet, clad in high heels, were no longer under her control, but she still swayed as she walked up to the man. "Didn't you want to know who I am and which department I'm from?"
“I am Shang Xinuan, from the Board Office.” As she spoke, she pointed to Li Xiran, “His personal secretary.”
In fact, as soon as the young lady's name was mentioned, everyone present understood her background.
His surname is Shang, and he dares to arrogantly call Li Xiran by his given name, even publicly lecturing him on how to behave.
She's none other than the rich young lady who's been all over the Li Group's internal network, experiencing life as an intern, and also the girl that the chairman of the Li Group is officially pursuing.
"Miss Shang, I'm sorry." The man immediately bowed and apologized.
Shang Xinuan didn't care about this two-faced scum at all and turned away coldly.
But at this point, her legs were completely out of her control, and she was about to sway and fall to the ground.
Just as she was about to make intimate contact with the ground, she was pulled into an embrace filled with the scent of cedar and herbs, and then lifted horizontally into the air.
Under everyone's watchful eyes, she was carried away by Li Xiran.
-
The young lady's voice echoed in the second-floor corridor, "Li Xiran, I want to go back to my room!"
"I can't find Xiao Su to get the room key, I'll take you back in a bit." Then she was carried into Li Xiran's suite.
The young lady struggled almost the entire way, and seeing that he was about to walk towards the bedroom, she immediately resisted and shook her leg, saying, "I want to go to the sofa."
She didn't want to lie in Li Xiran's bed!
Li Xiran had no choice but to turn around, kneel down on one knee, and carefully place the young lady on the sofa.
Throughout her struggles, strands of her long hair became tangled together.
Just as Li Xiran stood up, the young lady suddenly screamed.
His chestnut-brown hair had somehow become tangled in his shirt buttons.
Afraid of hurting her again, Li Xiran tilted his head and knelt down on one knee. "Don't move, I'll untie you."
Shang Xinuan's eyes were red, whether from the alcohol or the stinging pain from her hair being pulled was unknown.
His proximity intensified the burning sensation throughout my body.
His arm was resting on the sofa armrest, and when he looked down, he could see Shang Xinuan's slightly drunk and alluring charm.
Li Xiran pressed his Adam's apple against his collar and rolled it a few times in restraint. The veins on his arms bulged out immediately. He desperately reminded himself to focus.
Even at such close range, the slightest movement cannot escape one's peripheral vision.
He had no choice but to change the subject, saying, "Why are you still acting like a child? Do you know how dangerous it is for a young girl to get drunk alone?"
The young lady, who was drunk and being lectured, was naturally defiant with a stubborn expression, but her voice sounded like a flirtatious and seductive coquettishness, "Li Xiran, I am an adult now."
"Many things are possible."
A note from the author:
There will be a second update later.
Muah~
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Thank you to all the little angels who voted for me or watered my plants with nutrient solution between 23:52:55 on May 13, 2023 and 12:21:44 on May 15, 2023!
Thank you to the little angel who threw the landmine: w雯雯. 1 landmine;
Thank you to the little angels who watered the nutrient solution: Gu Mei'an, Xiaopengyouya Xiaopengyou (2 bottles); Yi Er Si, Lan Xi (1 bottle);
Thank you so much for your support! I will continue to work hard!
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