Chapter 77 Cover-up
The hotel is right on the bank of the Pearl River. The night sky permeates the river water, and the cruise ship glides across the dark and surging river surface, leaving behind white wakes.
The two walked on the wooden plank road by the river. The cool breeze from the river lifted Xu Mo's hair, and her face looked quiet and mysterious in the dim night light.
Lu Chaoju asked, "Would you like something to drink?"
Xu Mo tucked the hair that was lifted by Jiang Feng behind her ears and smiled: "Okay."
We stopped at the outdoor seating area of a restaurant and were greeted by a waiter who helped us take our order.
Lu Chaoju made a gesture of invitation, and Xu Mo ordered a cocktail.
"Same as her." Lu Chaoju said to the waiter.
The wind was strong by the river, and the damp and cold water vapor seemed to invade every inch of my skin. I didn't feel much when I was walking, but I felt a little cold as soon as I sat down.
The woman opposite was only wearing a thin sweater, and she shivered when a gust of wind blew.
Lu Chaoju put his windbreaker on her: "The wind is strong, don't catch a cold."
The black, fine-textured men's windbreaker gently wrapped around her bare shoulders and neck, with a crisp scent of cedar.
Xu Mo smiled at her: "Thank you."
The waiter came over with a small walnut tray, placed two cocktails on the table, and said softly, "Please enjoy your meal."
Small bubbles floated on the light blue liquid that looked like sea water. The cold water soaked the transparent glass, making it sweat.
Lu Chaoju's tone was nonchalant: "What project do you want to do?"
Xu Mo said: "I want to be a pet."
"The pet market has been booming for a few years now, and many people have entered the market," Lu Chaoju said. "What are your advantages?"
Xu Mo pursed her lips and said, "I've already made some attempts on the self-media platform and have accumulated some regular customers..."
Lu Chaoju hooked his finger, and she handed over the phone, on which was the account homepage.
An account with more than 10,000 followers, and there is nothing special about the content.
There are too many accounts like this on the platform.
Lu Chaoju's finger didn't even linger on it. He just glanced at it and then looked away.
Xu Mo's heart sank.
"You're doing great." Lu Chaoju said calmly, "Just keep doing your own media. Starting a business is hard."
Xu Mo remained silent. She knew that this was not a sincere concern or suggestion, but just a tactful rejection.
She took back her phone, and the hot phone burned her palm.
She was not a person with high self-esteem, but at this moment she inevitably felt despised and humiliated.
Xu Mo held the hot cell phone and looked at the man drinking carelessly opposite her.
Her fingers pinched the black coat he draped over her. Perhaps from the very beginning, he had not taken her project seriously. He agreed to talk to her more out of a kind of romance between a man and a woman.
It was just like the atmosphere she had with him in Hemu Village.
But now they are not in Hemu, but in Guangzhou, which is the landmark of the city, the most prosperous and the most realistic place.
What she needs is money, not a man's favor.
An inexplicable dark yet strong flame seemed to burn in her heart.
The cold liquid flowed into his lips and tongue. He leaned back in his chair, half-closed his eyes, and talked about other topics: "When I was in Hemu Village, I sometimes thought that if I could meet you when I went out in the morning, I would definitely treat you to a meal.
“…”
His voice was filled with a hint of regret: "It's a pity that I couldn't treat you to a meal when I left."
He thought that his current behavior should be a true expression of his feelings, and in such an evening breeze, there should be an ambiguous atmosphere.
"Yeah……"
Unfortunately, the woman opposite didn't seem to share this slightly regretful and sad mood. Her voice was extremely calm: "If you really want to treat me to a meal, you should have a chance anyway."
“…”
Xu Mo looked at him and said, her beautiful deer-like eyes showing a rare sharpness: "Actually, Mr. Lu doesn't want to have too much contact with me."
The air between the two seemed to be silent for a moment.
After a while, Lu Chaoju raised his eyebrows and pursed his lips nonchalantly: "I want to hear how you came to this conclusion?"
"Actually, when we were in Hemu, I could feel that when you looked at me, you were actually looking at another person through me." She looked straight at him and said this without any concealment or embellishment.
Things that you don't even want to admit are suddenly put on the table in a straightforward and naked way.
Lu Chaoju stopped smiling.
His eyes grew colder, and his thin lips gradually pursed into a straight line.
"I think her personality is somewhat similar to mine," Xu Mo said. "In fact, we look a bit alike, but I'm younger than you all, so you're seeing her younger self through me."
"You went to Hemu, probably looking for evidence that you didn't love her that much. That's why you could easily take me back to the B&B from the bonfire party. You're an investor, and such high-risk work requires rational decision-making. You're not sentimental, and everything is weighed and considered. Spending time and emotion on a strange woman you met in a strange city isn't some old house-on-fire heartbreak. You're simply verifying one thing—if she can easily let go of you, then you can easily let go of her, too."
This woman seemed to be stabbing him in the heart. Was she crazy? This was too absurd. Did she even realize that she needed his help now? His fingers tightened around the wine glass. Lu Chaoju stared at her. "Since it was Lv Yan who contacted me for you, then you should have known through Lv Yan that I would be leaving Guangzhou tomorrow. If you really want to get investment from X Capital, tonight is your last chance."
Xu Mo nodded: "I know. But——"
She paused. "We are destined to be together. We have warmed each other's hearts in a foreign land. Since I have witnessed what happened between you and her today, I don't know what you are thinking now, but as an outsider and a bystander, I also want to say one more thing: Mr. Lu, it is not shameful to look directly into your own heart."
Lu Chaoju stared at her, his dark eyes fixed on her motionlessly, like some kind of ferocious bird observing its prey. The indifference in his eyes completely disappeared, leaving only an unfathomable darkness.
Lu Chaoju was such a proud man. With his current status, there were countless women trying to get close to him. How could he remain chaste for an ex-girlfriend, even though she had been with him for years? Everyone thought that Lu Chaoju had moved on from Mia, and even he himself had once believed so.
Until he saw Mia again at the dinner today, although he was reluctant to admit it, he could feel the subtle turbulence in his heart.
He thought he had hidden it well, but she saw through it.
How could she know? How could she? This woman, with whom he had had a fleeting flirtation at Hemu, had rejected his attempts to rekindle their relationship and spoken the truth so bluntly. She didn't need to, but she did it anyway. Why? But telling the truth always irritated people. Why didn't she capitalize on her friendship with him at Hemu and seize the opportunity to secure his investment, instead of constantly spouting these infuriating words?
Xu Mo looked at him, and dark emotions flowed through the man's eyes. Indifference, cruelty and murderousness flowed through his eyes one by one.
She knew what he was doing, he was examining her.
She knew that saying this would make him unhappy, and this was really a radical move. She was taking a gamble - she was betting that the woman in the hotel meant a lot to Lu Chaoju.
She waited quietly.
Lu Chaoju looked at her. Her beautiful and lively almond-shaped eyes were indeed almost exactly the same as Mia's when she was young, but with a touch of innocence that was just right compared to Mia now.
He had already had vague uncertainties in his mind about the things she said, and now that she spoke them out loud, it was further confirmation of these ideas.
She was telling the truth, a truth that he himself was unwilling to tell himself.
"Why are you saying this?"
Xu Mo breathed a sigh of relief and smiled slowly: "I don't mean anything else, I just want to help you recognize your own heart, so as not to miss your true love and regret it in the future."
Lu Chaoju was silent, and it was impossible to tell what he was thinking.
Xu Mo's palms were already wet.
After an unknown amount of time, the man's indifferent voice, mixed with the whistling wind, came slowly: "How did you know that?"
"…Maybe it's intuition."
"intuition?"
"Or maybe it's experience... I also have an ex who I was with for many years."
"Zhao Tingyu?"
Xu Mo nodded: "That's right. The mark he left in my life was so deep that it affected my subsequent marriage."
"Are you married?"
"I've been married, but I'm divorced."
Lu Chaoju raised his eyebrows, interested: "So, did you go to Hemu for your ex-husband or for Zhao Tingyu?"
Xu Mo narrowed her eyes, held the cold wine glass in both hands, and raised her face slightly.
She looked at the stars above her head, but the scene of meeting Lin Jingchuan in the restaurant this afternoon involuntarily emerged in her mind.
Thinking back carefully, he seemed to have lost a lot of weight and looked worse.
Maybe he hasn't had a good time during this period. It's not easy to be a son-in-law of a wealthy family. Like her, he must have had a hard time for a while.
Thinking of this, Xu Mo suddenly felt a twisted sense of pleasure in her heart. At this moment, she had not yet realized that she and Lu Chaoju were no different. They were both fools who were unwilling to admit their inner thoughts.
There is no such thing as true magnanimity; it is all just a reluctant cover-up, as if by pretending to be magnanimous, one can completely deny one's past feelings.
If you have never been moved, you have never been stupid.
A distant man's voice seemed to reach her ears, and she heard Lu Chaoju say, "Tell me about your story."
Xu Mo came back to her senses: "What do you want to hear?"
"Family, education, career, love... all of these are possible."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com