Chapter 4. Huang Shiyu stopped in her tracks, her heart filled with...
Huang Shiyu stopped in her tracks, her heart skipped a beat, and she was pondering how to reply.
Then I heard him blurt out something completely out of the blue: "Don't you have anything to say to me?"
Huang Shiyu was stunned for a moment, then looked up. She had never thought she would meet Li Xingzhou again, or rather, she didn't want to meet him again.
Six years have passed since the two met again.
Six years is enough time to change a lot. It's long enough for Huang Shiyu to almost forget this person, long enough for a withered tree to sprout new buds, long enough for the rainy season to have passed through several springs and autumns.
However, Li Xingzhou in front of him was dressed in a leather jacket and black pants, with his long eyelashes drooping. The bizarre lights of the restaurant reflected on his high nose bridge. His face used to have a youthful and unruly air.
Now, it has transformed from the naivety of yesteryear into a piece of soft jade etched with the marks of time.
Six years can indeed change a lot.
It can help a man grow from naivety to maturity.
At this moment, everything and everything in front of Huang Shiyu was black and white, and the music was also still.
The year she graduated, she deleted all of his contact information, since things had really gotten ugly.
She felt that even if the two met again, they wouldn't be able to be at peace with each other.
However, it was during this very moment when she was in such a sorry state that the two met again.
Sometimes God just loves to play jokes.
After a long while, once she had calmed down, Huang Shiyu revealed a flawless smile, "Sir, I'm sorry, you've mistaken me for someone else."
Huang Shiyu thought about it and decided it was best to assume that the other party had mistaken her for someone else. The main reason was that she didn't want to have anything to do with Li Xingzhou anymore, or rather, with people from the past.
She glanced casually at his face. His eyes were dark and bright, like the long-awaited sunshine after the rainy season, passionate yet gentle, as if capable of melting away all the silence of a chance encounter.
"Is that so?" Li Xingzhou said with a half-smile, "I picked up the things you dropped earlier for you. Take a look?"
Huang Shiyu lowered her eyes and looked at the business card that Li Xingzhou handed her. Her heart trembled, and even her breathing slowed down involuntarily. Obviously, Li Xingzhou noticed this slight movement.
"Sir, you must be mistaken. This is not mine," Huang Shiyu said, maintaining his usual polite smile.
Li Xingzhou turned the business card over, holding it between his index and middle fingers. His eyes flickered as he looked at the business card, which shimmered slightly on his fingertips. A smile flashed across his face like a dragonfly skimming the water.
Huang Shiyu's two bright eyes reflected Li Xingzhou's long, slender fingers, which were holding the business card between his fingers and playing with it. The black characters on the card read:
Those business cards were something she always carried with her, so that if she were to bump into bigwigs from various industries while out and about, she could exchange contact information with them. Even if they couldn't do anything, it would be good to exchange greetings.
Li Xingzhou lowered his eyes, glanced at the business card on his fingertip, then looked away and said slowly, "I've read about you in financial news. They praised you for being young and promising, the youngest female entrepreneur. The media likes to put you and me together, saying that we were high school classmates, both majored in finance, and have the same prestigious university background. They also say that our methods are remarkably consistent, both being swift and decisive, which is why we've been able to build our companies into what they are today."
He paused for a few seconds, then continued, "Tell me, why did the media choose you over me, instead of comparing me to Song Chaoye?"
"Do they also think we're a better match?"
He speaks with a special tone, very penetrating, and the ending of his voice is captivating but not cloying, just like always.
Huang Shiyu finally raised her eyes, only to meet his subtle and deep gaze. The surrounding music and noise did not diminish the atmosphere of tension.
That look seemed to tell her, no matter what you look like, my eyes will still recognize you.
Huang Shiyu's current appearance is not much different from what she used to be. You have to look very carefully to recognize her. It turns out that the plain-looking girl from before was her.
She had also seen those media reports, some of which exposed her upbringing and schools, but Song Chaoye nipped them in the bud. Occasionally, there were voices saying that she was a student at No. 2 Middle School, and they always dragged Li Xingzhou into it. She just didn't expect that Li Xingzhou would also pay attention to the posts in Chinese media.
A few seconds later, she remained calm and said lightly, "Mr. Li is joking."
This answer implicitly acknowledges his identity.
Li Xingzhou seemed unconcerned by her coldness and aloofness, and asked naturally, "I didn't expect my first meeting with President Huang to be like this. It's so different from what I imagined. How about I treat you next time?"
Before she could finish speaking, Li Xingzhou took a few steps forward. He was tall and slender, and his presence blocked most of Huang Shiyu's view.
Smelling the aroma of tea and oranges so close at hand, Huang Shiyu unconsciously took a few steps back, keeping the distance between them within a normal range.
Li Xingzhou watched her almost instinctive movements, his body stiffening for a moment before he casually uttered a remark that seemed to startle him from nowhere.
“You look a lot like my first love. Whenever I see you, I always think of how she took my mother’s 500,000 yuan breakup fee.”
His voice was light and airy, like a feather falling gently in the air, yet it stunned Huang Shiyu, and the wine-red light dazzled her pupils.
When she looked again, the wine-red lights had been replaced with warm, pale yellow lights in the private room, and sitting opposite her was Li Xingzhou's mother, Li Mansu.
Huang Shiyu stared at the check with numbers filled in that Li Mansu had just handed him.
"Are you planning to buy out our relationship with money?"
Huang Shiyu didn't say it was a romantic relationship because she didn't believe that was the case between them.
Li Mansu took a sip of tea and said leisurely, "You misunderstood. This is a tip for you. Consider it payment for the time you spent with Xiaozhou. Boys go through puberty, and they'll always experience a few girls."
Huang Shiyu had a gut feeling that this was no ordinary woman. Although she looked like a wealthy lady, her temperament was extraordinary. She was not the kind of rich lady who only knew how to live a life of luxury and enjoyment, but a capable and strong woman in the workplace.
If anyone else heard these words, they would definitely feel it was a blatant insult, but Huang Shiyu didn't feel anything, because being poor was the biggest mistake.
She lost many things because of poverty, and that will be a lifelong regret for her.
Li Mansu continued, "Aren't you satisfied with this price? I know you well. You have excellent grades and are very smart. You'll likely get into a good university and find a good job. I've been through so much in society for so many years, I've seen all kinds of people. Knowing when to quit while you're ahead will only benefit you."
Huang Shiyu stood up, her eyes sparkling, and said calmly, "We are not dating."
"Sit down and talk." Li Mansu smiled slightly, as if everything was under her control. "Don't overthink it. I don't object to you two dating, but I won't let you into our house."
Li Mansu seemed to think that her words were too harsh, so she changed her approach, "Perhaps you can consider this a transaction."
The crystal chandelier overhead was bright and dazzling. Under the light, Li Mansu's fair face, which was glowing, became blurry and dreamlike. Huang Shiyu blinked her eyelashes, and as her eyelashes trembled, everything from just moments ago vanished in the blink of an eye.
Huang Shiyu paused for a few seconds, the previous embarrassment flashing by.
She is no longer the Huang Shiyu who had nothing and no power six years ago.
She thought that Li Xingzhou had matured over the years, but she didn't expect him to still remember this old story.
He probably hates her a lot, otherwise it's hard to explain why he's remembered her for so long.
Huang Shiyu snapped out of her thoughts and glanced at him indifferently: "You hate her?"
A slight crack finally appeared on Li Xingzhou's expression, but it was fleeting and no one knew about it except himself.
"I just think she's pretty stupid, not smart enough when it comes to money. She's been with me for way more than 500,000, don't you think?"
Huang Shiyu frowned slightly, as if she didn't understand his words, and changed the subject, "Perhaps it was a gift from your mother? I wonder if President Li has ever heard the saying, 'Hearing is believing, seeing is believing.'"
She wasn't trying to defend herself, but for some reason, she didn't want Li Xingzhou to think she was a money-loving woman.
Although she loves money, she also has her own sense of justice, and the two water glasses on either side remain as steady as ever.
But then I felt that the more I talked, the more wrong I became.
She wanted to speak again.
However, she was caught off guard when she met Li Xingzhou's dark eyes.
Those were beautiful peach blossom eyes, and the owner of those eyes was staring at her with dark, deep eyes, like a bottomless black sea.
And she could almost see a thousand threads of laughter hidden in those eyes.
"Who did you come with?"
The tone was casual, as if it were a casual question.
Huang Shiyu was at a loss for words; his brain felt like a machine with its power cord cut off, completely frozen.
Li Xingzhou was really confused.
Her thoughts are so unpredictable that she can hardly keep up.
Although Huang Shiyu was a little confused, she still answered honestly, "With my partner."
The attitude was very honest, but the answer was another matter entirely.
Upon hearing this, Li Xingzhou's relaxed brows and eyes slowly furrowed, revealing a deep meaning that Huang Shiyu could not understand.
He seemed surprised, conflicted, and puzzled.
Huang Shiyu didn't want to understand and was about to walk out when a voice, faster than her, stopped her in her tracks.
"I saw you gone for ages, I thought you'd been kidnapped." Lu Xiao asked Huang Shiyu as if she'd just spotted Li Xingzhou. "You know him?"
Huang Shiyu watched as Lu Xiao raised an eyebrow at her, as if to say, "Explain what's going on."
She frowned and twitched her eyebrows slightly, as if to say, "Why did you have to come at this time of year?"
Lu Xiao's lips twitched and her eyebrows rose, the meaning obvious: So it's my fault? I interrupted your flirting with men.
Huang Shiyu wanted nothing more than to sever all ties with Li Xingzhou, so before he could even think, he blurted out, "Flirt with your mother."
As soon as she said it, Huang Shiyu wanted to disappear into the ground, because she seemed to see Li Xingzhou's brows and eyes stiffen slightly.
But it was too fast; no trace could be found.
In that instant, Huang Shiyu felt as if the air was filled with the pill of regret, and the atmosphere was awkwardly quiet.
Lu Xiao: "?"
Huang Shiyu wanted to explain for a moment, but then she thought that meeting him today was purely coincidental and that they probably wouldn't see each other again, so she immediately gave up.
Just as she was about to pull Lu Xiao away, she heard a deep voice crash down on her head.
"This is your boyfriend/girlfriend? Aren't you going to introduce him/her?"
He asked the question, but his eyes were fixed on her. His tone seemed to carry surprise, but his downturned lips gave off a smug look, as if he were saying, "Let's see how you cover this up."
Okay, that's even more embarrassing.
A note from the author:
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Huang Shiyu: What should I do? I'm so embarrassed!
Li Xingzhou: What are you embarrassed about!
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