Chapter 27
The reason why He Mei and Lu Chen came to this hidden balcony was not entirely based on He Mei’s will.
A quarter of an hour ago, Xue Zhengyao was dressed in his formal attire for a business meeting that had nothing to do with him.
Tired of dealing with Lu Chen, He Mei rarely uttered a word of flirtation, she thought that the Xue Zhengyao in front of her, if he had any sense of humanity, he definitely shouldn’t be hanging around under her nose at this time, but he did, and acted in a very ostentatious manner.
Her scalp was numb, she simply couldn’t hear what Lu Chen was saying, and the words of comfort that she had prepared to say did not come out fluently.
It’s not a good feeling to have one’s little thoughts buried deep in one’s heart seen by another person, especially when it’s the kind of person who often wanders around but can’t be trusted, such as Xue Zhengyao.
He Mei felt uneasy easily.
Her eyes regularly followed the man in the burgundy suit, and the bright color was always eye-catching and attention-grabbing throughout the high-ceilinged hall. Finally, after Xue Zhengyao had already walked in three large circles before he even greeted her, He Mei couldn’t stand it any longer:
“Who gave you this ticket?”
Facing the butterfly in front of her, He Mei rarely showed a hint of displeasure at her company’s recruitment meeting.
“It’s one of your company’s intern sister, she kindly invited me for dinner,” Xue Zhengyao looked shocked and said in fear, “You’re not going to give her a hard time, are you?”
With these words, He Mei almost thought that she was an unforgiving exterminator.
He Mei hated to immediately pluck the feathers from the brooch on the front of his burgundy suit, but considering that the object of her crush was close at hand, she couldn’t bring herself to say “shut up”.
“Mr. Xue, I mean of course you can attend, what a great collaboration we had last season.”
He Mei’s face was clearly showing a standard workplace smile, but under Xue Zheng Yao’s eyes, the woman in front of him was showing a sinister, venomous and fierce look.
He retreated three times in a row.
The woman’s eyes showed a vicious and vicious look, and her eyes showed a ferocious light. It was Xue Zheng Yao’s abnormal behavior that made her almost break down, as she was trying to maintain her persona in front of Lu Chen.
Lu Chen, however, did not think so, and even greeted Xue Zheng Yao, who was also an old classmate, politely, but Xue Zheng Yao’s attitude took a turn for the worse, without any trace of the friendliness of his old classmates.
No matter how He Mei tried to start a conversation to try to ease the relationship between the two, it was to no avail.
The only time Xue Zheng Yao took the initiative to pick up the conversation was to rub salt into someone else’s wounds, “Why didn’t you come with Ye Shu?”
“Broke up?”
Xue Zhengyao was still interrogating people without knowing how to be polite.
Lu Chen didn’t show excessive lowliness and just answered.
Xue Zheng Yao let out a cold laugh of unknown meaning and swept another glance at He Mei who was present, it turned out to be He Mei, this stupid woman who thought she had a chance to take advantage of the situation again.
He Mei felt very uncomfortable, although Xue Zhengyao had been unprofessional in the past, but there was not a single thing that he was asked to accomplish that needed to be done during the cooperation period that he did not cooperate with.
The Xue Zheng Yao in front of her, not only was he too abrupt and did not understand the half of the situation, but he also did not have the intention of conforming to her ideas at all.
In this way, she and Lu Chen had to find a place to talk alone, so they came to this one empty balcony. It was a place set aside by the organizer for high net worth clients to look at the scenery, and He Mei didn’t know how Lu Chen could have the qualification to enter this balcony today.
It wasn’t just money either, not many people knew about this private lot and were familiar with the route to this balcony.
Although He Mei, one of the organizers, had heard of this balcony area, she hadn’t really set foot in it, and when she stepped into this unfamiliar area at once, the entire Jiangcheng scenery seemed to be right in front of her eyes, “You’ve been here before?”
“Sort of.”
He Mei seemed to have become completely indifferent, her heart didn’t ripple when she mentioned another woman’s name, “With Ye Shu?”
Lu Chen propped his elbows on the railing, not upset by this past relationship, and explained gently and patiently, “With one of my partners, the financier of the previous O2O.”
He Mei complimented a few words, Lu Chen is far more powerful than the teenager she once imagined growing up.
She sympathized with him for the pain he had suffered, and the frustration he had suffered at Ye Shu’s expense, but felt that she was only scrutinizing all this as a bystander, and that she was not really involved in it, so even though she and Lu Chen stood across from each other, she felt that the person in front of her eyes was very far away, very unfamiliar.
When Lu Chen once again extended an invitation for their next meeting, He Mei was actually a bit distracted.
It was also at this particular balcony viewing platform that she seemed to see her old acquaintance, Zhou Yinchu. Other things aside, his broad-shouldered, narrow-waisted appearance was excessively recognizable, a presence that could not be skimmed over even if one was on a balcony in the clouds.
Thinking of this man reminded her of the unscrupulousness with which he had used himself to get close to Wen Ning.
At that time, Wen Ning’s husband had just passed away, and she didn’t know how someone could be hibernating in the shadows, and it looked like Zhou Yinchu knew Wen Ning’s life path like the back of his hand.
She couldn’t help but criticize herself, as Wen Ning’s few capable girlfriends, she should never betray her friend.
However, Zhou Yinchu had somehow learned about the dilemma she was facing in the workplace, and from the moment she received the email about Zhou Yinchu’s assistant in her OA mailbox, she was constantly struggling and shaking inside.
She didn’t say yes, she didn’t say no.
But with the promotion and pay raise afterward, she thought that everything could not be separated from Zhou Yinchu’s operation.
In short, He Mei regretted that she shouldn’t have told the truth about Wen Ning’s desire to take Che Che to a different school –
She always felt that Zhou Yinchu was the kind of person who held the leverage over others and made threats with ease.
If Xue Zhengyao was a dog that occasionally showed his claws and teeth when he was unhappy, then Zhou Yinchu was more like a jackal waiting to strike.
She gave Xue Zheng Yao a rare positive review.
He Mei realized that it was completely impossible for her not to observe the other party’s movements, and it was because of the simplicity with which her friend viewed the world as well as her emotional sincerity that she was even more unable to slacken off easily on a man who appeared to be as ruthless a character as Zhou Yinchu.
She couldn’t hear Lu Chen discussing the time and place of the meeting, and her eyes focused on another balcony higher up.
She poked out half of her body and leaned back, trying to make out through the clouds.
She saw that the man wearing a high-grade black high-fashion dress that had been tailored by specialists seemed to be holding onto something, and she guessed that it was probably a delicate and beautiful young woman, or else Zhou Yinchu, who had always been cold and aloof, would not have been able to run out here to have a “close” conversation with someone.
The two had embraced without fear on another exposed balcony in broad daylight.
He Mei considered about this woman’s various identities, among them, there is no lack of the actress of the entertainment industry speculation, and even thought Zhou Yinchu on the possibility of female big hand, after all, in those meals, there is always no lack of young and beautiful women ……, but only did not associate it with Wen Ning’s body.
In her eyes, her best friend Wen Ning is a pure love woman who entered marriage early.
She is “honest” and unlike anything else.
Whenever the word “love” was mentioned, she would shy away. Whenever the word “sex” was mentioned, she would shyly blush and dodge.
How could she have done such a thing?
The scene on the balcony did not easily disappear, and the romance continued. Only to see Zhou Yinchu methodically taking off his jacket, wrapping the woman tightly from head to toe, and carrying her out with one arm across his body.
Can’t even walk a few steps?
A pretentious woman, much less her friend.
For this reason, He Mei was convinced, she deliberately set the focus to the best, “click” on Zhou Yinchu and his arms wrapped in layers of small woman.
Not bothering to chat with Lu Chen, she sent the footage directly to her friend.
And accompanied by easy-to-understand text-
[Zhou Yinchu is playing with flowers.]
Unabashedly hiding her utmost malice towards that person.
Wen Ning managed to catch her breath when she received this message, and at that moment, they were stepping into the long fire escape to avoid the possibility of bumping into He Mei.
The message made a very abrupt “ding dong” sound.
Along with the ringing of the phone, Wen Ning realized that she had completely sobered up from the alcohol, and her shoulders were draped in Zhou Yinchu’s broad black suit.
Underneath the solid and heavy fabric, she smelled the slight odor of tobacco as well as the cold scent of bergamot, a scent that belonged uniquely to his person, and Wen Ning returned it to him almost out of instinct.
The woman brushed away the strands of hair that had fallen from above, attempting not to leave any traces on the high-fashion suit.
Such a subtle move quickly caused the man’s displeasure: “So anxious to avoid suspicion?”
“Not also for the sake of your reputation,” Wen Ning bit her lip and whispered, “I’m afraid it’s not appropriate for you to be in some business situations when you dress out like this.”
She tried her best to change the subject, “If He Mei can’t see me in a while, she should be anxious again ……”.
At the time of the dilemma, Wen Ning, who didn’t know how to get rid of the man, suddenly had a plan, she expected He Mei to be anxious because she hadn’t seen herself for a while, but neglected to mention He Mei’s usual hostility towards Zhou Yinchu.
“If you don’t believe me, I can show you my cell phone.”
It was fine if he didn’t look at it, but at first glance, Zhou Yinchu was already infamous and ruined in the eyes of his other classmates.
The plain words were dangling under Zhou Yinchu’s eyes.
Each word he recognized, all very familiar, but the meaning of the connection was self-evident, it was the accusation and abuse that he had never encountered in his life, accusing him of “playing with flowers”.
“Are you sure you don’t want to explain this to your friends?”
“……”
Wen Ning’s brows lowered, her voice becoming incapable of being more subtle, “I can only condemn you.”
Zhou Yinchu smiles instead of being angry, at the woman who acts so as to have no sense of responsibility, “This is your attitude?”
No explanation, no defense of his innocence, let her friends say he “play very flowery”.
The reason why he was said to play very flowery, is entirely out of her identity this weight of protection, and got the blessing, not be affected by the image of the woman pushed him out, crowned with the worse slander, but turned a blind eye, without any to reply to the other side, to explain the meaning of one or two.
Wen Ning was silent, as if she was making some difficult and important decision, and after this brief silence, she raised her head and unprecedentedly offered him a kiss of her own accord.
In her haste, the kiss that she originally wanted to stand on her tiptoes to imprint on someone else’s forehead also somehow landed on his brow bone.
Soft lips collided with the cold, hard brow bone, the impact was always painful, and after the pain was the burning and rolling brought about by the swelling of the lip beads.
“Kind of makes up for it.”
She spoke extremely fast, as if she was afraid the other woman would hear her.
But how could this easy kiss dismiss him, Wen Ning knew it in her heart, “Or, I’ll go find you at night?”
It was another Friday, and darkness always descends silently.
Wen Ning has never thought in her life that one day this word will be said from her own mouth and so logical look, she is ashamed of her secularized self, but she has already found …… herself in the same deep and difficult to extricate herself.
The man paused and expressed slight regret, “I’m going on a business trip this week and won’t be back until next week.”
“It’s rare to miss you taking the initiative, how about, you simply accompany me on a business trip?”
“No, Chuchu is transferring to another school next week, I can’t spare that much time,” Wen Ning was unwilling to be led by the man, she looked to the right and spoke intermittently about the reason why she couldn’t leave, “Besides, my wonton restaurant… …”
“Got it.”
The man seemed to have predicted, “Your store, your child, nothing is less important than me.”
It was clear that it was said without intention or care, yet it still left his listener with a sense of being put off.
“Then count it as something you owe me, I should be back in time for next Friday,” he said with a meticulous expression on his face as if he was planning his annual financial plan, “You ‘make it up’ to me then. I’ll be back in time.”
Wen Ning could no longer look directly at the topic of “compensation”.
Early to know the insatiable man for this night does not have a clear idea, she simply should not mention a mouth, but some words once said, the water can’t be retrieved.
The remorseful woman headed out into one of the few climatic breezes of the season, only to return to the dinner party.
Behind her, there was an extra stubbed out cigarette butt in the trash can in the fire aisle.
The man let out a soft, uncontrollable laugh.
“Ning Ning, you finally understand Zhou Yinchu’s true colors this time, don’t you?”
As soon as Wen Ning returned to the dining club, she found that He Mei had already been waiting for a long time, and regarding this matter of her just going to the restroom, He Mei had no intention of suspecting anything.
“You …… don’t talk about him like that,” originally Wen Ning wanted to say a few words for him, “he is a handful of years old.”
As if to excuse him, this age group of middle-aged men which have the energy to cope with a fling ah.
Wen Ning’s heart was beating extremely fast.
Since He Mei had already determined that Zhou Yinchu had a private meeting with a woman, Wen Ning was compelled to add, “This is his freedom.”
“I hadn’t gotten around to telling you before, long before you wanted to transfer Chuchu for him,” He Mei finally decided to confess everything to Wen Ning, “He couldn’t wait to get involved.”
His layout and ambition was evident.
But Wen Ning’s behavior was more calm than she had imagined, she had never been all that bothered by this matter, and she didn’t seem to have any desire to countenance the fact that some people went through a lot of trouble as well as unscrupulous means in the dark.
“Look at him, going to great lengths to get close to you as his first love while cuddling with another woman ……”
This “other woman” was also her, Wenning was speechless.
She really didn’t know what to say in order to make today’s organizer He Mei no longer focus on this matter, obviously, today’s Lu Chen didn’t have enough charisma, or else she wouldn’t have let He Mei focus on this.
She could only find a poor excuse, saying that she was going to pack some Qingti Cake and bring it to Che Che to eat, and He Mei, who was helping out from it, immediately agreed and went to get the dessert packing box for her.
And whenever recalling the day’s crap-
She remembers the blurry clouds, the sleepy eyes, and the way he arrogantly called for mercy.
And afterwards, not remembering her saying a single word of pleading.
Wen Ning thought to herself, she categorically could not say that kind of tail wagging and begging for mercy, she would not be able to beg bitterly for a man, especially this man in front of her had once also dominated a large part of her youth.
Out of legitimate protection of her reputation, she kept their relationship secret, unwilling to reveal it in front of friends and family.
She didn’t want more people to get involved, and she didn’t want to ruin her image in her friends’ hearts.
For that matter, Wenning knew deep down that her actions were not noble.
She forgot the other sentence she was supposed to hear when she was slightly drunk, the arrogant man occasionally banished part of his self-respect and said, “Since you’re not coming to beg me, let’s say I beg you.”