CH 42

I ended up sitting at a table in a high-end restaurant, wondering how I had found myself in the company of this large group people from the entertainment industry.

“There’s alcohol in that,” Ye Lin said as he took the drink from my hand and replacing it with a glass of spring water.

“Wow, senior brother Ye, you are considerate!”

“Fuck you.” Ye Lin was quite rude to the girls. The young female model who had made fun of him stuck out her tongue and smiled, but stopped talking.

“Miss Jian, how did you meet senior brother?” someone asked again.

“I fell in love with her at first sight. Don’t bother her anymore, OK?” Ye Lin said impatiently.

The only foreign man in the group reached out and handed me his business card. I looked down at it and saw he was a photographer.

“John, don’t hit on her,” Ye Lin said.

“I only gave a formal hello to the beautiful woman. It’s polite,” John replied. He spoke very standard Chinese.

Another person  joked with Ye Lin, “Ye Shao is an enemy everywhere today.”

Because there were many people around me, I was beginning to feel a  little hot, and my palms had started to sweat. The sticky feeling was making me uncomfortable so I decided to go wash my hands in the bathroom.

As I got up, I heard the head waiter’s voice from the front of the restaurant, “Mr. Xi, this way, please.”

Xi?

My heart trembled. I quickly looked up, and saw that it really was Xi Xichen!

What a coincidence…

I was also a little surprised when I realized that my body had frozen to the spot with my eyes staring transfixed.

He was in a light casual suit with dark trousers. His hair hung loose and he held a pair of dark sunglasses his hands. He looked gentle and handsome but his calm expression still gave off a sense of distance that didn’t seem easy to get close to.

I was sure that he saw me almost immediately, but his eyes quickly moved away, the expression on his face remaining unchanged and as quiet as before.

Xi Xichen had several men following behind him as he walked towards me with the waiter as his guide.

When he was ten meters away, John suddenly stood up.

“Ah, Mr. Xi! Hello!”

Xi Xichen came to a halt in front of me,  his eyes locked on John.

“What a coincidence Mr. Xi, to meet you here!”

Xi Xichen seemed to think a moment, before he finally seemed to remember.

“John Field?”

“Yes, it’s my honor that Mr. Xi still remembers me.”

Xi Xichen gave a quick glance at the people on the table and then nodded to John.

“Excuse me,” he said in a flat voice, polite but alienated.

I watched his slender figure disappear down the corridor and I sat back down.

I didn’t know if it was intentional, but he had brushed cool fingers against the back of my hand as he passed, leaving a touch of cold.

“John…”

“Elvis, the boss of our boss,” John said by way of explanation as he sat down again.

“We could tell,even if you didn’t explain, that he is at least a big boss.”

“I read one of his reports.”

“John, how do you know him? I mean, how did he know you? After all, such a person…”

The people in our group were all clamouring to speak.

John laughed.

“When I went to the head office, I met him at the gate for the first time and thought he was a model. You saw how very tall and stern he looks. So I went over and introduced myself to him–.” Everyone at the table roared.

John continued, “He was cold in his manner and said he was not interested. Then I saw a driver open the door for him and knew I might have made a wrong judgment.”

He paused, then said humorously, “After I knew who he was, to be honest, I was a little worried that I would lose my job.”

Everyone laughed except Ye Lin and I.

“Lin Lin, don’t look back at him, he’s long gone. Do you really like him?”

The girl called Lin Lin turned back with a smile, “How would that be possible? It’s just pure appreciation. That kind of man is not safe.”

“Do you think he has no sense of security?”

“No, I don’t think I deserve him.”

“Our most confident girl is not confident?”

“This has nothing to do with confidence. Such people are too high and difficult to grasp, and I like absolute control,” she said, winking playfully.

Some of the group agreed, some laughed and some talked back. They all didn’t care whether it was a star or someone else, as long as they could gossip, they were happy.

I looked around. I’d never been to this restaurant before, but now that I was getting a better look around me, I felt a little out of place. Everyone was very well-dressed and looked expensive and rich.

“Why are you looking like that?” Ye Lin suddenly asked me.

“I’m wondering why you used to hate rich people so much, but now you have been integrated into it all with ease.”

“Are you thinking about me?” His voice took on a joyful lilt, “I still hate rich people, not just before. Why are you wondering this? Are you going to share this hatred with me now?”

“No.”

I stood up, but he grabbed my hand.

“Where are you going?”

“Bathroom.”

“Don’t run around.”

“Where would I go?”

He snorted, “Who knows.”

I didn’t agree with his choice of words and deeds.

“Would you like to come with me?”

He smiled and let go of my hand. “I haven’t seen you for half a year, so I almost forgot your sarcasm.”

I tried not to care about his attitude, but the people around me had obviously been paying attention to us for a while. A couple of people laughed meaningfully.

“Senior brother, I’ll go with her don’t worry. She won’t get lost,” Lin Lin got up and stepped in front of me, solemnly taking my arm. I began to feel a little funny.

When I came out of the bathroom, I asked, “Is Ye Lin not married?”

“Ah?” Lin Lin’s expression looked surprised, “Of course not! Why would you ask me this question? Are you not the senior brother’s girlfriend?”

I stared at her.

“I thought he and Miss Yang were married.”

“You mean sister Yali?” Lin Lin asked, “They were dating, but they broke up a long time ago. It’s been four or five years. Now they’re just friends.”

I shook my head as I followed her back to the table.

“That’s unexpected.”

“It’s not really a surprise. Although the senior brother seems to be laissez-faire, he is in fact very single-minded. I think he is very sincere about you.”

I didn’t say anything more.

As I passed through the corridor, I heard someone call out my name with great excitement.

“Anjie?!”

I turned my head only to be met with Lin Xiaodi’s smiling face rushing ove