It was still raining when they arrived at Joann's place but the rain had lightened somewhat.
Xu Jing's car rolled to a stop before the apartment building Joann stayed in at the time. The building was old and the walls were stained from long exposure to the ravages of nature. In fact, it looked like the weathered building was about to crumble under the weight of the rain.
It did not look luxurious and was even less impressive on the inside but it was the only place Joann could afford at the time.
When Xu Jing parked his car by the roadside, Joann very naturally reached for the door. However, she was stopped by Xu Jing who yelled out an urgent, "Wait!"
Joann turned back to look at him and saw the young man reaching behind his chair as if in search of something. His arm moved around until he eventually settled on the thing he was looking for. It was an umbrella.
"Let me." Xu Jing said gentlemanly as he opened the door on the driver's side. He opened the umbrella, closed the door and walked around the front of the car to the passenger side. He pulled the door back and held it open for Joann, saying, "Come, I do not want you to get wet in the rain."
Xu Jing stood right next to the passenger door and snuggled the stem of the umbrella in the crook of his neck as he extended his hand towards Joann. Joann accepted it gracefully and bent her head low as she crawled out from the car.
After she stood upright, she lifted her head to say thank you. It was then that the young man's face suddenly appeared before her eyes. She failed to gauge the distance as she got out and found herself standing closer to Xu Jing than she expected.
The man was looking into her eyes and stood there as if transfixed. This was the first time Joann had taken a look at Xu Jing's face at such a close distance. The man's cheekbones were higher than she remembered and she noticed a fire burning in his eyes that was normally hidden behind his laid back attitude. She also noted the slight dimple just above the left corner of his lips as if carved there from the perpetual smile that seemed to hang on the young man's face.
Then, Joann saw water from the umbrella slid down on one side before falling down on Xu Jing's hair and sliding down his back. She moved her eyes upwards and realized the man had tipped the umbrella towards her to shield her from the rain, thus exposing half of his body to the weather.
An indescribable sense of warmth flowed through the veins of her body and everything felt right. Joann thought about it and realized she could have done much worse than this young man standing before her so why not him?
She stood on tip-toe and leaned her face towards Xu Jing. With the rain falling around them, they shared their first kiss under the umbrella in front of Joann's old apartment… and the rest as they say, was history.
…
Xu Jing's car jolted to a stop and so did Joann's trip down memory lane.
"We have arrived. They are just in front of us," Xu Jing said in a whisper even though Sylvia and her mystery boyfriend's car was several parking spots away from them. It was impossible for them to have heard Xu Jing from such a distance.
Joann looked around them. They were at a residential area that Joann was sure she had not been to before even though the place looked weirdly familiar. There were apartment buildings around them and they looked new and high-end, a sign of the high status of their tenants. Some of them even came with amenities like swimming pool and private parking spots. It was deducible that they were at a silk stocking district.
There was a 24 hours Starbucks that was situated amidst the skyscrapers. It provided a convenient location for the nearby tenants to sit down with a cup of coffee and relax. However, the place was rather empty then considering the late hours.
"Do you think Sylvia's boyfriend is a rich second generation?" Xu Jing asked the question that was also on Joann's mind. He had that opinion after looking at the buildings around them.
"How would I know?" Joann answered but to be honest, she did feel a bit better because if the mystery man was indeed Sylvia's boyfriend, she had at least found one that could take care of her financially. Financial stability was one of the important criteria a Chinese parent looked for in their children's future partner.
"Now that we are here, let us just go and ask them ourselves…" Joann was an action-orientated person. She reached for the door but was stopped by Xu Jing.
"Wait, they can still deny it if we just go out like this. We need a more concrete proof!"
"Huh?!" Joann felt like protesting but at the last minute, she changed her mind. She thought to herself, 'Since I have already followed along until this step, why not just see it to the end?'
Joann took her hand back from the door and shook her head with a tired sigh. "Fine, we will do it your way, but for the record, I still think you have overreacted."
"Sure, sure, the record will show that Joann has protested and thought Xu Jing has overreacted," Xu Jing said.
He then kept his eyes glued to the car before them that carried his precious daughter and the slimy sleaze ball he suspected was her boyfriend. His mind was raging, thinking of the punishment that he would deliver on the young man should Xu Jing catch him take advantage of his daughter.
Joann leaned back against the seat and closed her eyes. Since there was nothing to be done but to wait, she decided to take a little rest.
Enjoy the extra chapter. I wanted to get the fluff out of the way so we can jump right back into the drama. XD
Even though Joann had her eyes closed, she could not fall asleep because Xu Jing kept her awake with constant live updates like, "He is moving in… Damn the man! But wait… He is leaning back again?!", "Sylvia is asking him for something and the man has handed it to her, I wonder what could it be? An item to mark their love?", "They are just sitting there… doing nothing? What exactly are they up to? Is it because they know we are watching them?"
Joann eventually opened her eyes and sighed, "If you want to know so bad, why don't you just go ahead and ask them?"
Xu Jing sat in his seat, visibly agonizing over the option. He was seriously considering his wife's suggestion, to just burst out and demand an explanation from the questionable young man in person.
However, as someone who once had a, shall we say, colorful period of youth, he knew how slippery these young'uns could be. After all, he was once one himself. He felt like he needed an ironclad evidence before he could get any real and truthful answer from the young man.
Joann sighed once more as she turned her head towards the car before them. To be fair, a part of her was indeed curious and she too had the same confusion that crowded her husband's mind. She repeated her husband's question in her mind, 'They are just sitting there, doing nothing? What exactly are they up to? Is it because they know we are watching them?'
Like Xu Jing, Joann was once young as well. There were many things a couple could do inside a car, while on a late night joy ride. Hell, she and Xu Jing did quite a number of those things when they were young and about.
Joann blushed out of Xu Jing's sight as the memories flushed back. However, she soon snapped out of it and focused attention on her daughter and the man whom she began to suspect really was not her boyfriend at all.
In the other car, Sylvia took the passenger seat and the man was the driver. They were not physically touching like most young couples would do, normally, a young couple could not get their hands off each other.
Due to the distance, it was impossible for Joann to tell whether the two were talking or not but she believed they were not because Sylvia and the man's heads were both turned down a specific direction, focusing on the entrance of one of the apartment buildings instead of at each other.
If anything, it felt like they were doing exactly the same thing what Xu Jing and Joann were doing, on a stake-out. Then the question remained, 'Xu Jing and Joann were following their daughter so who are they staking out for?'
Joann was yanked out of her contemplation when Xu Jing placed his hand on her arm, saying, "Look, they are doing something! What are they up to?!"
Joann saw Sylvia and the man lean down lower into their seats and Sylvia pulled up something square and boxy to place before her chest. The object caught the glint of the light from the lamppost and Joann was almost sure it was a camera. Sylvia pointed the object at the building they had been watching all this while.
Seeing this, things started to click for Joann. She could feel a fire burning through her. This was a betrayal of the utmost degree, even worse than finding out her daughter was out late at night with a boyfriend.
Joann turned her gaze towards the apartment in question and her suspicion was confirmed. This was because she spotted someone familiar exiting the entrance. It was Zao Ming, Lee Mu's personal assistant and agent.
Now she understood why this place felt so familiar. This was the address for her friend and co-star, Lee Mu. She had recollection of this place because she was invited over once for a housewarming party when Lee Mu first bought the place. She had not been back ever since.
There was a flurry of motions in the car in front of them as Zao Ming pulled out his key, got into his car and drove away. They were probably busy finding angle and snapping photos.
After Zao Ming's car turned the corner and disappeared into the city, Xu Jing still had no idea what had happened. He asked Joann blurrily, "What was that all about? And now they are leaving? What is the meaning of all this?"
A trace of befuddlement entered his voice and he had a sneaking feeling the man was not actually Sylvia's secret boyfriend but he could not tell who he was and what they were up to.
If this was not Sylvia's secret boyfriend then why did she come out to meet him so late at night and on top of that decided to keep this whole affair a secret? If it was not a romantic relationship, Sylvia could have told the family about it openly.
Little did Xu Jing know the key to answering all these questions was sitting right beside him.
Before Xu Jing could get further clarification from his wife, Joann shoved the car door open and jumped out. Xu Jing was at a loss. 'What has taken over her?'
Joann marched angrily towards Sylvia's car. Sylvia probably did not notice her approach or else she would have asked the man to drive them away directly.
Like an apparition, Joann materialized in the window next to Sylvia and when she saw the camera equipment and writing supplies in the car, her fury was lit up like oil to the fire.
She knocked on the window with a grim face and Sylvia rolled it down after some hesitation. Sylvia looked at her mother with an awkward smile and a barely concealable terror on her face.
"Good evening, moth…" Sylvia began but she was cut off by Joann who demanded in a stern voice, "What are you doing here?"
Sylvia stuttered, "I... I just acquired a reporter system and this is my first mission?"
Sorry for the late release. Was dealing with something earlier.
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