บท 34: Lunch [1]

Shi Lian reaches back to Mo corp with a bad temper. 'How the hell did that jerk become the Chairman?' she curses him.

"Shi Lian, you are back. How did it go?" Ruxi asks excitedly when Shi Lian enters inside. She figures that they must have rejected her because of Shi Lian's sour face.

"He said that he will consider it," Shi Lian says nonchalantly.

Ruxi's eyes and mouth pops open and she asks Shi Lian again if what she heard is true or not.

"Yes, I talked with him and he said he will consider it" she grips her palm tightly as she is angry at the mention of his name.

"Why are looking…so gloomy?" Ruxi asks observing her facial expressions.

"Nothing! I am going to tell father about the news" she says loudly. She fails to manage to control her temper at last and disrespects Ruxi.

"What's up with this girl?" Ruxi wonders with astonishment.

"Shi Lian! How was it?" Zheng Yuan asks when he sees his daughter walking towards him.

She plops the documents on the side table and sits on the sofa and replies, "He said he will consider it."

"Really? He agreed to listen to our proposal?" he asks with a shocked expression.

"Yes, father," she says calmly. Her anger has cooled down and she is feeling less irritated now.

"Young Miss, can you tell me more about it?" Zhang Hao asks with curiosity.

She nods and starts telling, "I waited there for almost an hour, I thought he wouldn't even want to see me but unexpectedly he agreed. I told him about the plan and also the proposal. He is…hard to deal with but somehow I manage to break through it."

"I am proud of you my daughter. You did a great job" her father praises her, feeling proud of her.

Shi Lian comes back to Ruxi's office to do her job, which she left early in the morning. As the company is going downhill, she needs to buckle up and have to be capable enough to handle the company. Almost half her training is done, all she needs to do is improve and perfect it.

"Vice President, about the new Nova collection, I have an idea" she suggests.

"What is it?" Ruxi asks from her working area.

"Nova represents youth, glory, and beauty so I have prepared something regarding that"

"Really?"

"Let me show you the pictures," Shi Lian says, searching for the pictures in her phone which she transferred from the camera. She shows it to Ruxi with excitement.

"Is that…Is that Mrs. Chairman? She looks stunning…..and that dress is exquisite!" Ruxi is extremely impressed with her design.

"Did you design it?" Ruxi asks turning to face her with shocked eyes.

"Uhm..yes" she chuckles.

"This is going to be a hit! We should start working on this!" she says with jovial confidence.

"Wait, we cannot tell father about it now. I want to give him a surprise" she smiles and Ruxi's heart is all giddy now. Whenever she encounters such type of heart touching scenarios, her heart gets all giddy.

"So what is your plan?" she asks.

"My training will be over in a couple of days and after that, we can release it. We need to first solve the plagiarism scandal to abolish the copy cat mark which has been splashed on our company" she tells about her plan.

At that moment, Ruxi felt inspired by her, she mumbles, "You will be a capable Chairman…much better than your father."

"Yes?" she asks when she notices Ruxi is mumbling something.

"Nothing. We should finish our work faster" she says turning her face away from Shi Lian and walks back to her seat. She is now shy.

Fu International

"Bro! How was the meeting?" Junjie asks in an animated tone. Fu Zichen was looking at the business proposal that Shi Lian left.

"Went well" he answers with a poker face.

"C'mon! I am asking about you two! Did you two...make out?" he asks mischievously.

"Nope," Zichen punches him lightly on his head.

"So, a kiss? Nothing?" he asks shamelessly.

"She doesn't remember me" he states in a low voice.

"What?"

"Are you deaf?!" he beats him again.

"How could she not recognize you? It's not like you had sex ten or twenty years before! It's only been two and a half months!" he states, standing up for his friend.

"Wait…is she pretending not to recognize you?" he ponders thinking more to it.

This does make sense, and this has made Zichen think over it now. "You think so?" he asks, unsure about it.

"Yes! She might have regretted it, maybe she is embarrassed about it" he points like a wise man which makes Zichen angry more and more.

Junjie shivers as he feels cold at his back all of sudden, he turns around and then realizes it's his boss who is glaring at him with his cold eyes.

"Regret, huh?" he glares wickedly like he will slaughter Junjie right here.

"The other case scenario might be that she is playing hard-to-get," he says unwaveringly before Zichen fires him. This makes more sense to Zichen than the first case.

"I want her information. Every little thing. Get it done as soon as you can" he orders him, looking outside the window.

"What? But you already had her information!" Junjie objects. Zichen glares at him to which Junjie nods meekly that he will give him the information very soon.

With the given work, Junjie leaves the office, which a sad face as he has to work now.

Fu Zichen takes the business proposal in his hand and observes it once more. It has her fragrance on it which he longed to smell and feel. "Are you regretting?" he muses, pondering aloud. "I don't want you to."

A call makes him wake up from his thoughts about Shi Lian. He looks over at the phone screen to see the name, it's his mother's. He picks up the call and his mother's sweet voice comes. "Chen, you are coming for dinner?" she asks cheerfully.

"I am busy tonight, mother," he says sternly.

"The company won't collapse if you don't work for tonight" she scolds him mildly.

"I have an important meeting tonight"

"It can be done some other day. Today you have to come and have dinner with us. It's been ages when we all had dinner together. Please listen to your mother for once.." she pretends to cry to make Zichen come home.

"When have I have not listened to you?" argues he,"Anyway, I will think about it, mother.

"There's no thinking, you have to come!" she orders.

"Fine" he replies, his fingers running through his dark brown silky hair. He hangs up the phone and throws it aside on the table.

The next day

While Shi Lian was working, she got a surprise call from Fu Zichen, which she wasn't expecting that fast. He called her that he has thought about the proposal and would like to meet her. The excitement was radiating from her face and she immediately said yes to that.

She is now heading to Snowdrop restaurant where he told her to meet. It's almost lunch hours so the venue is well thought.

"Ma'am, we have arrived" the driver informs her, stopping the car in front of the place. Shi Lian jumps out of the car and walks inside with modesty. "Welcome"

"Welcome"

She goes over to where the manager is standing, a smile plaster on his face.

"Hello, is there any gentleman name Fu Zichen here?" she asks politely, giving her sweetest smile.

"Are you Miss Shi Lian?" he asks with a professional smile.

"Yes"

"Yes, Mr. Fu is in the VIP room. Let me take you there."

They go upstairs where the VIP room is situated. This restaurant is the best and top-notch one in Shanghai. For influential people, the VIP rooms are reserved for them.

"Mr. Fu, Miss Shi Lian is here," the manager says to Zichen, entering the room. Zichen was tasting the wine when he entered.

The manager leaves and Shi Lian walks inside. Zichen can't help but blush when he sees her, she is looking beautiful in that royal blue off-shoulder full sleeves blouse and a white mini skirt with white loop earrings and stilettoes.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Fu" she greets him when she felt the awkward stare.

"Afternoon, Shi Lian," he says in a seductive tone, and more seductive when saying her name. Shi Lian's heart is fluttering and butterflies are dancing around in her stomach.

The way he spoke her name was so attractive and seductive and she is all red and flustered. Zichen notices her being shy and chuckles softly on his own. "Take a seat, Shi Lian" he tries teasing her, saying her name in his seductive tone.

"Oh okay.." she is blushing and manages to take her seat without falling or doing something embarrassing. Zichen smiles at her and Shi Lian being shy cannot look straight into his eyes.

"What would you like to eat? Here, choose it from the menu" he hands her the menu card and she takes him politely.

'At least he is considerate' she thinks about his gesture.

"Won't you order anything?" she asks when she notices, he is not ordering but staring at her.

"I already did" he answers with a smirk.

'Not considerate. I take that back' she argues with her subconscious.

Zichen notices Shi Lian getting uncomfortable so he asks, "Are you feeling uncomfortable Shi Lian?"

'Yes, I am! Stop staring!' she yells in her mind.

"No, not at all" she smiles, a fake smile.

"Are you pretending not to know me?" he mumbles.

"Pardon?" she hears him say something but she cannot reciprocate what.

"Nothing" he replies coldly.

The VIP area is luxuriously huge and there is no one except them. Zichen booked the place, ordering the manager to clear everyone who is dining in the VIP section.

There's this awkward silence between them; no one is talking. Shi Lian gets more uncomfortable so she says to break the silence, "About the proposal…have you consider it Mr. Fu?"

"We'll talk about that later. Let's have lunch first" She nods, controlling her temper.

'What's wrong with this man?' she badmouths.

"You were in America for five years, right?" he questions which makes Shi Lian's eyes go wide.