Chapter 161 - City S - Part 1
"Don"t forget to call me before you get on the plane and when you arrive, okay?" Lu Chen reminded her for the nth time as he zipped her luggage close.
Xiu Mei turned her head and helplessly smiled to her husband as she stood in front of the mirror in her walk-in wardrobe. After fixing her stuff, he stood up to hold her hand. Taking out a small box from his pocket, he opened it before her and inside laid a lowkey bracelet. He took it out and unclasped it to wrap it around her wrist.
"Why are you suddenly giving me a bracelet?" She asked in confusion.
"This is just a precaution in case Lee In lose sight on you. This was designed with a tracker in it so in case you suddenly disappear, we can still track you through this." Lu Chen explained while clasping the bracelet around her wrist.
She took a closer look at the small design in the middle and wondered how small the tracker should be to fit inside this...oh.
Speaking of trackers, Xiu Mei suddenly remembered her past conversation with Lu Qiang. Because she was too busy for the past week, she almost forgot about the watch that Lu Qiang gave to her to give to Lu Chen. The original purpose was to know where Lu Chen had been going to everytime he disappears but since that"s already a solved problem, the main purpose for it is completely gone.
She roamed her eyes, pondering what to do with the watch. After Lu Chen left her walk-in wardrobe with her luggage, she walked over to a drawer. Grabbing the box containing the watch, she placed it inside her purse then casually exited the room.
In her mind, she thought that since it was supposed to be given to Lu Chen, then she should just give it to him after the trip. Perhaps using an excuse that she bought it or so. Anyways, it"s a men"s watch so she can"t wear it and it"s not like she"ll use the tracker anymore.
In the dining room, Lu Qiang bombarded her with requests and reminders while eating their breakfast, much like his father.
"Mommy, let"s video call at night okay?"
"Mommy, don"t forget to text me every hour!"
"Mommy, send me pictures too!"
"Can you also bring home some desserts from there, Mommy?"
Xiu Mei:...
Genes never lie.
Since it was the first time that Lu Qiang and Xiu Mei would be away for almost a week, she could understand Lu Qiang"s concerns so she didn"t hesitate to accept his requests and promised him that she would call him every night.
She thought that was the end of her son"s clingy episode for today but it was when the little kid was desperately clinging to her body right now that she realized that this was the true trial that she must face.
"Mommy, don"t go." Lu Qiang whimpered. Since he could only reach her, he could only hold on the square pants slacks she was wearing.
Xiu Mei"s heart broke seeing his cries. She knelt in front of him and gave him a big hug, patting his back.
"Darling, Mommy will be back soon." She said gently as she comforted him. The kid shook his head whilst as he drilled his face on her neck.
"But you won"t come home for five days."
"You just have to sleep for four nights then Mommy will be finally home."
"Five nights are still long."
"Then Mommy will try to come really early for darling, okay?" She released him and pinched his face. Dropping kisses on his forehead and cheeks, she coaxed him.
"Promise me that you"ll come home?" Lu Qiang"s voice broke while saying that.
Both Xiu Mei and Lu Chen who heard that paused. In her mind, the memory where she first met Lu Qiang flashed. She immediately understood what was running in the child"s mind right now.
Her breath hitched as if she couldn"t breathe. She cupped his plump and supple face and looked at him with a serious expression.
"Baby darling, I will come home no matter what happens. I promise."
Lu Chen also knelt beside the kid and stroked his head.
"Daddy won"t let anything happen to your Mom so you don"t have to worry anymore."
Just by that one line, he understood his son"s worry. After all, he is his father.
Listening to his parents" promises, after some contemplation, Lu Qiang finally nodded and stopped clinging onto his mother.
"I love you, Mommy." He exclaimed, cras.h.i.+ng into her arms again for the last time. Xiu Mei"s heart melted like goo as she welcomed her son"s hug.
"I love you too, my baby."
To remove his worries, the couple decided to bring him along when Lu Chen drops her off at the airport. The small and big buns saw her off after repeating all their reminders for the nth time. Since it was almost the time of her departure, she did not roam around anymore and went straight to her destination. She didn"t have to worry about being late and all since the original flight of the Marketing team was yesterday.
As soon as she arrived at City S after the four-hour flight, she went straight to the resort to meet up with the others. After checking in and settling her stuff in her room, she already scheduled to meet up with them over lunch.
"Ms.Xiu, we"re here!" A voice called out to her. She roamed her eyes around the restaurant and finally found the source of the voice.
"Sorry, was I late?"
"Not at all, Ms.Xiu. We just finished ordering right now. Here"s the menu so if you want to—"
Xiu Mei saw that they were gonna push the menu to her direction so she immediately stopped them. Smiling, she replied "It"s fine. I don"t mind. I"m not very picky with food so anything you ordered would be fine with me."
All of the expenses will fall in the company"s card so she really didn"t mind eating any food right now. She saw a couple of seats empty and wondered.
"Where are the others?" She asked.
"Oh, they suddenly had to take a short meeting with the Captain. They said they"ll be back in fifteen."
"Mhm, well let"s wait for them and have our lunch before we officially start."
She wasn"t in a rush and she was just going to receive some brief reports from each of them and updates on how they"ll go about with the meeting with their client tomorrow onwards.
The food was already served when the other missing members returned to their seats.
"You"ve finally arrived, Ms.Xiu!" A voice called from behind her. She turned her head to look at her side and saw Albert Chen beaming a smile at her while casually taking the available seat beside her. She blinked before returning the greeting to him and the others.
They finally started eating when a piece of meat was suddenly dropped in her bowl. Her movements with her chopsticks paused as she stared at her right with furrowed brows only to be met with a smiling face.
"Mr. Albert, I appreciate the thought but I can get the food myself." She uttered as she returned to meat to his bowl.
She couldn"t accept the food that the a.s.st. Marketing Director gave her, especially if she doesn"t want to get entangled in a rumor that she was cheating with him while in a relations.h.i.+p with Lu Chen.
As the President"s secretary and Lu Chen"s girlfriend, she has to be cautious when mingling with men outside. One mistake can make her have a scandal and instantly appear in the headlines the next day.
"Sorry, I was just concerned that you were eating so little so I thought of giving you some more food." Albert Chen apologized sheepishly. Then he looked at the others worriedly as if he was concerned that someone saw them and think that they were clipping each other some food.
Seeing that no one saw their small interaction, Xiu Mei brushed it off.
"It"s fine. Mr. Albert just needs to focus on his lunch and I"ll focus on mine." She rigidly said as she continued clipping some vegetables and fish on her bowl.
"Ms.Xiu is so cold ah." Albert commented at her cold response.
"I"m just reminding Mr.Albert that there"s a line that one should not cross."
"Of course you"re our superior so we should still need to show our respect."
A vein in Xiu Mei"s head felt like it was gonna snap anytime soon. She thought, does this guy love acting stupid so much? Thank G.o.d that the others are too busy chatting that they couldn"t hear much of their conversation.
She smiled sarcastically at him.
"That, and Mr.Albert should remember that I am already in a relations.h.i.+p."
She put down her chopsticks. She suddenly stood up from her seat that almost everyone in the table looked at her direction.
"I"ll just go to the restroom for a bit." She uttered as she excused herself from the table.