After a while, Mu Liang carried her to the presidential suite. He prepared a hot bath and then unhurriedly took off her gown and untied her hair. When he carried her to the bathtub, Mu Lan opened her eyes and yawned.
"I"ll bath you. Go back to sleep." Mu Liang urged her.
"Mmm… okay…" She hugged his neck and closed her eyes. However, she couldn"t possibly sleep when his hands were roaming around her body. She relaxed herself and let him to whatever he wanted. When he rubbed her scalp, it felt so good that she immediately fell asleep.
Afterwards, he wiped her body and dried her hair. Then, he put her on a white nightgown and laid her down on the warm, cozy bed. Later, he sat on the bed beside her, drank some wine and looked down at the girl who was sleeping soundlessly.
He smiled. He thought of her expression when she was wearing the gown and walked towards him. Then, she vowed and kissed him. She showed that she was genuinely happy. It warmed his heart. He never felt this happy before. He planned the whole thing by himself and he did it very carefully. Seeing her joyous expression was all he ever wanted. He wanted to give her the best wedding and he was able to do it.
Mu Liang leaned forward to kiss her forehead and then, he went to the bathroom for a shower.
Five minutes later, someone knocked on the door. Mu Lan subconsciously heard it and woke up. She got out of the bed while rubbing her eyes. When she went in front of the door, the person spoke up, "First young master, room service."
"Is it dinner?" Thinking that, Mu Lan yawned and opened the door. There was a tray of food and the man who was carrying that was none other than Leo, the Head Butler from the Mu Mansion in France.
Mu Lan exclaimed in joy, "Uncle Leo! You are here! I never thought that I would see you in here! Why didn"t I see you all day?"
Head Butler Leo smiled politely and bowed. "Congratulations on your wedding. We are very happy to see you finally being part of the Mu Family. We are all here including cook Eva. She prepared your dishes personally. We are making sure that everything goes smoothly. I apologize for not being able to meet you sooner."
Mu Lan shook her hands. "Please don"t worry about it. I"m very happy that you are all here. No wonder I felt familiar taste when I was having lunch. I"m really hungry right now. I"ll eat it and save some from your first young master, don"t worry."
Leo chuckled and bowed again. "Please enjoy your meal. I"ll take my leave. Please don"t forget to call for room service if you need anything."
"I will." Mu Lan agreed.
After Leo left, Mu Lan sat down and opened the lids of the dishes. Wonderful smell filled the room, making her stomach growl. She took a bit of the roast.
Before she could take another bite, there was another knock.
"What"s now?" Mu Lan wiped her mouth and stood up. As she opened the door, she was stunned to see Li Shen.
"Xi-Xiao Lan…" He as deadly drunk.
Mu Lan overcame her puzzlement and coldly asked, "Why are you here? Who gave you permission to enter this floor?"
Her cold tone was a sharp blade that slashed his flesh. Li Shen wobbled and grabbed her shoulders all of a sudden, making her finch.
"Let go or I"ll call for help!" Mu Lan hissed in anger. She wished to use her power, but she couldn"t let this man know about her power yet.
Seeing her beautiful structure in the night gown for the first time in his life, Li Shen recalled the time she was being intimate with Mu Liang. His hold became tighter as he said, "Xiao Lan, you can"t be with him. You are mine; you cannot be with anyone else."
"Let go of me!" Mu Lan began to struggle but this guy was really strong.
Li Shen hugged her tightly, restraining her from moving and he tried to kiss her face and open area of her chest. "No, you are mine; and mine only. I love you. I love you."
Mu Lan was about to use her wind power. Hearing what he just said, her body stiffened. She asked in disbelief, "…What did you just say to me…?"
Something moved inside her. She forgot that he was trying to touch her inappropriately. Inside her head, there was a sharp pain caused her body to go numb.
Noticing that she wasn"t behaving properly, Li Shen loosened his hold. He looked down at her and said, "Xiao Lan, I love you! It has to be you and no one else."
However, his words didn"t go through her head. His confession shook her whole existence to the core. He didn"t know why she felt that way and why his "I love you" made her act so strongly. Her headache wasn"t helping her either.
She twisted her face in tremendous pain and cupped her head. "It hurts. It hurts a lot." She mumbled and was about to faint.
Li Shen realized her abnormal behavior, he began serious. He sobered up and hugged her closely. "Xiao Lan! Xiao Lan, what"s wrong?"
Him, hugging her made her feel disgusted. "Don"t touch me!" She shoved his away with a great force.
Since he wasn"t holding her tightly and he was drunk, the unexpected movement made him fall on the ground. Mu Lan stood and blindly walked away from him. Her head was spinning and her vision became blurry.
"Liang! Liang! Liang!" She screamed and she tried to ran towards the bathroom. She didn"t know where she was heading. The headache was killing her.
She opened the door and gash of wind hit her body. She didn"t pay attention to it. She looked for her husband as she moved forward. "Liang, save me!"
As she took another step, Li Shen came forward and grabbed her left arm. "Xiao Lan, what are you doing? Come to me!"
"No! Don"t touch me!" She kicked aiming at his joint of the right knee and he grunted. She whisked away her arm from him and stepped back. Her back felt a cold railing but she didn"t pay any heed to it.
As Li Shen tried to move forward, she stepped back one step and she couldn"t keep her balance and fell. Her body went outside of the railing and flew in the wind. Then, her body hit the cold water and soon her body sank in the blue ocean.
***
I promise from today onward, I"ll forget everything.
Until I hear you say one day, "I love you."
Till then, goodbye memories.
***
Now that you said, "I love you", the locked memories will be unleashed…
-----------------------------------------------
It was Autumn. Cherry blossoms covered the whole path to the university. It was dawn. Hua Lan woke up as the alarm started to ring. She needed to go out for a morning walk.
She yawned and slowly got out of the bed. She washed her teeth and drank a gla.s.s of water. Then, she went out.
The sky was clear and it made her mind refreshed. She smiled happily and ran under the cherry blossoms. All of a sudden, she saw a silhouette of a man in the park, under the cherry tree.
"Is he lost?" Thinking that, she moved forward.
The man seemed to notice a presence behind him and so, he turned around. The heartless gaze locked into the transparent black eyes.
It was a fate and destiny tied them together that day.
Hua Lan was startled to see such cold gaze; however, she was more taken by his loneliness. Her heart moved in one glance. She didn"t find his gaze intimidated at all. More than that, his loneliness engulfed her.
She asked, "Are you lost?"
The man didn"t reply. He clearly showed that he didn"t like her presence.
"Oi brown eyed mister, I"m talking to you." Seeing him not responding to her, she stood right in front of him, making him startled.
"What do you want?" He asked coldly.
Hua Lan put her hands on her waist. "I asked you already. Are you deaf? I wanted to know if you are lost."
He raised an eyebrow. This was the first time someone talked to him like that. He was stunned. "Does she not know me?" He wondered.
Hua Lan tilted her head. "Now what? You are mute!"
He narrowed his eyes dangerously. First, he was called deaf and now mute; did she care for her life?
Since she didn"t get any answer from this "deaf" and "mute" stranger, she lost interest. She shrugged and said, "If you are looking for the information desk, it"s in the corner of the basketball court. And you are too early for meet anyone."
Saying that she left. She didn"t notice that his hands were clenched tightly as if surpa.s.sing anger.
That day, Hua Lan had to be surprised because the Head of the Department came to introduce them to a new Lecturer. "Cla.s.s, sorry to disturb you at you cla.s.s hour. This is your new Lecturer, Li Shen
Hua Lan couldn"t help but speak out, "Ah, you are that "deaf" and "mute" stranger!"
The whole cla.s.s became silent at first and burst into laughter. The Head of the Department scolded her for being disrespectful. Hua Lan only pouted and didn"t reply.
Others began to whisper. "Li... from Li Family?"
"He is so handsome! He must be from Li Family."
"Are you nuts? If he is from the Li Family then he would take job in Li Corporation. Why would he be here as a Lecturer?"
"Maybe we should ask him."
After the cla.s.s Li Shen went to computer lab. He turned on the computer and leaned back.
"Did you find that bi*ch?" Someone asked from behind.
"Sheng, don"t just come here casually. You will expose me." Li Shen coldly reminded his younger brother.
Li Sheng was sitting on a desk close to the window. He jumped from the table and stood up. "Yeah, yeah…" He came closer to his older brother and asked, "So, did you meet her?"
"I did." Li Shen curtly answered.
Li Sheng asked, "Is she as disgusting as the rumor said?"
The corner of Li Shen"s lips stretched up. "You can"t believe that she approached me first."
Li Sheng looked at his brother in disbelief. "No way! What happened then? Did she try to seduce you?"
Li Shen remembered the first time he met her. She was curiously looking at his eyes. He answered, "She stared at me like I"m a freaking sculpture. Just like other women. There were three boys from another department confessed to her. She was playing had to get. Pathetic!"
Li Sheng spoke, "I see, she was making a move on you. She is a sl*t, just like her mother." He clicked his tongue and continued, "You, you don"t dare to be seduced by her. Don"t forget our mission. We came here for revenge."
"Don"t tell me what to do. I"ll get this done perfectly." Li Shen"s reply was cold.
From the next day, Li Shen avoided Hua Lan like a plague.
One of Hua Lan female cla.s.smates said, "Xiao Lan, Lecturer Li seems to dislike you for some reason."
Hua Lan leaned back to the seat and laughed. "He thought that I"m purposely breaking the boys" hearts. So, he got mad."
Another male cla.s.smate said, "What"s with that? You can"t just date everyone who confesses to you. if you do, only then you will break their hearts purposely."
Hua Lan chuckled. "Xiao Rin, you have a brain to think, but our Lecturer seemed to leave has brain in his house. I wonder if he was fed gra.s.s when he was a child."
She purposely said that out loud, letting the whole cla.s.s hear what she just said. She eyes glanced at the corridor where Li Shen was walking. Of course, he heard it. He paused before walking towards the cla.s.sroom. When he entered the cla.s.sroom, whole room became silent.
Li Shen"s cold voice could be heard, "Miss Hua Lan, please come to the computer lab after the cla.s.s."
After he left, a female cla.s.smate said, "Xiao Lan, you are done for."
Hua Lan sneered. "What can he do to me? He is just someone who judges a book by its cover."
After the cla.s.s ended, she went to meet Li Shen. She knocked on the door and Li Shen said, "Come in."
Hua Lan entered the room and asked, "Lecturer Li, why have you called for me?"
Li Shen coldly glanced at her. "Don"t you know?"
She smirked and boldly asked, "Should I know?"
He spoke, "I heard that you are the top student of this university. I checked your doc.u.ments too. Don"t you think you are a bit arrogant just because you got some good marks?"
Hua Lan didn"t flinch. She said, "I think you have made a mistake. Everything I did was with my own effort. Why shouldn"t I be proud of myself? Why should I listen to someone who judges a book by its cover?"
Li Shen asked, "You think I"m doing judging you by your appearance?"
Hua Lan raised her right eyebrow. "Are you not?"
"Alright. Then show me what you have." Saying that he threw a paper at her.
Hua Lan took it and read the content. Her eyes sparkled instantly. "…This…!"
"A compet.i.tion is going to be held in Germany. Since you are so talented as you claim, show me what you got." Li Shen threw her a challenge.
Hua Lan smiled brightly and said, "Don"t fall for me when you see the result."
Li Shen: "…"
The next day, Hua Lan and her two team members were busy making the new video game. For the compet.i.tion, she often had to spend time with Li Shen. He had underestimated her charms. It took her only one week to make the stiff, anti-social Lecturer Li turn into a human. She was too pure and innocent. Slowly he was drawn to her without him noticing. He was able to smile and laugh around her. Their time in there was spring.
Soon, they went to Germany and their team got Talent Award. Hua Lan was so happy that she lost herself in emotion.
At that time, Li Shen said, "You don"t like Computer Science and yet, you have achieved something great. I don"t think this is the wrong path for you."
Hua Lan smiled and said, "Maybe you are right."
One month went away just like that. After that, they called each other often. Li Shen majored in Management, but Hua Lan didn"t know that. He gave her lots of ideas about launching video game. They contacted each other almost every day.
In the Li Corporation, Li Sheng asked, "Are you sure you are doing the job properly? Weren"t you supposed to take her down in one month?"
Li Shen coldly said, "Don"t question my plan."
Li Sheng scoffed. "Don"t tell me you fell from that bi*ch."
Li Shen replied, "The higher she goes up, the harder the fall will be. Just wait and see."
After that, Li Shen took Hua Lan to Li Family mansion.
Hua Lan froze. "What a beautiful place! Why am I here?"
Li Shen glanced at her. "I want you to meet my family."
Hua Lan blushed. "Is this your house?! W-wait… W-why would you do that?"
Li Shen smiled. "My father is very interested in you after hearing about your talent and I wanted you to meet them. Be good and come with me."
Hua Lan took a deep breath and followed after him. The butler let them enter. He took them to the living room where Mr. Li, Mrs. Li and Li Sheng were waiting for them.
Li Shen introduced her to them. "Father, mother, Sheng, this is Hua Lan from Hua Family. She is the person I told you about."
"h.e.l.lo Mr. Li, Mrs. Li and Xiao Sheng, it"s a pleasure to meet you." Hua Lan bowed deeply.
Mrs. Li smiled and said, "My, what a wonderful child. We heard so much about you. Please sit down."
Hua Lan smiled and nodded. She was about to sit down when she noticed Mr. Li"s pale face. She asked worriedly, "Mr. Li, are you alright? You look rather pale."
Mr. Li composed himself and said, "Yes, yes, I"m fine. I never thought that you would be so young. When I heard about you, I thought you must be working under my son."
Hua Lan smiled. "I was indeed teacher Li"s student for a month. He helped me a lot during launching my game. I"m in debt."
"Don"t say that. I wanted to help you." Li Shen smiled.
Hua Lan asked, "But what about working under you? Did you get a job?"
Mrs. Li chuckled. "Oh my, did you not know? Xiao Shen in the President of Li Corporation."
"What?!" Hua Lan nearly stood up in shock.
Her honest and innocent behavior touched Mr. Li"s heart. He said, "I don"t you join our company after graduation. It will be good for you and we will get a valuable a.s.set."
"I"m also thinking about that." Li Shen said.
Hua Lan froze. Li Corporation was the largest company in China. If she got a job there, she would never have to look back.
Four months pa.s.sed by. Hua Lan was done with her fourth semester. She finally finished working on her Car Race game. She decided to give it to Li Shen.
"Are you sure you want to spend the rest of your life with that punk?" Carlo asked.
Hua Lan gasped. "Don"t come here abruptly and startle me, Carl!"
Carlo scoffed. "You are the one who let your guard down. Teaching you all these years was just a waste of time."
Hua Lan said, "I don"t care what you say. I decided to let go of my past and embrace the future."
Pedro asked, "Do you want to leave us?"
Hua Lan shook her head. "it"s not that. I want to live a normal life, have a normal family. I don"t want to hide true self like you guys. Please let me do that."
Juan said, "Little one, we can"t just leave you alone."
"I want you to leave me alone! If you don"t, I cannot let it go." Hua Lan said, "Please understand."
She was always like that. Once she stubbornly wished to do something, no one could change her decision.
Juan sighed. "If you wish for that, we can only give you our blessings. We won"t bother you anymore. Goodbye, little one."
That day was the last time she met them. She cried her eyes out the whole night.
The next day, he sent him a text to meet her on Sunday. And he came.
Right beside the lake, she stood there and in front of her was Li Shen. He stood there wearing his formal attire.