Hu Lei remembered the look in Zhong Feng"s eyes as the elevator doors closed when she left with Vladimir. She felt a pang of guilt and a strong need to explain the entire matter clearly. But what would she say? Her helplessness and frustration turned into anger against the man who seemed completely uninterested in the fair but insisted on walking around carefree."I did not know Mr Romanov was interested in technology." She said caustically.
The man had not paid attention to a single showcase since they had arrived on the conference site. He might as well have been walking through an empty field. When the face of the big boss drifted into her head again, she felt positively murderous. Had he put on his production of "old acquaintances" in the office for the sake of hilarity?
"Please call me Vlad like you used to." He replied with his wide smile.
"Oh, do you mean Vlad the Impaler?" Her voice held a frosty bite.
He laughed lightly, and they continued to work in silence.
Like Vladimir, she was not interested in technology that much. However, she still could not help checking out a couple of the fun exhibits. She was particularly interested in virtual reality. How nice would it be if she could experience a full life without going outside?
The appearance of this old friend had proved that the world was not safe even in her homeland. For the life of her, she could not remember why she had accepted to work in Etude Technologies. However, now that she had accepted the job, she would commit for the sake of her professionalism and reputation, she thought righteously. Her determination had nothing to do with anyone else!
When walking around the showcase area, she could recognise some familiar faces from the marketing level. She nodded politely. The person who had made the greatest impression was that strange woman who had approached on the day she got caught sleeping.
She nodded towards her in greeting when she saw her. The marketer nodded back before leaning to her companion in their booth to whisper in her ear. They both looked at her before they giggled. It was obvious that something unflattering had been shared.
Hu Lei shrugged and kept walking.
When Vlad finally got tired of his charade, they left the site and went to a local restaurant. Hu Lei did not want to indulge him, but she wanted to talk to him before he continued with his antics and ruined everything. She needed to make sure that he would not interfere with the life she was building.
Silence fell in the room as soon as the hostess left the private room. The two people sized each other properly for the first time. Hu Lei"s eyes looked cold and hard like diamonds, and her entire being seemed primed for a fight. Right now, the girl was completely different from the adorable kitten that Zhong Feng had come to know and love.
On the other side of the table, Vladimir finally seemed to show a serious face. He observed the girl that he had known about five or six years ago. She had naturally grown up as all people did. However, not in the way that he had predicted. If anything, she had become something completely different.
After a long moment, Vlad smiled cheekily at Hu Lei. Unfortunately, the naughty smile coupled with that manly face and the ugly scar made something that she did not want to see. She could not help picturing the beautiful small smile of the evil emperor to cleanse her mind.
"So, you and the president, huh?" he spoke with perverse joy.
Those words poured a bucket of cold water over her. Her ears reddened in spite of her efforts to remain cold and indifferent before this devil.
"There is no me and the president." She spoke in an uncomfortable voice.
There really wasn"t! She did not know why she felt so strange when the topic was brought up. Why was he even bringing it up?
"But you want there to be, right?" He continued childishly.
Hu Lei felt her face darken. The last thing she wanted was to have a girl talk, especially with this creature. How could he even look at himself in the mirror when he was behaving like a teenage girl yearning for gossip? He was obviously throwing his face and disappointing the minions who probably worshipped him.
She did not allow her mind to keep moving into that train of thought because she was already picturing a marble statue, and she definitely did not want to contaminate her mind.
"I do not want to talk about this and most of all, not with you. What are you doing in Supreme City?" She asked, turning the topic into her main concern.
"Naturally, I am here to conduct proper business. There is a huge market for technology in my country." He responded with an honest smile.
She looked at him with scepticism.
"Don"t worry. Thanks to you, the only wares I handle these days are software and hardware." He continued lifting his hands.
Her face turned dark at his poor attempt at a joke. In her books, this issue was not something that could be easily laughed off. Though she had not expected her life to become what it was now, she felt better than she had in years. Everything seemed to be working out, and she was slowly starting to understand why normal people lived the way they did.
Being in Supreme City had made her realise just how miserable her life had been as a nomad. All she had done was jump from country to country, getting involved in all kinds of things that kept darkening her heart and mind. She would not allow anything to mess her haven up before she even had the moment to enjoy the little warmth that she had finally found. She did not want to give up scallion pancakes, the c.o.c.ktails and most of all…
"I hope that is the case, Vladimir Romanov. I do not want to hear a single word about our former dealings. I like my life right now. If anyone gets any information about the past, you will not only be getting a simple scar this time." Her hard voice was hard and her dark eyes showed that she was serious.
The atmosphere in the room became tense as they looked at each other. Vlad did not respond for a long moment, but he finally nodded in acceptance. There was nothing for either of them to gain if their former connection was revealed. Hu Lei stared at him for longer before leaning back into her seat.
After a minute, he went back his original game of teenage gossip girl.
"Are you planning to make Supreme City your turf? Or are you planning to claim it for your beloved president as dowry?" His eyes seemed to glitter with desire for gossip.
She rolled her eyes at him. What did he think she was? A 1980s drug dealer? More importantly, didn"t Zhong Feng already own Supreme City? From what she had gleaned by checking out tabloids, he was considered to be a G.o.d by everyone. Of course, she preferred to picture him as an emperor for, ahem, her personal interests.
Looking at the glittering eyes of Vlad the Impaler, she realised that denial would keep her on this line of questioning. So, she decided to play the bold and wanton consort pursuing the favour of the evil emperor?
"Do you think he will like it?" she asked coyly, looking at him expectantly.
Vladimir"s face contorted in horror. In spite of everything, he had known Hu Lei as a teenager. In a way, he thought of himself as a sort of uncle to her. Hearing her speak of certain matters turned his stomach. Looking at his face, she could imagine what he was thinking. She immediately burst out in laughter.