Shao Yan unconsciously nodded, before saying "Yes, it is actually better now. Thank you." She put down her chopsticks and continued, "And that"s right, Xi - I mean Daniel told me that you are going to call. Thank you for taking the time. I know you must be busy, Daniel told me there"s an issue with j.a.pan office."
Martin quickly replied her, "No big deal. Daniel is helping with that issue, so I have time." Shao Yan heard he was s.h.i.+fting in his seat, she could hear squeaking leather seats as he moves around.
"So I saw the list that VP Zhuang sent over. Daniel also saw the names. I have worked with some of them, and everyone seems fine."
Shao Yan could hear jiggle of keys and then Martin starts the car engine, she quickly cut him off, "Martin, just drive first, we can talk later, there is no rush." She picked up her mug and took sips of water to moisten her lips. Ever since the morning meeting ended, it seemed that she had not had enough drink to hydrate herself.
Martin put on his seatbelt, and then replied to her, "I am actually already near your office. I should arrive in about five minutes. Let"s talk more when I have reached there. I will be meeting Daniel for coffee in the cafe downstairs your lobby, so everything works out just fine."
Shao Yan quickly nodded, "Alright, that is great then. Let me know when you have arrived, I will come down to see you." And then the call ended.
She picked up her chopsticks again to continue eating. She chewed her food slowly, at the same time, she was also browsing the news section from her phone.
On a habit, her thumb expertly navigated around to the finance and business section. She had her news section tagged to keywords for "AG International" and "Gold Crane Publications" so she could quickly get a real-time update.
The local news was reporting that there were talks about AG International going to sign a working agreement with L corporation to engage them as their consultant. Shao Yan remembered that this should be the brunch meeting that Li Xiqing was talking about when she was eating her breakfast with him this morning.
She clicked her tongue, while thinking, "Business news and media paparazzi really travel very fast. They only just finished their brunch but the news has come out not even an hour later." She inwardly sighed, "It"s either this is a very big news or that we are lacking of business news right now?"
L Corporation was a big deal in the country nowadays. The company became a trending topic in the mainstream news and also social media trending search due to their International reach. Owned by businessmen from Europe and Middle East, L Corporation was considered as new conglomerate, as they were only established around two years ago. And yet, their list of ongoing projects were impressive enough to lure in more players that wanted to work together with them.
The news started to elaborate more on the key figures of the two companies: Axel Chen, representing L Corporation and Daniel Li, from AG International. They went to discuss in detail about their family background, education history, and list of achievements.
Shao Yan was reading with the utmost attention, she even forgot what she was doing. She was gnawing on her chopsticks while admiring the pictures of the two outstanding men that the media had taken from the brunch meeting today.
After she went through the news twice, she continued to scroll down the news page, while biting into a sweet corn. Li Na had ordered a beef bowl rice for her today. Shao Yan was supposed to sit together with Fan jie and Li Na, when Martin"s call came in. So she just decided to keep eating at her desk while talking to him.
When she wanted to keep reading more news, Martin had sent in text message telling her that he was already downstairs. Shao Yan quickly packed up her lunch, and then rinsed her mouth; before she started to walk to the elevator lobby.
When she arrived downstairs, she saw Martin had sat down on a table fit for four people. Shao Yan briskly strode over, "h.e.l.lo, have you been waiting for a while?"
Martin slowly risen up from his seat when he saw Shao Yan was walking over. He slightly stepped out from the chair, b.u.t.toned his suit jacket, and walked to the other side of the table. When Shao Yan was finally standing in front of him, he swiftly pull out a chair for her to sit down.
Shao Yan embarra.s.sedly said her thank you. She was still not accustomed to this treatment from Li Xiqing and his friends. Each of his friends, Karl and Martin, would treat Shao Yan so politely, even when Li Xiqing is not around.
"Thank you," she slightly tilted her head to the side, to look at him face to face, "Have you been waiting long?" Shao Yan noticed that there was already a cup of freshly brewed coffee in front of him.
Martin went back to his seat. He slowly smoothed down his lapel and unb.u.t.toned his jacket before sitting down comfortably across from her.
"Not really, I called you after I placed the order," he crossed his legs as a waiter brought in another cup to their table and put it in front of Shao Yan.
She looked confused, and risen up her face and was about to say something to the waiter, when Martin quickly interrupted her, "Daniel told me to order a cup of Matcha Latte for you. I heard it was your favorite", and then he gave her a small, rea.s.suring smile.
Shao Yan peeked at her mug, and saw a milky green beverage was served in a quaint white ceramic mug. A whiff of almond milk could be detected from the mug. She returned his smile, her eyes slightly squinted as she smiled, "Thank you."
She lifted the mug a little, and brought it closer to her lips. She lightly touched her upper lip to the rim of the cup, to test the temperature of the mug. After finding that the temperature and milk to tea ratio were just as she liked, she could not help but unconsciously praised Li Xiqing for his attentiveness towards her needs without she even realizing it.
Suddenly, she missed him so much.