Dylan Qiu a.k.a Qiu Hedi was born in an ideal home. A home with a loving and caring mother, a strict father and a doting elder sister. Being the youngest in the family, he was the most pampered person. He never had to go through grievances in life. At least, not until he had to face the world.
It was safe to say that Dylan"s sensitive heart was broken brutally in this harsh world.
Dylan had always despised it when people approached him with ulterior motives. But it was a shame that rarely anyone came to him without an agenda. Perhaps that was why he had no problem with Xiu"s hatefully bitter tongue. Because it allowed him to feel her sincere hatred openly. In a way, he was actually very thankful for that.
"Can"t you just take into account your friends.h.i.+p?" Hu s.h.i.+s.h.i.+ tried to persuade him again.
Dylan leaned back in his chair languidly as he snickered in mock contempt, "Friends.h.i.+p? Your cousin and I nothing to do with each other. Not anymore. Whatever friends.h.i.+p we had is long severed. If I"m not wrong, he doesn"t even know that you are here to ask for my help."
"Dylan, why are you turning into a cold-hearted person like Darren? We have tried asking for his help as well, but even he is not willing to help." The mentioning of Darren"s name made Dylan stand up in anger.
"Cold-hearted Darren?" He snorted. "Say my best friend"s name one more time and see how evil-hearted I can become!"
Dylan turned to leave when her voice made him pause, "If you helped us this time, I"ll tell you where she is." Dylan turned to look at her with a raging fire in his eyes while she went on, "I know when you asked me last time, I said I don"t know where she is. But I lied. This time, I"ll really tell you where she is."
Dylan"s fists tightened as he tried to keep his emotions from wavering. "Do you still think I"m that college boy in love? I"ve grown out of those years. I won"t care even if she died. So, Ms. Hu, stop playing this game. It"s getting boring now."
He again turned to leave and walked back inside the restaurant to Xiu. What he saw made him want to laugh?
There Xiu was with a table full of food which was barely eaten. Xiu was busy clicking photos of the food which looked enticing and delicious.
"You"re not done yet, Ms. Bai?" Dylan asked coming to her side.
Xiu looked at him and stood up saying, "All done."
Dylan looked at the food again and said, "But you barely touched anything."
Xiu patted his shoulder like an old friend and leaned close to whisper, "Revenge should be cla.s.sy. And cla.s.sy revenge is pricey. But pricey revenge is what Xiu likey." Dylan stifled his laughter while she added, "I have a rule if I"m not the one paying then the most expensive thing is what I get." She pointed at the table of food and said, "This is the most expensive meal of this restaurant. The white wine alone costs thousands."
Dylan rubbed his forehead and said, "I just realized..." Xiu raised her brows in question and he added, "You"re the best crime partner."
Xiu gave him an honest smile and flipped her hair conceitedly saying, "That I am."
"Let"s go," he was about to leave when he saw Hu s.h.i.+s.h.i.+ walking towards him again, he reminded her, "Don"t forget to pay the bill. My fifteen minutes were expensive." Xiu loved the look on Hu s.h.i.+s.h.i.+"s face when she saw the bill. Oh, inner satisfaction was real. Real and liberating in a twisted way.
"Dylan," Hu s.h.i.+s.h.i.+"s voice stopped them again. "Even if you say you forgot her. I won"t believe you. You"re desperate for her and desperation never goes away."
Xiu observed the way Dylan"s eyes closed briefly to take a deep breath before he turned to face her and said, "You wanted my help? Let me help you then." Hu s.h.i.+s.h.i.+"s eyes brightened up. "The mysterious person behind RX Studios is no one else but my best friend... R.D. Salvay," Dylan enunciated each word making Hu s.h.i.+s.h.i.+ stagger in shock.
"What? But why?" She asked in a daze.
Dylan gave her a blithe but provocative smile as he said, "Why? Nice question. The guy who didn"t even flinch when his own life was at stake. Why is he going to the extent of challenging your whole group?" His voice took a dangerous edge as he added, "Because this time you people destroyed something precious to his heart. Your cousin has a lot more to expect ahead. This project was merely the silence before the storm."
With his vague but clearly threatening words, Dylan walked out of the restaurant with Xiu in tow. But Xiu"s mind was running fast to process his words. "Hu s.h.i.+s.h.i.+"s cousin? As in... Him ? R.D. Salvay? Project? What is happening?" Suddenly remembering the content of the news she recently heard, she felt enlightened. "Does the loss of Pa.s.sionArt Entertainment for Flick City project has something to do with Dylan"s best friend? But what do his words mean? Is this a revenge plot? But why?"
Dylan waved his hand before her eyes to awaken her from her zoned out state again. "Stop zoning out on me. Let"s leave this place already."
"Wait." Xiu held his arm to stop him and when he looked at her slender hand around his arm, she left it like she was burnt before saying, "Let"s wait in the car. I have a nice show planned out for you."
Dylan frowned but still nodded. As they sat in the car, she kept her eyes trained towards the entrance of the restaurant, seeing that Hu s.h.i.+s.h.i.+ was walking out, she smiled evilly and slapped Dylan"s arm saying, "Look over there. Keep looking."
"I hate that face. I already need something to cleanse my eyes. And you want me to look at that face again?" Although Dylan"s answer was annoying, she found it entertaining.
"Just look. You"ll feel better soon enough," said Xiu ambiguously.
Dylan decided to give her a chance as he languidly supported his head on his hand and looked in Hu s.h.i.+s.h.i.+"s direction. Suddenly, his eyes widened. He didn"t know how it happened but out of the blue, a big Tibetan Mastiff dog ran towards Hu s.h.i.+s.h.i.+ tackling her down.
"Ahh! Ahhh! Take this beast off of me!" Hu s.h.i.+s.h.i.+ was rolling on the floor trying to avoid the dog but how could she be stronger than a huge Tibetan Mastiff? And what was worse, Hu s.h.i.+s.h.i.+ hated dogs! How could Xiu not be aware of that? She had spent years with that hypocrite white lotus b.i.t.c.h!
Xiu laughed out seeing her pathetic condition while Dylan was left staring between Xiu and Hu s.h.i.+s.h.i.+. "What did you do?" He asked in curiosity.
"Nothing. I just asked for a special something from the kitchen and left it in her pocket. But don"t tell it"s a secret," Xiu replied in a playful manner.
"Why?" He couldn"t help but ask. Why was she doing this with his hatred as if the hatred was her own? She ordered the most expensive meal just as he had wanted her to. And now, she even made Hu s.h.i.+s.h.i.+ miserable just like he wanted to see her.
"Because I hate her," realizing what she said, Xiu rephrased her words, "I mean, I could see how much you hate her. You"re not good at hiding your dislikes."
Dylan smiled to himself, indeed he was not good at hiding his feelings. He still couldn"t learn that skill. This corporate world made him become evil and scheming businessman but he didn"t have a poker face. It was his biggest flaw in the business world.
"Do you mind me asking why you hate her?" Xiu had been curious about it for a while now. "Don"t tell me, she has a thing for you."
"Girls like her can"t have feelings for anyone except for themselves. My hatred for her is deep-rooted, she hurt someone really important to me."
Was that "someone" whom Hu s.h.i.+s.h.i.+ was talking about? Xiu didn"t question thought. She could feel his discomfort. It was weird but she felt like he was really hurting.
"Aiyo, I need a strong drink to forget that horrific face," Dylan looked at Xiu and asked, "Would you like to join?"
"The offer is tempting but no," was Xiu"s reply. Only she knew how hard it was to refuse drinks. "Wine is my holy shrine and I don"t like sharing it with strangers." Dylan was stupefied by her reply. "Why don"t you give me half a day off? I need some serious spa treatment to get over this encounter." She had purposely lowered her voice towards the end of her sentence.
"Deal. But in exchange, remind me not to mess with you. You have one crazy mind." "And I have no wish to be treated like that." He cringed at the thought.
"Well, only a nutjob like me could deal with a crazy wench like her," Xiu answered proudly.
Dylan stayed quiet for a moment before saying, "That I can agree with."