Half an hour had pa.s.sed. Lu Xiulan turned her head towards Shen Xue’s office when she heard the door opened. The scowling man stepped outside and walked towards her with impatience. His eyes narrowed at her as she continued to talk on her phone. He’d already changed his suit from yesterday and now was wearing a gray suit with a light-blue unders.h.i.+rt.
“I’m ready when you are,” he said in a cold tone.
Lu Xiulan glared back at him and finished her phone call. When she left Shen Xue’s office, she’d seen a stack of papers waiting on her desk outside, waiting to be checked. As she waited for Shen Xue, she quickly organized it, setting it aside to remind her new boss to sign it later.
“Finally. I thought I needed to wait for another hour for you to finish.”
Placing back her phone in her purse, she stood up; and they headed out the door for his first appointment of the day.
—
As soon as Shen Xue stepped out of the car, everyone started yelling his name. They just came back to Shen Group Country D Branch from his appointment when they found out the crowd that was waiting for them.
Behind him, Lu Xiulan stood with a calm expression. Camera lights flashed in all directions almost blinding Shen Xue’s eyes. Reporters crowded him at once and bombarded him with questions.
It seemed that some media outlets back at their home country had heard about Shen Yi’s plan to step down as the head of Shen Group soon, and they were eager to get some details knowing he was at Country D.
“Vice President Shen!”
“Vice President Shen, can you give us any details for the new project launch coming up this year?”
“Is it true that your brother is leaving Shen Group? Does this have anything to do with his relations.h.i.+p with Lu Xinyi?”
At that question, Shen Xue stopped and turned to the lady reporter with a ferocious look on his face.
“What does it have to do with his relations.h.i.+p with Miss Lu? What are you trying to imply?” He snarled at her.
The woman flinched. Fear crossed her face as she realized she might have asked a sensitive question to Shen Xue.
“I wouldn’t dare! We were just curious since Miss Lu is also a Sun family member…” she answered meekly.
“I don’t see why this would be a problem. It’s none of your business whom my brother wanted to be with. As I can see, the two are very much in love with each other. The Shen family already considered Lu Xinyi as a family member so you better watch what you say.”
The reporter gulped and looked down, refusing to meet his eyes.
“Everyone, leave! Or else, the Shen Group will file a case against you for public disturbance!” The guards tried to disperse the crowd at the entrance of Shen Group, making a way for Shen Xue and Lu Xiulan to get inside the building.
“Really, Shen Yi is leaving the Shen Group? Is that why you were sent here to deal with his remaining projects?” Lu Xiulan asked as they went inside his office.
“My brother has long decided to start his own business empire. He said he already did his part in restoring the Shen family’s business so it’s time for him to venture out,” Shen Xue muttered as he slacked off on his seat.
“What’s next on my schedule?” he asked. They’d already missed their lunch, and he was hoping he could get something to eat before he dealt with his next appointment.
Lu Xiulan checked his schedule over the tablet she was holding.
“Well, you won’t have to meet anyone until 4pm, but there’s a lot of papers that need your signature on it. Should I call for someone to deliver your lunch?”
Shen Xue scratched his head and huffed.
“No. Since I don’t have any urgent matters to deal with, let’s go somewhere to have lunch?”
Before Lu Xiulan could disagree with his idea, Shen Xue already made his way out, forcing Lu Xiulan to run after him. He ignored her call and hit the down b.u.t.ton on the elevator. The doors opened, and he motioned for Lu Xiulan to get on while holding his arm in front of the door to ensure that it wouldn’t close before they settled in.
Lu Xiulan was starting to get irritated by her boss once again. If it wasn’t for the fact that she didn’t have enough money to pay him, she wouldn’t even consider working for him! She shot Shen Xue a death glare, but the man pretended he wasn’t aware of it.
“Where do you think we should eat?” he asked her once he unlocked one of their company cars to use. “You are more familiar with this place than I am.”
“I did not agree to lunch with you, only to become your tour guide,” she interjected, eyes narrowing towards him. She refused to get inside the car as Shen Xue settled at the driver’s seat.
“What are you waiting for? Get inside. I haven’t any breakfast this morning, and I’m starving!”
Lu Xiulan rolled her eyes and hopped in, settling on the pa.s.senger seat beside him.
“Ha! It’s your fault! You know you’ll have a meeting first thing in the morning, but you chose to do something else.”
He seemed to be thinking of the same thing as he gave her an annoyed scowl before starting the engine of the car and driving towards a fancy restaurant he used to dine in with his brother. After twenty minutes or so, their car pulled up to a very popular restaurant in the city.
Once the servers saw Shen Xue entering with Lu Xiulan, they led the two to the VIP booths. Lu Xiulan stared around her in awe. The hostess seated them and handed out the menus which Lu Xiulan couldn’t even read.
Italian words were written on the pages, but she sighed in relief upon seeing there were fine prints of what they were so she understood what the restaurant was offering their patrons. She glanced at her companion who didn’t bother to check the menu and ordered the dishes he wanted at once.
Lu Xiulan inwardly groaned. She called the hostess’ attention and pointed out the dishes she wanted to try before placing her menu back on the table. The two kept their silence and waited for their orders to arrive.
The waitress came back exactly five minutes later, serving Shen Xue’s order one by one—much to Lu Xiulan’s surprise. What the h.e.l.l? He ordered so many dishes for lunch. Would he be able to finish it all?
Shen Xue made no move on his food until the last dish was served to him. Lu Xiulan had to wait for another ten minutes before her food was served. She ate in silence while her boss devoured each dish one by one. Although Shen Xue wasn’t in a hurry, he left each plate sparkling clean.
Lu Xiulan had stopped midway on her lunch as she watched Shen Xue ate without a hint of stopping anytime soon. She was amazed at how fast he could down each dish without breaking a sweat.
Just what kind of stomach did he have? Did he have a black hole in it that pulled every food he had eaten to nothingness?