Sweet Chief Secretary

"Brother Yan, I would like some sas.h.i.+mi. Could you pa.s.s it over?"

The sweet and soft voice of Yang Ke"er was ringing across from Xia Yu"s left side, which was tempting to all men. Xia glanced at her and withheld very soon.

"Why not eat something? Don"t just drink, or you will get drunk soon. Although the sake is only a dozen degrees or so, it can be very strong after a while.” Shen Qiang persuaded her from drinking alone, especially for she was not a regular drinker.

"I"m fine. I just feel happy." Xia Yu smiled at him, filled her gla.s.s again and swallowed it at one gulp.

Halfway during the dinner, Xia Yu"s phone was ringing in her bag. It was from Zhou Yan. A smile crept on the corner of her mouth. Xia Yu stood up, walked out of the room and found a quiet place to answer the call.

"Hey, Zhou Yan."

"I watched the news. Chen Wenxuan is mad. Are you fine?" Zhou Yan"s warm and sincere voice came from the phone and he continued, "Don"t be disturbed. A clean hand wants no was.h.i.+ng."

"Zhou Yan, thanks a lot!" Xia Yu was very moved at the moment for there were few who would care about her. Zhou was one of them.

"Xia Yu, rumors are rumors after all. You don"t have to pay much attention. Sometimes, it"s better to show your courage and defend yourself with the law. Forbear blindly or hesitate all the time would be of no help. "

Zhou Yan lowered his voice when he said the last sentence.

"I will think about your advice." Xia Yu had intended to fight back but she always had some sympathy for Chen"s father"s death. If she brought Chen Wenxuan to the court, it would be really cruel for him and Bao Na, who was pregnant.

"Don"t blame yourself for Chen"s father"s death." Zhou Yan knew Xia Yu was kind but her kindness might be taken advantage of by someone, especially by Chen Wenxuan.

"I know, but as long as I think of that, I feel bad." Sometimes I know what I should do but when I need to make decisions, my heart becomes soft.

"Don"t you find that Chen Wenxuan is taking advantage of your sympathy and spoiling your fame recklessly?" As a psychiatrist, Zhou Yan had deeper insight than others.

Xia Yu was also angry that Chen Wenxuan took advantage of her kindness."I will fight back soon."

"I know you will make the correct choice. If you need any help, just tell me." Zhou Yan showed his willingness to offer help when he heard that.

"Thanks. By the way, how is Aunt Xie?" When Xia Yu went to see her last time, she was in the hospital, waiting for a surgery date to be settled. But she was too busy these days to visit her. Xia Yu thought that since Zhou Yan"s grandpa was Xie Gendi"s doctor in charge and Xie Gendi seemed fond of Zhou Yan, perhaps he knew more details.

Referring to Madam Xie, Zhou Yan felt awfully embarra.s.sed. The day when they met, she took for granted that he was the person Xia Yu would date with.

Zhou Yan was busy avoiding meeting Xie, let alone, to ask about her health conditions." You know I am busy with my clinic. I have no time to see her. Maybe she will be operated on soon.

In fact, he was not so sure.

They talked about half an hour on the line. When Xia Yu returned to the dining room, the dinner was almost finished.

Upon Xia sat down, Shen Qiang leaned toward her and asked, "Who are you talking with for so long? Your new boyfriend?"

When he said that word, people sitting beside them all turned around and looked at them, including Shen Yan, whose eyes were deeper and darker.

Xia Yu got a piece of sus.h.i.+ with chopsticks and sent it to his mouth, "Just eat."

With his mouth full, Shen Qiang said no words anymore.

Xia Yu then looked in the direction of Shen Yan and sighed in her heart.

When they came out of the restaurant, they all felt that they didn"t enjoy themselves to the full so they went to the KTV. After drinking so much sake, Xia Yu felt dizzy by its strong effect when they arrived at the KTV. To make it worse, they asked Xia Yu to play games with them. Xia Yu could not refuse given Yang Ke"er"s high spirits. Xia Yu lost the game several times and then she made an excuse for singing to get rid of the game.

When she was about to sing the song she finally chose, Yang Ke"er went to her and switched to the next song, claiming "Let me sing first."

"Why?"

Xia Yu gazed at her and said coldly. Yang Ke"er was keeping finding fault with Xia Yu all night but this time she was so obvious. Xia Yu didn"t want to bear it anymore.

"Because, because the song you picked sucks." Yang Ke"er rolled her eyes and answered, with an air of haughtiness.

"It"s your own opinion. I think this song is good." Xia"s eyes were getting hard and she interrupted Yang Ke"er "s song with a sense of revenge.

Perhaps Shen Yan felt the tensions between them so he went to them. Immediately, Yang Ke"er took on a melancholy look as if she were wronged. Then she took Shen Yan"s hand and said, "Alright, Xia Yu, I will give way to you. You are so right. I"m a bad singer. What a shame! I"d better keep silent."

Xia Yu was amused by her words. That girl was so scheming that she blamed it all on Xia Yu and turned herself to Snow White to win Shen Yan"s comfort.

"That"s true! You know yourself well. You"re such a bad singer that if you sing, you might terrify and wake up those drunk men." Shen Qiang added his remark to help Xia Yu and make fun of Yang because Yang made Xia like a bad person.

With a slightly mocking smile, Xia Yu said nothing more.

The boy made Shen Mo embarra.s.sed even in front of Great Aunt. It would do me no good to retort back. So Yang Ke"er felt defeated and embarra.s.sed. She called Brother Yan for comfort with her eyes red.

Shen Yan frowned and took a glance at Xia Yu without saying anything. He consoled Yang Ke"er who leaned against his chest and then came back to the sofa.

Xia Yu took the microphone and picked Guan Xinyan"s Destination. She didn"t know why she wanted to sing this song today. Probably it was because of alcohol.

"Time is the enemy to lies. Love comes to its destination in a blink."

"My world changed for you each day while you don"t know. I made sacrifices for you while you don"t know..."

Xia Yu sang attentively with her eyes closed. Those bygone days flashed back in her mind and she suddenly realized that she was so happy in the past but now...

When she finished the song, Xia Yu went back to her seat and at that time she felt that her head became sober. But the soberest of them was Shen Yan. He didn"t drink any because he"s the boss. No one could urge him to drink if he didn"t want to.

Xia Yu held Shen Qiang who was totally drunk and could barely walk. She was wondering that Shen Yan was supposed to send Yang Ke"er home so Xia Yu could not sit his car. But other colleagues with designated drivers didn"t drive in the direction of her home. She decided to take a taxi. Though it was late, there were quite a lot of cars in her direction.

Seeing an empty taxi driving in her direction, Xia Yu waved at it but Shen Yan"s car arrived in front of her before the taxi arrived. "Get in. I will send you two back."

His tone sounded like an order.

Xia Yu looked into the car and found Yang Ke"er sitting in the front, frowning and unhappy with this arrangement. But given Shen Yan, she could not refuse.

"Don"t bother. The taxi is coming. We"d like to take a taxi."

Yang Ke"er was relieved at Xia Yu"s decline but Shen Yan looked discontent.

"It"s too late now. It"s unsafe for you to take a taxi, additionally with a drunk man. Get in." He emphasized.

Considering his insistence, Xia Yu thought that if she declined again, it would look feigned. So she helped Shen Qiang get in the car with her and she ignored Yang Ke"er"s glare.

After midnight, there were few cars on the road. They were driving smoothly and arrived at the living community very soon. When Xia Yu got out of the car, Shen Qiang moved and seemed to wake up.

"Sister, why there are two of you? Don"t, don"t move."

Shen Qiang waved his hands in front of Xia Yu, trying to grab something, and murmured.

Then Shen Yan got out of the car and said, "Let me hold him."

"Brother, you do care about my sister..."

Though Shen Qiang was drunk, couldn"t he keep silent for a while? He took a glance at Yang Ke"er and found she look more annoyed.

"It"s too late. You send Miss Yang back home first. I can bring Xiao Qiang into the house by myself."

Xia Yu said that while dragging Shen Qiang toward the gate. She didn"t dare to wait for one more minute. I should have made him drink less if I had known that he would make irresponsible remarks. If Xia Yu didn"t cover his mouth in time, who knew what he would say anything else? Xia Yu"s back was wet with sweat right now because of fear. She hoped that Yang Ke"er would not mind his words.

"Brother Yan, I"m sleepy." Yang Ke"er"s sound pa.s.sed through from the car.

"You have your own car but deliberately to push yourself in. Why bother?" Shen Yan grumbled without patience.

"What do you mean? I"m so kind as to meet you at your company and get along well with all my colleagues. How could you grumble?" Yang Ke"er felt that she was treated unjustly and pouted.

"Yang Ke"er, n.o.body asked you to come. And, to make it clear, they"re not your colleagues. You don"t work with them." Shen Yan retorted and corrected her words because it"s a matter of principle.

"Must you put it so plain and straight? That"s true. I"m not now but I will be. Second Aunt and Great Aunt have promised me a job in your company." Yang Ke"er stared at Shen Yan. She knew that he didn"t want her to work at his company so she asked his family for backup.

"Then, ask them to sack me. Otherwise, you"ll never make it." Shen Yan dropped his word, got into his car and closed the door.

"What do you mean? Do you dislike me so much?" Yang Ke"er was mad this time. She pointed, with her eyes, at Xia Yu, who was holding Shen Qiang and walking toward home, and asked: "Because of her?"

"The answer is not important. As long as I"m in charge of Tengfei, you can never work there." Shen Yan stated it very clearly without any possibility of negotiation.

It was as good as stepping on a mine. Why should Shen Yan court death? As Shen Yan and Yang Ke"er were arguing loudly, Xia Yu heard it all but she just kept walking inside.

When she brought Shen Qiang into the villa, she heard the sound of the car starting. She felt relieved and moved her hand from Shen Qiang"s mouth.

"Sister, you"re bullying me." Shen Qiang grumbled at her and pouted.

Xia Yu was choked by his "accusation" and hardly fainted away.

This lad was usually not so wordy when he drank. Alas, why did he behave so weirdly today?

Xia Yu ignored and waited for him to fall asleep for about half an hour. She looked at the clock. It was almost 1 a.m. Xia Yu guessed that Shen Yan would not come back so she yawned and went to her own room.