That"s all? But why had Shen Yan quit the meeting and gone to the Bamboo Fence Restaurant to date Zeng Mina? If Xia Yu hadn"t met him that day, there would have been some unimaginable consequences.
However, Xia Yu found that he didn"t cherish Zeng Mina very much afterwards. She couldn"t distinguish whether he was telling the truth or just lying to maintain his face because he was dumped by Zeng Mina.
"You have no other questions, right? Is it the right time to tell me your answer?" Shen Yan asked her with patience as she had stood there silently for such a long time.
"Ah?" Xia Yu raised her head and looked at him with a glance, just to see a very serious face. She was distracted at that moment and then she stammered: "I need some time to consider it!"
"Give me your answer before next Friday!" His fingers gently sliding over her lips, he smiled and left.
"I have said before that I can only work with you, with no personal relations.h.i.+p involved." Xia Yu realized that she might have to remind him of something. "You"ve crossed a line. Don"t you know it?"
"Of course I know! How can we fall in love if not crossing the line?" Shen Yan said justifiably.
"Ah..." How could this person be like this?
Shen Yan left and drove the car away when Xia Yu was in a daze. After a while, the taillights disappeared into the mist and could no longer be seen. Xia Yu still carried the bags, standing motionlessly for a while with her heart in a stretch of barrenness, just like the infinite rain. And in a parking s.p.a.ce about a hundred meters away, a silver car slowly drove out from inside, which soon melt into the night. n.o.body knew its destination.
Xia Yu went home alone then. She threw the fish which had been just killed into the pool of the kitchen. It grunted and rolled then, covered in blood. It was already gutted, but its eyes were still open, breathing and living.
The life vitality of the fish was really tenacious. Xia Yu even thought that whether fish never closed their eyes, even at the end of their life.
Shen Yan was ready to buy some wine, while Zhang Peng called him over and over again. He then called Xia Yu resignedly and said he had something to tackle with and would not come back.
Kidding? The food was prepared to cook! Xia Yu thought.
She looked at the fish in front of her and finally decided to cook it. As fresh fish was the most delectable.
Besides, it would be more free for her to eat alone.
When Shen Yan arrived at the private room, Liu Sijie was puzzled at first. And then he asked: "Didn"t you say you couldn"t come for something?"
Shen Yan glanced at Zhang Peng and then sat down.
Zhang Peng smiled aside. Seeing Shen Yan"s sulky face, he asked: "What"s wrong? A look of insatiability!"
Liu Sijie a.s.sisted aside: "He must be irritated by someone!"
He was ready to say that Shen Yan had been irritated by Xia Yu, but he gave up at last after thinking about it.
"Who?" Zhang Peng was very interested in it.
"Who else! Don"t you know her?" Liu Sijie gave a glance at Shen Yan. The man was always proud when facing others, but why did he fall flat when facing Xia Yu?
"Xia Yu?" Zhang Peng was really Shen Yan"s best friend, guessing it at once.
Zhang Peng guessed it himself, and none of my business. Liu Sijie grasped the opportunity and said: "Now my boss has been totally enchanted by her. His brain is full of..."
"No one will think you are dumb even if you keep silent!" Shen Yan suddenly interrupted. He poured a gla.s.s of wine and sat down on the opposite sofa.
Liu Sijie stuck out his tongue and did not continue when seeing Shen Yan"s saturnine appearance. Liu Sijie turned his face and slapped Zhang Peng"s knee: "Hey, tell me why you call us here today?"
"Of course for Miss Jiang"s business. Actually she is really a wretched woman with such a small son and a sick mother. Miss Yang shouldn"t have treated her like that even if she was angry!" Jiang Yayan was still hurting. And Yang Ke"er really went too far this time.
Originally, Zhang Peng had been not willing to be involved, and he had even advised her to ask Xia Yu for help when Jiang Yayan complained to him. But he knew that he couldn"t run from it again when he learned Yang even troubled Xia Yu.
"Don"t you know Yang Ke"er"s temper? Do you think I have the ability to persuade her? Xia Yu said she wants to resign just now." Shen Yan said morosely, and it was obvious that he didn"t want to get involved in this thing.
It could be really hard to persuade Yang Ke"er, as even Xia Yu, such an emulative girl, decided to keep away from her. Zhang Peng thought. He gulped down the words he was ready to say.
Then the ambiance in the room became stifling, and even Liu Sijie did not speak any more, as if they were involved in a very weird topic.
In recent months, Shen Family had been shrouded in a negative atmosphere. As the President election was coming while the situation was not clear yet, the First Madame had become more peevish recently and sometimes she even vented her anger on the servants, so they didn"t dare to approach her at all. Everybody just focused on their work and rarely spoke for fear of riling her. And it resulted in the jitteriness and depression of all the servants.
Shen Mo couldn"t bear such ambiance, so he tried his best to make himself invisible by daylight and avoided being at home at night. So this day was the same. Before his mother returned, he groomed himself and left home, and didn"t come back until midnight.
Usually at the wee hours the whole house was cold and murky. He would flash into his room as soon as possible, so as not to be discovered and nagged by his mother.
But it was strange that day that the light was still on in his mother"s room when he was pa.s.sing the second floor.
He pushed the door and got in. The dark room was full of smoke, and his mother sat on the carpet with an ashtray and a few empty beer cans beside her feet.
"Why you haven"t slept yet?" Shen Mo walked in, blowing the air with his hands.
His mother sat cross-legged with a cigarette in her mouth and stared intently at the beer cans in front.
"Mom, are you worried about the election?"
"The girl of Yang Family made such a mess after coming back. It"s not good for us!"
"Mom, didn"t I tell you? I will handle this and you needn"t worry about it."
"How can I not worry about it? If Shen Yan and Yang Ke"er get together, son, we"re gonna fail."
"It also requires that they can really get together." Shen Mo sat down against her and reached out for the beer in her hand. "Don"t drink too much. It"s harmful to your health."
"How can I not worry about it? I have come this far. Even if you would be willing when we failed, I would not."
But how could Shen Mo be willing?
Shen Mo said: "Mom, don"t you see it? Shen Yan pays all his attention to Xia Yu. You must know Yang Ke"er"s temper. She can stand it now because she just came back for a while. But after a long time, everything is gonna change. Wouldn"t she kick up a row if we added some tr.i.m.m.i.n.gs?"
"So why not speed up?" Xia Yu had impinged on their profits so many times and the First Madame couldn"t help driving her away right now.
"You don"t have to worry about this. Hand this task to Zeng Mina and she will do a good job for you."
Zeng Mina"s biggest use was that she could irritate Yang very accurately. It was really an opportune job for her. The First Madame nodded: "Well, I will talk to Zeng Mina again, and you must maintain a good relations.h.i.+p with her family."
Shen Mo exhaled and said: "We can"t do it so obviously now. After all, it is still grandma who wears the trousers."
Everybody could see that the Old Madame was wary of Zeng Family. The First Madame couldn"t help but sigh: "Your grandma is really stubborn."
"After all she is in the saddle and we have to restrain ourselves." Shen Mo sighed and stood up. "Mom, you should go to sleep now. I will contact Zeng Family at the appropriate time."
Shen Mo knew that his mother did everything just for him. But her ability was limited so she always couldn"t see the whole picture of a problem and was easy to be used by others as a cat"s paw. Shen Mo had reminded her a few times, but it didn"t work. So he didn"t mention it anymore. He couldn"t hurt his mother too much.
Therefore, he just tried his best to appease his mother. But he had his own plans about what to do next.
The First Madame was very pleased that her son didn"t give up the cooperation with Zeng Family, and then she urged him to go to sleep in turn with elation. She called Zeng Mina at once after Shen Mo left.
"Mina, it"s me! I just talked to Xiao Mo. The boy is just too busy..." Zeng Family had been very aloof to them recently, so she had to repair their relations.h.i.+p.
"Auntie, I know it. Please rest a.s.sured that since we are engaged, I will naturally stand by him. I will take the thing about Yang Ke"er in mind even if you don"t ask me to do." It was what Zeng Mina really thought. If it were not for her provocation, Yang Ke"er wouldn"t have called someone to beat Jiang Yayan and kicked up a fuss in Tengfei.
"Oh poppet, I"m relieved now. I know you both are busy, but you have to make time to manage your relations.h.i.+p." The First Madame grinned with Zeng Mina"s docility.
Zeng Mina put down the phone with improved mood. Since Xia Yu found the incident between her and Li Tianci, she did have stayed at home for many days.
She thought Xia Yu would deliver the evidence to Shen Mo directly as they were deadly foes. But the thing she worried about didn"t happen after so many days. So she began to get active then.
But after all, she did not dare to directly confront her anymore as Xia Yu hold something of her. So it was really a good thing for her that Yang Ke"er took place of her part.
"What did the First Madame say?" Zeng Ziqiang asked beside her. He was very furious as this time he suffered such a big loss in front of Shen Yan and even Shen Mo was lukewarm at this time. He was ready to do something to teach Shen Mo a lesson since he really irked him.
But at this time he prepared to figure out their att.i.tude first as the First Madame called this night.
"She said the Old Madame is wary now. After all, the Old Madame is still at the helm and she has been hoodwinked by Shen Yan. So Shen Mo has to act like this now and he will talk to us seriously at an appropriate time." Zeng Mina conveyed the First Madame"s words to her father.
The Old Madame was indeed a trouble to them. Zeng Ziqiang did not ask again. But they might not lose if they got Shen Mo on their side.
Zeng Mina was even more unscrupulous in front of Yang Ke"er out of the obvious indication of the First Madame.
Yang Ke"er did not dare to go to Tengfei after being evicted by Shen Yan last time. And Xia Yu seemed to keep away from her intentionally. The second Madame was very fond of Xia Yu, so troubling Xia Yu would be an offense to her. Yang Ke"er directed at Jiang Yayan at last after mulling over it.
Jiang Yayan was almost insane under Xie Genti"s bothering, and Yang Ke"er kept lingering in her life too. When Zhang Peng went to see her, she couldn"t help complaining to him.
Zhang Peng wanted to help her, but there was nothing he could do. Shen Yan was willing to see Jiang Yayan got out of the city by Yang Ke"er"s pestering so that he could return a quiet life. So it was definitely not a good choice to ask him for help.
And Shen Qiang hated Jiang Yayan more than Shen Yan, so there was no need to mention him then. Only Xia Yu treated Jiang Yayan normally, and Shen Yan listened to her words always. It seemed that they could only ask Xia Yu for help.
Zhang Peng went to Tengfei when he was free. Xia Yu was reporting works to Shen Yan in the office that time and she had to stop because of Zhang Peng"s arriving. "You talk please. I"ll go back to my office to get a file."
Xia Yu smiled and greeted Zhang Peng, ready to leave.
"Oh my little sister, don"t leave! I have practised for a long time after playing ball games with you last time. I come here today to make a compet.i.tion with you again!" He came here for Xia Yu specially, so how could he let her go?
"It"s my pleasure, but I am working now." Xia Yu didn"t want to compete with him at all. His time was used to squander, while hers was used to make money.