By the time, Ru came back to the Condominium building, it was already 10 o"clock. Before entering the building, she had seen a long line-up of SUVs on the road with suave looking bodyguards standing guard.
From the logo embroidered on their suit jackets, it wasn"t hard to tell who these people were accompanying. Yet she was curious as she trotted inside the lobby. Soon her curiosity was curbed when she saw a middle-aged man in haute couture pacing back and forth before the oakwood door of Xiao Zhiren"s apartment.
The man was none other than the Chairman of the Ji Conglomerate, Ji Yifeng himself. In other words, Xiao Zhiren"s father.
Ru couldn"t bring herself to lift her feet and walk away. She stayed to watch that high and might man looking anxious like a teenager as he chewed on his nails. Another reason which she would never accept was that she hadn"t seen Xiao Zhiren since the "kiss" incident. She wasn"t avoiding him but apparently, it was the time leading them to have missed chances.
Finally, Ji Yifeng mustered up the courage to ring the bell and waited patiently. His demeanor had amused Ru. It was the only amusing thing about tonight or perhaps about the whole week.
Yuan was the one who opened the door and his face immediately stiffened as he saw Ji Yifeng standing before him who had lifted his hand reluctantly to wave saying, "Hi!"
Ru felt a strange sense of loss since the person at the door was Yuan and not Xiao Zhiren himself. But she immediately shook that loss away, not daring to let it crawl inside her heart.
"Don"t you know that you"re not permitted here?" Yuan"s voice was sharper than Ru had ever heard it. "Please go away and don"t show up again. I don"t like seeing you at all." With those cutting words, he had banged the door shut.
Ru noticed the way Ji Yifeng"s hands clenched trying to hide the tremor. He stood staring at the door for another ten minutes before sighing and turning to leave. His eyes caught Ru"s as he had turned around and felt embarra.s.sed.
But Ru"s face didn"t show disdain or disgust for him. She was not repulsed at all. Instead, she paced up to him and said, "How am I so lucky to b.u.mp into Chairman Ji right here? Look at the odds."
Ji Yifeng couldn"t tell whether she saw him being treated worse than a stranger by his own son or not. But even if she did, he couldn"t see it on her face at all.
"I should be the one saying that. Chairman Xie is even harder to find than my humble self." Ji Yifeng chose to answer Ru in the same way she talked to him and that brought a smile to her face.
"Since the odds are so great tonight. How about a cup of tea at my humble abode? I live in the same building anyway." Ru offered rather courteously which touched Ji Yifeng"s heart as he nodded his head.
"It"d be an honor for me." He had said while following her to the elevator.
Entering her apartment, Ji Yifeng felt like being pulled in, the interior was just too enthralling. It was indeed a work of art. Ru left him to admire her interior while she went ahead to brew some tea and also decided to make a couple of light snacks to go with it.
Ji Yifeng had to wait for only 30 minutes which felt too little since he was immersed in admiring the art pieces scattered around her apartment. Ru placed the chrysanthemum tea along with dried plums, nuts, pastries and dumplings on the gla.s.s table in the living room.
Ji Yifeng looked at the spread of delicacies before him and his eyes softened up as he smiled at Ru who sat opposite of him before pouring him tea.
"From all the rumors I"ve heard, I didn"t expect you to be this good-natured." Ru didn"t even flinch at his remark. She calmly took a sip of her tea. "I guess we should say rumors are just that... Rumors."
Ru placed her porcelain cup down and said, "Mostly the rumors about me are always true. And you"re not wrong. I am not a good-natured person."
"Really?" Ji Yifeng didn"t seem to believe her words.
"Yes, really! As for why I brought you to my place..." There was a ghost of a smile at the edge of her lips as she continued, "You reminded me of my father."
"Is it true?" Ru nodded honestly. "Am I that similar to him?"
Ru shook her head in negation with a chuckle as she said, "No. Actually, you"re the complete opposite of him."