The following few days were quite strenuous for Ru. Her nights were spent on conference calls having meetings with people in England while her days were worse since she had to be physically present for all the meetings of Metrix Consortium as Xie Rong.
Swapping between her alter-egos day and night was excessively tiring in itself. The only breather she got was the time, she spent smoking.
Right now, she was doing her field research on one of the shopping malls under her group"s name. She had no interest in listening to the group of people who kept explaining to her how profitable it was for them. She had yawned a couple of times to show her displeasure but the old fatty wasn"t really taking the hint.
How annoying!
Wu Dis.h.i.+ was the only one who noticed the way her mouth was twitching, he knew if he delayed a second, his master might go berserk in the middle of this shopping mall. She honestly had no interest in knowing which restaurant franchise approached them and what international brands were vying for their attention.
"Mr. Eric, that"ll be all for today." Wu Dis.h.i.+ addressed the old fatty to stop him from talking anymore.
The old fatty was given the task of managing such a big project, he wanted to do his best for his boss, Xie Rong. He was slightly displeased but didn"t have the courage to say anything back to Wu Dis.h.i.+.
As the group of people left, Ru heaved a sigh of relief. "Why was he chatting so much? Do I really have to know the name of each international brand?"
Wu Dis.h.i.+ stifled his smile and answered, "He was trying to impress you with his detailed report."
Ru frowned. "Why bother? Is this young master someone who can be impressed? He rather irked me for no reason." She was feeling grumpy because, in her opinion, the past hour was just wasted here.
Wu Dis.h.i.+ got an important call from the office and Ru sent him ahead. She was planning on checking out the arcade club, she heard about.
While she was pa.s.sing through a men"s international brand clothing outlet, she heard a familiar voice from inside making her turn to look inside through the gla.s.s.
"I think this one looks better," Xiao Zhi Yuan was holding a s.h.i.+rt in his hand while two men who had their back towards Ru were nodding their head. "Oniisan!" Suddenly, Yuan caught Ru looking and exclaimed in excitement.
The other two men also turned to look with surprise and Ru finally found Xiao Zhi Ren and Ji Syaoran staring at her. Feeling like she had been caught doing something wrong, she smiled sheepishly at them.
"Oniisan, what are you doing here? I haven"t seen you for the whole week." Yuan was whining in his aggrieved tone.
"I have been busy, little squirrel," Ru answered offhandedly as she was way well aware of two men staring at her intently. Ru turned her eyes and frowned for a second. She found the mannerism of both half-brothers to be identical. More than Xiao Zhi Yuan and Xiao Zhi Ren, she thought Ji Syaoran looked more like Xiao Zhi Ren. Weird!
"What are you doing here, Rong?" The question came from Xiao Zhi Ren.
"Why? Can"t I come to my own mall now?" Ru asked making Xiao Zhi Ren narrow his eyes.
"Oh, this is Mr. Xie"s project. No wonder you managed to get all the high-cla.s.s international brands to sign with you." Ji Syaoran remarked with a smile.
Scratching her head awkwardly, Ru altered the topic, "What are you, three brothers doing here?"
"We had a day off and Yuan wanted to buy some new clothes. You know, he and his obsession with new clothes," Xiao Zhi Ren couldn"t help but roll his eyes while he stated.
Ru chuckled silently and said, "I do know about the obsession." Seeing Yuan scowling, not so happily, she went on, "So, what did you choose?"
Hearing this question, Xiao Zhi Yuan grinned slyly and dug inside the shopping bags at the side. He pulled out a couple of t-s.h.i.+rts. "This one is for Big Bear." Yuan showed her the s.h.i.+rt and Ru"s mouth twitched to smile since on the back it was written, "The Bossy Brother" in big bold letters.
"This one is for Ran Zi," Yuan showed the same style of s.h.i.+rt in different color and the writing on it was, "The Playboy Brother".
Ru pursed her lips and continued to see as Yuan showed the third s.h.i.+rt, it had written, "The Obsessive Brother". Obviously, this was for himself.
By this time, Ru really wanted to laugh at the names designed perfectly for these brothers. But soon her smile stiffened.