"Okay." Lin Chu complied obediently.
"Don"t forget to think of me," Yan Beicheng added.
Lin Chu blushed. She agreed in a hurry before hanging up.
Her cheeks were still tainted red when she returned. Zheng Yuntong teased her by saying, "Were you speaking to your boyfriend on the phone?"
Luo Jinfeng happened to hear this when he was about to come over. His expression darkened, and he locked his eyes on Lin Chu. He was particularly anxious to hear her reply.
Lin Chu noticed this. It did not matter whether Luo Jinfeng harbored romantic feelings toward her since he did not tell her anything, but it would be wrong for her to reject him on her own accord. If this was a misunderstanding after all, she would feel terribly embarra.s.sed if he kicked up a big fuss.
It was fortunate that Zheng Yuntong had asked this question. If Luo Jinfeng did not actually feel that way toward her, Lin Chu could use this opportunity to reply Zheng Yuntong"s question without making it seem too harsh. Neither party would be humiliated if she said it like this. The timing was appropriate now.
Lin Chu felt a bit awkward, but she nodded firmly and said, "Yes."
Luo Jinfeng"s expression froze for a moment before it was replaced by a look of disappointment that could not be hidden. He fell silent, lowering his head and leaving.
Lin Chu never expected that the minor incident on the plane could be resolved so easily. There was nothing on her mind now. She put on an eye mask just like Zheng Yuntong and went to sleep.
The plane landed in the afternoon at 2:15 p.m. They gathered again once they had retrieved their luggage and got into the bus that their company had chartered to take them to the hotel together. It was already nearly 3:00 p.m. when the bus departed.
They had expected that everyone would be rather tired after sitting in the plane for such a long time. Since they were here to have fun and have just arrived at a new place, everything along the way looked interesting to them. Of course, they were extremely excited. The bus was as boisterous throughout their journey, and no one felt sleepy at all.
Lin Chu and Zheng Yuntong were as energetic as ever now that they had slept on the plane.
Lin Chu texted Yan Beicheng to inform him that she had arrived safely. Yan Beicheng did not respond right away. He was probably busy.
The annual dinner would be held tonight, so everyone freshened up once they reached the hotel. They had already packed their makeup and the clothes that they were going to change into later. Due to the long journey, they had dressed comfortably for the journey.
During the annual dinner at night, the men wore suits and ties while the women wore dresses. Some of the women were even clad in gowns that looked slightly more formal.
Lin Chu did not specifically buy an impractical gown. She could only wear those dresses during annual dinners but not normal occasions. If she wore the same dress every year, certain troublemakers would criticize her behind her back. There was no reason for her to give them that opportunity.
Lin Chu merely picked an ordinary summer dress from her closet and brought it with her.
When Lin Chu and Zheng Yuntong found the table that their department was a.s.signed in the banquet hall, they happened to see Hu Yuesha walking over. Both of them were shocked when they noticed that Hu Yuesha was wearing a grand gown.
She was wearing a floor-length long black gown.
Hu Yuesha saw that Lin Chu and Zheng Yuntong were dressed in pretty but simple clothes. Her mood improved instantly when she noticed that neither of them had dressed up or put an excessive amount of makeup. She even smiled at them.
"I heard that she went to a high-cla.s.s beauty parlor in the afternoon right after she reached the hotel and put her luggage down. That beauty parlor was quite lively this afternoon because many of our female colleagues were there." whispered Zheng Yuntong.
"Aren"t we attending the annual dinner just to have a meal and win some prizes? Was that really necessary?" asked Lin Chu quietly.
"You obviously don"t know what those women are thinking about. You already have a boyfriend, and as for me, I"m not going to daydream because I know my place, but the other women are different. It"s inappropriate for them to doll themselves up or be gorgeously dressed in the office on a normal basis because it"ll lead to negative effects. In that case, isn"t the annual dinner a chance for them to show themselves off as much as they like? They"re worried about not making themselves attractive enough despite getting dolled up. Although they might not attract President Wei, there are many other handsome young men in our company. They"ll be happy enough to attract one of them. As for Hu Yuesha, she definitely wants to catch President Wei"s attention. She doesn"t care about anyone else."
Lin Chu was amused by Zheng Yuntong"s remarks. She always had the wrong impression that Zheng Yuntong was younger than her because of her baby face.
Lin Chu tapped Zheng Yuntong"s forehead lightly. "You should"ve made an effort to put on some makeup too. Aren"t you still single?"
Zheng Yuntong slapped her own face helplessly. "Do you think that I didn"t want to do that? I don"t look pretty when I put on makeup! I even went to B"s makeup counter and asked the salesgirl to put makeup on me. The other people looked really good with makeup on, but I looked horrible. I"d rather just look like this."
As she spoke, she leaned into Lin Chu"s ear and whispered, "Frankly, Hu Yuesha is really out of her mind. How could President Wei just date anyone simply with that social status of his? It would be true love if he dated someone from a normal background like us. You don"t know about this because you"ve never attended our previous annual dinners, but our company invites minor celebrities to perform every year. Everyone knows these celebrities, but it isn"t expensive to hire them. We"ve never hired female celebrities though. Why? That"s because the company wanted to prevent President Wei from getting entangled with anyone of them. Those female celebrities are pretty shameless. They"d use their performance as a chance to get close to President Wei. This would be troublesome. Any first-rate celebrity would actually attend our event without getting paid. Nonetheless, President Wei never did this since he wanted to avoid foreseeable complications. Hu Yuesha is truly wasting her time."
Lin Chu nodded. She agreed with Zheng Yuntong"s opinion.
They were fortunate that their company did not torment them by asking the staff to prepare for a performance on stage as part of the program. They merely hired local entertainers who would perform short comedy skits or magic shows on stage and several third-rate singers so that the staff could enjoy their meal, go on stage to play games later, and win some prizes.
Wei Zilin went onstage and said a few things before the banquet started. His speech was not long and was rather humorous.
At the end of his speech, Wei Zilin smiled and said, "I"ve invited a very important guest tonight. He"s made a great contribution to the prizes that we"ll be giving out today."
Moments later, Lin Chu"s eyes widened. She was shocked to see that the person walking onto the stage was none other than Yan Beicheng whom she had spoken to on the phone this morning!
Lin Chu realized now that the reason he did not reply to the message she had sent him in the afternoon was that he was on the plane at that time.
Yan Beicheng pretended to scan the area below the stage indifferently. He paused when he saw Lin Chu. The corners of his lips curled up into a smile when he noticed that Lin Chu was glaring at him.
That was for keeping a secret from her.
Yan Beicheng made no effort to hide his soft chuckle. The corners of his lips stretched outward in an affectionate manner.
Lin Chu"s shoulder sank as Zheng Yuntong leaned on her. "Oh, he"s so handsome."
Lin Chu did not say anything.
She did not pay attention to the things that Yan Beicheng said on the stage. She lowered her head and stared at her cell phone. She wanted to interrogate him, but she could not seem to form a sentence.
She was both happy and surprised that he was here.
Her cell phone vibrated out of the blue. It was a message from Yan Beicheng: "I didn"t reply to your messages because I wanted to surprise you and let you see me on this stage."
Without hesitating, Lin Chu replied, "I was certainly shocked."
Yan Beicheng did not reply.
Lin Chu could not be bothered to watch the performances or partic.i.p.ate in the games now. She did not win anything, but she had never been a lucky person. She merely received the consolation prize that was given to everyone else as well. It was a selfie stick.
The banquet ended slightly past 9:00 p.m. Lin Chu went to take a shower first after returning to her room. Zheng Yuntong was fiddling with her prize. That woman was certainly lucky. She had won an iPhone 6s.
Zheng Yuntong was still showing off her prize on her Moments when Lin Chu went into the bathroom.
When Lin Chu came out of the bathroom, she noticed that the bedroom was suddenly unusually quiet. Later, she noticed that Yan Beicheng was sitting at the side of her bed. Meanwhile, Zheng Yuntong was hiding in the corner with a tearful expression on her face.
"Lin… Lin Chu, why didn"t you tell me that your boyfriend was Yan… Master Yan!" Zheng Yuntong was not mentally prepared for this at all. She nearly wet herself the moment she opened the door.
The corners of Lin Chu"s lips stretched downward. "I wasn"t trying to surprise you. I never thought that…"
Zheng Yuntong whimpered twice before she covered her face and ran into the bathroom.
Only then did Lin Chu turn toward Yan Beicheng. Their company had booked them a room in a five-star hotel, but the rooms were not considered s.p.a.cious.
Yan Beicheng was merely sitting on the side of the bed, but he was clearly taking up most of the s.p.a.ce in the room. His long legs had already filled up the doorway.
"Why did you come over so suddenly?" Lin Chu asked, blus.h.i.+ng.
"I missed you," Yan Beicheng replied in a deep voice and reached a hand out to her.
Lin Chu lifted her hand bashfully. Her cheeks were red as she placed her hand in his palm. Yan Beicheng pulled her over so that she was standing between his knees.
"At first, I wanted to come over so that we could go sightseeing together." Yan Beicheng threaded his five fingers through hers. He kneaded each of her fingers from her fingertips to her knuckles gently and carefully.
He retracted his long arm and pulled her closer by the waist until she was nearly plastered against him.
She was wearing the hotel"s white bathrobe over her pajamas. It was very thick and the belt was fastened tightly. However, heat stirred in Yan Beicheng"s abdomen when he saw her dressed like this.
Lin Chu instinctively sucked in her stomach when she noticed that Yan Beicheng"s face was inches away from her own. She held her breath because he was extremely nervous at that moment.
"My… My colleague is still here," Lin Chu stammered anxiously. She felt as though the blood throughout her entire body had instantly flowed to her head. She felt terribly feverish.
Yan Beicheng pinched her waist. His voice became hoa.r.s.e. He felt as though his throat had grown extremely dry. "Let"s take a walk outside."
Lin Chu nodded with a flushed face. "Please wait a moment for me."
She was too afraid to hang out with him here. Meanwhile, Zheng Yuntong was still hiding in the bathroom, too scared to come out.
Lin Chu grabbed her clothes and ran into the bathroom. She noticed that Zheng Yuntong still looked shocked. The toilet seat"s cover was put down and Zheng Yuntong was sitting on it. Lin Chu knelt down inside the bathtub and pulled the shower curtains closed. She changed her clothes while explaining everything to Zheng Yuntong.
However, Zheng Yuntong did not think that this was in any way a problem. She was not unreasonable and would only be annoyed if Lin Chu went around and bragged about Yan Beicheng"s status.
"We"re… We"re going outside for a while," Lin Chu said bashfully. "I"ll take one of the room keys so you don"t have to stay up and wait for me."
Zheng Yuntong giggled. "Actually, you don"t have to come back if you don"t want to."
Yan Beicheng took Lin Chu to the hotel"s private beach. There were not a lot of people there at night but they encounter only a few couples or small families from time to time.
However, she ran into several of her colleagues from the same company in the hotel lobby. They were stunned to see Yan Beicheng and Lin Chu holding hands with each other, but none of them were brave enough to step forward and ask her about him. Yan Beicheng nodded at them when he heard Lin Chu whisper that they were her coworkers. Her colleagues were absolutely dumbfounded. They ran to Zheng Yuntong"s room in the end.
That night, Zheng Yuntong"s room door was nearly broken because it was knocked so many times.
"Didn"t you say that you missed me this afternoon? Why are you so quiet now?" They stood on the beach under the dark sky. Yan Beicheng pulled Lin Chu into his embrace and wrapped his arms around her without holding back at all.
They heard the sound of the waves cras.h.i.+ng beside them, and the sand beneath their feet was fine and smooth. The bright moon gleamed in the dusky sky above their heads while the silver moonlight radiated on Yan Beicheng"s face, illuminating his features. He looked incomparably breathtaking.
Lin Chu"s gazed into Yan Beicheng"s dark eyes. It was an extremely chilly night, but they seemed to be ablaze.
She sucked in a breath when a warm feeling arose in her lower abdomen. She felt as though their relations.h.i.+p was about to take a huge step forward upon Yan Beicheng"s arrival.
The man"s searing black eyes seemed to be drawing her closer to him. He glared at her like a tiger that was watching its prey. It was as though he wanted to ravage every inch of her.
Lin Chu felt anxious, but she did not try to resist him. She knew that they would need to take this step together sooner or later.
She would willingly give herself to him if they could become closer to each other.
The most important thing was that she trusted him.
Yan Beicheng"s gaze burned brighter. It seemed as though he understood her thoughts. His long arms gathered her tightly against his stomach. He lowered his head and kissed her lips.
The night was cold, but his lips and teeth were almost unbearably hot as they grazed against the inside of Lin Chu"s mouth. She could feel his arms around her waist. One of his arms moved upward while the other wandered downward. The scalding heat that radiated off his palms had already penetrated the fabric of her clothes. Lin Chu"s body trembled as it heated up. She pressed her hands against his stiff chest. It was so hot that her fingertips trembled.
Lin Chu decided that she would not reject him if he took her back to his room tonight.
An impulsive thought stirred in the depths of her heart. She wanted to get closer to him; she wanted their bodies to become one. His palms were pressing against her more forcefully now. She could feel his aggressiveness.
Yan Beicheng released her lips at this moment though. He lowered his gaze and looked at her lips which had grown plump and beautiful after he kissed them. The cold moonlight made her cheeks look flushed, and she seemed warm and happy.
She resembled the flower that was known as the "queen of the night." Yan Beicheng felt that the moonlight had enhanced Lin Chu"s charm. She looked like a freshly bloomed flower when her pale skin was illuminated by the moonlight. She was a natural beauty who was as pure as a v.i.r.g.i.n.
Yan Beicheng"s eyes lit up brighter. He wanted to keep staring at Lin Chu. The moment his gaze fell on her face, he could not tear his eyes away anymore. All he could do was stare at the pinkish hue on Lin Chu"s smooth white cheeks as the color grew more and more obvious.
There was a gentle look in her eyes as she remained in his embrace. She looked lovelier than ever before. When she lowered her head because she was too afraid to look at him, she appeared more meek and docile.
"I"ll take you out to the sea to have a good time tomorrow. Wei Zilin is taking Shen Zongyi with him. If you feel uncomfortable, you can bring your colleague, the one who"s staying in the same room as you." Yan Beicheng lowered his head and gazed at her meek eyes. He could not help but press the tip of his nose against her bright red cheeks, caressing them back and forth. The scalding breath from his nose sprayed across her cheeks all the way to the corners of her mouth.
Yan Beicheng"s heart was pounding from nervousness while his insides were filled with unbearable heat. The sea breeze that blew at night could not extinguish the raging fire inside his belly. He could not stop himself from wrapping his arms tighter around her. Lin Chu almost felt as though she was being suffocated. It seemed like he was rubbing against her bones.
Yan Beicheng pressed his warm thin lips against the smooth skin at the corners of her mouth. She had just finished showering when he came to her room. Her face had no makeup on. It was clean and scented.
"Remember to wear your new swimsuit," said Yan Beicheng in a husky voice. His long fingers gradually and unconsciously crawled under the hem of her clothes.
"There are other people here." The corners of Lin Chu"s lips where he had kissed felt warm. She decided to just bury her head in his embrace like an ostrich.
She knew that Yan Beicheng was laughing when she felt his chest vibrating. He rubbed his burning lips back and forth against her temples and the corners of her eyes.
In the end, Lin Chu was as red as a ripened fruit. Yan Beicheng sent her back to her room after that.
Lin Chu noticed that her room was pitch-black when she went inside. She a.s.sumed that Zheng Yuntong was already sleeping, but she discovered that the other woman was still holding her phone when she finally walked inside. She seemed strangely pale when the light from her phone"s screen illuminated her face. The picture looked extremely eerie.
Lin Chu was shocked. She patted her chest and said, "I thought you were sleeping."
"Couldn"t you tell that I was just pretending? The others saw you and Yan Beicheng together when you went out. They ran over and asked me to confirm it. They kept bugging me throughout the entire night. I couldn"t do anything except answer their questions. The main point is that I didn"t know anything either. I just told them that I knew you two were dating." Zheng Yuntong sat up and turned on the wall lamp. She placed her cell phone beside her pillow.
"They were really curious and wanted to know things like how you met him, the exact details surrounding your relations.h.i.+p, and how long you"ve been together. There were others who crossed the line because they didn"t want to see you being happy. They sounded jealous and thought that Master Yan was just a playboy. Some of them a.s.sumed that this was your first time meeting Master Yan. They said that you had merely seduced him into having a one night stand with you." Zheng Yuntong rolled her eyes. She was very annoyed. "I pretended that I was sleeping because I couldn"t be bothered to speak to them. They came and rang the doorbell, but I ignored all of them."