Even if that was not Lin Chu, Lin Yuwen was still curious. What kind of woman would make Yan Beicheng so protective over her?
Judging by Yan Beicheng"s actions, this was not just a fling to him.
The sky was too dark for Lin Yuwen to determine if the back of the woman in Yan Beicheng"s arms belonged to Lin Chu. The condition was not as clear as to when they were at Sheng Yue.
However, it was like she was under a spell, she could not feel at ease without seeing the woman with her own eyes. She could not pay any more attention to Su Changxin on the other end of the phone and quickly said, "Mum, I"ve something going on. I"ll call you back later."
She hung up without waiting for Su Changxin to reply and ran towards the entrance. Her high heels went "clack clack clack" on the floor. She did not even care if the floor was slippery.
The woman"s back continued facing her even as Yan Beicheng took care to guide her into the pa.s.senger"s seat. All she could see was the woman"s long, silky hair and her slender back.
After that, Yan Beicheng got onto the car as well. It was impossible to see anything in a dark car model under the night sky.
Yan Beicheng looked at Lin Chu, who was too shy to look at him and had her head lowered acting like a scared ostrich. He smiled and helped her buckle up her seat belt.
He lifted his long, perfect fingers and pushed her soft, silky hair behind her ear to reveal her blushed cheeks.
"You"ve already acted coquettishly just now, what is there to be embarra.s.sed about," Yan Beicheng laughed slightly as his pair of dark eyes watched her face pa.s.sionately.
He heard her mumbled "stop it" embarra.s.sedly and almost went hard.
Without a second thought, he leaned to kiss her hard on the lips, Lin immediately covered her mouth, "I"ve just drunk alcohol, the taste in my mouth is not great."
Yan Beicheng had wanted to start driving, but after hearing those words, he pulled her hand away from her mouth and got even closer. He continued to move in on her while he spoke with his s.e.xy, thin lips, "When I came looking for you when I was drunk, the smell of alcohol on my breath didn"t bother you. You said it wasn"t that bad, I think the same of you too."
At that, he kissed her again, his tongue even reaching into her mouth for a taste. He was quick and pulled back almost immediately without giving Lin Chu a chance to push him away.
He drove off before Lin Chu could react.
Lin Chu unbuckled her seatbelt when they reached her building. She was about to get off the car and was not in a hurry to remind him to drive home safely. She knew that he would walk her to her house entrance.
But as her hand reached the car door, he suddenly placed his hands around her waist and scooped her up. Before Lin Chu could react, she was already in his embrace sitting on his lap. Yan Beicheng pushed back his seat a little.
Lin Chu was so nervous that she became wide awake, she felt something below him bulging obviously.
"Yan Beicheng!" Lin Chu went red in the face and moved uneasily. After that night in the orphanage, she did not know what to say. She did not want to help him again.
Yan Beicheng said in a restrained voice, "Stop moving, the more you move the worse it gets."
Lin Chu immediately froze and did not dare to move at all. It was like whatever alcohol remaining in her had evaporated totally. She was nervous and fl.u.s.tered, and hit him on the chest unhappily, "You"re too much!"
Yan Beicheng laughed lightly from his throat, his deep, rich voice sounded crisp and colored by pa.s.sion. It was music to the ears.
"I like it when you"re being coy with me," Yan Beicheng went close to her ear and blew at it while he said.
Lin Chu"s face burned red. She paused and said, "I think… I think I"m getting into the habit of acting this way with you. I"m not sure what"s gotten into me. I"ve never acted coquettishly before, even with… I"ve never been coy with him."
Yan Beicheng knew who Lin Chu was referring to, it was Cheng Ziming. Even though Cheng Ziming was her ex-boyfriend, he still felt unhappy about it, he regretted that he found her so late. Otherwise, there would not be a Cheng Ziming.
He was not mad because she had an ex-boyfriend, it did not bother him at all. He was angry, not at Lin Chu, but at himself, because he did not find her sooner which resulted in her suffering with this ex-boyfriend.
However, when she said that she had never acted coy with Cheng Ziming but only to him, Yan Beicheng"s unhappiness over this disappeared.
He lowered his head just in time to catch the guilty expression on Lin Chu"s face. She must be distressed over accidentally mentioning Cheng Ziming. It was taboo to bring up an ex in front of a current boyfriend!
Lin Chu did not see Yan Beicheng broke into a smile. She felt a shadow hovering over her and was suddenly pushed towards the steering wheel. His kiss enveloped her immediately and fiercely took over her mouth. The longer he kissed the deeper it became. Lin Chu could not stop herself from trembling, her heart burning hot because of his seduction. All she could take in was his breath, it smelled nice, and it tugged at her heartstrings.
Her whole body went limp but he held on tight to her. His strong arms were on her back, protecting her from the solid steering wheel. Being embraced so tightly in his arms, without any seams between them, gave her a strong sense of security.
Yan Beicheng released her lips with great difficulty. His forehead touched hers while their noses lightly rubbed against each other.
Both their breathing was erratic, their noses touching and their breaths mingled. There was an unspoken sense of closeness between them.
"I"d really like for both of us to return to Ding City together every time I drive you, and not to bring you back here and go home by myself later. Do you know, I was used to it but now, every time I go home, the car feels empty. I lose all life in me on my way home, like I"ve lost a part of me," Yan Beicheng said in his deep voice, he was feeling emotionally drained.
Lin Chu was still pressed against him but did not push him away. She let him hold her tight as her scalp burned up, "I… I"m no longer the stubborn, conservative me anymore. I know that after a while, we need to move on to the next level. I am also aware that I"ve given in to my feelings and you. I won"t object to living together, and I won"t tease you and wait until we"re married or anything. But, we"ve only been together for a short time, this is moving a little too fast."
Lin Chu looked at Yan Beicheng, he did not seem to mind her words, so she continued, "Actually, I may have been with Cheng Ziming for four years and he did ask me to do it while we were dating but I"ve always rejected him. I"ve never… Never been with him before. I rely on what my heart tells me. Now that I think back about it, I think maybe I"ve never really loved him that deeply, which was why I instinctively didn"t want to be that close to him."
Lin Chu looked at Yan Beicheng, her soft fingers playing unconsciously with the b.u.t.tons on his s.h.i.+rt, "If it"s you, I"m willing, but… this is just too fast."
When they were at the company"s entrance and Yan Beicheng was trying to find out her thoughts about living together, she gave the matter some thought along the way. After careful consideration, she had realized that if it was Yan Beicheng, she did not mind at all. She was very willing to go all the way with him.
It was different from when she was with Cheng Ziming, she did not hesitate to reject him at all.
However, she was worried that Yan Beicheng would not take her seriously if she had agreed immediately.
After all, they had not been together for a long time, they were together for only a short two weeks. It was too fast, and it would look like she did not have self-respect.
The more she cared about Yan Beicheng, the more it made her think. She was scared that he would no longer have a good impression of her.
Yan Beicheng did not mind that Lin Chu was worried about this. His mood became better after hearing Lin Chu"s words and his lips curved upwards.
"Then I"ll slow down," Yan Beicheng said as he kissed her again.
"…" Lin Chu did not feel he was slowing down at all.
Suddenly, Lin Chu"s phone rang, surprising her. Yan Beicheng was still pressed against her mouth. Lin Chu pushed him but he did not want to move away. His good-looking, burning thin lips were still pressed against hers.
While Yan Beicheng did say that he did not care about the taste of alcohol in her mouth, she was still worried that it would be pungent if she started talking, so she tried to move away but Yan Beicheng pressed tight and would not let go.
Lin Chu could not push him away and could only allow him to press against her. She had no choice but to say in a delicate voice, very softly, "I need to pick up this call."
Their lips rubbed against each other while she spoke, it felt so intimate that Yan Beicheng wanted to take her home immediately.
Lin Chu pushed him away with difficulty but she was still in his arms as he refused to release her.
Lin Chu could only sit there and leaned forward towards the pa.s.senger"s seat to reach into her bag. Lin Chu felt his reaction from her movement and blushed as he glared at her, "Stop playing around!"
Yan Beicheng smiled lightly and did not say anything. It was not something he could control, could he? He could only squeeze her here and there on the waist. At least his hands were having fun.
Lin Chu saw that the call was from Old Lady Lin and could not help but sigh. Her good mood sank along with the call.
Lin Chu took a deep breath to calm herself down and picked up the call, "Grandma."
"Lin Chu, are you busy?" Old Lady Lin asked.
"Not really. Is there any matter?" Lin Chu asked faintly.
Old Lady Lin did not answer but continued asking, "Where are you right now?"
Lin Chu raised an eyebrow. She did not understand why Old Lady Lin was asking this question. It sounded like an ordinary question, but it was odd the way in the way it was asked.
Lin Chu has always been wary of the Lin family. She gave it a thought and said, "I"m at home."
She was downstairs from her house so it was still considered at home.
"Were you home the whole day?" Old Lady Lin asked.
Lin Chu frowned and looked at Yan Beicheng. Yan Beicheng could hear their conversation very clearly.
If it was before, it could probably be considered as trying to find a topic of conversation, but this question seemed fishy.
Lin Chu did not want to create more trouble, so she nodded and said, "Yup, I was."
Old Lady Lin sounded much more relaxed, "It"s like this, your sister and Cheng Ziming will be holding their wedding this Sat.u.r.day afternoon at 11.58am. I called to inform you in advance. I"ll get the driver to deliver the wedding invitation to you. You… You are coming, right?"
"Yes," Lin Chu replied lightly.
Old Lady Lin heaved a sigh of relief and said seriously, "Lin Chu, I know that this wedding would be an uncomfortable one for you. But… This is a big occasion for the Lin family. If you don"t come to Yuwen"s wedding, the public will take things negatively. You… You"ll need to tolerate this. It"s going to be hard on you. Grandma will remember your good deed!"
Lin Chu smiled sardonically, even Yan Beicheng could see it. He was aware of her temperament. For two people who were spending their lives with each other, it would not be called living if they constantly needed to pretend around each other.
"Don"t worry. I"m not unhappy about it. I will arrive on time. I won"t do anything to embarra.s.s or tarnish the reputation of the Lin family," Lin Chu said.
She had said everything that Old Lady Lin wanted to say, leaving Old Lady Lin with nothing else to add. She said a few more words awkwardly and then hung up.
Lin Chu frowned, "Why is she suddenly concerned about where I am and what I"m doing?"
Yan Beicheng had figured out the reason. He did not say anything before but since she had answered Old Lady Lin"s call, he said, "I"m guessing it"s Lin Yuwen. Remember when Lin Yuwen called out to me at Sheng Yue after you entered the room? Her eyes kept wandering into the room. She must have seen you but could not be sure, so she wanted to take a look. Since she couldn"t see anything, she must have gotten Old Lady Lin to call you and find out more."
"She really is concerned about me," Lin Chu said sarcastically.
Yan Beicheng laughed and took out the wedding invitation Lin Yuwen had given him, "Lin Yuwen gave this to me outside the private room just now. Do you want me to attend?"
Lin Chu lowered her eyes to think. They could not hide their relations.h.i.+p their whole lives. She did want to get married to Yan Beicheng in the future. Even if they said nothing now, they might get married and the Lin family would find out anyway. They would take the opportunity to gain any advantage they can from Yan Beicheng sooner or later.
After thinking about this, Lin Chu said, "Do you want to go? I know we can"t hide our relations.h.i.+p forever, so I"m done trying to be careful about it. It would end up the same sooner or later. If you want to attend the wedding, we"ll go. If you don"t want to entertain these people, then I"ll attend alone. You know me, I won"t allow myself to be bullied."
Yan Beicheng smiled and pecked her on the lips, "I"ll go if I have nothing on that day."
Lin Chu nodded. That would be good as well, go with the flow.
Yan Beicheng walked Lin Chu to the door. The moment she got home, Xu Moyan told Lin Chu about Lin Yuwen calling their landline. Lin Chu knew Yan Beicheng was right.
It was lucky that Xu Moyan had said Lin Chu was home, it had matched the answer she had given to Old Lady Lin.
The next day, Yan Beicheng was already waiting in the car when Lin Chu headed downstairs.
Following Yan Beicheng"s instructions, he knew Lin Chu needed to be at Yan Hui today to meet the Planning Department. He drove her directly to Yan Hui to save her some time.
Lin Chu did not agree and insisted to return to her office. She wanted to take the plan from Wei Zilin first. Yan Beicheng could only give in to her.
Shen Zongyi pa.s.sed the file to Lin Chu. There were a few preliminary frameworks that were being discussed with Yan Hui. She had to pick one. The most important thing was for Lin Chu to get in touch with Yan Hui and let them know her.
Lin Yi was near to Yan Hui. It only took 20 minutes to walk over. As the distance was quite near, there was no bus station, so she could not take one. As for getting a taxi, it would roughly take the same time to walk over given the traffic jam.
However, Wei Zilin had allowed his driver to take Lin Chu over. He told her to inform Shen Zongyi anytime if she needed to head out. If the driver could arrange it, he could give her a lift. Otherwise, Yan Beicheng might be unhappy and thought that Wei Zilin was treating his girlfriend badly.
"You don"t need to feel pressured about it. It"s not something high profile. Driver Chen is the company"s driver. We need to constantly head out for work and so, we will contact Driver Chen. President Wei has a personal driver, so it doesn"t clash," Shen Zongyi explained.
Since he said so, Lin Chu could only accept it red-faced.
It was lucky that the road conditions were good that day. She reached Yan Hui in less than 10 minutes.
"I"m not sure how long the meeting is going to take. Driver Chen, you can head back first. The meeting might take a while," Lin Chu said. There was no point in keeping Driver Chen waiting here.
"It"s okay. There are not many appointments for my services this afternoon. I"ll wait for you in the car," Driver Chen chuckled.
"There"s no need, no need," Zuo Qiu suddenly appeared and waved his hands at Driver Chen.
He turned towards Lin Chu to call out, "Mrs…"
He gave a thought and decided against calling her "Mrs. CEO" in public. It did not seem appropriate with so many people around. He would do the brown-nosing in private.
"Miss Lin, I am here to welcome you. When Miss Lin is done, our company will have a driver to send her back," Zuo Qiu explained and then turned to say the latter words to Driver Chen.
Driver Chen looked at Zuo Qiu suspiciously. Was this cunning young man trying to woo Lin Chu?
Driver Chen thought it was best not to be a third wheel in this case and turned to leave.
Zuo Qiu looked around to make sure no one was there, then said with a smiley face, "Mrs. CEO, Master Yan requested for me to come and get you. He was worried you wouldn"t know the way to the Planning Department and since it"s your first time here, you might be nervous."
"You can call me Lin Chu, there"s no need to call me Mrs. CEO," Lin Chu went red in the face as she saw Zuo Qiu smiling brightly.
"Hoho, there are no outsiders here, I should refer to you as Mrs. CEO," Zuo Qiu said shamelessly.
Lin Chu, "…"
You would be an outsider too.
Manager Liang from the Planning Department saw Zuo Qiu bring in Lin Chu personally and then Zuo Qiu introduced her, "This is Miss Lin from Lin Yi. She will be in charge of liaising between the two companies. Manager Liang, please take good care of her."
Manager Liang had never seen Zuo Qiu personally asked to take care of anyone. His capable eyes looked from Zuo Qiu to Lin Chu and laughed as he said, "a.s.sistant Zuo, is Miss Lin your girlfriend?"
The way Zuo Qiu was being so attentive towards her was exactly the way he was with their CEO.
Zuo Qiu was stunned and nearly hit Manager Liang on the head. He held himself back and quickly said, "Quit… Quit spouting nonsense! I"ll get into trouble if someone heard you!"
Manager Liang watched as Zuo Qiu got fl.u.s.tered. It did not look like he was embarra.s.sed. He was afraid that someone would get the wrong idea. He was curious, was Lin Chu the daughter of some rich family and needed to be taken care of at work?
Manager Liang immediately chuckled, "Miss Lin, I"m just joking with him, please don"t take it to heart. If I"ve offended you just now, then I apologize for it. I"m really sorry."
Lin Chu quickly dismissed it. She would not hold it against Manager Liang.
Zuo Qiu quickly went back to work after making sure Lin Chu had arrived. Lin Chu then started her meeting with Manager Liang.
After their meeting was over, an employee from the Planning Department called Qiu Zhaofeng walked her out. Qiu Zhaofeng looked at the person standing in front of him. Lin Chu was smiling and looked nice. He had a good impression of her and developed a crush on her.
"Miss Lin, let me walk you out," said Qiu Zhaofeng, who wanted to take the opportunity to chat with her.
"Don"t worry, you can go back to work. I"ll leave on my own," Lin Chu gave a smile and rejected him.
"I"m not too busy now. Besides, we would the two main people in charge of this project. We"re going to be contacting each other often in the future. You don"t need to stand on ceremony with me," Qiu Zhaofeng smiled warmly. He gave a comfortable feeling to people.
Qiu Zhaofeng was not someone particularly handsome, especially when there was Yan Beicheng as a comparison. Lin Chu was already used to him and was numb towards how handsome a man could be.
However, Qiu Zhaofeng had a clean look, which made him likable.
Lin Chu did not reject him further since he insisted. The two of them walked towards the elevator and Qiu Zhaofeng asked, "Judging by the looks of you, you must be a fresh graduate."
"Yup, I"ve just graduated this year. But I found myself an interns.h.i.+p before getting my graduation certificate. I joined Lin Yi after," Lin Chu nodded and shared honestly.