8 pm, at a certain buffet restaurant in the city.
"How goes your business in Shanghai?" I asked He Yi. When I looked at her, I noticed that her brow was pinched with fatigue. The constant travel definitely hadn"t been easy on her.
He Yi brushed away the tendrils of hair sticking to her forehead before shaking her head a little. "The contract is signed, and the management and the operations of our Shanghai branch are almost on the right track. Almost all the major problems are settled besides some minor changes in human resource."
I picked up a barbecue stick and pushed several pieces of barbecued meat to her plate with a small knife. Then, I smiled at her and said, "That"s good news. Now eat. You"ve grown thinner, you know…"
He Yi cupped her own cheeks and smiled brightly at me. "Have I really? I"ve always wanted to lose some weight. Did my dream actually come true?"
I rolled my eyes at her. "Being too thin is bad, you know. You"re just fine the way you are, not to mention that I love being able to feel your…"
Murong Mingyue abruptly crushed the crab claw in her mouth and glared at me. "No teasing Eve in front of me and Beiming Xue! Do that again and I"ll throw you out the window!"
Beiming Xue giggled. "Feel free to continue, big bro. I don"t mind as long as Sister Eve doesn"t mind."
He Yi smiled sweetly and proudly. "What are you talking about? I don"t understand what you"re saying…"
Murong Mingyue covered her forehead in despair. "Ah, once Eve starts feigning innocence there"s no getting through to her…"
He Yi: "..."
While holding a lamb leg, I said, "Oh right! There was a boss that Lian Xin and us killed that dropped an incredibly broken Immortal-grade spear. We"ve given the spear to Lian Xin, but she said that she"d gift it to you after you came back online. It"s a great weapon, Eve! It"s even better than Vienna"s Sorrow"s spear!"
"Oh?"
He Yi"s eyes widened in pleasant surprise. "Really? What are its stats?"
Beiming Xue and Murong Mingyue shook their heads in unison. "We don"t remember. All we know is that its stats are ridiculous!"
I hummed in thought for a moment before starting, "It"s a 5-star Outstanding Immortal-grade spear called the Seven Star Veluriyam Spear. Its Attack is 1900 to 2350, it boosts Strength, Stamina and Agility by 800 or more, it has a pa.s.sive that increases Attack by 85%, and it has a 5% chance of restoring 15% HP when attacking a target. Oh, and it also has a split damage effect."
"OMG, those stats are amazing!" He Yi"s mouth fell open.
"OMG, your memory is amazing!" Beiming Xue"s mouth also fell open.
I gave her a smile while saying, "It"s okay. I"m just very sensitive toward equipment stats is all. One thing for certain, this Seven Star Veluriyam Spear is way stronger than my Cyan Netherworld Sword!"
He Yi smiled. "This is great. Seven Star Veluriyam Spear, is it? I love this name, I love it!"
"Yeah. It"s yours as long as Lian Xin didn"t drop it when she died..."
"Don"t worry, Lian Xin told me earlier that she only dropped Earth-grade leather-armor wristguards. The Seven Star Veluriyam Spear is still in her possession," Beiming Xue rea.s.sured us.
"Very good, very good…"
He Yi said with a giggle, "Come on, we should finish dinner soon. Tomorrow afternoon, we"ll all go to the airport to fetch Lian Xin."
"Alright!"
……
We returned to the workshop after dinner.
I was drinking tea with Beiming Xue because the girl said she wanted to learn sado from Lin Yixin and bought an entire set to do so. Unfortunately, she wasn"t able to brew the tea leaves properly.
The edges of my lips were covered in tea leaves, but I kept nodding my head and said, "This tea is great…"
Beiming Xue looked very satisfied with my praise.
He Yi had just finished bathing and was walking toward us with a lazy expression on her face. Wrapped in a towel, she sat down cross-legged beside me and asked, "How"s Beiming"s sado? Did she improve?"
Instead of answering her question, I said, "You"ve been working the whole day. You should drink some porridge instead."
"Nooo, I wanna drink tea…"
"Don"t say I didn"t warn you…"
While sipping the tea Beiming Xue brewed for everyone, she shot me a meaningful smile and said, "I just watched the footage of today"s siege battle, Lu Chen. You are right. Lian Xin is really a lot more powerful than before!"
"Yeah."
"Ah, I"m so tired today…" He Yi leaned back against the sofa while staring at the ceiling. "First, I flew to Hangzhou in the morning. Then, I flew to Shanghai in the afternoon. Finally, I had to drive all the way back at night. Yes, yes, I know I should"ve requested for a driver at the Shanghai branch, but at the same time, I"m absolutely terrified by the way they drive. Have you seen someone pus.h.i.+ng pedal to the metal while driving a Gallardo? I used to think that Lu Chen"s a speedy driver, but after those experiences, I think completely opposite…"
"I know right?" I was very happy that my driving was up to He Yi"s standards. "Next time you want to attend a faraway meeting, I"ll drive you. I"ve more or less figured out our Lamborghini"s performance, so I"ll definitely do better than last time."
He Yi smiled and nodded at me. "Mn."
Murong Mingyue was eating a piece of cake when she chose this moment to tease us again. "Lu Chen, you hold 10% of our company"s shares, right? Don"t you think that it"s your obligation to do something for our magnificent Eve, after all the hards.h.i.+ps she went through to secure the future of our workshop? You know, like ma.s.saging her legs or her back."
I looked at He Yi and noticed that the flawless shoulders above her towel and the smooth, long legs beneath it. A single glance was enough to make my heart race. To say that He Yi"s curves were perfect would be an understatement.
"This isn"t very appropriate, is it?" I said.
"Is it just me, or did I hear the squeak of a coward?" Murong Mingyue taunted me.
"Who are you calling a coward?" I looked at He Yi and asked carefully, "Sister Yi, do you mind if this unqualified ma.s.seur ma.s.sages your legs?"
He Yi nodded with a smile. "Sure. But only the legs, okay?"
"Of course. I"m not that kind of person…"
"Come on!"
He Yi repositioned herself for a bit and put her legs on my thighs. I could feel her warmth and softness even through the fabric of my pants.
My hands were threatening to shake even before I touched her legs, and when I did, it was such an amazing sensation that I could hardly describe it. He Yi also jumped a little when she felt my hands, but she said nothing and continued to take sips from Beiming Xue"s imperfectly brewed Oolong tea.
Frankly, my ma.s.saging skill didn"t even qualify to be called a skill. I was simply touching and pressing her legs wherever I felt was necessary slowly and gently. Her legs were soft, bouncy and smooth, and in less than two minutes, my breathing got heavier, and my heart felt like it would leap out of my throat.
Suddenly, Murong Mingyue swallowed once and said, "Sis wants a ma.s.sage too, Lu Chen…"
I s.h.i.+vered from head to toe and blurted, "f.u.c.k this s.h.i.+t, I"m going to bed…"
The girls immediately burst into giggles. It was almost as if they were celebrating a victory.
……
Originally, we were planning to continue the follow-up quest of Nine Tigers Soul Suppressing Tower the following day, but since Lian Xin was coming back in the afternoon, we decided to delay it by another day.
I spent the whole next morning killing high-level sea turtles at Black Coast and collecting turtle sh.e.l.ls for Yamete.
When noon arrived, I received the official word that Lian Xin"s account had been successfully transferred. China was in the right this time, so New York could no longer fabricate excuses to delay Lian Xin"s account transfer. Right now, her account, equipment, skills and everything else had already been transferred to China"s server.
……
When afternoon finally arrived, we drove to Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport.
Lian Xin was supposed to arrive around 4 pm, but there was a flight delay that postponed the arrival time to 5:30. So, the four of us waited patiently at the arrival hall. There were no available seats, so the girls and I all stood at a corner as we waited.
Of course, the magnificent He Yi, s.e.xy Murong Mingyue and innocent Beiming Xue attracted countless admiring gazes during this time. There was no chance they could"ve concealed their glamor even if they wanted to. As a result, a lot of people hit their heads against the curtain wall today, and I had to stand at a corner and play Plants vs. Zombies on my phone to avoid being murdered by all the jealous gazes around me.
"Hey, stop playing. It"s time!" Some time later, Beiming Xue patted my shoulder and broke me out of my concentration.
We immediately walked toward a suitable spot. The crowd automatically opened up a path for us because the girls were leading the way. A short while later, Murong Mingyue suddenly waved her hand and called out with a smile, "Lian Xin! Over here! We"re over here, Lian Xin!"
A girl wearing a winter outfit and a red plush hat dragging heavy luggage immediately ran toward us.
"Sister Mingyue!"
Lian Xin addressed Mingyue sweetly before letting go of her luggage and giving the latter a tight hug. The two actually fell to the ground and rolled a bit, but they didn"t let go of each other, and their joyous laughter infected almost everyone in the vicinity.
Half a minute later, Lian Xin finally lifted Murong Mingyue back to her feet and walked back to us.
"Boss, boss~~"
Lian Xin jumped into He Yi"s lap and said with a smile, "You came for me too, Boss He Yi?"
He Yi let out a chuckle. "Of course I did, and we"re not the only ones!"
Lian Xin looked behind He Yi and saw Beiming Xue and me standing side-by-side. She hugged Beiming Xue next and said, "Nice meeting you, Beiming!"
"Me too!" Beiming Xue nodded repeatedly.
Finally, Lian Xin directed her gaze at me, and something in her eyes made me feel somewhat uncomfortable. "Er, well, I"m a dude so you can save the… pleasantries. Anyway, let"s get back to Suzhou and catch dinner together…"
Lian Xin nodded, but she hugged my neck and kissed me hard on the cheeks when I wasn"t looking. Then, she threatened me, "Lu Chen, I"ve wanted to confess to you for the longest time, and you dare pretend you don"t know my feelings!? Do this again, and I"ll confess to you once every day, you hear me!?"
I s.h.i.+vered from head to toe. "It"s dinner time!!"
……
We got back into the car and traveled back to Suzhou. On the way, the girls chatted non-stop like a flock of sparrows, and even the usually reserved He Yi wasn"t an exception.
A while later, Lian Xin finally hopped onto a dangerous topic. "By the way, who is that Wind Fantasy? Is she Lu Chen"s girlfriend or something?"
I pretended that I didn"t hear anything and focused all of my attention on the road.
He Yi coughed once before replying, "That is an embarra.s.sing topic, so let"s not talk about it, please…"
But Murong Mingyue ignored her protests and replied, "That"s right. Lin Yixin is practically Lu Chen"s official girlfriend at this point."
"What about Boss He Yi?" Lian Xin asked with a blink.
Murong Mingyue shrugged helplessly. "She"s girlfriend number two, I suppose…"
Enraged, Lian Xin clenched her fists and declared, "No way! I won"t accept this! There is only one person in the entire world whom I"ll accept to become big brother Lu Chen"s girlfriend, and that"s Boss He Yi! Besides her, if even I"m not qualified, then no one else is! Just you wait, I"ll wipe out this Wind Fantasy as soon as I get the opportunity!"
Shuddering, I instinctively stepped down on the brakes and gave the Audi behind me the fright of his life. The driver wouldn"t stop honking at us until I drove away.
……
My relations.h.i.+ps were already a mess, and Lian Xin the troublemaker was looking to make it worse! s.h.i.+t!