Chapter 542: She Fell into the Arms of the Man
Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
At 5 p.m., a white Porsche was parked outside a cla.s.sically styled restaurant on Xihe Road in the city’s west district.
Ji Nuan got out of the car, took a call, turned, and went straight into the restaurant.
Watching Ji Nuan disappear, the bodyguard picked up his cell phone and called Mo Jingshen.
“Mr. Mo.”
“Yes?”
“Someone asked Miss Ji out to dinner. She drove here by herself. She looked very serious and seemed to have something on her mind. I don’t know what exactly happened to her. Would you like to call and ask her what happened?”
The man was quiet for several seconds and asked, “Where is she?”
“The Old School restaurant in Xihe Road.”
“I see.”
—-
They reserved the best room of the restaurant. As the waiter pushed the door open, in the doorway, Ji Nuan saw Mr. Xiao who had an overbearing aura.
The old man wore a smart three-piece suit. In his fifties, he had an extraordinary aura. He looked at Ji Nuan who also looked at him. Neither of them spoke while looking at each other silently.
The waiter stood outside, feeling that this old man and the young woman looked a bit alike, in temperament and appearance.
Ji Nuan looked at Xiao Zhenjun. Although there was no one else in the room, not even Xiao Luye, there was a surveillance camera in the room, so it should be safe if she went in. However, when the waiter was about to close the door, she asked him to leave a gap in the door and not close it completely.
Noticing her vigilance, Mr. Xiao smiled kindly and didn’t mind it, saying, “Why are you standing at the door. Come, sit down.”
Ji Nuan entered the room and took a seat.
She casually put her bag down, ignoring the luxurious menu on the table. She had lunch, so she was not very hungry. She called the waiter to bring her a cup of hot water.
“Miss Ji, I’m glad you agreed to meet with me. You and my son are close, but it seems like you haven’t been seeing each other lately. Did he do anything to upset you?” Mr. Xiao asked.
Ji Nuan looked at the famous chairman of Ling Xiao Group and smiled faintly. “No, CEO Xiao and I are just nodding acquaintances. Last time, at your birthday party, I was invited at short notice to be his female companion, and we didn’t have much personal contact.”
Xiao Zhenjun smiled so kindly that he was completely different from his usual unapproachable image. “I think you must be hungry. Let’s order now.”
“I’m not hungry. It’s just because you invited me that I came over to see you while I’m free this afternoon. May I ask why you specifically asked me to meet you here?”
At this time, the waiter brought a gla.s.s in and put it in Ji Nuan’s hand. Then he handed Ji Nuan the menu.
Ji Nuan took the menu and flicked through it. Before she ordered, she heard he said, “Nothing, I used to be your father’s, Ji Hongwen, good friend, but then there was some misunderstanding between us, and we didn’t contact each other for many years. When I saw his daughter achieve so much in the business world, I was struck by the vicissitudes of time. I didn’t expect his child to have grown up and be so successful.”
Ji Nuan who was flicking through the menu paused and looked at him. Then she said with a faint smile, “Mr. Xiao, do you want to buy me a meal just because of my father?”
Xiao Zhenjun had been paying close attention to the change of Ji Nuan’s expression, but she just smiled politely and didn’t reveal any of her real thoughts. However, she obviously seemed to have guessed something, but as it was only a guess, she was not in a hurry to ask him about it.
“Of course, and your mother.” He paused at the mention of her mother. His eyes rested on her face as if he was looking through it at someone else, but Ji Nuan’s seemingly calm eyes were very cold and sharp. He smiled again. “I am about the same age as your parents, and we studied together in the United States several decades ago. If it weren’t for the lack of contact over the years, we’d still be friends.”
“Oh, really?” Ji Nuan still smiled but looked obviously uninterested.
It seemed that what she had suspected may be true.
But she didn’t dare to think that way.
The Xiao family… and she?
How could it be possible?
—-
Mr. Xiao didn’t talk much with her except to ask about her experiences in the UK over the years, and occasionally asked about her childhood experiences in the Ji family, as if he paid attention to her just because of her parents, but he avoided talking about Ji Hongwen and her mother.
After talking for more than an hour, Ji Nuan didn’t want to sit here anymore because of her stomachache and physical discomfort due to the approaching period, but she asked before ending the conversation, “Mr. Xiao, my mother died when I was very young. Since you have known my parents for a long time, why don’t you tell me what kind of woman my mother was?”
Xiao Zhenjun gave her a deep look because of her question that sounded sudden but was actually prepared.
Ji Nuan did not avoid his sight but looked into his eyes and smiled.
Xiao Zhenjun put his hand on the table and clenched the gla.s.s of for quite a while before he said in a low voice, “Your mother was a…. very, very good woman.”
“Very good? Since she was so good, she should have a happy and perfect marriage and family, and should live a happy life, but why did she die so early in depression? Although I was young at the time and didn’t do much research about her, I knew that she died of severe depression. I heard that when she died in the hospital, she was all skin and bones. What good is it for a good woman to go through her life so miserably?”
Xiao Zhenjun said nothing but just looked at her. He seemed to be about to speak but stopped. He had been ruling his company for years and knew well what to say and what not.
Obviously, there were things he wasn’t going to tell her.
Then why did he call her to see him?
Ji Nuan smiled but her eyes were cold. She said formally, “I’m not feeling well. I’m going back. Bye.”
Without hesitation, she turned around.
She opened the door and stepped out in her high heels. She ran into a person and a familiar refres.h.i.+ng smell came into her nose.
Before she noticed what happened, her high heels slipped on the water stains on the ground. She stumbled and instantly fell into the arms of the man in front of her. In an instant, an arm was put around her waist and the other party held her tightly.