Chapter Text
It isn’t easy being the talk of the town, for Mei Changsu. It’s even more difficult being the toast of the town, where every businessman worth his salt has taken great pains to invite the mysterious CEO of the famed Jiangzuo Investments, a true-blue slick but conservatively black-suited-and-booted private equity firm, the largest in the world of its kind.
Mei Changsu doesn’t entertain anyone, she doesn’t have time – that’s what she tells these ruthless people, but her implication of having no inclination is quite the slap in their faces. Rumours abound that she’s been dropped in by the mysterious Langya Capital Inc. to save the Xiao Corporation, 20% of the GDP of Da Liang (30% if you consider the illegal businesses of course), which is rotting from inside, burning up in the hands of the multiple bastard sons of Xiao Xuan.
It was an open secret that in a fit of jealousy, Xiao Xuan had his own legitimate child Xiao Jingyu implicated in giving kickbacks for a top-secret weapons project ten years ago. The poor man had later hung himself, baring Xiao Corp.’s hidden, fetid carcass for the world to see and his brothers to destroy.
Mei Changsu is well-known for curing that sort of ill. She was a seasoned, sharp hunter, attacking the sickest, fattest prey, reversing the fortune of companies, while grabbing a stranglehold on their operations, lining Jiangzuo’s pockets thick. So thick that Mei Changsu travelled everywhere with a posse of bodyguards, each one’s face meaner than the other, guns always at the ready.
This time, Lin Chen had sent in Changsu for the kill. Xiao Corp is ripe and plump for the taking, needy for freshly infused capital, which Langya is more than willing to give. But for that, they need an agreeable leader at the helm.
The jury is split between Xiao Jingxuan and Xiao Jinghuan, in public.
In private, Xiao Jingxuan is destroyed. He’s currently recovering from burst testicles, considering the kick that Changsu’s Head of Security, Zhen Ping gave when he tried to drug and rape her at the last Xiao Corp party. The fool had thought Mei Changsu was just a woman, she would be dishonoured enough to give in to a lowlife like him.
Whoever thought of Mei Changsu in those terms met similar fates.
Xiao Jinghuan is the only one left, Changsu sighs as she pores over a report with a whisky in hand. On paper, he looks amazing; handsome, perfect, erudite and eloquent, a charmer and very single. In reality, he is a snake as cruel and unyielding as his father.
But what Changsu and Jiangzuo need are snakes, to swallow up these cash cows. It would be an interesting process to vet Xiao Jinghuan. Either she would join hands with him or cut off his head to sit on the throne of Xiao Corp herself. She wasn’t a stranger to these methods.
Mei Changsu looked at the invitation that lay on her bed. She dropped a message to Gong Yu to add it to her schedule.
Let’s see what Xiao Jinghuan had in store for her.
The Yu Art Gallery, owned by Xiao Corp., was hosting the most exciting art exhibition in Jinling in ten years. Two hundred pieces of modern art sourced from all over the world. There was rumoured to be a Banksy and even an original Pollock.
The guest of honour was the mysterious Mei Changsu. People had begged invites just to catch a glimpse of the brutal beauty. But she was nowhere in sight.
That was because she was currently in-arm with Xiao Jinghuan, dressed in their black-tie best, navigating a highly-guarded section with the most expensive, fabled pieces of art, closed off to most of the guests today.
“And this piece, such ethereality of the artist’s pain, you can see how stark yet enlightened it is,” exclaims Jinghuan, offering his opinion on a painting – a blank white canvas, covered with two basic diagonal red stripes. Mei Changsu, resplendent in a white and silver Tom Ford, has been trained well enough by Lin Chen that she doesn’t roll her eyes anymore, but inside she is laughing.
All these false acts of refinement make no difference to her, she has seen harsh clashes and bloody fights both inside and outside the boardroom. The tantrums of a desolate young artist sold glibly to rich art collecting fools are a joke at best, especially this one. Yet she smiles, to humour her newest chess piece.
“You see, Miss Mei, look at the fine strokes of the artist’s handiwork, the pressure of his brush on the yellow versus the green, speaks of his desires in life – he wishes to see more excitement and energy with yellow, and yet a peaceful mellowness with the green. What do you think he really wants?” Xiao Jinghuan has now moved onto a piece which are alternating yellow and green squiggles, which Fei Liu was already making at age one, Changsu muses.
She lets her years of acting take over, “I’m boorish when it comes to such interests Mr. Xiao, your sophisticated explanations will only help me learn more. I haven’t been fortunate to be exposed to such high art.” Act a little soft and sweet to disarm the enemy, in the very beginning.
“With me here, Miss Mei does not need to worry at all. I will be happy to share my thoughts and all this art with you.” Xiao Jinghuan’s smile is almost Cheshire-cat like, and Changsu matches it with one of her own.
They continue the walk, with modern art piece after piece, until they are thankfully interrupted by Madam Yan, and Jinghuan is whisked away to meet “guests from the Zhu family.” Hmph, the mother wishes for her son to fawn over Changsu to get to the top yet marry a proper little lady to bear his children.
Laughable.
Mei Changsu unsticks her smile and her straightened back and decides to take a break in a corner. Whew, if Fei Liu were here, he would have broken Xiao Jinghuan’s teeth for talking too much.
It’s exhausting to be Mei Changsu sometimes, when she really is a Lin Shu. Being mysterious even in the line of fire is a part of her role, so an alias is necessary. Mei Changsu finds a lone chair in the back and sits down to take a breath from all that socializing. She loathes it.
She hates people, but she likes money, so it comes with the territory. Changsu starts flipping through her phone to check for what disasters Lin Chen has wreaked on Wall Street this fine day.
“Excuse me?” A deep, melt-in-your-mouth baritone voice queries her suddenly. “This part is usually forbidden to outsiders. May I see your credentials?”
Mei Changsu’s stupor is broken by the appearance of a beautiful, gorgeous man, dressed like a half-goth hipster or whatever the kids call it these days. His cheekbones are perfect, his eyes are large and so, so soft, his hair is tied up either to imitate ancient playboys or Ariana Grande, but most outstanding are his arms, lined with bold tattoos, and an immortal jawline.
A semi-bad boy in the austere paradise of upscale ooh-la-la socialites? A prodigal son, and most likely a Xiao, considering that jawline resemblance to Jinghuan, Changsu infers.
“I’m a special guest of Xiao Jinghuan at tonight’s banquet, and it seems like you are the one out of place, sir,” Changsu’s counter is polite but clear, she’s not some shameless interloper, please. She produces the invite, clearly saying Today’s Guest of Honour, Mei Changsu, CEO-Jiangzuo Investments.
“So, you’re the one here to carve out our company, is it? My fifth brother seems to treat you quite well, leading you into the private family viewing section. It was this fools’ error to not recognize you Miss Mei, my apologies,” the delicious beauty says with a quirk of his lips and a smile not reaching the eyes.
As she rightly guessed, another of Xiao Xuan’s bastard sons. But an interesting-looking bastard. Much better than his brothers.
“I do not accept apologies from handsome men, only compliments,” Changsu’s mouth slips before she can even control herself, damn him for looking so beautiful. She was absorbing some of Lin Chen’s characteristics by pure osmosis, it seemed.
“Then I must compliment Miss Mei on being sharp and taking refuge here. Standing outside in that crowd, admiring pretentious paintings and fake-smiling with all those fawning people, will only add wrinkles to your lovely face, not to mention bring on a painful headache.” Xiao Jingyan breaks into a smile as he replies, teeth as sharp as his words. Definitely a man who has experienced this drivel too many times.
“If Mr. Xiao is so troubled by all this chicanery, why trouble yourself to come here? Could it be for the foie gras, or god forbid, your family?”
“Neither,” the man laughs, “I am only a crude man, all this art means very little to me. This private gallery is a shortcut to the Catering area. I have a private agreement with all the Xiao family businesses, to take the leftover foods from the fancy parties and use them to feed homeless humans and animals. I am running operations tonight with my team.”
Actual philanthropy, without black-tie galas and the auction of dates with celebrities who need to save their careers. Changsu is a bit surprised, considering this man is a Xiao scion, he doesn’t need to be invisible to make charity happen.
“Mr. Xiao is unlike any other heir I have met, don’t you know that your work is counted only if you show-off? At least, I believe it is one of the tenets of your family,” Changsu’s reply is quick and tart.
“Then I am glad I wasn’t raised within my family. I am just as much as an outsider as you are, to be honest. Unless, Miss Mei prefers to enter the family, despite all the bad choices.” His meaning is clear, all his brothers are bad eggs.
“You don’t mince any words, I like that in a man,” Changsu says, her gaze growing hotter and something warm curling in her belly. She wants to know more about this man, explore his mind, explore his mouth even. But tonight, is unfortunate, Changsu must add a few wrinkles onto her face before she continues this conversation.
“I’ll take your leave then,” the beautiful man says, but Changsu wishes to hold on to him a bit longer.
“I’ll be sorry to keep you Mr. Xiao, but I will trouble you to escort me to the main hall, as I am lost in this private art paradise.”
And so, they end up walking in silence, as the beauty helps her navigate the corridors, from one blob of angsty colour to another.
As they near the main hall, the man suddenly stops at one place, in front of a very well-reproduced print of Klimt’s ‘The Kiss’. He looks wistfully at the piece, before trying to move forward. Changsu, of course, knows not to miss a beat, and enquires, “You claim to not understand art, yet that painting captured you for a bit. Was it the beauty of the work, or the memory?”
“Both,” he says, stepping back towards the painting and placing a hand on the thick glass. “I am not one to appreciate the finer points of art, but classical paintings had a grandeur and a beauty that always captured my eye. The Kiss is seminal, its art style is modern yet classical, unique but conventional, and the two lovers are entwined so believably. My brother used to love coming to this gallery to look at the classical paintings, the real painting was once loaned to us and displayed here when I was a child. The colours were so sharp and vivid….and I lost myself in thought. I have bored Miss Mei.”
“As long as you know that, that’s good,” Changsu replies in a mischievous tone. They both chuckle.
In fact, she wasn’t bored, not even for a bit, when he spoke with that voice and with that pain in his voice, like he was revealing himself to her, a complete stranger, for just a little bit. For today, Changsu felt this man was more mysterious than herself.
They reach the main hall, and Changsu readies herself by massaging her cheeks. But before she can whisper a thank you, she hears the mumble of a “Goodbye” and the beautiful man disappears into the blackness behind.
And at that very moment, Xiao Jinghuan steps in with his dentist-perfect smile, welcoming her back, and announcing her to the audience.
The whole night, that young, rebellious Xiao doesn’t leave Changsu’s mind. In a flurry of socialising, she forgets to ask after him, and she doesn’t see him later.
That night, when she gets to her temporary mansion, twenty pieces of the most famous paintings they saw today await her, including a Pollock. The gifts must be at least 50 million dollars, chump change for her, but a sizeable dent in Xiao Technologies, which she knew Xiao Jinghuan was personally sucking dry. She is impressed by Xiao Jinghuan’s speed, the gifts got home before even she did – although she is, a bit surprised by his lack of perspicacity, surely her art appreciation acting wasn’t that good to fool a man who would be the future CEO of Xiao Corp.
She orders them to hang two random paintings and lock the rest away. She doesn’t care about them.
Instead, she calls up Lin Chen and tells him to get her The Kiss. Buy, loan, whatever. She wishes to witness its majesty in person.
She also drops a message to Gong Yu. She wishes to know the man who was so moved by a Kiss.
Gong Yu’s voicemail over the phone is extremely succinct, but it is unfortunately accompanied by a whole minute of Lin Chen crowing over Lin Shu finding a husband and finally she could bring honour to them all.
Changsu tells Lin Chen to fuck off because he isn’t good at anything else apart from singing a Disney song at 6 Bloody AM in an off-key voice.
The man you described that day, is 95% likely to be Xiao Jingyan, Xiao Xuan’s 7th son and Xiao Jingyu’s full biological brother. He was a last-ditch attempt to save the marriage, considering Xiao Xuan had so many illegitimate children. Chairman Xiao’s wife died due to complications, and Xiao Jingyu, who was fourteen at the time took it upon himself to raise his little brother. After Xiao Jingyu went to university, Xiao Jingyan has been cared for by his maternal aunt, a Dr. Jing, and didn’t see much of his paternal family except Jingyu. Xiao Jingyan completed a degree in Economics & Finance from Harvard, before Xiao Jingyu died. Xiao Jingyan, after that, his whereabouts were unknown for a year. Subsequently, he joined the army, and worked several years in combat zones, rising to the management of senior operational roles. Dr. Jing started her own charitable hospital, and asked her nephew back to help her. Ever since, he has been filial to her and taken care of her and supported her charity work. He also headlines a classic rock cover band due to a love for music.
His tattoos are from his time in the army. He is also unattached.
“That’s entirely too much information Gong Yu. What would I do without you?” Changsu whines into the phone, seriously missing her secretary, who had to stay back at home to do the Annual Business Plan.
“Don’t keep praising her too much, next you’ll want to marry her. Hands off cause that kid Yujin will send his dad Minister Yan to end Langya Capital with a few words, if you encroach upon his fiancée!”
“Shut it Lin Chen. You talk too much.”
“Richest man in the world baby. I can say whatever I want, and you have got to listen.”
“May I interrupt this time-wasting banter to inform Miss Mei that you have to go cherry-blossom viewing with the fifth Mr. Xiao at his private garden party. I have had Li Gang pull out a bright floral Dolce & Gabbana for you, to match the environment.”
“Dolce and Gabbana is out in Da Liang remember? Can’t be inappropriate. Have an Erdem or a Mary Katrantzou sent over, they do florals well. Something a bit sexy, but not too sexy. I have to give Xiao Jinghuan the impression I’m on his side, after that 50 million gift.”
“See Changsu, I taught you how to devastate with…mmmmph!”
“Good job shutting him up Gong Yu! Bye!”
Cherry-blossom viewing. God, Xiao Jinghuan was going to be possibly even more charming and pretentious. And Changsu had to decide, whether to help him climb into the seat or kick him off.
Changsu is dead, dead and even more dead than before. She’s always one for sensible heels at office, but who knew Xiao Jinghuan would make her walk in her 6-inch Louboutins all over soft grass. Her knees want to bail because of all the tip-toeing balancing she has been doing and has almost tuned out his sophistry. It wouldn’t look good for the mysterious Miss Mei to sink into grass at a public outing, no.
Plus, one to Xiao Jinghuan, and minus one to herself. The pain in her feet kept her from thinking logically, and from understanding his true motives.
“I hope Miss Mei enjoyed the laughable little show I put on for you today, because your face seems disturbed,” Xiao Jinghuan leans in to ask with concern writ large on his face, and dollar signs in his eyes. Fake humility was something Changsu saw a mile through.
“Mr. Xiao, you joke indeed. I could have never expected this magnificent sight, that Mr. Xiao had a hundred cherry trees brought in from Japan and planted all over your estate, just for lightening my heart. I could see the care in every little detail today, even having cherry cakes for us! They were so precious.” Changsu remarked with a smile. Cherry cakes, hmph! They had made some light, sugarless ones with large flower petals that had almost been stuck in her throat. Ugh.
“The smile on your face was worth me taking this effort then. I hope Miss Mei treats this as a favour for a friend, and speaks to me more informally,” grins Xiao Jinghuan, his smile nearly looking like Lin Chen before he was about to sleazily devour someone whole. Changsu almost shudders internally, when Xiao Jinghuan takes an opportunity to run his fingers through her hair!
Presumptuous! Changsu shirks, despite herself. “Aaah, Miss Mei, just a few cherry blossoms in your hair. Though they add to your beauty, I felt it may not be convenient for photos,” comes the supercilious reply.
Changsu can barely wait to leave. So, she makes her excuses and does. After Xiao Jinghuan drags her around to another hundred wastrels at least.
Zhen Ping drives their Lamborghini so fast Changsu gets whiplash. Despite the uncomfortable tugging of the seatbelt, Changsu is finally relaxed because those bloody Louboutins are off and her feet are cut beyond repair.
Changsu feels too old for this. She is ruthless in her own way and has her own grip on life, but damned if she has a grip on Louboutins, the most expensive and useless shoes on the planet. Charles and Keith are underrated for their comfort, just because they are mid-end, hah.
A beeping voicemail drops in from Lin Chen. She’s blocked his calls since yesterday because he.is.just.so. annoying. Teasing her all the time about water-buffalo, Xiao Jingyan’s nickname which he has gone great lengths to research. Changsu wonders whether they both are ruthless sharks devouring businesses or just headless chickens.
I know you’re not talking to me, poophead, but I have juicy news for you. Xiao Jingyan has been publicly posting about puppy-kitten adoption day, which is today! The event is very close to your house, and there are lots of cute animals. He has a booth too. Maybe he wants a nice pussy?
Changsu scrunches her nose at the location sent to her phone and it’s so close to her house. Ugh, Xiao Jingyan, was handsome, sexy, kind and he loved animals. Was he the forever pining second lead straight out of a Korean drama? Their lives were usually tragic and didn’t end well.
Oh well, Xiao Jingyan’s life was already tragic. Abandoned by his father, with a dead mother and disgraced brother. How much sadder could it get?
Changsu kind of understood his pain, having lost her parents as a teenager. It had been a very difficult life.
“Chief, we’re here,” Zhen Ping declares, somehow hypnotically reading Changsu’s mind (or having been sent the location well in advance by Gong Yu), and stopping right outside the dog park, where lots of happy yipping and meowing can be heard.
Changsu grits her teeth. Business on one hand, hot, troubled guy on the other. Who made her want to rip her panties off.
Damnit, she would go see him, talk to him, actually use his name. She pops open the lifting door and runs out.
“Chief…your shoes…” Zhen ping calls after her, nervously.
Right. Changsu has forgotten them. She bends in to take them out. And then flings them out to the nearest dustbin. Yes, mysterious Mei Changsu is not so mysterious after all. Louboutins can go to fucking hell.
Barefoot is good.
She finds him under a bright, cheery stall, with a too long line of besotted girls and boys ogling at him while pretending to coo at animals. He’s wearing a butterfly hairband. A ridiculous butterfly hairband, which somehow makes him even more charming. Ugh. Ugh.
Good for Changsu that there’s a mean looking husky giving all these stupid kids the stink eye. Changsu laughs because that husky reminds her of Fei Liu.
“Have you come here to adopt a dog Miss Mei? Afraid humans aren’t on sale today,” comes that baritone voice, an amusing twinkling in his eyes. He calls her over to hand a brochure, and a few girls in BTS shirts collectively gasp.
“I’m here for this dog. He looks like a lean, mean, fighting machine. I hope you’ll give him to me at a good price, Mr. Xiao Jingyan,” Changsu parries, coming close to pet the dog, whose sour look turns to one of absolute tail-wagging joy.
“Foya isn’t for sale. If you want an excessively needy dog who gets angry at anyone who approaches me, and doesn’t eat her medicines on time, by all means take her for free.”
“I will, for she happens to like me already! Does her human come for free with her? Since he isn’t on sale.”
Changsu watches Xiao Jingyan’s face contort in a long, long-suffering smile. The tips of his ears grow the slightest red. Ha! She made this water-buffalo man blush. Take that, Lin Chen.
Changsu continues. “If her human isn’t free, then may I bribe him with a dinner or a coffee?”
“Depends on the location,” comes the wry answer. Xiao Jingyan’s not hiding his blush well as he writes a receipt for a fluffy Labrador-aussie cross for the BTS girls.
“Dinner at my home, and then coffee the next morning in my bed,” replies Changsu shamelessly, cursing Lin Chen internally for being a bad influence. The BTS girls go slack-jawed much to Changsu’s annoyance.
“And that’s How I met your Father kids. Stop gaping, don’t you know it’s rude?” she hisses at them.
They grab the new puppy and run. Xiao Jingyan, meanwhile, bursts into laughter, his face still a lovely flush. “You should just take Foya for now. You seem to be as big a grump as her. Miss Mei’s tongue has become a lot more forward since the last time we met.”
“That means you’ll eventually agree.”
“Well, Miss Mei, you are known for your fierce debating abilities, so I will concede to you sooner than later. In the meantime, why don’t you help convince me of your sincerity to take me home by helping me out a bit?”
Customer Service? Ha! Selling puppies? Of course, she was up for it. Lin Shu was born and bred in the hellfire of a McDonald’s, and it had taken her a long time to upgrade to Michelin. Time to impress Mr. Xiao Jingyan.
By night-time, Changsu had helped the adoption of nineteen dogs and seven cats, including a few elders who would find it difficult to get homes. Naturally, she always went for the toughest projects because they were the most rewarding. And she wanted to show-off in front of all the kids who came to ogle at her man.
In the process, her Erdem dress’ hem had been part-chewed off by two anxious puppies. She didn’t mind, Xiao Jingyan, apart from being incredibly hot, was also incredibly funny and a hoot to be around. Of course, lot of his humour was dark, but she had expected that from someone who was a half-goth, half-guzhuang dude with a tragic past.
Towards the evening, some extra hands arrive, and Xiao Jingyan takes off with Changsu as he has promised, Foya nicely settling into a big backpack Jingyan has expressly brought for the purpose. They’re laughing as they talk about pretentious art, flower-viewing, and then moving into more serious territory of business and finance. All over strawberry ice-cream, like giddy teenagers from the 1950s drawn in old Archie comics. The ice-cream was bought from the Subway stall unfortunately, just like the second lead in a Korean drama would.
The business aspect of Xiao Jingyan was something that Changsu of course, had been angling to find out, other than how Xiao Jingyan’s really long fingers would feel inside her. They looked really good wrapped around that ice cream cone, oh yes.
“I’ve been told that you are prickly and aloof, and don’t involve yourself in the matters of the Xiao corporation. I’m honoured that you deigned to talk to me. Your insights on the Da Liang economy are quite incisive,” Changsu starts off, starting to probe.
“Well, that should be expected of someone who had an outstanding offer from Langya Capital once upon a time. Otherwise it would reflect badly on your mysterious backer Mr. Lin, wouldn’t it?” Xiao Jingyan quipped
Changsu raised an eyebrow. “You’re not humble, Mr. Xiao. That’s refreshingly honest.”
“I know my own abilities and my limitations. Miss Mei has been straightforward with me, and so shall I be the same with you. Although your plans for Xiao Corp still lay shrouded in mystery.”
Xiao Jingyan’s gentle rebuke catches her ear. Changsu isn’t stupid, if anything. “Mr. Xiao, so you’re accusing me of being two-faced. You are subtly unsubtle.”
“Miss Mei is a treasured guest of both of my brothers and my father, I cannot be impolite. Miss Mei’s interest in me is an honour in itself. But I am curious as to why Miss Mei is so interested in me?” Xiao Jingyan’s words are direct.
“I’m interested in your superficial appearance and getting you into my bed. Is that good enough?” Changsu again, almost bites her tongue for being shameless, but it’s a war of words, she doesn’t want to lose.
“Fair enough. But there is more, isn’t it? You could have pursued me when you met me, yet you chose a few days to investigate me before you approached.” Xiao Jingyan’s words hit the mark, every time.
“Since Mr. Xiao is so wise, why don’t you tell me what I am after? And why don’t you give your thoughts on Xiao Corp?” Changsu, indeed, wants to know.
“You are about to choose my fifth brother to be your grand pawn in this game, since my second brother was such a fool. However, even with Langya and Jiangzuo’s joint power, there are dynamics and so much rot at Xiao Corp that you still cannot uncover. You need a neutral observer to help you gauge my fifth brother, and that opportunity presented when you met me. You are obviously not one to mix business with desire, and Jinghuan’s lame attempts at seduction make you cringe, but you still need to understand his true potential and loyalties. Why not get it from someone like me who has both a grudge and an insight into the Xiao family?”
Jingyan hands the last bit of his doggie-friendly ice-cream to Foya at the back, while calmly explaining each of Changsu’s thoughts, laying them bare. Stubbornness she had heard of, but his direct evaluation both chilled and thrilled Changsu.
“Then, are you willing to be used, Mr. Xiao Jingyan?” Changsu knows how to be direct too.
“No. Not at all, I do not mix business and pleasure. But there are exceptions for reasons you know. I am willing to direct you in the right way to remove the corruption at the company. My first brother worked too hard for it – his heart in heaven would break if hundreds of thousands of employees would lose their jobs.”
“Then I can only thank Mr. Xiao. And what about the pleasure?” Changsu asks candidly.
“I must say I enjoy your current company too much not to break my own rules,” Jingyan smiles one-sided.
“Then we have an agreement, what are the next steps?” Changsu laughs out loud.
“I would say considering your swollen feet, you’re in no condition to take next steps. May I help you?” Jingyan’s tone goes from sharp to politely playful.
“What, are you going to stuff me in with that hairball?” Foya somehow detects the annoyance in Changsu’s voice and gives a howl.
“How about I just carry you? You’ve been staring at my biceps for too long, you should test their efficacy out,” saying this, Xiao Jingyan picks Changsu up in his arms, while she flails like a goat.
Oh no, oh no, the mysterious Mei Changsu doesn’t get carried around like this-
Well it turns out, the mysterious Mei Changsu does get carried around like that. For a good ten minutes. On that day, Xiao Jingyan and Mei Changsu discuss many strategies of the Xiao Corp, while watching cute performances by trained dogs and cats, sitting on the grass. Foya is a warm weight on her tired feet, and she and Jingyan spend a good amount of time running their hands through Foya’s soft fluff and playing with her.
It’s almost as sappily romantic a first date can get, ugh.
When Changsu finally reaches home, sadly alone (because Xiao Jingyan had to help pack up and finish the adoption event, of course – not belying the fact that he didn’t want to get into bed with this mysterious stranger so soon), she sprawls out on her bed, tired from a full day.
Her messages beep.
Xiao Jinghuan has had fifty cherry blossom trees imported from Japan and sent to the mansion back home, a surprise gift. We sent them back, saying we have to evaluate space. We assume he has spent at least a million dollars. Awaiting your decision – Gong Yu.
I don’t think we have space for more than ten. Send the rest back. Arrange to have some rare wines delivered to Mr. Xiao by tomorrow as thanks.
The lavish gifts weren’t going to stop. Xiao Jinghuan, that snake, was going all out.
Changsu was feeling even more unsure about him now. A sudden image popped into her mind, of a buffalo tattoo on Xiao Jingyan’s arm.
His nickname is water-buffalo. Stubborn and unyielding on paper, but not necessarily so.
Changsu decided to make a call to Lin Chen, who woke up angry and screaming from his sleep.
“Lin Chen, what if we had one more contender for the Xiao throne?”
“You’re not thinking-”
“Maybe I am.”
“So, you’re saying this unknown water-buffalo is going to bring honour to us all?”
Changsu looks at the flashing message on her smartwatch as it shines up with a light.
“Hope you reached home safely. Next time, I’ll take you up on that coffee. Several times, in fact.”
Things were getting heated, and not just on the business front. Hmm.