Accidental Love

The address that Chen Sheng gave was the Warner Mansion in the western suburbs.

It was the normal workday rush hour. On the way there, Zheng Shuyi was struggling with her abdominal pain while moving from subway to bus to taxi. After more than an hour of traveling, she finally reached her destination.

It would be a lie if she said that she was not upset. Along the way, she quietly cursed Shi Yan countless times.

The place Chen Sheng arranged for her was the resting area directly upstairs of the banquet hall. The area was spacious and gorgeous, but no one was there, enough to magnify her loneliness by a hundredfold.

Zheng Shuyi sat on the sofa, her legs swinging in sync with the ticking from the clock on the wall. She looked around for anything that was possibly interesting to keep herself awake.

Still, the waiting time was too long and boring. She dropped her head like a chicken pecking rice from the floor several times and almost fell asleep sitting up. Suddenly, the door pushed open, and Zheng Shuyi instantly sat up straight while looking toward the doorway.

Under the bright light, a man walked in.

Zheng Shuyi looked carefully and became discouraged again.

The man was not Shi Yan, but his brother-in-law Qin Xiaoming, the second in command of Mingyu Corp.

Zheng Shuyi interviewed the person several times before, so she knew him quite well.

Qin Xiaoming also saw Zheng Shuyi as he walked in.

At first, he saw that she had her back straight and her eyes sparkling in excitement.

But after their eyes met, her mood dimmed down again. She seemed a little bit depressed.

Qin Xiaoming paused there, covered up the phone he was calling on, and asked, "Why are you here?"

Zheng Shuyi answered truthfully, "I'm waiting for Mr. Shi. We have an interview today."

Qin Xiaoming glanced at her and noticed her pale face. Without saying much more to her, he left while muttering, "it's so late already."

Zheng Shuyi sat there for another two hours, which felt longer than two days.

Outside the window, it began to rain, and the leaves rustled wretchedly in the wind.

Occasionally, she could hear some sounds from the banquet downstairs. Although she only heard a little, the banquet certainly seemed lively.

Comparing that to her situation right now, Zheng Shuyi felt even worse.

Finally, she couldn't fight against her sleepiness anymore. As she was about to close her eyelids to sleep, her phone rang.

The crisp ringtone echoed in the spacious room and gave her an ominous vibe.

"Ms. Zheng, I'm sorry, but the banquet here is over. Mr. Shi has a few more things to attend to, so…"

Of course.

Zheng Shuyi was silent for a while, and after a few seconds, she finally replied, "Okay, I got it. Thank you."

He didn't have time for this interview after all.

As soon as Zheng Shuyi stood, she felt the whole world spinning. Holding onto the rim of the sofa, she rested for a while before being able to walk into the elevator.

When she walked out the front door of the Warner Mansion, it was raining very heavily.

The rain was blown by the cold autumn wind and scraped across Zheng Shuyi's legs like knives cutting her skin.

She never thought that she would stay outdoors for long, so she only wore her daily OL dress1OL is a popular abbreviation for “office lady”.. Her appearance was formal enough, but the thin layer of semi-transparent stockings was just a courtesy and was not made to stand coldness.

Although she had her cloak on, her skirt only covered up to her knees. In this cold weather, her unprepared condition naturally stood out among the eye-catching luxurious cars in the parking lot.

Gradually, people walked out, and Zheng Shuyi stepped aside to make way. She found that many of those who came out were people she had once interviewed.

Looks like this must've been a banquet for the financial industry people.

Subconsciously, Zheng Shuyi looked to see if she might encounter Shi Yan on his way out.

Shocked, she just realized that she had no idea how Shi Yan even looked.

Shi Yan's lifestyle was extremely low-key, and he rarely appeared in public. Zheng Shuyi searched all over the Internet and only found some blurry group photos that were impossible to see clearly.

——

After a while, a female CFO of an internet finance company that she once interviewed saw her standing there waiting for a car and offered to send her home, but Zheng Shuyi declined.

Yue Xingzhou told her that he would come to pick her up.

It was eleven o'clock right now, so there was still an hour left of his birthday.

She thought that no matter what, she still had to say "Happy Birthday" to him in person.

The parking lot was clean and large, the guests drove away one by one in their fancy cars, leaving only the glaring red tail lights.

In a short while, there were not many that were left in the banquet hall.

"Reporter Zheng?" A man stepped forward.

Zheng Shuyi glanced back and saw an executive of a company that she met once before. Although their previous meet was brief, they kept in touch with each other on WeChat2A social media/messaging app that is extremely prevalent in China. Almost everyone uses it daily. .

The man smiled and stepped forward, leaning very close. When he opened his mouth to talk, it was obvious that he was drunk. "You by yourself? I can give you a ride."

Her previous impression of this person was that he seemed serious and formal in social situations, but never did she think that he would be so carefree.

"No, thank you," said Zheng Shuyi

The man leaned closer and held onto her arm, "Let's go, it's hard to get a taxi in such rain."

Zheng Shuyi frowned and pulled free from his hand, "There's no need. My boyfriend will be here soon."

Hearing the word "boyfriend", the man stepped back and looked at Zheng Shuyi. After realizing that she was probably not faking it, he turned around without saying another word.

Next, another young man said the same thing to her.

He was also a person that she worked with, but Zheng Shuyi knew that he was the son of a wealthy family and was up to no good.

Looks like today must've been an informal banquet.

After she sent this person away with the word "boyfriend", Zheng Shuyi walked to a corner.

She was already feeling down after Shi Yan didn't show up, but now she was angered by these unpleasant things happening to her one by one.

As she was standing there in the cold wind, Qin Xiaoming saw her difficult situation.

Qin Xiaoming was moved by her dedication and said to Shi Yan beside him, "Isn't this Zheng Shuyi? The girl has been waiting for you for the whole night already. There are still quite a few people that I have to send away, how about you go send her home.“

When Shi Yan looked towards her, he saw that the woman's cashmere scarf was wrapped to her chin and only a palm-sized face was left outside.

Under the light hanging from above, her face looked a little pale, and her nose was red from the cold. However, her elegant and charming appearance was not hindered by these. From far away, she looked like a cute doll.

——

When Zheng Shuyi looked up from her phone, a black Bentley slowly stopped in front of her.

At the same time, the sound of footsteps came from behind her.

Zheng Shuyi turned her head and looked at the man approaching her.

Their eyes met for a brief moment. A crystal chandelier above their head cast an icy light on his gold wire-framed glasses, and the chain attached to his glasses swayed slightly beside his cheeks.

"Reporter Zheng?" He stopped. The suit outline on his arms seemed a bit unnatural for him. "May I offer you a ride?"

Zheng Shuyi has never seen this man before.

But the only thing that went across her mind was why the rich nowadays are all so informal.

"No, thank you."

The vision coming from behind the lenses seemed brighter than the dazzling lights. His eyebrows lifted upward, and he revealed a sense of pressure impossible to ignore.

So, under the painfully cold wind, Zheng Shuyi stared back into his eyes and added, "My boyfriend is going to pick me up soon."

Word by word, she emphasized especially on "boyfriend", hinting: I already have a boyfriend, please go away.

"…"

The corners of Shi Yan's mouth made a cold smile. He calmly placed one of his hands into his pocket and walked away.

The valet opened the door for him. He bent down, stepped into the car, and quickly rode away.

• 1OL is a popular abbreviation for “office lady”.
• 2A social media/messaging app that is extremely prevalent in China. Almost everyone uses it daily.