Xiu Mei snatched the paper from his hands and held it behind her.

  "PLAIN. AND. SIMPLE." She pressed seriously, worried that Lu Chen would buy a wedding ring with a large diamond cut on it.

  That’ll be too embarrassing to wear ah!

  She does not even wear jewelry that much. It’s just that most of the time Lu Chen saw her wearing one was when her mother urging her to wear the one she bought.

  "Are you sure? Buying a big rare one is an investment too."

  "……"

  Hearing that, Xiu Mei narrowed her eyes at Lu Chen as she examined his expression.

  This guy…… was he just using me liking big stones as an excuse to invest in a ring? Since rarer stones appreciate over time.

  This man is really a businessman ah! Even their wedding ring is an investment. He doesn’t really plan on losing any money ah.

  "Forget it. I don’t care anymore." She huffed in annoyance as she threw the paper to his face.

  "Eh?"

  She ignored him and rounded up the couch to sit beside him. She opened the folder and showed it to him.

  "Here’s the lis—"

  "Wait, wife." He held her hand, stopping her movements in pushing the folder towards him. He turned her to look at him as he asked in somber.

  "Are you angry?"

  She just stared at him with a blank expression while ignoring his question.

  "Wife?"

  "……"

  "Sorry?" Then Lu Chen suddenly leaned forward, cupping her face stopping a few inches away from hers.

  Startled by the sudden closeness, she unconsciously leaned backward but was immediately held back when Lu Chen moved his other hand towards her back to pull her closer to him.

  "What are you doing?!"

  She blurted out in panic as she tried pushing him away. Unfortunately, Lu Chen didn’t budge and just kept pulling her close.

  For god’s sake, they’re currently in the working place! Why is this guy pulling his antics here in the office? What if someone suddenly enters the room and they get caught in this position?

  How would she dare to face all her co-workers ah?!

  "Wife……"

  Lu Chen sounded pitiful when he called her but Xiu Mei didn’t get fazed by his pitiful act and rolled her eyes while avoiding his gaze.

  "Then I’ll get you a simple one ah, a ring that you’ll surely like."

  "……"

  "Wife……"

  She lifted the folder and placed it in between them. She did this just in case Lu Chen tried doing something funny again just to make her stop being angry at him. Seriously, why is she always easily swayed when it comes to him?

  "Chen, let’s just get back to work okay?"

  "Aren’t you angry?"

  "Not exactly."

  "Then you’re angry."

  "I said I’m not."

  "You are though."

  Xiu Mei paused after realizing that she was increasingly getting annoyed with him. She finally glared daggers at him then Lu Chen pointed out her action.

  "See, you’re glaring at me. You’re angry!"

  Xiu Mei turned her head away, shutting her eyes. She took a deep breath in an attempt to concentrate and calm herself down.

  Goodness, she just realized right now that Lu Chen can be really annoying if he wanted to ah. Where’s the cold Lu Chen everyone knows? Right now, all she could think about is smacking his head and beating him up.

  Without looking at him, she handed over the folder she was holding while speaking.

  "This is for the interview you requested."

  She heard the shuffling of papers beside her so she continued, "I prefer the one with the entertainment magazine. They suit our interview better than the business feature since we’re not even gonna discuss about the company at all."

  "If I were to choose, I’d like to do the video interv—"

  With that, Xiu Mei’s head spun and looked at him in surprise.

  "The video interview?!"

  Heck, she hates doing video interviews ah. She’s always awkward every time she stands in front of a camera.

  And the weird thing was, Lu Chen prefers the video interview? When he hates getting interviews himself?

  "Do you not like it?" He asked.

  "Personally, no. You know very well how awkward I get in the past video interviews I did right?"

  "Hm, I get the point. But wouldn’t a video interview the best way to show how serious I am with you?"

  Xiu Mei seriously thought about it. She bit her lip in worry.

  "If you don’t like that, then I won’t push you to it." Lu Chen uttered, seeing her getting worried over it.

  "It’s fine. But can we make the interview short? It’s written there that we’ll be interviewed for almost an hour. Can we do only like half?"

  "The PR team can handle that. If they disagree then we won’t do the video interview anymore."

  "Okay."

  Lu Chen placed the folder down the table.

  "And Xiu Mei,"

  "Mm?"

  "I just got off a call with your brother a while ago."

  "?"

  "There’s a possibility that the one who kidnapped you is within the Ying family."

  Xiu Mei stiffened as soon as she heard that. Her eyes quivered in surprise as she turned to look at Lu Chen’s serious face, his lips pressed into a thin line.

  Silence filled the entire room as Xiu Mei slowly absorbed that fact.

  ’Is it Ying Yue’s parents who ordered to kidnap her?’ is what she thought.

  She knows the resentment that her parents have on her and she couldn’t blame them if it was really them. But she did her thinking and thought of the whole situation.

  "I think it’s not Ying Yue’s parents." She commented.

  "That’s what we thought too. And the connection we only found is that the person who ordered to kidnap you was just within their household and not a Ying family member."

  "Is that so? I’ve gone to Ying Yue’s mansion quite a few times so I’m quite familiar with some of the people who work for them there but that’s already ten years ago. And even if I’ve met that person, it’d be impossible for me to have issues with them."

  "We have suspicions that something happened within the Ying family that triggered them to start with you."

  Xiu Mei thought hard on that possibility. Ten years…… what could it be that stirred the Xiu family into making a move on her?

  "That could be a possibility. But is it really not a member of the Ying family?"

  "That’s what your brother said."

  "Hmm……"

  After that conversation, Xiu Mei finally returned to her workstation. Even though she was working, her mind is still preoccupied but what Lu Chen had said.

  "I’m grabbing a cup of coffee and a slice of cake at the cafe a few blocks away here. Is there anything you want me to bring back for you?" Her assistant stood up from her seat and grabbed her wallet. She looked with an inquiring gaze to both secretaries.

  "A roast coffee for me." Lu Shao replied.

  "What about yours, Ms.Xiu?"

  "I’ll come with you." Xiu Mei responded, grabbing her wallet as well. "I’ll take a look at the menu first and see if there’s anything that will attract me."

  After leaving the fort to Lu Shao’s hands, the two of them stepped out of the office quickly. After walking for a few minutes, they arrived at the cafe.

  Xiu Mei was welcomed by the scent of coffee and the relaxing atmosphere of the store. Added with the soothing and light music being played in the background, she slightly felt calmed down. She took a quick look at the menu and the dessert stand at the front.

  "I’ll have the Macha Tea and a box of the 12-piece Macaron. Also, a cheesecake." Xiu Mei said to her assistant who was lining up to order.

  "You must’ve been stressed out that you’re eating so many sweets ah, Ms.Xiu."

  "And you’re not?"

  "I do too. But I’m afraid of getting weight so I let out all my stress with shopping and exercising with my boyfriend at nig—"

  Xiu Mei immediately slapped her hand on her assistant’s mouth while frowning.

  "You’re too loose-lipped." She said while thinking that her assistant is too laidback that she was fine with announcing to the world that she would often sleep with her boyfriend.

  I mean, it’s normal that she sleeps with her boyfriend but really, did she need to know that?

  "Why? Are you and Mr.Lu have—"

  "Shut up."

  "Roger that."

  Yup, it would be really uncomfortable if someone starts questioning her s.e.x life with her boss ah.

  While waiting for her assistant to finish her order, Xiu Mei sat on an empty table just beside the window.

  She was just dozing off while staring out the window when a person suddenly appeared in front of her, knocking on the glass window.

  "?"

  The girl waved at her while looking overjoyed. Then the black-haired girl pointed at the door and raised her palm.

  Xiu Mei tilted her head as she tried to decipher her actions. Is she telling her to wait because she’ll go inside?

  And she was correct.

  The girl did enter the store and almost skipped happily towards her table.

  "Sister Mei Mei!"

  "!"

  Xiu Mei was startled when the girl suddenly grabbed her hand while beaming at her. She tried to look at her face but she did not recognize her at all.

  Who is she? And why is she calling her so intimately?

  "Sister Mei Mei, don’t you remember me? It’s me, Wan wan ah! The little girl you often played with back in the orphanage."

  "?"

  Wan wan?

  A memory flashed in front of her of a kid with a flower crown in her hair. She was clinging on Ying Yue while Xiu Mei was playing with the other kids beside her.

  Sister Yue Yue……

  Sister Mei Mei……

  A girl’s childish voice calling her echoed at the back of her mind. It was then that something clicked inside her mind.

  Wan Wan…… isn’t she the little girl that Ying Yue would often play with back when she was alive? Eh? Wait, if she could recall correctly, didn’t she get adopted by Mrs.Ying shortly after Ying Yue died? Or at least that’s what she heard from the rumors.