Translator: Paperplane Editor: DarkGem

  The assistant pushed the door to the villa, and when he was sure it was locked, he turned his head and glanced over at Qiao Anhao. He moved his lips, but looked as though he was hesitant to say something. In the end, he just pulled open the car’s door, and said to Qiao Anhao, respectfully as always, "Miss Qiao, please get in."

  A terrible feeling shrouded Qiao Anhao’s heart as she stood there staring at the assistant with her shivering, colorless lips and pitch-black pupils.

  The assistant turned his head and looked towards the lush trees in the distance with a distressed look on his face. After a while, he took a deep breath, and then looked over at Qiao Anhao once again and said, "Miss Qiao, it’s almost dinner time right now. If you don’t mind and you aren’t busy, can I treat you to dinner?"

  "Why do you keep avoiding my questions?" Qiao Anhao’s intuition grew stronger. Panic surfaced in her eyes and her lips trembled. She asked, "Is Lu Jinnian mad at me? He doesn’t want to see me, am I right?"

  Streams of tears fell from Qiao Anhao’s eyes. Not caring about the etiquette between men and women, she grabbed the assistant’s arm and pleaded, "Tell me, where is he, please? You definitely know where he is. Tell me, please?"

  The assistant still felt resentful at heart for Qiao Anhao not turning up at ’Lijing Pavilion’ and leaving Lu Jinnian to wait so long for her. Though he was always polite, the tone of his voice revealed a hint of ridicule that was difficult to detect. "It’d be great if Mr. Lu could really get angry at you."

  After the assistant said that, he saw Qiao Anhao’s crying face and instantly became softhearted. Eventually, he gave a deep sigh and said, "Miss Qiao, get in the car first. I’ll tell you everything over dinner, okay?"

  Qiao Anhao gave a light nod, then lowered her head and got inside.

  The assistant also got into the car and started it up.

  Once there was some distance between the car and Mount Yi villa, the assistant pulled out two tissues and handed them to Qiao Anhao next to him.

  —


  When the assistant turned the car into the road where ’Lijing Pavilion’ was, he asked, "Miss Qiao, do you mind if we go to Lijing Pavilion?"

  Qiao Anhao shook her head.

  After passing through the traffic lights ahead, the assistant didn’t say a word, just turned into Lijing Pavilion’s parking lot.

  Because they hadn’t made a reservation, all the private rooms were booked. In the end, the assistant and Qiao Anhao sat in a secluded area of the lobby.

  The waiter came over with the menu, and the assistant handed the it over to Qiao Anhao straight away. "Miss. Qiao, take a look. What would you like to order?"

  Qiao Anhao didn’t flip through the menu. She simply told the assistant, "I’m fine with whatever."

  The assistant didn’t press her any further and brought menu back in front of himself and ordered a few light dishes.

  They were all dishes Qiao Anhao liked to eat, and so she raised her head in astonishment and glanced over at him. He looked back at her, but pretended it was nothing. He handed the menu back to the waiter with a smile of his face, and added two bottles of beer and a pot of tea.

  The tea and beer arrived quickly. The assistant personally poured a cup of tea and pushed it towards Qiao Anhao, then opened a bottle of beer for himself.

  Qiao Anhao quietly said "Thank you" and lifted the cup and took a sip of tea.

  The assistant didn’t reply, but took a hard gulp of beer.