Chapter 147 — The Long-Awaited...

Yang Ce shook his head, then suddenly smiled. "I just happen to know the owner of this hotel fairly well. Nothing more to it than that. But you, Miss Luan—judging by the way you eat, you must have had an excellent upbringing. Your family circumstances can't be simple either, I'd wager."

Luan Xiaoru was momentarily taken aback, then said, "Heh, so that's what you mean. Well—I've been hooked on a Korean drama lately, and seeing how all the young ladies in it behave, I picked up a thing or two. Hee hee."

"That's right—Xiaoru sneaks Korean dramas at the office all the time," Jing Yu teased.

But Luan Xiaoru gave as good as she got. "I wonder who it is who plays QQ games during work hours and gets caught by President Hou time and again?"

"You play games at work?" Yang Ji Yan turned to look at Jing Yu and asked.

Jing Yu lowered her head, thoroughly embarrassed. "Just once in a while, that's all—only after I've finished my work for the company."

"Don't do it anymore. I may have introduced you to President Hou Zhen, but don't imagine he won't dare fire you." Yang Yong Jin did not want Jing Yu to think she was a special case.

"All right, I understand." Jing Yu nodded.

In truth, playing games or watching movies at the office was something plenty of white-collar workers did during work hours. So long as they did not neglect their duties, company bosses generally turned a blind eye—after all, the daily pressure was immense and moments of ease were few, so an occasional bit of relaxation was only natural.

Yang Duo Ran knew this too, but knowing it was one thing; some things still had to be spelled out plainly to Jing Yu, lest other colleagues take her as a model—and then the company would be finished.

Before the meal was even over, Luan Xiaoru received another text message. After reading it, she said apologetically, "I'm sorry, I have an urgent matter I need to see to."

"You little minx—did your husband come looking for you?" Jing Yu asked with a laugh.

"Heh, I'll be off then." Luan Xiaoru rose to her feet, neither confirming nor denying it. On her way out she did not forget to shoot Yang Puqi a glance, then said, "Thank you for your hospitality. Next time it's on me."

She had said "you" in the plural, but Luan Xiaoru's eyes were fixed on Yang Yan Zhou. Yet Yang Jue Huan's face remained as calm as ever, without the slightest ripple.

After Luan Xiaoru left, Jing Yu said with some displeasure, "That little minx—we invited her to dinner, and she ups and leaves first."

"Xiaolu, how did you come to know her?" Yang Ji Yan paid no mind to Jing Yu's displeasure and simply asked.

"Xiaoru's been at the company all along. When I first joined, I sat right next to her, and she helped me a great deal with things I didn't understand," Jing Yu said. "Why do you ask?"

"Nothing." Yang Ce shook his head. Perhaps he was simply too on edge. Still, Yang Shuo Xuan rather regretted not getting a clear look at the contents of Luan Xiaoru's first text—otherwise he would not have to be so suspicious.

"What's wrong with you? You seem out of sorts," Jing Yu said, naturally having no idea what Yang Ce was thinking. "Don't tell me you find eating with me boring?"

"Heh, no." Yang Ce restored his usual expression. He really had been jumping at shadows lately, working himself into a lather over every little rustle in the grass. A healthy sense of caution was all very well, but it brought him no end of inconvenience. "I just find this Luan Xiaoru a little baffling. How does one leave halfway through a meal? What could possibly be so urgent that she'd skip eating to go do it?"

"That's just how she is. Sometimes at the office it's the same—she gets a text and runs off to the restroom like a nervous wreck. Heh, I'm used to it by now," Jing Yu said with a laugh. "The way I see it, she acts like she doesn't care much about her boyfriend, but deep down she probably cares a great deal. That type says one thing and means another—not like me. I say exactly what I think. Hey, Yang Ce, tell me—how far am I from being your mistress?"

"A hundred and eight thousand li," Yang Ce said irritably. He had no idea what sort of jumbled nonsense was packed into Jing Yu's head. Was a decent life not good enough for her, that she had to go be somebody's mistress? Was she deranged? And besides, she was now a white-collar worker whom everyone envied, with a salary that was hardly low—there was absolutely no need for her to depend on anyone to get by.

"Hee hee, a hundred and eight thousand li—that still leaves a chance," Jing Yu laughed. "Advance a little each day and you get closer to the goal. Someone once went around the world in eighty days—so can I, Jing Yu."

Yang Xu Tang nearly choked with fury at Jing Yu's words. What kind of twisted logic was that? He could not tell whether she genuinely failed to grasp his meaning or understood perfectly well and simply pretended not to. Either way, he was speechless.

"You really want to be my mistress that badly?" Yang Ce stared at Jing Yu and said, helpless. "Do we have any emotional foundation?"

"No foundation, so it's out of the question? Can't feelings be cultivated?" Jing Yu shot back, not the least bit cowed.

"How would you cultivate them?" Yang Jin Cong laughed. "And besides, I think you're doing perfectly well as you are. There's no need at all for you to choose this path."

"Fine then—you said it yourself. If I ever find out that any of your girlfriends got together with you without an emotional foundation, then you'll have to—you'll have to take me!" Jing Yu said, not to be outdone.

"Why should I agree to that?" Yang Puqi's head was starting to ache.

"You said it yourself—no emotional foundation and it's out of the question. But if you've already set a precedent, you can't use that excuse anymore. And you have to let me be your mistress," Jing Yu said.

"All right, all right, have it your way." Yang Ce, thoroughly exasperated, could only wave his hand. In his heart, though, he thought: even if such a precedent existed, there's no way you'd ever find out.

Chen Shu Tang had been a matter of free love—not the slightest bit connected to anything Jing Yu said.

Lin Yan He, true, had been pushed down first, but that had been nothing more than a misunderstanding; feelings had come later, and only then had they gotten together. As for Lan Ling, that did seem to fit the case—but Lan Ling was off in a Miao village in Yunnan. Wear yourself to death and you probably still wouldn't find her. I can't even find her, let alone you.

As for Xiao Qing, that had grown out of a brother-and-sister bond into love, so it did not count. Sun Jie was even more so—that was the old master who had courted her with flowers every day, and apparently still hadn't succeeded.

And Wang Yan Qiu, though she counted as his mistress, was also his partner—plainly a different matter altogether. Besides, Yang Shuo Xuan absolutely refused to believe that Jing Yu and Wang Yan Qiu could have any point of contact.

Then there was Huang Yan, far away in Macau—and now off to Singapore, no less. Where on earth would Jing Yu discover her?

So it was that, having concluded there were no cracks to be found, Yang Ce agreed to Jing Yu's demand.

To be continued

990. Cunning

"I've got it memorized now—you promised me," Jing Yu said with a nod after hearing him out.

"What did I promise you?" Yang Ji retorted.

"You promised me that if I investigate and find that among your girlfriends there's one with no emotional foundation, one whose feelings were cultivated after the fact, then I get to be your lover," Jing Yu said.

"We'll talk about it once you've actually investigated," Yang Ce fobbed her off. "By the way, you still haven't told me—what's this important thing you said you hadn't told me?"