Chapter 147 — The Long-Awaited...
Years of Heartflutter · Page 32 of 501
"The nightlife here must be far behind Hong Kong's, I'd guess." Yang Hengye smiled. At this hour, most of the shops lining both sides of the Songjiang streets had gone dark and closed for the night; only a rare few round-the-clock fast-food joints and pharmacies still had their lights on.
"That's true, but this place feels familiar—warm." Shu Ya said. "Otherwise I wouldn't have chosen it as the first stop of my concert tour. Oh, right—you still haven't told me. Coming to see me this late, is something urgent going on?"
Yang Ce had been at a bit of a loss as to how to bring it up. After all, showing up at someone's door in the middle of the night was hardly polite. Though he had once done Shu Ya a good turn or two, launching straight into business the moment they met still felt inappropriate. So he'd made a bit of small talk, hoping to steer the conversation around once they were more at ease.
Now that Shu Ya had brought it up herself, he happily followed her lead. "It's like this—I own a jewelry company, and for Valentine's Day we're launching a line of couple's jewelry. But my competitor is also planning a promotion for the occasion. They've signed some singing duo called Brown Sugar Red Bean Bun as their spokespeople, and I don't know any stars—you're the only one I know. So, well, here I am."
As he said it, Yang Ce felt a little shameless. His tone made it sound as though Shu Ya were just some ordinary minor celebrity, nothing special at all.
Shu Ya, however, didn't mind in the slightest. "So you're here to ask me to endorse your jewelry company?" she asked—while privately wondering when Yang Ce had come to own a jewelry company. It seemed Yang Ce had changed a great deal from the old days. And just what other secrets was he hiding?
Ever since their encounter aboard the cruise ship Alice, Shu Ya had found Yang Ce hard to fathom. That uncanny skill, those ruthless methods—he was nothing like the Yang Ce she remembered. And yet these two men of utterly different temperaments had slowly begun to overlap in her mind.
The Yang Ce before her now was the very picture of the boy next door, bright and warm.
"Something like that, I suppose." Yang Mo felt a touch of embarrassment.
"And what's in it for me?" Shu Ya lifted her lovely head and looked at Yang Ce.
"I'm not sure what your endorsement fee is, but it won't be less than anyone else offers." Yang Ce had clearly misunderstood her, taking her to mean the fee.
"That's not what I meant." Shu Ya rolled her eyes. "Do I look like a money-grubber to you?"
"Hard to say. But no, I suppose you don't." Yang Shuo wasn't a fool; if she said so, it meant she wasn't short of money.
"I've never liked doing endorsements for companies. The only few I've done were for friends of my father's—I couldn't refuse them," Shu Ya said.
"Are you hinting that if I want you for an endorsement, I first have to become friends with your father? Is that what you mean?" Yang Ce teased her.
"You're taking the long way round when the short one's right here." Shu Ya was a little annoyed.
"It's called a roundabout rescue, a turn in the road," Yang Hengye said.
"Then suit yourself. But even for a friend of my father's, if I don't want to, there's nothing to be done." Shu Ya had checkmated Yang Puqi.
Yang Ce scratched his head, somewhat at a loss. "So what am I supposed to do?"
"I told you—what's in it for me?" Shu Ya really couldn't tell whether Yang Ce was genuinely dense or feigning it. But from what she remembered, Yang Shuoxuan wasn't this slow. Then she caught the flicker of slyness in his eyes and knew he was doing it on purpose. In a flash she said angrily, "You've missed your chance. I've a mind to turn you down."