The capital city, which was still sunny during the day, suddenly started to rain heavily in the evening.
As soon as Xia Li got up and closed the window in the room, he received a message from Qi Du.
The content of the message was very brief. It was the address of a coffee shop and a simple and clear sentence.
——[Meet here at ten o'clock tomorrow morning. 】
Xia Li looked at the message from Qi Du on the screen, and his first reaction was that he had read it wrong.
She walked to the bedside with her cell phone and sat down. She rubbed her eyes and looked down at the cell phone in her hand again.
It wasn't until she confirmed that the message was indeed sent from Qidu's account that she sent a question mark in surprise.
Recalling the last meeting with Qi Du, it goes back to Qi Yu's birthday party a few months ago.
That was the first official meeting between her and Qi Du, and it was also the only one they had seen so far.
Qi Du on the other side of the screen didn't reply until half an hour later.
Qi Du: [? 】
Qi Du: [Something happened. 】
Xia Li, who had just come out of the bathroom after taking a shower, saw the message from Qi Du. Although he was curious about what would make Qi Du come to him, Xia Li knew that there were some things that he shouldn't rush to ask.
She ignored her wet fingertips and typed two words directly on the screen of her phone.
--【OK. 】
the next day.
When Xia Li came to the coffee shop as agreed, Qi Du was already sitting in the corner seat by the window.
Xia Li, who was standing at the door, slowly tightened her hand holding the bag, looked in the direction of Qidu and pursed her lower lip before slowly walking towards him.
Perhaps sensing her gaze, Qidu withdrew his gaze from the scenery outside the window.
He slowly turned his head to look at Xia Li, who was walking towards him, and calmly handed the coffee in front of him to his lips and took a sip.
"sit."
When Xia Li walked up to him, he sat on the chair with a casual attitude and raised his chin towards Xia Li.
Xia Li responded, pulled out the chair opposite Qi Du and sat down.
"Qidu, come to me..."
Before Xia Li finished speaking, he was interrupted by a man in casual clothes in front of him.
"That's right, there's a party next weekend."
Qi Du said straight to the point: "My parents said that you must participate as my female companion. I wonder if you are willing?"
"I do."
Xia Li didn't hesitate at all. She spoke the moment Qi Du finished speaking.
For her, as long as there is a glimmer of hope, she will want to grab it.
The waiter in the coffee shop placed a cup of hot latte on the table in front of Xia Li and said in a low voice, "Please use it slowly."
Xia Li's eyes slowly moved away from Qi Du's body and fell on the coffee latte art.
"Have you thought about it?"
Xia Li nodded: "Think about it."
Qi Du's fingertips slowly rubbed the rim of the cup, and he looked at Xia Li with a hint of mockery in his eyes: "You are really not picky."
The man's sarcastic words, accompanied by the soothing English songs in the cafe, reached Xia Li's ears. The tips of her fingers on her lap curled up slightly until they clenched into fists.
She was not stupid, and she could naturally hear the sarcasm in the man's words.
But she had no way to refute, and she didn't dare to refute.
All she could do was endure.
Only by following Qi Du and allowing Qi Du to fulfill his engagement with him can the Xia family be brought back to life.
The man in front of me stood up: "Now that you have thought about it, I will come to pick you up next Saturday. Remember to prepare a decent dress."
Xia Li responded quietly.
Qi Du stopped again when he walked past her.
He turned his head and looked at Xia Li who was sitting, putting one hand in his pocket:
"Also, it's just my parents' wish to have you attend the banquet with me, so don't think too much about it."
Xia Li pursed her lips tightly and nodded:
"I know."
Of course she knew what Qi Yu and Su Lina meant.
Otherwise, according to Qi Du's temperament, he would not come to her specially.
He could definitely take Su Cheng to the banquet on Saturday.
It's just that Qi Du made his words so clear just now, just to tell her not to think that a mere banquet means that he is willing to fulfill the engagement left by Mr. Qi with her, and to remind her not to be sentimental.
After Qi Du left, Xia Li sat in his seat for a long time.
It wasn't until the latte in front of her was no longer hot that she took back her thoughts and sighed, picked up her bag and walked out of the cafe.
Xia Li, who was drawing up a design draft in the evening, was interrupted by a phone call from Chu Shishi.
"Li Li, have you seen the hot searches on Weibo?"
Xia Li stopped what he was doing: "I haven't seen it yet, what's wrong?"
Chu Shishi on the other end of the phone sounded a little anxious: "Something happened. You were photographed when you met Qi Du in the coffee shop today."
Xia Li quickly put down the pen in his hand, clicked on Weibo, and saw Qi Du's name directly listed in the top three.
#iqidusucheng#
#iqidu derailed#
#MYSTERIOUS WOMAN QIDU#
The moment he saw these entries, Xia Li's breath froze.
She opened the entry with trembling fingertips, and the first blog post displayed was a profile photo of her and Qi Du in a coffee shop.
Fortunately, the person who secretly took this photo didn't take a clear picture of her face.
"Stop being transformed!"
Su Cheng, who was bombarded with green emoticons in the comment section on the other side, was angrily knocking off the hand of the makeup artist who was doing her makeup.
Su Cheng angrily walked out of the dressing room with his cell phone, stood in the corridor and dialed Qi Du's number.
She made several calls in a row before the man answered the call.
"Qidu, what's going on with the hot search? Are you going behind my back with another woman..."
Before Su Cheng finished speaking, he heard a vague female voice coming from the other end of the phone.
Before she could listen carefully, Qi Du's voice came to her ears: "Cheng Cheng, don't be ridiculous."
"No, Qi Du, please explain to me what's going on!"
"Qidu! Qidu!"
The man hung up the phone.
Su Cheng looked at the hung up page on the screen, gritted his teeth and clicked on the picture that was secretly photographed in the coffee shop.
She enlarged Xia Li's figure, then heard a slight "click", and she took a screenshot of the enlarged picture and saved it.
Su Cheng clicked on the assistant's WeChat and sent the screenshot.
Then she sent a voice message:
"Help me find out who this woman is."
-
This time Qi Du did not let her go.
On Saturday night, Qi Du's black Porsche stopped in front of the most luxurious hotel in Beijing.
The doorman who was standing at the door to answer the call opened the car door quickly and neatly.
Xia Li stood beside Qi Du a little awkwardly, his eyes falling on the revolving door of the hotel.
"Why are you dazed?" Qi Du's slightly impatient voice came to his ears.
Xia Li came to his senses, and the Porsche behind him had already sped away.
She turned to look at the profile of the man next to her. Although Qi Du was indeed not bad looking, in Xia Li's opinion, compared with the Mr. Xie she met in Hong Kong City, he still looked a little inferior.
When Xie Yin was mentioned, Xia Li suddenly thought of the umbrella he had given Qizhou back to Xie Yin, and he didn't know if Xie Yin had taken it back now.
Xia Li finally regained consciousness and her thoughts slowly drifted away again.
"Xia Li."
Qi Du turned his head to meet Xia Li's gaze, his brows furrowed, his eyes full of impatience:
"Take my hand."
Hearing this, Xia Li lowered her eyes and looked at Qi Du's bent arm. She pursed her lips slightly and raised her hand to take the man's arm.
His fingertips accidentally touched the soft suit fabric and curled up slightly.
"nervous?"
Qi Du seemed to have seen through Xia Li's thoughts and asked when the two of them stepped into the revolving crystal door side by side.
Xia Li replied quietly: "A little bit."
In the past, Xia Li rarely attended banquets.
But she knows that at the banquet in Vanity Fair, only those who are really strong enough will not be looked down upon by others.
Nowadays, the status of the Xia family is far worse than before, and it is inevitable to be ridiculed.
But without the protection of his parents, Xia Li, who was alone, was a little worried about how he would face the ridicule of some people.
"There's nothing to be nervous about," Qi Du said calmly, "It's not a grand banquet. It's just a reception for a big shot from the port city."
"The boss of Hong Kong City?"
For some reason, when Xia Li heard the words "Port City", the first thing that came to his mind was Xie Yin.
But the next second she dismissed the idea in her mind.
How could there be such a coincidence in the world...
"He is a key figure in driving the economy of Hong Kong City and Beijing over the years. He is a big figure in the business district of Hong Kong City. He has invested in many projects currently being developed in Beijing. Even this building The hotel was all funded by his original allocation..."
Xia Li was listening intently, but Qi Du's voice suddenly stopped.
She turned to look at Qi Du in confusion, but she only heard him snort:
"Forget it, you don't understand anyway."
"...."
Qi Du took Xia Li into the VIP elevator.
The interior golden decorative lines of the elevator contrast with the mirrored elevator doors.
The spacious elevator was very quiet. Xia Li looked up at the rising numbers on the elevator screen, feeling increasingly nervous and worried.
People always feel afraid and nervous when facing unknown situations.
The same is true for Xia Li. As someone who rarely interacts with other people, during the elevator's ascent, she had already thought of many scenarios that she could not cope with, and had even prepared a plan for what she would say in case.
The number on the screen stayed at the number 66, and then the elevator door slowly opened.
When Xia Li stepped out of the elevator, her legs were a little weak.
She pretended to be calm and followed Qi Du to the door of the private room.
Qi Du's voice sounded helpless:
"take it easy."
Xia Li took a deep breath and tried to calm down his nervous mood: "I'm not nervous..."
The corridor is very quiet, and the thick door of the private room is very soundproof.
As the waiter slowly pushed open the door of the huge private room in front of him, the scene in the private room slowly appeared in Xia Li's eyes, and the noisy conversations inside suddenly flooded into her ears.
The sound of the waiter opening the door made everyone in the private room quiet down, and their eyes fell on the two of them in unison.
Xia Li noticed that only the man sitting on the main seat did not even raise his eyelids.
Under the bright light, the man sat quietly on the main seat, wearing a straight black suit jacket, slightly revealing the meticulously buttoned shirt collar underneath.
Xie Yin was reaching for the metal cigarette lighter placed on the table.
He didn't look at them, he just lowered his eyes slightly, opened the metal cigarette lighter in his hand with his well-jointed fingers, and lit the cigarette in his mouth.
The end of the cigarette burned with scarlet light, and the man's half-closed cold brows were blurred in the blue-white smoke slowly rising from his fingertips.
He took a deep breath and slowly exhaled the smoke.
As the smoke filled the air, the man leaned lazily on the chair behind him and casually raised his eyes to look at the person standing outside the private room door.
Through the rising blue-white smoke, Xia Li's eyes met the deep eyes of the man sitting in the main seat.
Eyes facing each other.
The moment she recognized the man, her heart skipped a beat in vain.
