Chapter 125

Chapter 125: What Does He Take Her For? The restaurant. Li Yungui had booked a luxurious private room. Even though their group only had five people, the table was large enough to seat ten. Li Yungui attentively pulled out a chair and, bowing slightly, made a "please" gesture toward Jiang Shixu. "President Jiang, please have a seat." Jiang Shixu was already accustomed to others fawning over him, so he sat down naturally. But for Chu Tang, this was the first time she had witnessed how outsiders treated the president of Jiangshi Group. The man before her, faced with others' flattery and sycophancy, wore an indifferent expression, his brows cold and sharp, his entire demeanor radiating an aloofness that kept people at arm's length. This felt foreign to Chu Tang. She found it hard to reconcile the cold, distant man before her with the one who had worn an apron and cooked for her. After Jiang Shixu sat down, Shen Yan took the seat to his right. Then Li Yungui chose a seat on Jiang Shixu's left, leaving one empty chair between them. His choice of seating was deliberate—sit too far away and it would be inconvenient to discuss business; sit too close and he risked offending President Jiang. So Li Yungui deliberately left a gap of one seat. The law firm director sat down next to Li Yungui's left. Chu Tang deliberately picked the seat farthest from Jiang Shixu, sitting directly across from him. Jiang Shixu leaned back in his chair, his gaze sweeping over coldly, the disappointment in his eyes fleeting and gone in an instant. Shen Yan witnessed this scene and let out a silent sigh in his heart. Truly a pair of star-crossed lovers. Once everyone was seated, Li Yungui pushed the menu in front of Jiang Shixu. "President Jiang." Jiang Shixu flipped through it casually, named a few dishes, then pushed the menu back to Li Yungui. Li Yungui added a few more hearty dishes. Chu Tang kept her gaze lowered the entire time, not daring to look at the man across from her, just staring blankly at the glass turntable on the table. The dishes Jiang Shixu had just ordered from the waiter—they were all her favorites. A thread of resentment suddenly rose in Chu Tang's heart. They were already broken up, so why do these meaningless things? First he kept her there to eat, then he ordered her favorite dishes right in front of her. What was he playing at? Playing the role of a devoted ex-boyfriend? In front of the director and Li Yungui, Chu Tang couldn't very well get up and leave. But being in the same private room as Jiang Shixu made her feel so suffocated she could barely breathe. She couldn't understand Jiang Shixu. Jiang Shixu made idle small talk with the people beside him, but his gaze kept uncontrollably drifting toward the girl across from him. The girl sat there with her head lowered, neither speaking nor playing with her phone, like a quail with its head drooping. It made Jiang Shixu want to reach out and ruffle her fluffy hair, or pull her into his arms and hold her tightly. The waiter finished serving the dishes. Chu Tang ate in silence, burying her head in her food. She was genuinely hungry. Last night on the plane, she had run into Jiang Shixu and Li Lanxi, and she had been upset all night, with no appetite to eat. She had even suffered from insomnia. This morning, she had gotten up early and rushed to the golf course without even having time for breakfast. Now her stomach was completely empty, hunger gnawing at her from front to back. She couldn't join in the men's conversation, and she didn't want to anyway, so she just focused on eating her own food. Jiang Shixu had agreed to cooperate with Tenghua and said he would have his assistant come sign the contract with him tomorrow. Li Yungui was overjoyed and drank several glasses of wine. As the alcohol took effect, Li Yungui went from his initial reserved flattery to gradually letting loose, his face flushed red as he launched into the story of how he had built his fortune, talking a mile a minute. Jiang Shixu paid no attention to Li Yungui's boasting. His thoughts were constantly pulled toward the girl across from him. His gaze kept drifting in her direction against his will, and his fingers would rotate the glass turntable, bringing the dishes she liked to stop right in front of her. Li Yungui and the law firm director were too busy drinking and chatting to notice Jiang Shixu's little gestures, but Shen Yan saw everything clearly. Shen Yan shook his head helplessly. He could tell now—his brother was a lovesick fool, the incurable kind. Jiang Shixu had always been calm and composed, and he had countless pursuers growing up, including persistent ones like Chen Jingsu. But as cold as Jiang Shixu was, he had never been moved by any of them. Before, he had thought Jiang Shixu was simply uninterested in sex, that he had no interest in women. It wasn't until he saw Ruan Chutang's photo at his place that he realized Jiang Shixu wasn't uninterested in women—he had someone hidden in his heart. For her, he had turned away everyone else. After the meal, Li Yungui was dead drunk. The restaurant manager called a designated driver in advance, and Li Yungui left first. At the restaurant entrance. The director said goodbye to Jiang Shixu and Shen Yan: "President Jiang, President Shen, we'll be going now." Jiang Shixu remained silent, saying nothing. There were some things he couldn't say outright. Shen Yan understood him and spoke up on his behalf: "Are you two taking a cab back?" The director replied, "Yes. Lawyer Ruan and I are here on a business trip, staying at a hotel." Jiang Shixu's brows furrowed slightly at the words. Shen Yan knew he wasn't comfortable letting Chu Tang go back to the hotel alone with a middle-aged man who had been drinking, so he immediately spoke up: "I'll drive Lawyer Ruan back. I didn't drink just now, so I can drive." The director glanced at the ride-hailing order on his phone and thought to himself: Why didn't you say that earlier? He had already called a cab, so it wouldn't be right to cancel it and shamelessly hitch a ride in Shen Yan's car. "Then I'll trouble President Shen," he said. Chu Tang, however, declined. "No need to go to the trouble. I'll just take a cab myself." With that, she pulled out her phone to book a ride. Shen Yan asked, half-jokingly and half-seriously, "Lawyer Ruan, are you worried about riding with me?" Chu Tang glanced quickly at Jiang Shixu, then met Shen Yan's gaze and said politely, "President Shen, you know that's not what I meant." Shen Yan smiled. "Then let me give you a ride back, Lawyer Ruan. I happen to be heading that way anyway." The director, who had been listening to their exchange, twitched at the corner of his mouth. Heading that way? He hadn't even said which hotel he was staying at—how could Shen Yan know if it was on his way? Could it be that President Shen had taken a liking to Ruan Chutang and was just using this as an excuse to curry favor? The director's eyes carried a hint of gossip as they flickered back and forth between Ruan Chutang and Shen Yan. Chu Tang looked at Jiang Shixu, about to refuse, when Jiang Shixu suddenly spoke up. "Then why don't you take her back first? I need to head over to Lanxi's place—she's been nagging me." A bucket of ice water poured over her head, and Chu Tang's entire body went cold. Shen Yan gave Jiang Shixu a meaningful look. "Then you'd better get going." Jiang Shixu hummed in acknowledgment, didn't spare Chu Tang another glance, and turned to walk toward the black Maybach. Chu Tang watched his retreating figure, her heart aching and swelling with bitterness. Sure enough, she still couldn't keep her heart as still as still water. Jiang Shixu, what exactly do you mean? These past days, she had tried her hardest to forget him, to stop thinking about him. But he kept appearing before her, doing things that were easy to misunderstand—keeping her for dinner, ordering her favorite dishes, letting his gaze linger on her, and then flaunting his affection with Li Lanxi right in front of her. What did he take her for? A dog to toy with? "Lawyer Ruan, let me—" "I said I don't need it!" Before Shen Yan could finish, Chu Tang cut him off sharply, her tone laced with gunpowder, as if she'd swallowed a bullet. Shen Yan froze for a moment, then awkwardly rubbed his nose. "Alright then, you go ahead and take a cab back yourself." Well, well—the young lady looked gentle and demure, but she had quite a temper. Jiang Shixu, oh Jiang Shixu, you've made your wife angry. Let's see how you win her back this time.