Composed and at ease
An hour later, Xun Yuan sat at the dining table eating the freshly delivered food, a needle still in the back of her hand. She disliked eating in the bedroom and insisted on coming out.
Xun Yuan sipped the soup with a spoon. She loved this old restaurant's piping-hot jade cicada soup, its broth fresh and delicious, its fragrance lingering on her lips and tongue.
Zuo Tingyue was working again, a laptop on the table as he attended a meeting. His work never seemed to end.
So what was so great about being the boss? There was a mountain of work, and you had to fly all over the world. Xun Yuan thought of Cheng Yuan, the special assistant she had left overseas. The capable should shoulder more work, after all. She calmly swallowed another small mouthful of soup.
By the time she leisurely finished her meal, it was time to remove the needle. Zuo Tingyue had sent the doctor away, so she could only have him do it.
Xun Yuan called to him, "Help me take the needle out."
Zuo Tingyue was in a meeting when her slightly husky voice drifted over. Quiet as it was, it was just loud enough for the people on the other end to hear.
She swore she had not done it on purpose. The medicine had nearly reached the bottom of the bottle. If she did not call him now, it would be too late.
At the sound of her voice, the other end of the meeting instantly fell silent.
Without a word, Zuo Tingyue paused the meeting, cutting off the sound from the computer, and walked over to Xun Yuan.
"Your hand." His voice was low.
Xun Yuan held out her hand, exposing the needle in its back. Her skin was fair and pampered, and the small stretch of wrist looked delicate and slender.
Zuo Tingyue slowly rolled up his sleeves, then removed the needle with a swift, clean motion. Before Xun Yuan could react, he had already pulled it out.
She suspected the crown prince had practiced.
With the needle removed, Zuo Tingyue returned to his meeting and work. Xun Yuan went back to the bedroom to lie down and amuse herself on her phone, browsing gossip about Xu Sui on Weibo.
A WeChat message popped up from the contact saved as Cheng Yuan. Her eyelid twitched, and she had a bad feeling.
Sure enough, when she opened it, there was work to handle. Resigned to her fate, Xun Yuan went out to ask Zuo Tingyue for a laptop.
Fortunately, he was no longer in a meeting. Xun Yuan asked, "Do you have a spare laptop? Let me borrow it for a while."
Zuo Tingyue pointed at a laptop on the table. "This one."
Xun Yuan picked it up and went straight back into the room to handle her emails. Some matters overseas still needed her final decision.
Her throat still felt uncomfortable, and she kept coming out for a little fruit or a glass of water, going back and forth.
Zuo Tingyue put on his coat to go out and told Xun Yuan, "I'm heading out. Get some rest."
His voice was mild, his expression casual and languid when he looked over at her. Only in those words, "Get some rest," did there seem to be a glimpse of what was on his mind-provided it was genuine.
Xun Yuan waved to show she understood, then returned to the bedroom to continue dealing with her work emails.
Her phone rang. Xun Yuan glanced at the screen and swiped to answer.
"Hello, Xiaolu."
Xun Yuan chatted with the person on the other end for a long time, rambling from one subject to another, sounding very doting.
After hanging up, Xun Yuan finished the remaining work, cleared her browsing traces from the computer, and put it back where it had been.
A private room with excellent privacy.
Zuo Tingyue, Lou Jing, and Jiang Yulin sat together, with Lin Sheng there as well.
"The Guangdong-Hong Kong Bay project has government backing, and the higher-ups are pressing hard. The geological survey is nearly finished, but there seems to be a problem."
The room fell silent. The usually high-spirited young scions grew quiet. When it came to work, they had a serious side too; their lives were not entirely a haze of luxury and extravagance.
"Let's go take a look," Zuo Tingyue said, his voice cold and low.
Among Harbor City's second- and third-generation heirs, this group listened to Zuo Tingyue most. There was no helping it: he was capable, whether in vision and perspective or in schemes covert and overt.
And so, a plane from Harbor City landed in Macau City that very day, stirring a number of people there.
By the time Xun Yuan heard the news, her fever had largely subsided. This bout had come quickly and gone just as fast.
That afternoon, while working on the antique bodhisattva in her studio, Xun Yuan received a transfer into her account. The string of zeros in the text notification was dizzying, but she had dealt with numbers and finance for years and could tell the amount at a glance.
After a few seconds of silence, she switched off her phone screen. Other than Zuo Tingyue, she could not think of anyone who would suddenly transfer money to her.
She rather wanted to ask why he had sent her money, so she lit up the screen again and called him directly.
In Macau City, Zuo Tingyue was in a meeting, the conference room filled with elites in immaculate suits. When their boss raised a hand to signal a pause, Special Assistant Lin stood and motioned for everyone to leave. Some had no idea why; others sitting nearby saw the phone light up on their boss's desk.
The phone rang several times before he answered. The instant the call connected, Xun Yuan asked without hesitation, "Why did you send me money?"
Zuo Tingyue looked at the empty conference room, his voice low. "Isn't it good that I'm giving you money?"
Bathed in the warmth of the afternoon sunlight, Xun Yuan replied in a cool, clear voice, "I'm not short of money."
Zuo Tingyue chuckled, his tone offhand. "I like giving it to you."
Xun Yuan paused. Traces of a smile spread across her face, but her voice remained mild. "All you ever do is give me money."
Zuo Tingyue fell silent, glanced at his watch, and called her name. "Xun Yuan."
"Time for my meeting."
His voice fell without a ripple. He hung up and resumed the meeting.
Xun Yuan did not dwell on it either. She more or less understood what he meant.
Putting down her phone, she returned to work. Harbor City's bright afternoon sunlight illuminated the smooth contours of her profile, tranquil and peaceful.
After that, Xun Yuan did not call Zuo Tingyue again, focusing on her own work. Yun Tang invited her out twice, but she went neither time.
This antique had been delayed for too long. She needed to deliver it to its owner soon and could not keep spending her time having fun.
For half a month straight, Xun Yuan left early and returned late, all but living in the studio. Working with her head bent every day had left her shoulders and neck aching. Just then, Yun Tang asked whether she wanted to visit the hot springs, and she decided to give herself a break.
At the hot spring resort in the outskirts, Xun Yuan specifically arranged for a rehabilitation therapist to come.
"Xunxun, what's wrong with you?" Yun Tang asked.
Xun Yuan rubbed the side of her neck. "My shoulder muscles are stiff. I'm loosening them up."
"From fiddling with your antique restoration, huh? You wouldn't even come out when I asked you to."
Xun Yuan teased her. "Devoting myself to my career."
Yun Tang laughed, then secretly scooped up water and splashed it all over her.
Xun Yuan retaliated, sending water flying. The two were like three-year-olds, neither giving ground as they splashed each other from head to toe.
Xun Yuan and Yun Tang had a wonderful time that day.
After soaking in the hot springs, Xun Yuan had the therapist massage her acupoints and clear her meridians.
Afraid of pain, Yun Tang declined a massage and sat to one side, watching Xun Yuan enjoy hers. Her skin was fair, and the burgundy slip dress made her look all the more like a beauty of ice-smooth skin and jade bones. With her body and mind unwinding, a languid ease seemed to seep from her very bones.
How to put it? There was always a composed assurance about her, an ease in everything she did. What sort of family had raised such a noble daughter of a great house? The mystery made one itch with curiosity.