Chapter 298: Pampering
The girl’s voice was pleasant, albeit with a subtle sense of persistence.
Lu Huaiyu raised his brow at her, looking into her crystal clear, alluring eyes.
The girl wore a serious expression, as if her height was something that she held dear to her heart.
Lu Huaiyu curved his thin lips into a lazy smile. He softly pinched her cheek and said, “Really? I didn’t know Lili was this tall.”
It looked like Ning Li had been growing healthily in the past few months.
Ning Li was slightly caught off guard. She felt like a balloon deflating after Lu Huaiyu had pinched her cheek. The strange agitated feeling disappeared without a trace.
However, a strange feeling started to fill her heart, disrupting her thoughts from within. A feeling that she did not know how to express.
As her mind filled with these thoughts, Lu Huaiyu retracted his hand from her cheek.
“Okay, I’ll be going now. Call me if there’s anything.”
Ning Li mumbled. “Mhmm.”
The door closed after the towering figure disappeared beyond it.
Ning Li could even hear his footsteps outside as he walked away.
She turned around and leaned against the door.
‘A child? Who wants to be a child?!’
…
Yi Bin drove his boss back to the Lu Corporation HQ.
The atmosphere inside the car was quiet.
Yi Bin took a glance into the rear mirror and saw Lu Huaiyu leaning back lazily, as he stared out the window with a deep gaze.
For a moment, Lu Huaiyu even suddenly chuckled, as if he had thought of something amusing.
Yi Bing quickly came to a conclusion.
‘It looks like the Second Master is in a good mood today.’
Lu Huaiyu came from a family of dignitaries and he himself was also an elite businessman. His achievements and background had boosted his confidence and arrogance. It was well known that he had an unpredictable temper.
Yi Bin had been with the Lu Corporation long enough to know how his boss felt.
No one on earth would dare to make Lu Huaiyu wait even a while, let alone a full hour.
To Yi Bin’s surprise, his boss was not angry even though the girl at Shuiyuan Shijia had made him wait. Not only that, he even seemed to be happy after leaving the place.
Yi Bin was deeply impressed. It seemed like his boss really cared about the girl.
He started to picture the faces of his female colleagues and the socialites in Jincheng when they learned of this.
Many women chased after him like a flock of birds, most of them like beautiful swans with influential backgrounds.
Many bets had been made about who would eventually win his heart.
Who would have thought that the arrogant and aloof Second Master would be willing to wait for an hour just to pamper a girl?
…
After breakfast, Ning Li was completely awake, so she went to the studio instead of jumping back into bed.
Looking at the vibrant colors on the canvas, she realized she still had George’s number blocked.
She unblocked him and opened up the chat window.
George had sent her a lot of messages but all the messages meant more or less the same thing: G&S’s design team would be working quickly on her designs which would be the main theme for the spring/summer collection later this year.
Judging from the message, the spring/summer collection would be even grander than the autumn/winter collection.
More importantly, Ning Li would be the main and only designer of the show.
The show that had happened at Jincheng International Longhai Exhibition Center a while ago had originally focused on Edmond and his team’s design, with the intention of promoting that theme alone.
The awards ceremony for the G&S’s global competition that Ning Li had participated in had only been meant to be a small part of that show, the icing on top of the already grand event.
The ‘Flower and Moon’ theme had been added at the last minute at George’s insistence.
It turned out that George’s decision had been the right one.
G&S had been able to have a great start in the Chinese market by using that show as a starter.
This time, after George had gone through the drafts that Ning Li had provided, he decided to reject all previous designs. He made the decision to spend all the time and effort to promote Ning Li’s designs instead.
George really hoped that Ning Li could spare some time to visit G&S’s HQ in Jincheng to discuss the details and finalize the concept.
Ning Li pondered the invite but before she could answer, she got a call.
It was from her mother, Su Yuan.
She nonchalantly answered the phone.
Su Yuan’s questioning tone came from the other side.
“Ning Li, why didn’t you pick up the phone last night? Where have you been?”
The night before, after Su Yuan had brought Ye Ci to the hotel, she had thought that Ning Li would contact her, so she had simply put it out of her mind.
However, even after midnight, she had still not gotten anything from Ning Li, not even a message.
Su Yuan had tried calling, but she had received no answer.
However, this was not the first time that Ning Li had rejected her calls.
She was not actually worried about Ning Li’s safety. She was worried that Ning Li would be mixing with the wrong people in the wrong places, so she was mad.
Ning Li replied with a soft “Oh.”
“I silenced my phone but when I saw your missed calls, it was already late. I thought you guys were asleep, so I didn’t bother to call back.”
When she had found out that Su Yuan had brought Ye Cheng to Jincheng just to pick Ye Ci up, she had blocked Su Yuan’s number.
After all, she had been through quite a lot recently and did not wish to be disturbed.
Earlier when she had unblocked George’s phone, she unblocked Su Yuan’s number as well out of courtesy.
Su Yuan was agitated because it was clear that Ning Li’s words were merely perfunctory.
This was not the kind of attitude that a daughter should be showing to her mother.
She raised her voice over the phone and said, “You’re staying in Jincheng alone, a place that you’re unfamiliar with. You don’t even give any advanced notice about wherever you are going. What if something happens to you?
“Ning Li, you are so naive, you—”
Ning Li calmly interrupted Su Yuan by saying, “I’m used to being alone and I don’t like to tell other people my whereabouts.”
Su Yuan’s words felt like they were stuck in her throat, almost choking her. She had never really asked Ning Li about her life in the past.
To her, her understanding of Ning Li and the past 10 years of her life was limited to a piece of paper.
She had skipped school, gotten into fights, caused trouble, etc.
She was a loner, had an arrogant attitude, and disliked being controlled.
Ning Li knew why Su Yuan had called, and it was not because Su Yuan was a ‘caring’ mother.
Su Yuan was still living within the Ye family, so if Ning Li, her own blood and flesh, got involved in something serious, everyone would assume that Su Yuan had failed her responsibility as a mother.
Ning Li said, “I’m busy, so let’s cut it short. I don’t need you to call me just to ask where I am, so let’s just stop it now.”
Then, before Su Yuan could say another word, Ning Li hung up the phone.
Su Yuan did not call back.
Ning Li thought for a while and sent a message to George.
[Sure.]
…
In the evening, Yu Pingchuan invited Ning Li upstairs to have dinner.
Lin Yaohui was also there and he was the chef for the night.
Ning Li was finally able to sit at the dining table and relax.
“Mr. Yu, Uncle Lin said that you went for a medical checkup today. How was it?”
Lin Yaohui happily answered, “Lili, don’t you worry. Mr. Yu aced his medical checkup this time. He’s a lot better than the previous tests.”
Yu Pingchuan sighed. Back at Yunzhou, Lin Yaohui and Ning Li had watched over him closely and strictly controlled his snacking habits. It would have been strange if his health had not gotten better.
After some thought, he said, “Lili, look. I’m getting better already, so I think I’ll be able to have an apple or a pineapple—”
Ning Li looked back at him with a penetrating gaze. Then she smiled and said, “Mr. Yu, it’s almost New Year and you still have to go to Jinse Bay soon. Try to hold on for a little while longer.”
The mention of Jinse Bay instantly suppressed Yu Pingchuan’s rising anticipation. He struggled with his thoughts for a while before reluctantly saying, “Okay…”