Chapter 46: 46

46 "Go ahead and drive, I've ridden in cars several times faster than this."

After leaving the back door of the office, Tushan Jiu once again encountered that black cat.

As expected, it startled her again, and she let out a miserable scream before fleeing.

Tushan Jiu was also speechless; just as she was about to step out of the alley, her phone rang.

Glancing at the screen and seeing it was Xie Shiyu, she answered while walking forward, "Hello."

On Xie Shiyu's end it was noisy, as if he were outside: "Xiao Jiu, are you done?"

With the phone pressed to her ear, upon hearing Xie Shiyu's affectionate address, her ear uncontrollably heated up.

"Mm, I'm done; now I'm preparing to return to the old residence." After thinking, she added, "And you? Are you busy too?"

As soon as she said that, she felt a wave of regret.

Needless to ask—if he were busy, could he still call himself?

Indeed, she's not the type to start a conversation.

But Xie Shiyu didn't let her words fall flat; he directly answered her question:

"Not very busy, but not idle either—I'm discussing a deal at a golf course in the suburbs. The talk's finished, no outsiders around, and I'm wondering if you'd like to come hang out. I won't be going back to the old residence for lunch; I'll take you to French cuisine."

Upon hearing there'd be no outsiders, Tushan Jiu hesitated not at all and agreed, "Sure, send me the location—I'll take a taxi over now."

"No need, just send me the location, then find a nearby milk tea shop, grab a drink, and wait—I'll have Assistant Li pick you up."

"That works; I'm thirsty anyway. I'll send you the location now, then I'll hang up."

On the other end of the line, Xie Shiyu's voice rose at the end: "Mm, see you soon."

Tushan Jiu sensed his pleasure and thought, "His deal just now must have gone smoothly, which is why he's so happy."

After sending Xie Shiyu the location, she didn't go far; she found a milk tea shop nearby.

This place isn't far from the Xie Clan Group; just after finishing a bowl of red bean coconut tapioca pudding, a call came in.

It was an unfamiliar number, presumably the Assistant Li that Xie Shiyu mentioned.

"Hello, is this Miss Tushan? I'm Assistant Li to Mr. Xie. I'm already at the curb in a black Bentley with its hazard lights flashing—feel free to get in once you finish your tea."

Tushan Jiu happened to be seated by the window; she turned her head to look at the road and indeed saw a black car parked there, its taillights blinking.

She got up to pay the bill, saying, "All right, I've finished; I'll head out right away."

"All right, no rush—take your time."

After hanging up and paying, Tushan Jiu left the sweet‑shop.

As they neared the car, a man in his thirties stepped out, respectfully opened the rear door, and gestured for her to enter: "Miss Tushan, please get in."

Tushan Jiu glanced at Assistant Li twice and uttered a thanks.

Actually, she felt a bit embarrassed; she truly wasn't used to this yet, but she knew she had to gradually get accustomed to it.

Once Tushan Jiu was settled, Li Kai gently closed the car door.

In fact, he was also somewhat surprised the moment he saw Tushan Jiu.

It's because Tushan Jiu's first impression is one of pure clarity, and more importantly, her eyes seem able to see through everything in the world, making one feel that nothing unsavory can hide.

Li Kai started the car, daring not to go too fast for fear of jostling her.

After all, the CEO had repeatedly instructed him before sending him to pick her up: drive slowly.

From the back seat, Tushan Jiu pursed her lips, hesitated two seconds, then said, "Assistant Li, you can actually go a bit faster."

"Huh? Okay, Miss Tushan."

Li Kai thought to himself, "Gee, Miss Tushan finds it slow; I thought the CEO had told me several times to drive slowly, and her gentle, quiet demeanor made me assume she was afraid of speed."

Tushan Jiu seemed to hear his thoughts and explained, "Go ahead and drive; I've ridden in cars several times faster than this."

For example, ghost cars—they don't travel on mortal roads, so naturally their speed isn't something earthly vehicles can match.

The human world's highway speed limit tops out at 120, but the lowest speed of an underworld ghost car is 240.

When she was young, out of curiosity she sneaked out to ride a ghost car; the result was that she threw up so badly she felt dizzy and nauseous, lying in bed for a full day and night before recovering.

Thereafter, whenever she needed to take a ghost car, she would beforehand take three motion‑sickness pills.

As she was thinking, the sky in the northeast suddenly changed color.

In an instant, black storm clouds spread in all directions, followed immediately by lightning and thunder.

Tushan Jiu frowned slightly as she stared at that patch of sky.

Li Kai in the driver's cabin naturally saw it too, muttering, "How did the weather suddenly change? The forecast didn't say there'd be thunderstorms."

Taking advantage of a red light, he turned to ask Tushan Jiu, "Miss Tushan, should we call Mr. Xie to cancel the golf‑course event? I could arrange indoor golf instead."

Tushan Jiu did a quick finger calculation and realized the golf course lay within that storm‑cloud area.

But she shook her head: "No need, it won't rain—the lightning will stop soon."

Li Kai responded dubiously, "Okay," then turned his attention back to driving.

The green light came on, and the car began to move slowly.

Not long after, the car picked up speed; having gone about ten meters, they overtook a water‑sprinkler truck.

As the Bentley passed, Tushan Jiu glanced outside and thought, "There's still plenty of this water; I hope Lin Xiu'er remembers my warning—though she won't be hurt, getting zapped by her own lightning would probably still hurt quite a bit."

Tushan Jiu imagined Lin Xiu'er's round head turning into an afro.

"Ugh… that sounds kinda awful."

But she had warned her; whether she could dodge it was no longer within her control.

At that moment inside the golf course, Xie Shiyu frowned as he gazed at the outside sky.

Suddenly, the phone on his table rang.

He thought it was Tushan Jiu, reached to pick it up, but upon seeing the caller ID, his smile instantly flattened, as if it had never been raised.

He tapped to answer, his voice flat: "Hello."

Come on, Xie Shiyu, I returned to my country and you didn't even say you'd come pick me up, and even when I called you your attitude was this cold! Really, now that you have a fiancée you've forgotten your brother, humph, I never knew you were this fickle, forsaking righteousness for beauty!

Xie Shiyu sat on the lounge chair, gave a low chuckle, "Lu Ze Yuan, stop pretending to be poor, speak plainly if you have something to say. I'm not free today; Xiao Jiu will be coming soon, and I still have to teach her golf."

"Oh my, Xiao Jiu already, it seems you've made quite a bit of progress in these few short days." Lu Ze Yuan said with a grin.

Xie Shiyu neither affirmed nor denied.

"Let's go out for dinner together tonight, I'll treat. It just so happens that Qi Chen is also back; we'll invite the sister-in-law to a meal so you can get to know each other." Lu Ze Yuan got to the point.

A flicker of surprise crossed Xie Shiyu's eyes, "He isn't out on a mission?"

"The mission's over, I'm currently driving to his place; let's meet at our usual spot tonight."

Xie Shiyu also didn't agree to him, merely saying, "My fiancée is shy; I'll ask her later. If she doesn't want to go, I'll just go by myself."

As his words fell, Xie Shiyu heard thunder from the other end of the phone.

He lifted his gaze; just now it seemed a bolt of lightning had also streaked across his side.

Lu Ze Yuan complained, "When did the weather in Nan Cheng become so fickle? Say it's going to thunder and it thunders… I'm driving…"

Suddenly Lu Ze Yuan's voice on the other end cut off, followed immediately by the sound of a phone dropping and rolling.

Xie Shiyu's eyelid twitched, his expression grew a bit grave, "Lu Ze Yuan?"

Thinking something had happened to him, Xie Shiyu was about to hang up and send someone to check.

But before he could hang up, he suddenly heard Lu Ze Yuan's terrified voice from the other end:

"Holy shit! What's going on?"