Chapter 89

"I only ordered a portion for myself, there's no extra."

The meal delivered by the restaurant was definitely more than enough. Su Ruoyun was just looking for an excuse, purely because she didn't want Huo Jingcheng to have a chance to enter her room.

On the other side, Huo Jingcheng didn't want to eat with Su Ruoyun tonight, he just wanted to confirm a specific time to eat with her.

He raised his brows and asked: "Then which day do you think is suitable to treat me to dinner?"

Hearing this, Su Ruoyun narrowed her eyes and thought carefully in her mind. She had no time all day tomorrow, and it would be five or six in the afternoon after the International Tea Party ended.

After thinking about it, she made a final decision: "The day after tomorrow at noon, I'll book the restaurant then."

Less than three seconds after she finished speaking, Huo Jingcheng's reply had already come, a crisp and clear denial: "No."

Before Su Ruoyun could ask him the reason, Huo Jingcheng consciously connected the words and explained: "I'm returning to Jingcheng early the day after tomorrow, and I won't be in Shencheng at noon."

Su Ruoyun's fingers tightened subconsciously on the metal chain. Because of the force, her knuckles turned white. After the last birthday banquet of Old Su, most people in the Jing circle had seen her. Compared to Shencheng, more people in Sijiucheng knew her, which meant the possibility of exposure was greater.

She would rather pay off his favor in Shencheng.

"Then tomorrow night." Su Ruoyun just gave the answer, then changed the subject: "But I have to wait until my event is over, the time might be later."

"It's okay, I'll wait no matter how long." Getting the specific time, Huo Jingcheng hooked his lips with satisfaction. It could be seen that he was in a very happy mood.

Su Ruoyun clutched the bag in her hand, intending to get up and slip away. Her feet stepped on the carpet, and she remembered another thing: "That night at the Spanish restaurant, you came instead of Chen Zheyan, was it on purpose?"

"Hmm." Huo Jingcheng didn't cover it up anymore, his voice was careless, responding from his nasal cavity, as if overflowing, the voice light.

Hearing this, Su Ruoyun frowned, her eyes full of suspicion, and asked suspiciously: "When exactly did you know my identity?"

Huo Jingcheng put his hands in his pockets, strolled to the sofa, sat down, and leaned back against the chair, sinking into the soft goose-down sofa.

"The first time I came to the tea house."

After speaking, he tilted his head, leaned his head lightly on one side of the sofa, and closed his eyes slightly, as if shrouded in the fatigue of a whole day of business negotiations. His dense and curled eyelashes rested quietly on his eyelids, casting a shadow under the dim light.

The brows and eyes that usually showed sharpness and dominance gradually faded their edge.

Huo Jingcheng came to Shanghai to discuss official business with Meng Lizhou. He stayed up late last night reading documents and bidding documents, and got up early today to negotiate with Meng Lizhou. By the time it was past five o'clock, he received the news that Su Ruoyun had gone to the police station, so he rushed over.

Was it that early?

Su Ruoyun stared at his excellent skin, stunned, blinked, "You... how did you know?"

Huo Jingcheng didn't open his eyes, just closed them and pretended to sleep, telling the truth: "That day Su Mingyan came to pick you up, I 'happened' to hear you call him brother."

Things from a month ago weren't hard to recall.

Su Ruoyun remembered that she met Su Mingyan outside the East Gate. Huo Jingcheng should have been drinking tea in the private room of the tea house at that time, so how could he have heard it, unless...

She suddenly came back to her senses, staring straight at him, and immediately questioned: "Were you secretly following me at that time?"

Huo Jingcheng slowly opened his eyes, his long, narrow eyes revealing a slit, his tone carrying a bit of listlessness: "It can't be considered secretly, I followed quite openly."

He didn't deliberately hide, keeping his distance all the way, without concealing his movements, but Su Ruoyun seemed to be addicted to the blooming roses in her hands at that time.

Su Ruoyun frowned slightly, speaking slowly word by word: "Then you mean I am blind and deaf?!"

When leaving, Huo Jingcheng sent Su Ruoyun to the elevator entrance, stood in front of the closed elevator door, and asked: "Which floor do you live on?"

"Top floor." She answered in a flat, concise two words.

Huo Jingcheng raised his hand, his fingertips pressed the round up button, a faint light flickering in his eyes. He had also booked the top floor, but the hotel said that the top floor for these three days had been booked by the municipal government. He retreated to the second to last floor.

"I haven't been to the top floor yet, Miss Su, take me to see the world."

He opened his eyes and talked nonsense, and Su Ruoyun was too lazy to pay attention to him.

With a "ding," the elevator slid open slowly. She stepped into the car. The elevator door had a short pause. The two looked at each other. Out of politeness, Su Ruoyun still said "Goodnight" to Huo Jingcheng.

Returning to the high-end suite on the top floor, the restaurant's takeout happened to be delivered to the door of the room.

After she enjoyed dinner simply, she walked into the bathroom. The warm water flowed down, the misty water vapor steamed, washing away the fatigue of the day. After washing up, she changed into loose pajamas and walked toward the big bed.

Su Ruoyun sank into the soft bed, picked up her phone to check the time, it was just past 9:30, and then picked up the laptop on the bedside table to prepare for tomorrow's International Tea Party.

The next day, it was still a sunny day, the sky clear.

The International Tea Party was held at the Shencheng Convention and Exhibition Center, with the theme of "Tea and the World, Fragrance Filling Shencheng." Representatives from many countries gathered together. Amidst the fragrant tea, different cultures crossed geographical boundaries and opened a cultural dialogue.

Tea whisking is one of the representatives of ancient Chinese tea art. In 2021, "Song Dynasty Tea Whisking" was included in the expansion list of the National Intangible Cultural Heritage Representative Project List. In international tea culture exchanges, Song Dynasty tea whisking became a window to display traditional Chinese culture.

The leaders attending the event included the Director of the Shencheng Culture and Tourism Bureau. Knowing her identity, after the leader finished his opening speech, he specially asked someone to find Su Ruoyun.

At that time, Su Ruoyun was carefully organizing the necessary tea sets backstage, when she was suddenly stopped by a voice, and looked up, "Me?"

Opposite, a man in a crisp suit nodded politely and said respectfully: "Miss Su, our leader is looking for you."

Hearing this, Su Ruoyun followed the man in a suit to a lounge in the Convention and Exhibition Center.

The man raised his hand and knocked on the door. After a "come in" came from inside, he pushed the door open and half-raised his arm to signal Su Ruoyun to enter first.

The lounge was already full of tea fragrance. Seeing her enter, the leader greeted her.

A short ten-minute conversation ended.

Before leaving, the leader said: "Say hello to Old Su for me."

Su Ruoyun smiled, "Definitely."

"..."

The International Tea Party ended at 6:30 in the afternoon.

Su Ruoyun hurried to a Michelin three-star restaurant in the city center.

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