Chapter 224: I've put a green hat on you

Zhou Du received a call from Xia Xi, drove a friend's car to the designated location.

That was a hotel, also called an entertainment club, very upscale; ordinary people couldn't get in. Zhou Du had heard of it when accompanying a leader to a reception, but had never been there.

All the way he was tense, his face expressionless, fingers gripping the steering wheel, a layer of sweat seeping from his palms.

Although he knew it was fake, he still couldn't stay calm, cursing that Xu chairman ten thousand times in his heart.

Meeting Xia Xi at the hotel entrance, Zhou Du looked up at the towering building; as the sun set, the blue glass panels turned deep black. He touched his nose and coughed: "Is he up there?"

Xia Xi wore all black, a fisherman's hat, her hands slipped into the square pockets of her knit shirt, and replied softly: "Hmm."

Zhou Du rubbed his forehead, lifted his chin, making many small gestures, a sign of his turmoil: "Well, let's go in."

Xia Xi entered with him; the front desk staff made their routine inquiry, which she had anticipated—this hotel-club admitted only members, and they could recognize every face in the upper‑class circle, including the cars they usually drove. She whispered two words to the attendant, who immediately bowed respectfully, gestured, escorted her to the elevator, and thoughtfully pressed the floor button for her.

Zhou Du didn't understand her maneuver: "What did you say to that person?"

Xia Xi shook her head, unwilling to say.

That day, after meeting Xu Dongzhang, before leaving he left the contact information of the chairman's aide; the chairman himself said, if you need any help, just call his aide.

Little did he expect that this promise would be needed so soon.

Beforehand, Xia Xi phoned that well‑mannered aide, asking him to find out which floor Xu Yanfeng's group's private room was on, and to arrange her entry into the hotel.

She had just given the attendant the aide's name; the aide must have given prior instructions, so the attendant treated her as an honoured guest.

Stepping into the elevator, Xia Xi said: "Lend me your phone."

Zhou Du pulled his phone from his jeans pocket, entered the lock‑screen password, and handed it to her.

Xia Xi held his phone in one hand and her own in the other, checking the WeChat of Tang Yizhou, whom she had blocked; his WeChat ID was his initials plus a string of numbers.

She used Zhou Du's phone to call Tang Yizhou.

Xia Xi glanced at the elevator floor display—two floors left—took a deep breath, slipped her phone back into her pocket, steeled herself, linked arms with Zhou Du, and pressed close to him.

"Ding."

A clear, pleasant chime sounded in her ear; Xia Xi gripped Zhou Du's sleeve, wrinkling the stiff fabric of his windbreaker. She lowered her voice to remind him: "Act natural, don't look around."

The elevator doors opened; Xia Xi stepped out beside him onto the light‑brown carpet, their footsteps barely audible.

In the private room, Tang Yizhou's phone rang; he passed his pool cue to the nearby attendant, then took the phone from the attendant, narrowed his dark eyes at the screen—it was a call from a local unknown number.

"Hello, who's this?" The surroundings were a bit noisy; Tang Yizhou covered one ear and asked again, "Who is it?"

Following Xia Xi's instructions, Zhou Du said to Tang Yizhou on the other end: "Come out, I have something to tell you."

"No, who are you…"

Tang Yizhou hadn't finished speaking when the call was cut off.

Zhou Du uncertainly asked Xia Xi: "Will he fall for it?"

Xia Xi had no doubt: "I've dealt with him a few times; he's intensely curious, he'll definitely come out to see what's up." As for Tang Yizhou, put bluntly, even if a dung cart passed his door he'd have to taste its saltiness.

Xia Xi judges people well; the bewildered Tang Yizhou, who had just been hung up on, furrowed his brows, brimming with curiosity, stepped out of the private room and glanced down both ends of the hallway, seeing no one he knew.

Wait!

Tang Yizhou's gaze suddenly locked; he lifted the gold‑rimmed glasses on his nose used for styling, his eyes widened behind the lenses, and he stared fixedly at a nearby couple holding hands.

The man was unknown to him, but the woman had just taken off her hat; as she turned to look for the room number, her profile faced him—who else could it be but Xia Xi?!

Tang Yizhou stood dazed for a few seconds, then, like a thief, quietly stepped back, afraid the pair ahead would notice him. He hid at the wall corner, exposing only the upper half of his face to peek, his breath unconsciously held.

They entered a private room, closed the door, and only then did Tang Yizhou straighten up and exhale deeply.

Xia Xi, girlfriend of Xu Er, actually came to the hotel alone with a guy—is that normal?

Tang Yizhou slowly retreated back to the private room, his mind filled with images of Xia Xi and that guy being inseparable, completely forgetting why he had come out.

"Zhouzi, it's your turn—don't just stand there stupidly, hurry up." Luojinnan called out loudly.

Tang Yizhou couldn't hide things; his face full of shock made it obvious something was up. Fu Li jabbed him with a pool cue: "What did you go out for? Did someone steal your soul?"

"No." Tang Yizhou glanced at Xu Yanfeng lounging on the sofa, who was usually eloquent and silver‑tongued, but now for the first time felt at a loss for words.

Ling Yan sipped her pomegranate juice, nudged the shoulder of her sister‑friend, and together they teased Tang Yizhou: "Could it be an ex‑girlfriend showing up? Look how scared you are."

Tang Yizhou swallowed and said: "No."

"Stop dragging your feet—say what you have to say, or hurry up and play." Luojinnan said, "I seriously suspect you're just putting on an act, seeing that you're about to lose, and you're performing for me here, right?"

"No." Tang Yizhou was like a broken record, unable to say anything else but those two words.

Luojinnan: "Hiss, can you finally speak properly?"

Tang Yizhou lifted the red wine from the wine cart and downed half a glass in one gulp to avoid a mistake, then first asked Xu Yanfeng: "Xu Er, it's Friday today—why didn't you bring your girlfriend along to play?"

Xu Yanfeng knew he didn't get along with Xia Xi, and wondered why he would bring her up himself.

Ling Yan, hearing that, her expression shifted subtly—why bring up Xia Xi at a perfectly good gathering? It was ruining the mood.

Tang Yizhou stammered: "I… I just saw a girl in the hallway who looked a bit like your girlfriend." His words were restrained—not just a bit like, she was outright Xia Xi!

Her face was excessively alluring and radiant; even without makeup it was striking enough to leave a deep impression—he couldn't possibly have misseen her.

"Not her." Xu Yanfeng, not knowing what he meant to say, replied blandly: "She's meeting friends tonight; otherwise I wouldn't have come."

Ling Yan hearing his words felt even worse, turning her face aside, afraid anyone would see her lose composure and show her dreadful expression. Xu Yanfeng was indeed blunt—if he weren't unable to accompany his girlfriend, he wouldn't have come here to see them.

Tang Yizhou froze, then wondered: Could the private room Xia Xi and that guy entered have other people too? Like them, a large gathering of men and women?

No, he was almost led astray.

Regardless of whether others were in the private room, Xia Xi holding hands with a man and being intimate was not normal.

Tang Yizhou gave up beating around the bush and spoke straight from the heart: "Xu Er, I'm telling you, although I dislike that woman Xia Xi, what I'm about to say is definitely not slander. Xia Xi… she's probably given you a green hat. She's in this hotel, on this floor, in some private room, having come here with a man. I swear I saw it clearly. If you don't believe me, go see for yourself."