Chapter 45: How Could It Be You?

After talking with the client, Xia Xi's overall impression was good, and she intended to take on the project. The client was also very straightforward, saying that if she had no objections, he could come sign the contract tomorrow; he wanted to start work as soon as possible because that villa was a wedding home.

Xia Xi was slightly surprised and smiled, saying, "Congratulations."

Guan He guiltily touched his nose; he was the one who should congratulate her, since the person before him was very likely to become his future boss's wife.

"Then we won't disturb your time, Xia Gong; we came a bit late today, and we'll discuss the specific renovation opinions in detail after signing the contract." Guan He glanced at his watch; it was already over twenty minutes past the normal quitting time.

Xia Xi rose to see him out; Guan He looked flattered, gesturing with his hand to stop her while nodding and smiling, "Please stay."

After the person left, Jiang Tian, who had accompanied Xia Xi to meet the client, sighed with feeling: "Elite is elite, wealthy yet polite. In our line of work, we encounter many eccentric clients; running into someone like this is rare, so we should treat them like a bodhisattva to be worshipped."

Xia Xi smiled but didn't respond; however, what he said was not wrong.

"Tsk, we ended up chatting this late without realizing it. Xia Gong, do you have anything else coming up? Let me treat you to a meal. A new restaurant-bar opened near our company; colleagues who've been there say they have healthy, tasty meals that you girls like. Would you like to give it a try?"

Jiang Tian watched Xia Xi lift her foot to walk out, hurried two steps to keep pace with her, and walked out of the meeting room side by side with her.

Xia Xi glanced at him, shook her phone in her hand, and said, "Sorry, I have an appointment tonight."

"Oh, that's fine." Jiang Tian's smile faded a bit, adding a touch of embarrassment from being rejected, "Next time, then—I'll treat you next time."

Xia Xi still smiled, didn't give him a definite answer, went back to her office to grab her bag, and sent a message to Zhou Du while walking.

Xia Xi: "A client came to the company unexpectedly, delaying me a bit; I might be late."

Zhou Du: "Oh."

Xia Xi: "Has Liang Yuan arrived?"

Zhou Du: "He just said he's on the way; should be about five minutes."

Xia Xi: "Okay."

The elevator reached the underground parking garage; Xia Xi got into her car, connected the navigation, and drove off.

At a bend on the slope, Xia Xi spotted a somewhat familiar luxury car driving past from the side; the driver's-side window rolled down, revealing the driver's face—it was the client she had just met, Mr. Guan He.

In this Nancheng area, luxury cars of that model are everywhere, really nothing remarkable; Xia Xi quickly put the incident behind her.

The private restaurant Zhou Du found was indeed quite remote; the car couldn't go in, so Xia Xi parked at a roadside spot outside the alley, went in on foot, winding through seven turns and eight twists, and finally found the main entrance.

Before even entering the private room, she heard bursts of laughter from inside; the two were already chatting animatedly.

Xia Xi pushed the door open; Zhou Du looked over and said with a teasing tone, "Yo, the big designer has arrived—half an hour late."

"It's my fault?" Xia Xi snapped, "You picked this godforsaken place—it's practically out in the suburbs."

"You're exaggerating."

Liang Yuan stood up and hugged Xia Xi, holding on for a while; in that pose she patted Xia Xi's back twice and said, "Hearing you were back in China, I wanted to meet you, but you're such a busy person—you dragged it out until now to finally see me. What, is my face not as big as Zhou Du's?"

"You know I spent five or six years abroad; returning home, I had to start from scratch, needing to settle down first before I could see old friends—otherwise I'd be a mess, and you'd think I was picking up trash overseas."

"Pfft, your mouth is still as sharp as ever; nobody can outtalk you."

Liang Yuan let go, sat down, poured a cup of fruit tea, and handed it to her.

Xia Xi took it, took a sip, and exchanged a smile with her.

Old friends who hadn't seen each other in years dispelled the distance brought by time with just a few words.

The three of them were all from Qianlin, their homes close together; they grew up together from childhood, attended the same school from elementary through high school, and later went to university in the same city, sharing an extraordinary bond.

Xia Xi had been a top student since childhood, growing up surrounded by accolades and called "someone else's child"; after the college entrance exam she entered the top-tier Nancheng University. The other two, poor students, attended a third-rate college just two streets away from Nancheng University. When they introduced which school they were from, they often joked: "We are Nancheng University... students of the Nancheng Information Vocational Technical College, which is two streets away."

While waiting for the dishes, Liang Yuan's eyes darted around, glancing at Zhou Du then at Xia Xi, and said, "I heard from Zhou Du that you met Xu Yanfeng, and he observed that you probably weren't seeing each other for the first time after reuniting—what exactly is going on?"

Xia Xi's hand holding the cup paused, and she glanced at Zhou Du.

Zhou Du took a sip of tea, set down the cup, spread his hands, and said, "Could I be wrong? I ran into Xu Yanfeng by chance last Friday; I was too nervous to notice many details. Later, when I reviewed it, I realized that neither Xu Yanfeng's nor your reaction resembled that of meeting an ex after six years apart. You must have met before, right?"

Liang Yuan looked worriedly at Xia Xi: "Did Xu Yanfeng give you a hard time? After all, back then... things got pretty ugly."

"It's not really hardship." Xia Xi lowered her head, slightly curled the corners of her mouth, and gave a bitter smile.

At most, Xu Yanfeng would just say a few stimulating words when he saw her—nothing that could be called hardship; on the contrary, it was she who repeatedly hurt him.

Faced with their inquisitive gazes, Xia Xi fell silent for a moment, then began to explain everything, starting from when she met Xu Yanfeng at Xia Xuan's wedding...

Liang Yuan listened, taking deep breaths repeatedly, and for a while couldn't speak.

Zhou Du shook his head and sighed: "Looking at him, it's clear he hasn't given up on you. How do you plan to deal with it? Given his tactics, he'll eventually find out the child is his—then what will you do?"

Xia Xi propped her forehead with one hand, gently shook her head twice, and a hint of worry appeared on her face, indicating she didn't know.

When facing Xu Yanfeng, she had no recourse.

Zhou Du added: "If I may say, he's truly devoted to you—he even saw you cheat with his own eyes and still doesn't mind; what man could do that? Or you could just reconcile with him, and I could take the blame off my back."

Liang Yuan finally came to her senses and loudly scolded him for being underhanded.

Just then the server arrived with the dishes; Zhou Du placed his right index finger on his left palm, making a 'pause' gesture, and said, "Hold on, let's eat."

The dishes arrived one after another; the server left the private room, and Liang Yuan continued, "Xi Xi endured all that hardship back then and finally raised the child to this size—what right does a scumbag man have to reap the benefits?"

"Here I have to speak up for the Xu family—he knew nothing back then and was completely kept in the dark." Zhou Du tapped her with his chopsticks, "That's pure prejudice on your part."

After a pause, Zhou Du lifted his chin toward Xia Xi, covered his mouth with his hand, lowered his voice, and said, "You didn't even ask her whether she still has feelings for Xu Yanfeng before you started insulting him."

Liang Yuan choked up and asked Xia Xi, "Xi Xi, do you still have feelings for Xu Yanfeng?"

That question went unanswered by Xia Xi straight through to the end of the gathering.

*The next day, Xia Xi went to the company, waited for Guan He to arrive, and completed the signing process.

She handled things efficiently; that afternoon she arranged for Huang Shiyu to go measure the house and produce a detailed floor plan.

According to the address Xia Xi provided, Huang Shiyu found the property in a wealthy district at the city's bustling center—Brocade Heavenly Abode—with its square, imposing stone gate carved with four large characters; the farther inside, the quieter it became.

When she located Villa No. 8, a five-story building covering over six hundred square meters came into view; Huang Shiyu craned her neck and shouted inwardly: "I'm going up against you rich people! Owning such a huge villa in a place where every inch of land is priceless—how much must this cost?"

Huang Shiyu calmed herself, went inside, and pulled out her tools from the canvas bag to take measurements.

She was concentrating on her work when suddenly a series of footsteps—tap, tap, tap—echoed through the empty villa. Huang Shiyu's hairs stood on end; she took a deep breath, turned her head, and froze.

The man who appeared before her was very handsome and somewhat familiar; Huang Shiyu opened her mouth uncertainly and said, "Xu... Xu xuezhang?"

Xu Yanfeng had expected to meet Xia Xi here, but instead he came face to face with a completely unfamiliar visage; a flicker of surprise crossed his eyes, quickly concealed, and he spoke in a cold tone: "How could it be you?"

Huang Shiyu: "……?"

Ah… who else could it be? Xu Er, you're dumbfounded, huh o((⊙﹏⊙))o (End of chapter)