Chapter 57: Xia Xi is Qianlin's earliest internet celebrity

Xia Xi entered the suite, and to not give Xu Yanfeng a chance to change the topic, she immediately took out her laptop from her bag, adopting a work posture: "Where is the meeting room? I need to use the projector for a moment."

"No rush." Xu Yanfeng walked to her side, looking at her pretended serious expression, somewhat amused.

Xia Xi raised her wrist, the action of checking her watch obvious, intending to remind him to watch the time: "You yourself said only an hour and a half; you just delayed a bit, leaving only a little over an hour."

As for why it was delayed, she thought Xu Yanfeng knew full well; knowing full well that she had to come at 12:30 to discuss business, he actually took a shower at this time, she had no idea what he was thinking.

"I haven't eaten yet; I just ordered food. Xia Gong surely won't make the client listen to your explanation on an empty stomach, right?" Xu Yanfeng strolled over to the table, twisted open the bottled water, and handed it to her.

Xia Xi curled her lips, showing a formal smile: "Thank you, I don't drink."

Xu Yanfeng lowered his hand, took a sip himself: "By the way, Xia Gong, have you had lunch?"

Xia Xi was speechless; she had rushed over from the company, when would she have time to eat?

But she definitely couldn't tell the truth.

"I've eaten."

Just as she finished speaking, her stomach seemed to rebel, issuing a protesting sound. Hearing the "gurgle" coming from her own belly, she felt embarrassed and wanted to flee the room.

She slowly lifted her eyes, and as expected, Xu Yanfeng's teasing gaze swept over her, as if saying: "Someone's lying without a draft?" Xia Xi felt even more embarrassed, her face flushing.

Just then someone came to knock on the door, easing the suffocating atmosphere. Xu Yanfeng went to open the door; the hotel waiter pushed in a food cart, after confirming his wishes with him, placed the dishes he'd ordered on the table.

"Please enjoy your meal."

After the waiter left, only Xu Yanfeng and Xia Xi remained in the suite.

Xu Yanfeng took a seat at the table first, glanced at Xia Xi standing there like a door god, and said: "I ordered extra food; if you don't mind, Xia Gong, come eat with me."

Xia Xi refused without thinking: "Thank you for the kindness, but no thanks. Let's talk after you finish eating."

Xu Yanfeng leaned back slightly in his chair, gazing steadily at Xia Xi for a while, smiling calmly and nonchalantly: "Xia Gong, you're so afraid to get close to me—am I a flood or a ferocious beast?"

Before Xia Xi could say anything, Xu Yanfeng continued: "You're the one who told me to keep public and private separate, to talk only about work, and I've taken your words to heart—engraved them on smoke and inhaled them into my lungs. Now this is a work setting; what's wrong with you having a meal with your client?"

"Engrave on smoke and inhale into the lungs?"

What the heck……

Unable to argue with him, Xia Xi excused herself to wash her hands in the restroom, saying she'd be back shortly.

She hid in the restroom, leaning against the sink, holding her phone to message Liang Yuan: "What does 'engrave on smoke and inhale into the lungs' mean?"

During lunch break, Liang Yuan happened to be eating; seeing Xia Xi's message, she blinked, then laughed, and asked: "Who told you that?"

Xia Xi: "Someone said he engraved my words on smoke and inhaled them into his lungs; I didn't understand."

Liang Yuan was good at getting to the point: "Him? He's a guy. Is he trying to hit on you?"

Xia Xi: "……Is that the point, big sis?"

Liang Yuan stopped joking and answered seriously: "His meaning is to engrave your words on smoke and inhale them into his lungs, showing he firmly remembers what you said. Telling you to go online more, you don't listen—our Qianlin's earliest internet celebrity is already outdated!"

Saying Xia Xi is Qianlin's earliest internet celebrity is no joke; back then her family ran a hotel, a reporter came for an interview without prior notice—it was a surprise interview. Xia Xi happened to be sitting in the lobby eating with other staff, got caught on camera, and later the interview video aired on the local TV station, making Xia Xi instantly famous throughout Qianlin, becoming the living signboard of Peishan Grand Hotel.

Liang Yuan recalled that it was during summer vacation; she didn't know how many people came to the hotel just to see Xia Xi eat, and the customer flow for those two months was unprecedentedly large.

At that time, Xia Xi couldn't stand the disturbance, complaining to those close friends: "Really, I, the dignified second young lady of Peishan Grand Hotel, have become a gorilla in a zoo being stared at—I'm about to be driven to depression." Xia Xi stopped chatting with her, washed her hands, and went out. Xu Yanfeng hadn't taken a bite, waiting for her.

The last time I had a meal with Xu Yanfeng, Zhou Du and Lu Mingji were there, plus two little kids; although the atmosphere wasn't very harmonious, at least it wasn't like now, as if we were being roasted over a fire, tormented beyond endurance.

Xia Xi hastily filled her stomach, put down her knife and fork, took out a napkin to wipe her mouth: "I'm done eating; you take your time."

Xu Yanfeng stopped dragging things out, sped up his eating; afterward he went to the meeting room to turn on the projector. Xia Xi followed closely, opened her laptop, plugged in the USB drive, connected the projector, and showed Xu Yanfeng the villa's renovation renderings.

In her professional field, Xia Xi is never vague, never thinks of anything else, and focuses solely on work.

Holding a remote pointer, she switched angles, zoomed in on the images, and let Xu Yanfeng see the details.

Xu Yanfeng sat at the lower end of the conference table, one hand loosely clenched into a fist against his chin, his eyes not on the projection screen but fixed on Xia Xi. Today she wore a sky‑blue shirt, sleeves rolled up to reveal her slender white forearms; the collar hung with two uneven, untied straps, a small, exquisite red diamond on her neck— the finishing touch—while loose, ankle‑length trousers almost covered her feet, showing only the toe of her shoes.

Xia Xi glanced over unintentionally and noticed Xu Yanfeng wasn't looking at what she was demonstrating; she crossed her arms, straightened her face, just like a teacher catching a student not paying attention in class, ready to explode emotionally.

"May I ask, are you listening carefully?"

Xu Yanfeng's eyes flickered: "I am listening."

"Then do you have any other opinions? If you have no objections, I'll start on the construction drawings here. Once we finalize the renovation material purchase schedule and the workflow form, we can begin work."

"Well, there is actually one more opinion." Xu Yanfeng changed from his earlier nonchalance, sitting upright.

"Go ahead."

Xu Yanfeng waved his hand: "Give me the remote pointer."

Xia Xi placed the remote pointer from her hand onto the table, pressed it forward toward him. Xu Yanfeng picked it up, flipped forward, found one of the images, and said slowly: "I want to turn this north‑side room on the top floor into a sunroom; when my wife and I grow old, we might be interested in growing flowers there, basking in the sun and sipping tea."

Xia Xi: "……."

With such a huge villa yard, isn't that enough space for you to grow flowers? Since you have this request, why didn't you mention it earlier?

Is he doing this on purpose? Xu Yanfeng seemed to see through her thoughts, his tone apologetic: "Sorry, I don't want to give Xia Gong extra work; I just hadn't thought of this before—it's a sudden inspiration that just popped up."

"The customer is supreme, the customer is God, the customer's wishes must be respected." Xi Xi ran that sentence through her mind, nodded, and said: "No problem, I'll add it when I get back. But let me ask—are you sure your wife wants a sunroom? You should discuss it with her first." She feared that after the change, his other half would be dissatisfied, creating new trouble.

"Actually, I'm not entirely sure." Xu Yanfeng looked into her eyes and said, "She seems not to like flowers."

The person who doesn't like flowers is Xia Xi.

When they were dating, he once sent her flowers; while he napped at noon, she pulled all the blossoms out of the wrapping paper, made them into a wreath to wear on her head, took a few selfies, and then tossed the flowers aside. When he discovered it, she still declared righteously, "Whether they're kept in a vase or woven into a wreath, as long as they're put to good use, that's fine."

Recalling that incident, Xia Xi's mind wandered for a moment, then she refocused: "Your wife doesn't like flowers, yet you still want to set up a sunroom?"

Xu Yanfeng said: "Maybe she'll like it later; better to prepare in advance."

Xia Xi said nothing more; finally she confirmed with him once more whether there were any additional ideas to add, as she needed to finalize the draft. Xu Yanfeng told her definitively that there were none.

So, today's meeting ends here. Xia Xi shut her laptop, packed it away, and said: "I'm heading out now; I won't take up any more of your time."

Xu Yanfeng rose to see her out; just then the door of the neighboring suite opened, and a man about fifty stepped out in a suit, having just ended a call, took his phone from his ear, looked up and saw Xu Yanfeng, his expression quite surprised: "General Manager Xu, what a coincidence."

Then the middle‑aged man turned his gaze to Xu Yanfeng's side, where Xia Xi stood, and chuckled teasingly: "This must be your strict girlfriend, right?"

Xi Xi:?????? No, Xu Er, what are you up to behind my back again? (End of chapter)