Chapter 130: Givenchy

Givenchy personally pulled out a chair for Lady He Ben to sit. From the expressions in their conversation, they were not the kind of old couple who knew everything about each other, but rather the kind still in the throes of new love, where even a glance into each other's eyes seemed to draw out invisible threads.

Watching the two from the side, a word that had not yet come into use in this era involuntarily popped into Henry's mind: 'male bestie'.

Admittedly, after this word appeared, it was overlaid with a massive amount of negative meaning. But for referring to a female compatriot's male friend, whose relationship was still above that of friends, no term was more suitable.

No wonder Lady He Ben's two husbands both had many grievances against this fashion tycoon. Anyone seeing their wife looking at another man with such eyes full of love would be unable to bear it.

But the distance between the two was not that of a man and woman who had crossed the final line, but rather before that line, expressing their feelings without any restraint.

As the first person to get a close-up view of the drama, Henry couldn't help but recall a question: Which is more serious, spiritual infidelity or physical infidelity? Where exactly lies the bottom line in the cognition of men and women?

Once the three were seated, a waiter immediately came to pour water and present the menu. However, neither of the two old friends looked at it; Lady He Ben directly told the waiter, "Give us a little surprise."

The concept of a no-menu meal was not yet prevalent in this era. But in bars or certain Western-style restaurants, when guests did not particularly want to eat or drink anything specific, they might hand the choice over to the chef.

However, Henry still temporarily left his seat to inform the waiter of some physical conditions of those two, asking the chef to avoid certain flavors.

For instance, Lady He Ben's thinness was not the result of dieting and training. Rather, the experience of starving during the war in her childhood had ruined her body. Then, in recent years, she had been rushing around everywhere, so her stomach and intestines were not very good.

Mr. Givenchy's body was quite healthy, but considering he had flown over from France specifically to make time, and might have gone directly from the airport to the restaurant, he was somewhat fatigued.

Seeing that the restaurant wall displayed not only the chef's license but also a German nutritionist's certificate, Henry believed the situation he had just described was enough for that chef to judge.

By the time Henry returned to his seat, the two good friends had already started chatting.

Givenchy said with concern, "Didn't you just go through that kind of thing? Why are you heading to Africa again?"

"Because there are people there who need help. What other reason could there be?" Lady He Ben said matter-of-factly.

"So you are leaving tomorrow? Not resting for a few more days? I thought I, who serves as a designer and concurrently as the group's creative director, was busy enough. I didn't expect you, who has retired from the screen, to have a schedule even more frantic than mine. How long has it been since you returned to your home in Switzerland to rest properly?"

"As long as there is life, there is struggle. My time is becoming less and less, yet the things I need to do remain just as many. I will eventually welcome that moment to rest properly, but before that, I hope to do more for this world and leave behind more goodness."

"Oh, Audrey. Your achievements are far greater than mine. Even so, do you greedily feel it is not enough?"

Two people of a certain age had long passed the stage of wanting to create achievements, and were now in the stage of contemplating what they could leave behind. But the mention of that taboo word inevitably made the atmosphere grow heavy.

Lady He Ben's personality was much more positive. He quickly jumped out of that topic which might have slipped into a deep abyss, patted Henry's shoulder who had just returned to his seat, and said, "Do you know the story of how Miss and I met?"

For such a teasing remark, if Henry were facing anyone else, he would probably have retorted immediately. But Givenchy cooperatively shook his head and said, "I don't know. Is it an interesting experience?"

"He was introduced to me by Katharine." Lady He Ben said with ill intent.

"Katharine!" Mentioning another mutual friend, Givenchy said, "Is he doing well now?"

"Don't worry. Katharine is much stronger than me. Interestingly, Katharine told me that when this child first met her, he said, 'Oh, it's this Lady He Ben.'" Lady He Ben made a disappointed expression, vivid and lifelike.

Sure enough, bringing up that matter again, Henry covered his face and smiled bitterly.

This tycoon, Givenchy, wore an expression of being unable to laugh or cry, because he too had once been the protagonist who said such things.

After holding it in for a while, he looked at Henry and asked in a bad mood, "Really?"

Putting down the hand that covered his face, Henry helplessly replied, "Yes, Mr. I met a friend I wasn't very close to in Los Angeles, who heard from somewhere that I admired Lady He Ben.

"So he used an invitation to a private dinner with Lady He Ben to lure me into a trap. I was momentarily swept off my feet by joy, forgetting that there are actually two Lady He Bens in Hollywood.

"So I displayed a somewhat impolite attitude in front of the other one. My nasal bone almost had to go to the hospital for repair, and it was the kind of situation where even if I got beaten crooked, I wouldn't have the face to sue."

Knowing the cause and effect, Givenchy chuckled and said, "Oh, in that case, I am much luckier. At least the person I made a mistake with wouldn't help me set my bones."

Katharine He Ben punching Howard Stark's nose crooked was a long-standing beautiful tale in Hollywood. What the soldiers of the Allied powers in World War II failed to do, the Misses of Hollywood achieved.

Everyone knew this story was true, but no photos remained; except for the parties involved, no one knew the cause and effect. So to this day, whenever reporters encounter either of these two, they still like to ask this question.

In short, the two male protagonists who suffered the same embarrassment somehow felt a sense of shared understanding. As if they were comrades who had once crouched in the same trench.

Givenchy also understood why Lady He Ben wanted to introduce this little assistant to him. It turned out it was just to mock that little misunderstanding at their first meeting again.

The malicious fun of the two Lady He Bens always became highly unified at certain times. Making this group of big men unable to get angry at all.

For men to get close, it is much simpler than for women. With a shared common point as a bond, Givenchy also became slightly interested in Lady He Ben's little assistant.

Looking at this young man wearing a cheap suit—in the eyes of this fashion tycoon, any suit not handmade and custom-made was a cheap item. Although this Armani set on his body was already an expenditure for clothing beyond Henry's expectations—he asked curiously:

"I know many people have unrealistic delusions about celebrities and stars they cannot usually contact and can only learn about through various newspapers and media. As if these people are all perfect beings.

"Once they get to contact them personally, most people will feel disappointed, or even angry because we differ from their imagination. What about you, child? After becoming Lady He Ben's assistant, what thoughts do you have?"

This question was very tricky; Henry didn't even know if this fashion tycoon was posing a difficult problem to eliminate men around his woman.

But Lady He Ben was equally interested in this question, opening her large eyes to look at Henry, as if they would turn into a death stare at any moment.

(End of this chapter)