Chapter 552 - Grandpa Lu Wants To Know!
Lu Zihao straightened to his full height and walked using his long legs to reach Long Jinjing’s side in just a few steps.
"Let’s go, CFO Long. Don’t keep my sister waiting."
Long Jinjing pursed her lips, annoyed that the man kept on callingher sister as his sister. But no matter how annoyed she felt, she decided not to say anything. She could sense that the man was vastly different from the straightforward Iris and Sir Lu Jianhong. Lu Zihao was a man whose real depth couldn’t be measured based on his outward devil-may-care persona. She would only lose badly if she decided to pit herself against someone as enigmatic as him.
So she ignored him—or tried to. All of her senses were focused on his presence. She started walking ahead of him, but in just a moment, their positions were reversed. His legs were longer than hers. Now he was walking in front of her while she struggled to keep up with him.
Then she noticed something peculiar. He could’ve already left her behind. However, he was deliberately slowing his pace.
Was the man waiting for her?
"Mr. Lu, there’s no need to wait for me. I can find my own way," she told him.
"Like I told you earlier, a woman shouldn’t walk alone in a dark and empty place like this," he replied without looking back at her. "It would greatly inconvenience my sister if something were to happen to you. Even she wouldn’t be able to quickly find a person to replace you as the CFO on such short notice."
The corners of her mouth turned down. Here she was thinking that the man was finally acting like a gentleman to her, but it turned out that he was just doing it because he wanted to rub his close relationship with HER sister, Iris, to her face.
Later, they returned to the noisy, lively and cheerful grand hall together. Their arrival wasn’t noticed by most of the people but it didn’t escape a certain old man’s sharp hawk eyes.
The two went their separate ways. Long Jinjing headed to where her sister, friends and colleagues were discussing the Orchidia Beauty products with the enthusiastic beauty influencers who attended tonight’s grand launch. Lu Zihao returned to his spot beside Grandpa Lu.
"There you are, Haohao my boy! Where have you been? I want to know! Your beloved grandpa had been so bored waiting and waiting for you! I almost fell asleep!"
"Sorry, Grandpa," Lu Zihao murmured, picking a spring roll from the old man’s plate on the table and tossing it into his mouth. "I had to go out for a bit to listen to my subordinate’s report."
"Well? What’s the report?! I want to know!!!"
Lu Zihao told him about the trespassers his subordinates and Jin Liwei’s men blocked from slipping inside the party.
Grandpa Lu nodded hearing what happened.
"Good job on raising such disciplined subordinates, my boy! Your beloved grandpa is so proud of you! Bahahaha!"
Then the old man "patted" his grandson’s back. The loud thuds sounded disturbing, like some of Lu Zihao’s internal organs might explode from the force.
The surrounding guests looked alarmed and concerned for Lu Zihao. However, when they looked at him, he just continued swiping food from his grandfather’s plate and eating like everything was normal. Seeing his bulky body under his tailored tuxedo suit, the onlookers could only conclude that his muscles were so big and hard that he had become impervious to regular pain. After being assured that he would be okay, they stopped paying attention to the grandfather and grandson.
"By the way, my boy! Your beloved grandpa saw that you returned with Xiulan’s sister. So tell this old man right now! Is she your type? Is she? She is, right? I want to know!!!"
Annoyance flashed in Lu Zihao’s eyes. He didn’t bother replying to the old man—what a hassle. He continued eating instead, taking Grandpa Lu’s plate for himself.
"Why are you not saying anything? Are you feeling shy? Bahahaha! So you rascal still know how to be shy, eh? Bahahaha! Just so you know, your beloved grandpa likes that girl! A little on the quiet side—too quiet for this old man’s taste. Too nice, too. Not like your Little Sister Xiulan who has a sharp, ruthless and merciless tongue beneath that heavenly face. But that Jengjeng girl is—"
Lu Zihao scowled, muttering, "Her name is Jinjing. Long Jinjing."
Grandpa Lu hid a mischievous smile under his perfectly groomed mustache. His sharp eyes had been closely watching his grandson’s expression.
It was regrettable that Iris couldn’t be an official member of his Lu family by becoming his granddaughter-in-law via marriage to his flesh and blood grandson, Lu Zihao. However, Grandpa Lu was still pleased that his other grandson, Jin Liwei, was going to marry the girl.
What pleased Grandpa Lu even more was seeing the unbelievable closeness between Lu Zihao and Iris. There wasn’t anything romantic or sexual about their closeness. It was purely a sibling relationship—a very close one at that, even closer than most real flesh and blood siblings.
In fact, Grandpa Lu was quite taken aback at first upon observing with his own eyes how close the two were. They were like the ideal siblings by how they treated each other. He had never seen his grandson so protective, gentle and loving of a young female to this degree before without seducing said girl. There were also many times that Lu Zihao looked like he wanted to punch his Third Brother in the face because Jin Liwei was acting too perverted—cough cough—"touchy-feely" with Iris.
Although Iris’ name couldn’t be entered in the Lu family registry, Grandpa Lu was still happy about her close sibling bond with his beloved grandson, Lu Zihao. But ever since her entrance to their lives, she had become the old man’s ideal granddaughter. In this aspect, Jin Liwei succeeded in being decisive and taking Iris to be his future wife before other men could have a chance to pursue her. Grandpa Lu couldn’t wait for his beloved grandson, Lu Zihao, to find a wonderful woman like Iris to marry and give him cute great-grandbabies.
The main problem was that even though his grandson had become sensible and responsible ever since he returned to the country, his stubbornness from before didn’t go away. In fact, it became even more extreme. Grandpa Lu had never heard of his grandson hooking up with a woman (or even a man—what? It was possible!) ever since the rascal returned to the country for good.
’Did the bloody accident kill off his libido? What about his sperm? Are they still okay and healthy? Will his little swimmers be able to give this old man great-grandbabies? I want to know! Maybe I should call his doctor in Canada to ask. At this rate, I’ll be dead before this dunderhead marries and makes babies! Hmph! This can’t go on!’
Grandpa Lu leaned towards his grandson who already finished all the food on his plate. He lowered his booming voice, so it wasn’t as loud anymore.
"That Jengjeng girl—"
"Grandpa, her name is Long Jinjing."
The old man’s lips twitched but fortunately he was able to stop himself from laughing in delight. He pretended to wave a dismissive hand, as if he didn’t care about the young woman’s correct name. "As I was saying, that girl has a good head on her shoulders. Not as impressive as your Little Sister Xiulan, of course—"
A faint devilish smile lifted a corner of Lu Zihao’s mouth. "Of course. My little sister is the best. Nobody could come close to her."
’Don’t change the subject, you pinhead! We’re talking about Jengjeng—I mean Jinjing, not Xiulan!’ Grandpa Lu complained in his head but nodded in agreement at his grandson’s words.
"True. Very true! Xiulan my girl is the best! That boy Liwei hit the jackpot by taking her for himself. How about you, Haohao my boy? When will it be your turn? I want to know! This old man isn’t growing any younger, you know!"
Lu Zihao swirled his drink lazily. "Grandpa, if it’s time, it’ll come. If not, then it’s not meant to be."
"Bah! Boring! You sound more like the old man than me! You’re Lu Jianhong’s grandson! Never leave anything to destiny! If you want something, go pursue it and grab it with everything you have! Hmph!"
Grandpa Lu continued to complain, not noticing that his grandson’s eyes darkened when he said that Lu Zihao was "Lu Jianhong’s grandson". Coldness, loneliness, and something unreadable flashed in his grandson’s eyes before it disappeared, replaced by Lu Zihao’s usual devil-may-care expression.
"Grandpa, that woman...Long Jinjing...she is no one to me. Don’t get any ideas," Lu Zihao drawled. Then he stood up. "Excuse me, Grandpa. I’m still hungry. I’ll go get more food."
He already left and headed to the buffet tables before the old man could say anything.
Grandpa Lu watched his grandson "running away" from his interrogation.
"It’s so difficult to read that boy! Hmph! That bloody accident must have messed up his brain so much that he became so different. The very same thing happened to Xiulan my girl, I heard. Perhaps that’s why the two became so close. But at least the changes are positive. He’s also showing incredible leadership—truly my grandson! Bahahaha! Just look at his impressive subordinates!
"But he’s become so secretive! He doesn’t tell his beloved grandpa anything anymore! He always disappears to who knows where and then reappear at random times. Hmph! What he needs is a nice young lady to help him settle down and make him happy, just like how his Third Brother found Xiulan my girl—and most importantly, give me great-grandbabies! This old man wants GREAT-GRANDBABIES!!!!!"
The surrounding guests looked at him as if he had gone crazy, talking to himself and yelling about great-grandbabies. However, they pretended not to hear anything, not wanting to offend Sir Lu Jianhong.
The old man stroked his perfectly groomed mustache and directed his mischievous eyes at Long Jinjing who was greeting some of the guests at a distance.
"Will it be that girl, Jengjeng—I mean Jinjing? Hm? Not bad...not bad at all! Looks like a pushover at first glance but this old man knows that she’s responsible and reliable. She could even stand up to Xiulan whenever my girl displays her hard-headedness!"
He nodded, pleased at Long Jinjing. As Iris’ business mentor, he knew all about Orchidia Beauty’s working environment, including all the key people running it. He knew that Long Jinjing took her job as the company’s CFO very seriously. She wouldn’t budge when it came to protecting Orchidia Beauty’s budget, even against the stubborn and willful Iris who liked to do whatever she wanted.
Long Jinjing was able to calm Iris’ risky attitude towards Orchidia Beauty’s money. Grandpa Lu had a very similar mindset as his student, Iris. Both of them were kind of extreme when it came to handling their finances. Fortunately, Grandpa Lu had his best friend and brother, Jin Liwei’s grandfather back then. The two had opposite personalities and philosophies in business but it was also because of this that they were able to balance each other out and build what was now Jin Corporation, the most successful company in the country.
In the same way, Iris also needed someone to balance her extreme mindset when it came to business. Jin Liwei, who was very similar to his grandfather, could be that person. The only problem was that the man doted on Iris too much—nothing wrong with that. It just made it difficult for him to say no to her.
After observing how the girls were running Orchidia Beauty together, Grandpa Lu concluded that both the level-headed Long Jinjing and the feisty Chen Fei were perfect for balancing Iris’ extremely risky and aggressive business mindset.
The longer Grandpa Lu looked at Long Jinjing, the more pleasing she appeared in his eyes.
"Will she be the one? Will she? I want to know! Let’s see how it’ll play out. Haohao has become so protective of his Little Sister Xiulan that he doesn’t even look at other girls at all! Instead of looking for a nice young lady to marry, he spends all his time bulking up his body and looking scary! Hmph! What is he bulking up for? Does he want to compete in bodybuilding contests? I want to know!"
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