'He knows?'
"I... I'm sorry." She apologized. She didn't see any need to explain herself.
Now, she knew how right Butler Gu was. Mr. Fang was sensitive to scent, but she still had some things to find out about him.
There was no way she could ask him questions directly, leaving her with the best option of approaching Bolin.
Mr. Fang turned towards his car and said while stepping, "Get in!"
'Huh? He's letting me join him on the ride?'
Zhang Liling was confused and remained standing there. It was the gaze from the bodyguard that reminded her that she needed to get into the car.
She hurried toward the car and made her way to the other door of the passenger seat. She already saw the bodyguard getting into the front passenger seat.
As soon as she opened the car door and helped herself in, her scent wafted into Mr. Fang's nostrils. He glanced at her with a frown.
He was annoyed about his servants misbehaving with their perfumes that day. He didn't even know what he was thinking when he asked her to come join him in the car.
Thankfully, her perfume scent did not affect him that much, it just heightened his sense of smell, and made him aware of it.
Now, he was wondering just how much of her perfume she used that morning.
Zhang Liling felt his gaze on her, and shifted towards the door nervously. She tried to make herself feel small or even invincible, but the sound from her phone, further made her presence known.
She cursed under her breath before taking out her phone from her backpack. She was just grateful that it wasn't a call, or she would have been worried about disrupting Mr. Fang's peace.
Glancing at her phone screen and seeing a text from Tungmei, she stole a glance at the man sitting beside her to see that he was already looking elsewhere. She sighed in relief before sending a response to Tungmei.
'Liling, are you on your way to school now?'
'Yes...'
Next, she out her phone on silence before slipping her phone into her bag pack.
The silence in the car was almost unbearable for her. She didn't realize that she has been holding her breath until the car pulled over at where she could take a cab and ride a bus to school.
As soon as she stepped out the car, she released a deep sigh.
'Oh! Zhang Liling! If you are afraid of being with him in a little compartment, how can you love him fearlessly and attract his attention?'
Maybe the guilt of forcefully kissing him while drunk, just like he told her, made her still feel guilty.
Remembering about his sensitivity with scents, she picked up her phone from her bag, and found Bolin's contact while waiting for a cab.
She would prefer a cab to a bus, and luckily, she was able to flag one down just as she pressed the dial button beside Bolin's contact.
Giving her destination to the driver, she climbed in and responded to Bolin's greeting.
"Hell, Miss Zhang! How can I help you?"
Boling had just parked his car at the underground parking lot when Zhang Liling's call him. While taking out his workbag, stepping out of the car, closing his car door and trying to lock his car, he answered her call.
Zhang Liling who was at the other end, listened attentively and heard all those movements and noise.
Not wanting to waste his time, she said to him, "Is Mr. Sensitive to scents?"
Because she was in a public ride, she didn't want to mention Mr. Fang's name and only addressed him as, 'Mr.'
Bolin understood when he heard the way she addressed him, and from the sound of cars, he guessed that she was on the road.
"Yes, he is. Did you cause trouble again?" Bolin asked as he headed for the elevator.
He couldn't think of any other reason she called. She was known for calling him when she was in trouble.
"Well, I almost. I neglected one of the rules by wearing more shots than usual, and he noticed." Zhang Liling replied.
"Did he scold you?" Bolin went on to ask as he pressed on the elevator doors for it open, before stepping inside.
Thinking back to his calm demeanour, she concluded that it can not be taken as scolding her, so she immediately denied it.
Bolin sighed in relief that at least, she was still different to him.
"Then you don't have to worry too much because you are an exception. But that doesn't mean you should neglect the rules and do what you want, you can easily offend Mr. Fang again." Bolin advised.
Zhang was a bit confused. She was an exception? How was she an exception?
Without thinking, she voiced out her thoughts.
Bolin sighed as he got off the elevator after arriving at the floor he requested. "Just know that you are different. Well, you should be tight-lipped regarding Mr. Fang's matters."
When the call ended, Zhang Liling was still lost in thought. 'She was different?'
Thinking back to the conversation she heard with Butler Gu in the morning, of how he was scolded each time for not following the rules when it came to his scent, and how she was never scolded for once, she began to think...
'Was this the meaning of the difference Mr. Bolin mentioned?'
Was this the reason she was never scolded because he could tolerate her scent?
Thinking that she was somehow exclusively special to Mr. Fang, a smile like the daisies, bloomed on her face.
After now, she was going to keep watch on Mr. Fang's actions and reactions to what Bolin said, while making sure not to drive him to anger.
Zhang Liling being keen about her thoughts, actually went on to carry out the tests, and deicovered something.
Whether she uses perfume or not, Mr. Fang doesn't get irritated with her scent. As along as she didn't smell bad.
Using 3 shots of perfume didn't affect him, but according to Butler Gu whom she confronted again concerning the issue, two and a half shots was all he needed to be irritated.
So, she was truly different, and this is what she came to a conclusion with.
The feeling of being relevant, important and special to the one you love, was truly exceptional.
************************
No matter how much effort Zhang Mingyu tried to put in his studies, he was still frustrated, and couldn't make any progress.
It was too late to try to become better because they were already rounding off the last lectures before their final exams.
The frustration at not making any progress and struggling with his studies, coupled with the realization of maybe not being able to make good results, forced him to see for his mother's help as usual.
He asked for her to help him with his academics, as she has always been the one to pull a few strings for him.
Zhang Mingyu didn't want to ask for her help since he and Zhang Xiaoling has been ignoring her, but he was left with no choice.
Fortunately, she didn't make jest of him.
"Give me the list of all your courses for this semester, and the professors handling them." Shi Wenqian said with a calm gaze.
"I don't need help with all of them, just a few. There are still those that I am very foot at." Zhang Mingyu replied.
He didn't want to be looked down on for not being good at anything, hence his statement.
Shi Wenqian has been in his shoes, and moreso, she could read him like an open book. Still, she didn't point anything out.
She adjusted herself on the couch. "If you want a good clean up, then you should do as I have asked. Learn this, when asking for help from someone who is willing, make sure to use their full potential for your own benefit."
Zhang Mingyu nodded and left without another word.
Zhang Xiaoling who was listening to their conversation from a corner, sniggered.
Se didn't blame Zhang Mingyu from seeking help when she needed it, especially when he was in that current predicament.
Since their father wanted to take away the position he promised him, then it wasn't wrong to seek help even from those he didn't want to ha e anything to do with.
Since his mother was going to help, a burden was lifted off his shoulders.
As soon as he got into his bedroom, he went to his desk to make the list his mother requested, before going back to the living room to hand it to her.
Shi Wenqian glanced at the list before asking him to leave.
***********************
"...Tungmei, you must understand what I'm saying. You must study hard this period because of your scores. Only good scored can get you into the companies owned by the big men in S City."
Tungmei has been on a 15 minute long call with her father, and she was getting tired with it. She wished she could stop him from nagging.
Tungmei's father continued with his endless nagging and advice, not caring if she was paying attention or not.
"Know that if you fail to get into any of this Top companies, I will no longer support you. And you can't come back to live off me! You need to work in a big company to earn high wages to help me support your brother through school, and the family!"
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