A mild tone of chilliness set within Kang Yuze's eyes as he mentioned her name. That reflected in his demeanor too which Shui caught. But she wondered whether to pry or not. Curiosity was bugging her, but she hardly knew the man.
"I never heard of the Ren family though…" she mumbled.
Kang Yuze read the questions in her mind and smiled. "They have a medium scale business, which is growing quite well. Since we felt potential in them, we reached out to them for one of our projects. That's how I met her father, Ren Yong. Through him, I met his daughters. Ren Alix and her sister. After then…"
The strain and distaste in his countenance was evident enough to highlight that whatever happened next had been bothersome for him, which he wasn't comfortable sharing.
Shui said, "It's alright. You don't have to say anything further if you are not comfortable. I was only curious because the atmosphere at the table was quite nice but then outside…"
"Ah well that's sort of a long story," his calm gaze cracked with a hint of displeasure. "Or to make it short, Alix used my sister to follow me here in Guangzhou. My sister, Xue, insisted on coming here with me and then I saw Alix yesterday. I thought it was a coincidence but it wasn't. It irked me because I felt my sister's kindness was being used, which doesn't sit well with me," his expression hardened.
Her eyes widened. "Then how come you spoke so decently with her yesterday?"
"We were already inside and had ordered food. When I talked to Alix, I felt that something was wrong and then she spilled it out when I egged her on. I didn't react back then because I didn't want to create a scene. And let's say that…Alix can get quite stubborn and impulsive. She would have made a fool out of herself in front of everybody. We are exes now, but I still don't want her to become the target of public's mockery. You know how a crowd can get when they smell drama."
"You are very thoughtful…" It genuinely slipped out of her tongue.
I don't know if I would have been that patient with someone like that…
The door opened and Jin then stepped in, narrowing his eyes at Kang Yuze.
"Nice to meet you, Liu Jin," Kang Yuze offered him a pleasant, welcoming smile.
"...Hm. Same here."
He glanced at Shui who seemed to have been talking to Kang Yuze before he had come in. He took a seat beside her, staring at her intently.
"What?" Shui frowned, confused.
"Nothing."
"There is definitely something."
He threw a glare at her and then tore his gaze away a moment later.
Kang Yuze blinked once and lifted his lips into a very light smile. "We were just casually chatting."
"I didn't ask."
"Not every question is asked out aloud."
He squinted his eyes, making Shui hold in a silent chuckle. Jin was being like an open book where he didn't even had to articulate his thoughts. His bitter gaze and sour expression was more than enough to let his unsaid questions seep into the air.
Jin immediately jerked his head towards Shui, but she had brought back her unaffected, plain expression back. He couldn't really accuse her of laughing behind his back.
The rest of involved parties for this formal get-together arrived within time as well and soon the meeting started. The conference in itself wasn't going to be lengthy or extensive and after three hours, it came to an end.
Jin heaved a big sigh of relief. The source reason for coming to this trip had come to an end and he could finally return to Beijing where he could keep his distance from Shui.
Kang Yuze offered Shui a handshake. "You did well," he sincerely praised her.
"Really?" Shui asked with uncertainty, "I was slightly nervous though."
"Then you did double well because if you were nervous then that didn't show in your voice and posture at all. Well done," he smiled.
She beamed with the compliment. "Thank you!"
She then turned to her side, throwing her pointed tone at a certain someone. "And this is how you appreciate someone."
"..."
Jin looked up, twitching his brow. "What do you mean?"
"Appreciation. Which I doubt if the word exists in your library."
His gaze darkened. "I was confident that we will do a good job. We had done our part of preparation very well."
"It is still a different feeling at show time. A nice compliment goes a long way."
Jin forced a smile on his lips. "My apologies, Miss. Han for being so slow, insensitive and narrow-minded."
The annoyance began to twist his expression. It wasn't that he hadn't thought of saying some nice, appreciative words to Shui, but Kang Yuze beat him to it by a second earlier. The feeling of being a second late frustrated the hell out of him. For some reason, he felt he lost to Kang Yuze.
Shui could kind of read what was going through his mind, and she shook her head, helpless, "So petty," she whispered under her breath.
Jin sprung up on his feet, glaring at her for the hundredth time probably. "Well nobody is asking you to like this petty man, now is anyone?"
"..."
Kang Yuze let out a soft cough.
"Jin, wait! Where are you going?" She rushed behind him, who was about to leave the conference room.
He smiled at her. "You are free to bask in his compliments as much as you like and what more? Even go out for lunch with him because clearly, I will be eating alone!"
Shui helplessly laughed, and she felt like pinching his cheeks. "Don't worry. My day won't be complete without dragging you for lunch and bothering you the whole time~"
"No need!"
He opened the door with the weight of his frustration and blindly collided into a person who was coming inside.
"Ouch!"
Kang Yuze craned his neck and slightly widened his eyes. "Xue! Are you alright?"
"Yeah I am fine Bro…" She sent out a displeased stare in Jin's way. "Be a little careful, you know…"
But instead of an apology, her words were only met with silence. Shui observed Jin, who had suddenly gone pale and frigid.
"Jin?"
But he didn't respond and instead felt difficulty finding his breaths as more time passed.
Kang Yuze stepped out as well and patted his sister's head with concern. "Good that you are unhurt."
He looked at Jin and Shui and smiled. "She is my sister, Kang Xue."
But the name only proved to be haunting to Jin as memories of the past life came flooding in his mind.
Xue...Kang Xue...
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