He Grabbed Her By the Chin

Su Xiqin rushed towards Yun Tang's customer services area within ten minutes, and she saw Tang Xi kneeling down to her son's eye level and asking him questions. Her anxious emotions immediately dissipated but were quickly replaced by anger. Mo Jintian was looking down at the floor but secretly glancing at her, and she grabbed him over and said furiously, "Mo Jintian, didn't I tell you to wait here for Auntie Xi? Why did you run around?"

Seeing how angry Su Xiqin was, Tang Xi immediately chimed in, "The little boy got a passerby's shoes dirty, so he went to wash that person's shoes."

Su Xiqin didn't know how to respond. Why did my son go wash someone else's shoes?

"No. He didn't make me wash it," Mo Jintian's eyes widened as he looked at his mom, blinking and pleading for forgiveness.

Su Xiqin obviously couldn't stay mad at him anymore with his puppy eyes staring at her. She flicked his forehead and said, "Don't ever run around like that again, okay?"

Little Milk Bun covered his forehead with his chubby hands and mumbled, "It hurts."

"Pain will allow you to remember not to run around like that."

"I told you I didn't run around. You always told me to be responsible and not shirk responsibility. I made someone's shoes dirty, so I must hold myself responsible and clean them."

Su Xiqin didn't know how to respond to her son upon hearing that.

"Okay. It's good that you're safe. What kind of *sshole would make a child wash his shoes? What kind of person is that?" Tang Xi, who was on the side, suddenly started to cuss the other party.

Little Milk Bun looked up and said, "He didn't make me do it in the end."

"Okay, but that doesn't really change anything."

Su Xiqin was finally able to let out a sigh of relief after the scare of having lost her son. When she heard her son was missing, her heart immediately skipped a beat. The only thought in her mind was praying that her son was alright. When she found him, she was too happy and thankful to scold him.

… 

Su Xiqin didn't immediately go back to the suite after finding her son. She didn't like being the background at some dinner party to entertain men. Instead, she got a private room so that she could have dinner with Tang Xi and Mo Jintian.

She timed it perfectly so that when she returned to the luxury suite, there was only Bai Yansen at the dining table.

"I'm so sorry, Mr. Bai. It took a while to find my son," Su Xiqin said.

Bai Yansen glanced at Su Xiqin, and that look seemed to be able to read into her thoughts so she was startled by him for a second.

"Have a seat," he said calmly as he looked away from her.

Su Xiqin became nervous when faced with a mature businessman like Bai Yansen, she couldn't read Bai Yansen's facial expression and deep gaze at all.

She politely said, "Mr. Bai, enjoy your meal first. I will wait till you finish your meal before we discuss the design draft."

"Are you going to stand here and watch me eat?" Bai Yansen put down his silver chopsticks and said in an unwavering tone.

Su Xiqin's delicately small face froze briefly upon hearing Bai Yansen's words. She looked at Bai Yansen's serious face and couldn't read his mind. Is he asking me to sit down and eat with him?

She had heard some rumors about Bai Yansen. He was a ruthless man but rarely did he have rumors regarding his romantic relationships. Therefore, she assumed that he probably wasn't asking her to join him.

Bai Yansen calmly looked at her, his eyes were so deep that they seemed like the ocean. Su Xiqin became nervous after being stared at like that, and she carefully responded after a while, "I'll wait for you outside the door."

"We can discuss while we eat," he said calmly and it naturally became a command. 

Su Xiqin knew the stakes for securing the collaboration, so she forced herself to sit down at the dining table, picking a spot not too close to Bai Yansen.

Bai Yansen picked up his chopsticks again and started eating. Meanwhile, Su Xiqin felt incredibly anxious. However, she picked up a pair of chopsticks and pretended to act calm and ate with him.

It was incredibly quiet in the suite. The light from the crystal chandelier hanging from the gothic ceiling poured down, lighting the suite up brightly and glistening golden light onto the two. The atmosphere was elegant and calm, and the food on the dinner table appeared more appetizing just from this lightning. 

Su Xiqin, though, was in no mood for food; she couldn't taste how delicious the food was. After the third bite, she couldn't resist the urge to look at Bai Yansen.

"Mr. Bai, I can tell you about the concept behind my design."

Bai Yansen looked up. He picked up the wet tissue on the side and wiped his lips. "Let's talk after dinner."

Su Xiqin's brow furrowed subconsciously. Didn't he say we would talk while we ate?

Bai Yansen seemed to be able to read her thoughts. With his long and defined fingers, he pointed at the dishes on the table and said, "Hurry and eat."

Su Xiqin's only choice was to nod, and they started eating quietly again. After eating two more bites, she heard him say, "You seem to care about this collaboration a lot."

Su Xiqin paused briefly, but she regained her composure in the next second and said, "This is a big opportunity for the Mo Corporation. It's unquestionable that working with such a big corporation like Zhuosheng would greatly help the Mo Corporation with its future growth. It's only natural that we care a lot about this collaboration opportunity."

While saying that, she thought that Bai Yansen shouldn't have heard the contents of her argument with Mo Xigu that day, right?

Bai Yansen's deep eyes stared at her quietly. "You are very loyal to the Mo Corporation. What will you do if Mo doesn't get this collaboration?"

Su Xiqin wasn't expecting such a question. Her expression tensed up as she thought, Is he telling me that the Mo Corporation didn't get the opportunity? But he didn't even look at the design draft yet...

She stood up the next second and said, "Mr. Bai, you haven't seen my design presentation yet. If you take a look…"

"I saw your design earlier. To be honest, it's good, but it's not just yours that's good," Bai Yansen said calmly.

Su Xiqin froze for a second and said, "Mr. Bai, I know that the designs of the other companies aren't bad, but once you hear me out, you will know why my design is different from the others."

Bai Yansen looked at Su Xiqin with an unclear expression. He asked, "Different from the others?"

Su Xiqin nodded.

"Tell me," Bai Yansen said in a slightly icy tone. Su Xiqin didn't know what suddenly changed his mind, but she rushed to take out her design draft and started to present.

She gave a brief summary. Ten minutes later, she finished talking about the main points of the design.

"You mentioned that you want to showcase the ancient Chinese elements just now, but you used at least three elements. You are trying to show over three elements in one project? Isn't that making the design too complicated?" Bai Yansen refuted her design concept.

"Mr. Bai, it's not like that. This half necklace incorporates foreign techniques into the ancient Chinese style, and it already merged Chinese elements into the design. The three places use different types of gemstones, so there would be different reflecting surfaces creating distinct effects. I blended in some elements of child-like playfulness. On top of elegance, there is a bit of mischievousness."

Bai Yansen took out a cigarette and quietly lit it. Then, he pointed at the table, wanting her to sit down and eat.

Su Xiqin nodded. She picked up her chopsticks and started to slowly eat. She didn't really want to eat, but if she didn't, it would indicate that she didn't respect him.

Smoke slowly came out of the cigarette that Bai Yansen held with his fingers. Through the smoke, he gazed at Su Xiqin with an unreadable expression.

His gaze looked sharp as if it could pierce through Su Xiqin, who was looking down and eating. Su Xiqin could feel the pressure mounting up in her heart.

She couldn't stand this gaze. She swallowed the food in her mouth and looked up, meeting his eyes.

"Mr. Bai, you should eat some too." She desperately tried to initiate a conversation to break the dead silence, but she really couldn't find any topics.

When she finished her sentence, Bai Yansen snuffed the cigarette out in the ashtray. With his slender fingers, he suddenly held onto Su Xiqin's chin and leaned in.