11 SAPPHIRE

After his grandfather's call, Leng Weilin felt that he just fought a war. He closed his eyes to relax. His mind was full of various thoughts.

His grandparents were desperate to meet his partner. He had no idea why, but an old memory emerged from the depths of his mind. Precisely speaking, a name emerged in his mind.

'Sapphire'

Damn.

A sliver of a memory raced through him. He opened his eyes wide open in shock. His heart pounding wildly in his chest.

Why now? That was an impossible dream. He tried to suppress his feelings.

He pressed a button to call Assistant An inside his office.

Assistant An was busy persuading his future wife outside the office. His coaxing was gradually turning into a kiss. But before it could happen, a bell rang. As soon as assistant An heard his president's call, he ran into the president's office leaving his poor fiancée behind.

Poor future Mrs An felt disheartened seeing her future husband running towards his rumoured lover. She sighed heavily and turned her attention back to the stack of paper on the desk and started flipping through the papers.

Once assistant An entered Leng Weilin's office, the atmosphere was very awkward at first.

But Leng Weilin maintained his nonchalant expression and hurriedly told him, "Cancel my flight tickets".

Assistant An was dumbstruck at first, because he knew how much his boss was anticipating this vacation to meet his grandparents. But soon he regained his composure.

"Ok boss", Assistant An nodded his head understandingly.

Assistant An predicted that this must be the result of his boss's conversation with elder Leng. Recalling that conversation, assistant An shook his head helplessly. His emotions were rather complicated. He didn't know how he would clean up the mess created by elder Leng in his life. His relationship was on the verge of breaking up. All thanks to elder Leng's blabbering mouth.

When assistant An turned to leave, Leng Weilin abruptly said, "Today evening, I am leaving for my farmhouse in the woods. I will be spending my vacation there."

Pausing for a few seconds, Leng Weilin continued concentrating on his documents and without making eye contact with assistant An, "You don't need to come. Just make the arrangements'', He said nonchalantly. But assistant An knew that his boss was embarrassed inside.

Now assistant An was feeling ecstatic after knowing that he could spend his vacation with his sweetheart. He could clear all misunderstandings by this time. He thought to himself, 'what if she gives me a chance to prove my orientation'. He started daydreaming.

Assistant An was absorbed in his daydreams, when he suddenly heard his boss shouting,

"Leave now".

He snapped out of his thoughts and left the office right away, while Leng Weilin could only immerse himself in work so that he could spare his mind from those thoughts which made him helpless and lonely.

….

Back to the present

While speeding the car along a country road, Leng Weilin couldn't help but wonder if his grandparents planned this. They knew very well how much he missed them. But they were using this chance to force him to date someone.

He was an introvert since childhood. Ever since he was young, he had never dated any girl and never had the desire to date. He always met many women at parties and clubs who tried to seduce him or flirt with him. But he never got any interest in any of those women until this day. He was never even comfortable talking to those women. He always felt that women were chatterboxes. To him women were too troublesome to handle.

Even he avoided talking to female staff in his office most of the time. When it was necessary to talk to them, he would use a single or two sentences to convey his word.

Earlier he found it burdensome to deal with his secretaries because they always tried to flirt with him. His current secretary Ms. Chen was earlier working in the finance department. When she got engaged to his assistant, he swapped his previous secretary with Ms Chen, so that he could convey all messages to his assistant who would later pass it to his future better half. Put it differently, his previous secretary got demoted because she tried to seduce him and his current secretary got promoted because she seduced his assistant instead.

So many people around him suspected that he might be bent the other way. But he knew that it was not true. It was not only because he never felt any attraction to any man but also because …. because of ... Sapphire—the only girl he ever fancied. She was also a little chatterbox. But he loved her chattering. Her every word was filled with positive energy.

Five years ago, Sapphire had entered his monotonous life and his thoughts like a breath of fresh air. Later, she just disappeared from his life as quickly as she had entered it.

Sapphire was his one and only crush or a passing infatuation, that was all. It was not love.

Leng Weilin didn't want to admit that he loved her. For him, love was a weakness that he refused to succumb to.

But still today he was addicted to thinking about her, her memories constantly caused his mind to wander.

Thinking about Sapphire and all the troubles he faced while dealing with women, Leng Weilin sighed again and again.

His vacation plans were already ruined. Now he would spend his lunar new year alone in his farmhouse located in the woods, away from the hustle and bustle of the city.

After hearing his grandpa's blabbering, he listed out his assistant from this trip. Later seeing his chauffeur's exhausted face, he listed out him too. Now he was all alone. His bodyguards were trailing him behind in another car.