Chapter Eight: The Peaceful Neighbourhood.

Behind the chair was a bookshelf where she had arranged all her important documents in files.

In front of the desk were two other chairs then a cabinet by the side. At the other far end of the room was a sofa and a coffee table then a coffee maker on a table.

Her reflection was easily visible on the marble floors of the room.

Hu Sun Meilin,Hu Le Qi and Yan Xinyi were already finished with taking their cups of coffee and were now walking down the streets headed to the Hu mansion.

They had planned on walking there to reduce costs and exercise.

Yan Xinyi was still wondering about their honeymoon for the topic had not been brought up before her in-laws and she would feel very awkward if she were the one who would bring it up.

She admired the neighbourhood very much but as much as they pretended to be a fake couple.

They would still have to go on a honeymoon to convince people they were one.

There was a slight breeze which brought Yan Xinyi back to concentration.

She brushed the hair on her face by her fingers pushing it back behind her left ear.

She now started playing with the pom poms hang on the sleeves of her black knitted cardigan.

Anyways she would begin working for the Hu group some days later and she would still need to find a solution to help the situation at the Yan group which was in crisis.

After they arrived home. Yan Xinyi headed to the kitchen where she picked up a cold drink from the refrigerator. The heat of the scorching sun was too much. Hu Le Qi accompanied her by the living room where they sat on the sofa.

"Have you thought about our honeymoon?" She asked him. He glared at her then back at his laptop. "Not yet." He replied with a thunderous voice. She could see he was not in a mood to chit chat with her.

The front door was opened soflty and a young man in a blue zoot suit came in. He seemed to have been the one who was making Hu Le Qi impatient.

Hu Le Qi led the way as the young man followed him. Yan Xinyi was still peeping behind them and she was them enter the study room once again like last time as if they did not trust her.

"President Hu,the new project was accepted by all the shareholders during the board meeting and is now being implemented." The Assistant Ju Jia Yi said as he handed Hu Le Qi the file he was holding.

"Great news." Hu Le Qi replied seeming pleased with the information.

"Sir,I also found out that Zhao Ting Xin Yan is returning to China from Canada around this week but no exact date has been given. The ZAHE has been recently trying to make a cooperation with the Hu group but it is not yet confirmed what they want exactly." The Assistant Ju Jia Yi concluded.

Hu Le Qi turned around and looked outside the window only to spot Yan Xinyi outside.

She stopped pacing on the porch and checked her phone and pressed her forefinger on the green button and glided her finger across the screen.

Yan Xinyi cupped the phone on her left ear and spoke. After some time of talking,she hang up then was seen returning into the house. Hu Le Qi did not trust her that much.

He still did not know the intentions of her getting married into the Hu family.

"Look up the current state of the Yan group and the Yan family and send it to me as soon as possible including any hidden secrets." He said before he released assistant Ju Jia Yi.

Shuffling of feet was heard as employees stormed into the building. Some getting out of taxis outside and others arrived by foot from the nearby restaurants for the mid-morning break.

On the inside some are carrying takeaway coffee cups while others chit chatting in the hallway.

The serous ones always carrying files of related information which differed according to the department they were assigned.

"Hey did you hear that the Hu and the Yan family arranged a grand wedding for Hu Le Qi and Yan Xinyi?" One of the employees from the sales and marketing department asked his fellow colleagues.

"Yeah,'but why?"

"I also heard that the Yan group was going through a financial crisis so they asked the Hu group to bail them out in exchange for their daughter." Another one joined in.

"What about the CEO not coming to work. What is the reason behind that?"

"I think they are on a honeymoon!"

"No way,their honeymoon has not began yet."

"Huh? Why? It's late already."

"Did you hear that Zhao Ting Xin Yan is coming back from Canada?"

"Yes maybe she was seeking Hu Le Qi's hand in marriage but right now it's too late."

"I pity her,a glamorous model and a businessman,the perfect combination. "

"It seems that Hu Le Qi is like a gold medal that everyone is trying to wine over."

After finishing the sentence they all laughed out loudly. Loud enough that their department manager Zhan Baihu heard them.

As he approached them they all sat down at their respective desks and pretended to be working.

"Since you have so much free time? Why not work overtime today so that you can have enough time to gossip and to work?" He asked but nobody dared to reply to his question.

........

Hu Sun Meilin stepped into the middle of the road and just stood there, the lights stretched in either direction, glowing in the deep chilly air.

She could see her own breath, could feel her own warmth as it formed right there in front of her.

It had just rained earlier that day and now she could see her reflection dancing on the rain puddles.

There were thongs of people standing in groups and others walking past the road in front of her.

Behind her,their house looked dark, faint lingering of she walked a million miles, and she was not even sure if it was really playing or if she was imagining the familiar, the same way a bright light remain when she closed her eyelids, the way she imagined that the sight of an eclipse would burn its image into her eyes forever.

Now something was disturbing her very much.

Yan Xinyi had just married into their family and Zhao Ting Xin Yan had just returned from abroad.

What explanation would Hu Le Qi use to reassure her that he is not really that much into Yan Xinyi and he was just waiting for the right time to divorce her and get back with his childhood sweetheart.

The street was quiet, and seemed like it was dead. The sounds she could hear were the leaves rustling in the breeze, and the pitter-patter sounds of raindrops falling on the ground.

Together, they composed a brilliant song of nature. No din from the high-school students, no irritating noise from the car.

No one, not even a soul dared to make a sound to disturb this moment.

Everything was silent, as if it was not even alive, just like a ghost street that only emerges in the mid-night and would vanish when the first sunlight strikes down from the sky.

The silver moon suspended in the velvet sky, glowing dimly.

Moonlight traveled through the yellowish leaves and sheds on the land.

She could see the obscure, indistinct shadows of the trees were swaying on the floor letting her have the illusion of thousands of devils dancing slyly in the night, planning some evil trick.

The hazy mist surrounds the street making it more mysterious and attractive, and the bright.

This would remind her of her days in school when she would get off from school late because she was studying.

......

Soon his Lamborghini Veneno arrived at his premises. Hu Le Qi was now in his midnight blue suit and he boarded the car.

His assistant, drove him to the Hu Group Headquarters in the capital.

Along the way, he got to see many things including people on the pavements and others crossing the busy roads.

The voices of hawkers could be heard and other hubbubs in the city.

Aromas of different kinds of foods filled the air and sometimes the strong perfumes of ladies.

The Hu Group Headquarters was standing tall at the central business district in the capital.

It's blue glasses shone brightly under the sun and there was some sprinkling noise from the fountain near it.

Hu Le Qi got off the Lamborghini Veneno and walked straight into the building heading directly to the lift and into his office.

He threw the files in his hands on the table and sat down on his black leather swivel chair.

Assistant Ju Jia Yi soon came in with a black marble mug full of coffee which he placed on top of Hu Le Qi's desk and stood aside.