The date 8

Xinyi made sure she was done with all her work before preparing for her date so nothing would keep her mind occupied with other things. For once she wanted to actually enjoy going on a date even though she had no hopes of liking the person she went on the date with.

At least she would try not to hold any sentiments against the other gender and just let herself live and be free for one day.

She took her bathe while listening to a romantic song, sipping over a bottle of grape wine as she allowed her body soak in the water while she read a novel.

Then when she began to feel cold, she slipped out of the bath and dried her body.

She took her sweet time dressing up and then applied a little bit of make up to brighten her face.

She felt so relaxed that she knew she would've slept off in the tub earlier if it hadn't been for her grandma that was insistent on the date.

Xinyi knew without a doubt that she would do anything to get her grandmother off her back and if it meant going on one date for that to happen, then so be it.

After letting her hair down, she wondered what she could do to it.

Putting it in curly waves would've been pretty and make her eyes pop but- Xinyi's eyes widened a fraction as she shook her head, mentally chiding herself for letting her thoughts wander this far. She wasn't trying to look pretty for any man.

She wouldn't even care if he thought she looked shabby. Wasn't that the plan anyway?

Rolling her eyes, she combed her hair and oiled her scalp, deciding to leave it as it was. She checked herself in the mirror, smacking her lips together one more time to balance the combination of the light pink and nude lipstick that she'd applied.

She sprayed a bit of her Benjamin Coquito Oud, Dior special and Perfect Entrancement body sprays and picked her purse, finally satisfied with herself. As Xinyi alighted the stairs, she smiled, feeling good about her dressing.

Michelle, her maid was busy staring at her from the dining, a dazed look on her face. Michelle had been working for Xinyi since she left her family house two years ago. The maid could swear she'd never for once seen even a ghost of a smile on her employer's face so whatever happened to have cause her to even crack a bit of a smile should definitely keep happening.

To her Xinyi was a shell of a woman who worked like a robot. She was always out of the house by seven thirty AM and always returned home late. Even on her weekends, she would be on the couch in the living room going through some documents or typing furiously on her laptop.

Michelle shrugged her shoulders, telling herself that if she were the Luo family's child and her family had such a huge company where thousands were working under them, she wouldn't even work for a day in her life.

She would live the life of a princess who'd have everything handed over to her at leisure. Especially if she now happened to be someone like Xinyi that was actually be the only child of her parents.

Michelle sighed as she compared herself to Xinyi. Even though they were the same age, life had smiled upon Xinyi so much that she was born into an elite family. They were grounded in wealth.

She shook off the envious thought, reminding herself that though Xinyi might be cold hearted and didn't speak much, she was actually very nice in her own way. She was respectful and not snobbish like so many rich kids who looked down on those below their ranks or maltreated people.

She also paid her a huge amount of money to do menial jobs and sometimes even added incentives to the already high pay she gave her workers. If anything, Michelle was very grateful that she'd gotten the offer to work for Xinyi.

At least she was getting five times the money she was earning while working as a bar waitress and she was sure that even her manager at the club back then wasn't getting anything close to what she was currently earning.

She shook off the negative thoughts she'd been building in her mind earlier on and looked at the brighter side, knowing if she kept working on fulfilling her own personal goals, she wouldn't remain a mere housemaid for the rest of her life.

With this thought in mind, Michelle retired to the kitchen while once again thinking about the face of her employer and giggling happily to herself.

As Xinyi— who was oblivious to the watchful eyes of her house help — walked out of the door and towards her car, her driver also seemed to have noticed she was in a much livelier mood than usual. He greeted her cheerfully and soon started the car, driving them to the location as she gave him.

When Xinyi got to the hotel, she picked up her black shades from her purse and put it on while the driver went to open the door for her.

And to her surprise, her grandmother was also just stepping out of the restaurant with her phone in hand but on seeing her, she dropped her hand. Xinyi realized her doting grandmother had probably been about to call her just now.

"Look at my lovely granddaughter! You look so pretty in this!" Matron Liu gushed as she watched Xinyi alight the car and pick her coat and purse.

"Grandma. Thank you." Xinyi have her a charming smile and they hugged, the older woman smiling affectionately as the younger woman drew away from the warm embrace with a small smile.

"Oh come here, let me hug you one more time. I haven't seen you in three months!" Madam Liu hugged her granddaughter again while sighing as if in dismay. Any passerby would assume they'd lost contact when in fact, that wasn't the case.

"We still spoke two nights ago, Grandma. And normally we speak twice or even thrice every week." Xinyi rolled her eyes at her grandmother's dramatic act, giggling softly in the process.

"If I didn't call to complain about your younger cousin who went MIA, would you have spoken to me? You keep saying I'm nagging. Just watch, one day I won't be around to nag you anymore."

Xinyi rolled her eyes again. "Yeah yeah. I'm here now."

"Come on now, let's go in. Madam Luo is waiting." She was led in by the elbow into the grand restaurant and then taken to a secluded part of it. Xinyi could already spot the elderly lady sitting alone and reading something on her phone.

Quickly, her eyes did a quick glance around the space as she didn't see any man around them except the waiters.

"What about her grandson?" Xinyi asked.

"He's stuck in traffic and should be here in a few minutes."

"Oh." Xinyi mumbled as they got to the table. She hated tardiness. It was a strict rule known to all her business partners and even her associates in the industry. She had even trashed a proposal once because the partner company representatives came in forty-five minutes late.

She counted that as the first red flag.

If a man got late to a date, he would most likely be a manipulative person, a sly person or a good liar who didn't want to do things in a genuine way but only did them for the sake of it.

The side of her lips tilted into a sneer as she thought about it.

Still, she didn't say any more as they got to the table.

"Yes my dear. Madam Luo, here is my granddaughter who I've been telling you about." Matron Liu crooned, taking a seat and looking up at Xinyi with bright shiny eyes.

"Nice. She looks pretty enough for our Zihan and young too. She has pretty face and it'll assure me enough that she'll bear our Zihan handsome and pretty children. She also has slim but firm legs which signifies she'll be able to successfully carry my grandchildren. Sit over there." She pointed at the chair adjacent them just when Xinyi opened her mouth to say hello.

Xinyi's eyes widened a bit at the elderly lady's rudeness and some of the warmth she felt for the lady whom her grandmother had called a good friend instantly vanished.

How could someone be so confident and cocky at the same time? Just who exactly did she think her and her grandson were?

Another red flag!