Chapter 35: Chapter 35 Because You Dare to Fight for Me_1
"Ah, it’s still so comfortable in a supercar!" Yang Xinxin sighed, taking a deep breath of the Lycar’s cool air-conditioning. It felt heavenly. In truth, her posture couldn’t be described as sitting. She was hunched over and curled up in the single-seat passenger space, which was anything but comfortable. She looked rather pitiful, like a piece of cargo.
"Zi Mo, this is my high school classmate, Yang Xinxin," Su Xuan said, making a brief introduction. "She just flew in not long ago to visit a sick teacher."
It was a relief that Yang Xinxin was only visiting a teacher and would be leaving soon. Otherwise, this would have been a real headache.
"That’s right! Su Xuan and I were very close back in school. I even wrote him a love letter, you know!" Yang Xinxin deliberately emphasized the love letter, casually shifting her expensive handbag into Su Zimo’s line of sight. "Almost no one writes love letters these days, right? That kind of romance is long gone."
"Mm," Su Zimo replied politely, playing along. "Your words remind me of a poem."
"You know poetry?" Yang Xinxin had no idea who Su Zimo really was.
Su Zimo was the type of woman who preferred to cultivate her soul rather than pursue material possessions. Outside of work, she enjoyed tending to her flowers and plants, writing, reading poetry and literature, and diving into the classics. As for Yang Xinxin’s handbag, while she recognized the brand, she had no clue about its price. She had never once set foot in a luxury goods store, finding the notion of women buying such things rather laughable. It reminded her of certain animals that stuck a few decorative feathers on themselves during courtship rituals.
With that thought, Su Zimo shared a short poem with Yang Xinxin, reciting it slowly:
*The sun used to move slower in the past,*
*Carriages, horses, mail—all were slow.*
*A lifetime was enough to love just one person.*
*The locks back then were beautiful, too,*
*The keys exquisite and full of character.*
*When you locked it,*
*They understood.*
Hearing this, Su Xuan turned his head slightly to glance at Su Zimo. It was one of his favorite poems as well—elegant, concise, and deeply evocative. The final lines, "When you locked it, they understood," struck the softest chord in his heart, making it tremble.
"What a wonderful poem!" Yang Xinxin exclaimed, though it was unclear if she grasped its deeper meaning at all. "Back in high school, I had a diary with a lock! I remember it cost twenty or thirty yuan, which wasn’t cheap back then! A boy even broke the lock once, and I was so upset!"
Just like that, her words, reeking of materialism, shattered the beautiful atmosphere the poem had created. She also failed to realize that Su Zimo had recited the poem not just to acknowledge the romance of her love letter, but also to send a subtle message: Su Xuan’s heart is locked to you. He doesn’t like you, so please stop clinging to him.
Ahem. Su Zimo couldn’t help but bring a small hand to her mouth and let out two light coughs.
"And you are? I don’t know your name yet," Yang Xinxin said, glancing at Su Zimo.
"My name is Su Zimo. I’m a television reporter, and I’m preparing to conduct an exclusive interview with Su Xuan," Su Zimo replied truthfully. She then turned to Su Xuan. "It’s not very convenient to do an interview in the car. Why don’t we find a more suitable place? There’s a nice coffee shop in the mall up ahead. Let’s go there!"
"Alright." Su Xuan was thinking the exact same thing.
A few minutes later, he pulled into the parking lot of a large shopping mall and they entered a coffee shop.
"Su Xuan, shall we begin?" After they sat down, Su Zimo set up her phone to record video. She also placed a voice recorder beside it as an audio backup.
"Sure," Su Xuan nodded.
"Your collar is a bit messy." Noticing this, Su Zimo reached out with a considerate touch and straightened his collar for him.
Sitting beside them, Yang Xinxin saw the gesture and frowned. It was as if someone had laid hands on her treasure.
「 」
The interview officially began, with Su Zimo asking questions from a script she had drafted and Su Xuan answering them earnestly. Yang Xinxin sat nearby, touching up her makeup while she watched. Before long, however, she grew restless. Finding an excuse, she ran off to go shopping in the mall, whose vast array of goods held an irresistible attraction for her.
What she didn’t know was that the moment she left, Su Xuan and Su Zimo exchanged a knowing smile and simultaneously breathed a sigh of relief.
Heh. As if a huge shopping mall wouldn’t be enough to lure her away!
"Su Xuan, I still get scared for you just thinking about that rescue!" With no third party present, Su Zimo suddenly pouted, her expression full of grievance. She placed her impossibly soft hand gently on the back of his. "You mustn’t do anything so dangerous ever again, okay?"
"I was just doing what I could."
"But I still worry about you!"
"Oh, right!" Su Xuan suddenly remembered something. "What strings did you have to pull to get the motorcycle police to clear a path for me? That’s a huge favor. I have to pay you back for it."
PFFT! Su Zimo couldn’t help but laugh. "An elder in my family helped out. It was just a phone call for them, so you don’t need to repay anything. But you—how did you handle Kangnai?"
She had no idea that this family elder had also secretly contacted Kangnai on Su Xuan’s behalf. She knew even less that Su Xuan himself was a shareholder of Kangnai.
Just then, Su Xuan’s phone rang. It was Dean Ma.
"Dean Ma, what is it?" Su Xuan answered.
"Mr. Su, that man who misunderstood you earlier is still kneeling outside the maternity ward and refuses to get up. Should I have security remove him?"
"Don’t bother with him," Su Xuan replied dismissively. "Let him do whatever he wants." With that, he hung up.
Su Zimo stared at Su Xuan, her beautiful eyes blinking in shock. The café was quiet, and she had heard everything clearly. She heard not only Su Xuan address the caller as Dean Ma but also recognized the voice on the other end of the line. She had interviewed him before.
Dean Ma, the man who held so much power at Kangnai, was speaking with the deference of a subordinate, asking for Su Xuan’s opinion. And Su Xuan had spoken to him so casually! The implications were staggering.
Su Zimo articulated each word slowly, "Su Xuan, don’t tell me you’re above Dean Ma... that you’re the boss of Kangnai!"
Realizing he couldn’t hide it any longer, Su Xuan gave a casual wave of his hand. "I’m certainly not the sole owner. I’m just one of the shareholders, and not even the biggest. Fifth, I think."
"From what I know, Kangnai has nearly twenty shareholders. Being the fifth is already incredibly impressive!" Su Zimo took a deep breath. "A hundred-million-yuan supercar, the sole owner of Lycar, the fifth-largest shareholder of Kangnai... Su Xuan, your net worth must be in the tens of billions! You’re really something!"
"I think I have about a billion in my savings account that I still don’t know how to spend," Su Xuan quipped, treating her like an insider.
"Humph!" Su Zimo rolled her eyes at him, then stood up and started walking toward the exit, her steps slightly unsteady.
Fearing she might fall, Su Xuan quickly rushed after her and wrapped an arm around her waist. "What’s wrong?" he asked with concern. "Are you feeling unwell?"
Leaning weakly against him, Su Zimo lifted her gaze, her eyes filled with a piteous look. "You’re just too full of surprises. I can hardly breathe... Can you... can you give me back that kiss from the other night? I didn’t secretly kiss you because you’re so rich! It was because you... you..."
"Because I what?" Su Xuan prompted.
"Because you weren’t afraid to get into a fight at the bar for me!"
"Hahaha!" Su Xuan laughed heartily. He lowered his head, puckered his lips, and pressed them against Su Zimo’s. "There. I’ve returned your kiss."
"You!" Su Zimo clenched her small fist and thumped it playfully on his chest. "You’re impossible!"
If any of Su Zimo’s colleagues had been there to witness this, they would have slapped themselves hard, convinced they were dreaming. The ever-capable her, the ever-aloof her, actually had such a... coy and utterly captivating side?!
An instant later, a charming figure with twin ponytails appeared as if from nowhere. Like a little pixie, she stood before them with her hands clasped behind her back, squinting her bright, beautiful eyes as she asked, "What are you two doing?"