Please Confess to Me - Chapter 19
Chapter 19
***
During lunchtime, the Su company received a courier delivery at its front desk, to be sent to the President’s office.
“It’s for Secretary Fang.” A woman at the front desk read the receipt.
“Then send it up quickly.” Any express deliveries sent to the President’s office must be delivered upstairs as soon as it arrives. This was the very first rule any front desk assistant in Su Group must remember.
“Un.” The woman’s co-worker took the delivery and took the elevator to the President’s office on the top floor.
“Express delivery for Secretary Fang.” The young woman was soon knocking at the door to the secretary’s office room.
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Inside, Secretary Fang was drinking his coffee leisurely. It was a rare workday where the Boss wasn’t in the building, nor did he need to follow the Boss somewhere. But he was soon interrupted by the knock on the door. Secretary Fang puts down his coffee, opens the door, and accepts the delivery. With a smile, he thanks the woman. “Sorry for the inconvenience, Xiao Mei.”
(T/N: Xiao Mei is literally little beauty, not really a name. But that’s what was written in the raws, so…)
“Secretary Fang knows my name?” Being one of the company’s top leaders, it was a little exciting to know that he could remember the name of such a low-level receptionist like her.
“Of course I remember. You also helped me last time with another delivery.” Secretary Fang smiled as he glanced at the employee card on Xiao Mei’s chest.
“Ah, that’s just my job.” Xiao Mei’s excited face was beginning to turn red. “That…I won’t continue to bother you, I’ll say my goodbyes now Secretary Fang.”
“Goodbye.” Secretary Fang watched the blushing young woman run away. Then he walked back into the office with the package. As soon as he turned around, he saw the teasing looks of the two other secretaries under him.
“Chief, you’re teasing young girls again.” Lilith, a.k.a Assitant One, commented with a smile.
“Nonsense.” Fang Yu put the box on the table and accepted the box cutter Zhu Lin, a.k.a Assistant Two had offered him. After two or three cuts, the box was opened.
Unwrapping the bubble wrap inside, Fang Yu found a beautiful picture frame inside.
“Eh?” Zhu Lin looked at the photo inside the frame and couldn’t help but wonder: “…This silhouette looks a little like the Boss?”
“Where, where?” Lilith heard Zhu Lin’s words and excitedly looked over. Confirming Zhu Lin’s guess, she said: “That’s the Boss alright.”
“You two have good eyes.” It should be said that when Fang Yu saw the picture, he had to look at it for a long time before he realized that the silhouette was the Boss.
“Then, the other silhouette is our Boss’ wife?” Zhe Lin added.
“So beautiful and romantic.” Lilith was starry-eyed. The silhouettes of the two people kissing, the breeze lifting the willow leaves, the setting sun…it makes anyone seeing the photo drunk.
“What kind of thoughts are you having? The Boss is already married.” Fang Yu teased Lilith.
“What are nonsense are you spouting! I’ve been worked to the bone with all the overtime the Boss is giving me. Any thoughts of love I’ve had for the Boss had long turned into fear.” Lilith said with a sour face. “Fear of doing another overtime.”
“Yes!” Zhu Lin, having experienced the same thing, wholeheartedly agreed with Lilith. “I think the first time I ever saw the Boss was in a financial magazine. I had a massive crush on him from then on, so I tried my best to land a job as the Boss’ secretary or assistant. After five passes, six defeats, and countless battles, I finally lost to the neverending overtime thrust upon me.”
“Your love is so superficial.” Fang Yu couldn’t help but roll his eyes. He took out the picture frame, wiped the dust off the glass with a tissue, and after making sure that everything was perfect, walked off to put the frame in the president’s office.
Meanwhile, Zhu Lin picked up the curious box, wanting to throw it away, but suddenly noticed that there was another, identical picture frame inside. Curious, she took the frame and went to Fang Yu. “Chief, there’s another one?”
“That one’s a spare.” Fang Yu took the picture frame from her. “It’s my secret weapon for when the Boss gets into a bad mood while traveling.”
“Smart!” Lilith and Zhu Lin couldn’t help but praise their superior, giving him two thumbs up.
“By the way…the Boss is always going out during lunchtime these days. What is he doing?” Zhu Lin asked. Their Boss had always been a workaholic. He would even hold meetings during his lunch break. The three of them would usually have to follow, eating in shifts and running around non-stop. So today’s quiet and peaceful lunch was like a dream, a very wonderful dream.
“The Boss…” Fang Yu didn’t know what to say. He valiantly tried to tamp down the laugh that was trying to burst out of him. “He’s preparing for the Star River Charity Banquet that’s happening next week.”
While the three chatted, in a building about ten minutes away from the Su Group, President Su was busy struggling to move along with the music.
“Ah!”
At this shrill cry, Su Hang stiffly stopped moving. “Sorry.”
“No…it’s alright.” As the dance studio assistant, Selena had secretly been glad when she found out she was going to be Mr. Su’s practice partner. After all, who didn’t like having a handsome dance partner. It was just that…her foot was stepped on for more than 30 times already. She was afraid she was going to need to rest her swollen foot for an entire week after this session.
Dance teacher Peter looked down at the feet of all his assistants sadly. His studio had five assistants, and each one of them had tried being partners with Mr. Su. And after taking a class with Mr. Su, each one of them had to rest at home for three whole days. At this rate, he won’t be able to afford his assistants, ah!
“Mr. Su, you slipped again.” Peter’s voice was full of frustration.
Su Hang naturally knew that he made another blunder. Different people had different shortcomings, and for Su Hang, it looks like it’s not being able to remember the damn beat.
“In fact, this kind of ballroom dancing…” Peter suddenly stopped. He didn’t dare continue in fear of hurting Mr. Su’s self-esteem. “Mr. Su, if you really can’t hold the beat, why don’t you just count it yourself? Count in your head, ‘1, 2, 3, 4’.”
Peter has been teaching dance for more than a decade already, and today was definitely the stain of his career.
“Selena, Mr. Su, begin again.” Peter looked at Selena, who was secretly twisting her foot.
“Ah?” Selena’s face turned pale, but she squared her shouldered and stepped forward.
The music started again. Su Hang moved with the steps taught to him, and silently counted the beats in his head: 1, 2, 3…
“Ouch!” After another scream, Selena finally couldn’t stand it. Her voice was trembling as she pleaded: “Mr. Su…how about we take off our shoes before we try again?”
“….” Su Hang pursed his lips, his face dark.
For the past week, Su Hang had been spending an hour of his lunch break to learn how to dance. (As to why he did it during his lunch break, of course it was because he had to go home and have dinner with his wife every night.) But even after a week of constant practice, apart from learning the steps, Su Hang didn’t make a single amount of progress.
Prior to his attempts at learning how to dance, Su Hang had always felt that he was a quick learner. After all, Su Hang had no formal schooling past primary school, and the rest of his knowledge came from self-study. And yet he successfully passed the entrance exams for M University’s Department of Financial Management at the age of eighteen. Su Hang thought he had a high IQ and learning ability. But he can’t even learn how to dance; this was just too…
At the end of today’s lesson, no progress had been made. But Su Hang still had to return to the company and work. Re-tying his tie, he put on his suit jacket and quietly waited for the elevator to descend to his floor.
Ding!
As the elevator doors opened, Su Hang was about to walk in, but stopped in his tracks when he saw the man standing inside.
It was Shang HeXu, heir to an airline business, the owner of the world’s largest supermarket chain, and Shen Xi’s childhood friend.
“Not coming in?” Shang HeXu politely asked.
Su Hang returned to his senses. He pursed his lips and stepped into the elevator. The tense Su Hang stood at the other end of the elevator, away from Shang HeXu and didn’t say a word.
“Mr. Su is here to dance?” Shang HeXu’s gentle voice suddenly sounded in the narrow space.
Su Hang blinked in surprise, then looked at the man on the other end of the elevator.
“When the doors opened, I noticed the sign for a dance studio.” Shang He Xu explained with a smile.
“Mr. Shang, you know who I am?” Su Hang asked.
“Mr. Su is a very talked-about topic recently.” Shang HeXu calmly and gracefully raised his right hand and extended it towards Su Hang. “I’ve heard much about you, but this is the first time we’ve met.”
Su Hang looked at Shang HeXu’s outstretched hand. His gaze was complicated, but Su Hang willingly reached out and shook it. “Nice to meet you.”
Both of the men looked at their clasped hands. Su Hang was afraid he wouldn’t be able to contain his hostility if he kept looking at the man, but Shang HeXu was too busy looking towards Su Hang’s cuffs. Su Hang’s movements had exposed a scar on his wrist.
Shang HeXu’s eyes flashed, and he suddenly said aloud: “I don’t know if Mr. Su is free, but how about having lunch together?”
“Alright.” Su Hang didn’t know why Shang HeXu suddenly invited him for lunch, but he knew that he couldn’t shy away from any sort of provocation from this man.
Shang HeXu chuckled and raised his hand to press the elevator button for the top floor.
The top floor housed a western 3-Star Michelin restaurant that had a quiet and elegant atmosphere. It was obvious that Shang HeXu was a regular here. After they ordered two simple meals, Shang HeXu asked the waiter to bring a bottle of red wine that he had reserved previously.
As Su Hang silently watched the red wine trickle into his glass, his right unconsciously fiddled with his knife and fork.
“Mr. Su, the scar on your wrist…” Shang HeXu suddenly started, being entirely presumptuous. “I saw it while we shook hands and was a little curious about it.”
“An injury from a long time ago.” Su Hang replied off-handedly.
“It looks like a knife wound.” Shang HeXu commented. It caused Su Hang to look at Shang HeXu with puzzled eyes, but Shang HeXu was genially sipping his wine, looking quite carefree. Shang HeXu then continued: “Twelve years ago, in an alley next to QingCheng Middle School.”
Su Hang’s eyebrows furrowed, and he looked at Shang HeXu eyes with some vigilance.
“Now that I think about it, this isn’t really the first time we’ve met.” Shang HeXu’s voice became tinged with nostalgia. “Twelve years ago, I skipped class and secretly smuggled Shen Xi out of school to help her buy a birthday present for her aunt. Unfortunately, I met a few hooligans in an alley beside the school. Shen Xi was with me at the time, so I couldn’t run away, but I wasn’t strong enough to beat the guys either. I didn’t know what to do. But then, a young man with a stick came from the other end of the alley and helped us stop the hooligans.”
“That was you.” Shang HeXu stated. “A month after that incident, I happened to see the boy near the school with that scar on his wrist.”
Hearing Shang HeXu’s words, Su Hang unconsciously looked down at his right hand, which housed a scar and a memory of Shen Xi.
“It was me.” Su Hang looked at Shang HeXu and simply admitted to it.
“So it really was you!” Shang HeXu chuckled, his gaze complicated. “You know, I brought along 3 billion yuan today.”
3 billion? Su Hang, with his eyes fixed on Shang HeXu, suddenly became hostile and tense.
“I wanted to make an opportunity for the two of us to meet. I wanted to try and re-negotiate Shen Xi’s agreement with you.” Shang HeXu explained. “After all, 3 billion yuan is no small amount of money. It probably wasn’t easy for you to raise that sort of money.”
“It’s none of your business!” Su Hang warned.
“This was related to Shen Xi.” Then, Shang HeXu gave Su Hang a wry smile. “But now, I know. You’re never going to re-negotiate with me. Because that so-called girl you’ve been in love with for a long time…is actually Shen Xi.”
“I was late by only a month, ah.” Shang HeXu muttered in a self-deprecating way.
“Even if you were only a minute late, it won’t change the fact that she’s my wife.” So please go away!
The two men’s gazes met and clashed, an unseen flash of lightning crackling between them.
The author has something to say:
Su Hang: Fang Yu, what is this document? Did you forget your brain at home when you came to work today?
Fang Yu calmly hands Su Hang the spare picture frame.
Su Hang: Forget it. Just pay more attention next time.
