Chapter 43 - You Look Like a Friend of Mine

Shao Boqing’s words were obviously exaggerated, but Chairman Xue nodded in earnest. “Yes, yes, you bet. I was also saying that I must be too lucky to have President Gu here! Your presence graces the dinner!”

Manager Fang hurriedly went up to welcome Shao Boqing over to the table and said smilingly, “General Manager Shao, your presence graces the dinner as well!”

Shao Boqing blinked his eyes and winked at Manager Fang. “You’re really very polite, Manager Fang. With President Gu being here, I am overshadowed, although my handsome face does grace the dinner.”

Everyone burst into laughter. Chairman Xue said, “General Manager Shao, they all say that you are extremely humorous. Now I know it’s true!”

Gu Nianbin smiled and said slowly, “If there weren’t any beauties here today, General Manager Shao would probably be less humorous.”

Upon hearing this, everyone laughed again. Shao Boqing remained calm and continued, “How can there be no beauties where I go? President Gu, it’s rare to see you’re humorous. Was it also because the presence of beauties?”

Gu Nianbin was never a match for Shao Boqing in arguing. So he did not respond to Shao Boqing anymore.

With Shao Boqing being present, and Manager Fang and Boss Ma were also great jokers, plus the considerate Nina, the private room was filled with laughter soon and the atmosphere was quite lively.

At this time, a clerk came in from outside. The moment the door was opened, a girl appeared at the door and looked inside. When she saw Gu Nianbin, she smiled and waved her hand at him. Apparently, they knew each other. Seeing this, Shao Boqing had a flash of wit in his heart and hurried to the door. He made a gesture of invitation. “You must be President Gu’s friend, right? Come in, come in.”

The girl who stood at the door was Xia Xiaowan. She also had a social engagement in another private room nearby today. Just now, when the door opened, she glanced inside by chance and saw Gu Nianbin. When Shao Boqing came to invite her in, she declined him reservedly, “No, thank you. I just happened to pass by.”

“What a coincidence! That’s why I insist on inviting you in.” Shao Boqing wouldn’t let her go. When did Gu Nianbin get to know such a beautiful girl? He should have no idea at all!

“Come, come, come, let’s cherish this fated meet.” Shao Boqing dragged her to the table and got her to sit down. Without looking at Gu Nianbin, he reached out his hand and introduced himself, “Glad to meet you. I’m Shao Boqing, General Manager of the Gus. You must have heard of me, young miss, may I know your name?”

Xia Xiaowan had never seen such a thick-skinned person. She covered her mouth and laughed happily. Looking at her smile, Shao Boqing shouted, “Ah! Why do I feel you look very familiar? Have we met before?”

Xia Xiaowan shook her head. “I don’t think we’ve met before.”

Shao Boqing examined her up and down and said, “You look like a friend of mine. She…” As he spoke, he suddenly thought of something and turned to look at Gu Nianbin with an expression of disbelief.

“My name is Xia Xiaowan.”

Shao Boqing inhaled a breath of cold air. Sure enough. Shao Boqing then smiled and said, “Miss Xia, nice to meet you.”

Gu Nianbin didn’t say anything in the process. Now he asked Xia Xiaowan, “Why are you here?”

“I was also at a banquet. It’s a few rooms away from yours. I happened to see you when passing by.” Xia Xiaowan smiled gently. “I didn’t scare you, did I?”

“Not at all,” Shao Boqing replied on behalf of Gu Nianbin. He then winked at Boss Ma. Boss Ma got his meaning and quickly stood up to greet Xia Xiaowan. “Come, come, come, Miss Xia. Take a seat here. Have a drink with President Gu.”

Xia Xiaowan declined, “No, thank you. I’m not much of a drinker.”

Seeing that Xia Xiaowan did not drink, Shao Boqing started again, “Miss Xia is in a high position. How is it possible that you do not drink? Come on. Don’t be shy. Have a drink with President Gu.”

Actually, Xia Xiaowan also wanted to sit next to Gu Nianbin. Now that she was dragged by Shao Boqing to the seat next to Gu Nianbin, she did resist any more.

As soon as she sat down, Shao Boqing took his glass and said, “Miss Xia, I’d like to make a toast for our encounter.”

Xia Xiaowan was not shy. She smiled and accepted his toast. Then President Ma and Chairman Xue also toasted. Xia Xiaowan took three toasts in a row. She flushed and her vision got blurry. She threw a casual glance at Gu Nianbin and saw his calm expression. There was a faint smile on his face. It was as if he was watching the fun, or he didn’t care at all.

At this time, Manager Fang also stood up to toast. No one knew the relationship between Xia Xiaowan and Gu Nianbin. But since Shao Boqing had seated her beside Gu Nianbin, then things between them would not be simple. President Gu was not easy to get along with. He sat there, being gentle and refined. But it seemed that there was something that prevented others to get close to him. Xia Xiaowan was different. She was beautiful and easy-going. Her smile was sweet and her words were straightforward. Everyone agreed that it was easier to get along with her than with Gu Nianbin. People began to toast her.

After Manager Fang finished her toast, Nina took up her glass as well at Shao Boqing’s suggestion. Shao Boqing were different from the representatives from Chenguang. He did it on purpose. He only wanted to know figure out the relationship between Gu Nianbin and Xia Xiaowan.

Xia Xiaowan and Nina clinked their glasses and were about to pour the wine into her mouth when Gu Nianbin finally said, “Stop drinking; otherwise you will be drunk.”

Xia Xiaowan paused for a moment, and flushed. She rolled her bright eyes and said in a voice that was much softer than usual, “It’s fine, Nianbin. I will finish this glass and then stop drinking.”

When everyone heard the tone and the address, they sensed something unusual between Gu Nianbin and her. Everyone knew that Gu Nianbin did not talk much about his private life. There was basically no romance in his life. So Xia Xiaowan’s words were somewhat unusual.

Gu Nianbin remained silent and looked at Xia Xiaowan gently as she drank the wine.

Xia Xiaowan raised the glass downwards, indicating that she had drank every bit of the wine. The rest cheered for her immediately. She seemed to be a little complacent, shrugging her nose and turning around to smile at Gu Nianbin. She rubbed her earlobes with both hands, “I heard that people would get sober from drinking if you pinch their earlobes.”

Gu Nianbin looked at her and narrowed his eyes slightly. His gaze is frighteningly cold. He did not say anything, nor did he do anything. But the room suddenly fell into utter silence. It was like the season shifted to winter from midsummer directly. The entire room seemed to be covered with a thick layer of ice. Manager Fang couldn’t help but tremble. Nina also looked at Shao Boqing uneasily. Chairman Xue and President Ma looked at each other in speechless despair. The staff of Chenguang was even more frightened. They didn’t even dare to take a breath. Shao Boqing was the only one who was relaxed and waited for a good show.

Xia Xiaowan also noticed that the atmosphere was not right. She was stunned for a moment and smiled a little unnaturally, “Did I say something wrong?”

Gu Nianbin remained silent, and there was a trace of inquiry in his gaze other than coldness.

After a long silence, Gu Nianbin’s expression finally returned to normal. He even put on a very lively smile and stood up to take Xia Xiaowan over, “Let’s go. You’ve drunk too much, I’ll send you home.”

Xia Xiaowan must have really drunk too much. She stared at him dumbly and allowed him to help her out with a blank expression. The room was extremely quiet, and the sound of a needle falling onto the ground could almost be heard. Everyone quietly watched them leaving.

After a while, Chairman Xue came to his senses and hurried to send him out. He was stopped by Shao Boqing. Chairman Xue was very confused. When Gu Nianbin left, he didn’t even greet him. Was it because they didn’t treat him well or …

“GM Shao, what do you think?”

“It’s fine.” Shao Boqing waved to have him sit down. “President Gu goes to send the beauty home. Let’s continue our party. Chairman Xue, President Ma, Manager Fang, take up your glasses and let’s make a toast.”

Although Chenguang’s boss and higher-ups were still a little uneasy, they all put on smiles as they raised their glasses together, continuing the happy atmosphere.

Gu Nianbin took Xia Xiaowan outside and suddenly asked, “Can you just walk away? Do you want to go back to your friends and excuse yourself?”

Xia Xiaowan smiled mischievously at him and said, “It’s more fun for me to just sneak away like this.” Now, she was no longer the elegant and capable chief financial officer. Instead, she was like a bright girl with a trace of childishness. She was so much tempting.

Gu Nianbin could do nothing about her and said yes finally. Xia Xiaowan immediately took his arm and looked at his eyes, asking a little shameless, “Is that okay? Can I take you by your arm?”

Gu Nianbin nodded, with a gentle smile on his face. At this time, the image of Xia Xiaowan seemed to overlap with a face in his memory. He could not tell if they were two persons or not. Gu Nianbin felt that he was also a little drunk.

Xiaoding opened the door of the car. Gu Nianbin helped Xia Xiaowan into the car. At this moment, Xia Xiaowan got even more drunk. She tilted her head and looked at Gu Nianbin with a giggle. “Nianbin, have anyone ever told that you look handsome?”

Gu Nianbin turned around and looked at her for a while. His tone was gentle, “Yes.”

“Who is it?” Xia Xiaowan asked.

Gu Nianbin smiled but didn’t say anything. He knew who it was, and her timid voice seemed to ring in his ears, “Young Master is so handsome.” However, he could not think too much. He felt uneasy and tried to blur that face as much as possible. It seemed that he was deceiving himself, as if once he thought it through, he would never be able to pull things back to normal …

He got a little confused. Xia Xiaowan’s face kept appearing in his mind, then it was this Xia Xiaowan. They looked similar, smiled similarly and spoke similarly. In the private room just now, Xia Xiaowan’s behavior caused him to recall the past. Xiaowan would do the same when she got drunk, pinching her earlobes and said, “Brother Nianbin, they say that people would get sober from the drunk state when you pinch their earlobes. Is that true?”

He found her funny and gently scratched her nose with his finger, “Honey, what’s the use of doing that?” At that time, he was so close to her. He smelled the faint scent of flowers from her body. Looking at her red lips that were so close to him, he really wanted to kiss her wildly. But in the end, he only scratched her nose.

After a long time, he kept regretting and thought that if he had been more courageous and did something to her, she would probably stay instead of disappearing completely.

Unfortunately, there was no remedy for regret in this world. But now, the same scene happened again. The familiar face in front of him was looking at him with a smile. His eyes were filled with eagerness. He … slowly lowered his head, and whispered in a low voice, “It’s good that you’re back.”

He took the girl in front of him into his arms. At this moment, he really needed something to fill his arms. He needed warmth, comfort and an excuse …