"You remember Yue-Yan right?" his mother asked as she places her hands on Tong Yue-Yan's shoulders. "She just came from City A today, and drop by to give us a visit."
They slightly nodded at each other politely, and suddenly his mother felt the need to blame her husband, Yang Fei-Hung, "This is all your father's fault!"
Mr Yang started to choke a bit on the tea he just took a sip of, he put the cup down on the coffee table and said, "Why is it my fault?"
"If it wasn't because of you, who had to hand everything down to our son. He wouldn't have still been single! He has more time with his personal life. He would have more time to date, and perhaps even get married by now." she said as she glances at Yue-Yan, and continued, "Don't you agree with me, Yue-Yan?"
Tong Yue-Yan understood what Mrs Yang was hinting at, as she complained to her husband in front of Tong Yue-Yan. She couldn't be more evident in her intention. "You should take some work off of Tian-Xu's shoulder, so he could have more time to spend with his personal life. Right? Yue-Yan?"
Tong Yue-Yan sat next to Mrs Yang, and she was blushing a bit as she nodded in agreement, she has a lovely gentle voice, "Yes, it is imperative not to overwork yourself."
"Definitely!" said Mrs Yang, as his mother she often worried about Tian-Xu. "I only wish my son can be married to a girl like you. Who is so beautiful, smart and understanding."?
Tong Yue-Yan blushes became a bit redder as Tian-Xu's mother complimented her.
"Honey, you are going to embarrass the kids." Mr Yang looked at Tong Yue-Yan in embarrassment, "I'm sorry, she just really likes you to be our daughter-in-law."
Tong Yue-Yan face grew hotter as she heard Mr Yang said those words. She was glad that both his parents seem to like her.
She remembered back to when she first met him. It was her 9th birthday, and they came all the way to City A to help celebrate her birthday. Tian-Xu had given her a music box that she still kept to this day.
"Now look at who's embarrassing whom. You are making Yue-Yan's face all red." She said as Tian-Xu's parents teased her about her being their daughter-in-law.
Yang Tian-Xu remained calm. He said in a steady voice, "Mother, father, you two shouldn't have to worry too much, I have my plans for the future, I won't let you worry so much, please just stop teasing and embarrassing Miss Tong."
"Excused them, Miss Tong, for the trouble they bring you, they always liked to joke around." He said politely.
"Its… It's alright…" It was a bit of a shock to her. She is Tong Yue-Yan. Who wouldn't want to marry her? She is pretty, and have a compelling family background. But all of that seems not to affect him.
Of course, a man who is so capable and has a strong background as much as she does doesn't seem to be interested in her, and that man is none other than Yang Tian-Xu. Tong Yue-Yan looks sweet and beautiful as she sat like a proper lady in a beautiful spring blue dress. Her hair is tied up beautifully with curls on the side. She dressed up just for him, yet his eyes don't seem interested, either than a greeting from him that was all the look she got.
"Tian-Xu," His mother called his name, again. "You should show Yue-Yan around tomorrow, she just came by from City A and doesn't know much about our City Y. You should give her a tour."
"I'm sincerely sorry, but I have other plans tomorrow. I have to be at the company. There is this internship interview that I had to attend." It was apparent he prefers working over keeping some rich girl company.
"Just let Assistant Tseng do the interviews, you should take a day off and show Yue-Yan around." His mother demands him to take her out, and not giving him much of an option to opt-out.
Tong Yue-Yan sat there entirely, still unable to believe that his mother technically forced him to take her out. How could she let her pride take it? She quickly spoke up, " Mrs Yang, it's alright if he is too busy, we can reschedule for another day."
"Oh please," she said, as she grabbed her hand gently. "Call me Auntie. Don't you worry, he needed some time off from the company anyway? Right,Tian-Xu?" She glared at him, giving him no choice but to say. "Yes, mother. I will come to pick Miss Tong up tomorrow, and show her around the City."
Tong Yue-Yan stood up and gave a polite bow to him as she said, "Then, I will be in your guidance tomorrow?" She looked up at the antique clock that hangs in the living room and realised it was already 7 PM. "It's getting late, and I should go home now."
"Oh! Tian-Xu, why don't you take Yue-Yan home?" His mother hoped that with this he'd have more time to spend with her, and the two of them could get to know each other more.
"Yes, mother." He replied.
"Oh no, it's okay, President Yang just got home. I wouldn't want to bother him so much. I have my driver waiting outside."
"Oh please, you youngster should stop being so polite to each other, Tian-Xu is only three years older than you. If anything, you can call him by his first name." Then she turned to look at her son, "You too Tian-Xu, stop being so polite and treat each other friendlier."
"Yes, mother." Tian-Xu obediently replied. "Yue-Yan, I will take you to your car then."
"Oh, thank you." She lowers her head as she hides her embarrassed face away from them, She gave a slight bow, as he walked to the front door to open up for her. They walked out the door together.
The moment the door closed both his parent smiled at each other, and thought to themselves, "aren't they such a cute couple?"
Outside in the courtyard, Yang Tian-Xu walked Tong Yue-Yan over to her car, which was parked a pleasant two-minute walk away. The driver sat there waiting patiently. She strolled with him slowly, as she doesn't want to get there too fast. Like a lady as she walked with Yang Tian-Xu beside her, she thought about how handsome he looked, while she sometimes glanced a peek at him now and then, her heart was racing at his presence.
Yang Tian-Xu was utterly calm, unlike the girl beside him. He never looks at her once, and only walked beside her because he did not want to be rude and walk ahead of her. In his mind, he thought, "Man, can't this girl walk any faster?"
It wasn't that Yang Tian-Xu was dense. He knew that his parents, especially his mother. Wanted a chance for them to get close to each other. However, towards Tong Yue-Yan he doesn't seem to have feelings toward her. Tong Yue-Yan might be pretty, and elegant, but she doesn't give him that "my heart just skip a beat" moment.
Then he thought about her, again. The stranger who did make his heart skipped a beat.
"Um, thank you for walking me to my car." Yue-Yan was kind. She gave off a princess like an aura around her.
Tian-Xu snapped back to reality and said, "It's okay, there is no need for the formalities. I will come by to pick you up. What time would be more convenient for you?" he asked, the tone of his voice makes it sounds more like a business transaction than a date.
"Is 10 A.M alright? There's a lot of places I wanted to see." She said trying to make excuses to see him earlier.
"Sure, I will come to pick you up then, I hope you have a safe trip home." He said as he sees her car boarded her car in the back seat and then he closed the door for her. Exactly like how a gentleman would, he raised a hand up as a gesture to see her off, while her driver drove off.
The moment he walked back in the front door, he parents stared at him. He could tell just from their looks what they wanted. "I will come to pick Miss Tong at 10 am tomorrow you can rest assured now."
"Now please excuse me, I would need to finish up some more work tonight so that I could free my schedule for tomorrow." He said as he walked up the stairs.
His parents looked at each other and thought, "Were they successful in pairing them up or unsuccessful? From the tone of his voice. He makes it sound like a business report.
His bedroom is well organised, neat and clean. Of course, being a precious child from an influential family, he doesn't have to do any cleaning. He quickly went to his computer desk, sit down and turn on his laptop. He quickly gets out documents after documents to look at and read through them. Then he gave his assistant a call telling him he would have to take over the interns interview tomorrow as he had other business to attend.
His assistant naturally agreed, and then they hang up the call. Tian-Xu's room was quiet, and the only sound was coming out of his keyboard as he typed out contracts and business plans for future business cooperations with other companies. Everything he needed to complete for tomorrow at work he had it finished in five hours. The time is 12:20 am. He was tired from the none stop work.
He headed towards the shower and started to unbutton his shirts. As he removed his clothing one by one, it revealed his well fit body, it was attractive, and there was not even a tiny scar on him. He is a man with a perfect body, a perfect face, and the ideal family background.
After his shower, he towel dried his hair. He jumped onto the bed and quickly fallen asleep by 1:00 AM.
He had a dream that night; it had been a while since he dreamed about anything. In spite of that, he was destined to see her again. The girl with that sweet smile as she patted the dog's head, that cheerful girl who helped an old lady pushing a cart. Even if she would get dirty, she didn't seem to care.
In the dream he saw her smile, smiling at him. It was a realistic and vivid dream. Almost like he could touch her, hold her, and kiss her.
Kiss her?
Just as if he was about to kiss her his alarmed clock rang. He opened his eyes, and for the first time he had woken up a bit later than usual. Typically, he would be up before the clock hit 8:30 AM. Usually, he would be up at 6 AM. So he could do his morning jog. However, he has no time to jog and quickly hit the shower again to wash off his night sweat.
He dresses up like he usually would for work. Like he was going to a business meeting. Proper, in a blue suit that matches his body and skin tone.
It was already 9 AM as he left his home. His parents were more excited than he was. They reminded him to make sure to treat her for brunch and so on.
Yang Tian-Xu was always obedient, even though he feels like this was more of a business than it was a romantic relationship, he still shows up on time at 9:55 AM.
The Tong Family has a small villa in City Y. The villa has a beautiful garden that was maintained by Yue-Yan's aunt. She took care of the businesses in City Y, while her brother, who is Yue-Yan's father would take care of activities in City A.
By the time he rang the doorbell, she was already ready. He said his greetings to Tong Yue-Yan's aunt when she opened up to greet him. As he waited by his front door, by 10 AM sharp, she ascended down from the stairs and saw him by the door holding a beautiful bouquet of red roses in his hands.
His mother got the roses for him to give to Tong Yue-Yan, and wanted him to treat it like it was a date. However, he quickly clarified it to Yue-Yan. "These are from my mothers. She wanted to make sure I give them to you."
She wasn't sure if she should laugh or cry. "Thanks…" She takes the bouquet out of his hands and gives them to her aunt, "Can you please put these in a vase for me. Thank you, auntie."
Then she turned to him and said, "Shall we go?" He nodded, and they walked out to his car. While they were walking, it was quiet. Just like how it was last night when he walked her to her car. This time, she would be able to spend more time with him. She was very excited and happy!
He opened the passenger's door for her to get in, and closed it. He went to the driver's seat and started the engine without saying much.
It was like an awkward silence; she knew he had no feeling for her. In spite of that, she doesn't want him to hate her. She wanted him to like her too. However, because of her shy personality. She could only make more small talk. "It's a beautiful day today, is it not?"
"Yes, it is." Was his reply to her before going silent again.
She wanted to ask him "Is it that bad for you to spend the day with me?" But it wasn't possible for her to say it. Tong Yue-Yan tried to be as ladylike as possible. The way she walks, the way she smiles as he shows her around town. City Y is a big city, with lots of beautiful sights to see, and so he asked her where she would like to see, and he would take her and so on.
She would name a few places, and he would keep her company, however. All it seems to her was that he was treating her like a tourist, or a guest he must keep company. She asked him, "What about you? Do you have any places you would like to go?"
Just as she asked him, he thought about that coffee place where he had met her. He smiled to himself and said, "Yeah, there's this coffee place I would like to go to."
He parked his car at the same place he parked last time. The two went together for a short walk to the coffee place he mentioned. It took about eighteen minutes to get there by car, and a good two minutes walk. They arrived in and ordered two coffees. He paid, and they sat down at the same place as he did last time, and waited. The coffee came fast, and they sat there.
Tong Yue-Yan prefers tea over coffee, but she still agreed with Yang Tian-Xu, as she wants him to acknowledge her. She looked at him, and he would be looking out the window.
"Is there something interesting outside?" She was curious, and so she looked outside as well. Not noticing anything unusual about the busy street he has gazed fixed.
It was around 12 PM. The time for lunch, the street outside was busy with nearby office towers, people were at lunch. Even his employees are just out on their lunch break. There was also a University nearby. He wonders, maybe she was a University student instead? He can't remember any High School that were nearby. He recalled she was young looking like she was just a 16 or 17-year-old girl. He prayed that her age is older than her looks. If she was 23 that would be the perfect age for him.
Yang Tian-Xu would have his 27th birthday on October 31. A four years age difference should be his limit. He doesn't know how he could take it. Perhaps he'll let it go by seven years apart? No, eight years? No, he'll make it ten. Ten years is the max he could tolerate their age differences.
Yang Tian-Xu kept wondering as he continued his stares out the window. Then he thought? Wait, what if she's older than him? His mind was in a constant train of thoughts about her age. He wonders at himself silently, "Will she come again today? Would I ever meet her again? Damn it all! Where are you?"
With Yang Tian-Xu looking out the window in silence, Tong Yue-Yan just stared outside with him. She was unsure about what he was looking at, and hope she could see what he sees. But in her mind, she thought. "Was she that boring that he needed to entertain himself this way?"
The homeless man was still there, but there was no sign of her, the girl he had a dream about as he slept.
The more Tong Yue-Yan speaks, the more Yang Tian-Xu just nodded as he pays his attention from outside and not on her. She's not stupid, if this were anyone else doing this to her, she would have thrown the drink in her hand in his face and storm out. Also, it wasn't like anyone would ever treat her this way.
His cold attitude towards her was something his mother had warned her about last night before Tian-Xu came home.