“Ah Nan!” “Chang Ge!” Many people downstairs were calling.
Li Xinyuan walked out of the room and saw Li Yunmo standing there, along with five or six other boys and girls. Thanks to the homework she had just done, Li Xinyuan recognized them all as Zhang Yanan's classmates, and she could vaguely match their names. As for the stunning girl standing next to Li Yunmo... Li Xinyuan's heart skipped a beat.
It was his (her) girlfriend, Cheng Ruiyan.
Li Xinyuan hesitated for a moment before walking downstairs. By the time she reached them, she had adjusted her mindset. She looked at them with a calm expression and remained silent.
Cheng Ruiyan walked over naturally and hooked her arm around his. Li Xinyuan stiffened slightly, politely smiling at her.
But the rare sweet smile from her boyfriend sent a shiver down Cheng Ruiyan's spine. She held onto him tighter, resting her head against his.
Li Xinyuan: "..."
Did Zhang Yanan's girlfriend like hanging onto him? Oh well, she was dedicated, so she endured.
A boy said, "Let's go, Chang Ge, we've been waiting for you."
Li Xinyuan casually asked, "Where are we going?"
Everyone looked at him.
"To celebrate Ruiyan's birthday. You didn't forget, did you?"
Li Xinyuan immediately retorted, "How could I forget?" Then she turned to Cheng Ruiyan teasingly, "Just kidding, didn't mean to tease you. Are you mad?"
Cheng Ruiyan, however, seemed a bit dazed.
Today's Ah Nan was so gentle and tender, with none of the cold and aloof aura from before!
"Hmph..." She cutely turned her head to the side, "Let's see how you behave today."
Such a simple gesture, but Cheng Ruiyan made it lively and vibrant. Li Xinyuan touched her nose, feeling a bit embarrassed. She thought to herself, "Playing hard to get, huh? Zhang Yanan, you're quite the charmer."
Outside, they went to admire Zhang Yanan's new car first. When Cheng Ruiyan saw the Ferrari, her heart skipped a beat. Naturally, she assumed she would be riding in the Ferrari with Zhang Yanan, no need to even say it out loud, right?
Suppressing her excitement, she heard her boyfriend say, "Li Yunmo, my head still hurts a bit today, can you drive?"
Cheng Ruiyan: "..."
Although Li Yunmo had some feelings for Cheng Ruiyan, he had a bit of feelings for many beautiful girls. So he didn't notice Cheng Ruiyan's disappointment at all. He happily replied, "Of course! Who else could it be?" With that, he quickly opened the car door and hopped in, bragging to others, "Yesterday, Chang Ge let me have her for the first time. Me and Chang Ge, who's closer?"
Li Xinyuan pulled her hand out of Cheng Ruiyan's embrace, quickly got into the car, and finally felt relieved.
The others also arrived by car. Cheng Ruiyan watched her boyfriend buckle up immediately after getting in the car, then smiled and waved at her like a waving cat. Cheng Ruiyan didn't know whether to be angry at his lack of understanding or to love him for his adorable side. She bit her lip and got into another car as if nothing had happened.
"I have a question for you," Li Xinyuan asked Li Yunmo, "Should I prepare another birthday gift for Cheng Ruiyan?"
There was intention behind this question. If Zhang Yanan had already prepared a gift and Li Yunmo happened to know about it, Li Xinyuan could explain that she meant "another" to ensure the original gift was substantial enough and discreetly find out what the original gift was. If Li Yunmo didn't know, then she could prepare an additional gift.
She thought to herself, "Zhang Yanan, let's see who's the best boyfriend."
Li Yunmo glanced at her oddly, "Aren't you always annoyed about buying these things? We agreed that you'd foot the bill for all expenses today, isn't that enough? It's worth several tens of thousands."
Li Xinyuan: "...Fine!"
She remembered then. There was a text message on her phone, confirming a reservation at a top-notch entertainment club.
The club was located in the city center, a three-story standalone European-style building, elegant and white. At the entrance was a huge relief of Greek gods, exuding luxury.
As they walked into the sparkling lobby, a woman dressed as the lobby manager was escorting a young man downstairs. When the man saw them, he came over.
Li Yunmo called out, "Brother Xu Yi."
Li Xinyuan felt the man looked somewhat familiar but couldn't recall where she had seen him. Then it dawned on her, a name popped into her head: Xu Yi, the assistant of the richest man's father. The reservation confirmation text message had also been sent by Xu Yi.
Li Xinyuan also called out, "Brother Xu Yi."
"Ah Nan." Xu Yi smiled at Li Xinyuan. He was about 1.80 meters tall, dressed in a neat black suit, slim and fair-skinned, with a pair of thin-framed glasses. He said, "I've checked the private room, everything is set up. You can order whatever food and drinks you like, and the cake will be delivered in an hour, a Black Swan cake. The company isn't far from here, so feel free to call me if you need anything."
Li Xinyuan understood then. So Zhang Yanan had been ordering his father's assistant around as if he were his own assistant. But in family businesses, it was quite common. After all, Zhang Yanan was the future boss.
Li Xinyuan replied, "Okay, thank you, Brother Xu Yi, for your hard work."
Xu Yi glanced at her a few more times, smiled slightly, and walked away. He had a completely different aura from these college students, refined, mature, and elegant.
Cheng Ruiyan nudged her boyfriend's arm, "Who is he?"
"He's my dad's assistant."
Cheng Ruiyan's romantic teenage heart was bursting with excitement. The assistant to the big boss, and he was so attentive to him. No, he was so attentive to her, the future princess.
The private room could accommodate up to twenty people, with karaoke, a pool table, card games, darts... Everywhere, there were pink balloons and decorations for the birthday celebration, and a whole wall adorned with dazzling crystal lights and a circle of red roses. The air was filled with the scent of money. Everyone admired it, and Cheng Ruiyan blushed, gazing at Li Xinyuan with even more affectionate eyes.
Li Xinyuan, however, didn't pay attention. She was just thinking that Xu Yi was indeed good at handling things, no wonder he could be the chief assistant.
Li Xinyuan had never been a chief assistant, but she had seen them before. They anticipated the boss's thoughts and reacted swiftly to his needs. Sometimes, they even took care of things that couldn't be brought up to the table for the boss. Otherwise, most
chief assistants would be promoted to a real position of power in three to five years, becoming prominent figures in the company or department.
It was clear that Xu Yi was trying to please Zhang Yanan. Could she use this person in the future? His connections were definitely more extensive than a college student like Zhang Yanan.
We'll see.
The atmosphere quickly livened up, and Cheng Ruiyan, as expected of the campus belle, sang beautifully. After her song ended, everyone cheered and urged Li Xinyuan to sing with her. Li Xinyuan refused several times; she was tone-deaf since childhood and had no idea what kind of songs Zhang Yanan sang. She absolutely couldn't expose herself, so she reluctantly drank to make up for it.
Unknowingly, she had drunk seven or eight glasses of beer and felt her head getting heavy as she leaned against the sofa.
After a while, the waiters pushed the cake in.
Perhaps because of Xu Yi's early instructions, the waiters were great at setting the mood. They sang and wished Cheng Ruiyan a happy birthday, pulling Li Xinyuan and Cheng Ruiyan to stand in front of the cake.