She opened the door and got out of the car. The oncoming sea breeze was salty and humid.
There were two neat rows of streetlights along the road. The sky was an oddly dark blue, like a grape jelly. The scene was so beautiful that it seemed like something out of a movie.
It was October, late at night, and a bit chilly.
Yan Xia spread her arms to embrace the sea breeze. The vast sea seemed to have the power to absorb troubles, and her mood suddenly lightened.
A coat still warm from someone's body was draped over her shoulders. She instinctively reached out to hold it in place. Lu Qianzhou stood beside her, looking calm.
"Put it on. Be careful not to catch a cold," he said.
In the past, Lu Qianzhou was always the one being taken care of. This was the first time Yan Xia thought he had a talent for taking care of others.
Lu Qianzhou smiled. "Shall we take a walk along the beach?"
"Sure."
The two of them slowly walked to the beach. It was so quiet at night that the only sound was the crashing of the waves. They left a long trail of footprints side by side on the beach.
Yan Xia put her hands behind her back and looked ahead. "Did you bring me here to help me relax?"
Lu Qianzhou didn't answer directly. "Aren't you in a bad mood?"
Even just from that phone call, anyone with common sense could tell that she must be feeling very tortured.
Yan Xia smiled. "I thought in Mr. Lu's mind, we were just in a simple cooperative relationship. I didn't expect you to pay such close attention to my mood. But this place is really relaxing. I feel much better. Thank you."
Lu Qianzhou looked at the person who was much shorter than him and patted her head as if comforting a pet.
"It's true that people need a goal to live, but sometimes it's not necessarily a good thing to push yourself too hard. It's just the two of us now. You can be Cheng Yanxia again."
Yan Xia refused. "I'm no longer Cheng Yanxia."
She took a deep breath, bent down, and picked up a seashell from the sand. Suddenly, she smiled from the bottom of her heart.
"In the past, my sister and I loved coming to the beach. My sister said that people with different outlooks on life are not suitable to be friends. For example, if I say the sea is beautiful, but you say people have drowned in it." Her smile faded. "But there were actually many differences in their views between her and Fang Jiangyi. She always changed herself for Fang Jiangyi. She must have long forgotten the words she once said, that people with different outlooks on life are not suitable to be friends."
Lu Qianzhou knew she was thinking of her sister and might be reminded of those sad things again, so he deliberately said in a light - hearted tone,
"So, Miss Cheng should learn from this and find someone with the same outlook on life to fall in love with in the future."
Under the night sky, the handsome man looked at her with a faint smile.
"By the way, there's one more thing I need to trouble Mr. Lu with," Yan Xia said. "I'm not sure if the media secretly took pictures of what happened today. Please help me stop the news from spreading. I managed to gain a bit of favor from Fang Jiangyi by acting pitiful today. He just started to have a better impression of me. I don't want all my efforts to go to waste."
Lu Qianzhou smiled. "So he falls for this kind of thing."
The sand on the beach was soft. Yan Xia suddenly took off her shoes and stepped on the sand barefoot. The waves washed over her feet, bringing a reassuring warmth.
She tiptoed and wrote on the beach with her toes.
However, within a short while, the half - written words were washed away by the sea. After repeating this several times, she finally gave up struggling and whispered eight words.
"May my wishes eventually come true."
Lu Qianzhou glanced at her skirt hem soaked by the sea water. Suddenly, he reached out and pulled her back a few steps to a safe area.
"The Cheng family's mansion has been taken back by the bank, but I asked someone to find something for you as a gift. It's in the coat pocket."
Yan Xia was stunned for a moment and instinctively reached into the pocket. She took out what was inside.
She immediately widened her eyes. It was a photo of her, Cheng Hua, and Cheng Yanxi, a family photo.
Since her phone was taken away after she returned to the country, she had never used anything related to her previous life. Not to mention a family photo that was usually placed at home and not carried around. Seeing the family photo at this moment, her eyes turned red.
Although she wasn't sure how sincere Lu Qianzhou was, at least the touch and the warmth she felt at this moment were real, and so was he in front of her.
She didn't know what to say. "Thank you..."
"You don't need to thank me. I can't give you much else."
He looked at her for a long time. He knew that her joy and gratitude at this moment were genuine. He wondered what her reaction would be if she knew that he was also involved in Wang Keding's matter. The trust they had built up over the past few days would probably collapse.
That night, Yan Xia slept soundly. In her dream, she still remembered that when they parted, Lu Qianzhou patted her head and said,
"Cheng Yanxia, don't underestimate yourself. In my eyes, you're like a priceless treasure."
If it had been in the past, the former Cheng Yanxia might not have felt anything. But now, as a sensitive and love - starved Cheng Yanxia, she truly cherished and was truly touched by everything Lu Qianzhou had given her.
She was more determined in her heart that she must help Lu Qianzhou as soon as possible to complete his plan for the business empire in the capital.
Yan Xia found a photo frame, put the small family photo into it, and placed it on the bedside. Only then did she feel a bit more at ease.
Before going to the company the next day, Yan Xia specifically told Uncle Fu,
"Uncle Fu, please check on the waiter named Xue Kailin at the hotel yesterday. Trace the source of that cup of hot water and find out whose hands it passed through."
She wasn't a fool. Wang Keding wouldn't act without considering the Lu family. To attack her in front of so many people, she must have received permission from someone and had enough confidence to handle the matter perfectly.
So, besides Wang Keding, there must be someone else involved in what happened yesterday.
She went to work as usual, showing no signs of abnormality. In the morning, Fang Jiangyi even came to inquire about her well - being. After making sure that she was okay, he left.
However, during these quiet days, Peng Shiyi didn't stop paying attention to the affairs between Lu Sheng and Fang Jiangyi. She had been learning management work in the company. When she didn't hear any rumors about Lu Sheng and Fang Jiangyi, she didn't bother anymore.
But the news from yesterday really angered her. It was said that Lu Sheng almost was raped and had to jump out of the window to protect her innocence. In the end, it was Fang Jiangyi who saved her.
In the photos, the pictures of Fang Jiangyi holding Lu Sheng, entering the hotel room with her, and staying in the room for a long time were all very clear.
Peng Shiyi was extremely angry. She tore all the photos into pieces and threw them into the trash can.
She hadn't bothered Fang Jiangyi these days, hoping to surprise him when she appeared in front of him again. But she had forgotten that there were always vixens shamelessly throwing themselves at him.
Counting the incident with Manager Yang, she had really suffered losses on both fronts.
"Rape, jumping out of the building!" Peng Shiyi sneered. "It would have been good if at least one of those things had happened. Sure enough, she's a seductress. She can even seduce a man like Director Wang, but then the thing didn't work out. She's so shameless!"