Chapter 15: Chapter 15: Nine Hundred and Ninety-Nine Roses
Saturday morning.
The alarm rang, Yuan Xi, groggy, turned off her phone alarm and was about to get out of bed when a force wrapped around her waist.
Huo Shiyuan said hoarsely, "Isn't today Saturday, our day off? Why are you getting up so early?"
Yuan Xi could no longer remember the last time she truly rested.
This rare Saturday off made Yuan Xi somewhat dazed.
"I forgot," Yuan Xi yawned, "Sorry for waking you up. You go back to sleep."
Huo Shiyuan tightened his hold around Yuan Xi's waist and fell back asleep.
Yuan Xi looked at Huo Shiyuan's sleeping face close to her, her lips slightly curved.
Rather than calling it a drunken mistake a month ago, it was more accurate to say that she had been drawn to his face the first time she saw Huo Shiyuan, which led to a spring night's fling after getting drunk.
Yuan Xi glanced guiltily at the photo of the little girl in blue on the bedside table.
She didn't understand why Huo Shiyuan didn't pursue his childhood sweetheart and chose to marry her instead.
But Yuan Xi thought that even if she was a substitute, she wasn't at a loss.
With Huo Shiyuan's genetics, even if she had a child and he left, she would still benefit.
Even if one day Huo Shiyuan regretted it and chose his childhood sweetheart, at least she would still have their child.
Yuan Xi's phone lit up, showing messages from her best friends' group chat.
Yuanyuan Yuanyuan: @Shi Shishitou, hey big boss, working on Saturday too? Aren't you afraid the workers will rebel and raze your factory?
Shi Shishitou: Shiyi Group is coming to our area to build a high-end resort, so our factory will be relocating after this summer. So, we are working this Saturday [Smiley].
Sui Sui: So, the rumor about relocation is true? I'm becoming a second-generation relocated person, already wealthy and now I've gained three more properties [Heart]. This username really works; I really did get rich!
Yuanyuan Yuanyuan: If changing usernames works, then should I change mine to Daughter of the Richest Man in Jiang City? Will I become the actual rich man's daughter?
Yuanyuan Yuanyuan: I heard that Chu Yan isn't the Daughter of the Richest Man in Jiang City, she was adopted. The Chu Family has a lost daughter; could it be me?
Shi Shishitou: No way, you look exactly like your grandma!
Mi Chen Game Yuan Xi: Actually, I am the lost daughter of the richest Chu Family.
Mi Chen Game Yuan Xi: Are you guys free on the 22nd? The Chu family is planning a banquet for me. If you're free, you could come too.
Sui Sui: Yuan Xi, what are you joking about this early in the morning? That sounds pretty believable.
Mi Chen Game Yuan Xi: No joke, it's true. I also found out not long ago. You're welcome to join the banquet on the 22nd.
Yuanyuan Yuanyuan: Life imitating fiction? Really? Are you serious?
Mi Chen Game Yuan Xi: Really.
Yuanyuan Yuanyuan: Daughter of the Richest Man! Ahhhhh! Let's not forget each other in times of wealth!
Shi Shishitou: @Mi Chen Game Yuan Xi, rich lady, is your Chu Family looking for a son-in-law? I don't want to try hard anymore.
Yuanyuan Yuanyuan: Hah, have you looked in the mirror? Could you even match up to our Yuan Xi?
Yuan Xi chuckled at the group chat messages as she heard Huo Shiyuan's voice.
"Shi Shishitou, is he a guy?"
Yuan Xi didn't know when Huo Shiyuan had woken up, "Yes, his name is Shi Lei, his family has a clothing company, and my family used to run a thread factory. Our factories were close, so we grew up playing together. Him wanting to marry in is just a joke; he and Chen Yuan are about to get engaged."
Huo Shiyuan looked at Yuan Xi, "Doesn't he know you're married?"
"I posted our marriage certificate photo, but Chen Yuan and Liang Suisui didn't believe it, thinking I photoshopped it with some handsome guy from the internet."
Yuan Xi had only intended to keep her marriage hidden from Gu Hanchen, not from her best friends.
Huo Shiyuan let out a light laugh, photoshopping a marriage certificate, indeed something Chen Yuan and Liang Suisui would do.
Yuan Xi looked at Huo Shiyuan's light laugh, noticing the dimples on his cheeks.
Yuan Xi playfully poked Huo Shiyuan's dimples, "President Huo, you actually have dimples."
Huo Shiyuan grasped Yuan Xi's fingers and looked into her eyes. His breath deepened, and he lowered his head to kiss her red lips.
Yuan Xi's body trembled, and she slowly closed her eyes, allowing Huo Shiyuan to take what he wished, his thin lips feeling soft...
In the quiet room, the sound of breathing was clearly audible.
At that moment, the temperature-controlled room seemed to gather heat.
...
Inside the duplex flat on the top floor of Jiangjing No.1 in the center of Jiang City.
Chu Yan was awakened by Bo Fan and moaned, "Bo Fan, you woke me up again."
Bo Fan listened to Chu Yan's coquettish complaint and chuckled helplessly, "It's eight o'clock, time to get up."
Chu Yan stretched lazily. "It's only eight o'clock. I didn't sleep well yesterday."
"Bo Fan, I always feel so guilty towards my sister. I'm like the fake heiress in the novels who steals everything from the real one. My sister is so pitiful, she has already returned to the Chu Family, but she married such a loser..."
Bo Fan looked at Chu Yan and said, "All of this has nothing to do with you; you don't have to blame yourself."
Chu Yan pouted, "I still feel sorry for my sister. The husband she chose is really terrible. I want to go and persuade her."
Bo Fan said, "Everyone has their own thoughts; you shouldn't interfere too much."
Chu Yan pursed her lips, "But I still feel sorry for my sister. If it weren't for me, she wouldn't possibly have married a man from the countryside."
Bo Fan saw a message on his phone and frowned, not bothering to console Chu Yan.
Chu Yan asked Bo Fan, "What's wrong?"
Bo Fan said, "President Huo of Shixi Finance is in Jiang City. I want to find him to invest in Fan Yan, but I don't know his whereabouts. Gu Hanchen knows where President Huo is but won't tell. I hired a private detective who only found out that President Huo's car had an accident, but couldn't track down his specific address."
"Is this President Huo of Shixi Finance that impressive?" Chu Yan asked.
Bo Fan nodded, "You've heard of Shiyi in City A, right? That's his family's enterprise. He studied abroad in the United States and Germany in his early years and established Shixi Finance upon returning. Michen and Youzi Film and Television both hold half the shares in Shixi, and Huo Shiyuan is known as the 'Cash King' of City A. If Fan Yan could secure his investment, it would be a huge boost for us."
Chu Yan asked, "Is Fan Yan running short on funds?"
Bo Fan said, "Not exactly short, but Fan Yan wants to make two movies, and having Huo Shiyuan's help would be ideal."
Chu Yan tilted her head, "Since Shixi has invested in Youzi Film and Television, perhaps Huo Shiyuan will attend Si Chen's wedding in a couple of days? Maybe we should also attend Si Chen's wedding?"
The Bo Family naturally received an invitation to Si Chen's wedding, but initially did not plan to go because of their relation with Bao Yan.
However, Bo Fan thought that for the sake of Huo Shiyuan's investment, it might be worth attending.
...
Over the weekend, Yuan Xi finally managed to get some good rest.
On Monday morning, she woke up on her own without an alarm. The girls' group chat was filled with 520 emojis, and social media was bustling with people showing off flowers, transfers, and gifts.
Yuan Xi didn't intend to ask Huo Shiyuan for any 520 gifts. After all, though married, they hadn't married for love.
Huo Shiyuan drove Yuan Xi to the Michen Company and then took the executive elevator with her.
Yuan Xi looked at Huo Shiyuan beside her and asked, "Aren't you going back?"
Huo Shiyuan said, "Today is Si Chen's wedding. I need to accompany him to pick up his bride this afternoon. In the morning, I'll stay at Michen to assist Gu Hanchen with the pre-IPO roadshow draft, so I won't be going back."
Yuan Xi smiled faintly, "Okay."
After Yuan Xi and Huo Shiyuan arrived on the fifty-eighth floor and left the elevator together,
Yuan Xi received a call from the front desk through the secretary's office, "Roses?"
The person at the front desk was excited on the other end of the line, "Yes, nine hundred and ninety-nine roses. We wanted to bring them up to you, but a few of us together couldn't even lift them."
Yuan Xi said, "I'll come down right away."
Yuan Xi looked at Huo Shiyuan beside her and whispered, "You really didn't have to send me so many roses."
Huo Shiyuan said calmly, "I didn't send you roses."
Yuan Xi paused, "It wasn't you? Then who else would send me nine hundred and ninety-nine roses?"