Page 60 of He Is My Bride

Li Ying had had to arrange the past week free from other responsibilities, but he could not delay the inevitable: more exams were coming, and he had some cramming to do.

It was now the fourth day of the Year of the Dog, and he would have to fly back to New York today.

Li Ying had had to give in to the fact that air travel had been ruined for him forever and he would never fly economy again, so he had let Hanjun pay his first-class ticket, barely having the resolution to not ask for the jet.

They still had the day to spend together before the flight though, before it would be time for another goodbye. Neither looked forward to their separation, but somehow it felt easier to bear this time.

“I will visit New York in a month or so,” Hanjun promised. “I can do some of my work remotely, so I can arrange a full week.”

“You think I’m gonna let you work for a second when I have you in my bed again?”

“You have work to do, too.”

“Stop talking sense to me!” Li Ying whacked Hanjun with a pillow and got pounced as a result.

“Ha-Hanjun!” Li Ying laughed while Hanjun pinned him on the couch and attacked his neck with kisses. “Mmh… Give me something to remember you by?”

Hanjun proceeded to kiss and suck and bite, indeed intending to give Li Ying a little something to take home on his skin.

They were interrupted when Hanjun’s personal phone rang. Hanjun ignored it, but whoever it was, they were insistent and immediately called again.

Hanjun finally picked up the phone to see who it was: Uncle Yiheng. Hanjun blocked the call and turned off his phone.

“Who was that?” Li Ying asked, wiggling off his pants.

“Uncle,” Hanjun said dismissively and returned to the more important matters at hand, tossing off his own shirt before resuming to suck on his man’s mouth.

But then rang his work phone. Li Ying had to giggle at how absolutely pissed Hanjun looked.

“I guess it’s important, maybe you should take it?” Li Ying said.

Hanjun got up and went to get his work phone.

Li Ying leaned his head into his hand and supported himself up by his elbow, looking at the fine sight of his Hanjun, shirtless and, by heavens, so hot when he was visibly pissed, Li Ying thought.

“Damn, I hope it’s not trouble with the press or the police,” Li Ying muttered while Hanjun was already answering the phone:

“Hello?”

“Answer your phone when I call you!” Uncle Yiheng barked over the line.

“I’m busy.”

“Is Li Ying there?”

“That’s who I was busy with.”

Li Ying gasped: look at his man, sassing at his uncle! Li Ying removed his hand from his mouth to form the word silently: ‘naughty! ’

Hanjun was looking at him with dark eyes that promised sweet trouble, but as Wu Yiheng kept talking, he grew serious:

“I need to meet her before she leaves.” Wu Yiheng sounded as strict and business-like as always.

“Why?”

“I need to talk to her. The day is still inauspicious for house visiting, so have her come to the office.”

“Is there trouble?” Hanjun asked, looking at Li Ying with concern.

“Nothing for you to worry about. Have her come to my office in an hour, give her your keycard so she can move freely as the office is still closed until tomorrow.”

“Understood.”

“Good. Hanging up.”

Li Ying had already gotten up, and was taking off the rest of his clothes to change into something more presentable, and to do his boobs and the rest.

“You heard the boss.”

Hanjun drove Li Ying to the company headquarters down in the Pudong financial district once Li Ying had gotten himself in order.

They could only speculate what this was about, and neither really wanted to. It could be anything, recent events considered.

“You don’t think he’s going to… I don’t know.” Li Ying fretted, fidgeting with the hem of his black pencil skirt.

Besides that, he was wearing nude stockings and the black suede heels, and a simple white silk blouse. He rather looked like he was going to a job interview.

“Hm?”

“Finally going to tell me to disappear forever?”

“No.”

“It’s as the husband says, isn’t it?” Li Ying quirked his brow.

“Yes, wife,” Hanjun said deadpan .

Li Ying couldn’t help but snort in laughter. “Was I being a Shanghai-wife again?”

Hanjun only smiled.

“Heh, I know you like it. Anyway, could it be something related to Tang Xiuxiu’s case?”

“There is no ‘case.’”

“You know what I mean.”

“Possibly. You will know soon.”

“I just wonder why you couldn’t be there. I mean, he didn’t explicitly say that you couldn’t, but he pretty damn well implied it.”

Hanjun said no more, but Li Ying could see the worry on his face.

He tried to hide it, probably not to have his worry rub off on Li Ying, but he was already worried as it were.

This was Wu Yiheng after all, he probably didn’t invite Li Ying for a visit on an inauspicious day just for tea and biscuits. No, it had to be business.

The streets were relatively quiet and finding parking right in front of the office building was easy, so Hanjun stopped the Bentley there.

“Do you need me to come to show you to his office?”

“No need, A-Yu and A-Yi showed me everything last time, I should find it on my own.”

“Alright. Here’s my keycard.” Hanjun handed it to Li Ying on a company lanyard. “I’ll wait here.”

“Kiss.” Li Ying leaned in and Hanjun gave him a light kiss on the lips. With that as his charm for good luck, Li Ying exited the car and headed inside.

The lobby was still lit, although the reception desk stood empty. There was a sole guard on duty, and Li Ying greeted him politely. The guard returned his greeting, and since Li Ying had entered the premises with a valid card, he didn’t question his presence.

Li Ying headed to the elevators, the lonely clop of his heels echoing from the polished granite. He was swinging the keycard around by its lanyard, his talisman of passage in the kingdom of the Wus. He was certainly not as carefree as he looked .

Up he went and exited the elevator to the quiet, empty corridors of Wu Pharma management offices. His passage triggered the motion sensors, and lights flickered on.

It’s kinda spooky. Li Ying hoped he would meet a ghost.

What would a ghost do in an office setting, though? Worked to death? Boring. Meeting Wu Yiheng was much more terrifying for sure.

Li Ying recalled the route to the chairman’s office. Turning the corner, Li Ying saw it, and the sound-proofed glass walls let him see the man himself, seated behind his desk, hands crossed before him. Teacups for two.

Wu Yiheng noticed him, looking up from those ponderous hands, and nodded.

I’ve triggered the boss fight, where’s the music?

Li Ying fidgeted with the lanyard as he opened the door and went in.

It was another gloomy, overcast day, and wan daylight cast from the windows behind the desk shadowed Wu Yiheng’s face. Li Ying closed the door behind him.

“Hello, Mister Wu!” Li Ying’s cheerful voice sounded misplaced even in his own ears in such a grim atmosphere.

“Hello, Li Ying. Please, sit.”

What happened to ‘Missy?’

Li Ying sat.

Wu Yiheng poured him tea and Li Ying felt more at ease, come what may.

“I’m sorry for calling you here on such short notice,” Wu Yiheng said, “but I had forgotten that your return flight is already today.”

“It’s alright. What did you want to discuss with me?” Li Ying accepted the tea and drank carefully. The oolong was just like how Hanjun brewed it.

“A couple of things.” Wu Yiheng poured for himself as well. “First, I wanted to let you know that Tang Xiuxiu has left Shanghai, seemingly for good—she has terminated her apartment lease. You won’t have to worry about her anymore.”

“How do you know that?”

“I have my sources. However, as Hanjun suspected, it does seem plausible that Wang Guosheng is the one behind the attack, and he hasn’t gone anywhere. You must still be careful. While you are in Shanghai, we will increase security measures around you.”

“Thank you, Mister Wu. I’m sorry for… overreacting at the reception.”

Wu Yiheng shook his head. “I saw the footage. Your behavior was not befitting of a woman who’s engaged to a Wu. You have a truly terrible temper, Li Ying. Overreaction indeed! However, you were attacked first, and it’s good you caught that Tang Xiuxiu.”

Me? Terrible temper? You should meet Mrs. Qian! But how come you don’t seem more mad at me, Uncle Yiheng? He’d even called him by his full name instead of patronizing him.

“The police didn’t get it out of her, but it’s likely Wang Guosheng employed her to scare you, which has little to do with you and everything to do with their rivalry with us Wus.

Yet the fact that Xiuxiu got caught and questioned thanks to your actions, however overblown, should make Wang Guosheng think twice before insulting us for a second time; the Wus, nor our associates, are weak or easily scared. ”

Li Ying had a newfound respect for Wu Yiheng: it seemed he did value personal integrity over appearances after all.

“But if you are going to associate with us in the future,” Wu Yiheng said, “make sure to act more like a normal, sane person! Even in abnormal situations, we must not lose face. What must Hanjun have thought, with his fiancée acting like that?”

Oh, don’t use your darling nephew against me, uncle, he’s much worse than you think! Li Ying almost managed to contain his sass: he simply tilted his head and smiled.

“He’s used to me being a little wild. ”

Wu Yiheng sighed and rubbed his forehead, as if he were coming down with a headache. He sipped his tea and looked back at Li Ying.

“There is another matter I had to discuss with you.”

“Hm?” Li Ying held his cup to his lips to drink.

“The matter of your and Hanjun’s marriage.”

Li Ying froze. He lowered the cup without having drunk. Implying…? He didn’t dare hope. “What does Mister Wu mean?”

Wu Yiheng took a long and ponderous sip of his tea. The man put his cup down and looked Li Ying in the eyes with grave seriousness.