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Chapter 1: Two years ago
In the clear sky, a large passenger aircraft was flying smoothly, leaving a jetstream of white in the clear blue sky.
Outside, the sun was intense, Yan Liang pulled the shade down and continued to work on the file on the tray table.
It was lunch time and the flight attendants were catering to the guests
The catering car came to her side, the flight attendant bent over to put her knife and fork on the table, but seeing the table filled with files, stopped, perplexed.
Yan Liang put down the pen, lifted her head to look at the flight attendant: "I only need a cup of coffee, thank you."
The stewardess nodded with a smile, poured the coffee and handed her the cup.
As Yan Liang tried to take the cup, the flight suddenly hit an air pocket.
The stewardess immediately tried to steady the cup, but the coffee spilled all over the files.
Yan Liang quickly reached out to protect her files in the ensuing chaos. Her quick thinking saved her files, but her skirt was stained by the coffee.
"I'm sorry! Sorry!" the stewardess hurriedly handed her a paper towel.
At this time the captain also broadcasted the notice: "We encountered a brief turbulence, we request the passengers to wear their seat belts."
Yan Liang hurriedly blotted the coffee on the files. Seeing a few of her documents had fallen to the the aisle, Yan Liang put her cup on the table, took off her seat belt and got up to pick up the documents.
As she bent to pick up the file, a hand extended the files to her. The hand belonged to the passenger sitting behind her.
Yan Liang first saw the part of the hand from the wrist to the elbow exposed under folded sleeves of the shirt. It was a lean arm, a watch on the wrist, the fingers slender. She reached for the file to say thank you, but as she moved her eyes up she was shocked.
As her eyes moved along the man's arm up to see the man's face, she clearly saw him quickly reading her file.
He was sitting, Yan Liang was standing, from her vantage point, although she couldn't see the whole face of this person, she could clearly see him stare at the file with two sharp abnormal eyes.
Inexplicably she felt so cold she coughed drily, waving her hands signalling him to handover the file and then in a deliberately strident tone to remind him "Thank you."
The man looked up.
Far more than sharp eyes, his eyes were simply...... as dominant as in the eagle - which is the only feeling Yan Liang had when her eyes met his.
But then, those sharp eyes softened, he smiled, and handed back the file.
Yan Liang quickly returned to her seat, put the file back. Curious, she could not help but look back again. At this time, the passenger behind was dining. He simply looked like a handsome stranger.
Was it just her illusion? Yan Liang shook her head.
***
Three hours later the plane landed, the journey across the ocean was finally over.
Yan Liang walked towards the baggage claim. Red lips, expressionless face, black high heels hitting the marble floor with a "da da" sound, a stylish dress but stained with coffee stains made her feel slightly embarrassed
As Yan Liang waited for her luggage, she intended to to go to the bathroom to change her clothes, but she was stopped by a a suited gentlemen.
"Hello?" She was not in a hurry.
The man looked questioningly at her face, removed a pair of glasses from his carry on bag: "This is yours, right?"
Yan Liang was stunned.
She carefully looked at the glasses, they were hers.
"I found it on the plane."
Yan Liang's glasses do not have a high power, she only wears it during office hours. After the lunch episode, she did not look at the file, so she actually did not realise when the glasses were lost.
Yan Liang smiled, and as she reached out to take the glasses quickly, she noticed there was a business card with the glasses.
"Not surprising, then, we will soon meet again."
Yan Liang just wanted to leave as soon as possible. She did not take too much notice of this strange man's strange comment. She took the card, with a sidelong glance, she nodded slightly to show goodbye and hastily left, leaving the man standing and stammering behind her.
And she walked out of the International Arrivals towards the door, she dropped the business card in the trash bin on her way.
As she dropped the business cards, her ears heard a familiar voice: "Yan Liang!"
Yan Liang stopped.
Looking to where the sound came from, she saw the door being pushed.
He waved at her, closely cropped hair, a competent smile.
Finally there was a trace of emotion in her face "I am so honoured, are you so tired of your manager that you came to personally pick me up?"
He gave her a helpless smile in exchange to her ridicule: "A year has gone by, but your words have become more and more sharp.."
"A year has gone by, but you have become more and more handsome", she answered.
Sunny weather, bright eyes, the man's smile was warmer than the sun. Yan Liang looked away to eliminate her heart of evil thoughts: "What happened to Zhou Shu? He is usually responsible for picking me up."
"My father drove Xi Ziqing's mother to the hospital to see your father, and I was on leave today, so I decided to replace my dad to be your driver for the day." Taking her luggage, he walked towards the parking lot.
Not far from the parking lot, a luxury car was parked quietly, the window glass and the eyes of the man sitting in the back seat both black as ink.
He was looking out of the window, his gaze lazy, but eyes predatory like an eagle, one hand supporting his chin on the edge of the window, his face cold.
The man who was with Yan Liang before approached the car from the other side, opened the door and sat in the car. Turning back, he said to the man in the back seat:: "Mr. Jiang, I have something for you."
Mr Jiang nodded silently, gazed out out of the window to see Yan Liang and her companion get into the another car not far away then softly ordered the driver:."Drive."
***
Zhou Cheng started the car, asked her: "What about the company 's operating data I sent you?"
"I was reading it on the plane, almost finished."
"Now the company is very chaotic, you have to get to know these things as soon as possible. Do you want to go home or go directly to the hospital to visit Father?"
Yan Liang was seated in the co - pilot seat, the sun was shielded by the window, her expression turned negative: "How is my dad now?"
"Last week he had a stroke, he has been in hospital since then, now the situation is fairly stable."
Zhou Cheng accelerated, it seemed that this is an important thing to think about, through the rearview mirror he looked at Yan Liang before continuing: "Your sister is also in the hospital.".
He looked at her, she looked upset, he silently turned around and said."Do not think about her anymore, all right, look at my face."
Yan Liang smiled, but her eyes were unsmiling:."Zhou Cheng, Xu Ziqing* is a goddess in your eyes, but she is just a weed in my eyes......"
*google translates this name as Fu Jian school. I am just keeping this as Xu Ziqing based on my later reads
Yan Liang chose to go home, rather than go to the hospital as she really wanted to avoid any family conflicts.
A ten hour flight where she spent most of her time to review the files, she was tired enough. Now after a comfortable bath, she was lying on the couch watching TV, finally feeling a little cozy.
Yan Liang was changing channels rapidly, when she stopped at a local station, saw the advertisement for a new product and then changed to the local news channel.
The anchor was saying ".. has developed high-end skin care brands such as Xu's dream, however in recent years their position is no longer the same. Now with the chairman Xu Jinfu suffering a stroke and admitted to the hospital, the company is in a difficult situation. Informed sources say Xu Jinfu has approached a headhunting company to look for appropriate management personnel. He intends to change the management to professional managers and break the usual family business model. Xu......"
Yan Liang stared at the TV with a frown. Suddenly she heard the sound of the door opening and she immediately changed to an entertainment channel.
Lazily lying on the sofa, she lifted her head to see a woman opening the door: "Mom."
Yan Mu looked at Yan Liang lazing like this, immediately her face sank.
"Even Zhou Cheng knows enough to go to the hospital to visit your father, you skip, you return to home to hide here and watch these -" Yan Mu glanced at the chatter of the television program, "- you're making a mess of things."
Yan Liang simply turned off the TV, got up and put on her slippers, and poured a glass of water for her mother: "Aren't you most annoyed to see the mother of Xu Ziqing? When I heard from Zhou Cheng that she and her mother were in the hospital, I thought since they are there, you will certainly not step into the hospital."
"You do not know your father darling. I sent you to go abroad to study for an MBA degree so you can inherit the company, and now, with your dad's stroke, the company is in this chaotic set and directly appointed Xu Ziqing in the management layer. That's why I told you to return home immediately. In the present situation, it is likely that those who express filial piety, your dad is ready to help them. And you do not even go to the hospital to see your dad? When the company falls into the hands of Xu Ziqing and her mother, you will regret it.
"You are right! You have thought it out well!" Yan Liang, pushed her mother out of the bedroom."Liang Yi made some stew soup, do you want your daughter to accompany you while you have some soup downstairs?"
"Don't pretend you care about me; if you really don't want to see me worry, you quickly get started with the company's things, so people don't think of me as a joke who did not fight that wild woman and let the illegitimate daughter take over."How will I save face?"
"You tell me what I have to do, go to the head office, right?" Yan Liang said, finally getting a word in.
Finally, nobody had the cold soup, the soup was sent directly to the poor and they went to the hospital.
This was a premium ward; the corridor decoration was like a five-star hotel. As Yan Liang stepped out of the elevator, she saw Zhou Cheng leaning on the rails. She stepped forward and patted his shoulder.
Zhou Cheng raised his head, saw her, and was surprised: "Did you not say that today you won't come to the hospital?"
Yan Liang could only reluctantly shrug: "Why are you outside in the corridor?"
"Father is talking to the head hunter company inside. He is interested in meeting with the professional managers, let us avoid."
"For what role?"
Zhou Cheng secretly said: "Powerful role."
Yan Liang thought back to the news she saw at home: professional managers, family business model to change...... all kinds of unfavorable news that she secretly speculated for a moment, before she calmly changed the topic: "Where is Xu Ziqing?"
"She is sending her mother to the car downstairs; she will come back in a little while."
Seeing Yan Liang's expression, he sang the old tune: "Yan Liang, do not target her, ok?"
Cheerfully regaining her composure, she said contemptuously: "Why do you all think I am against her, rather than she against me?"
Without waiting for him to say another word, Yan Liang took a U-turn and left.
She heard him call out to her, but she didnt stop.
Unfortunately, Yan Liang did not think she was going to hit the elevator just when Xu Ziqing was returning.
As the elevator doors opened, the two women were face to face, both surprised for a moment.
Xu Ziying was the first one to react. Stepping out of the elevator, she immediately looked up and down at Yan Liang: "How come you're here? Willing to come back?"
"You are not qualified to speak to me in this tone."
"Last year, you did not come home, and now that there's a mess at home you have to come back immediately, it is hard not to think of you as taking advantage of the chaos selfishly."
Yan Liang tried to move around her, but was stopped: "Why are you leaving now?"
"If you do not want me to slap you like I did last time, let me go now."
Xu Ziqing smiled: "You can't say I forgot, I'd really like to thank you for that slap, if not, how could I cry to father and get so many shares?
Yan Liang was unable to suppress her anger as her teeth clenched.
"You do not know how angry your mother was then. She was willing to let my mother in because of the agreement: I can not compete for shares with you, but you, with a slap you destroyed so many years of your mother's effort. If I were her, I would be mad at you too."
Yan Liang laughed. Xu Ziying's expression changed, Yan Liang's laugh was almost domineering: "Do you not know, that a man's child will always have a natural psychological advantage? He owes you so much, he cannot even legally acknowledge your mother. When you go home with your mother every year to visit relatives, are you not being pointed at? I absolutely agree about the monetary compensation. What did he feel for you, if not pity?"
Xu Ziqing eyes blazed with anger showing that Yan Liang's words had hit their mark.
But in the next second, Yan Liang could not laugh anymore -
"Speaking of, I have something to tell you. Zhou Cheng- he proposed to me, "
At that moment, Yan Liang felt her hands turn cold.
Xu Ziqing haughtily said: "But you can rest assured, I will not promise him, of course, I will not accept him. This man hurt my sister's heart so I strung him along for a long time, don't you feel better?"
Yan Liang finally did not hold back, the palm of your hand was raised.
Zhou Cheng is her Achilles heel......
But this slap, ultimately failed to land on the face of innocent Xu Ziqing -Yan Liang's wrist was grabbed. She was surprised to see the hand that grabbed her wrist.
Lean arms, wearing a watch, she had a feeling of deja vu.
Yan Liang suddenly raised her head - her eyes landed on a pair of familiar eyes.
The man she met on the plane, the man who had a pair of memorable eyes.
Translator's note: I realised that what I mentioned as Fu Jiang in Chapter 1. 2 is actually Xu Ziqing, I have changed that. Apologies.
If you are enjoying this novel, may I ask you to move to novel updates where the link goes to my website. If you read it on the other sites that don't direct you to mine, I won't know you are reading it, and may well give up translating because I think nobody is interested????
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