'Well! Not bad!' Erica thought, beaming.
She immediately sent the photo to her mobile phone and spent a moment tinkering with it, using the photo-editing app. Then, she posted it to Weibo with the caption: "Wow, wow! I ran into the idol group FC. Come and see how handsome they are!"
A great many netizens expressed their admiration in the comment section, and not a few asked where the members of FC group were at the moment. She didn't answer them, though.
While Matthew was still in his meeting, he saw Erica's post pop up in his notifications.
His eyes darkened as he inspected the picture and the caption. Here he was doing important work, and what was his wife doing? Meeting with other men and taking pictures of them? And now it wasn't just one man, but four at the same time!
Erica was quite good at attracting men!
Crisis loomed in Matthew's mind like a thunderhead. More than ever before, it now seemed important that he should keep an eye on his wife in the future. Otherwise, she might well dump him for another man one day, and he'd miss her very much. It wasn't impossible; Erica was capable of such a thing, despite appearances.
Later that evening, Matthew made a point to personally pick up Erica, who was playing and taking photos nearby, and take her to a dinner party in a restaurant.
Matthew and Erica were the last to show up. The private room was packed, and everyone stood up to greet them when they came in.
A small army of people—all rich, good-looking, and important—descended upon Matthew to shake hands and say hello to him. While Erica was hanging back a short distance, a man's voice rang in her ear. "Hello, miss. Nice to meet you again!"
Erica turned and found herself face to face with the members of FC group. The one who had said hello was Orange.
"Oh, hello!" cried Erica, her eyes wide. "What a coincidence again! Are you here for dinner too?"
As soon as the words were out, she regretted them. It was such a stupid question; everyone came to a restaurant to have a meal.
Orange laughed and said, "Why, yes! In fact, we are."
Red patted Orange on the shoulder and came up beside him. His voice was a bit mysterious. "I heard that Mr. Huo would bring his wife here tonight. So you are Mrs. Huo, then."
Erica nodded shyly. "Um, yes…"
Matthew was in the middle of greeting yet another important person when he happened to look Erica's way—and saw her chatting happily with four rather handsome men. For a split second, he froze as he realized that the four men were none other than the ones he had seen in the picture before.
Pulling a long face, he leaned toward his wife. "Rika," he said in a low voice, "come and say hello to everyone."
"Okay!" said Erica cheerfully. Oblivious to her husband's change of mood, she headed over.
As soon as she reached him, Matthew put his arm around her waist and started introducing her to everyone in the room. "This is my wife, Erica Li." Looking at her, he explained, "Rika, these are the CEOs of our company's business partners, and some are the cooperative artists."
Erica put on her best smile and greeted them gracefully, "Hello! Nice to meet you all!"
Everyone responded to her with much enthusiasm, but Erica knew very well that they were treating her this way more for Matthew's sake than anything else.
Matthew was then led to the main seat with Erica following close. She had to follow him closely, in fact, because he wouldn't let go of her hand.
As it happened, Matthew made sure that Erica got the meal she wanted before he did, and the red wine in front of her was replaced by fresh vegetable juice. Everyone seated with them noticed how considerate and loving he was to his wife.
During the dinner, Erica learned that the full name of FC group was Four Colors. They had come to South City to do business with ZL Group's branch company. The members of the idol group were expected to act as brand spokesmen for ZL Group's electronic products.
Matthew was afraid that Erica would grow impatient with such boring topics for conversation, so he decided not to stick around too long. The dinner itself was still in full swing when he excused himself and his wife and started saying goodbye to people.
A number of the other guests walked them out of the restaurant and watched them get in the car. They didn't return inside until the couple had driven off.
In the car, Erica inclined her head toward her husband, who was typing something on his phone. "Do you want to go back to the hotel and get some rest?" she asked.
"Not yet," replied Matthew. He hadn't worked a very long day, so he wasn't tired.
"Then where are we going?"
"Where would you like to go? We could go seaside, downtown, or the older districts…" He trailed off. All of these places were nearby, and he was okay with any of them.
Erica thought for a moment. She had taken a walk downtown already that day, and would go to the old districts tomorrow. "Let's go to the seaside!" She wanted to stroll along the beach with him and feel the breeze coming in from the sea.
The average temperature in South City was a few degrees higher than in Y City, so it wouldn't be too cold.
Matthew glanced at her and said, "Okay." Then he told the driver, "Get us to the hotel."
"Yes, Mr. Huo," came the monotone reply.
Erica blinked in confusion. "Aren't we going to the seaside?"
"Yes, but we should get some extra clothes first," explained Matthew. It was cooler by the sea, and she didn't wear thick clothes.
"No, there's no need for that," Erica told him. "We can just go right to the seaside. Look, I'm wearing a cashmere sweater and everything. I'm warm enough!" She had wanted to take off her sweater during the day, but hadn't. After all, it was possible the temperature could drop considerably at night.
Back in the restaurant, she had just taken off her coat and felt good enough with just the cashmere sweater.
Seeing that there was no point in arguing, Matthew addressed the driver again. "Just take us to the seaside."
"Yes, Mr. Huo," mumbled the man.
In less than ten minutes they were there, and the car smoothly rolled to a stop. Matthew got out of the car, but before he could circle around to open the door for Erica, she was already out and rushing happily toward the sea.
Squinting after her from beneath the harsh glow of a street lamp, Matthew called after her, "Don't you want to take your camera?"
"No, I want to feel the waves!" she called back over her shoulder. Besides, there was nothing to take photos of on the beach at night.
'No, wait, ' she thought a second later. 'Actually, I can take photo of Matthew.'
Stopping, she stared back at her husband, who was strolling to catch up with her at his own pace. Running back and taking his arm, she said, "Matthew, can I go back and get my camera?"
Matthew stopped, frowning in puzzlement. "Didn't you just say you didn't want it?" What a capricious woman!
"But I want to take a picture of you. If it's all right, I mean…" But even as Erica said this, her husband continued to walk on. "Hey, hold on! Slow down, wait for me!"
Now it was Erica staring at his back from under the street lamp. Gritting her teeth, she swore to herself, 'Humph! Maybe I'll have to wait another day until you're willing to let your picture be taken!'
"Matthew," she called softly. Her husband slowed, but didn't stop.
"Honey!" This time he did stop—and that was all. He didn't turn; he just waited.
Catching up with him, Erica tried to placate Matthew with a smile. "Don't be like this—you're such a man. You've been angry with me from Y City all the way to South City. If you keep on like this, you're going to explode."
The words hit home; Matthew did feel that he would explode sooner or later.
"Look at me," his wife went on. "When I'm angry, all you need to do is just coax me a little, and then I'm not angry anymore. You're being more petty than me right now!"
Matthew was speechless. People who didn't know Erica well would think she was really that generous.
Not through with him yet, she pouted, "Oh, come on. We came out here to have fun. If you keep doing this, then I'll get angry too!"
'Didn't she just insinuate that she's more generous than me? Now she's about to get mad, ' Matthew thought helplessly.
He walked on then, unable to keep still. Erica was close beside him, but he continued to ignore her words until at last she seemed to run out of them.
The sea breeze was cool and in its own way soothing. It was a quiet autumn night, with little to hear except for the waves, which formed their own kind of melody. They walked a long way without seeing another soul.
It wasn't a romantic scene, though—not with Matthew's hands shoved into his pockets and the woman hanging her head despondently.
When they'd gone about half a kilometer from the car, Matthew's head finally began to clear, and he found himself thinking of whether he should forgive Erica or not.
He wasn't thinking for long, though, when a scream from directly behind made him jump. He whirled around, thinking perhaps that someone had attacked his wife.
To his bewilderment, he found himself alone. There was no attacker, and Erica had disappeared too! As he scanned the beach, he caught sight of her shoes not far away. They were drifting about slightly, caught on the outermost edge of the waves.
Matthew's face went white and he shouted at the sea, "Rika!"
Amidst the crashing waves he caught sight of a woman's head breaking briefly above the waters. An unmistakable voice called to him, "Matthew, help…"
