“Yes, President Zhou. She has just left for a while. Ms. Xia said that she needed to do something in the company and she left very soon.” The guard replies honestly.
Zhou Mengyao frowns tightly. As if she remembers something, she asks, “Excepts Ning, did anyone else come to the company in the last two hours?”
The guard thinks for a while and shakes his head, “No. There isn’t any till now.”
Zhou Mengyao feels very surprised. Didn’t Jiang Yongran ask her to meet here at three? Why hasn’t he showed up here yet?
Zhou Mengyao glances at the watch and finds that it is two fifty in the early morning. She instinctively feels something wrong, but she thinks that there are still ten minutes to go. Jiang Yongran may be on the way here now.
Thinking about this, Zhou Mengyao goes into the company.
She goes to her office in a hurry. She glimpses the letter on the desk. She takes it up to read at once. It is a letter to her from Xia Ning.
Zhou Mengyao opens the envelope. She glances at the text and gives a helpless sigh, “You foolish kid, your concession will only bring fiercer attacks to you…
Wait. Ning has just left. Seemingly, she can’t have gone far away. Zhou Mengyao puts down the envelope and calls Gu Luan.
“Director Gu, sorry to disturb you so late. I want to ask you for a favor.”
“President Zhou, as to the Tang Qieying issue, I am still investigating it. I believed I will figure it out soon. President Zhou, please don’t worry…”
“I believe your capability. However, I don’t call you for this issue.” Zhou Mengyao hesitates for a little while, “Ning left the villa just now. I don’t know where she goes. If you have time now, can you help to look for her?”
Hearing this, Gu Luan turns worried at once, “What? Ning is missing? President Zhou, do you know where she is?”
“I don’t know at present. But she left Junhao Group fifteen minutes ago. She left a letter for me. She said that she didn’t want to bring trouble to me and she was grateful to me. Ah. The foolish kid…Director Gu, I have some emergency here and can’t leave at the moment. Would you please look for her first? Her phone is off now.”
“OK. I see. Keep in touch.” Then, Gu Luan hangs up.
Zhou Mengyao puts down her phone. She frowns. She feels something stuck in her heart. She feels confused.
It doesn’t look like a coincidence. The whole event seems to be planned by someone in advance, including Ning’s leaving…
Zhou Mengyao is thinking about it when the door of her office is knocked, “President Zhou, it is me, Jiang Yongran.”
Zhou Mengyao puts Xia Ning’s letter aside. She collects herself, “Come in, please.”
Jiang Yongran comes in with a gentle smile on his face. There is something else in his eyes. He looks very glad.
Zhou Mengyao feels very confused, but she doesn’t show her emotions on her face. She slightly lifts her hand, “Yongran, have a seat.”
Jiang Yongran nods. He glances at Zhou Mengyao, “President Zhou, sometimes, I really envy you very much. Yes. I envy you. You are at this age while you still look like a young girl. If only I can look so young in the future.”
“Ha. Ha. Ha!” Zhou Mengyao laughs, “I am favored by the god. You envy me in vain.”
Jiang Yongran smiles to shake his head. He slightly collects himself and looks at Zhou Mengyao, “President Zhou, I am here now. I may not beat around the bush. I ask you to meet me here because I want to show you something. Then, I have something important to discuss with you.”
“Oh?”
Jiang Yongran takes out a document from his pocket and passes it to Zhou Mengyao, “President Zhou, you may read this first.”
Zhou Mengyao takes it over. She hesitates for a little while and opens the document…
“Wait.” Jiang Yongran puts his hand on the document. He says, “President Zhou, before you read this document, I have a requirement. I hope that you read this document calmly. You have to stay calm so that we can discuss the important things later.”
Zhou Mengyao feels a little confused. But she nods, “OK.”
Jiang Yongran removes his hand and Zhou Mengyao reads the document. A few minutes later, Zhou Mengyao changes her color! Then, she heavily passes the document back to Jiang Yongran. She asks angrily, “Jiang Yongran, what do you mean?”
It is getting bright in the sky. Last night, after wandering around the streets, Xia Ning sat on a bench and stayed there for over two hours.
She looks at the sky and feels surprised.
How time flies?
She hears a cry from her belly. Xia Ning feels sorry. She strokes her belly and says, “Baby, mommy is useless. I kept thinking about things and forgot to eat. I will go to eat something now. Baby, don’t worry…”
“You are pregnant. You should be careful.”
At the time, an old but abnormally gentle voice is heard. Xia Ning turns around and sees an old man in grey hair standing beside her. The man looks quite old but his body is straight. The shape of his facial features and his blues eyes which look like two pieces of sapphire remind others that he was a very handsome man when he was young.
He is a stranger. Xia Ning thought that she may be alert. But the old man looks elegant. He has got a noble air around him which doesn’t make people feel distant, but comfortable.
Xia Ning smiles at the old man. She nods, “Hum. It is a pity that I don’t have any experience on how to be a mother. The kid comes to me. I feel sorry for him.”
The old man smiles, “Do you mind my sitting down beside you?”
Xia Ning shakes her head, “No, I don’t mind.”
The old man sits down. He slightly screws his eyes to check on Xia Ning for quite a while.
Xia Ning feels uneasy to be looked at by him in this way. She moves backwards, “Sir…”
“You are Xia Ning, aren’t you?”
Xia Ning feels shocked to hear his words!
She wonders how can the man know her name.
“Don’t worry. Don’t worry.” The man smiles. He is going to say something more while at the time a man in a black suit comes to him. Seemingly, he is a bodyguard. He passes a paper bag to the old man. The old man takes it over and the bodyguard goes away.
“Do you feel hungry? Come here. Have some food. Here are meat porridge, steamed stuffed buns and deep-fried dough sticks. All Chinese people like to have them as breakfast.”
Xia Ning blinks her eyes. She hesitates for a while and then holds out her hand to take the food over, “Sir, can you tell me who you are?”
“Well…” The old man thinks for a while. Then he goes closer to Xia Ning and says mysteriously, “OK. I can tell you who I am. But, Ning, you have to promise that you won’t tell anyone else.”
Xia Ning nods, “Don’t worry. I won’t tell anyone else.”
She is alone. Whom can she tell?
The old man looks at Xia Ning for another while. He looks kind and worried about Xia Ning. He says, “Well. My name is Davis Widdison.”
Xia Ning feels shocked to hear this!
Davis Widdison!
The senior Duke Davis Widdison?
The duke is aware of Xia Ning’s expression of disbelief. He shakes his head and says, “Ha. Kid, you feel unworried now? Come on. Have some breakfast.”
Xia Ning hasn’t collected from the shock. She looks at the food in her hand foolishly, “Duke, Why do you know me? Why do you buy breakfast for me?”
“Well. I just got off the plane. I was hungry, too. I had some food in the restaurant. Then, I saw you sit on the bench for quite a while. William stayed in China for quite some time. He and you were good friends. So, I knew you.”
Oh. It is because of William. No wonder the duke knows her.
Xia Ning shily smiles, “Duke, sorry. I feel embarrassed that you see me under this condition…”
“Never mind. Have some breakfast first. Your baby is hungry.”
Being reminded by the duke, Xia Ning nods. She opens the food and starts to eat.
The food is giving out steam and looks appetizing. Xia Ning starts to eat and realizes that she is really hungry. Soon, she finishes everything.
When she eats, the duke looks at her tenderly with a gentle smile on his face.
After she finishes the porridge, the bodyguard comes to them to take over the rubbish from Xia Ning and runs away.
“Kid, why do you come here alone? Where are your friends?”
Xia Ning feels sad. She purses her lips, “Duke, I am in trouble now. Those who stay with me will be in danger. Duke, I know you are noble with high prestige. You are respectable in Britain. However, I am afraid that you will get in trouble if you stay with me.”
“Oh? Will I?” The duke’s eyes gleam with surprise.
Xia Ning nods, “Duke, you have just got off the plane. You haven’t watched the news, have you?”
The duke hesitates for a while. He puts on a smile on his lips, “Do you mean the news about Tang?”
Xia Ning feels surprised. The duke must mean Tang Qieying by Tang. It means that he has known the whole story.
“Hum. Duke, do you know what Miss Tang means to Chinese people? This event happened. To be honest, I may need to wear a mask when I am in the street. If people recognize me, I will be in great trouble.”
“Oh…It is really troublesome. Tang is a good woman, just like you. You are both precious which people may afraid to hurt even when they protect you in their hands.”
Xia Ning feels confused, wondering why the duke says these words.
“Ha. Ha. Ha!” The duke gently pats Xia Ning’s shoulder. He says slowly, “Ning, you may go home. You are alone here in the street. Your family and your friends will be worried about you.”
“I know.” Xia Ning lowers her head, “But I am afraid that I may get them implicated…”
“It is not a matter of implication. Everyone has got a life to lead. To make concessions or escape will only make people who care about you suffer more. To them, what you do is irresponsible.”
Xia Ning feels her heart twitched when she hears his words.
The duke gives a sigh, “Annie has left me for a long time. It is so long a time that it seems to be endless to me now. Most of the time, I ask myself why I didn’t die with her. Why I am still living in the world…”
“Duke…”
The duke raises his hand, “Kid, don’t worry. Actually, I have figured it out: because there are still people whom I care about. Because of them, I have to go on with my life.”
Looking at the tender stare of the duke, Xia Ning feels as if a warm wind blows across on the lake of her heart. She purses her lips and clenches her fists tightly.
