The orphanage that Zhuo Jingren grew up too was called Kindred Hearts Orphan Home or KHO Home for most people. It was an orphanage that was located in the southern part of Hongkong near a very known Villa that Zhuo Jingren also bought a long time ago. Aside from this, Lily’s previous girl’s school was still located near the orphanage and had been turned into co-ed which now is the same school that most of the children from the orphanage go to.
While the orphanage has its own kindergarten and elementary school, the orphanage thought that going to the Co-Ed School for high school would be a great idea for the children to gain experience and exposure. Since Zhuo Jingren had been funding the orphanage for years, he also knew about this matter but did not involve himself in any decision since because he was too busy and was technically clueless about running and orphanage.
Moreover, he already arranged for everyone to go to his security agency after leaving the orphanage to give them a head start for their lives. To Zhuo Jingren, livelihood is the greater help than he could give someone. After all, he too had struggled with finding a job after leaving the orphanage at such a young age. Because of this, few people had seen Zhuo Jingren in person as he does not visit the orphanage a lot but only attends functions that involve raising funds for the orphanages that he had funded.
Now, what not many people don’t know is that Zhuo Jingren would show up to these events because he knows that his presence would make them more money as many businessmen would also attend if he was there. Secondly, Bei Tian would not shut up until he followed him to the event. So when the news that he was coming to the orphanage’s Christmas party was spread, the orphanage and everyone else was ecstatic!
When was the last time that Zhuo Jingren had joined them? Six? Seven years? Or was that eight years ago?
“Ah! Fairy Lin was simply the best! She was able to invite Little Zhuo for the party!” a woman squealed.
“I know! She is not only smart but beautiful too… I heard that Little Zhuo is already married. Hey… I heard that he was the one who rejected Fairy Lin. Do you think that is really the case??” an older man said.
“Stop the gossip! Are you done slicing the onions? How about the soup base? Is it ready?” a man grumpy voice interrupted them as a man with an ash-blond hair entered the kitchen. He was wearing a white uniform, his face morphed into a scowl. Seeing his subordinate’s faces lost its color one by one, the man gave a smug smile. “Just as I thought. I don’t want to hear anymore rumor about Jingren. Next time, I heard something like that, someone will lose their jobs.”
The moment, the man left, everyone who was busily slicing the ingredient heaved a sigh of relief. “Aiyo… I almost had a heart attack. Mr. Chen seems to be grumpy today. I wonder why that is.” the woman who spoke made a dramatic shiver as she thought of the things that happen in the kitchen once her boss got angry.
“Mr. Chen is the only person who is in contact with Little Zhuo. I heard, they occasionally see each other as Little Zhuo loved his cooking so much and would ask him to cook from time to time.”
“Now, that is not a rumor. Mr. Chen was practically Little Zhuo’s father figure when he was here. He was also the one who taught him how to cook.”
His words earn a nod from a few of the people inside the kitchen before they stopped talking and decided to focus on their jobs. Mr. Chen was a no-nonsense type of person who can do whatever he wanted to. Who knows if he would really fire them if he heard them talking about Zhuo Jingren again?
…..
The party was set to start at five in the afternoon until eight in the evening. Then there will be an adult after-party held in another venue that some of the prominent businessmen were invited to attend. All of these were arranged by Lin Yu Yan alone, as both Zhuo Jingren and Bei Tian didn’t have the time to look at it. Aside from Zhuo Jingren and Lily, a lot of upper-class families were also invited by Lin Yu Yan herself as she also wanted to help this event raise some funds for the child hospital that she is planning to build with Zhuo Capital.
At four, a lot of the invited people started to arrive as Lin Yu Yan greeted everyone by the entrance. The usherettes that were helping the guests find their seats accompanied her. Everything was going well… until Zhuo Jingren and Lily arrived.
“Jingren!” Lin Yu Yan instantly beamed at Zhuo Jingren. “I am so glad you could make it.” She said before she nodded at Lily, “Miss Lily,” she uttered as she eyed Lily’s hand on Zhuo Jingren’s arms. In response, Lily nodded and smiled at the woman wearing a long red gown in front of her. The fact that Lin Yu Yan called her miss didn’t faze her. Would she really let someone like her ruin her night? Of course not! Lily laughed inwardly. She wanted to see how this Lin Yu Yan will ruin her own name and reputation tonight.
After what happened at the party with Mr. Qi and Lin Yu Yan, Lily already knew that Lin Yu Yan was not planning to give up at all. She thought the woman was sensible enough to see that there is no chance between her and Zhuo Jingren. Apparently, that is not the case. “You really beautiful. Is it because of Mr. Qi?” Lily then gave a teasing smile towards Lin Yu Yan, who was already looking wryly at Zhuo Jingren.
“Miss Lily… Mr. Qi and I… we are family friends.” Lin Yu Yan’s face reddened. She did not expect Lily to say something like this even before the party started and all she wanted right now was to let Zhuo Jingren knew that there is nothing going on between her and Qi Xia. “All right… we can talk more once the party started.” Lin Yu Yan then looked at the women standing behind her. “Please lead Mr. Zhuo and Miss Lily in their respective seats.”
“Respective seats?” Zhuo Jingren asked. “Are we not going to sit together?”
“I am so sorry… Jingren. But when you told me, she would come… we already sent the invite to some of the prominent people with their respective seat numbers. I didn’t have the time to change the seating arrangement. So… you will sit in the VIP while Miss Lily’s chair is located to the table behind ours.” Lin Yu Yan then gave Lily an innocent smile. “I’m sure you wouldn’t mind. Right?”
