Chapter 21: In the Torrential Rain

As soon as Fan Xia walked out of the bathroom, she seemed to hear a man’s roar, but when she listened carefully, the sound disappeared.

Just then, the flight attendant reminded them to board the plane, so Fan Xia didn’t think about it anymore.

Once on the plane, Rong Xiu had booked first class, and she, as his assistant, also benefited from experiencing the luxury of first class. Watching the buildings on the ground become smaller and smaller, with rolling clouds within reach, the sky curtain descended before her eyes, as if in a dream-like fairyland.

After admiring the cloud scenery, Fan Xia prepared to close her eyes and rest. When she turned her head, she saw Rong Xiu’s deep gaze fixed on her, gentle and focused, as if the whole world could only contain her.

Fan Xia was suddenly moved and smiled, “CEO, your gaze like this can easily be misunderstood.”

Rong Xiu’s eyes trembled slightly, his hand casually resting on the armrest was covered in fine sweat. In the quiet space, he asked, “Fan Xia, why did you marry Wen Lan Sheng? Besides the reason of being childhood sweethearts.”

Fan Xia’s gentle brows and eyes gradually froze. She looked out the window and slowly said, “After my mother was killed by a car, my life took a turn for the worse. Even former relatives kept their distance, afraid I would rely on them. It was at this time that Lan Sheng appeared. He knew I wasn’t eating well at the orphanage, so he often brought me food and tried his best to comfort me. Gradually, I developed feelings for him. Perhaps in modern society, no one would offer themselves for a meal’s kindness, but Lan Sheng’s goodness to me, I remember it all in my heart.”

“I will repay him well… repay the Wen family well.” Fan Xia’s gaze remained fixed on the window, her voice flowing like water, but her eyes mixed with a cold, dark light.

Rong Xiu looked at Fan Xia’s profile, the thin light of the clouds falling on her soft and beautiful features, sacred and inviolable. But uniquely, those two words “Wen family” seemed to contain an inexplicable coldness no matter how he heard them, not like repaying benefactors, but more like enemies.

After getting off the plane and checking into the hotel, the first thing to do was not to rest or experience the island’s scenery, but to rush to a dinner engagement.

The sanatorium on the island was a big project. If successful, it would greatly expand the commercial map of Shanhai Group, and the company’s stock price would double and double again. But if it failed, the stock price would also fluctuate accordingly.

Rong Xiu attached great importance to this, and Fan Xia dared not be negligent.

This dinner was to eat with local bosses and establish relationships.

In recent years, house prices on the island had soared. Fortunately, Rong Xiu had a keen eye and had entered the market early, planning ahead to encircle land, acquiring a large piece of land at an extremely low price.

The island has beautiful scenery and abundant sunshine. Besides being an excellent tourist destination, it is also a great place for leisure and retirement. Combined with the already high consumption here, establishing a high-end sanatorium here has very promising prospects. However, the premise is to establish good relationships with the local bigwigs, as these bigwigs are involved in extremely deep chains of interest.

At the dinner table, almost all were women, except for Rong Xiu and another man accompanying for drinks.

His background was not as deep as Rong Xiu’s, so naturally he became the object of teasing for these seasoned businesswomen, like a lamb waiting to be slaughtered, being forced to drink glass after glass, unable to refuse.

Fan Xia sat beside Rong Xiu, smelling the alcohol in the room, feeling disgusted in her heart.

It was hard to imagine how someone as cold and abstinent as Rong Xiu had previously faced the pursuit and blockade of a group of women alone. As a man, to establish himself in the women’s circle, he had to do better and be more ruthless than women.

Perhaps this was the reason why Rong Xiu was rumored to be ruthless and heartless in the outside world.

A group of people were toasting at the table, the alcohol gradually going to their heads, and someone even dared to come forward to toast Rong Xiu.

Fan Xia immediately stood up and smiled, “I’m sorry, our CEO is not used to the island’s weather and just took cephalosporin, so he can’t drink. I’ll drink on his behalf.”

The businesswoman laughed, “Good!”

Fan Xia tilted her head back and drank the white liquor in one gulp.

Rong Xiu’s hand hidden under the table tugged at her, “Don’t drink for me, your stomach isn’t good.”

Fan Xia said, “We can’t let you, a man, drink with that group of women, can we?”

“I’ve been used to it for so many years, and besides, if it really came to a drinking contest, they couldn’t outdrink me,” Rong Xiu said in a gentle tone.

Fan Xia was surprised, not expecting Rong Xiu to have such a high alcohol tolerance. Then that time at Lan Club, how much did he drink to become so drunk?

Fan Xia didn’t think too much about it. The overly luxurious lights of the hotel illuminated her beautiful face. She whispered in his ear, “The past is the past. From now on, you don’t need to get used to it. I’ll handle all your drinks for you.”

Her clear, slightly tipsy voice, like gossamer caressing his ear, warmth seeping into his ear, into his heart, tingling and stirring his soul.

Fan Xia had boasted, but not many people actually came to toast. In total, Fan Xia only drank three to five glasses, after all, not everyone could afford to offend the chairman of Shanhai Group.

Drinking culture is essentially a form of taming. Whoever has the lowest status gets oppressed, the big bully the small, the small bully the even smaller, like a biosphere. Obviously, Rong Xiu was the top predator in this feast, no one would be foolish enough to force him to drink. But Rong Xiu still looked at her with concern, several times when people came forward to toast, Rong Xiu wanted to block for her, but was stopped by Fan Xia each time.

“I’ve only had a few drinks, I’m fine,” Fan Xia said to him with still clear eyes as it was about to end.

Rong Xiu swallowed, not telling her that the aftereffects of this alcohol were even stronger than the Maotai he drank with Rong Yan that day.

After the drinking party ended, Fan Xia and Rong Xiu prepared to take a private car back to rest. But just as they walked out of the hotel, looking at the quiet sea within reach under the night sky, the cold sea breeze gently blowing, blowing her ink-like scattered hair, waves gently patting the soft sand, moonlight spilling on the rippling sea surface, silver light flowing.

Fan Xia gazed at the sea under the moon.

Rong Xiu stood beside her and waved for the private car driver to leave.

“Want to walk by the sea?” he asked.

“Sure,” Fan Xia smiled at him, her eyes slightly drunk. In the night that devoured everything, the faint light shone on her already fair skin, as if she would ascend to immortality the next moment.