Even after all the years that had passed since she’d last seen him, Lu Ran hadn’t changed at all. He seemed as if he were as gentle and scholarly as ever.
Gu Qingcheng smiled brightly at Lu Ran, her face, touched by the golden rays of the morning sun, glowing and radiating joy as she said, “Elder Brother Ran.”
“Wow, it’s been three years since I’ve seen you. Qingcheng, you look much prettier than you did before.” After checking her out, Lu Ran continued, “But you seem to have lost a lot of weight.”
Any woman, regardless of how enticingly beautiful she was or how great her figure was, would always feel that she was too fat.
And Gu Qingcheng was no exception.
Despite feeling elated at hearing Lu Ran’s compliments on how pretty and thin she looked, she acted as if she felt unhappy, even insulted, as she teasingly responded, “Elder Brother Ran, are you saying that I used to be fat and ugly?”
Lu Ran replied, “Qingcheng, ha, ha, ha, you’re misunderstanding what I said.”
Gu Qingcheng kept it up. “Elder Brother Ran, I’m simply repeating what you said.”
Su Nianhua was about to speak up and join in the conversation between Lu Ran and Gu Qingcheng when he suddenly caught a glimpse of the expressionless Tang Shi walking toward them. He called out, “Bro.”
At that same moment, Lu Ran was saying, “Confucius had great foresight when he left us with this truth: it is nearly impossible to live with an immature woman or a small-minded man.”
Gu Qingcheng grunted and scoffed at Lu Ran. She was about to answer him with, “If I’m the immature woman, then you must be the small-minded man…” when she heard Su Nianhua addressing Tang Shi. She immediately turned her head and noticed Tang Shi walking up, about two steps away from Lu Ran.
Instantly, Gu Qingcheng’s words caught in her throat, and her charming smile faded away. Instead, she stood at attention, looking official as she gave Tang Shi a token smile and greeted him in a gentle tone, “CEO Tang.”
Tang Shi didn’t respond except to look at her with emotionless eyes.
However, his mind was in turmoil as he was thinking, “It was true that she was also smiling at him. But, compared to the smile she’d had on her face a few moments ago, this smile that she gave him now was vastly different.
“The smile that she gave Lu Ran had come straight from her heart, while the one that she gave him was superficial and lacked soul. It was obviously a put-on smile that she felt was necessary in addressing her boss.
“It was as though the woman with that enticing, radiant smile that had illuminated her beautiful face just a few moments ago was a totally different person.”
Knowing that Tang Shi was staring at her, Gu Qingcheng again felt a surge of nervousness rising within her. A stunned uneasiness became evident on her face.
When Tang Shi noticed this change in Gu Qingcheng’s expression, he became increasingly aloof also.
Sensing the growing tension in the air, Su Nianhua spoke up quickly to try and moderate the situation, “Bro, what are you doing here?’
Tang Shi continued to stare at Gu Qingcheng for two more seconds before he calmly turned his gaze to Su Nianhua and replied in his usual icy tone, “I came to pick up the cooperation agreement.”