This chapter has been translated by Atlas Studios. All credits belong to them.
"Don't move," he whispered in her ear. "I will not take advantage of you."
Four Seasons Restaurant had an elegant ambiance and the tables were widely spaced apart with decorative plants between tables for privacy. In the dim light, the audience could only see Li Lei's sturdy stature enveloping her petite figure as he went in for a kiss. Meanwhile, the girl looked up at him, slightly flustered and confused. With all the light effects, they made a perfect portrait.
Go on, kiss her already...
As they immersed in the beautiful image before them, a few young ladies and gentlemen had held their breaths involuntarily as they grabbed their partners' hands.
Li Lei's lips were looking for Xia Ling's, slowly but surely.
"Don't be afraid, don't be afraid..." He reassured her quietly.
She was confused and unsure whether she should push him away. His warm exhalation brushed against her ears and brows, causing her to flush as her heart rate increased.
Just as his lips were about to touch hers...
"I admit defeat." Pei Ziheng's cold voice was heard.
A tinge of regret flashed past Li Lei's eyes as he reluctantly let go of Xia Ling.Really! Why did Pei Ziheng have to admit defeat so easily, I wanted to hold Xiao Ling a little longer...
Dissatisfied, he glared at Pei Ziheng. "Are you sure you want to admit defeat?"
"You won." Pei Ziheng had enunciated every syllable clearly. When Li Lei was holding Xia Ling, he felt a strange surge of jealousy gnawing at him, but nobody had noticed how awful he looked then. He took great efforts to resist the urge to pull them apart. No matter what, he would never allow Li Lei to kiss Ye Xingling just like that! He would not allow it!
Pei Ziheng was not sure what got into him either as he spurted those words the moment he saw Li Lei's lips getting closer to Xia Ling's.
"Alright, alright. The case is closed." The emcee smiled and announced quickly, for fear of either party going back on the result. "I now declare, the specially crafted ice-cream of the year goes to Mr. Li!"
The music came on as a group of waiters emerged with trays. Before the guests who looked on in envy, they politely bent over and placed the ice-cream on Li Lei and Xia Ling's table.
Li Lei did not spare Pei Ziheng another look as he took his seat with Xia Ling and enjoyed their well-deserved ice-cream.
The ice-cream was exquisitely crafted — vanilla, matcha, almond, strawberry, chocolate... 19 different flavors of ice-cream stacked up like a hill and topped with red bean paste and almond flakes along with some blueberry jam and mind leaves. It looked like an exciting dish and the colors were enough to lift one's spirit.
Xia Ling had loved ice-cream since she was a child and as she dug into the ice-cream now, she savored every lingering flavor of rich vanilla. Even if it did not cost a bomb, this ice-cream definitely was valued at a prime price among its counterparts.
She smiled in bliss.
Li Lei sat across her and watched her enjoy her ice-cream, and then turned towards the waiter and whispered something to him.
A while later, the waiter served a beverage.
Li Lei carefully shifted the beverage towards Xia Ling, "Ginger tea, to warm the stomach." Girls are naturally weaker in composition and should take greater care of their health. He was there to look out for her when she missed out on such details.
Xia Ling looked at the ginger tea before her and was stunned for a moment, but what followed was a pleasant smile.
Truth was, she had no idea how to face him even now. When she was held by him, they were so close to each other that the thought of it was enough to make her blush once again.
She dared not look straight into his eyes. Instead, she looked down in embarrassment.
"You have some ice-cream on your nose, like a little kitten." And yet, he was still teasing her. "How did I not realize all this while that you actually love ice-cream? Next year we should come again and play the same game. Even if our opponents don't admit defeat midway, we're still sure to win the game."
She turned red upon hearing that.
Li Lei laughed. "Are you shy?"
She looked up and glared hard at him, half embarrassed and half angry.
However, he was not the least bit angry as he continued digging into his ice-cream slowly. "This is really not bad, it's worth the 10 million dollars and the effort I put into my act."
She bit her lip and considered for a while before writing on the tablet. If Pei Ziheng had not admitted defeat, would you... have gone on?
He raised a brow and grinned deviously, "What do you think?"
Xia Ling blushed again. She kept the tablet and ignored him.
"There, there." He pacified her. "I've already said I won't force you to do anything you're unwilling to do. You're in the entertainment industry, you should know what playing on angles is all about, right?"
Of course, she knew, it meant that two people appeared to be kissing when they, in fact, were not, due to the lights and angle in play. The restaurant had very dim lighting and the seats were a distance away. If he did it well it would be difficult to notice that they were just putting on an act.
She looked at him, half skeptical. She was having mixed feelings, was it relief or disappointment?
Here they were joking and teasing about.
On the other side, Pei Ziheng's look was awful and the atmosphere was icy cold.
Pei Ziheng's line of sight never left Xia Ling's table from the moment the ice-cream was served. As he saw her smiling and blushing, he felt as if his heart had been stabbed as he fumed at the sight. He could not understand his wretched feelings, it must be because this cheap woman was so happy and blissful! His Xiao Ling was lying six feet under the ground while this cheap woman who insulted her could enjoy her ice-cream and seduce other men!
Ye Xingling...
He clenched his fist tightly, swearing to teach her a good lesson!
The next day came.
Xia Ling had eaten a little too much the previous day and was having some indigestion. She woke up heavy-headed and tossed on the bed, refusing to get up.
Sister Mai Na looked at her, unsure whether finding her lazing in bed was funny or disapproving. "You've only moved in a while ago and Boss has already pampered you to this extent? Where's the Ye Xingling who used to wake up early every morning to practice her singing?"
She wanted to assert that it had nothing to do with Li Lei, but the thought of suffering from indigestion precisely because of having dinner with him made her back down. The ice-cream was simply too good, she wanted to go again next year...
Just as she was fantasizing about the ice-cream, Sister Mai Na rolled up the newspapers and patted her head with it. "Take it and read the news."