Chapter 236: Exchange Meeting
"I’ll take Zijin home."
Lu Yunque knew that Zero One and his men would do whatever Yun Zijin told them to.
To keep Yun Zijin from taking her own car home, Lu Yunque made sure to arrange things with Zero One first.
After all, the other bodyguards all took their orders from Zero One.
Yun Zijin’s anger flared up quickly, but it faded just as fast. In the end, she still went with Lu Yunque and got into his car to go home.
"Oh, right. I have a summit to attend tomorrow. I was wondering if you got an invitation? It’s the National Research Summit."
In the car, Yun Zijin recalled the invitation Lin Yan had given her. She thought about how Lu Yunque was, after all, President Xiao Lu of the Lu Group.
Since the summit was also intended to help major research institutes find investors, the Lu Family, being one of the four great families, must have received an invitation.
"I did. If you’re going, we can go together."
In truth, the four great families of Dijing received invitations every year, but Lu Yunque didn’t always attend.
When he was too busy, he would give the invitation to one of his subordinates and have them go in his place.
Still, they were the nation’s treasures, so Lu Yunque would at least show them that much respect.
"Okay."
With Lu Yunque by her side, Yun Zijin wouldn’t be going into the summit completely blind.
Lin Yan had only given her the invitation and couldn’t help with anything else.
"Then I’ll pick you up tomorrow, and we can go for a dress fitting."
Lu Yunque was, of course, delighted to be attending the summit with Yun Zijin.
’It would be even better if they could show up in matching outfits,’ he thought.
Yun Zijin nodded, not particularly concerned about the matter of formal attire.
The car soon arrived back at Xingyu Mansion. Just as Yun Zijin was about to get out, Lu Yunque grabbed her by the wrist.
"Aren’t you forgetting something?"
Lu Yunque stared at Yun Zijin, his gaze intense.
"What?"
Yun Zijin clearly didn’t get what Lu Yunque was implying.
Lu Yunque sighed in resignation and had to spell it out for her. "A goodbye kiss. I hear that’s what other couples do. I think we should, too."
Yun Zijin was speechless.
"Don’t tell me you’ve gotten addicted to kissing today?"
’I have reason to be suspicious,’ Yun Zijin thought, ’and I have proof.’
But Lu Yunque gave her no chance to refuse. He pulled her back, wrapped an arm around her waist, and leaned in for a kiss.
By the time Yun Zijin finally got out of the car, five minutes had passed.
She was starting to suspect that Lu Yunque must have been a kissing monster in a past life.
*
「On the day of the National Research Summit.」
Lu Yunque arrived at Xingyu Mansion at 8:00 AM, just as Yun Zijin was waking up.
When Aunt Wang knocked on her door, she was still a bit groggy and confused.
Yun Zijin was shocked to see a perfectly put-together Lu Yunque standing there.
SLAM! She shut the door, quickly washed her face, and tidied up her disheveled appearance before finally emerging from her room.
"Why are you here so early?"
Yun Zijin had figured he would pick her up for the fitting around 10:00 AM at the earliest.
After all, the drive from his place took about an hour.
"I was too excited to sleep last night. The moment I woke up, I came over to see you."
Now that their relationship was official, Lu Yunque no longer tried to hide his lovestruck nature from Yun Zijin.
After he’d gotten home last night, his mind had been completely filled with her. The image of their kiss, in particular, had been playing on a constant loop.
’With my mind that active, how could I have possibly slept?’
"Aren’t you going to be sleepy today, then?"
To be honest, Yun Zijin was impressed that he could pull an all-nighter and still show up at Xingyu Mansion by eight.
"Not at all. I often have to stay up late for work. Besides, I didn’t go completely without sleep. I just went to bed very late—I think I finally managed to drift off around dawn."
"Have you had breakfast?"
"Not yet. Aunt Wang said she already told the kitchen to prepare a plate for me."
’It hasn’t even been that long, and he’s already calling her Aunt Wang so casually,’ Yun Zijin thought.
"All right. If you’re sleepy, you can take a nap in the guest room. I still need to get ready after breakfast, so it’s not like we’re leaving right away."
Yun Zijin had only done her basic skincare routine, but she couldn’t possibly go out with just that. Even if she wasn’t putting on makeup, sunscreen was non-negotiable.
Lu Yunque nodded, ready to follow her instructions to the letter.
"Let’s head to the dining room."
Yun Zijin pulled Lu Yunque along into the dining room.
"You have a sensitive stomach, so you should stick to something light."
Yun Zijin moved the greasier dishes aside, leaving Lu Yunque with only soy milk, a bowl of congee, and a boiled egg.
It was a typical Chinese-style breakfast.
Lu Yunque was still very receptive to her suggestions, eating whatever she put in front of him.
After breakfast, Yun Zijin shooed Lu Yunque off to the guest room to rest while she went back to her own room to finish getting ready.
Since they would be getting their hair and makeup professionally done at the fitting, Yun Zijin only applied sunscreen and nothing else.
However, to let Lu Yunque rest a little longer, she waited until 10:00 AM to go to the guest room and wake him.
In the guest room, Lu Yunque was a light sleeper, and he woke the moment Yun Zijin opened the door.
"What time is it?"
Having just woken up, his voice had a husky, magnetic quality it normally lacked.
"It’s 10:00 on the dot. Get ready, and we can head out."
Lu Yunque had booked the stylist for the entire day, meaning the stylist was at their exclusive service. There was no need to worry about being late.
"I’ll wait outside."
Afraid she might walk in on an R-rated scene if she stayed, Yun Zijin tactfully left the room.
"Miss, should I pack some snacks for you? These styling sessions can take hours. You might not have time for lunch."
"You could at least have something to tide you over."
Aunt Wang was worried to death that Yun Zijin would go hungry.
"Aunt Wang, I’ll have food delivered later. I won’t let Zijin go hungry," Lu Yunque chimed in.
If he were alone, he wouldn’t have bothered. But with Yun Zijin to consider, Lu Yunque was far more thorough.
"That works too. Well then, Mr. Lu, you’d better not forget. Miss gets cranky when she’s hungry."
’And when Miss is in a bad mood, she makes sure everyone else is in a worse one.’
Aunt Wang didn’t say that last part out loud.
After all, in her eyes, her young miss was absolute perfection.
"Rest assured, I’ve already placed the order. The food will be delivered on time."
Lu Yunque was confident on this point.
"There’s no need to fuss over it. If I get hungry, I can order something myself," Yun Zijin said.
She certainly wasn’t about to let herself starve.
The pair soon left the villa. Zero One and his men had already brought the car up from the underground garage.
Since Yun Zijin was riding with Lu Yunque, Zero One and his team only brought their "Randomly Spend" brand minivan.
Lu Yunque’s chauffeur was, as always, seated firmly at his post.
The stylist Lu Yunque had booked was the nationally renowned Wen Sier. His name might have sounded foreign, but he was a born-and-bred citizen of Hua Country.
"Mr. Lu, Miss Yun."
The moment Lu Yunque and Yun Zijin stepped into Wen Sier’s studio, someone came forward to greet them.
"This is Wen Sier," Lu Yunque explained. "He’ll be handling our styling today."