Lu Qiang reached the restaurant with his assistant. The restaurant was famous for serving ancient dishes from the Qing dynasty, which were termed 'lost recipes' as these were forgotten during the austere Mao era. The menu also included the tasty dishes like classic Peking duck, roasted leg of inner Mongolian lamb, rib stick Shaanxi noodles, and many more.
Lu Qiang entered the private room that had been booked for the meeting. The six-seater table had a green flower vase adorning it. The interior was an elegant mix of both ancient and modern style, just like the menu.
"Boss, our guests will arrive in fifteen minutes. There was a slight delay because of traffic jams on the highway," Xiao Min informed his boss after answering the call from Ning Gouzhi's assistant. Ning Gouzhi was the business head of the Ning Group. Lu Qiang was busy looking through the material on his cell phone and only nodded in reply. With a small 'okay,' he excused himself to leave for the washroom.
On the other side of the restaurant.
Jiang Yang and Jiang Yuyan entered the restaurant and chose to sit in the open dining area, where many tables were set in a singular luxurious hall.
No sooner had they sat on their chairs than the waiter arrived. He greeted them and handed over the menu cards before leaving them to decide what they wished to eat.
"What do you want to have?" Jiang Yang asked as he went through the menu.
"Anything will do! I can't think from hunger. Just order whatever you want."
"Okay!"
"Brother Yang, I need to go to the washroom," she said.
"Go, then. You're not a little girl anymore. Do I need to hold your hand and guide you to the door?" Jiang Yang was still looking at the menu, but he had a teasing smile on his face.
Jiang Yuyan groaned in disbelief. "Can't you be serious for once?" She asked frowning.
"Serious? Okay, then, I'll take you there. Get up," he said, pretending to be prepared to get up.
"You are impossible!" She glared.
"I know." He smiled, delighted after seeing her annoyed expression. To annoy her was his favorite pastime.
She stood up, stomping her feet as she left for the washroom.
Jiang Yang looked at his sister, who was walking away in a fury. He had a pleasant smile on his face and his eyes filled with love and warmth. "Nothing is more fortunate than having a lovely little sister, and nothing is more exciting than annoying her," he murmured.
The waiters were shifting things from the trolleys on the corridor Jiang Yuyan was walking through. A cart had been left at the bend near the washroom, and the briskly walking Jiang Yuyan, who was cursing her brother, didn't notice the piece of cloth hanging out from the bottom of the stuffed trolley.
Her feet caught the cloth as she took a right turn, making her lose control of herself and bump into someone as she fell forward.
Lu Qiang, at the same time, was turning to take a left from the washroom, when someone bumped into him. Before he could comprehend further, he fell on the floor.
In the fraction of a second, Lu Qiang was lying on the floor with Jiang Yuyan on top of him. She had closed her eyes to brace herself for the pain from the fall. But she was surprised when she landed on a warm and muscular body instead.
She felt her lips touch something soft and opened her eyes. She saw a pair of black eyes staring back at her. For a split second, their lips touched. They remained frozen until Jiang Yuyan recoiled, realizing that it was close to a kiss. She pushed herself off his body and was about to hurry when she slipped and collided with his body yet again.
Li Qiang cried in pain and clutched at her arms tightly.
The cry startled her, and she didn't dare to move. "I-I am sorry. A-are you okay?"
"M-mo...ve....a…w…ay." Lu Qiang gritted his teeth. She couldn't make out his words through his pain.
What?" she asked, still lying on top of him.
"You are crushing my grandfather's dream to have great-grandchildren," he said, pain evident in his eyes as he pointed downwards. Having answered the question, the man lay his head back down on the ground and groaned out loud.
Horror seized her as she realized something. She moved away from his body, looking down at her legs and understood what exactly she had done to pain the man so.
Her leg had hit his crown jewels when she slipped and fell again.
She scrambled up, this time, very carefully. Lu Qiang got up as well but kept sitting on the floor, hoping this encounter wouldn't extinguish his grandfather's wishes.
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