Ten Years of Yearning. My Love, Let Me Protect You.

Back in China…

Currently, Sheng Haotin had come to an appointment at the renowned restaurant of the Ming city. Both Wang Haixiao and Ji Yanli had accompanied him. 

Usually, he didn\'t care for these meetings. Neither Sheng Haotin required to come personally, just that he had free time today. Thus he appeared today which was totally unexpected to Ji Yanli.

There was no need for the two of them to tag along with Sheng Haotin. But, Ji Yanli had a meeting with a secretary of another company. 

She had booked two rooms for the two business appointments. After they had reached the destination, the three of them entered.

"Mr. Sheng, Welcome." When the owner of the restaurant, a middle-aged man, was notified that Sheng Haotin had come, he personally came to greet him.

Sheng Haotin went ahead and said, "Mr. Lu, we just have to come for our business. No need to be so polite. Also, you don\'t need to see us all the way, we can go by ourselves."

"Of course, of course..." Mr. Lu awkwardly smiled. The underlying meaning of Sheng Haotin\'s words was \'Don\'t disturb me.\' He clearly understood. Thus, he didn\'t talk anymore and let them pass by.

Thus, the three of them walked inside without saying further. The time had already come and they were certain that the other people had already arrived before them.

"Make sure to give the best service of our restaurant. Also, give special care to the food they will be served." Mr. Lu told the manager beside him.

"Yes, I Understood." The woman bowed and then hurriedly went away. 

"It will be a piece of big news if it can be leaked to the media that Sheng Haotin has come to our restaurant."

"Don\'t try anything stupid that will land our Lu family in danger." Mr. Lu scolded his overexcited son who seemed as if he would dash forward to scream this piece of news to the whole world. At his father\'s warning, he didn\'t calm down even a little bit, rather sneakily put his phone back in his pocket.

"It\'s been nine years since the last time Sheng Haotin has come here. The last time was when his nearly bankrupt company had regained its reputation and he fired many executives..." Mr. Lu stopped at this step. He wouldn\'t ever forget the storm that Sheng Haotin had caused that made the whole business industry go into a frenzy. 

"What is it ,father?!" The youngster excitedly asked. His hands were itching to post this news on his Weibo page. If his father wasn\'t before him, he would have done it.

"Nothing. Just don\'t try to do anything foolish." Mr. Lu warned for the second time. Then, the youngster finally resigned to his father. Then, both of them went back to the office room of Mr. Lu.

Even though this restaurant is the best in the Ming city, there are also other restaurants that always compete with them. Sheng Haotin is a figure many people in high society respect. If they know that he has come today, they will flock to this restaurant to get a glimpse of him. 

Mr. Lu\'s son also thought like this but the man knew clearly if anything like this happened, no big figure would ever come here as it would seem this place couldn\'t protect their privacy. Thus, he also severely warned other persons who knew about it to remain silent. He didn\'t want his restaurant to become number two again!

"Uncle Sheng, this is the room where you will meet up with them. I have booked the opposite room to meet another spokesperson of a company to discuss a project. If everything goes well, we will send our contract to them."

"Good." Sheng Haotin replied in a definitive attitude that had a tinge of approval. Ji Yanli gently saw as the other two people entered the room. Then she turned around and walked into the opposite room.

The room was decorated in various kinds of furniture which gave off western vibes. But the wall had large frames in which there were several poems of famous people of various dynasties of China.

Ji Yanli checked her hand watch and saw she had at least thirty minutes before the opposite party would come. It would have been okay for her to come later. Bur when Sheng Haotin knew that he asked her to tag along. Thus, she had some free time to spare for her and walked around in the room and admired the poems on the wall.

A waiter came into the room and saw only she was there. He clearly remembered the thing the manager had instructed him. Thus without disturbing her, he retreated and didn\'t make any sound.

Ji Yanli stood before a vase and intensely stared at it. Five minutes later, a knock was heard at the door. "Come in."

As Ji Yanli said, the door opened and a man in a white shirt and blue pants entered the room. Ji Yanli faintly smiled when she saw the school bag of the youngster.

"Miao San?" To confirm it was the right person, Ji Yanli inquired. The man hurriedly adjusted his eyeglasses and turned at her, his eyes had some confusion but he nodded. 

Ji Yanli\'s smile broadened when the young man nodded. Afterwards, the man walked towards her and bowed slightly.

"Hello, I am Miao San. One of the founder of the Er\'Miao Technologies also one of the people who is a in charge of the little company. Thanks a lot for giving us the valuable opportunity to work together with you. I,I..." 

Ji Yanli had the same business-like face as she listened to. Just that she didn\'t expect such a young man to come to meet her. Nonetheless, she noticed he was very nervous and didn\'t lift his head all the time he was talking and continued bowing. Ji Yanli directly cut in as she said,  

"Hmm. Even though your company is a new one, our CEO has seen there is potential in your new company. Come, let\'s discuss it while we sit down." The handsome young man finally lifted his head and glanced at Ji Yanli. Upon looking at the charmingly woman he blushed and turned away.

"Miss Ji, won\'t CEO Sheng come? I thought..." He sounded anxious when he asked. Ji Yanli had already walked beside a chair when she stopped.

"It looks like our Xiao San* isn\'t satisfied with me but rather he would prefer CEO Sheng instead." Ji Yanli teased the young man. At that, the man turned redder. When he saw Ji Yanli was going to sit down, he spoke out urgently.

"Miss Ji, wait!" Ji Yanli blinked her eyes and turned back, only to see a bothered Miao San.

"Let me…" He walked ahead and pulled the chair for her. "You can sit now." Ji Yanli sighed and then sat down. Afterwards, she crossed her legs and stared straight at the man.

"Well, you can sit now."

A tensed man glanced around the room. He was nervous and tried to say something. Ji Yanli put her left hand on the table and tapped on it. Then she squinted her eyes and spoke, "Xiao Miao, don\'t forget that I am the Secretary of the Sheng Industry and Corporation. My time is hundred times more valuable than yours. What are you dilly dallying for?"

When Miao San heard her, he hurriedly put down his school bag to another seat and wanted to sit on a chair far away from her. But, Ji Yanli pointed at the chair beside her and said, "Sit here."

Thus, the poor rabbit didn\'t have any other choice but to sit beside her. "Secretary Ji, I have come straight from my university. Thus, I didn\'t have time to change into a proper suite."

"I can see that. It\'s alright." Then, the door was knocked again and a waiter came. 

"Honourable guests, would you like to order something?" At the reminder, Ji Yanli nodded. Thus, the person came and placed two menu cards before them. 

"Order the food you like." After Ji Yanli had said, she ticked on the dishes she always prefer to eat. Miao San\'s sight first fell on the top dishes of the menu. His heart bleed just looking at the string of zeros those had. Then, he glanced downwards and saw there wasn\'t any food that didn\'t have an overwhelming price.

\'A little pot of wine soaked dumplings is 5000 qian?! These robbers!!!\' He adjusted his glasses and shot a piercing glare at the waiter. The waiter didn\'t seem to have been affected by his short-lived glance though. 

He had a professional smile just like Ji Yanli and was staring on the table, ready to do his job properly. Ji Yanli had finally finished ticking the food she would have. Then, she turned beside her and saw the young man didn\'t ticked anything yet.

"Xiao Miao, hurry."

Miao San nodded and then in haste, he ticked the last dish of the menu. Then, he handed the black menu to the waiter. The waiter\'s eyes quivered when he saw it. Then turned towards Ji Yanli and spoke out stifl , without any emotion, "Miss, this...:"

The waiter was a person who had been working here for nearly five years and he knew just by taking a single peek of a person of which class he/she was. From the way Miao San had acted just now, he knew it was his first time coming here.

Ji Yanli took the menu and glanced at it. The menu was long enough but surprisingly her sight caught the bold tick at the bottom. She smiled and then asked, "Are you sure you will only order this?"

Miao San nodded his head vigorously. The dish he had chosen just now was of 1000 qian and he didn\'t have the heart to order anything above of this.

Ji Yanli\'s mouth rose as she chuckled, \'Interesting\'.

Miao San thought something was wrong. Thus he raised her head and peeped on the menu and stared wide eyed at the thing he had just ticked.

"I see. Xiao Miao only wants water as his lunch…" Ji Yanli\'s voice drifted towards his ears and it made him blush.

\'Man, it\'s daylight robbery! 1000 qian for one jug of spring water?! The heck!\'