She might have suspected his intentions in the beginning but his obsequious and ingratiating manner was indisputable. If a person like him wanted to court a girl, he would not shower her with such amount of respect. So it was easy to speculate that he didn't hold any sort of intentions towards her.
"It was Mr. Li. wasn't he?"
Chen Yi noticed Mr. Xu trembling slightly at the mention of her future hubby name.
"Ms. Chen, I would be very grateful if you didn't take it to heart about what happened earlier."
"I didn't..."
"It was all my petty manager fault" Mr. Xu continued in his servile manner. "I fired him immediately and even filed a report against him to police. I even kicked out Lui Chao and everyone who dared to offend Ms. Chen..."
"Its alright Mr. Xu" Chen Yi said unable to apprehend the reasons behind Mr. Xu's overly unctuous attitude.
Was Mr. Li so scary that this poor business person was already on the verge of tears?
"So Ms. Chen didn't take any offense at my negligence?"
"I didn't"
Mr. Xu bloomed like a flower and it looked like a great burden had been lifted off his shoulders.
Chen Yi: "..." This all situation felt a little strange to her.
"Alright, Ms. Chen. I've personally arranged a place for you!" Mr. Xu enthusiastically said: "It is much better than the previous one where Ms. Chen stayed."
At her sides, aunties were whispering and gossiping fervently. They had their ears wide open as they eagerly listened to the conservation between Chen Yi and Xu Chyngun. Of course, now they regretted not being in good terms with Chen Yi.
The apartment Mr. Xu had arranged for her. It was in the best areas in X city. And it seemed like it had been renovated recently.
"Mr. Xu that was really not necessary. I'm afraid I might not be able to afford it."
"I dare not charge Mr. Li fiance!"
Chen Yi sighed. This man was trying to appease her as his life depended on it. It was when she received a text.
Gu Chiantao: "Where are you? I've been waiting for almost an hour now."
Crap.
Chen Yi had almost forgotten that she had to meet with Gu Chiantao today. After completely assuring Mr. Xu that his family would not be assassinated nor would he be kidnapped and tortured to death for discomforting her, she finally succeeded in making Mr. Xu leave who was adamant to stand by her door all night to serve her personally
She hurriedly got rid of that formal dress and got into casual clothing.
Getting a taxi, she arrived at that small coffee shop where Chen Yi had invited her previously. She saw a woman with short shoulder-length, black hair sitting at a table by the window. A red lipstick adorned her lips and produced a fine contrast to her pale skin. She was deeply immersed in her cell phone.
"Gu Chiantao?"
Gu Chiantao lifted up her head to look at Chen Yi and smiled amiably. Her black, shimmering eyes held inexplicable warmth. Chen Yi couldn't tell whether it was genuine or deceitful.
"Chen Yi." She greeted; her tone was soft.
After ordering for coffee, both of them chatted for a while.
"I think that you already know why did I ask you to meet me?"
Gu Chiantao lips curled up; her eyes sparkled.
"I'm not sure about your real purpose but I guess that today's meeting has everything to do with Fu Liling accident and Chen Ying."
"Fu Liling told me that you said you saw Chen Ying pushing her into the pool" Chen Yi went straight to the point without beating about the bush.
"Yes. I did say that."
"So is it true?"
"Why else would I say that if it was not true?",
Chen Yi took a sip of her warm coffee. The slightly sour and warm taste filled her mouth with a soothing feeling in the bitter cold of winter. She silently pondered over her next words.
"It can be true and it can't be true at the same time," Chen Yi said subtly.
If Chen Ying was behind that incident, Chen Yi would take action against her. But if Chen Ying wasn't the one who pushed Fu Liling, Chen Yi wasn't a foolish person to be played by others as their chess piece to get their revenge by using her.
"What do you mean?"
"I'm very well aware of the enmity between you and Chen Ying." Chen Yi voice was calm as she took another sip.
"What enmity?" Gu Chiantao was quick to mask the shock that appeared in her eyes and replaced it with cluelessness.
Chen Yi's lips curled up into a tempting smile. Her eyes glinted with a sharpness. She looked like a cunning fox that was able to accomplish everything in this world with its tricks.
"Gu Chiantao. I think you know very well what enmity I'm talking about." Chen Yi said retaining the ambiguity in her words, "So you have every reason to lie and create trouble for Chen Ying."
Gu Chiantao fell silent as if she was in a dilemma.
"I'm aware of the illicit relations between Chen Ying and your fiance, the second son of Jiang family, Jiang Li" Chen Yi revealed bluntly.
Chen Yi saw an emotion flicker in Gu Chiantao's eyes. Gu Chiantao smiled and looked down to conceal the loathing she held in her eyes for Chen Ying.
"I've always heard from others that the eldest daughter of Chen family, Chen Yi is a naive girl to be easily swindled out of her assets by her uncles. But meeting you today contradicts all my previous believes. Seems like rumors are always not always true."
To be aware of the relation between Chen Ying and Jiang Li, Chen Yi was definitely not a naive and clueless girl. The one who would keep his eyes and ears open all the time would know such details.
Chen Yi silently listened to her words. Once upon a time, she was naive. But that was all in the past. A past she had long ago left behind.
"So were you lying or not?"
"No, I wasn't." Gu Chiantao took out her phone. "I thought I wouldn't need to show it to you to make you believe me but now I guess..."
Gu Chiantao played a video.