Hua Xiaomo was stunned. By the time she reacted, it was already too late to avoid it—his actions were clearly a feigned cover-up.
To put it plainly, in that instant, the touch had slipped past. It was light, so light that it almost sent her soul soaring.
A pair of hands steadied her shoulders. Soon after, Long Shangxuan released her with a smile and looked at the emcee. "She’s my fiancée, may we enter?"
The emcee’s face flushed with embarrassment as she replied, "Alright then, Mr. Long, please come in."
After all, those who could enter were all major clients approved by headquarters. The staff generally couldn’t afford to offend them, yet they also had to follow procedures.
Long Shangxuan quickly led the still somewhat distracted Hua Xiaomo into the venue.
"Are you okay? I’m sorry about earlier. I had no choice," Long Shangxuan quickly explained once they were inside.
Hua Xiaomo met his gaze, a shy blush spreading across her face. "I’m fine, Brother Long." He actually said I’m his fiancée?
"That’s good. I was worried you’d blame me and stop talking to me. That would be a serious sin!" Long Shangxuan joked with a smile.
"How could I?" Hua Xiaomo said, somewhat bashfully. Then her gaze shifted, and she became inexplicably nervous. ɴᴇᴡ ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀʀᴇ ᴘᴜʙʟɪsʜᴇᴅ ᴏɴ 𝔫𝔬𝔳𝔢𝔩✶𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙚✶𝕟𝕖𝕥
She then looked at the paintings filling the hall. "I never expected to see so many paintings here that I’ve dreamed of learning from..."
"Well, take your time to appreciate them," Long Shangxuan smiled with Youya. He then accompanied Hua Xiaomo, and they slowly made their way through the gallery, examining the paintings.
Both from the same school and sharing similar professional interests, they found each other’s insights into the paintings rather unique as they discussed them.
By noontime, Hua Xiaomo was still not ready to leave. Yet, she remembered she was supposed to go to her job at McDonald’s that afternoon.
After all, leaving things halfway was not in her nature.
However, the handsome man by her side had already deduced her thoughts.
"Don’t go there anymore, Xiao Mo. For you, the best option would be to study abroad. But if you can’t go, you shouldn’t waste your youth in such a place. If you’re willing... come to my advertising company," he suggested.
"Compared to your dreams, although this might not be the best place, isn’t it the pursuit of another Chapter in life?" Long Shangxuan earnestly invited her. His phoenix eyes brimmed with a bright luster.
He was well aware of her talent, which was evident from her early painting "Sunset Glow"—full of extraordinary quality and overflowing with brilliance. Becoming his assistant would definitely alleviate a lot of his pressure. Moreover, of course, there were other reasons as well.
Within Long Shangxuan’s eyes lay a very deep and inscrutable glimmer, mixed with cunning and intelligence, utterly imperceptible to others.
All that remained was the image of his humble and gentlemanly exterior.
"..." Hua Xiaomo’s heart was tumultuous. Actually, I’m not too surprised he asked me to join his company today. It’s just that I don’t want to trouble him . I don’t know why, but the closer we get, the more I’m afraid of being looked down upon, of people saying I only got into such a big company because of connections.
"Do I really qualify?" Hua Xiaomo looked at him, her eyes clear but her worry palpable. I’m just a university student who hasn’t even received her diploma yet.
If I could work at his company, that would be a stroke of tremendous luck! Wow, I’ve always really liked Brother Long. I wonder if I can actually work at his company!