CHAPTER 496: CHAPTER 21: THE INTERWEAVING OF FATE_2

Shen Yinian listened for a long time without a word. It should be noted that his appearance resembled his father’s by at least eighty percent, and here he was still a diamond bachelor—so how come no one was pursuing him so fervently?

"What did you say?" Lin Xiaoguai was stunned, "A state banquet?"

Shen Chi nodded, "Isn’t the millennium approaching? They are placing a lot of importance on this state banquet and hope that your gift shop can provide a batch of fruit wine."

He paused, "According to their wishes, they also hope that you can personally provide two kinds of Chinese-style pastries."

Chinese-style pastries had been limited-time freebies during past events held by the gift shop. Although they were freebies, they became universally liked by customers, many of whom even wanted to buy them afterward. Unfortunately, Lin Xiaoguai was not interested in doing business with such short shelf-life food, leaving many customers no choice but to leave disappointed.

However, her good reputation had spread.

"Isn’t this taking it a bit too seriously?" Lin Xiaoguai asked, somewhat surprised.

It’s not like state banquets hadn’t been held in previous years.

"It’s not about taking it too seriously, it’s that the higher-ups are now confident," Shen Chi said, in a good mood.

Lin Xiaoguai was initially stunned, then she realized, yes, the millennium was here, and China had indeed started to gain a firm footing internationally.

"If it weren’t for the fact that having the recipe for your shop’s products would be useless, they probably would want to ask for it," Shen Chi remembered something and said with a bit of amusement.

He knew there must be some reasoning behind it, but since Wanwan didn’t say, he wouldn’t press the matter.

"Hey, wait, the items for the state banquet must be in large quantities, right?" Lin Xiaoguai asked.

"Of course, which is why I suggest you start preparing right away; there isn’t much time left," Shen Chi reminded her.

On matters of national importance like this, both knew without discussion that the other would not shirk responsibility.

With the state banquet preparations, Lin Xiaoguai, who was initially somewhat free, became completely busy, while on the other hand, Shen Chi encountered an unpleasant situation.

"Throw her out!" Shen Chi ordered with an icy expression.

Xu Meimei had a sullen face, her hair draped over her shoulders, only wrapped in a bath towel, shivering as she looked at him, "No... don’t, Shen Chi, I, I like you. I don’t need you to marry me, I just want to be with you, I want to give myself to you."

As she said the last words, even with her shivering from the cold, her cheeks flushed with embarrassment.

"Don’t make me repeat myself," Shen Chi’s tone dropped in temperature again.

"Commander, is it really okay to just throw her out like this? If someone sees and misunderstands..." Jiang Tao pushed his glasses up, slightly troubled.

Hearing this, Xu Meimei, whose face had turned deathly pale, suddenly lifted her head with hope.

"I said, throw her out!" Shen Chi had drunk quite a bit and was already aggravated by the situation, his temples throbbing with pain, and his tone became harsh.

Jiang Tao was sweating profusely and did not dare to actually follow Shen Chi’s order. He cautiously checked the corridor to ensure it was empty before stealthily, like a thief, covering Xu Meimei’s mouth and pushing her out.

Upon his return, wiping his sweat, he said with concern, "Commander, you’re being too careless. If someone sees it and something gets out, even if there’s nothing to tell, the madam will definitely feel uncomfortable if she hears about it."

Shen Chi, with his eyes closed, leaning on the bed, frowned and replied coldly, "She’s a woman and isn’t afraid to ruin her reputation; what do I have to fear? After all, she’s the one who will need to marry in the future; I already have Wanwan."

"As for Wanwan, she will always trust me."

He had a guess at Xu Meimei’s intentions. Women speak of selflessness with their mouths but are greedy in their hearts.

They seemed to always think they were unique, that men would fall for them, thus could say anything that seemed righteous and principled.

But did they think men in this world were fools?

Could he not guess that what Xu Meimei wanted was his affection?

But if a man’s affections are given to one woman, what wouldn’t he give to her?

Just as he did for Wanwan.

"By the way, look into how Xu Meimei got into this hotel. Although I come here to rest after drinking too much, I remember that tonight’s dinner was arranged at the last minute," Shen Chi instructed.

"Understood." Even without Shen Chi’s instruction, Jiang Tao would have investigated.

Due to the military exercises, Shen Chi had been busy lately, so despite being disgusted by Xu Meimei, he quickly put it behind him.

As for Lin Xiaoguai, he certainly wouldn’t go out of his way to tell her and make her uncomfortable. He even specifically instructed Jiang Tao not to mention it.

On Chinese New Year’s Eve, Shen Chi rushed back from outside the city, looking at the dim lights outside the car window. He was just about to urge the driver to go faster when he suddenly saw a familiar figure out of the corner of his eye.

"Stop the car!"

What puzzled the driver was that even though Shen Chi had called for the car to stop, he didn’t get out; he just quietly watched outside the window.

"Get away from me, all of you."

"Let go of your filthy hands!"

Xu Meimei’s drunken voice kept coming, as she struggled to push away the hands that were taking advantage of her. However, she could never quite manage to do so.

Fate is sometimes so magical; going around in circles, even when many things have changed, there is still a striking similarity in the details.

"Let’s go." And often, when it’s the same person, even when the circumstances differ, they will make the same choice.

"Wanwan, Xu Meimei won’t bother us anymore." At night, after the passionate encounter, Shen Chi murmured softly while kissing Lin Xiaoguai’s back.

"What...?" Lin Xiaoguai, her consciousness blurred, didn’t quite catch his words.

"Nothing. Just sleep well." (To be continued. If you like this work, we welcome you to Qidian to vote for a monthly ticket. Your support is my biggest motivation. Mobile users please go to m.qidian.com to read.)