“What kind of suitor?” Lynn Yan asked curiously.
“You know what? I just saw a man talking to Serena on the first floor of the hotel. Didn’t you see the way he looked at Serena…” Joyce Wu paused, then continued, “Like a wolf looking at a rabbit, you get it!”
“Oh?” Lynn Yan tossed the ice cubes in her glass, raising an eyebrow at Serena Li , waiting for her explanation.
Serena Li shrugged and said, “She just loves to overthink things!” Then she looked at Joyce Wu and said , “Now that you’ve accepted other people’s cards, you’re in trouble.”
“Believe it or not, if you don’t accept the card, the restaurant manager won’t leave until you do!” Joyce Wu said with a smirk.
“Serena, what are you planning to do?” Although Lynn Yan had never met the “top-notch” that Joyce Wu mentioned, she could already sense that this man was very cunning. Treating her to dinner and giving her gift cards was all to create an opportunity for her to ask Serena out again!
“Yeah, you still haven’t told us how you met! Tell us the truth!” Joyce Wu’s gossip instincts were already raging.
Serena Li briefly explained to them how the two of them met.
“Fate! It’s definitely fate!” Joyce Wu exclaimed excitedly.
“Serena has many suitors every year, don’t make a fuss!” Lynn Yan wasn’t as excited as her. After hearing what Serena Li said and the restaurant manager’s attitude just now, she knew that this Mr. Mo was either rich or noble. She had never met such a person before, so she couldn’t judge whether he was just looking for a woman or pursuing her. But it was obvious that Serena Li had no interest in him.
“Lingling, this time is different. You didn’t see him in person just now. This kind of man is obviously the kind who dresses with good taste and knows how to flirt when he takes his clothes off. He’s different from the men before.” Joyce Wu was now a bystander, enjoying the spectacle.
“ Joyce Wu , I’ve noticed you’re getting more and more vulgar. You’re even imagining what it would be like if someone took off their clothes.” Lynn Yan scorned Joyce Wu’s incredibly crude language.
“You didn’t see his V-shaped physique! He’s obviously a top-tier guy! He’s different from those beer-bellied or weird gay guys at the gym,” Joyce Wu retorted vividly.
“I bet when you were teaching the male members you were definitely using the guise of teaching to grope them!” Lynn Yan poked Joyce Wu ’s forehead with her finger.
Joyce Wu brushed her fingers aside and turned to Serena Li , asking, “Serena, is this how you plan to respond? He doesn’t seem like someone who’s easily appeased. But I’m more curious about your attitude.” Actually, she had her own ulterior motives. Her friend hadn’t dated anyone since her first love after university. Joyce Wu had always thought it was because her friend couldn’t get over the heartbreak, or hadn’t met a man who resonated with her, not because her first love was particularly unforgettable.
Serena Li smiled, then her expression turned serious as she said, “You’re the one who took his gift card. I’ll give you his phone number in a bit; you can contact him yourself if you’re interested.”
Joyce Wu took out her phone, pretending to write down a phone number, and with a smile, said, “You know, if I contact him and give him all your personal information, maybe he’ll give me more than just one gift card!”
Lynn Yan twisted Joyce Wu ‘s ear and said, “You’re betraying your friends for food!” Then she took the gift card from Joyce Wu and handed it to Serena Li , “Serena, what should we do with this card? I know you’ll have a way.”
Since things had come to this, Serena Li had no choice but to put the card away, but she hadn’t yet figured out what to do with it.
Joyce Wu and Lynn Yan joked around for a while, then the three of them left the restaurant. Before leaving, Joyce Wu went to talk to the restaurant manager. Lynn Yan asked her what they talked about, but Joyce Wu wouldn’t say, which made Lynn Yan pinch her ear again.
At 10 p.m., Serena Li had just finished showering and was about to blow-dry her hair when her phone beeped with a WeChat notification. She opened it and saw that Joyce Wu had sent a voice message and a video file to their group chat of three. Serena Li opened them.
“Serena, did you know? The Mr. Mo who hosted dinner today has quite a background. He’s the president of Huanyu Investment, a powerful figure in Pengcheng. I got a video of him from a media friend. Take a look!”
Serena Li sighed, her friend’s gossipy nature was on full display!
Serena Li clicked on the video.
In the video:
The man sat in the interview room, dressed simply in a white shirt and black pants. Facing the camera, his expression was calm, and his thick, long eyebrows were relaxed. He answered the questions from the people around him fluently and simply, speaking sparingly, but every word he uttered carried an aura of authority without anger. Even through the phone screen, Serena Li could feel the powerful aura emanating from him.
“…One last question, Mr. Mo, are you still single? What kind of girl do you like?”
The man seemed to raise an eyebrow slightly, then calmly replied after a moment, “It depends on fate.”
…
After watching the video, Serena Li was about to send a message to the WeChat group when her phone received an incoming call.
I glanced at the caller ID; it was Victor Mo.
The phone rang for a long time, and just as it was about to hang up automatically, Serena Li pressed the answer button, “Hello.”
It rang for a long time without being answered, then it was suddenly answered. There was no response on the other end for a long time before a voice finally came through, “Ms. Li, did you enjoy your meal today?”
His voice was deep, resonant, and magnetic.
Serena Li twirled a strand of hair behind her ear and said, “Thank you for dinner today, Mr. Mo. We rarely eat there, and we don’t really need our gift card, so I…”
Serena Li could finish speaking, Victor Mo interrupted, “Ms. Li, you’re too kind. Actually, I need your help with something.”
Need help? Serena Li paused. She really didn’t think she, as a teacher, could help a businessman in any way, but still asked, “What is it?”
“Miss Li, school hasn’t started yet, has it?”
“A few more days.”
“Okay, I’ll make some arrangements in the next few days and then I’ll contact you… It’s getting late, you should get some rest.”
…
After hanging up the phone, Serena Li frowned, realizing she had been tricked. She couldn’t return the card, and in the end, she still hadn’t figured out what kind of help she needed.
In the WeChat group, Lynn Yan also watched the video posted by Joyce Wu and then shared her thoughts.
“So this is Victor Mo. He must be over 34! Men of this age, with money and good looks, can easily charm a bunch of women, but the more charming a man is, the deeper his story is. I don’t think he’s a good match for Serena.”
“Lingling, how do you know if it’s suitable if you haven’t tried? I think Serena should meet more different types of men, have the experience of comparison and selection, so that she can be clearer about her criteria for choosing a partner in the future.” Joyce Wu immediately sent a voice message to refute Lynn Yan .
“Joyce, I also completely approve of Chen Chen dating someone of the opposite sex. But the question is, do you know anything about Victor Mo ‘s character?”
“Lingling, it’s so obvious that he’s interested in Serena. So, I’ll dig up his information first so Serena can refer to it.”
…
The two of them started discussing animatedly in the WeChat group, each contributing a sentence.
Regardless of Victor Mo ‘s feelings, Serena Li knew she had no romantic interest in him. As for her ideal type, that sunny, clean-cut face flashed before her eyes. She gave a wry smile, ignored her friends’ arguments, and exited the chat.
Having experienced her first love, she knew what childhood sweethearts were, what youthful dreams were, and what long-distance relationships were… Ultimately, they didn’t end up together; perhaps it wasn’t meant to be!
……
with Serena Li , Victor Mo dialed his assistant’s number.
“The marketing department submitted the financing plan for Youerxue Education Group last week. Please organize it and send it to me tomorrow.”
“Okay,” the assistant hesitated for a moment before answering on the other end of the phone.
Didn’t the boss say last week that he wasn’t optimistic about the development of online education platforms? Why does he want to see a proposal now?
But he didn’t ask why. He knew his boss’s style well—no one gets up early without a reason. There must be a reason why he suddenly wanted to see the plan. Could it be that the country has introduced a support policy?
After hanging up the phone, fearing I might miss out on relevant national policies, I quickly took out my iPad to check industry information.
Unbeknownst to the assistant, his boss was sitting in his seaside villa, sipping iced wine with a cryptic expression on his lips, seemingly plotting something.
The next day at noon, Serena Li received a call from Victor Mo , who said his company had a financing project and needed her to help with a trial run.
“Online education platform?” Serena Li immediately recognized it as the “online school” that students often talk about.
“Yes, it’s a potential investment project for the company. Ms. Li is a teacher with extensive teaching experience. Could you help me assess the practicality of this platform so I can consider its investment feasibility?”
Serena Li was no stranger to this kind of after-school tutoring course; she taught on a well-known online teaching platform in China when she was a graduate student. Although she now teaches in person at the university, she was interested in learning about online teaching methods, so she agreed to take the job.
Victor Mo arranged to meet her tomorrow afternoon, and he will arrange for a driver to pick her up from her house at 5:30 pm.
The next day, at the appointed time, Serena Li walked to the entrance of the residential area and saw Victor Mo ‘s driver standing next to a Mercedes-Benz van.
Serena Li walked over, and the driver respectfully greeted her as “Ms. Li,” opened the car door, and let her in.
After the car started, she thought the driver would take her to Victor Mo ‘s company, but 30 minutes later, they arrived at a luxurious garden villa area – Luyuan.
Luyuan is a top-tier private club, where each villa is also a private restaurant, suitable for dining or meetings. The grounds also offer numerous recreational facilities for guests’ enjoyment.
She had seen advertisements for Luyuan Park on television before.
The driver stopped the car at one of the villas, and two doormen immediately came to open the car door: “Welcome!”
Serena Li got out of the car and entered the villa, a man who claimed to be the butler came out and led her to a private room on the second floor.
At the door of the private room, the butler smiled and said, “Miss Li, please go in first. Mr. Mo is having a meeting with a client in the multi-functional conference room in Area A. He will be here shortly.”
Serena Li thanked the butler and went into the private room.
Once inside, I looked around and surveyed everything.
The European-style decor is fresh and bright, with floor-to-ceiling windows facing the private room’s entrance. In the height of summer, the evening sunset, no longer as intense as in the afternoon, is soft yet not yet dim.
Serena Li approached the floor-to-ceiling window, where sunlight streamed in through the interlacing lush green branches, casting dappled shadows on her, making her appear as if enveloped in a golden veil.
Soon, Victor Mo arrived at the door of the private room on the second floor. The butler pushed open the double doors, and he saw Serena Li standing by the window.
Serena Li seemed to sense someone at the door; she tilted her head slightly and turned around.
Victor Mo narrowed his eyes slightly. In that instant, the scene of her standing backlit was as beautiful as a painting.