BL - One Night In Pingjing 7 The Meeting With The Brother-In-Law

"Xiao Shuai," Xuan Tianmei called out from the door of Xuan Tianyi's bedroom.

Xuan Tianyi stretched out carefreely on the small bed, didn't stir.

"Tianyi," Xuan Tianmei walked up to his bedside and tapped him roughly, trying to wake him up.

Reacting, Xuan Tianyi pushed Xuan Tianmei's hand away and complained, "Stop disturbing me, you're annoying me."

"I'm annoying you?" Xuan Tianmei gave a small laugh at the irony. Xuan Tianyi couldn't be a bit more annoyed than she was.

She withdrew her hand, and Xuan Tianyi continued sleeping.

Xuan Tianmei walked to the apartment's open kitchen and placed a gla.s.s cup under the tap, filling it with water.

She walked back to Xuan Tianyi's room and without any inhibitions, poured the whole cup of water on his face.

Xuan Tianyi woke up with a start and glaring at her, cursed, "f.u.c.ker!"

She gave him a sweet smile, "Get up and take a bath, it's time to go."

Xuan Tianyi looked from his wet foam to his clothes, then to her. He complained, "Is this how you wake someone up? What happened to you tapping me gently until I wake up, huh? Are you sure your brain still works fine?"

Xuan Tianmei, smiling calmly, obviously pleased with herself, retorted, "I did tap you, but you forced me to use this method. Get up."

"For what?" Xuan Tianyi grumbled.

Xuan Tianmei frowned, "You promised you'll go a.s.sist me at work today."

"f.u.c.k! What time is it?"

"8 o'clock."

"f.u.c.k!" he cursed again. "Didn't you say the photo shoot is by ten, why are you waking me up by eight?"

"Because the makeup comes before the photo shoot. If you get ready now, we should get there by nine."

"I don't want to go anymore," Xuan Tianyi complained and fell back on the bed.

"Then you can move out, you lazy b.u.m." Xuan Tianmei started, then walked out of his room.

Xuan Tianyi grumpily got up from the bed and went to take a bath. As much as he wanted to sleep, if Xuan Tianmei was getting stressed because of work, then he had to a.s.sist her. If she did pay him for it, well, maybe that'd be okay.

Going with her to the office was a small start, but maybe it could be the beginning of something new — a better future where he could take care of his sister. Perhaps, as much as she had taken care of him in all those years.

After he showered and put on one of the fanciest clothes he had, he went to the living room to find Xuan Tianmei all set to go. "No breakfast?"

"No time," she said. "We'll eat after this morning's photo shoot."

Although dissatisfied with this idea, Xuan Tianyi nodded anyways. If she could stay without food, then he could as well.

***

Hua Zhendan rang the buzzer on the top of his desk. "Please come in, Miss Zhang."

Zhang Lin responded swiftly and was soon standing inside Hua Zhendan's office. "President Hua?"

"What's my schedule for today like?"

Zhang Lin quickly flipped open a small notebook she seemed to always carry with her. "By 10 am, there's Bai Lili's photo shoot which you wanted to supervise, But by 10:15 am, you have a meeting with President w.a.n.g from Fei's Advertising Company regarding the advertising concept for CocCola.

"By 12 pm, you have a meeting with President Li from THE MEN ISSUE concerning the underwear male model for the middle page of the magazine's monthly issue. By 1:50 pm, you have a meeting with Manager Qin from Shenhua's Production Company, and by 5 pm, there's the meeting with President Shou from Pringles."

Hua Zhendan looked at the time on his wrist.w.a.tch and frowned. It was already half past nine. "Attend the 10 am photo shoot in my stead. If Bai Lili causes any trouble, most especially for Xuan Tianmei, let me know immediately."

Zhang Lin grinned, apparently delighted for being entrusted with this kind of job. Giving him a curt bow, she said, "Thank you, President Hua."

Ignoring her Ches.h.i.+re-cat-like grin, Hua Zhendan stood up, adjusted his waistcoat — which he usually wore without a jacket, and walked past her. He still had to eat breakfast before his first meeting.

Zhang Lin made her way to the studio where Bai Lili's photo shoot was taking place. On her way there, she wondered why it seemed Hua Zhendan was overly concerned about Xuan Tianmei. Perhaps, he had a crush on her.

When she got to the studio, she craned her neck, looking for some form of entertainment. While Bai Lili sat in a corner with Xuan Tianmei fixing her makeup, tech support occupied most of the studio, making adjustments to the lights and the bluescreen.

Zhang Lin quickly noted that for some reason, Bai Lili seemed well-behaved today. She usually drove everyone crazy with her prima donna att.i.tude. Perhaps, she was well-behaved because she had heard that Hua Zhendan has a thing for Xuan Tianmei, so she didn't want to get on Xuan Tianmei's bad side.

Zhang Lin hurried over to the side where a woman holding a clipboard and a pen stood, "Do you know President Hua has a thing for Xuan Tianmei?"

The woman glanced at her. The person talking was Hua Zhendan's secretary. She probably knew what she was talking about. "Zhang Jie, how can you say something like that?"

"I'm serious. President Hua asked me to come here especially because of Xuan Tianmei. He said to make sure Bai Lili doesn't cause any trouble for her."

The woman with the clipboard glanced at Xuan Tianmei, feeling inspired. She could sell a story about this to her bosses at Production. A seemingly cold-hearted billionaire gets smitten by a lowly worker in his company. His mother disapproves, but they have a secret affair anyways. The only foreseeable problem was the end. Does this story have a happy or sad ending?

***

When the photo shoot had started, Xuan Tianmei stood near Xuan Tianyi, the real reason why Bai Lili was well-behaved.

"Mei Mei," Xuan Tianyi called his sister.

"En?"

"Who's President Hua?"

"My boss," Xuan Tianmei furrowed her brow. Asking these kinds of questions were normal unless the person asking was her brother. His thing couldn't stay in his pants after all. "Why are you asking?"

"People are saying you two are dating."

"What?" Xuan Tianmei's eyes widened in surprise, her cheeks overspread with a deep blush. She had never been the subject of a dating rumor before.

Xuan Tianyi raised a brow at her and smirked, "Tell me, when will I meet my brother-in-law?"

***

Hua Zhendan finished his meeting with President w.a.n.g at some minutes past eleven. Although Hua Zhendan didn't know the exact reason why he did, he knew he cared deeply for Xuan Tianmei. She was very much like his mum, in appearance and mannerism, save for the deviousness. It was possible that she projected upon him the impression of what he thought his mother should be like, thus causing him to develop insoluble affection for her.

Bothered that Bai Lili might have picked on her, Hua Zhendan soon found himself walking towards a door with two characters on it that read, XUAN TIANMEI. As the door was ajar, he glimpsed inside and froze on the spot at what he saw.

Although he could only see the side profile of the person who was leaning on the office's counter, he knew he was staring at the male version of Xuan Tianmei.

The person inside the office wore a pair of beige khaki shorts which showed off his flawlessly long legs and beautifully carved calves.

The side profile of his body was so slim the young master staring at him imagined how well his waist would fit into his hands if he was naked and — Hua Zhendan quickly shook his head to shake off perverted thoughts that at this point in his life, only someone incredibly beautiful could dare evoke.

As he stared at the side profile of the face, he took in the beautifully chiseled jaw and bangs that dropped all the way to his eyebrows. Hua Zhendan's mouth fell open a fly could have flown in. He realized that he knew this man.

This time, it wasn't a feeling that he'd seen him before, but recognition.

Hua Zhendan frowned. That day, he was so deadset on recalling where he might have met this man before, he had failed to notice his outstanding beauty.

Now, he realized that back then when they had met, and he felt like he had met him somewhere before, he actually hadn't. The déjà vu was only because of that d.a.m.n resemblance both Xuan Tianyi and his sister's face seemed to have with his mother. If he wasn't able to reconcile Xuan Tianmei's face with that of his mother's when they had first met, how much more would he have been able to do that when Xuan Tianyi was shamelessly flirting with him at a bar?

Finally getting over his initial shock, Hua Zhendan walked towards Xuan Tianmei's office. This guy had dared to treat him like he was a cheap, unimportant, f.u.c.k.

Trying to imagine the surprise on the face of Xuan Tianyi's face when he saw him here, Hua Zhendan's insides rumbled with indescribable joy.

As he reached the door, he leaned against the doorframe and called out to Xuan Tianyi, "Hey."

Xuan Tianyi, busy on his cell phone, either didn't hear Hua Zhendan or didn't want to respond to him.

Mildly irritated, Hua Zhendan cleared his throat and spoke in a commanding voice, "I'm talking to you."

As expected, this tone caught Xuan Tianyi's attention who then looked up into Hua Zhendan's face.