Chapter 119: How Could It Be Such a Coincidence?

Chapter 119: Chapter 119: How Could It Be Such a Coincidence?

After the video call ended, Xia Wanqing touched her burning cheeks.

"Why is it such a coincidence?" she wondered. "It’s almost as if... Ugh! Stop overthinking! Business first."

Beaming with joy, she called Tao Shu. Her very first sentence lifted the heavy burden off the other woman’s heart.

"Sister Tao! Get the contract ready!"

"Ah, okay! I’ll get on it right away!" Tao Shu sounded thrilled. "But what should the investment ratio and share distribution be...?"

Xia Wanqing froze for a moment. She had been so excited earlier that she had completely forgotten to ask. She would have to confirm it later. Consequently, her second sentence made the heavy burden instantly drop right back onto Tao Shu’s heart.

"Sister Tao, I’ll ask him in person in a bit, and then I’ll confirm it with you, okay?"

"Okay!"

Tao Shu nodded, but immediately realized something was wrong. Her eyes widened. "In person? Wanqin, at this hour? It... it might not be very appropriate, right?"

In high spirits, Xia Wanqing pushed her road bike toward the brilliantly illuminated Celestial Paradise Holiday Hotel not far away.

"Not at all! We already made plans!

"I’m almost at the hotel now. I’ll just find a suitable opportunity to ask him later."

"Huh?!"

Tao Shu looked so utterly incredulous that the corners of her mouth began to twitch. She wondered if this was still the incredibly strong-willed woman she knew. Meeting a man at a hotel at this hour—what could happen? What would happen? It was all too predictable. And judging by Wanqing’s voice, she actually sounded excited!

At this thought, Tao Shu’s tone turned serious. "Wanqing, have you... really thought this through?"

"Yes!" Xia Wanqing replied, completely missing the underlying implication. "As long as this investment comes in, all the problems we’re currently facing will be solved.

"Plus, he said he only wants dry shares, so it won’t affect our actual operations and management. Although the company’s situation is precarious right now, we’ve already reconnected with our old clients..."

Listening to Xia Wanqing’s plans and hopes for the future, Tao Shu held herself back from interrupting.

"Sigh! Forget it!" she thought. "Everyone has the right to make their own choices. Even if it’s someone extremely close to you, you still have no right to interfere. I just hope that man isn’t..."

Meanwhile, Xia Wanqing locked her road bike securely and entered the hotel lobby. Mr. Su had just messaged her to wait a moment, so she sat down on a chair in the hall to wait. However, her outstanding beauty and tight-fitting cycling outfit, coupled with her mature aura, drew the attention of quite a few male guests. They were all curious about what kind of socialite she was.

About two or three minutes later, a man in a white shirt walked over with a bright smile. His eyes exuding confidence, he sat directly across from her and struck up a conversation.

"Hello! My name is—"

"I don’t use a phone!"

Xia Wanqing was expressionless, the rejection in her tone blatantly obvious.

Seeing her demeanor, the man in the white shirt felt his desire burn even hotter. As the saying goes, even the fiercest woman fears a relentless wolf. It was perfectly normal to be rejected at first. When it came to men and women, only the thick-skinned got what they wanted.

Clinging to this belief, the man shamelessly pressed on. "I’m into cycling too..."

"I’m not!"

This time, Xia Wanqing’s tone was even colder.

The man in the white shirt wanted to say more, but the sound of bicycle wheels suddenly reached his ears, closely followed by a deep, magnetic voice.

"Sorry about that! I kept you waiting!"

Xia Wanqing looked up. This was her first time seeing Su Yunzhou in cycling gear. It was a bit different from his previous two casual outfits, making him look even more radiant and handsome.

She froze for a moment before snapping back to reality, revealing a faint, toothy smile. "I just arrived too."

Su Yunzhou glanced at the man beside her. "Then let’s head out!"

"Mhm!"

Xia Wanqing gave a slight nod and stood up, walking toward the doors. Su Yunzhou followed suit, pushing his sleek, stylish black road bike.

Watching her charming, curvaceous figure from behind, the man in the white shirt withdrew his envious gaze, curled his lips, and walked over to the front desk area to wait for his friend. By chance, he overheard the receptionists chatting.

"So that beautiful woman really was here for Mr. Su!"

"Yeah! See, I guessed right!"

"Hehehe, I bet you want to go look for Mr. Su too, you little rascal!"

"Don’t you? It’s a shame Mr. Su wouldn’t be interested in girls like us..."

The other receptionist looked a bit gloomy as she interrupted, "Still, can he really bear to take such an expensive bike out to ride? If it were me, I wouldn’t even bear to push it around on the ground a couple of times."

Having eavesdropped for quite a while, the man in the white shirt asked curiously, "Is that bicycle very expensive?"

The young receptionist replied, "The boss who delivered it last time said it costs 880,000 RMB..."

"What?!" The man repeated in disbelief, "880,000 RMB!"

Looking at the receptionist’s serious expression, he suddenly realized that his earlier behavior had been a bit too bold, and he finally understood why the woman had ignored him.

"Sigh," he thought. "Spending 880,000 RMB to play with a bicycle? Wouldn’t it be better to play with women?"

He grumbled inwardly, but then it suddenly dawned on him: with that kind of wealth, what kind of woman couldn’t the guy play with? He was genuinely, utterly envious!

At this moment, the very object of his envy was pedaling his road bike, chatting and laughing with the beauty beside him as they rode toward the gathering point.

Tonight’s ride was an activity organized by Yu Xiao, the group admin of the Celestial Paradise Cycling Team. These kinds of rides happened once or twice a week. Yu Xiao didn’t participate every time, but as long as Xia Wanqing was there, he was guaranteed to be present.

"Brother Xiao, it’s about time. Let’s get started!"

Yu Xiao checked his watch. "Why hasn’t my goddess arrived yet?" he wondered inwardly.

Out loud, he said, "Let’s wait another five minutes. We’ll set off right on the dot at ten o’clock."

Everyone knew who the group admin was waiting for. It was a tacitly understood matter, and the other men were perfectly willing to wait as well. After all, they all wanted to score some favorability points with the goddess.

Under the streetlights, two figures riding side by side appeared simultaneously at the intersection.

Sharp-eyed Yu Xiao immediately spotted his still-gorgeous goddess. But what made him extremely displeased was the fact that she was accompanied by an unfamiliar man.

Seeing several familiar figures, Xia Wanqing waved her hand. "Why haven’t you guys set off yet?"

"We’ve been held hostage by Yu the Great Group Master for over ten minutes now!"

"Hahaha!"

After the crowd exchanged a few teasing remarks, a woman in a red cycling outfit—her jacket zipper stopped just perfectly to reveal a hint of snow-white cleavage—asked, "Who’s this handsome guy? Wanqing, aren’t you going to introduce him?"

Xia Wanqing told the group, "He joined the chat group a few days ago. He happened to be free today, so we came to ride together."

A voice suddenly drifted out from the crowd.

"A few days ago?"

"Handsome, are you ’A Leaf-like Boat’?"

Su Yunzhou nodded and greeted them openly. "Hello, fellow group members!"

"Hello, rich guy!"

"I’m Cycling Zhang Meili."

"Rich brother, I’m Lulu..."

Standing to the side, Yu Xiao watched everyone enthusiastically welcome the new member, feeling rather annoyed. This guy seemed to have a close relationship with his goddess, and on top of that, he was quite rich. He wouldn’t be easy to deal with. Yu Xiao resolved that he had to absolutely smoke him during the ride later, just to show his goddess what a rich softie looked like.

With that thought in mind, Yu Xiao addressed the crowd.

"Alright everyone, it’s about time. Let’s get ready to head out!

"Tonight, including our new friend, we have seventeen people. We’ll stick to the old rules.

"For first place, I’ll personally sponsor a three-month membership to the Peak Club.

"And the last three places will be paying for our late-night snacks!"

As Yu Xiao’s words fell, the crowd cheered. In truth, for quite a few of them, the post-ride gathering was the activity they actually wanted to attend.

Yu Xiao shot a somewhat provocative glance at Su Yunzhou, only to realize that there seemed to be something unusual about his road bike. However, from a distance and in the dim light, he couldn’t see it clearly.

Whatever! Regardless, tonight he absolutely had to leave this guy in the dust, showing his goddess just how attractive a strong man could be.

But what he didn’t know was that the one left in the dust would actually be...ℴℴ𝘮