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Chapter 731: Wash Yourself Clean
The servant hesitated, then handed the coffee tray to Xia Xiaofu.
“Thank you.” Xia Xiaofu took it and headed upstairs.
...
In the study
Ou Luoxi sat in his office chair, and Ah Li spread out a document on the desk. “Young Master, Mr. Osaka from Japan is coming to T City in two days. We will be preparing a feast to welcome him.”
Ou Luoxi silently looked down at the document in his hand.
“Young Master, Mr. Osaka and Fourth Uncle have been close friends for nearly 40 years. He is the most important customer source for the Green Door. He has expressed deep enthusiasm and appreciation for you in the first two meetings. This time, Fourth Uncle will fly back in person for this grand banquet, together with the main branch leaders of the Green Door. If Mr. Osaka fully supports Young Master and gives his resources to you at the banquet, the feast will be the day when the young master rises to the summit.”
At this point, it was imperative for Ou Luoxi to take over the Green Door. But if he wouldn’t outright agree to marrying Gong Ling, then Fourth Uncle would not hand over his power, and Ou Luoxi would not be able to climb to the top.
If he could gain Mr. Osaka’s support, then Fourth Uncle would no longer be a problem. This feast would be a great opportunity for Ou Luoxi to completely monopolize the Green Door.
“Mhm.” Ou Luoxi hummed, not commenting.
Ah Li was not sure what he was thinking, so he tentatively said, “Young Master, I have investigated. This Mr. Osaka has everything, but he has one shortcoming, that is, he is lecherous. Mr. Osaka has no resistance to beautiful women and will spend a fortune to get any woman he has set his eyes on.”
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇt“Young Master, should we pick a beauty to send over to him? But this Mr. Osaka has high standards, my only worry is that the beauty we sent to him will not suit his taste, and instead, we would make a fool of ourselves.”
Ah Li still wanted to say more, but a knock on the door suddenly sounded. Knock, knock. He knew it was a servant, so he said, “Come in.”
The door to the study opened, and Xia Xiaofu entered to serve the coffee.
Ah Li had not seen Xia Xiaofu in a long time and he felt that the woman had lost a lot of weight. Xia Xiaofu looked over at him, and he politely nodded his head.
Xia Xiaofu smiled faintly at Ah Li, then walked over to the office desk.
The man in the office chair did not raise his head. He was still looking down at the documents. Xia Xiaofu came close to him and snuck a look at him. Today, he was wearing a black shirt. This cold color scheme of his shirt emphasized his delicate, three-dimensional face. A shadow of a beard had appeared on his chin in the two weeks she had not seen him. Although it made him seem more masculine, it also made him seem more cold and distant.
“Your coffee is here.” She picked up the cup of coffee on the tray and placed it beside his hand.
Right at that moment, his right hand shifted. Xia Xiaofu looked down quickly only to see that she had accidentally spilled a small drop of coffee when she was putting the coffee cup down, which had landed on his sleeve.
“I’m sorry...” she apologized.
But it was too late. He swiped his hand and simply tipped the cup of coffee over, then raised his head to look at her. There was no sign of warmth in his eyes. “Go and learn if you do not know how to do it. You’re not here to be a Young Madam.”
Xia Xiaofu’s clothes were covered with coffee, and she looked incredibly unpresentable. She squatted down to clean up the mess on the ground. “I’m sorry, I’ll go and make another cup of coffee.”
“Don’t come in again. Let someone else deliver it.”
His words made her stiffen. She quickly cleaned up the mess, then walked out with her head down.
The door closed, and Ou Luoxi put the document down, leaning back into the chair. He unbuttoned his shirt out of frustration.
“Young Master, Miss Xia and you...”
Ou Luoxi pressed his lips into a thin line.
Just then, there was another knock at the door. From outside the door, Aunty Xiang said, “Young Master, Leader Ah Gan is here.”
“Ah Gan?” Ah Li smiled. “Young Master, the feast will be held in two days. I assume that Ah Gan has arrived ahead of time. You have not even given him space to breathe in these past 6 months, so he can only conform to the general trend and congratulate you. Now, he must have come here to express solicitous inquiry out of courtesy.”
Ou Luoxi raised his hand and pinched his brow. In a low voice, he said, “Let him in.”
...
In the living room, Xia Xiaofu was squatting down and using a rag to clean the vases.
Ou Luoxi did not allow her to deliver the coffee, so she did not have anything to do. Her low ponytail was wrapped around her chest as she mechanically scrubbed away.
She didn’t notice Ah Gan’s arrival. By the time she sensed him, Ah Gan had already come to her side. “Miss Xia, long time no see.”
Xia Xiaofu raised her head abruptly, only to be greeted by Ah Gan’s hostile smile.
She did not get any good vibes from this man. Looking away, she continued to wipe the vase with her head down, pretending that he was merely air.
Ah Gan was not angry either. He took a look upstairs, then he lowered his voice and said, “Miss Xia, I’ve heard that your life has not been good. Ou Luoxi forcibly brought you back, so you’ve been separated from your mother and your daughter. Tsk. How cruel Ou Luoxi is.
“Miss Xia, this was all your choice. If you had agreed to cooperate with me half a year ago, you wouldn’t have fallen into such a situation now...”
“What are you trying to say?” Xia Xiaofu interrupted him.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏm“Miss Xia is so straightforward. What I want to say is that there is still a great opportunity, if you would cooperate with me...”
Xia Xiaofu simply stood up and walked into the kitchen.
Ah Gan was left standing there. His eyes shone with hatred, but his lips soon curved into a smile filled with deep meaning.
...
Xia Xiaofu was washing some fruit in the kitchen. There were not many, so she soon finished her task. But still she put the washed fruits back into the basin and washed them over and over again.
Only by keeping herself busy would she be able to stop thinking about Little Xuyan.
Whenever she thought of how Little Xuyan was suffering without her company, her heart as a mummy broke, and she felt that she was on the verge of collapsing.
She didn’t know when Ah Gan and Ah Li had left. She came to her senses just as the other servant in the kitchen called out, “Young Master,” and then quickly left.
She looked back in shock.
All of a sudden, her world spun as she was hauled onto his shoulder as he walked upstairs.
Xia Xiaofu knew what he wanted to do. She clutched his shirt in her two little hands and clenched her teeth in endurance.
This time, he chose his own room. He opened the door to the shower and put her directly under the showerhead. He turned it on, and all of a sudden, freezing cold water cascaded from Xia Xiaofu’s head to the bottom of her feet. She was so cold that even her teeth were chattering.
“Wash yourself clean!” he demanded coldly, then left.
Xia Xiaofu stiffly stood under the shower. She didn’t move, quietly letting the cold water drench her completely. She was still wearing an apron, and both the apron and her clothes underneath had been stained with coffee. The coffee stains flowed down along with the cold water.
She knew that she was very dirty, very unpresentable.
Her brain was in a mess, and she didn’t know what she was thinking. Maybe it was just another blank. Soon, the frosted glass door opened, and the handsome, angry face of Ou Luoxi appeared in front of her.