Book Synopsis
Book Tags
Donation Rankings
Comment
0 Comments
You May Also Like
墨書 Inktalez
Seeing the result, Li Li forced a smile. He wished it was just a system error, but what were the odds of that? The error rate for Iris Recognition was extremely low, far below one in a hundred million, while fingerprint recognition had an error rate of about five in ten thousand. Moreover, the possibility of fingerprints being misused was far greater than that of Iris Recognition.
"What are you really back for?" Li Li murmured, his voice a mix of suppressed sobs and anger.
He quickly adjusted his demeanor, lifting his head to reveal that familiar handsome face adorned with a light smile.
Li Li shut down the computer and stepped out of the room.
"You must be hungry. What do you want to eat?" Li Li said with a smile as he entered the living room, where he found Chen Rui and Li Xue laughing so hard they could barely breathe. "What’s so funny? You all seem so happy."
"Nothing, nothing, cough cough..." Chen Rui tried to mask his laughter with a cough, but Li Xue beside him immediately sold him out.
Li Xue was laughing heartily, struggling to catch her breath. "Bro, I didn’t expect... I didn’t expect you..."
Li Li naturally wouldn’t pursue who had brought up his past embarrassing moments; he already knew. He shot Zhou Zhi a glance and chuckled, "Haven't eaten anything yet? You all look pretty hungry."
"Come on, it's only just past ten. What are we supposed to eat at this hour?" Zhou Zhi teased with a smile but was cut off by Li Li's glare.
"I'm starving! Aren't you guys hungry?" Li Li continued to smile lightly, but there was an underlying insistence in his tone that left no room for argument.
Chen Rui quickly tried to lighten the mood. "Yeah, we got up so early. I'm hungry too. What can you cook for us, Brother Li? It feels like eating gold when someone of your status cooks for me."
Li Li paused for a moment before responding with a grin, "I have a senior technician-level Chinese culinary certification! With this qualification, I could work my way up to chef de cuisine in a star-rated hotel!"
Chen Rui was skeptical about whether this guy's certification was bought rather than earned. After all, senior technician was the highest level across various professions and represented the pinnacle of skill in that field.
The national classification of professional qualifications is divided into five levels: junior, intermediate, advanced, technician, and senior technician. The last two levels have limited numbers set by the state, and each qualification is granted through approval from provincial-level or higher administrative units.
However, the truth told Chen Rui that he was mistaken; this guy was a real expert. In less than forty minutes, he filled a round table with a diameter of over two meters, and he didn't use any pre-prepared ingredients!
Everyone, please remain calm. You might think that forty minutes is too slow, but he didn't use any semi-finished products. All the dishes were made from raw ingredients processed into semi-finished products before being transformed into this lavish feast. Forty minutes could already be considered miraculous.
Yet, the others weren't surprised at all. They casually sat down at the dining table and began to enjoy this sumptuous meal.
"Don't you find it strange how I can cook so well?" Li Li asked with a smile as she sat across from Chen Rui.
Just as Chen Rui was about to say, "Why should I find it strange?" Zhou Zhi jumped in first.
"It's because he has a little sister at home who's a foodie. He can't trust her to eat out carelessly, so this doting brother worked hard to learn how to cook, and that's how it turned out... Got it? Don't tell anyone I told you."
"Who are you calling a foodie?" Li Xue shot back, throwing her silver chopsticks at him, her mouth still smeared with the wrapper of a dish.
"And who are you calling a doting brother?" Li Li retaliated by tossing her silver soup spoon at Zhou Zhi. The spoon had much more impact than the chopsticks and hit Zhou Zhi on the head, causing him to yelp in pain.
"That's what you get for talking too much; no amount of delicious food can shut your mouth," Zhou Yan said, giving Zhou Zhi an exasperated look as she picked up her bowl and slowly enjoyed her soup.
Chen Rui watched the scene unfold before him, feeling a mix of emotions. These were people who appeared so suave and dignified outside; even a single gesture or glance could make their subordinates sweat with anxiety. Yet here they were, so close and casual. If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, he would hardly have believed it.
After finishing their "brunch," Li Li and Li Xue began packing their bags. Although it was just past eleven o'clock, they weren't taking a private jet; commercial flights wouldn't have a VIP passage for customs checks. So it was better to leave early if they could.
Li Li packed very little, just like Chen Rui with only a backpack. Dressed in casual clothes, he looked quite youthful, like a twenty-five or twenty-six-year-old young man, which made Chen Rui feel quite envious.
Why can't I have a youthful face?
Chen Rui was handsome, but in a mature way. His facial features often made him appear older than his actual age, attracting the attention of some middle-aged individuals.
This was one of the things that troubled Chen Rui; standing among this group, he looked almost like a parent. Perhaps that was a bit of an exaggeration, but visually, he was definitely the oldest person among them.
Li Xue had more things to pack compared to others, though it was still relatively few—just a medium-sized suitcase and a shoulder bag.
Dressed in a baseball jersey and jeans, Li Xue had her hair tied in a ponytail, with her braid peeking out from the back of her baseball cap, making her look just like Zhou Yan's teammate.
"Let's go," Li Xue said with a smile, pulling the mesmerized Chen Rui back to reality.
"Okay."
As they left the living room, Li Li tapped a few buttons on the keypad, and an iron gate descended from above the glass door. The artistic iron gate had a royal style reminiscent of the mid-twentieth century.
They took the elevator down to the First Floor. Once outside the building, they saw a seven-seater Lexus parked calmly at the roadside, waiting for them.
A middle-aged man in a suit respectfully handed Li Li the car keys and then watched as they departed.
"Don't get me wrong; it's not about pretending to be poor. We just don't want to draw too much attention," Li Li explained with a smile as she drove, noticing Chen Rui lost in thought.
That was a misunderstanding of Chen Rui's thoughts; he was actually wondering where they were headed. Even now, he had no idea where they were going for fun. His curiosity clawed at his heart like a cat, making him feel restless.
Chen Rui shook his head with a smile, not revealing what was on his mind. After all, he would find out soon enough when they arrived at the airport.
The headquarters of Dawn Heavy Industries wasn't far from Duguo International Airport. They quickly reached the airport, parked in Lot Three, and picked up their luggage as they walked into Terminal Three, looking just like an ordinary group of friends on a trip together.
After swiping his ID at the automatic ticket machine and retrieving his boarding pass, Chen Rui finally discovered his destination: Air China's Flight A987, departing from Beijing's China Du International Airport to Los Angeles, USA.
"Are you checking in any luggage?" Li Xue's voice called out from behind him. Chen Rui turned around, only to find that she had disappeared.
Seeing the expression on Chen Rui's face, Li Xue laughed. "They all went to check in their bags. Do you need to check yours?"
Chen Rui shook his head; there was no need to check in just a backpack.
"Then come with me. I need to check in this suitcase; I can't lift it anymore," Li Xue said with a smile as she ran ahead, glancing back at Chen Rui with her eyes sparkling, urging him to follow.
Chen Rui chose to accept this clumsy excuse. After all, what was wrong with helping a beautiful girl? However, due to the apparent age difference between them, they looked somewhat like a father and daughter pair, which made Chen Rui quite uncomfortable.
When they reached the check-in counter, Chen Rui suddenly realized that his boarding pass was for a Business Class seat. Looking at the long line for Economy Class check-in beside him, he couldn't help but smile wryly: the saying about spending money to save time was indeed true, but it only applied to the wealthy; ordinary people couldn't afford the sevenfold price of an Economy Class ticket.
Not only was there a separate check-in for luggage, but there was also a dedicated boarding lane for Business Class passengers.
The flight from Beijing to Los Angeles took twelve hours, arriving at eleven in the morning local time.
The layout of Business Class featured three pairs of seats on the left, middle, and right sides. Once on board, everyone instinctively switched seats; Zhou Zhi and Zhou Yan settled into the far left seat of the first row, while Qin Xin and Wang Xinzhuo 'coincidentally' took the middle seat of the first row.
Chen Rui made his way to the left window seat in the second row. He initially wanted the Li siblings to sit together, but Li Xue stubbornly followed him instead.
As for the seating arrangement issue, that was left for her brother to handle. The girl who was supposed to sit in that spot easily agreed to move and took the window seat on the right side of the first row—right next to Li Li.
Chen Rui looked helplessly at the cheerful Li Xue beside him, wondering if she had always been this way.
Chen Rui thought to himself, surely this wouldn’t be the case. After all, he was a member of the board at Dawn Heavy Industries, and he wouldn’t show such a scene in front of outsiders.
With this thought, a sense of worry crept into Chen Rui's mind. He feared that he might start to indulge in this kind of bliss. He forced himself to remember: he was not Chen Zijing, and he was nowhere near as close to them as it appeared. They were merely his clients.
"Where do you want to go play?" Li Xue asked, drawing circles on Chen Rui's face with her finger, grinning mischievously.
Chen Rui smiled wryly. "Can I even decide? Haven't I already been tied to your pirate ship? You're the one leading me wherever you want..."
"Hmph! That's so harsh..."
"Ma'am, the plane is about to take off. Please fasten your seatbelt," a young Flight Attendant said with a smile to Li Xue.
Li Xue settled into her seat and buckled her seatbelt, smiling back at the Cabin Crew. "Thank you."
The Cabin Crew smiled and continued checking on the passengers further down the aisle.
As Chen Rui looked at Li Xue's face, a sudden thought crossed his mind: maintaining this kind of relationship wouldn’t be so bad…
"What are you laughing at? What's so funny?" Li Xue noticed Chen Rui smiling at her and felt annoyed, grabbing his ear with one hand.
"Don't... don't... I just got lost in thought looking at you..."
Maybe it's better to let it go, Chen Rui thought to himself with a bitter smile.
Comment 0 Comment Count