Chapter Twenty-Five: The Handsome Man in the Photo

  Xiao Ruan and Jie Yu have turned their backs on me and the other guests to chat, I gently patted my cheek, took a deep breath, tidied up the thoughts that were about to overflow, walked in the opposite direction to the dinner table, grabbed a bright red apple and took a big bite. Remember the website of this station: Guanhua Home Network. Seeing the apple, I also thought of those brought by Ji Dong when he entered the door, I don't know if Ji Dong and Ruo Xi's development is going well, anyway, it's not going well here.

  He took a big bite of it, as if biting someone's head off in frustration.

  "Miss Lu! Excuse me, I have a question to ask you!" A sudden male voice came from behind, and I, who was not mentally prepared, choked on the apple in my mouth. I turned around, desperately pounding my chest and coughing, without even considering politeness.

  "Ah! Sorry, I was too abrupt and scared you! Are you okay?" This young-looking man in a suit hurriedly helped me pat my back and clear my airway.

  "It's okay, it's okay!" Still unable to stop coughing, I dodged him as if I had been electrocuted, covering my mouth and waving him away with a bent waist. He looked at me somewhat awkwardly until I finally caught my breath and saw that he was still standing there in a daze.

  "Ah! Sorry! What were you just trying to say?" I wipe away the moisture that squeezed out of my eyes and smile at him.

  "Oh! I wanted to ask, what are the outstanding characteristics of La Romanée-Conti wine from Burgundy, France?" The eager eyes of a good student.

  I'm speechless. That wine, it seems like Yu didn't tell me anything about its characteristics, only taught me the history and origin, those basic things. How would I have the professional skills to talk about it fluently?!

  "Oh no! Oh no~ ah! Excuse me, sir, I have a bit of a stomachache! I'll be right back!" I pretended to be in pain, bent over and held my abdomen with one hand, then quickly tightened my shoelaces and rushed into the rose garden.

  The front yard is empty and desolate, the pale white light of the mercury lamp casts an eerie feeling on my body. There are no stars or moon tonight, only dark clouds everywhere. Zhang Ze Yu already has Xiao Ran to accompany him, so I shouldn't be needed anymore, it's just as well that I can head home first... Wait! No way! This is a remote wilderness area, the dim yellow light outside looks like ghostly fire, how dare I walk past alone?! Even if I really dared, my feet would break off, and just running barefoot in this villa's courtyard once has made my feet hurt from the sand grains. What's the point of having such a secluded villa anyway, it's so infuriating!

  I didn't dare to go back to the wine party, he had poured me a high hat, and I couldn't stay with a guilty conscience, so I could only go back to the villa to wait again. I don't know where Brother Yang is, if I can find him, I can also trouble him to send me back. But in this living room, there are no living things either, the huge crystal chandelier is shining lonely, and all the people who can be used are probably serving in the backyard.

  Sat on the soft sofa for a while, feeling quite bored, so I went upstairs through the porch to the study in the innermost room, wanting to find a book to read. Good grief! This room is full of books about red wine, it's really hard to accept, doing business is crazy to this extent, if not successful then die trying! My mind was still a jumble of confused knowledge, didn't have the mood to continue reading anymore.

  Just as I was about to give up, I accidentally found a black leather book in the top corner, with no title on the side. Suddenly, I thought of the magical books mentioned in anime, which seemed to be this kind of thing. Discovering new land, I tiptoed and stretched my arm to the extreme, finally picking down that stomach-dropping book, holding it in my hands with joy, taking a closer look, and found three big words "Notebook" written on it... Uh, got excited for nothing, anyway, this is the only thing I can read now. Looking at this somewhat old cover, could it be notes on learning red wine?

  I opened it without expectation, and my nostrils caught a faint scent of ink. I flipped through it casually like a fan, when suddenly a piece of paper slipped out from the middle. My eyes lit up, and I waved my paws in the air to catch it, but missed. The moment the paper fell to the ground, I rushed over to pick it up.

  Wow! This is a family photo! A warm and cozy Christmas tree background, a handsome uncle embracing his wife and son in front of him. The wife has a gentle demeanor but also has a lot of style. The 12 or 13-year-old boy's smile is radiant. Although they look much younger, it can be recognized that this is Zhang Jieyu and his mom. So the handsome uncle should be his dad. It seems that men who are too handsome are not reliable, just like Ji Dong's father. This is indeed a universal truth!

  Holding the notebook in my hand, I became a little interested. Generally speaking, family photos and things like that wouldn't be casually thrown around, so it seems this black notebook isn't simple either. Maybe there's some secret inside. Although rummaging through someone else's stuff is also not very good, but since it wasn't locked, it should be okay to take a look! I gently opened the cover and on the first blank page, there was a scribbled signature in cursive script - only the first character "Wang" could be made out. As I flipped through the pages, my last bit of hope was also shattered - the handwriting was too messy, nothing could be deciphered. The only thing that became clear was the appearance of the two characters for "red wine" every three to five lines, and surprisingly, my guess had been correct! It really is a notebook about wine!

  But the handwriting doesn't look like a lady's, and I've seen Zhang Yu's handwriting before. Could it be his father's? Was his father also in this line of work? So Zhang Yu is using his mother's surname, and isn't the general manager of that bar surnamed Zhang?! Before, Ruoxi was always saying to me that she hoped to find a partner from the same industry, so they could understand each other better and have an easier married life. His father already has this but doesn't cherish it, I think he'll regret it sooner or later!

  "It's very impolite to enter someone else's room without their permission." A calm voice suddenly came from the doorway, and I felt guilty, startled, and my hands shook as I dropped my laptop, quickly picking it up and hiding it behind me, not daring to look at the person who had entered.

  "You, aren't you busy? How come you have time to find me again?"

  "Take it out."

  After hesitating for half a day, I finally put it on the desk before he rushed towards me with a face full of anger: "I wanted to find this book to take a look, but all these are red wine books, looking at them makes my eyes dizzy. This one is relatively special, so..." I explained nervously, after all, this was indeed my fault, and according to his personality, I would probably not be able to escape punishment again.

  I slightly lowered my head, since I was suspected of infringing on his ***, and it wasn't good to be too arrogant. Hearing his clear footsteps gradually approaching, the bright white leather shoes reached the bottom of my eyes, with a soft sigh. I was slightly surprised, this feeling seemed not to be criticizing me, but I still didn't dare raise my head, my eyes darting back and forth between his white leather shoes and my bare feet.

  "You're really making me worried, just a little while ago you weren't here and now you've gotten into trouble again." His voice had a kind of gentleness to it, how did he seem different all of a sudden? I looked up at him with doubt, meeting his bright eyes, my heart skipping a beat unintentionally.

  "Who?" A single word that I struggled to utter for half a day before finally getting it out completely.

  "Are you really trying to die? How dare you rummage through my things!" As expected, he's revealed his true nature again. It seems that before was just my misconception.

  "Hey, no need to shout so loudly, I can hear you just fine. You're always yelling like this, have you eaten too much golden throat lozenge or something?" I muttered softly, selectively ignoring his roar.

  "Big brother, I've already said it wasn't on purpose! It's just a notebook, nothing special, looking at it won't make you lose any flesh!" I still fearlessly retorted back to him in a soft voice, then continued to be a curious baby with a thick skin: "Is that your dad in the photo? And is this notebook his too? Your dad looks really handsome, seems like you should resemble him!"

  "Are you really that interested in my affairs?" He looked at me with a face full of excited smile, put away his anger, and turned into a playful and irreverent expression, "Even if you want to repay me with your body, I have nothing to say."

  Cut! Never mind, as clever as I am, I have already accurately figured it out. The handsome uncle in the family photo you keep in your study at home, who else could he be if not your dad? Whether you admit it or not, it's all the same.

  I thought he would come in and see me rummaging through things, and definitely blow up at me. But looking at his carefree appearance, it's clear that he's in a good mood tonight, and seems too lazy to get angry with me.