Shen Suiwan’s heart skipped.
This man, why did he have to bring up the one thing that shouldn’t be brought up!
“Last night… I’m very sorry,” Huo Yanxiu said.
Shen Suiwan was taken aback for a moment, then smiled. “It’s all right. The situation last night was unusual. It wasn’t your fault.”
It was a little awkward, but she had never once thought of blaming Huo Yanxiu.
When it came down to it, he was a victim too.
“So, have you found the person who did it to you?” Shen Suiwan asked.
“Mm.” Huo Yanxiu nodded. “There’s no need to worry.”
It had been one of the Huo Group’s competitors, who had secretly sent someone over from the capital. Having learned that he would be dining at that restaurant last night, they had bribed a waiter to tamper with the wine he drank. The original plan had been to have someone take him away once the drug took effect, then push a woman on him, and use that to frame him for forcing the woman into sex. What they had not expected was that he would realize very quickly that he had been drugged and leave first.
Fortunately, the only tampered drink was the one he had drunk. What everyone else drank was normal wine, so no one else was dragged into it.
And fortunately the drug had no serious side effects, and his physical condition was good. After having his stomach pumped and getting an IV last night and then resting for the night, he was now completely fine.
He did not say much more, so Shen Suiwan did not ask any more either. She only said softly, “That’s good, then.”
“Besides an apology, I also owe you a proper thank you.” Huo Yanxiu gazed at her, an emotion she could not name in his eyes. “Last night, it was thanks to you.”
“It was nothing.” Shen Suiwan shook her head. “You helped me before, too, and just now, thanks to you saving me, otherwise I would have…”
At that point her face paled and she did not go on.
Huo Yanxiu’s gaze passed over her right leg without a flicker.
He had guessed something long ago, but he had not brought it up, knowing that was the wound inside her, and not wanting to twist the knife in her heart again.
“Have you had breakfast?” He changed the subject.
Shen Suiwan answered instinctively, “Not yet.”
She had gotten up in the morning and received the call before she had time to eat breakfast, and then she had come to the hospital.
“Neither have I.” Huo Yanxiu picked up the coat beside him. “Let’s go, Miss Shen. To celebrate the two of us surviving disaster, I’ll treat you to… breakfast.”
There was something inexplicably deadpan about how solemn he looked saying it, and Shen Suiwan was amused by him.
“Then it would be rude of me to refuse, President Huo.”
There was no expression on Huo Yanxiu’s face, but in the instant he turned around, the corners of his lips lifted slightly.
The car stopped in front of a private-kitchen restaurant at the foot of a mountain.
Shen Suiwan had heard of this place before. Its breakfast was said to be especially good, but the owner had an odd temper, and breakfast was not served every day, and sometimes there was a limited quantity.
The more it was like that, the more it stirred people’s curiosity.
But she had never been here before. After all, she was always running around for the company’s sake, and whenever she had a spare moment she wanted to rest properly. Where would she find the time to come all the way out here just for breakfast?
Huo Yanxiu pulled the car door open for her, and the crisp scent of mountain mist mingled with morning dew rushed at her face. Shen Suiwan looked at the gateway of gray tiles and blue-gray brick, where the three characters “Zhenshanju” on the plaque had been dampened by the morning fog until they looked like a landscape painting in light ink.
Before the two of them had even gone in, a middle-aged man came out to greet them.
“Mr. Huo, it’s been a long time.” He smiled. “The last time you came to eat at my place was three years ago, wasn’t it?”
“It’s been a long time.” Huo Yanxiu nodded slightly.
The middle-aged man’s gaze then fell on Shen Suiwan, and he raised his brows, surprise showing in his eyes. “Mr. Huo, this is…”
He had meant to ask whether she was his girlfriend, but was afraid it would be too presumptuous if he guessed wrong. Still, the two of them really did look well matched.
“This is Miss Shen, my… friend.”
“Hello.” Shen Suiwan greeted him politely.
Although she and Huo Yanxiu had known each other only a few days, they had already been through so much together that “friend” really was a fair word for it.
“Miss Shen, welcome, welcome.” The man smiled until his face was full of creases. “Please come in. I started preparing as soon as I got Xu Yue’s call, and it should be nearly ready by now.”
Right now there was no one in the restaurant besides them and a few waiters. It seemed the owner had not opened breakfast to the public today.
The two of them had just sat down when a waiter brought over two steaming baskets of soup dumplings, their skins as thin as paper and their pleats like flowers, with a large shelled shrimp visible inside each one.
Shen Suiwan had felt nothing a moment ago, but now she was suddenly a little hungry.
“The owner’s shrimp soup dumplings are unmatched.” Huo Yanxiu picked up a dumpling with the serving chopsticks and placed it on the plate in front of her. “Try one.”
The moment she bit through the skin, the fresh, sweet soup burst on the tip of her tongue, and Shen Suiwan’s eyes lit up.
It really was delicious.
Watching her delighted little expression, Huo Yanxiu’s eyes and brows gradually took on a hint of a smile.
The owner and several waiters brought over many more dishes, pumpkin porridge, millet cake, wonton noodles… They filled the whole table.
“That’s everything.” The owner said with a smile, “I’ve brought out every breakfast dish this place has. Please take your time, both of you.”
With that, he took the waiters and left, so as not to disturb Huo Yanxiu and Shen Suiwan while they ate.
The mountain mist gradually dispersed, and sunlight fell across the table through the carved window lattice, cutting the shadows of the two of them into thin strips.
In the past Shen Suiwan had always eaten breakfast casually, two buns or one piece of bread was enough. But today she ate a great deal.
She thought every single thing was delicious, and a steaming hot breakfast in her stomach seemed able to warm away all the cold.
Neither she nor Huo Yanxiu spoke. They ate quietly, and now and then Huo Yanxiu would use the serving chopsticks to pick out a bun or a piece of millet cake for her, and would even ladle out a bowl of porridge and set it in front of her.
Just as they were finishing, Shen Suiwan received a text message.
“That man died a year ago, in prison. Suicide.”
Shen Suiwan’s pupils quivered, and her lips pressed tight.
Because the pain that car accident had brought her was too great, after learning that the driver had gone to prison she had never paid any attention to it again.
It was only after hearing the truth about the accident from that phone call of Gu Tingshen’s that she had secretly had someone go to the prison to find that driver, wanting to see whether any information could be gotten out of him.
Instead she had received the news that he had committed suicide a year ago.
He had been the most important witness.
But she quickly calmed down again and replied with a message. “Go and check whether he has any family, and where they are now.”
The other party immediately replied with an “OK.”
Huo Yanxiu noticed that her expression was off and asked, “Has something happened?”
Shen Suiwan came back to herself and smiled. “It’s nothing.”
Huo Yanxiu did not press her. After they finished breakfast, the two of them said goodbye to the owner and left.
“Where do you live? I’ll take you.”
Huo Yanxiu pulled the car door open for her.
Shen Suiwan knew it was very hard to get a cab out here, so she did not stand on ceremony. “Then may I trouble you to take me to the Gu Group, President Huo.”
“Miss Shen.” Huo Yanxiu’s face turned cold. “What you need right now is proper rest, not to go on working yourself to death for that man.”