Volume One, Chapter 19: What Are You… So Afraid Of?

"Get in!" Lou Ye lifted his chin. "No time like the present—let me treat you to dinner!"

She wanted to say it wasn't necessary. She wanted to find an excuse to politely decline him. But Lou Ye's Ferrari was parked in a space reserved for buses. Nearby, passengers on the platform were glancing back, curious. Just ten meters away, an approaching bus sounded its impatient horn.

She knew well that once Lou Ye made up his mind, nothing would change it. If she insisted, the attention would only grow. After a brief hesitation, Sang Wan lowered her head and slipped into the passenger seat.

Vroom!

The Ferrari glided smoothly away. The door closed softly behind her.

"How's Juju? Did it make any mess? Has it been any trouble for you?"

"Juju? Oh, you mean 2S? If you'd told me its name was Juju, I wouldn't have bothered giving it another one—I trained it until midnight yesterday!"

"…What on earth is 2S?"

"The one that runs on four legs so fast—besides my car, it's the only thing at home with four legs. The car came from a 4S dealership, so the cat's 2S."

"…"

The restaurant was a quiet, private dining establishment. Once the door to their suite closed, Sang Wan finally let out a sigh of relief.

"You…"

"You…"

They spoke in unison.

Lou Ye chuckled, "You first."

Sang Wan sipped her tea, tamping down the strange feeling in her chest. "Did you just… happen to be passing by?"

"Of course…" Lou Ye laughed. "Isn't that the whole point of building a big company? So the boss can live a lazy life. If I had to clock in nine to five, Lou Group would be on the brink of bankruptcy."

He was joking.

If Lou Group went bankrupt, the economy would be on the verge of collapse.

Sang Wan felt the odd sensation of their repeated encounters growing stronger.

Lou Ye asked, "And you? How did the interview go?"

"How did you know I was there for an interview?" Sang Wan asked suspiciously.

Lou Ye picked up the clay teapot and poured her more tea, amused. "What else? You went to Dingli—was it for afternoon tea?"

Uh… right.

She felt her own guardedness was excessive and answered honestly, "It's such a coincidence… I'm just afraid I'll owe you another favor."

As expected.

He knew it would be like this.

He felt relieved inside, though his face showed none of it. Lou Ye smiled wryly. "Senior, you really underestimate me! If I wanted to help you, as I said yesterday, I'd have arranged for you to join Lou Group's project department as a senior architect. Why bother with all these roundabout ways?"

That made sense.

Her heart lightened; Sang Wan smiled, teasing him, "Why a senior architect and not a director? Or do you think I can't be a design director?"

"Because that's not your ambition!" Lou Ye replied with easy laughter.

Sang Wan was stunned, her heart pounding.

When she joined Lu Group, Lu Jinnian was deputy director of the project department, while her position was only junior architect. She had joked to Lu Jinnian, asking if his mother still couldn't accept her, thus favoring him over her.

Back then, what did Lu Jinnian say?

He said, "Wanwan, stop it! Though you graduated from Imperial University with honors, it's only academic excellence. How could you manage others?"

Lu Jinnian also said, "Wanwan, don't worry! I'm on your side. Work hard, and one day you'll be a Lu Group executive."

But they had graduated together, started work together.

He hadn't completed any building projects either.

Sang Wan would have preferred Lu Jinnian admit Su Baohui simply didn't accept her. Anything was better than denying her ability and qualifications.

After all, she'd never aspired to become a director.

Her ambition lay in the drawings.

To perfectly design a building that met the client's requirements, to watch her designs transform from sheets of paper into rising structures—that was her life's greatest dream.

Senior architect, director, or even CEO—it didn't matter. If she could fulfill her dream, she would gladly spend her life as an architect.

And now, Lou Ye declared without hesitation that her ambition wasn't there.

He understood her!

She lowered her gaze to hide that flicker of emotion, focusing on the menu.

Her phone rang loudly.

"Hello, Sang Wan, I'm Cheng Jingran from the Lou Group's architectural project department…"

Direct and clear, the woman's voice was light and bright. "I saw your resume online and wanted to ask when you might be available for an interview?"

For a moment, Sang Wan was stunned.

She was certain she hadn't sent her resume to Lou Group.

There was only one reason.

Lou Ye.

Yet, she had just received Lou Group's interview call.

"Director Cheng…" Sang Wan glanced at Lou Ye, who was busy with the menu, and said, "I haven't submitted a resume to Lou Group."

Lou Ye looked up abruptly.

Sang Wan clearly saw surprise in his eyes.

On the phone, Cheng Jingran laughed, "I'll be straight, Senior Sang. I graduated from Imperial University's architecture department. In the first design class of our cohort, Professor Wu showed your Cloud Sea Library as an outstanding graduate project on his PPT."

"Senior Sang, you were both goddess and nightmare to us architecture students. It's an honor, after all these years, to have the chance to work alongside you. But I wonder, will you give me this opportunity?"

Though she was the job seeker and the other was the boss with power over her fate, Cheng Jingran's emotional intelligence was high—her words were elegantly phrased, as if the decision lay with Sang Wan.

On one hand, it seemed a coincidence—as Cheng Jingran said, they were senior and junior from the same department, so preference for one’s own was natural.

On the other, she worried Lou Ye was behind it.

Sang Wan hesitated a moment. "Can I think about it?"

"Of course," Cheng Jingran replied briskly. "Senior, may I add you on WeChat?"

"I'll add you—this is the number you called from, right?"

"Yes."

The call ended.

They added each other on WeChat.

Even as Sang Wan changed her contact note, Cheng Jingran had already swiftly sent two messages.

[Hello, Senior Sang, this is Cheng Jingran.]

[Let me know once you've decided. I'll be waiting for your good news!]

Replying "Okay," Sang Wan looked at Lou Ye and cut to the chase, "Lou Ye, was this your doing?"

"If I said no, would you believe me?" Lou Ye gazed at her calmly.

Sang Wan was silent for a moment.

She believed him.

But she couldn't say where that trust came from.

And yet—it was all too coincidental!

First, the rain yesterday, and he appeared instantly.

Then, this chance encounter.

And now, the interview call from Cheng Jingran.

So coincidental, she couldn't believe it was all mere chance.

Seeing Sang Wan's hesitation, Lou Ye pushed aside the menu, leaned back lazily in the sofa, his smile relaxed. "Leave professional matters to professionals. Lou Group is huge; hiring an architect is up to the design and HR departments. I'm not so muddle-headed as to interfere in something so trivial."

"And besides…" Lou Ye folded his arms on the table, his strikingly handsome face leaning towards Sang Wan with forceful presence. "If I really wanted to arrange it, I'd have you parachute straight into the design department as senior architect. Why go to all the trouble for an uncertain interview?"

He made…a lot of sense.

Sang Wan was almost convinced.

Lou Ye's eyes twinkled with amusement. "Senior, have you decided? Will you accept Lou Group's olive branch?"

"It's only an interview…" She felt a surge of excitement, as if she had already shaken Cheng Jingran's hand and heard her say, "Welcome to Lou Group."

Yet a trace of hesitation lingered on her face. "I'm still not sure."

Then Lou Ye changed his tone.

"Sang Wan…"

By the bright floor-to-ceiling window, the young man in black shirt and suit flashed a wild, handsome smile, his gaze bold and direct.

"What is it… you're afraid of?"