Chapter 24: A mean tip

“Is that so?”

“Yes. So I thought if you could give me any tips then it would save me from messing up in front of him.”

“There is one tip I can give you.”, he calmly said.

“Really?”, Nana immediately became happy completely forgetting the bumping incidents. “What is it?”

He looked on for a while and said, “No matter what you should always smile in front of him. You must not lose your composure.”

Always Smile? That’s it? Isn’t it a little weird? So like, instead of a normal face, she should keep on smiling while presenting her work to him?

She furrowed her brows in confusion.

Just then the elevator dinged. They reached the CEO’s office.

Finally! About time!

“Ah! We reached. So see you later. Bye.”

She quickly wanted to get out of there before her ‘divert attention’ work goes to waste.

But her foot tripped in haste and she was about to fall.

Oh no! I’m going to fall! And my bag!

But suddenly she was caught in a pair of strong arms.

Her face hit his chest. Her eyes were tightly shut.

After a few seconds, she realized that she actually didn’t fell. When she came out of her daze, she blushed crimson red. Her heart started pounding fast.

S-So close.

The man suddenly let her go just like how he had suddenly held her.

“Oh, I’m so sorry.”

When she looked in his eyes, she was surprised. And confused. The look in his eyes was of…distaste or…disgust.

Just then the elevator dinged again.

It was from Chen Jianyu. And one other woman.

“Hubby~”, the woman came and hugged him.

The man smiled at the woman. “You came.”

“Hey, I also came alright? Why don’t you welcome me like that?”, Jianyu pouted.

The woman flicked his forehead. “Of course he won’t do that. This kind of welcoming is only reserved for husband and wife.”

He scowled.

He finally looked at Nana. “Oh, there you are!”

The woman turned to look at her. And she was stunned.

Really…pretty. For the first time in her life, she thought that she can’t compare to someone. Although in general women never admit that someone else is more beautiful than them, she felt like she was being forced to acknowledge her presence.

And that made her uneasy. Very uneasy.

But then she remembered that she was the girl aunt has liked for Jianyu. So, she sighed in relief.

“Who is she?”, she asked.

“Yes. Let me introduce you all.”, Jianyu said.

“Bro. She is Nana. Whom mom and I met in her restaurant. And who is a great cook? She is the one I was talking about taking your catering contract.”

“And Nana. He is the cousin I was talking about – Liu Jinhai also the CEO of Liu Corps. And she is his wife – Liu Huian.”

Nana froze. Once again. The shock was really an understatement now.

What? The man who I bumped into twice, the man who I met just now and…oh no…the man to whom I asked for tips regarding his boss was…the CEO himself???

What kind of bad luck is this! Do coincidences like these even happen? I’m totally screwed now! I should forget about this contract. Should I run away? At least I won’t die!

Nana was in a super-serious reflection mode when Jianyu suddenly shook her shoulders.

“Hello? Are you there? Where did your mind fly off to?”

Oh, you have no idea how so badly I want to fly off from here, she cried.

“Nothing…”, she then slowly made the courage to look at Liu Jinhai.

Oh no! Didn’t he tell me to always smile and never to lose composure? Wasn’t that the tip he gave? Wait…

“!!!”

He already knew about me and also that I was going to get a shocker. He knew I wouldn’t be able to handle the big bomb dropped so he purposely told that tip!

He was making fun of me! Seriously, do you have so much free time to make jokes like this, Mr. CEO?

Then she looked at his wife. His wife…Oh, so he is married. Somehow, I never pictured him to have a wife.

She didn’t know why but she felt like something tug her heart. In spite of her inner turmoil, she managed to speak.

“Nice to meet you, Mr. Liu. Mrs. Liu. I’m Nana, the owner of Natsukashi.”

Liu Huian smiled, “Hello miss Nana. We have heard a lot about you from aunt and Jianyu. Especially aunt. She won’t stop talking about you and your food. And also how kind and the fair person you are.”

Nana smiled in embarrassment. “Ah, …she is thinking too highly of me. It was really no big deal.”

“You are being modest.”

This whole time Liu Jinhai said nothing.

They got inside the office and all four of them assembled.

Huian spoke first. “So miss Nana. As you know this is our second wedding anniversary where all important families will be attending; both with whom we have personal and professional relations. Jianyu said that this will be your first contract with an elite family like ours. So it will be natural for me to see for myself what you are capable of.”

Nana said, “Of course Mrs. Liu. If you don’t mind, I have brought some dishes with me for you to taste. Will you try them?”