"Young master, madam doesn't want to see you right now. It'd be better if you weren't here. It'd save us from making her condition worse."

Xu Jiamu said, "Aunt Yun, take good care of her for me. I'll wait for her condition to stabilize before I come back another day to see her."

He left the hospital, but he wasn't in a hurry to get in the car. He leaned against the car’s door and lit up a cigarette. He raised his head and looked over at Han Ruchu in the patient's room.

The wind in Beijing during early spring was cold as usual. It brought a bone-chilling cold with it.

Xu Jiamu's fingers were freezing when he finished his cigarette.

He threw its b.u.t.t into the bin beside him, and rubbed his hands. He was just about to open the car door when the phone in his pocket rang.

He paused for a moment, then pulled his phone out to see the name flas.h.i.+ng on the screen. Suddenly, he dazed out.

The phone vibrated in his hand for a long time before Xu Jiamu accepted the call. He held his breath, as he put the phone to his ear, and licked his lips. "What's up?"

The other side was silent for a moment, then came Lu Jinnian's voice. "Do you have time at six?"

"Yeah."

"Want to have dinner together?"

"Alright," responded Xu Jiamu. He then asked, "The old spot?"

"En," Lu Jinnian replied quietly.

The two of them instantly fell silent. Then after a while, Xu Jiamu heard two knocks at the door through the phone, followed by an a.s.sistant's reminder, "Mr. Lu, the meeting's about to start."

"Busy?" asked Xu Jiamu first. With that, he raised his foot and kicked the car tire. "You're busy. Let's talk tonight."

"Alright," Lu Jinnian replied with one word. Moments after, he hung up

Xu Jiamu put his phone away and stood by his car for some time, before eventually pulling the car door open. He got in and drove away.

-

Lu Jinnian was terribly absent-minded in the afternoon's meeting. Every now and then, his mind drifted off to the love letter. When it came time for him to speak up, he stumbled a few times, his mind blanking out.

The meeting was over by five. Lu Jinnian let his a.s.sistant off early, before he went to the office and gave Qiao Anhao a call to report back to her. He then went into the washroom in the office to change into a set of sports clothes. He grabbed his car keys and went downstairs.

They were meant to meet at six, but Lu Jinnian arrived at their meeting point at 5.50 pm.

It was a privately-owned restaurant by the national stadium. The lady boss was really friendly. Though there weren't many customers, the restaurant had returning ones. The only reason Lu Jinnian knew about it was because Xu Jiamu had taken him there.

He parked the car. When

the car. When he pushed open the door to the restaurant, there wasn't a single customer. The lady boss, who stood at the front desk, immediately put down the calculator, raised her head and shot a dazzling smile at him. "Mr. Lu, you're here? Mr. Xu has already arrived. He's been waiting for you at your favorite table."

Lu Jinnian gave a nod.

The lady boss walked around the front desk and escorted him inside, saying, "Mr. Lu, you haven't come to eat here for quite some time now, yet Mr. Xu comes often. But every time he comes, he comes alone. I even asked him why you're not here, but he always just repeats you're busy."

Lu Jinnian let out an "En", as his eyes fell to where Xu Jiamu was sitting. He must of waited for a while, considering that there were two empty bottles of alcohol in front of him.

"Mr. Xu, Mr. Lu has arrived." With the lady boss' words, Lu Jinnian elegantly removed his thick jacket and pulled out the chair in front of Xu Jiamu.