Chased by My Heartless Ex - Chapter 67

After receiving Xu You’s reply, Zhou Siyu no longer cared whether Lu Ang was a nuisance or not. She sent a quick “wait a moment” and began earnestly contacting various professors and deans. Booking a restaurant was the easy part, the real challenge was securing the right people.

Lu Ang was no stranger to thankless tasks and took it all in stride. He casually turned on his Bluetooth and played a rock playlist, stepping on the accelerator with his right foot and steering with one hand as he leisurely drove Zhou Siyu to the company.

She sent out identical messages to her contacts and soon received replies from about half of them. These scholars and industry experts, some introduced by her university mentor, others she’d met while recruiting for her company, and a few who were close with her late parents, mostly agreed to her request, except for a handful who were genuinely unavailable.

She hadn’t yet decided on the restaurant for the evening banquet, so she picked one from her usual list and sent the details to everyone before finally notifying Xu You. Unnoticed by her, Lu Ang’s car had already entered the industrial park and was heading straight for the YUYOO building.

“Didn’t I ask you to take me home? My car is…” Zhou Siyu glanced out the window at the familiar scenery. After a few days away, the park’s vegetation had taken on a light green hue, with tender buds sprouting on the branches, a subtle sign of spring’s arrival.

Before she could finish, Lu Ang hit the brakes. “I have something to do later and won’t have time to take you home. Get out now, and I’ll drop your luggage off later.”

The car stopped right in front of YUYOO’s main entrance. Though Lu Ang’s tone sounded slightly rushed, his expression showed no urgency. Zhou Siyu wanted to mutter a complaint but was hurried along, stepping out of the car with a puzzled look.

Since she was already here, Zhou Siyu decided to go inside and check on things for a bit.

Her figure gradually shrank in the rearview mirror until it disappeared. Yet Lu Ang, who had claimed to be in a hurry, made no move to leave. Instead, he leaned back against the leather seat of his sports car, tapping the steering wheel leisurely with his slender fingers.

“You’ll thank me for this, old Zhou,” he murmured to himself as Zhou Siyu vanished from sight.

Zheng Ran was organizing meeting materials when she saw Zhou Siyu return from her business trip. She quickly gathered the urgent documents and brought them to Zhou Siyu’s office. Zhou Siyu signed the necessary contracts and called in those who needed reprimanding. Just as she finished, her phone lit up, showing it was almost 5:30 p.m.

The meeting was scheduled for 6:30 p.m., and it would take at least forty minutes to get there from the company. She still had enough time.

Thinking this, Zhou Siyu naturally packed her things, grabbed her bag, and took the elevator down to the parking garage.

After hours of continuous work, her brain had automatically discarded unnecessary information, and her body moved on autopilot toward the spot where she always parked her commuter car. The closer she got, the more she felt she had forgotten something, until she stood before the empty parking space and it hit her.

Her car wasn’t at the company at all. She had driven it home before her business trip and had asked her driver, Xiao Fu, to take her to the airport that day.

Staring blankly at the empty spot for a few seconds, Zhou Siyu pulled her phone from her coat pocket, intending to contact Xiao Fu to pick her up. But as the screen lit up, she saw it was already nearly 5:40 p.m. It suddenly occurred to her that hailing a cab would be faster than waiting for him to drive over.

“President Zhou!”

“Heading home, President Zhou?”

While her ride-hailing app was downloading, Zhou Siyu watched the slowly progressing loading bar and took a few steps to the side, searching for a better signal. Head lowered, she slowly looked up when someone greeted her.

Faced with unfamiliar faces, she merely nodded in response. Just as her indifferent gaze was about to withdraw, it fell upon Xu You, whom she hadn’t seen for several days, standing behind the crowd.

Xu You wore a form-fitting long dress that accentuated her curvaceous figure flawlessly. Over the dress, she had on a short fur coat, with her voluminous hair cascading over her shoulders. Her makeup was exquisite, her lips painted a fiery red, just one glance was enough to captivate and render her speechless.

Xu You, striding briskly in search of her car, didn’t notice Zhou Siyu’s infatuated gaze fixed on her. Before leaving work, Li Rui had insisted she help revise a design draft, delaying her by a few minutes. If she didn’t leave now, arriving late would leave a terrible impression on the others.

Thinking this, she quickened her pace, focusing on the path ahead.

Unlike someone as important as Zhou Siyu, Xu You didn’t have a reserved parking spot. After walking for a few minutes, she spotted Yu Yao’s car and immediately broke into a light jog, pulling out her keys with her free hand to unlock it.

“Can I ride with you?”

As the car lights flashed and Xu You’s hand rested on the door handle, a familiar voice came from behind.

Zhou Siyu’s voice carried a slight pant. She had run even more frantically than Xu You, her breath uneven, her ears filled with the thumping of her heartbeat. She stood directly behind Xu You, neither too close nor too far, her eyes glistening with a pitiable expression.

Xu You remained silent, her temples twitching slightly.

Ride with her? What new trick was this?

She maintained her position, her back to Zhou Siyu, her guard raised.

Zhou Siyu tentatively took a small step forward and said hoarsely, “I didn’t drive my car to the company today. If I don’t leave soon, I’ll be late. It wouldn’t look good for the host to arrive late. Please, could you give me a ride? If you’re unwilling, I’ll go hail a taxi now.”

Zhou Siyu had always been adept at psychological warfare. She first explained her reason for needing a ride, then laid out the consequences to Xu You. While it seemed like she was giving Xu You a choice, she had effectively cornered her into agreeing.

Would Xu You prefer to face a room full of strangers alone or endure a few dozen minutes with her in the car? In Zhou Siyu’s view, the choice was inevitably the latter.

Xu You’s grip on the handle tightened, her knuckles turning white and the veins on the back of her hand bulging slightly.

How disgusting. She always saw right through her, manipulating her life at will.

“I’m sorry, but my car is small and can’t accommodate you, President Zhou. You’d better take a taxi,” Xu You said through gritted teeth, each word forced out.

Today, she would not give her what she wanted.

Zhou Siyu had been ready to get in the car, never expecting to be rejected. Her throat tightened, and she seemed on the verge of speaking but held back.

“I’m truly sorry. You should hurry and book a ride, or you’ll be late,” Xu You said, not giving her a chance to respond. She pulled the car door open, turned to face her, and smiled innocently.

With her path blocked, Zhou Siyu could find no excuse to stay.

Xu You curled her lips into a faint smile, slid into the driver’s seat, and pulled the door shut with a long arm. She proceeded to turn on the air conditioning and set the navigation, ignoring Zhou Siyu entirely.

Only by discarding that damned kindness could she become invincible.

As she mentally reinforced this thought, Xu You forced herself to focus on the small central control screen.

Once she entered the address and the navigation suggested three routes, she selected the one with the shortest travel time. Just as her hand returned to the gearshift and her eyes shifted from the screen, she noticed Zhou Siyu still standing beside her car, head bowed as she fiddled with her phone.

Could she still not have gotten a ride?

It was already 5:48.

She wished those big shots would just have an awkward chat, but with their different specialties, they probably couldn’t even hold a conversation.

An inexplicable restlessness and frustration welled up in Xu You’s heart. She closed her eyes, took two deep breaths, and resignedly placed her left hand on the control button to lower the car window.

As colleagues passed by, she faintly overheard their loud discussions, which only intensified her irritation.

Gritting her teeth, she asked, “President Zhou, haven’t you managed to hail a cab yet?”

Zhou Siyu had just finished installing the app and hadn’t even had time to confirm the destination input. Startled by the question, she looked up abruptly.

In the dimly lit underground parking garage, her eyes shone brightly, reminiscent of a certain animal, a puppy.

“No,” Zhou Siyu replied truthfully, “but it should be soon.”

“Then please get in the car,” Xu You said, meeting the eyes of a passing colleague whose gossipy gaze seemed glued to the two of them. Forcing a smile, she politely invited Zhou Siyu into the vehicle.

“Huh?” Zhou Siyu thought she must have misheard. But as a shadowy figure drifted by behind her, she caught a flicker of murderous intent in Xu You’s eyes. Whether it was an auditory hallucination or not, she quickly circled around the back of the car and squeezed into the passenger seat, pressed against Xu You’s expensive leather bag.

It wasn’t that she didn’t want to sit in the back, it was a two-door sports car, and her movements were restricted, making the rear seats inaccessible.

Xu You watched her get in, her eyelid twitching involuntarily.

“Seatbelt.”

With that, she shifted into gear, stepped on the accelerator, and drove the car out of the company’s underground garage.

Zhou Siyu belatedly fastened her seatbelt and secretly surveyed the car’s interior, along with the various icons and stickers scattered about.

The car was impeccably clean. Through the rearview mirror, she could see the two empty seats in the back, each adorned only with a silicone cushion on the headrest. In contrast, the front seats were lavishly decorated.

The passenger side air vent was clipped with a plastic photo holder featuring a picture of Yu Yao and Mai pressed closely together, their smiles radiant. Shifting her gaze upward, she noticed a childish sticker on the passenger seat that read “Mai’s Exclusive Seat.” Looking toward the center of the car, she saw numerous other stickers made from Mai’s photos.

Zhou Siyu couldn’t bear to look any longer. Aside from the driver, there wasn’t a single trace of Xu You in this car.

Her heart ached. In this three-person relationship, her own status was so diminished.

She grieved, knowing that all her suffering was of her own making.

If only she had taken the initiative to explain every detail clearly, if only she had set aside her pride and expressed her love openly…

But alas, there was no pill of regret to undo these missteps.

Throughout the journey, Zhou Siyu remained lost in self-reproach, unable to let go of her remorse. Xu You, meanwhile, focused entirely on the road, attentively navigating. When the GPS announced their arrival, the two stepped out of the car one after the other.

After exiting the vehicle, Xu You handed the car keys to the hotel valet. When asked for the room number, Zhou Siyu merely appeared holding Xu You’s bag without saying a word. The valet immediately bowed respectfully, accepted the keys without another word, and drove off.

“Damn capitalism,” Xu You muttered under her breath.

But what came next left her even more stunned.

Zhou Siyu’s arrival drew the attention of every staff member in the lobby. Anyone who saw her stopped what they were doing, stood straight, and bowed in welcome. Xu You, standing beside her, received the same courteous treatment, for the first time, she felt genuinely uncomfortable. In contrast, Zhou Siyu acted as if she saw nothing, still carrying both their bags while gazing at Xu You with a dazed expression.

“Let’s go,” Xu You whispered, forcing composure as she scanned the surroundings.

“Oh, okay.” Zhou Siyu nodded and, together with the lobby manager who had come to assist them, led her into the elevator lobby.

At 6:28, just a few minutes after they arrived, the ten-person round table was fully seated. Under Zhou Siyu’s introduction, Xu You greeted the eight distinguished guests one by one, and the dinner officially began at 6:30.

No matter how elegant the setting, negotiations still required alcohol to pave the way. Xu You had braced herself for a night of heavy drinking, but before the wine pot could even be passed around, Zhou Siyu stopped her. With a subtle glance, Zhou Siyu intercepted every toast that came their way, taking all the drinks herself.

Xu You had never attended a business banquet with Zhou Siyu before and had never seen her lower her guard so much in front of outsiders. To put it bluntly, it almost seemed like she was eagerly trying to please.

Back and forth they went, glasses clinking and toasts flowing. The wine pot emptied and refilled, emptied and refilled again. Bottles of red and white wine were replenished several times. Xu You finally understood that Zhou Siyu’s refusal to let her drink was a form of protection. Over two hours, facing off against eight people, Zhou Siyu drank half of them under the table. The remaining four waved their hands in “surrender.” By the end, she was the only one who had consumed alcohol and still appeared completely unfazed.

The head of the Beicheng Research Institute and the deans of two universities immediately expressed their willingness to collaborate with Yu Yao’s company. The dinner concluded hastily, and after ensuring everyone was safely sent off in their cars, Zhou Siyu could no longer hold back and rushed to the nearest restroom to vomit violently.

Inside the stall, her face was pale and her hair disheveled, but she didn’t want Xu You to see her like this, so she locked the door tightly.

Xu You knocked for a while, but Zhou Siyu showed no intention of opening. She went straight to the lobby to find the duty manager, settling the bill and requesting warm water along with medication to soothe acidity, protect the liver, and counteract the alcohol. The manager handed her the medicine, but when the bill was presented, it had already been signed, no doubt Zhou Siyu’s doing. Without wasting time, Xu You hurried back to the restroom with the medicine.

“Open the door and take this medicine,” Xu You called out loudly, noting that only one stall, Zhou Siyu’s, was occupied.

Having eaten very little, Zhou Siyu had already vomited out most of the alcohol. Hearing Xu You’s voice, she groggily stood up slowly, flushed the toilet, wiped her mouth clean with a tissue, and obediently opened the door.

The alcohol coursing through her bloodstream had taken control of her mind. The moment she saw Xu You, her limbs seemed to weaken, and she slumped forward, pressing her head against Xu You’s cheek and whimpering softly.

Her breath was scorching hot, her voice as soft and delicate as a kitten’s mewl.

“Youyou, Youyou, I’m sorry…”