Chapter 2 (2): The Plane Tree-Lined Street
Spring. The soft morning sunlight cast shadows of plane tree leaves on the sidewalk.
At a cafe with large windows on Wukang Road in the French Concession, Haotian sat across from Jia, drinking coffee.
Even for a weekend, it was still early. Few people passed by on the street.
"We should go."
Haotian prompted Jia, and they left the cafe.
There was no reason to linger. No telling how they might end up on camera.
They walked side by side along the tree-lined street toward the car.
Today, he had no plans to use the company car and had given the driver the day off.
Haotian unlocked the car with the smart key.
At that moment, a young woman wearing earbuds passed by and let out a small gasp.
"Longteng's...President Li...?"
Jia's brow furrowed slightly. She glanced up at Haotian.
"Can I help you?"
A cold voice.
The woman hurriedly rummaged through her bag and pulled out a card case.
"I--I'm Chen Zhixia, a reporter with Caijing Tongxun! I'd like to ask about your company's Smart Nexus project..."
"For interviews, please go through our PR department."
"Yes, I've sent several interview requests. But I haven't received any response..."
"Then there's nothing we can discuss."
Blunt.
Haotian lightly touched Jia's shoulder, guiding her toward the car.
Then the young woman said,
"So that's the wife everyone's talking about..."
"I'd appreciate it if you didn't refer to her that way."
His voice grew even colder.
"I'm not in the business of selling my private life piecemeal."
Haotian spat the words and got into the car, driving off.
---
"A reporter named Chen from Caijing Tongxun?...There may have been a name like that among the interview requests we received."
Feifei answered expressionlessly.
"Did something happen with that reporter?"
"I was stopped on the street on the weekend.
How rude."
Haoming, sprawled on the sofa in the office, grinned at him.
"Eh, come on--isn't that kind of thing fine? You're the one who 'set every living room in Asia on fire,' after all."
"Stop it."
Haotian glared at Haoming.
"But seriously, it's not like you got ambushed by paparazzi with cameras, right? It's a mid-tier economics magazine. Maybe you should give them a try."
"Right. I'll review the details of the interview request."
(So that's the wife everyone's talking about...)
He didn't even remember the woman's face.
And frankly, he didn't want to.
