The email was from the G&S official account and had been sent by George.
The email included the schedule for the upcoming press conference. Ning Li went through the details and double-checked her designs before she fine-tuned everything.
George might be an arrogant playboy but he was a capable one.
Originally, George was not in charge of the press conference but after he had seen Ning Li’s design drafts, he had come back to the country without a second thought and taken over the project.
He then made some drastic changes to the original plans.
Other people might not be as audacious and bold as George since the press conference was just around the corner, but George was different.
He had the power and the spirit to change the plan from head to toe.
After getting Ning Li’s reply, George replied almost instantly.
[Dear Ning, I went all out for you in this.]
Ning Li raised a brow.
Given George’s status and wealth, even if this whole thing was screwed up beyond the point of return, it still would not affect him at all.
Out of respect, Ning Li replied courteously. [Consider this press conference a meeting gift from me.]
…
After fine-tuning all the details, midnight had already come.
Ning Li switched off her laptop and prepared to sleep. She instinctively reached out for her phone and saw a missed call notification.
It was from Lu Huaiyu and the call had been from an hour ago.
She had missed his call because she had been so busy fine-tuning the proposal and set her phone to silent mode.
However, even if it had been an hour ago, the hour was already late. Why the urgency?
Ning Li thought about it and texted him.
[Second brother, I was busy just now and set my phone to silent. Is anything the matter?]
…
Yunding Fenghua’s study room.
Lu Huaiyu was sitting on the couch with a lamp beside him.
The lamp sketched the contour of his slender body and cast a shadow behind him.
He crossed his long legs and laid back lazily.
He had a book in his hand and on the first page was a sketch.
He stared at it with his deep, penetrating gaze.
His phone on the table suddenly buzzed.
He glanced at it and realized it was from Ning Li.
He knew Ning Li had been having her midterms last week, so he had barely contacted her.
He thought the girl would contact him after the midterm exams but after waiting for a whole day, all he got was mockery from Gu Tinglan.
After thinking a while, he decided to call her but she did not pick up.
He closed his book and texted her instead.
[Nothing in particular. I just had a little trouble sleeping.]
Ning Li frowned when she saw the message.
As a matter of fact, Lu Huaiyu always had trouble sleeping but he rarely mentioned it in front of her.
[Is it serious?]
Normal sleeping pills were not very effective, so he rarely took them. He preferred relying on adjusting his body clock and schedule.
[It’s okay. Maybe I slept a little too much in the afternoon.]
Lu Huaiyu sounded calm but Ning Li found it strange.
The man always had naps and had never had a problem sleeping at night before, so what had caused it today?
Lu Huaiyu somehow guessed what the girl was thinking, so he sent her another message.
[It has been a week.]
He then looked at the clock.
[No, it has been a week and a day]
Ning Li calculated the time in her mind and she realized that Lu Huaiyu had been losing sleep since last Saturday.
What did he do that day?
Ning Li thought about it and realized that it was she who had done something. She had made him coffee.
The thought shocked her right away.
‘Is he… What is he trying to say?’
She stared at her phone. For some reason, she could feel the heat behind the message.
[Second brother, staying up late is not good for your health. Try to sleep early.]
Lu Huaiyu was not bothered.
[I’ve gotten used to it. It’s fine.]
It was his 8th-day of having trouble sleeping and it had been 6 days since he saw the young girl.
Ning Li replied after some time.
This time, she sent him a screenshot.
The screenshot showed a bunch of search results.
[The underlying dangers of staying up late.]
[There are many downsides to staying up late.
1.Staying up late increases the risk of heart disease, especially for middle-aged people.
2. Staying up late is bad for your liver and causes your liver function to wear down.
3. Staying up late will cause damage to your kidney and weaken its function…]
Lu Huaiyu glued his eyes to several particular words in the screenshot and his gaze became dangerous.
Middle-aged man, weakened kidney function, etc.
Ning Li did not feel anything on the other end of the phone.
[Look, staying up late is dangerous.]
Lu Huaiyu went silent for a long while before grinning.
“Hmhmp.”
He was being too kind to the girl and it had made her unscrupulous. How dare she send him this?
A while later, he replied.
[Your birthday is on 26th June, right?]
Ning Li felt strange. Why the sudden question about her birthday?
[Yeah.]
Lu Huaiyu replied almost instantly.
[You are still a minor and if you stay up late, you won’t grow.]
Ning Li was speechless.
She had somehow stepped on his tail without realizing it.
Then, Lu Huaiyu called her directly.
Ning Li was shocked but after some thought, she decided to answer.
She covered herself in her blanket and answered with a muffled voice, “Hello?”
It was late. Her meek and muffled voice felt soft, like a curled-up cat tickling one’s ear with its paws.
Lu Huaiyu grinned.
He was not able to see her in person and it made him a little frustrated. It had only been a few days but it felt like eons to him.
“I just remembered that you had your midterms last week. Have a good rest, good night.”
Ning Li felt strange but she replied nonetheless, “Good night, second brother.”
She hung up the phone.
Lu Huaiyu looked at his phone and tapped on the voice recording app.
The sweet and meek voice sounded and echoed in the silent room.
“Good night, second brother.”
He got up and returned to his bedroom and he put his phone beside his pillow.
“Good night, second brother.”
He smiled again.
“She really is an obedient girl.”
…
Sunday.
Sanyang Art Museum was having a combined exhibition for several artists. The fact that Yu Pingchuan’s work would also be displayed had attracted a crowd.
Lin Zhouyang arrived at the museum early in the morning and sent a message to Ye Ci while waiting at the entrance.
[Ye Ci, I’m here already. There’s a lot of people here. Are you sure you’re not coming?]
Ye Ci was doing revision work on Mathematics.
She had put a lot of effort into the competitive Physics class lately, which had caused her other subjects to fall behind.
She had felt her decline particularly after the midterm and it made her nervous.
As for the art exhibition, she did not have the time for it.
[I’m busy, I’m not going]
Lin Zhouyang scratched his head and sighed.
Even though he had liked Ye Ci for a long time, he dared not make it too obvious because he knew it would only distract her.
He knew Ye Ci liked art, so he had mustered up enough courage to invite her to the art exhibition, but he was still rejected.
He took a picture of the signage of the exhibition outside the museum.
[I heard Mr. Yu Pingchuan will be here today. It’s a pity that you can’t come.]
Ye Ci glanced at the picture. She then noticed something and zoomed in on the picture.
At the corner of the picture were several men walking into the museum and one of them was tall and eye-catching.
It was Lu Huaiyu.