I Want a Lifetime with You novel Chapter 221

“Cruel?”

Pei Jingxiu regarded Ning Xi with incredulity, as if she had said something absurd. He raised his brow and feigned a smile with barely veiled coldness in his eyes. He pulled the car to a stop and shifted his body to face Ning Xi.

He lifted Ning Xi’s chin and stared straight at her with his deep, alluring eyes.

Ning Xi almost lost herself in Pei Jingxiu’s captivating eyes. Pei Jingxiu reached his hand towards her, and his tapered finger brushed her chin softly, as if he were caressing on a precious gem. But Ning Xi knew that Pei Jingxiu had uncloaked his devilish nature. Ning Xi was trembling in fear, and she wished to break free from his grasp.

She heard his voice, “Nine, do you still remember our first encounter?”

Ning Xi’s body was shaking uncontrollably and her face was gloomy. She pursed her lips and avoided his gaze. “I don’t remember.”

“How could you forget those memories? When you lose your dignity, that’s when you would realize what you truly want. Just like you would do anything to survive and achieve your goals when I first met you. Nothing is impossible.”

“But it’s a sin that led to our encounter. That’s my punishment,” Ning Xi blurted out, “If I had a choice, I would rather we never met each other.”

Pei Jingxiu curled his lips, “I don’t believe in fate.” He caressed her jawline and tilted her head, “People are often willing to make sacrifices in order to get what they want. There’s nothing wrong with it.”

“Nine, you can devote yourself to benevolence once you get what you want. God will forgive your sins.” He let out a chuckle, “Are you scared?”

Ning Xi remained silent and Pei Jingxiu raised his brow, “You won’t be afraid if you think about your desires. Keep your eye on the prize – let your ambitions drive you forward. By the way, since we’re in Jiang City, don’t you want to meet those good friends of yours? Or maybe we can revisit the place where we first met?”

Ning Xin pursed her lips and glowered at him, “There is no need. I’m tired and I need some rest!”

Pei Jingxiu curled his lips, “Fine!”

Ning Xi closed her eyes, but her past still haunted her no matter how hard she tried to forget it.

Pei Jingxiu was right; she refused to relive what she had gone through in the past. It was her fate to meet Pei Jingxiu, then she would accept it regardless of the outcome.

Ning Xin turned her back on Pei Jingxiu to shield herself from his ruthlessness and aloofness.

It was the end of the year, and all companies were busy preparing for their annual meeting. As the leading enterprise of Jiang City, Shengyuan’s annual meeting had always been grand and extravagant.

Mai Qi had a lot on her plate for the past few days. For the past years, she had her subordinates to help her organize the function, but not this year. Song Jingyu was eager to impress, so she turned down the company’s assignation of helpers. She was overambitious by claiming that she could work it out all by herself.

But Song Jingyu was born with silver spoon in her mouth, and she couldn’t even put forward a decent proposal. Although it’s only an annual meeting, there was an enormous amount of preparation that needed to be done.

Song Jingyu was no help at all; Mai Qi already had her hands full and she even needed to prepare the annual report. Mai Qi was on the verge of filing her resignation but she managed to hold herself back. She reminded herself that it was impossible to find another company that would allow her to make good money like Shengyuan.

Fortunately, Fu Chengyan was a thoughtful superior. He was aware of Song Jingyu’s incompetence, so he had asked Zhou Zheng to assign a few co-workers. Although they were running a few days late, it was still possible to pull it off in time.

Shi Nuan had just finished her project report when she received a call from Fu Chengyan asking her to go to his office. Shi Nuan came out of the elevator and found Mai Qi, who looked worn out. Mai Qi was holding a towering stack of files in her arms. A few sheets of document slipped her hold, so Shi Nuan stooped down to reach for them, “Mai Qi, what happened to you?”

“Nothing!” Mai Qi shook her head, “Ms. Shi, why are you here today?”

Shi Nuan flashed the report that she was holding, “It’s the latest project report to be reviewed by Mr. Fu.”

“Oh, okay. Mr. Fu is in the office.” Mai Qi smiled, “Mr. Fu seems to be in a bad mood today, be mindful and good luck!”

Shi Nuan nodded and gave her an ‘OK’ gesture, “Thanks!”

“No problem, you can go inside now. I’m slammed with the preparation work for the annual meeting.”

“Alright, I’ll let you get back to work!” Shi Nuan watched Mai Qi as she marched out of sight. She recalled that there were only a few days left before the annual meeting. If they were still in the midst of the preparation work, it implied that they were in dire straits.

Shi Nuan knocked on the door and heard Fu Chengyan’s voice, “Come in!”

Shi Nuan pushed the door open and found Fu Chengyan pinching the bridge of his nose; he looked exhausted.