Deliberately Approaching
Chapter 50 I Am Clearly a Man

Chapter 50: Chapter 50 I Am Clearly a Man

Chen Xin realized he had said the wrong thing and quickly corrected himself, "Yes, yes, yes, Lady Tang indeed needs someone to protect her. Is there no need for... at Wuyou Pavilion?"

"Things can settle down for a bit there. Uncle Li is getting older; let him have a good rest."

Chen Xin was somewhat surprised. Shouldn’t they strike while the iron is hot?

The issue with the shares must be causing quite a stir, and this would be when Li Wanshan is at his most vulnerable, having lost the people’s hearts. If they added just a little more fuel to the fire, it could be very effective.

But that’s not how Li Zishen saw things.

After all, he was someone who cared about family ties.

Despite all the unkind things Li Wanshan had done over the years, Li Zishen only ever defended and never took the offensive.

It was for the sake of the Leng Family and also for his late father.

Although Chen Xin felt a bit of regret, he never disobeyed Li Zishen’s commands.

"Yes, Brother Shen, I’ll get right on it."

Li Zishen stood up and walked to the floor-to-ceiling window.

He remembered what happened in the restaurant, feeling warm and reassured in his heart that Tang Xiaowan had finally learned to care about him, even if her methods were a bit rushed.

Perhaps, just now you were scared too!

Thank you, my Little Angel!

...

At four-thirty in the afternoon, Jin City University.

Since it was Friday, Tang Xiaowan and Li Zihan got out of school earlier today, with only two short classes in the afternoon.

They walked and talked, with the topic still on the subject of apprenticeship.

The matter with the voice recorder this morning had only deepened Li Zihan’s admiration, so no matter how much Tang Xiaowan tried to explain that she didn’t know martial arts, it was in vain.

"How about we have a little sparring?"

"A battle of the sexes?"

"Yeah!"

Tang Xiaowan looked at Li Zihan with eyes full of disdain.

The young master was wearing a white shirt and flowery pants today, with a pair of bright red sneakers that were particularly eye-catching; even the shoelaces were red and white.

Although it was only early September and not cold, occasionally still a little warm, many students were still wearing summer clothes.

It’s just that those pants seemed a bit...

White background with small red and white flowers evenly distributed.

Hmm, they do match the shoes quite well!

"No need, I can tell at a glance that I’m a woman. As for whether you’re male, that I’m not sure."

Li Zihan: "..."

His face flushed with embarrassment in an instant.

"Damn, how am I not..." Li Zihan almost fell for the trap, hastily stopping himself: "A man, I’m definitely a man among men, the kind who stands tall and upright."

Having said this, Li Zihan unconsciously straightened up and held his head high.

At 182 cm tall, he really wasn’t short.

Tang Xiaowan was only 166 cm, so in comparison, Li Zihan really did stand tall.

Too bad Tang Xiaowan’s standard of judgment wasn’t height.

She pursed her lips in amusement, and with a feigned indifference replied, "Sorry, sorry, my bad for the slip of the tongue, you are indeed a man, no doubt about it."

Li Zihan then relaxed and continued walking.

A few minutes later, they reached the school gates, and the car to pick them up had already stopped along the curb.

Only, the person getting out of the car wasn’t Bai Long, but Chen Xin.

"Where’s Little Black Dragon?"

"Brother Shen sent him to do something; he’ll be back on Monday."

"Oh, off to do more of my brother’s dirty work!"

"Get in the car quickly, Brother Shen is waiting."

"Alright, alright, heading home now!"

Li Zihan always joked with Bai Long in such a tone, not really because he had anything against him, but just for pure fun, to tease him.

Over time, it became a habit!

Everybody knew Li Zihan loved to joke, so they didn’t pay much attention to it, but Bai Long took it seriously; after all, the speaker may have no intention, but the listener might interpret differently.

In his heart, everything he did was solid and significant, and more importantly, he was helping to relieve Li Zishen of his worries and difficulties.

The term "narrow customer" was the most fitting description for him.

Tang Xiaowan felt particularly anxious in the car; she had struggled through the day.

Not only was she distracted during lectures, but even when Chen Yu told her about interesting stories from their class in previous years, she couldn’t focus.

[Master, a man is calling for the master. I have two enhanced Taekwondo classes tomorrow. Master, come and watch, and let’s exchange some pointers.]"

Li Zihan glanced at Tang Xiaowan seated in the passenger seat, waiting for her reply.

Tang Xiaowan, still thinking about Mei Garden, didn’t hear him.

"Brother Chen, tomorrow..."

"What is it, Lady Tang?"

"Oh, nothing, I was just wondering, businesswise, you guys don’t have any special plans for the weekend, right?"

"On Saturday, there were originally two international meetings, but Brother Shen canceled them. There might be other arrangements. As for Sunday, well, we usually deal with some domestic matters and have lunch with the major shareholders. Oh, right, Brother Shen usually chooses to visit Madam Lai at Bie Yuan on Sunday afternoons."

"So busy, not even taking a rest on the weekends!"

"Yes, indeed very busy!"

Chen Xin said, hiding a smile.

He knew what Tang Xiaowan wanted to ask, but as a subordinate, it wasn’t appropriate to reveal Li Zishen’s whereabouts in advance; maintaining discretion was a fundamental part of his job.

The reason he deliberately mentioned the meetings and the visit to Bie Yuan was simple. He wanted Tang Xiaowan to understand that Li Zishen always had matters to attend to and taking time off from his busy schedule to spend a couple of days with him at Mei Garden was definitely a sign of true love; there was no doubt about it.

Unfortunately, it had the opposite effect; upon hearing this, Tang Xiaowan became even more anxious, and her face lost its smile.

If even Chen Xin didn’t know, it was probably impossible for her to go.

If all else fails, she thought she’d just find an excuse to slip away. After all, Li Zihan had been generous with red envelopes lately.

But what excuse could she use?

Shopping for fall clothes, browsing malls...

As she thought, Tang Xiaowan couldn’t help but look toward Li Zihan in the backseat.

Hmm, there was still quite a good chance!

She took out her phone to send a message and then saw Li Zihan’s proposal, which was exactly what she needed.

[We’ll see how it goes. If I’m free tomorrow, Miss here will reluctantly accompany you, but I’m only applying as a friend, not as a master.]

Li Zihan smiled triumphantly: [No problem!]

[But let’s get one thing straight, I’m just going to watch. I absolutely refuse to exchange hands-on techniques; I really don’t know Taekwondo.]

Li Zihan suspected Tang Xiaowan was deliberately downplaying her abilities, but he didn’t dare to expose her and simply responded: [OK, whatever you say!]

With that, a gentlemen’s agreement was reached.

Tang Xiaowan bit her lower lip, stashed her phone back into her bag, and then looked out of the window, feeling the road ahead was long and uncertain.

She missed home, terribly so!

When they returned to Li Garden, it was just five o’clock, still an hour away from dinner time.

Li Zihan, unlike Tang Xiaowan, didn’t choose to go to his bedroom to rest; instead, he took the elevator to the fourth-floor study to seek advice from his elder brother, Li Zishen, about the operation of the roast duck restaurant.

Today marked his first day since signing the contract.

As the new owner of the three chain stores, even though he had skipped class to visit Immortal Flavors that morning, had a brief interaction with the staff, and had already given out red envelopes, the issue of the store’s signboard remained undecided.

To keep or to change, he was unsure.

He also needed to consider whether to organize some promotional activities to boost the brand’s visibility soon.