19: SHANGHAI (PART 1)

The two and half hour domestic flight from the City to Shanghai appears long when Wang Xiu sits beside Mr. Lim and pretends to like every joke the director says while Li Jun and Hwei Ru behind her giggles at every small thing coming to their mind.

It's about time she starts with her plan, Wang Xiu thinks.

"Ehm!!! I feel my throat drying up." She says, caressing her lengthy throat and lifting her chin.

"Here!"

"Here!"

Both Li Jun and Director Lim handed her a bottle of water and to make the lawyer feel jealous, she chose to take Li Jun's offer who opened the bottle cap for her. Ms. Bao raises her brow and purses her lips but quickly hides it with a smile when the male executive turns around to continue their conversation. Wang Xiu notices the effect of her interruption from the lawyer's reaction and she feels triumphant to discover how easy it is to shake Hwei Ru.

This will be easy, Wang Xiu thought.

Bringing her cousin with them proves to be worth it as Li Jun pushes himself to take care of not only Hwei Ru but also her. The young man would even make it certain that the director will not be able to demonstrate his gentleman gestures of helping out to carry the women's bags into the trolley from the baggage carousel at Hongqiao Airport.

Shanghai pride itself on having two airports, Pudong Airport hosting mostly international flights while Hongqiao serves as the hub for domestic and east Asian countries. Privately owned by the family Zhang, a relative of her father's side of the family to which she never had a chance to meet since she was a young kid. A mystery she doesn't mind solving. Her auntie didn't let her join any of the family reunions with their relatives in Shanghai or introduce her to anyone from her mother's side after they took her in with the Long family. 

One of the reasons she doesn't have the heart to pursue them is because Long Liu Wei gave all the affection a parent could give to her. More than her aunt, a blood relative cares for her.

"What do you think of Hwei Ru?" Li jun asks, sitting at the lounge chair while waiting for the other members of the marketing team to arrive. 

All of them decided to meet first at the lobby before going to their rooms to check on each other's plan. This project is large and needs a group of people to participate. The best way to manage them is to have open communication and patience to wait for each other and always check up on one another.

"She's nice." Wang Xiu answers. She searches for the woman across the lobby and sees the lawyer talking to someone on the phone.

This will be a good opportunity to make the lawyer tremble, Wang Xiu says to herself.

"Only nice?" The male executive raises his brow and turns to glares at the woman sitting beside her on the long couch.

"What do you want to hear from me?" Wang Xiu counters, lifting her eyebrow at the man staring at her. She fights the glare let their faces get closer with only an inch away from each other.

"Something bad like the way you criticize the woman I date." Li Jun turns his face away before answering. The woman's warm breath on his cheeks propels his body to feel warm and stiff.

"Are you two dating?" The female executive inquires, her move to entice the man is met by his avoidance.

"Well, I-I... asked her here." Li Jun answers, fidgeting his fingers and staring at Hwei Ru across the lobby with her ears on the phone.

"A weekend getaway and you two haven't dated yet… that's fast." Wang Xiu answers to scare the man.

The innate fear of a man to be tied down fast, how easy it is to play with emotions, Wang Xiu thought.

"Do you think I'm moving too fast?" Li Jun wrinkles his forehead and gaze down at the floor. He never likes being pressured and doesn't want the woman to feel the same way.

Wang Xiu likes to say it is and explain something bad about it, but she realizes if she tells anything wrong, Li Jun will tell Hwei Ru that he took her advice. She has to play good cousin and make Hwei Ru appear like an insecure soon-to-be girlfriend.

Glancing at Hwei Ru standing at the crowd of people from the hotel lobby, Wang Xiu made certain the woman sees her before she extends her arm and caresses Li Jun's face. "Doesn't matter how fast you two can get, you like her, she likes you. That's enough." She advises the man.

Wang Xiu gives another glimpse at the woman and sees the fierce glance and clenching jaws. She learns the level of jealousy the woman is sensitive to, and that is physical touch with Li Jun.

π - π - π

[First Day of Filming]

Before the sun breaks out at the horizon, the director's team is already at the top floor ready to film the building from its four corners. They have ten drones to use for filming and another set of drones for emergencies. The first drone goes from top to bottom and another does the opposite. They make the drone encircle the whole building repeatedly in different heights. When the sun goes down they make the same routine, the only difference is the bright lights they use at night time.

Wang Xiu works closely with Director Lim, monitoring every shot the drone makes in its high definition cameras. The director explains every detail that needs to be captured and what kind of features should be highlighted by the camera.

Li Jun watches Wang Xiu work hard for the project. The female executive moves around to assist the crew and the director with everything they need. She doesn't need to be told what to do or ask someone to do it for her. An embodiment of a great follower and leader that their company needs. Li Jun gazed at the woman with admiration and hope he can do the same when he becomes a CEO.

Hwei Ru notices how Li Jun admires his cousin. She sees the woman is handling the project extremely well as someone without knowledge of filming. As someone who only hears the worst about Zhang Wang Xiu from her brother, this is an eye-opening experience to see. She ponders if her brother only said awful things about Ms. Zhang because he was jealous of how good she is at managing people.

π - π - π

[ONE WEEK SUMMARY]

The next day of filming is as good as the first. This time they have a smaller building to film yet a wider place to cover. They chose a famous Mall to add to the company's portfolio. Wang Xiu wants to establish that public places can also be classy and elegant like another skyscraper that wants to establish power, Malls have their community empowering them.

The next location was on a bridge and a collaboration with five other construction companies. A knot to tie them all in a sturdy and powerful string and make a bridge for the future. It was the most challenging for them as the wind propels the drones away.

But Wang Xiu persevered and never lost hope, and as the wind changed by the day, they were able to finish filming by nightfall.

π - π - π

[KARAOKE]

To celebrate the five days of tough labor during filming in Shanghai, Wang Xiu decides to contract a karaoke bar for the team and crews of the project, including Li Jun and Hwei Ru who came along with them.

The celebration starts with employees teasing each other to sing. Betting on who will have the highest score until Wang Xiu agrees on giving a bonus to the person who will reach an impressive record. The director felt delighted by the idea and added higher prize money to the winner. 

Drinking beer and singing along, Wang Xiu let herself have fun for a while with the employees and crews of the director. When she was teased by the staff to sing with a mic on, she grabs Li Jun's hand to have a duet with him.

Li Jun's baritone voice is the perfect blend for her sweet husky bold tone. Wang Xiu brings herself to stare at the man's eyes while singing the lyrics and to her surprise, the male executive puts his warm hand on her waist. A motion that she knows the director and Ms. Bao wouldn't miss. When she turns to take a glimpse of them sitting at one of the couches at the corner of the bar. Their faces look dim and fierce filled with jealousy.

After the song, Wang Xiu excuses herself to go to the lady's room. There is a tense atmosphere between the four of them after her stunt and it needs to calm down or it will explode on the table and in front of the employees and crew members.

"Li Jun is your cousin right?" A woman's voice from outside the cubicle where she sits starts to ask.

Wang Xiu doesn't need to open the door or ask the name of the woman, it's Ms. Bao Hwei Ru, displaying her insecurities. She pushed the door hard and it made a "thud" sound against the wall and discovered the lawyer standing in front of her cubicle. A few notches forward and the executive now stands in front of Hwei Ru. Their faces only a step away from each other while their eyes fight one another.

"If you like Li Jun, I'll advise you to support his dream to be an actor rather than being a CEO." Wang Xiu set both of her arms between the woman's body putting her weight on the slab where the wash basin is and let their face an inch closer.

"Li Jun is the son of CEO Long, he will be the next CEO." Hwei Ru answers, her voice doesn't show weakness from the woman's intimidation.

"You are too pure. Makes me want to bite you and make you feel dirty." The female executive bites her lower lip and narrows her eyes gazing at the lawyer. The sudden excitement in her muscles comes from the alcohol and the sharp look Hwei Ru presents. Surprisingly she sees the woman's beauty behind the clear pair of glasses.

"What are you saying?" The lawyer's eye slimmed behind the crystal lenses.

"I know your brother has told you stories about me already. The worst kind." Wang Xiu tucks in the woman's hair behind her ears."I suggest you believe him… because I will do EV-ERY-THING to be the CEO of LCDC." She whispers in Hwei Ru's ears, brushing her cheek.

Hwei Ru didn't move, if she does, the woman in front of her will know her body is trembling and her knees are wobbling from the plan the female executive unravels. In the world of pure business and money, incest is gray area, frowned upon by others but accepted freely for money.

Is Zhang Wang Xiu planning to marry Long Li Jun for the position?