Chapter 343: Ring
It was just like the game of ‘Playing House,’ where once the newly-weds received their marriage certificate, that was the end of it—and they were then a married couple and lived happily ever after. But this was the real world; Xiao Luo certainly did not want to tell his family about it, and it wasn’t because he was bound to the pre-nuptial agreement. He had spent the last couple of days furrowing his brows in contemplation—he could barely accept such a dubious arrangement himself, so he was sure that his family would not be able to either.
Out of the blue, Ji Siying contacted him, and Xiao Luo was pleasantly surprised as it had been a while since he last heard from her. Strangely, a sudden thought flashed in his mind, and he couldn’t help thinking to himself how she’d be more suited to be his wife.
“h.e.l.lo, Mr. Xiao Luo.”
“Hi, have you already returned to Xiahai?” Xiao Luo asked.
“Yes, I’m now outside the Crescent Bay Hotel. I’m here to fetch you to NSA headquarters,” Ji Siying said. In a way, Xiao Luo missed her soft, gentle voice with the ethereal quality of a songbird.
“Okay, I’ll be down really soon.”
Xiao Luo quickly freshened up and changed his clothes. As a member of the NSA, of course, it came as no surprise that Ji Siying knew where he lived. The ring that he was wearing had a GPS tracking function, and the NSA would be able to quickly triangulate his exact location.
Xiao Luo headed out decked in a black jacket, a pair of marine-blue slim fit jeans and hiking shoes.
The cost of his outfit was no more than two thousand dollars, and it was highly unlikely that anyone who saw him would believe that he was the boss of Luo Workshop. For a boss, this outfit was a little too shabby.
His black hair was casually brushed back, and a pair of eloquent eyebrows and intense black eyes added dimension to his handsome face. And although he was wearing a casual outfit, it was hard to suppress Xiao Luo’s natural appeal and confident demeanor.
“Daddy, open the door! Daddy, open the door…”
Just as he was about to leave, he could hear Su Xiaobei’s affectionate voice from beyond the door.
Xiao Luo smiled to himself, little Bei Bei was always the highlight of his day. When he heard Su Xiaobei call him “daddy,” it dawned on Xiao Luo that he was, in fact, officially her father now. But as he thought about it, he merely shrugged his shoulders, for whether by name or by law, he had always felt like Su Xiaobei’s father.
When he opened the door, and he saw her big bright eyes staring up at him. Su Xiaobei had the sweetest of smiles on her cute little face, and she was blinking her eyes with a sense of antic.i.p.ation. In her hands, she held a small but impressive-looking box. And as soon as she saw Xiao Luo, she lifted up the box toward him and said, “Daddy, mummy said this is for you!”
“What is this?” Xiao Luo asked, squatting down.
Su Xiaobei played coy, but she couldn’t contain her excitement as she quickly urged him on and said, “Daddy, open it up and take a look, and you will find out!”
Xiao Luo ruffled her hair with affection before accepting the small box, and when he opened it, he froze instantly. Inside the ring box was an exquisite ring adorned with a glittering diamond. The hallmark of its inner shank was engraved with several Latin alphabets: KELA.CN. It was a KELA diamond ring, and by the looks of it, it was clearly a ring that was worth a lot.
“Put it on…”
A cold voice came from the hidden side of the door frame. Xiao Luo tilted his head towards its direction…
Su Li walked into view. She wearing a burgundy windbreaker, and he wondered if she was on her way out or had just returned. Regardless of what she wore, she always brought elegance to it, and he caught a whiff of her fragrance as she stepped through the doorway. Xiao Luo immediately noticed a ring on her left ring finger, and it looked exactly like the one that Su Xiaobei had just handed him.
He stood up, frowning somewhat, and asked, “So, what is this about?”
The corners of her mouth raised in a sardonic smile as Su Li said, “We need a ring now since we’re married,” and after a short pause, she added, “I can’t seriously count on you to go buy one that costs a few thousand from a street vendor, can I?”
Xiao Luo fixed his eyes on her, and furrows appeared as he c.o.c.ked an eyebrow. He just couldn’t understand what was going on in her this woman’s head. Wasn’t it evident that the two of them had no feelings for one another? This marriage was nothing more than a sham and only happened because of an “accident.” So, was the ring’s purpose only for the sake of appearance?
“Daddy, put it on, you will look good with it!”
Su Xiaobei raised her head to look at Xiao Luo, a look of innocence and excitement written all over her face.
Xiao Luo undoubtedly wouldn’t have worn it to please Su Li, but he had no second thoughts doing it for this little girl. He smiled at her as he kneeled down and said, “Okay, can you help me wear it?”
“Alright, Daddy.”
Su Xiaobei eagerly held the ring after Xiao Luo handed it to her, then she frowned and asked Xiao Luo, “Hmm… Daddy, which finger do you want to wear it on?”
“Oh, any finger is fine, as long as it fits you can put it on,” Xiao Luo said.
Su Li was quick to correct him and said, “Who said you can wear it on any finger, you have to put it on the ring finger on your left hand.”
Ring finger?
Su Xiaobei had absolutely no idea which the ring finger was, and she stole a glance at Su Li, almost like she was afraid she’d be reprimanded, and asked Xiao Luo, “Daddy, which is the ring finger?”
Xiao Luo stuck out his ring finger on his left hand. “This one.”
“Oh, I see…”
Su Xiaobei nodded her head, and with a solemn expression on her face, she proceeded to put it on for Xiao Luo.
Xiao Luo gave Su Xiaobei a peck on the cheek as he feigned a thrilled expression while admiring the ring on his finger. But, inwardly, he was a little surprised that the fit of the wedding band was perfect. It wasn’t tight or loose, and in truth, it looked pretty good. The inner shank of the gold ring was in a satin finish, and the outer shank was buffed to a high sheen and embedded with a sparkling diamond on its crown. The mounted diamond was not excessively large, and its head rose just above the claws that held it in place. It was not too flashy, but neither was it understated, retaining its extravagance for all to see.
He raised his hand and asked Su Li, “I’m going to ask you the same question that I asked before. By doing this, aren’t you afraid that everyone will figure out our relations.h.i.+p?”
Su Li looked at him indifferently and said: “Well, wearing a ring doesn’t mean a thing.” As she spoke, she suddenly noticed that Xiao Luo was wearing another ring on his index finger. “That ring that you’re wearing, where did you get it from? It’s so ugly, you should get rid of it.”
I’m sorry, but I’m afraid I can’t.”
Xiao Luo replied bluntly, and he had no intention of complying with such an unreasonable request. He couldn’t believe that she’d even raise such a thing, and she was coming across like those women of means who insisted on having things their way. Xiao Luo wasn’t going to allow her to dictate terms and control every aspect of his life.
It wasn’t how he was raised, and his pride as a man wouldn’t allow it.
He brushed Su Xiaobei’s hair with his hand and said, “Xiaobei, daddy is going to head out now, so you stay home and be good, okay.”
“Alright, Daddy. Bei Bei will wait for you to come home,” the little girl said, nodding her head obediently.
Xiao Luo didn’t look at Su Li and, without a word, got up to walk toward the elevator.
Su Li didn’t say anything, either. Xiao Luo was free to go where he pleased, and she was only hoping that he could build a career for himself in Xiahai, instead of lounging at home all day and living off of her.
…
As soon as he reached the hotel lobby, he spotted Ji Siying sitting on the sofa, waiting for him.
She had kept her eyes peeled on the elevator, and as soon as Xiao Luo appeared, she was already on her feet. She greeted him respectfully, and the joy of seeing him again showed on her face. “Mr. Xiao Luo!”
Her dark hair flowed over her shoulders alluringly, framing her pretty face, accentuated by her bright eyes and curved eyebrows. She glowed as she gave Xiao Luo an enchanting smile with her delicate lips.
“My apologies, I must have kept you waiting a long time,” Xiao Luo said.
“Oh, that’s alright, Mr. Xiao Luo is the boss. There’s nothing wrong for a subordinate to wait on her boss,” Ji Siying replied.
Xiao Luo didn’t quite agree with that but chose not to pursue the matter, and simply nodded his head. “Let’s go then.”
“Mm-hmm.”
Ji Siying followed Xiao Luo, and as she gazed at him from behind, she somehow felt a sense of exhilaration and joy at the same time. It felt like reuniting with someone after a long period of separation, and it gave her a warm, fuzzy feeling.
…