As straightforward as she was, she could decide so swiftly with other equally and even more important matters before. If she couldn't, her personality would not permit it for her to stay on the gray area for too long.

Not being able to answer him either a yes or a no was too out of place…

Soon Mo Wenbin, Xue Guangxi and Su Jingjing all returned to their shade. They each s.n.a.t.c.hed whatever food they saw. Mo Wenbin was eating barbecue, Su Jingjing was eating kimbab and Xue Guangxi was eating jelly. They ate for a long time, seeming to replenish the energy that they expended during their play.

Mo Wenbin, after filling his stomach, s.n.a.t.c.hed the guitar next, and played a tune. They all knew the song so they sang together. The atmosphere was harmonious. They were smiling and laughing and having fun.

The two young lovebirds – Guangxi and Jingjing were lying on the ground beside the basket that they brought. They were discussing some things in hushed voices. It was young and innocent times. Most probably they were discussing their individual dreams, or they were creating dreams together. Or perhaps they were planning ahead on how to make more memories together in the present. They were oblivious of their surroundings, of the three adults that were still with them.

Chen Linyun and Xue Jinxu were still leaning against the tree trunk. They were cuddling each other. They were at peace. Chen Linyun finally was able to take a nap, while Xue Jinxu was staring at the two youngsters lying on the gra.s.s, not far from them. She was watching them, making sure that nothing was amiss. Setting aside her personal sensitivities, she was happy seeing that her brother was happy in his youth. Those times were irreplaceable. During her time she was not able to experience those little sweet nothings.

Mo Wenbin was still playing the guitar. Once in a while he sang with it too. He was in charge of the background music. He was so engrossed with what he's doing that he did not realize what he had become – the official lightbulb[1]! When he realized this, he was annoyed, but still continued with the music. He was enjoying it anyway.

It was indeed a peaceful and lovely day.

A few more hours pa.s.sed. They're picturesque afternoon was disturbed by a phone call. It was from Xue Jinxu's phone.

She answered while still in Chen Linyun's arms.

"Miss Yan, is there any urgent matter?" Xue Jinxu asked her secretary who called.

"Ma'am…" Her nervous and alarming voice invaded the peaceful air. "There was an emergency. Our compet.i.tor launched a new s.h.i.+p this afternoon, just a while ago! It was not just any other s.h.i.+p – it was almost exactly the same as MT Dragon Heart!" Miss Yan got to the point in no time.

Xue s.h.i.+pping was supposed to launch MT Dragon Heart the next day. Their compet.i.tor launched an almost same vessel, and their press conference was one day earlier!

In any field, the first to introduce a product or the idea will be the original. Anyone who followed suit will only be copycats.

MT Dragon Heart was supposed to be the newest technology out there in the market. For their compet.i.tor to exactly know what their plans were, to the point that even the launch date was challenged was quite fishy. The most probable reason was that somebody sabotaged their plan. That somebody, or those people intentionally leaked valuable information to their compet.i.tor. They had a traitor among themselves.

Xue Jinxu was deemed speechless. She was caught totally off-guard. She was extremely relaxed right now since she knew that their preparations for MT Dragon Heart's launch were done. She had to give the credit to the traitor. It was a well-thought-of and well-executed plan. Bravo!

She shook her head.

She was staring at the girl lying beside her brother on the gra.s.s, still oblivious of what's happening.

The only teams that was on-board the MT Dragon Heart's launch were the PR Team, Technical Marine Team and the Marketing Team. This girl she's staring at was the niece of the Marketing Director. She had a very strong foreboding that it was somehow connected, although it would still be no more than a speculation, with no evidence to support.

At this point, Chen Linyun had already awoken from his nap. The sound of the phone call and Jinxu's talking, together with her body's rigidness all gave away the situation to him. He was at close proximity, and was able to hear the news from Miss Yan. He, too, was shocked.

Xue Jinxu bid farewell quietly. She did not want to disturb the peace. She told them to continue the picnic without her. She asked the two grown men to look after the kids.

Then she headed straight to Xue s.h.i.+pping. The executives were there already. Well, almost all of them.

She checked the entirety of the conference room. She made a headcount, and roll call inside her head. She checked who was missing.

Indeed, the Marketing Director was missing.

She waited first, for he might simply be tardy. She was giving the benefit of the doubt.

She learned about the incident more and more. Their compet.i.tor, the Zhu s.h.i.+pping Lines held a live press conference that very afternoon. It could be watched from the television. Another live telecast in another location was shown in the television – it was on the actual launch of their new s.h.i.+p which was at a pier. Indeed, the design was too similar to MT Dragon Heart!

The press conference was almost finished. The Marketing Director was still nowhere to be seen. Her hunch grew stronger by the minute. She got even more worried about Guangxi. Her heart was beating fast, and her mind was a blur. Her surroundings were just white noise. She could not comprehend. Only one mattered to her now, and it was Guangxi.

[1] thirdwheel