“Do you remember what I told you before?”
Stefan was always very mature for his age, although he pretended to be artless to Hayden. He tried to
handle this with mature consideration.
This twenty-year-old boy explained with a serious face, like a statue. “Franklin is running over twenty
entertainment venues of different sizes. He has nothing to do with those two bars that have drugs. But
I’ve skimmed through the list of the spot check and find that none of his entertainment venues is in it.”
Stefan looked at Joseph and did not continue. But Joseph got the point.
What an odd coincidence that none of his recreation centers had been through this inspection.
Someone definitely had covered for him.
“What are you going to do?” Joseph frowned.
He was concerned about Stefan’s safety, although he did not say it.
If there were drugs in the warehouse, it was too dangerous for Stefan to handle this for his age.
“I won’t report this to the narcotics squad. Our school, together with the Eighth Military Region, will
begin a maneuver next month. The base of the Blue Eagle Force is located in Nanking. I think they are
more reliable than the narcotics squad. But I really worry about Hayden. She met the driver who
transported the drugs.
He paused awhile, “Drug traffickers always have suspicious nature.”
Stefan was afraid they would suspect that Hayden had found something and wanted to kill her.
There was something a little severe and forbidding about Joseph’s face after he hearing that.
And from Stefan’s facial expression, Joseph knew that Stefan really faced up to this in a serious way.
When the night closed in, Hayden had just signed a contract with her client. Her cellphone kept
vibrating in the pocket, so she checked out the phone and found that there were hundreds of unread
messages.
All the messages were from Léon.
As soon as she left the studio, she received a friend request in Wechat. But she could not figure out
how did he know her Wechat ID.
Looking at the messages she received, she saw few words and countless his selfie stickers. Moreover,
the stickers all looked quite cute with pink characters.
“What are you doing?”
“Am I cute?”
“I’m angry if you ignore me!”
“I’m hungry!”
She took a quick look at the messages and moved to the last one when she was out of patience.
“Do not forget the dinner. I will wait for you in the studio.”
Actually, she did not remember that she promised to invite him to dinner until she saw his messages.
“Anna, what time is it?”
Sitting shotgun, Anna turned around and looked at her watch, “It’s half past seven. Ms. Downey, what’s
wrong?”
“Have they finished the shooting?”
“Yep, I’ve asked the staff in studio. They’ve just finished the work, and they are about to pack up the
stuff and leave.”
“Tell them to stay for a while, and help me to find a restaurant. I will invite them to dinner.”
“OK, will you be there?”
Hayden waved her hand, “I’m not going. You do.”
“Alright.”
Anna phoned to invite the staff and said to the driver, “Sir, please drop me at the traffic light and drive
Ms. Downey back home. I will hail a taxi to the restaurant.”
The city started to come alive after dark.
Passing by World Trade Building, Hayden saw an advertisement of ST Group. It was the new brand
ambassador on the big screen, Viola Kidman. She looked so artless and innocent, which was totally
different with the one in Hayden’s mind.
All these years, she was the one to blame for Noah’s wound.
Time would reveal a person’s sincerity. The true faces of Viola and Franklin were gradually exposed.
Hayden could not wait to sue them, but Joseph stopped her because he wanted to collect more
evidence.
She was jolted out of the anger by the abrupt ringing of the cellphone.
Looking at the unknown number, she hesitated for a fraction of a second before answering the phone.
“Hello?”
“Hayden, why haven’t you come?”
This mesmerizing sound of the young man surprised Hayden, “Léon?”
“Yeah.” He sniffed and said in a nasal voice, as if he was about to cry, “It’s chilly out there. I’ve been
waiting for you for a long time.”
“Haven’t Anna told you guys? She has made a reservation in the restaurant. Nobody tell you that?”
“No.” Léon sounded upset, “I left the studio right after the shooting. And I’m now standing near the
fountain in Beijing Road Square, waiting for you to come.”
“Why do you wait for me?” She frowned, “All the staff have come to the restaurant with Anna. Well, I
will tell your number to Anna and ask her to give you a call.”
“Wait!” Before she hung up the phone, he said in a hurry,” Are you saying there are someone else that
will join the dinner with us?”
“Of course.” Hayden was amused,” There are all the shooting staff.”
“And you are not coming?”
“Yeah. Anna will come for me.”
“But you’ve promised to take me to dinner this afternoon.” Léon became disgruntled, “I’ve been waiting
for you for a long time. And that’s not because I want to have dinner with them.”
Hayden was vexed. She felt she was communicating with a child. But the truth was Léon was not so
much younger than her.
“I really have something else to do.”
Léon sounded close to tears, “It’s awfully cold in Nanking. Hayden, you know, I came here from
Melbourne. It’s still in summer there so I do not even put on my jacket…” He sneezed before he
stopped talking.
When Léon called her name, Hayden felt like she met Freddie at the boxing ring again. At that time,
Freddie was shorter and less lively, grasping her hand firmly. He had clear eyes although he had lived
there for a long time.
She was only fifteen back then, and she said, “Call my name. I will take you out of here.”
After half an hour, the driver stopped the car at Beijing Road. Hayden went to the fountain plaza once
she got off the car. And she saw a tall, thin man crouching near the fountain from afar.
It was freezing outside. Léon did not put on a jacket as he said, but he was wearing a sweater, hiding
the bottom of his face under the collar. He squatted down, with his fingers drawing randomly on the
ground.
“My god! Are you trying to be famous because of freezing to death?”
For some obscure reason, Hayden could not bear to see him freezing, so she took off her coat and put
it on him.
“Even if you want to have dinner with me, you should come to the shopping mall to keep warm.”
Léon sniffed again and said, “There are too many people in the mall. And I will be in trouble if I’m
recognized by others.”
Hayden understood that a star would have much to worry about. Nevertheless, she still found it
puzzling that Léon had to squat beside the fountain waiting for her instead of entering a mall. She
asked, “You are afraid of being recognized, so why do you choose to have dinner here?”
Wasn’t it a foolish thing to do?
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