No matter how cunning a person is, he always ends up making a mistake. Just like Ru didn't realize that her words were interpreted quite differently.
"You know Alev Knight personally?" At Xiao Zhi Ren's question, Ru just stared at him speechlessly.
'What have you done, young master Ru?' She nagged at her own self but it was of no use. Who told her to talk without realizing her own meaning? Now she had only two options; either she could lie or she could just deny. She chose to go with the latter option as she said, "I don't know what you're talking about."
Xiao Zhi Ren looked at her incredulously. "You just said that you have a good relationship with Alev Knight."
"You heard it wrong." Ru insisted on him being wrong.
"I did not!" Xiao Zhi Ren exclaimed. "I'm sure you said that. Now, don't lie. Can't you just be honest?"
'Honest? I'd love to! But I'm afraid you might get a heart attack from the shock of me being Alev Knight. Sigh! I still have to lie in the end.' Ru mulled over it for a while before straightening up to answer. "Fine. I do know him."
"How?" Xiao Zhi Ren was immediately intrigued.
'How can I not know myself?' Ignoring her inner thoughts, she stayed impassive as she answered, "I... I worked with him back in the days." 'Seriously? That's the best you could come up with?' Ru rolled her eyes at herself inwardly.
"You worked with Alev Knight?" Xiao Zhi Ren asked again just to make sure that he didn't get it wrong.
"Yup!" When Ru confirmed it again, Xiao Zhi Ren's eyes lit up. And looking at his expressions, Ru had a bad premonition.
True enough, his next words left her in a dilemma. "I want to meet Alev Knight? Can you help?"
'Why do you want to meet my alter ego?' Ru kneaded her temples tiredly. "He's in London."
"He's not. He's in China and I know that. Don't you dare deny it." Ru's eyes widened seeing his conviction. Since when did her whereabouts become so easy to find?
But Ru forgot to think of the possibility that Xiao Zhi Ren was just taking a wild shot. Her reactions though made his wild shot hit bull's eye.
"How do you know that?" When she asked this question, Xiao Zhi Ren's doubts were confirmed. Now, there was no doubt that Alev Knight was in China.
"Let's say it was my intuition." Xiao Zhi Ren didn't want to telltale about his friendship with and Adrian and the latter giving him a heads up.
Although Ru didn't believe his words, she didn't want to pursue this matter. Him knowing Alev Knight's whereabouts was not the topic of discussion anyway. "Why do you want to meet Alev Knight?" This was the real topic of discussion for Ru. She was indeed very curious to know his reason.
"Five years ago, when I submitted my proposal to Knight Empires, I didn't hear anything back from them. I know for a fact that Mr. Alev Knight didn't get a chance to see my proposal. I want to present my project proposal personally." At that time, Xiao Zhi Ren's company wasn't a huge name in the market but it was said to be one of the most promising Tech company.
"You think with you presenting the proposal personally, Alev Knight will be convinced to invest?"
"I can guarantee you, he will." Xiao Zhi Ren had two things in life he was proud of; his brother and his work. There was no way that he'd let Alev Knight say no to his project.
Ru didn't know what she found interesting... Him being confident... Or him being over-confident?
Nonetheless, he managed to pique her interest. Now, even she wanted to know how was he going to convince her alter ego, Alev Knight!
"I'm gonna ask you a question, Zhi. If I liked the answer, I'll arrange your meeting with him, if not... Don't expect any helping hand from this young master." Xiao Zhi Ren was well familiar with her weird questions, but he still chose to take the chance. After all, this was his only chance.
"Okay... Ask away."
"Why do you admire Alev? People might respect him but most people just have a fear for him. He's not someone admiring. His real self is a lot more ruthless than the one people hear about in rumors. Why are you so fascinated by him?" Xiao Zhi Ren took his time to understand her question. What she said was all true.
If one sees Alev Knight from the world's perspective, he was ruthless, cold-blooded, inhumane. People could only find his mysterious personality a bit intriguing but the rest about him screamed bloody murder!
"He's the reason, today I stand at the top of Tech Industry. Why wouldn't I admire him?" Ru might have conjectured a lot of scenarios in her mind but his answer definitely left her startled. Seeing the crease between Ru's brows, Xiao Zhi Ren smiled softly and added, "I might not have met Alev Knight in person but that man actually gave me the self-assurance I needed in life. He said to me that I'm one of the most intriguing and promising people he had ever come across in his life. That left a huge impact on me."
Ru was perplexed. Did she say it? When?
While she was pondering over it, she spoke again, "Do you know I never tried to enter the European market just because of him?"
"Why? Did he stop you from doing so?" She asked.
"No... I wanted to become a person who could rightfully stand on the same pinnacle as Alev Knight before coming to Europe." Her heart shook at this statement. "My goal had always been him. I know he's notorious for a lot of things. But people like to only point at his flaws while ignoring his flawless personality. 'Till today, I have yet to find a case where I could say that Alev Knight did something wrong. And I, as his admirer can definitely defend his each and every action."
'Grandfather, today I really want you to hear this. There is actually someone in this world who wants to defend my actions for me... This... Really makes him look foolish.' Ru chewed the inside of her mouth since she really had no answer for him. No one has ever defended her before. And here he was ready to fight with the world for her honor. She smiled to herself as she thought, 'I really like this feeling.'
She lunged to her feet and stretched her neck a bit to avoid his gaze. "I'll arrange for a meeting in a fortnight[1]."
She was intending on leaving when Xiao Zhi Ren sprinted towards her and hugged her in excitement. "Thanks, little brother!" Xiao Zhi Ren was over the moon. Even after years of friendship with Adrian, he still didn't manage to see Alev Knight but now, with his sworn brother, he was getting this chance to even have a face-to-face meeting with the man behind Knight Empires.
Ru pushed his heavy body off her and scowled, "First, no hugs. I hate it! Second, don't call me little brother." She fixed her sweatshirt just to make sure that nothing was revealing.
After being pushed away, Xiao Zhi Ren felt like he was missing something. Ru's body felt cold to touch and yet the heat permeating from her body was contradicting. He had gotten a waft of a citric scent on her body mixed with something spicy? It was a weird combination but he thought it suited Ru's personality perfectly.
While her words were always sour, she definitely had a spicy personality making it sparkling.
[1] 'fortnight': a period of Two weeks