The Inconceivable Flame: A Fallen Angel's Disguise

Wu Di Shi had efficiently managed to arrange the meeting with Xiao Zhi-Ren. And right now, Ru was sitting at the Royal Cafe waiting for Xiao Zhi-Ren.

The cafe was a typical western style coffee shop. It wasn’t very big but it wasn’t small either. It had a coffee colored theme and there were glass walls overlooking the bustling roads of Imperial Capital. The aroma of freshly baked delicacies was enticing enough to make one crave for a bite.

The Cafe was chosen by Xiao Zhi-Ren himself while Ru just showed up. It wasn’t that Xiao Zhi-Ren was late. Nope! If he had been late Ru would have been long gone. It was just that Ru came earlier than the meeting time out of habit.

She seated at the table near the glass wall and asked for a Tarry Lapsang Souchong tea[1] for herself. As the waitress brought over her tea she kept looking at the strong color of the tea. Although the tea was famous for being strong, healthy and flavorful, Ru particularly liked it for its smoky flavor and fragrance.

Precisely on the meeting time, Qin Qu pushed open the door of the cafe and Xiao Zhi-Ren followed suit. Qin Qu darted his eyes around the cafe and found Ru reclining back on her seat with a cup of tea gracefully to take a sip, seemingly enjoying her tea. He strode towards her and said, "Mr. Xie, sorry for making you wait like this."

Ru slightly lifted her eyes to gaze at Qin Qu and placed her teacup back on the table without making a slight sound. She politely stood up from her chair and said, "There is no need to apologize. I came earlier than necessary."

Qin Qu smiled and remembered that he wasn’t the one who was here to meet Xie Rong. It was the person behind him. "Oh, let me introduce you to the CEO of SnapVise Technologies, Mr. Xiao Zhi-Ren." Qin Qu introduced Ru to Xiao Zhi-Ren but he didn’t notice the slight raise of the brow that Ru passed after seeing Xiao Zhi-Ren.

Xiao Zhi-Ren was quite surprised himself. Seeing the ’man’ with green eyes that constantly been having coincidental encounters with him, made Xiao Zhi-Ren feel weird. Last time, he decided to avoid his green-eyed person who reminded him of someone. But today... Fate has made Xiao Zhi-Ren stand before ’him’ again.

"Qu, you can leave." Xiao Zhi-Ren told Qin Qu before turning to Ru and extending his hand for her to take. "It’s nice to finally officially meet you, Mr. Xie Rong." Ru looked at his fair and big hand before extending her own to shake it like a polite and well-mannered person.

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When Qin Qu left both of them alone, Xiao Zhi-Ren took the seat opposite of Ru and kept staring at her green eyes.

"What would you like to drink, Sir?" A petite waitress came up to take his order. Hearing her voice, Xiao Zhi-Ren finally shifted his gaze away from Ru and said with a humble smile, "One Irish Coffee, please. Thank You!" The waitress bowed slightly and left.

Hearing him order Irish Coffee, Ru rolled her eyes which didn’t go unnoticed by Xiao Zhi-Ren. "May I ask the reason for such reaction of scornfulness?" He asked with a crease between his brows. Ru still found his voice quite mellow for some reason.

She gave him a brittle smile as she spoke in her low, gruff but deep voice, "I heard somewhere that Blue Jeans, rock-n-roll along with ’coffee’ is a part of American Culture that isn’t going anywhere. And since you’ve been in America for a long time, I really expected you to order for a ’coffee’. You surely didn’t disappoint me by doing so." Every time Ru said coffee, Xiao Zhi-Ren couldn’t help but smile lazily. She kind of made it sound like ’Coff-ay’. It was new for Xiao Zhi-Ren but surely very entertaining.

Xiao Zhi-Ren knew that he couldn’t argue about Coffee culture in America. But when his gaze fell on the tea before her, he smirked. "Well, if tea people like yourself are still not over your afternoon teas then how can we get over our coffee?"

Xiao Zhi-Ren chose the word ’tea people’ particularly because he had heard Ru talking in English with a perfect British accent. He roughly guessed that Ru must have been to Europe and since English people are known for their tea then how could he not comment about that.

Ru had been certainly amused with his reply as a genuine smile bloomed on her thin lips. It was weird that it’d been a long time since she had smiled genuinely.

"Although I can argue with that, I think we shouldn’t dwell on that topic," Ru suggested calmly as she hid her smile behind her poker-face.

"And why is that?" Xiao Zhi-Ren asked.

"Because Mr. Xiao, tea culture came to Europe from China while Coffee culture originated from Arabia. We both shouldn’t be arguing about something which wasn’t even originated from our respective hometowns." Ru argued back politely.

The waitress came back with Xiao Zhi-Ren’s Irish Coffee and left silently without disturbing their discussion. "I wasn’t born in America. It can’t be considered as my hometown." Xiao Zhi-Ren told her after the waitress left.

Ru gave a mirthless smile and said, "Mr. Xiao, you spent more than a decade in America. This fact alone makes it your hometown. Sure, if you’re born in China then this is your hometown but your other hometown is in that country."

Xiao Zhi-Ren gave Ru a blithe look before taking a sip of his Irish Coffee. Tasting the coffee mixture with whiskey and sugar was pure bliss for someone like him. And the thick layer of cream on the top had always been like a cherry on top. With his taste buds feeling blissful, he took another sip hurriedly.

"Take a chill pill, bro!" Hearing Ru’s voice, Xiao Zhi-Ren looked at her instinctively. "That’s one strong coffee you got there. Take too much of that I might have to say, ’just crash here, bro.’"

Xiao Zhi-Ren laughed at her comment and her earnest expression. "You really have a way with words," he couldn’t help but comment.

"Can’t help that." Ru shrugged her shoulders and raised her hand to order another cup of tea for herself. Then she turned back her attention to Xiao Zhi-Ren with a serious look. "Now, let’s come back to the reason for our meeting. When I heard that CEO of SnapVise Technologies wanted to meet me, I didn’t expect it to be you."

Xiao Zhi-Ren squinted his eyes as he said, "You must have done your homework. How is that possible that you didn’t even try to look anything up about me?"

"Mr. Xiao, for me, other person’s privacy is as much of importance as mine is to me. Well, that’s different that I don’t care about this so-called personal space when someone gets on my nerve or leaves me with no other option." Ru answered him honestly with a sincere look. She was really being honest. If she could deal with a person without digging in his life, she always chooses to do so. After all, most of the time her digging brought out some skeletons which she didn’t personally enjoy watching.

Xiao Zhi-Ren gave her a lopsided smile, "Well, I heard how generously you spent 90 million dollars at a single painting. If that was to help the orphan kids than I can only say that you have a really kind heart, Mr. Xie."

Ru gave him a deadpanned look as she replied, "You might be the only person who thinks that this young master is actually kind." She took a pause and said in a soft voice, "Most people said that I’m just a person without a heart."

Xiao Zhi-Ren had heard her words and was stunned by them. ’Heartless?’ He didn’t think so since Ru had helped Xiao Zhi-Yuan without any ulterior motive and this green-eyed ’man’ before him also took care of his wound even when ’he’ didn’t have to.

"I don’t think that you’re heartless," Xiao Zhi-Ren started, gazing into her green eyes while Ru gave him an inquiring look with a raised brow. "You’re not heartless. You just haven’t confronted your heart yet." Ru’s eyes widened at his remark as she stared at his handsome face for longer than necessary.

[1]: "Tarry Lapsang Souchong": A variety of Smoked Chinese Black Tea which is harvested in Taiwan.