HLnovel Chapter 82 Is this what you call a business trip?
Chapter 82 Is this what you call a business trip?
Xue Ni was also shocked to hear this.
If Li Xi hadn't mistaken Xie Jiaoyue's bodyguard, then Xie Jiaoyue's bodyguard really was the truck driver who killed Li Xi's father.
That means there's more to Uncle Li's death than meets the eye!
Which good person would hire the murderer who almost killed them as a bodyguard?
"Could it be a coincidence?" Xue Ni was unwilling to believe it was true. She hesitated and said, "Perhaps this bodyguard just happened to have been injured, with a scar under his eye?"
If Uncle Li's death was truly a miscarriage of justice, then what was Li Xi's role in the Xie family for the past 12 years?
How absurd it is to have the murderer who killed your father become your parents!
Li Xi didn't dare to make any definitive statements.
"It's easy to confirm this person's identity," Li Xi said. "I'll just go and see Xie Jiaoyue."
"Then I'll go with you!" Xue Ni was a little worried about letting Li Xi go to see Xie Jiaoyue alone, after all, she was accompanied by several bodyguards.
"Need not."
Li Xi said, "The Xie family is in complete chaos right now. Xie Jiaoyue is followed by a group of paparazzi every day, so she wouldn't dare to do anything reckless at this time."
"I'll go and meet her in the next couple of days."
Seeing that Li Xi had made up her mind, Xue Ni stopped trying to persuade her and just murmured, "I hope you've mistaken someone for someone else."
Li Xi also hoped that she had simply mistaken someone for someone else.
*
International high-end jewelry brand Big Pear will host a grand banquet in Qingdao.
The invited guests were all VIP members of the brand, wealthy socialites and heiresses with annual spending of no less than ten million.
Xie Zheng, who is the spokesperson for Big Pear Jewelry in Asia, also received an invitation.
Meanwhile, Xie Jiaoyue, the "little princess" of Zhaixing Entertainment, is also a VIP customer of Big Pear Jewelry, and naturally received an invitation as well.
This banquet is grand and highly anticipated, and many media reporters will be attending. Xie Jiaoyue will definitely bring plenty of bodyguards.
It was noted that Xie Jiaoyue's schedule clearly indicated that she would attend the Big Pear Jewelry dinner.
Li Xi called Xie Zheng, wanting to ask her for help.
"Sister Zheng, will you be attending the Big Pear banquet tomorrow night?"
When she received the call, Xie Zheng was trying on her dress for the next night and communicating with the stylist about her makeup and styling in advance.
Of course, Zhou Yaoguang's bodyguards stayed by her side, fearing that she might climb over the wall and escape.
Sensing that Li Xi had something to say, Xie Zheng waved to the team members, "You guys go and rest, have some snacks, I'm taking this call."
"Okay, Sister Zheng."
After all the staff had dispersed, Xie Zheng asked Li Xi, "This is a rare opportunity. Would you like to come with me and make some friends?"
Li Xi wants to start a company and become a wealthy woman, so she needs connections.
Xie Zheng naturally assumed that she wanted to sneak in with him to build connections.
"No."
Li Xi said, "I want to confirm something."
"Oh?"
Xie Zheng hesitated for a moment, then told Li Xi frankly, "Li Xi, I shouldn't pry into your private affairs. But I am the brand ambassador for Big Pear Asia, and my every move tomorrow night will be under scrutiny."
“If I’m going to take you there, I have to be responsible for your every word and action, so I hope you will tell me the real reason.”
"You understand my concerns, right?"
As the brand ambassador, Xie Zheng absolutely cannot afford to make any mistakes at tomorrow night's banquet.
Therefore, she needs to understand the situation regarding Li Xi before making a decision.
Li Xi could understand Xie Zheng's concerns, and she didn't hide anything from Xie Zheng, telling her frankly: "Xie Jiaoyue has a bodyguard, and I suspect his identity is suspicious. He is very likely the truck driver who killed my father 12 years ago."
“Sister Zheng, you may not know the truth. In fact, my father died to save the Xie siblings.”
"The siblings were in the car when the accident happened."
"So I suspect there's more to the story than meets the eye in the eye of the accident. But we can't jump to conclusions, so I need to go to the scene to confirm the bodyguard's characteristics."
Upon hearing this, Xie Zheng agreed without hesitation: "Come to my house at noon tomorrow."
Xie Zheng will be the most dazzling spokesperson tomorrow night. After lunch, she will get her makeup and hair done and then head straight to the banquet venue.
"it is good."
The next day, noon.
Li Xi deliberately dressed herself up as a celebrity's assistant.
She wore a royal blue crew neck sweater, paired with a light brown A-line skirt and black flat boots.
To conceal her overly dazzling beauty, she deliberately wore a pair of black-rimmed glasses.
When Xie Zheng saw her, she couldn't help but tease her: "Your outfit looks quite like my assistant Xiao Tao's."
In fact, Li Xi was imitating Xiao Tao's style of dressing.
"An assistant should be low-key, capable, steady, and reliable."
In the afternoon, while Xie Zheng was putting on makeup, Li Xi was busy helping her.
First, she made lemon tea for Xie Zheng, and even inserted a large white straw.
Then she helped Xie Zheng cut fruit, carefully slicing it into pieces that were easy to chew and wouldn't smudge her lipstick...
Xie Zheng was being served by Li Xi and felt so comfortable that she was in heaven. She even considered hiring Li Xi as her assistant.
"I don't know if it's just my imagination." Xie Zheng looked at Li Xi strangely and said, "You give me the impression that we are very close and that you know me very well."
This isn't an illusion.
In her past life, Li Xi was Xie Zheng's little assistant.
She knew Xie Zheng's preferences perfectly.
Li Xi sighed with feigned profundity, "Perhaps I was born to be a kind and caring fairy."
Xie Zheng was amused by her and kept laughing.
Before five o'clock, they set off for the banquet.
The banquet will be held on a newly developed island on the east side of Dongzhou Island. The island is a tourist area with beautiful scenery.
On the island in winter, the cold wind blows and makes people shiver.
But it's okay, female celebrities aren't afraid of the cold.
The red carpet event at the banquet will be held at 7 p.m., with Xie Zheng appearing as the final guest.
Li Xi sat with Xie Zheng in the nanny van and waited for twenty minutes before it was their turn to appear.
Xie Zheng wore a heavy-duty peach-pink gown with a long train and a large pink gemstone necklace shaped like a fox around her neck.
At Li Xi's suggestion, Xie Zheng held a blooming peach blossom branch in her hand.
As soon as she got out of the car, flashbulbs were pointed at her fair and graceful body, and camera shutters started clicking incessantly.
"Xie Zheng! Look this way!"
"Zhengbao! You look so beautiful today!"
...
The shouts of enthusiastic fans completely drowned out the roar of the waves.
Li Xi was sitting in the car when she was almost blinded by the flashes of light.
But Xie Zheng was already used to such grand occasions.
Holding a peach blossom branch, she walked past the media and fans with an elegant and composed gait.
Wherever she went, gasps of surprise rippled through the crowd.
As an important guest, Xie Zheng has two sets of makeup and styling tonight.
A set for walking the red carpet and striking a pose.
The other outfit is worn inside, which is a true arena of fame and fortune, a den of iniquity, so naturally, one would need to change into a gorgeous yet practical formal dress.
After Xie Zheng entered the banquet hall, Li Xi and the rest of the team quickly moved the dress Xie Zheng was going to wear to her hotel room.
Li Xi carried large and small bags, looking just like an assistant, standing very low-key in the crowd.
Halfway there, she suddenly heard a surprised soft call: "Xi Xi?"
She's so busy, yet someone still managed to recognize her among a bunch of staff?
When Li Xi looked up, she saw Gu Zhen standing on the steps in front of the hotel next door.
Upon seeing Gu Zhen for the first time, Li Xi thought she was seeing a celebrity.
Gu Zhen was wearing a dark black suit today, with a strange brooch on his chest. Behind him stood a group of elite men and women dressed in black suits.
They all seemed to regard Gu Zhen as their leader.
Li Xi raised an eyebrow, subconsciously teasing him: "Is this what you call a business trip?"
Did you bring her to the island for a vacation?
Upon hearing this, Gu Zhen's subordinates all looked at Li Xi with curiosity.
Gu Zhen said a few words to the people around him, then walked past the group of people to her side and took the bags from her hands without saying a word.
Where is this being sent?
Li Xi quickly pointed upstairs in the hotel: "Send it to the presidential suite, Xie Zheng will need it later."
"I'll help you."
Gu Zhen was wearing an expensive bespoke suit, carrying a large LV duffel bag and several black storage bags.
This makes him seem out of place, like a princeling turned real estate salesman.
Seeing that the elevator was crowded with staff, Li Xi subconsciously grabbed Gu Zhen's arm, "Let's wait for the next one."
But right now the elevator lobby is packed with members of various celebrities' teams, and everyone is waiting to go upstairs.
If we wait any longer, we'll miss the deadline.
Gu Zhen then said, "It's okay, we'll take the leftmost elevator."
Upon hearing this, Li Xi said, "We can't go that way; that's a VIP passage only for distinguished guests..."
When Li Xi saw Gu Zhen successfully open the elevator door by pressing his fingerprint, she immediately shut up.
She and Gu Zhen entered the VIP elevator together.
The elevator was scented with air freshener; the spacious interior made the fragrance seem even more luxurious.
Li Xi turned to look at Gu Zhen, but before she could voice her doubts, Gu Zhen said, "This is the hotel I stayed at during my business trip."
"Then just now..."
Gu Zhen explained, "The hotel next door is where we eat and hold meetings."
Li Xi suddenly realized.
She suddenly remembered a detail.
On the way to the banquet, Xie Zheng's agent, Sister Chen, mentioned something.
She said the island has been quite lively these past few days, not only because Bigli is hosting a banquet there, but also because an international economic symposium is being held on the island.
Therefore, visitor numbers have been restricted on the islands for the past few days.
"The business trip you mentioned, is it to attend an international economic symposium?"
Gu Zhen was somewhat surprised and asked Li Xi, "How did you know?"
"Xie Zheng's agent said that the island is limiting the number of visitors these days to accommodate business leaders attending an international economic symposium."
The representatives who attended the international economic symposium were all business leaders from various countries.
To ensure their safety, security on the island has been raised to the highest level.
Only Big Pear was generous enough to book the entire island for a banquet two months in advance.
"Yes, I'm here to attend the symposium."
After thinking for a moment, Gu Zhen told Li Xi quite seriously, "My family... is actually quite wealthy."
Li Xi looked at Gu Zhen as if he were an idiot and said, "Isn't it obvious? You don't have money, so how could you buy the entire Lanting Apartment complex?"
"If you don't have money, can you just go to the Bamboo Sea Restaurant to eat?"
"If you have no money, how could you possibly attend this seminar?"
Gu Zhen choked.
After hesitating for a long time, he couldn't help but ask Li Xi, "Aren't you curious about my background?"
"Your name is Gu Zhen."
"You live upstairs from me."
"He likes me, he's pursuing me, and he wants to marry me."
"Isn't knowing all this enough?"
The thought of the manila document containing her identity information lying on her bookshelf made Li Xi's heart pound.
How could she not want to know all of Gu Zhen's information?
But Gu Zhen said that the parchment was filled with his secrets.
She could only open the file folder after she had made up her mind to spend the rest of her life with him.
Li Xi wasn't ready for that yet.
Therefore, she didn't ask questions she shouldn't ask.
Upon hearing this, Gu Zhen felt as if a breath had risen to his throat, unable to be spit out or swallowed.
"...You're right."
Xie Zheng's presidential suite is on the 28th floor of the hotel.
Not many guests could stay on this floor; the other celebrities invited to the banquet stayed downstairs, so Xie Zheng was the only one who got this privilege.
Gu Zhen followed Li Xi to Xie Zheng's room.
Xie Zheng was changing clothes inside when her agent opened the door.
When agent Sister Chen saw Gu Zhen, she was somewhat surprised. "Li Xi, is this your..."
Gu Zhen looked at Li Xi.
Li Xi said generously, "This is my boyfriend, Gu Zhen."
"Professor Gu, this is Sister Chen, Zheng's agent."
When facing anyone other than Li Xi, Gu Zhen's attitude immediately turned cold. "Hello, Sister Chen."
Sister Chen didn't mind his indifference at all.
She looked at Gu Zhen with shining eyes.
Gu Zhen couldn't help but suspect that in Sister Chen's eyes, he was just an auction item waiting to be appraised on the auction stage.
Ever since learning that Xie Zheng wanted to retire from acting, Sister Chen started looking for promising talents, thinking that she must cultivate an international film queen or actor before retiring.
When Sister Chen saw Li Xi in the afternoon, she wanted to recruit Li Xi to be a star, but Li Xi refused on the spot.
Seeing Gu Zhen now, she had the idea of poaching him again.
"Mr. Gu, what do you do for a living? How old are you? Are you interested in entering the entertainment industry...?"
Li Xi quickly pulled Gu Zhen behind her and said to Sister Chen with a smile, "My boyfriend is here on the island to attend an economic symposium."
"He's a businessman; he has no talent for acting."
Upon learning that Gu Zhen was a prominent figure who had come to the island to attend an international economic symposium, Sister Chen immediately abandoned her idea of poaching him.
"Mr. Gu is truly a promising young man!"
Sister Chen felt extremely regretful.
If he can attend international symposiums, why would he still be interested in the entertainment industry?
Because there was a woman changing clothes in the room, Gu Zhen did not go in.
He stood outside the door and told Li Xi, "You go ahead and get busy. When you're done, I'll take you for a walk around the island."
After a pause, Gu Zhen added, "Tonight... stay with me on the island, okay?"
Fearing that Li Xi might think he was frivolous and trying to take advantage of her, Gu Zhen quickly explained, "I live in the suite on the far east side of this floor. There are several rooms in it, and you can sleep in whichever room you want."
Li Xi smiled and said, "Then I'll sleep in your master bedroom, and you can sleep on the sofa."
Gu Zhen chuckled, "That's fine too."
He couldn't have asked for more than to be able to watch Li Xi sleep.
*
Half an hour later, Xie Zheng went downstairs to the Vanity Fair, while Li Xi prepared to go downstairs to inquire about the bodyguards' location.
Gu Zhen had been sitting in the lounge on this floor waiting for her.
Seeing that Li Xi was about to go downstairs, he stood up as well. "Where are you going?"
Do you know which floor the bodyguards operate on?
Xie Jiaoyue has already entered the banquet hall. The bodyguards are not allowed to go in. They are either waiting outside the banquet hall or in the bodyguards' lounge.
Gu Zhen said, "The large lounge on the fourth floor."
Nodding, Li Xi was about to go downstairs.
Gu Zhen caught up with her and asked, "Who are you looking for?"
"Find someone with a scar under their left eye." Li Xi didn't stand on ceremony with Gu Zhen.
She pulled Gu Zhen by the arm and led him into the elevator, succinctly instructing him: "If you encounter a man with a scar under his left eye, be sure to carefully check if he has six fingers on his left hand."
Gu Zhen nodded and asked again, "Does that person have a grudge against you?"
“He should be Xie Jiaoyue’s bodyguard. I suspect he is the truck driver who killed my father 12 years ago.”
Upon hearing this, Gu Zhen's eyes immediately turned cold and murderous.