Bond Of Bitter Memories

"Ahh! Look at those two!"

"Wow! How can someone be so strikingly good looking?"

"Oh, wait! The one in a tux is actually the CEO of SnapVise Technologies."

"What? I always thought he'd be a nerd kind of a guy but this one is so handsome."

"Aiyo! That green-eyed one is like an enchanter. Sigh! Drop-dead gorgeous!"

Xiao Zhi-Ren and Ru were standing in the corner when the surrounding girls' comments made both of them raise their brows respectively. Although Ru didn't want to pay attention to them, she couldn't help but give a half smile when they called Xiao Zhi-Ren a nerd. But that half smile instantly shifted to Xiao Zhi-Ren's lips when the same girls called Ru an enchanter.

He couldn't have agreed more with them. Even without those green eyes, Xiao Zhi-Ren could say that Ru's striking features were a sight to behold.

"Haiz! My knees are getting weak just looking at them together."

"Omo! Why is my fujoshi heart beating violently looking at them smiling like that?"

"They both make one handsome pair."

The smiles of Ru and Xiao Zhi-Ren's face immediately stiffened and they both took a few steps away from each other.

"Why are girls so blunt these days? Don't they have anything better to do?" Xiao Zhi-Ren complained looking anywhere but at Ru.

"That's why I don't like girls," Ru scrunched up her face scornfully. "They are really noisy."

If Xiao Zhi-Ren knew that the one calling girls noisy was a girl herself, he would have puked blood. This indifference for girls was embedded in her soul from a young age. She never tried to understand girls and from what she saw about girls, she grew more distant. Staying in her own world as a guy was a lot more peaceful and easier for her.

Suddenly, Xiao Zhi-Ren chuckled and Ru gave him an inquiring look. "They called you an enchanter." He laughed again not getting over this sentence.

"They called you strikingly good looking." Ru pointed out.

"Fair enough!" Xiao Zhi-Ren tried to stifle his laughter.

"Oh, by the way, do you have food here?" Ru asked making Xiao Zhi-Ren give her an ugly look.

"Yes, the food section is over there," he pointed in the direction of food and Ru's eyes brightened up immediately. Even Xiao Zhi-Ren could feel the excitement bursting out of her body making him speechless. "You're here for food?"

Ru turned to him saying, "Of course!" She would never lie about this. "Mr. Xiao, where there is free food, you'd always find me there."

"Cheapstake!" Xiao Zhi-Ren grumbled making Ru narrow her eyes at him.

"Shut up you noodle otherwise I'll turn you into a... doodle." With that being said, she whipped her body and ran towards the food table. Xiao Zhi-Ren stood rooted to his spot thinking about the last words that were said to him.

"Noodle? Doodle? Who rhymes like this?" He questioned no-one in particular. But since Ru had run to food, he had to go back towards the group of people waiting for him. If it was up to him, he'd never see his father, Ji Yifeng ever again but it was business. Before coming to China, he was already familiar with the part that he won't be able to avoid coming across the Ji family. But he had to come.

And he even knew that to find some truths, he might even have to become a part of Ji family all over again. That didn't mean he had to act cordially before Ji Yifeng. He only needed to be at his best behavior of being a professional.

Meanwhile, Ru was busy going through a whole mountain of food placed before her. "Master, do you need..." Wu Dishi's words were stuck in his throat when he saw his master glaring at him. Food had always been her heaven. And Ru hated it when someone dared to disturb her.

"Scram!" One word from her and Wu Dishi ran for his life leaving her alone.

After tasting some Puck Potstickers and Roasted Tomato Tartare, her green eyes caught sight of something that made her forget the world around her. The murderous aura that had engulfed her due to Wu Dishi's disturbance suddenly turned into a love-struck teenager.

In a daze, Ru took slow steps towards the entity of her fascination. She grinned broadly as her heart was screaming inside,

"Oh, my love! How I tell you, how much I missed the touch of your smooth buttery skin against my lips? How much I missed that sweetness of yours in my mouth which enthralls me. My heartbeat, my dream... Oh, you're in my heart's every scream. My love for you is purer than anything in this world."

Reaching near her 'love', she slowly lifted her hand to take that beautiful... Chocolate cake?

Yes! Ru's love which was unmatched in this world was actually for chocolate. It didn't matter in which form the chocolate came. The only thing that mattered to her was that there had to be some chocolate for her.

She was one of those people who like to say, 'Chocolate is the answer. Who cares what the question is?'

She was about to taste the chocolaty heaven in her mouth when a voice made her startle.

"What? No, no... I'm just leaving the event." Hearing that feminine voice, Ru forgot all about the cake in her hand and whipped her body but there were many women behind her. Ru's heart was beating vehemently. She knew that voice.

She could never forget that voice that haunted her nights. Even without a face, she could recognize that person with her abilities. She ran around trying to find the person who just spoke.

"Excuse me! I have got a prior commitment and I need to get there." Ru paused again when she heard the voice with her sensitive hearing ability and turned to see a woman in an elegant gown leaving the hall. She immediately ran after her but by the time Ru came out the back door, that woman had already boarded into a black van.

"Aish!" Ru kicked the air in rage. "Malum sit![1]" She pulled her own hair and dialed Wu Dishi's number, "Get me the CCTV footage of this event. Now!" Her bellowing really shocked Wu Dishi who immediately got to work. "I'll find you! At any cost, I will find you!" Ru whispered to herself in a resolute manner.

There are two strong bonds in life that follow us for life. First is the bond of love and second... The bond of memories; bitter or sweet. And Ru knew that the woman who just left was someone who had the connection with her bitter memories. Although those memories are hazy in her mind, it didn't mean there was nothing clearer in her mind.

That sharp voice was clear in her mind.

[1] "Malum sit!": Damn it in Latin