After Flirting, She Runs Away, Chasing the White Moonlight to the Ends of the Earth - Chapter 8

Soon, Lu Jin’an returned with an air of triumph, waving his phone with a smug smile:

“Three VIP tickets—done deal.”

Fang Lang grinned so widely he nearly hugged Ning Nai across the table, only to be shoved back into his chair by Lu Jin’an. “Sit down and behave.”

Ning Nai, watching Fang Lang’s barely contained excitement, felt slightly overwhelmed. But when Lu Jin’an effortlessly reined in the wild enthusiasm, she couldn’t help but feel a flicker of warmth.

Hmm, the playgirl does have her considerate moments.

Lu Jin’an then announced the concert details. “I’ll message you both on WeChat once I have the tickets.”

Truth be told, Ning Nai owed Lu Jin’an some gratitude today—dinner, concert tickets for H Band—it was clear the playgirl had gone all out to impress her client.

Ning Nai wasn’t heartless; her social graces were intact. “Teacher Lu, thank you for your hospitality today. How about you both come to my place for dinner next week?”

She paused, then added a backup plan, considering her rusty cooking skills. “Or we could go to a private kitchen—it’s quite good.”

Fang Lang, ever the opportunist, jumped in. “Ning-jie, next time’s on me! There’s a new Michelin-starred spot I’ve been dying to try. Let’s go there—your place can wait.”

Lu Jin’an shot him a sidelong glance. Smooth—two meetups lined up in one go.

When it came to flirting, Fang Lang was in a league of his own.

Ning Nai hesitated. “Ah, but you’re still a student—you shouldn’t—”

Fang Lang insisted. “I’ve got income! Most students work part-time these days. Don’t worry about it—I’ll treat you next week. I’ll send the address later. Oh, and we haven’t even added each other on WeChat yet!”

Lu Jin’an smirked inwardly. So that’s the play—finally going for the contact info.

But Ning Nai glanced at Lu Jin’an and politely declined. “I barely use WeChat. Contact your sister—she has my details.”

Rejected by the big sister.

Fang Lang’s face twisted in a rare moment of defeat—clearly, this was uncharted territory for him.

Lu Jin’an couldn’t help but laugh inside. Serves you right, kid.

Ning Nai’s refusal to engage with younger guys was unexpected, but Lu Jin’an played along. “Sure, I’ll reach out to President Ning.”

Dinner ended with Fang Lang nursing his bruised ego.

As Ning Nai left Room 906, she felt dazed. How had she suddenly become neighbors with a playgirl and ended up with concert plans?

LVM Asia-Pacific Headquarters

In the heart of the city’s most expensive district, the headquarters buzzed with debates over next year’s ready-to-wear collection theme.

Two locations had been shortlisted domestically, one internationally, and two teams were locked in final discussions.

One side argued that while they’d partnered with “Qing Design,” creative control should remain in-house.

The other insisted that once Qing Design was chosen, the vision should be executed flawlessly, with selective innovation.

The deadlock dragged on.

Ning Nai, overseeing marketing, had already made up her mind but stayed silent, watching the regional sales leads clash.

As the newly appointed head, she observed coldly—

Work definitely needed to be done, but it was best to get a clear sense of the factions within the sect while working—that was the most efficient way.

At noon, Ning Nai had a simple meal at a café downstairs, ordered coffee, and sat in a corner to rest.

The representatives from the branch office attending the meeting clearly hadn’t noticed her presence. Coincidentally, they took a booth nearby, and snippets of their conversation drifted over.

“I heard ‘Qing’ Design is really capable. They secured the collaboration this year without any trouble,” a deep male voice remarked.

A sweet, girlish voice chimed in, “Of course. Lu Jin’an stepped in personally—no surprise there. Even if Xu Kun had come, it might not have worked out.”

“Lu Jin’an really is something,” the man chuckled, his tone implying more.

“More than that, you know what? Ken has his eye on her. He’s definitely pulling strings behind the scenes,” the woman revealed.

“Wait, are they actually involved? No wonder it went so smoothly,” the man sounded like he’d just stumbled onto juicy gossip.

“When Ken sets his sights on someone, who can escape? Especially with LNVM’s big annual deal—who would say no?”

Ning Nai’s delicate brows furrowed slightly as she listened.

In society, beautiful women were never short of malice, and for someone like Lu Jin’an—both stunning and talented—the rumors were beyond imagination.

If she hadn’t been the one overseeing the bidding process, she might have let it slide. But she was responsible.

Every step of how Qing Design had stood out was crystal clear in Ning Nai’s mind.

Lu Jin’an might be a scoundrel, but in this project, she hadn’t done anything out of line.

But now that Ken was involved, things might not be so simple.

Ken, the CFO of the Asia-Pacific headquarters—

A tall, handsome 35-year-old, still single, famously the industry’s golden bachelor, coveted by women of all ages within the group.

Unfortunately, Ning Nai had a very poor impression of him, so they had no interaction beyond work.

Ken and Lu Jin’an—was there really something between them?

Ning Nai immediately perked up, ears sharp for gossip, listening intently.

The man’s voice: “Ken does go through girlfriends pretty fast. Rumor has it a lot of them are from the fashion industry.”

“Ken has a thing for young models. No idea what’s going on this time—seems like his taste changed,” the woman’s tone suggested Ken had lost his judgment. “Falling for a 30-year-old old woman.”

“Lu Jin’an doesn’t look a day over thirty, okay? I’d go for her too,” the man mused, sounding pleased.

Lu Jin’an was the same age as Ning Nai.

Hearing “30-year-old old woman,” Ning Nai’s brows knitted even tighter. She glanced sideways at the booth, her right hand tightening around her coffee cup.

Even though Lu Jin’an ranked extremely low in her books, she couldn’t stand others badmouthing her.

She didn’t even realize how hypocritical she became when it came to Lu Jin’an.

Screech—

The chair scraped against the floor with a sharp sound.

Ning Nai abruptly stood up, rudely intruding into the gossip duo’s line of sight.

Not only that, she deliberately walked slowly past their booth, casting an icy glare at the chattering group.

The lively conversation instantly died.

One could only imagine the horrified expressions inside.

The gossip had turned on them—those nosy men and women, all uniformly turning to stare at Ning Nai, their faces frozen in awkward, polite smiles as they watched her disappear through the door.

“Isn’t that President Ning?”

“Why would President Ning be here? We really weren’t being careful with our conversation!”

“Does Ning Nai seem upset? I felt like I was killed by that glare.”

The gossip group was on edge, hearts pounding with unease.

There had always been an unwritten rule at headquarters—no casually judging colleagues’ private lives, maintaining respect and distance. But today, they had blatantly broken it.

And right under the nose of the CMO, no less, gossiping about headquarters colleagues with those underhanded, unspoken rules that shouldn’t even be mentioned.

Now, the image they must have in President Ning’s mind… it wasn’t hard to imagine.