It’s Not Okay to Kiss Me as Soon as We Meet (ABO) - Chapter 13

In the early morning, Lin Huaiyi woke up full of energy.

After days of rushing around, she had only managed to get a good night’s sleep in the hotel last night.

Because Japanese society had strict conventions and business attire requirements were equally rigorous, Lin Huaiyi had specially packed a formal, conservative suit. As soon as she opened the door, she saw Shen Li already waiting in the living room, dressed in a similar business suit.

Shen Li looked Lin Huaiyi up and down, clearly very satisfied with her outfit. The young alpha had a slender figure, wearing a set of deep blue suit, with a simple design and nothing flashy—only a silver brooch pinned to her chest as decoration. She had broad shoulders and a narrow waist, and below that, the smooth, draping fabric wrapped around a pair of long, straight legs that looked perfectly fitted.

By a happy coincidence, Shen Li was wearing a deep blue business skirt suit today, with a silk scarf tied around her neck as an accent. The two of them stood together, looking harmonious and well-matched.

They each sized the other up, but neither pointed out the resemblance.

Lin Huaiyi flashed Shen Li a smile. “Shen Li, you look great today.”

Shen Li glanced back at her, her expression still cool and detached. She said, “Cut the chit-chat. Let’s head downstairs for breakfast. We’ll go pick out a gift for Mr. Yamamoto afterward.”

In Japan, it was polite to bring a small gift when visiting someone for the first time. Lin Huaiyi knew that too, so it seemed Shen Li had done her homework thoroughly.

The hotel’s breakfast was a buffet, and the two sat facing each other. Lin Huaiyi pulled out her phone and messaged Lin Feng: Boss Lin, what does Yamamoto Daisuke like?

Lin Feng replied quickly: Call me Dad, and I’ll tell you.

Lin Huaiyi nearly spat out the sip of coffee in her mouth. She felt frustrated inside but still replied to Lin Feng: Dad…

Lin Feng replied cheerfully: Yamamoto Daisuke isn’t into much, just beautiful women and fine wine.

Lin Huaiyi: Got it.

A beautiful woman was out of the question for offering to Yamamoto Daisuke, so she would have to focus on fine wine.

The two finished breakfast in a hurry and took a car to Tokyo’s most luxurious mall, planning to select a gift.

Shen Li frowned in concern. “All the data we gathered before was about Yamamoto’s company products. There’s hardly any information on Yamamoto Daisuke himself.”

Lin Huaiyi naturally picked up the thread. “I know a thing or two about the preferences of middle-aged male alphas. How about sending some famous liquor? Generally speaking, few alphas completely dislike alcohol. Even if he doesn’t drink it himself, he can keep it at home for collection.”

Shen Li tilted her head to look at Lin Huaiyi and said with a smile, “Are you just talking about your own tastes?”

On the night of the welcome banquet, Lin Huaiyi had indeed drunk quite a bit. Now, in Shen Li’s mind, Lin Huaiyi probably came across as a bit of a drunkard. Lin Huaiyi gave an embarrassed chuckle. “Ha, well, I see my dad and the others love it. I know drinking too much is wrong and bad for your health.”

Shen Li tugged at the corner of her mouth. “You’d better know that.” She turned and strode off toward the fine liquor section with her long legs.

Shen Li’s English was excellent, but she didn’t know Japanese—her Japanese was limited to basic greetings or expressions of thanks, at a kindergarten level.

However, speaking English with Japanese people might not be any more effective than speaking Chinese to them.

Lin Huaiyi had once watched a Japanese anime where the protagonist said a line that sounded like “three grams of oil for a hundred-mile horse replacement,” leaving everyone baffled until the subtitles appeared, and then it all made sense. It turned out the protagonist had said: Thank you very much.

As a result, all the communication with the Japanese sales staff fell entirely to Lin Huaiyi.

Thanks to her experience in the workplace in her previous life, Lin Huaiyi spoke Japanese very well. In just a few words, she made the sales girl understand what they wanted.

Shen Li had seen Lin Huaiyi’s resume, which didn’t mention her Japanese proficiency. Lin Huaiyi had studied abroad in English-speaking countries, so Shen Li couldn’t help but feel curious. She asked Lin Huaiyi in a low voice, “Where did you learn Japanese? You sound pretty fluent.”

Lin Huaiyi didn’t dare tell Shen Li that she had worked hard to learn Japanese in her previous life, so she made up an excuse. “Um… there was a time when I really loved watching Japanese movies and anime, so I picked it up naturally.”

Shen Li gave Lin Huaiyi a somewhat skeptical look. She wasn’t stupid.

It was true that some people learned a language by watching films and TV shows. But Japanese was different from English—it had all sorts of honorifics. Learning just from media might let you piece together simple words to express what you mean, but true fluency required systematic study and practice.

But Lin Huaiyi had been vague about it, so Shen Li didn’t press further. Everyone had things they didn’t want to talk about, and since Lin Huaiyi chose to gloss over it now, she wouldn’t dig for details in a setting like this.

As they spoke, the sales sister led them into a more luxurious showroom. The decor in this room felt like a different world from the rest of the mall. Compared to a typical sales floor, this was more like a museum of fine liquors.

The showroom walls were paneled with precious rosewood, and one wall had a smart controller displaying the room’s temperature and humidity. For even more precious bottles, they were stored individually in wine cabinets with custom settings for their optimal conditions. The lighting in the showroom wasn’t as bright as in the main mall, because overly bright lights could affect the quality of fine liquors and weren’t good for preserving certain ones. This meticulous storage method also served to tell everyone that every bottle here had a storied background.

Shen Li rarely touched alcohol—even for social courtesy, she only took the barest sip. Entering a world full of fine liquors, she rarely showed a bewildered expression.

What kind of liquor should she send to an adult male alpha? Shen Li had absolutely no idea.

In the past, the alphas who wanted to pursue her could line up from the south side of A City to the north, and it had always been them trying to figure out her preferences. She had never bothered to learn what alphas liked.

Lin Huaiyi sensed Shen Li’s unease and gave her a reassuring smile, mouthing the words, “Leave it to me.”

Shen Li’s mood calmed a bit, and she watched quietly as Lin Huaiyi made her selections.

Lin Huaiyi examined bottle after bottle, and whenever she spotted one that interested her, she turned to chat with the sales girl for a moment.

Shen Li glanced at the diamond-encrusted watch on her wrist—it was now ten fifteen in the morning. They had plenty of time before the noon meeting with Yamamoto Daisuke, so Shen Li wasn’t in a rush. She waited patiently as Lin Huaiyi took her time.

Before coming to Japan, Shen Li had already instructed Special Assistant Yang that unless something was extremely urgent back home, no one should disturb her.

After arriving in Japan, she had immediately swapped her domestic SIM card for a Japanese one. Today, she had only one goal: to win over Yamamoto Daisuke. Everything else could wait.

Special Assistant Yang felt like he had lost more hair in these two days than in all the previous years combined. The big shots at the company couldn’t reach Shen Li, so they bombarded him with calls, trying to pry information about her whereabouts from him.

According to Special Assistant Yang’s rough count, that morning alone, he had gotten five calls from the military general headquarters, three from Guan Xi, and most ridiculously, the annoying Shen Yan had called seven times.

Special Assistant Yang was utterly baffled inside. Everyone at Shen Corporation knew that Executive Yan and their CEO Li didn’t get along—why was this Executive Yan calling every day just to be a nuisance?

Shen Yan called Special Assistant Yang for the eighth time that day, his tone full of threats. “Little Yang, I’m asking you one last time—where did Shen Li go?”

Special Assistant Yang was on the verge of breaking down. This Shen Yan used to look down his nose at people, never paying any mind to ordinary underlings like him. Today, the number of calls from Shen Yan already exceeded what he’d gotten in the past year.

Constrained by the hierarchy, Special Assistant Yang could only answer patiently again and again. “Executive Yan, please don’t make this hard for me. You know CEO Li issued a three-day ultimatum. She’s busy with work right now—even if the military general calls, she won’t pick up.”

Shen Yan didn’t buy it. He kept pressing Special Assistant Yang. “Oh, so that’s how it is. Now Shen Li looks down on me, Shen Yan, huh? She’s gotten bold, forgotten how she used to trail after me begging for candy.”

Special Assistant Yang was actually quite curious about the story of Shen Li begging Shen Yan for candy, because he simply couldn’t imagine the ice-queen goddess liking sweets as a child.

But his common sense held firm—he knew Shen Yan’s eight calls today were just to track Shen Li’s movements.

Special Assistant Yang’s attitude was firm; he stuck to his guns. No meant no, and Shen Yan couldn’t do a thing about it.

Shen Yan grew anxious inside and said in a sullen tone, “Heh, Shen Li’s raised a loyal dog, has she? I’m just waiting to see what happens when she falls—then what will you do? When Shen Li can’t protect you anymore, I’ll see how I deal with you.”

Special Assistant Yang shrugged indifferently. No one was scared that easily. Besides, Shen Yan loved throwing out tough talk. The first time it had rattled him a bit, but now? He was used to it. As the saying went, too many fleas meant no itch, too many debts meant no worry. Even if Shen Li had to leave, he trusted that with her character, she wouldn’t leave him high and dry.

Special Assistant Yang replied, “It’s so hot out today—why don’t you take a break? The three-day ultimatum isn’t even half over on the third day, and you can’t wait? Haste makes waste, you know.”

Special Assistant Yang had thrown caution to the wind. In his sharp-eyed judgment, the odds of their CEO Li pulling through safely this time weren’t great. Since he was about to get swept out the door with her anyway, why fear Shen Yan? Better to get in a few zingers first.

Special Assistant Yang’s hometown was known as the capital of crosstalk, where even three-year-olds could rattle off a routine on the spot. Now he brought out his authentic accent—one part disdain, two parts sarcasm, three parts indifference, four parts rogue swagger—and the moment he opened his mouth, you could hear echoes of the street-tough bravado that once cussed out the whole neighborhood without a care.

It pissed Shen Yan off good. Backed by the Shen Corporation, Shen Yan had been the center of attention from childhood—when had he ever taken such a dressing-down? His mind wasn’t quick enough to anticipate Special Assistant Yang daring to push back, so for a moment his nose twisted in anger. He couldn’t think of any sharp comeback, so he just stammered, “You you you…” for ages, came up with nothing cutting, and finally slammed down the phone. He sat there in his leather armchair, breathing heavily.

Special Assistant Yang had won this round, but he felt oddly unfulfilled. He really had no idea what Shen Li was up to, and the product department was in total chaos right now—no one was doing any real work.

Luo Wen’s little clique was just waiting to take over. Those who usually couldn’t stand Luo Wen were either swallowing their pride or quietly updating their resumes, scrambling to line up a better landing spot.

Special Assistant Yang let out a heavy sigh. He had followed Shen Li because her leadership qualities stood out so much—she had talent, poise, vision. He saw working under someone like her as a rare opportunity.

In his office, Special Assistant Yang stared at his computer screen and silently made a wish: if Shen Li could turn danger into safety this time, he would apply for a raise! Not everyone could handle the nonstop grilling from all those executives!

Lin Huaiyi’s long, pale fingers unconsciously tapped against the wine storage room wall—a habit of hers when thinking fast. Selecting a gift that would make the recipient’s eyes light up called for a clever blend of aesthetics, emotional intelligence, and wisdom. She pondered for a good while and finally made up her mind, pointing to an ancient sake jug decorated with lily motifs. “This one!”

Lin Huaiyi noticed Shen Li’s curiosity about the jug, so she smiled silently and took the initiative to explain. “These jugs with lily motifs all come from Italy, handcrafted over three years by artisans from specific Italian craftsman families. If the jug itself is this exquisite, the liquor inside is something truly special. The lily motif represents ‘peace and friendship,’ which fits perfectly with our purpose today. I believe Mr. Yamamoto will like it.”

Shen Li nodded. The sales girl saw the two of them leaning in to talk, looking so pleasing together—like a perfect golden couple. The bottle Lin Huaiyi had chosen was indeed a premium one, and the sales girl was thrilled about closing such a big sale. She took the initiative to offer Lin Huaiyi a little something as a gift and said a few words to her in Japanese.

Lin Huaiyi’s face flushed slightly as she pocketed the item.

Shen Li looked curious. “What did she say to you?”