252 Smacked in the Face (1/2)

After breakfast, Grandpa Lu waved the lovers away. He said he needed some peace and quiet. Although he sounded like he was complaining and chasing them out of his chalet, the lovers knew that the elder was just giving them the opportunity to spend more time together.

Iris freed her schedule for the entire morning and moved her lessons in the afternoon instead. They rode the shuttle bus to the main castle. She toured Jin Liwei around the academy, showing him where she usually spent most of her time.

There weren't a lot of people, as most of the alumni and even some of her fellow students already left the academy after the welcoming dinner for her and Grandpa Lu.

Nevertheless, they still met some alumni along the way who were even familiar with Jin Liwei. Most of them worked in the financial and business industries.

”Liam, what a surprise!” one of them greeted Jin Liwei in English. ”I didn't expect to see you here. How have you been? Oh. Hello, Xiulan. We met at the dinner. Are you two…together?”

Jin Liwei and Iris greeted the man. Then Iris looked at Jin Liwei, tilting her head to the side.

”I'm doing well, thank you,” Jin Liwei said, pulling her closer to him by her waist. ”Yes, Xiulan and I are together. I'm here at the academy to visit her, my girlfriend.

”Oh! I thought so! You two look great together. Truly a match!”

They exchanged pleasantries and then briefly talked about general topics before easing the conversation to an end. They said their goodbyes and went their separate ways.

When the man was gone, Iris looked at Jin Liwei with deep, questioning eyes. He raised his eyebrows, a faint smile on his lips.

”Liam?” she asked.

”En. My English name.”

”Oh. It's a nice name.” Then she paused. ”But I still like Liwei better.”

He chuckled. ”Of course. I'll always be Liwei. Liam is just a name I use for convenience whenever I travel overseas.”

”Mmn.” She nodded and then pulled his hand. ”Come. Let's go downtown and go on a date instead.”

”Okay, baby.”

Excitement bubbled within her. She planned on confessing her love for him at a good spot she found downtown.

They were about to leave when…

”Xiulan! Xiulan!” Amanpio chased after them. ”There you are! I've been looking for you all over the place. I miss you so much!”

Jin Liwei frowned. Who was this punk and how dare he tell his baby girl 'I miss you so much'? Also the guy kept his eyes on his baby girl, not acknowledging his presence even for a bit.

”Amanpio, why were you looking for me?” she asked, feeling a bit annoyed at being interrupted during her time with her man. She disregarded his 'I miss you so much' as part of his usual nonsense. ”I gave you my e-mail address, remember? If you need something, just send me an e-mail and I'll see if I'll be able to help you during my free time.”

”Oh, that. I lost the strip of paper with your e-mail address on it.” Amanpio shrugged, waving a dismissive hand. ”Anyway, I was looking for you because I wanted to ask for your opinion about the lovememometer prototype that I'm building. It's because of you that I got the idea, anyway. So will you come to my lab and check it out?”

”Sorry, Amanpio. I can't. I'm with my boyfriend right now. He just arrived and I want to spend more time with him. Maybe you can ask some of the academy staff if they want to volunteer as your test subjects. And by the way, this is Liwei, my boyfriend. Liwei, this is Amanpio, an inventor. He's a fellow student.”

Amanpio finally looked at Jin Liwei, sweeping his narrowed eyes at Jin Liwei's head to toe and then back up again. ”Huh. So this is the boyfriend you've been talking about? What's so special about him? I'm more gorgeous than him and most importantly, I'm a genius. You're better off with someone like me who's on the same level as you…” He continued to babble such offending words in a careless manner.