Chapter 677: Chapter 677: An Unexpected Encounter
Li Yufei nodded, two bodyguards closely following her, one of them gently draping a trench coat on her shoulders.
The First Officer walked beside her, patiently explaining the cruise itinerary.
“Tomorrow evening, there will be a dinner party. The Captain has asked me to invite you, and you must attend tomorrow.”
Li Yufei: “I will.”
When they reached the cabin, the First Officer personally led her to the first-class section and handed her a key card at the door of a luxury suite.
Li Yufei swiped the card to open the door, and the bodyguard immediately carried the luggage inside.
She looked at the First Officer and said, “You can go back to your duties. I need to rest.”
First Officer: “Okay, good night, President Li.”
Li Yufei entered the room, and the bodyguards had already settled the luggage.
Li Yufei said to them, “One of you stay outside the door, and the other go get the key card and rest early.”
“Yes.”
The two bodyguards responded and stepped outside.
Shortly after, the doorbell rang.
The attendant inquired if she needed dinner service.
Li Yufei politely declined.
She had already eaten dinner before boarding.
Li Yufei took a shower, changed into a robe, turned off the lights, and went to bed to rest.
The next morning.
The butler arrived punctually for service.
Li Yufei had booked the highest-class first-class ticket, which included 24-hour butler service. After she had reported her meals and schedule in advance, the butler brought breakfast and tidied up the room according to her waking time.
While the butler was cleaning the room, Li Yufei, having finished breakfast, immediately went into the study, opened her laptop, connected to the company board meeting, and held a morning meeting. By the time the meeting ended, it was almost noon.
The butler placed the VIP coupon on her bedside.
Li Yufei took the coupon, changed clothes, and headed to the restaurant.
At the corner of the corridor, she unexpectedly bumped into Rong Ling.
Li Yufei was stunned on the spot: “Rong… Ling?”
Rong Ling was also very surprised.
He didn’t expect to encounter her unexpectedly on this cruise: “What are you doing here?”
Li Yufei smiled: “I’ve been a bit busy lately, so I decided to take a vacation for myself.”
She didn’t intentionally mention her real purpose for this trip, which was to bid on a research report at the auction.
Rong Ling said: “I see.”
Li Yufei: “And you? Why are you here?”
Rong Ling: “I agreed with Professor Lu to go abroad together. I originally thought we would fly, but to my surprise, he sent me a ship ticket.”
Li Yufei: “The final stop of this voyage is Miami, and it doesn’t go directly to New Jersey. If you’re going to register at a university, this route is quite a detour.”
Rong Ling: “He said he’s attending an auction. There will be an auction held on this cruise in two days.”
Li Yufei was a bit surprised.
Such a coincidence?
Li Yufei: “I’m also interested in this auction.”
After a pause, she asked: “So, are you going to eat?”
Rong Ling smiled: “Yes. I just got up.”
Li Yufei: “Let’s go together. I was just planning to eat.”
After one night of sailing, the cruise ship was already heading towards the next port.
The two walked side by side.
The bodyguard followed behind.
In the first-class passage, the doors on both sides were tightly shut.
As Rong Ling and Li Yufei walked halfway, passing a slightly ajar door, a faint noise was heard from inside, hardly audible through the door, but he vaguely discerned it as the sound of a heavy object falling.
His ears were particularly sensitive, so he couldn’t help but stop at the doorway.
Li Yufei noticed his pause and turned to look at him: “What’s wrong?”
Rong Ling looked at the door, vaguely glimpsing a shadow flash by, followed by the door being heavily shut from the inside.
He looked up for a moment.
Last night, he studied the layout of the cruise ship and recognized that this room seemed to be where the Captain and First Officer stayed.
Rong Ling looked at Li Yufei: “I must have heard it wrong.”
He caught up with her without looking back.
At the entrance of the restaurant.
The cruise featured five restaurants in total.
Besides the high-end restaurant requiring a VIP coupon, four restaurants were open to regular tourists.
A Chinese restaurant, a Japanese restaurant, a Western buffet, and an Italian restaurant.
Aboard the cruise, meals had to be casual, as none of the restaurant styles had particularly impressive flavors.
The Chinese cuisine wasn’t authentic, and she didn’t like sashimi in Japanese cuisine.
The Western restaurant was average.
But the taste of Italian cuisine was the worst.
She really couldn’t stand the tomato soup of Italian cuisine and the bread that was as hard as a pot cover, feeling like chewing chaff when eaten.
Even the level of the high-end restaurant wasn’t great.
Unless it’s Michelin-rated abroad, most still didn’t fit Chinese tastes.
However, Rong Ling wasn’t picky. Although he didn’t find it exceptionally delicious, he was starving without breakfast, so he ordered two servings of pasta and two steaks.
Li Yufei watched in shock: “You eat so much?”
Rong Ling said: “Yes.”
Seeing Li Yufei’s startled expression, his handsome face slightly changed: “Did I scare you?”
Li Yufei: “It’s the first time I’ve seen someone eat so much.”
Mostly staples, with two steaks, one of which was a Tomahawk.
Compared to Rong Ling’s appetite, she could barely manage half a serving of pasta before feeling full.
No wonder he could grow so tall.
Li Yufei casually asked: “How tall are you?”
Rong Ling: “Almost 189 cm.”
He hadn’t measured in a long time but guessed it was around that number.
Li Yufei: “You’re only 189 cm?”
In her view, he seemed noticeably taller than her bodyguards.
Her bodyguards were all over 185 cm, and she hadn’t expected those extra four centimeters to appear so exaggerated visually.
Rong Ling: “I’ve always had a big appetite since I was young.”
Boys might all love staples, especially rice.
When he was very young, before his father became irresponsible, and the family’s finances weren’t so tight, although meals were standard, Rong Ling particularly loved rice, perhaps because eating rice really helped him grow tall.
After Xiaoyi was born, the family’s situation worsened, and having a small savory dish once a week was considered good.
Although it didn’t affect him much, even without meat, he could eat a lot of rice with just pickles every meal.
However, Xiaoyi was naturally not fond of rice; she preferred soup, so to deal with her, their father would prepare soy sauce soup with rice for her every day. Rong Ling, when free, would fish in the lake to make soup for her.
Still, Xiaoyi often fell sick due to malnutrition.
She always wished she could grow tall like her brother.
Li Yufei suddenly remembered teasing Xiaoyi about being a little foodie before. The Li Family’s chef adored her, always making lots of delicious food for her, and every time she tasted something nice, she’d be so happy it seemed to erase all her worries.