Three days after Zhou Dang met Professor Gao, they arranged to have another meal before Professor Gao left. This time it was a formal dinner, with Professor Gao representing Blue Star. Within about a week, the Zhou Group and Blue Star Group finalized the partnership. As the project lead, Zhou Dang flew to New York. By the time he returned, it was almost the end of the year. Jingbei was festively decorated, ready to welcome the New Year. The Zhou family held annual banquets at the end of the year and during the Spring Festival. Pre-New Year was usually a family reunion dinner for the immediate family. After the New Year, they would invite cousins and relatives to gather for a lively celebration. The date for the year-end family dinner was set for the 28th of the twelfth lunar month. Zhou Dang received a call from his father as soon as he got back from New York, asking him to keep the day free. Additionally, he hinted that Zhou Dang could bring Xuan Yang along. Hearing this, Zhou Dang knew the old man had accepted Xuan Yang. He'd probably heard that Xuan Yang had helped him connect with Professor Gao of Blue Star. In a family like theirs, valuing interests was the norm. So Zhou Dang didn't think poorly of his father. Instead, he was proud of Xuan Yang and couldn't help but tire her out again that night. When it was over, he carried her to the bathroom to clean up. The hot water in the tub soothed Xuan Yang's fatigue. She looked at the man's silhouette behind the frosted glass as he stood under the shower, resting her fair arm on the edge of the tub and laying her chin on it. She quietly admired his blurred but well-built figure for a while. Her heart raced, and though she knew it wasn't good, she couldn't look away. Naturally, Zhou Dang noticed her gaze when he opened his eyes after washing his hair. He stepped out from behind the glass without any attempt to cover himself, his lower half imposing, and moved toward Xuan Yang. Xuan Yang was stunned. She'd never seen such a sight. She quickly turned around and pressed herself against the other side of the tub, her voice shy and embarrassed: "Don't come over!" Zhou Dang wasn't about to listen. Much like earlier, when Xuan Yang had buried her face in the pillow, eyes red-rimmed and voice hoarse, begging him to stop—he had simply ignored her. The result was obvious. His efforts hadn't been in vain. Xuan Yang was satisfied.
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