Sweetheart Do You Still Love Me novel Chapter 56

Chapter 56 The Way of Making Tea

“Thank you for your admiration, Mr. Carr. I hope that you don’t only take interest in me, but also Winthrop Group.” Her words resolved the awkwardness between them.

Jordan smiled in reply. “Sure.”

After dealing with Jordan, Elspeth booked the earliest flight back. She went back to Winthrop Group first and was going to take a few days off to settle the problem with Azure Corporation, but she bumped into Callum head-on.

“Elspeth,” Callum called out to her first.

“Hey, shouldn’t you be reuniting with your first love now? Why are you here?”

Elspeth felt annoyed when she saw his nonchalant expression as if nothing had happened. In that instant, she couldn’t hold back her anger.

“No. It’s not what you think.”

When he returned in a rush the other day, Arthur informed him that he saw the wrong person. Emma wasn’t back yet.

Moreover, the reason he left in such a hurry was not to relive the memories he had with Emma, but because he had a doubt that hadn’t been answered for several years, so he needed to face Emma to untie his knot.

Just as Callum was about to explain the situation, he was interrupted by Elspeth. “You don’t owe me an explanation, Mr. Winthrop. I don’t have time to talk to you about your old lover right now.” Leaving him with that, Elspeth went to the HR department to request leave without looking back.

Looking at her resolute back, Callum felt ripples in his heart. Coincidentally, his phone rang at that time. The moment he saw the screen displaying Jordan’s name, he couldn’t help but feel irritated. Connecting the call, he heard Jordan saying, “Did you receive the contract, Mr. Winthrop?”

Callum knitted his brows. “What contract?”

“Didn’t Miss Lynwood tell you? If it wasn’t for Miss Lynwood’s sincere desire to cooperate with NK Group, the cooperation might have been delayed for a long time… Weren’t you aware of that?”

Jordan was surprised, and then quickly added, “I thought Miss Lynwood would tell you the news first, but it turns out she didn’t. How strange.”

These words were obviously said to provoke him, but Callum ignored them and questioned, “You refused to cooperate, so what made you change your mind?”

Jordan raised his eyebrows. Slowing down his tone of speech, he added a hint of mystery to his words. “Miss Lynwood gave me a bargaining token that made me waver, so…”

Jordan had always shown his admiration for Elspeth, and now that he said so, Callum subconsciously thought of some strange ideas.

“What did she do?” He couldn’t believe his assumptions, so he asked calmly.

“You should ask Miss Lynwood about it.” Jordan smiled. “Mr. Winthrop, I have to go now. Goodbye.”

Jordan hung up the phone, leaving Callum with an unsolved mystery. The latter heard from the HR department that Elspeth would take a one-month leave starting today. After pondering for a while, he decided to call Elspeth. “Where are you?”

Listening to his questioning tone, Elspeth sneered, “That’s none of your—”

“You’re not allowed to take leaves. Come back and work.”

Callum sounded so certain of what conditions she offered to Jordan. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have left so suddenly.

“I’ve gone through the proper process to request leave. You shouldn’t have the right to interfere.”

Callum’s voice sounded even more serious now. “Don’t make me repeat my words.”

“What’s wrong with you today, Callum?”

Callum suddenly let out a sneer. “Elspeth, you are on your way to NK Group, aren’t you?”

Elspeth was taken aback for a moment, unable to fathom why he thought so.

“I know Jordan offered you some benefits, and you’re leaving Winthrop Group because of this, aren’t you?” Callum took a deep breath and continued.

Elspeth snickered before uttering in a cold voice, “Even if I did accept an offer from NK Group, it’s my right to seek companies with better conditions. It’s not necessary for you to get worked up.”

“Alright, then. Go.” After saying that, Callum ended the call.

Elspeth was stunned when she heard the beep tones from the phone. There was no way she was going to tell him she took a month off to deal with Azure Corporation’s business, so she rather let him misunderstand her. Nevertheless, he didn’t care about her at all. All he did was reprimand and suspect her.

When Elspeth returned to the headquarters, Harper was already expecting her. Seeing Elspeth’s return, he visibly relaxed.

“What’s the matter? What happened?”

Harper hurriedly answered, “Azure Corporation recently encountered problems with the cooperation with the foreign company, Centaria Group, but that company is being absurd. They’ve asked to see you.”

“See me?” Elspeth frowned.

“Yeah. They’ve asked to meet Azure Corporation’s president to have a chat over tea. If we refuse to, they will terminate the cooperation, no matter how much money they have to pay.” Then, Harper sighed. “This cooperation is a big deal. If it were to be terminated, though the other party will pay a large amount of liquidated damages, our company will also lose a lot of money. Azure Corporation recently invested in a new project, and the capital turnover isn’t enough, which in turn might cause huge damage to the company.”

Elspeth instantly understood the situation now. This time, she had no choice but to meet the other party.

“Elsie, this president is probably an expert in tea ceremony. Are you sure…” Harper barely kept his mouth shut.

Elspeth understood what he meant, so she gave him a reassuring smile. “Since when have I ever made a fool of myself?”

As soon as those words came out, Harper’s eyes, which had been droopy earlier, suddenly lit up.

That’s right! She’s Elspeth. There’s nothing she can’t do!

Elspeth smiled without uttering another word.

The president of Centaria Group made an appointment with Elspeth in a teahouse on Sunday afternoon. There were not many people in the teahouse, and when Elspeth arrived, only a few people occupied the place.

She stood at the door of the private room and knocked on the door.

There was a powerful answer from inside the room, which was a cue for Elspeth to enter.

The president was quite old and looked to be in his sixties, but he was standing tall and straight like a tree trunk. He held his cup before taking a sip of tea. When he saw Elspeth push the door open, he smiled and greeted her, “As expected from the rumors of Azure Corporation’s president. Every movement of yours exudes refined temperament.”

Elspeth returned a polite smile. “Same to you, Mr. Lou. You don’t look like you’re in your sixties. You look way younger than your actual age.”

“Hahaha.” Mr. Lou laughed heartily, “Come on. Since we’re having a tea ceremony today, tell me what you understand.”

Elspeth had expected this, so she smiled and explained, “The tea ceremony can be divided into the warming, setting, brewing, pouring, serving, and drinking process. Different tea leaves have their own characteristics. Some are hard, some are soft. We have a variety of tea leaves in our country, and they vary according to the local conditions and customs.”

“Good. You have a strong grasp of the basics of making tea.” Mr. Lou chuckled. “I wonder who taught you that.”

At the mention of that, Elspeth’s thoughts drifted away.

“My father taught me this when I was very young. His way of making tea was also taught by my grandfather. My grandfather is proficient in tea art and has many friends who love tea art—just like you.”