Chapter 64
In the end, Diana accepted the gift from Josh with seeming reluctance and inner shyness and happiness. After all, Josh traveled thousands of miles to deliver the gift to her door.
After ten o'clock in the evening, the two were lying on the bed. Josh helped Diana brush her hair back from her forehead and looked at her with clear eyes. In his usual nice husky voice which was accompanied by smiling, he said: "You are not physically strong. You should exercise more."
Unthinkingly, Diana squeezed his face, then pressed his face and pushed it outward, "You're so annoying!"
She said with most shyness and slight girlish coquetry but no hate.
In fact, Diana knew that she was not strong enough, but she did not know that Josh was so physically strong that it went beyond her imagination again.
He only arrived in Paris last night and returned home this evening. During the period, he even reached an agreement with the investor. Even though someone had picked him up and dropped him off and he got some sleep on the plane, rushing back and forth non-stop was extremely exhausting. She first thought that gift-giving would at most take 20 to 30 minutes. It never occurred to her that she had underestimated him a lot.
After resting for a while, Diana went to the bathroom to take a bath. The warm water in the bath was gurgling. After Diana washed her hair, Josh brushed her hair with a comb, wrung the water out of her hair, and put on a drying cap for her.
Josh had never done these things before. At the moment, he just took one step after another as exactly Diana instructed and was a little clumsy.
Fortunately, Diana didn't mind. She stretched out her hand to stuff the wet hair left outside into the cap, glanced back from the corner of her eyes, and couldn't help but secretly smile.
Diana didn't have supper and was starving after exhausting her energy through the late night.
After taking a bath, Josh cooked two bowls of tomato and egg noodle soup with the remaining ingredients in the refrigerator and gave Diana the last few slices of luncheon meat.
After filling her stomach, Diana was rarely considerate. She didn't boss him around any longer. She just lay in bed and told him the bad things that happened in the past two days.
In fact, Josh had already heard a specific and detailed real-time report from Sam, but the report obviously didn't include Diana's feelings as the victim of abuse.
Listening to her angry and hilarious rants, Josh suddenly tilted his head and said seriously: "I'm sorry."
The curtains in the room were pulled open. Outside the French windows was the ink-filled winter night sky, rarely dotted with several silent stars.
Josh took her into his arms, running his slender fingers through her soft long hair. In an affectionate tone, he said: "I left you to be wronged this time. I promise there will be no next time."
A lump suddenly came into Diana's throat, although she preferred to hear Josh say "I love you" instead of "I'm sorry", but his apology aroused the grievance from her heart.
The fright last night was like your falling into an ice cellar. It was not something that can be completely forgotten when you woke up.
She was not a star or an internet celebrity. She doesn't need to make a living from fans' or netizens' affection. And she had never done any immoral and unforgivable things. Then why should she be mentally strong to face the unprovoked abuse and curses from others?
She was not going to say "It's alright", "I'm fine" or "I don't blame you" just to be polite. She thought that it was obviously Josh's fault!
Thinking of this, Diana took a hard bite on his neck, and then followed his words and said rightfully:
"I'm treated so unfairly!"
"A fan of the lesser-known idol even photoshopped an image of me dead! You don't know how ugly that photo is! Oh, that little fan remains sensible, probably thinking that I wouldn't die at such a young age, so the fan even added wrinkles and whitened my hair in the photo! It's maddening me!"
"Anyway, it's all your fault! You are a typical person who is willing to admit mistakes but determined not to correct them. You must compensate me today!"
Josh replied without hesitation: "Okay, I will make it up to you."
Diana continued, "What are you going to do to compensate me? I want a plan now, so hurry up! Don't try to get away with it!"
Josh thought for a while, "Would you like me to open a studio for you?"
"...Excuse me? You want me to dedicate myself to work to earn money and support the family and call it compensation?" Diana said doubtfully. She wondered whether she had gone too far to build a persona as an independent person before and Josh had mistakenly thought that she really wanted to be a superwoman.
Josh paused for a while, then thought for a while, "How about buying an island for you, one where you can see the aurora?"
Some time ago, he met with Devin Baker, another investor in the South Bay Project. Devin often talked about his wife and children. He also mentioned that he had recently bought a private island abroad for his wife and children. He planned to build a villa on the island, and then find a professional team to maintain the beach regularly. It would be very serene and comfortable to go on vacation there in the future.
Devin also said that if needed, he could introduce a reliable agent to Josh. Some islands had quality seawater and those in the north provided a view of the Milky Way and aurora.
At that time, he thought it was an interesting idea but then he had too many things to deal with and this island thing was put aside. Now when he mentioned it as her compensation, he was still not sure whether Diana would be satisfied.
It was true that not all women would be blinded by luxuries like money, jewelry, yachts, airplanes, and private islands, but Diana would.
She happily said "Yes" without a moment of hesitation, and her attitude suddenly totally changed.
Just now, she was so aggressive that she almost slapped Josh's face, but now she gently leaned into his arms and gave him a shoulder massage with sparkling eyes. She didn't forget to ask with excitement where the island was, how big the island was, whether she had the right to name the island, how long was the property right, whether it was inconvenient to throw a party, and whether it was cold since people could see the aurora from there...
Josh was also very efficient. Seeing that Diana was interested, he contacted Sam and assigned the task to him.
Having messed things up twice and not knowing what Josh was going to do with him after his return, Sam was then worried about whether he could keep his job.
The moment Sam undertook the task he got very excited. He bounced out of bed, sat in front of the computer with glowing eyes, and kept calling people. He even forgot to wear shoes!
After all, the workplace was like a battlefield. Though he was following Josh everywhere and seemed to be his confidant, there was fierce rivalry for the job. Many assistants in the Assistant General Manager Department coveted the post and wished that Sam would fall from power as soon as possible so they could take up his position!
-
Thinking that she was going to have her own island soon, Diana smiled. She immediately notified Betty and Bonnie in the online chatting group and asked them to call her "Lord of the Aurora Island".
The two had a rare tacit understanding and sent the word "Nuts" at the same time.
Betty also complained: [Can you check what time it is? You will be immersed in a pig cage if you disturb others' dreams!]
Diana: [It's not even 12 o'clock yet. Why sleep now? What you only do is eat, sleep and repeat. Comparing you to a silly goose is an insult to geese. Leave the pig cage for yourself instead.]
Diana concentrated on typing and chatted for a while passionately as if she was trying to get hit points in games. Josh couldn't get a word in edgeways, so he scrolled on his own cell phone.
At this point, their small group was still very active, and Nathan was asking what New Year gift he should give his girlfriend to please her.
Josh: [Jewelry, yachts, islands.]
He just succeeded in pampering Diana and kindly shared his experience.
But Nathan didn't appreciate it.
Nathan: [Why are you so predictable? Can you be a little creative?]
Rein: [?]
Rein: [I like Josh's simplicity.]
Eric: [It depends on what kind of woman your partner is. It is like we doctors design patient-specific surgical plans. There is no a one-size-fits-all solution. Luxuries work like a charm on Diana, but definitely not on Jean. Jean is a little stubborn girl. For her, it is the thought that counts rather than how pricey or creative the gift is.
Am I right, Mr. Jones?]
Nathan: [Yes.]
Nathan: [I had once gifted her a necklace before we started dating. And she thought that I was humiliating her.]
Josh: [...]
He put down his phone and glanced at Diana who was happily sharing her identity as the island owner, and suddenly felt that he was lucky.
He pondered for a moment, and then arranged another job for Sam, asking him to collect some expensive and rare things in his free time in case of emergencies.
Sam exuded the positivity as if saying "working makes me happy", and he accepted the task immediately. He then wrote down the "asteroid naming rights" that he heard two days ago in the memo under the title of "expensive and rare gifts".
-
In the blink of an eye, came the minor lunar new year. It was in the middle of the winter in P City, and the snow was getting heavier.
At this time, the buildings with red walls in P City were blanketed in white, showcasing the very spirit of antiquity. Diana didn't like to join in the fun of taking pictures. Together with Ken, Julie, and Josh, she stayed in the suburban villa where Richard was recuperating for several days.
It looked like Josh had done something wrong. Richard had been lecturing him for the past two days, and every lecture lasted half an hour at least. The sound was so loud that she could hear it when she was standing in the snow-watching corridor to take selfies.
Josh was her sweetheart now, so seeing him being lectured like this she was a little bit worried about him. She pretended to turn a deaf ear to what was going on, and from time to time, when Richard Hunter got furious, she went in to serve Braised Bird's Nest with White Fungus, Stewed Sweet Pear, and Rock Candy.
There were expressions of anger on his face, but anyway, Richard knew it was improper to blow a fuse in front of his daughter-in-law. Every time when Diana entered, he waved his hand to let them leave and not display affection before him.
Diana asked in a low voice, "What have you done? Why is Dad so angry?"
"Nothing serious." Josh looked as usual, and helped her pick off the snowflakes on her head, "Just something at work."
Of course, Diana knew it was in the business end. Otherwise, Josh wouldn't go to the company every day when the Chinese New Year was approaching. And the phone kept calling when he got home, with the computer on all the time.
In fact, Diana didn't care much about Josh's work before. She couldn't understand it anyway. And since she graduated from college, she had often heard family members and acquaintances compliment how competent Josh Hunter was at work, how ambitious, daring, and resourceful he was... So she had taken it for granted that Josh was omnipotent in work and had no rivals.
But now, it didn't seem to be the case. In the evening, before Josh returned, Diana was in the room preparing New Year gifts for the elders and juniors of the Hunter family and Swift family. She was going to ask Julie whether Renee would come back to celebrate the New Year since she went to Germany with the scientific research team for investigation. But before she got to Julie's room, she heard Richard and Ken talking in the study.
Richard was not in good health, so when he didn't raise his spirits deliberately, his voice was always a little weak.
"...They've already reached an agreement, why didn't he wait for the contract to be signed before coming back? He just let Toby cut him off. I really don't understand what he is thinking now!"
Ken said mildly, "Josh has a sense of propriety. You don't need to worry about him."
Richard went silent and then sighed, "It's no use to worry. He is so self-determined and wouldn't listen to me now."