After leaving Matthew's company, Grace Li was absolutely wiped out, but they still had to hit up a finance industry seminar.
Grace Li leaned back in the car's backseat, closing her eyes for a moment. "Do you think Matthew's going to invest in the project?"
"Very likely, he trusts you a lot."
Grace Li smiled. "That's because I helped him out before. When I worked on his project, I really put a lot of effort into it. He's a cautious guy. Even though he says he trusts me, he still tends to test me and question things."
"Being cautious in business isn't a bad thing."
The seminar was at a well-known private club, one Grace Li used to come to often, though she hadn't been here much lately.
The last time she was here was last December when John Lewis had chased her down and grilled her about her relationship with Daniel Chou. Thinking back on that moment still made her cringe. Luckily, Aiden Thompson had shown up just in time and helped her out.
Returning here, Grace Li felt a bit nostalgic. "You remember the last time we were here? I got grilled, and you saved me."
"Of course I remember. Hopefully, today we won't run into any annoying people."
By "annoying people," he was naturally referring to John Lewis.
Grace Li definitely didn't want to see him again.
"Back then, in front of everyone, you said you were my boyfriend. I never expected that we'd actually end up together."
Aiden Thompson took her hand. "Do you think maybe I already wanted to be your boyfriend, and that's why I said it in the first place?"
"Really?"
"Of course," Aiden Thompson said. "I've gotta thank Daniel Chou—he didn't see your value, so I got the chance."
Grace Li smiled and walked into the club with him.
A big part of why they were here today was to promote Hengyue Technology in the investment world, hoping to get more industry peers involved.
Grace Li found a table where many familiar faces were sitting. She and Aiden Thompson quickly became the center of attention.
"Grace Li, is this your boyfriend? He's really handsome!"
Grace Li nodded. "Yeah."
"Aren't you going to introduce him?"
Aiden Thompson spoke up. "Let me introduce myself. I'm Aiden Thompson, Grace Li's boyfriend and also her partner."
"Partner? You two started a company?"
Grace Li nodded. "Yeah, we're just getting started. Hope we'll have your support moving forward."
"You've started a company? Shouldn't it be you looking out for us?"
Grace Li took the opportunity to bring up the smart wheelchair project. "Hey, have you guys ever thought about a product that could really improve the lives of elderly people and those with limited mobility? I've recently been looking into an amazing smart wheelchair project. If anyone's interested, let's chat."
"What's the project? Tell us more."
Grace Li began explaining the project, and since some people at the table were interested in AI, the conversation quickly heated up.
After more than an hour at the seminar, Grace Li was totally wiped out. She'd been pitching the project all day, and her throat was starting to hurt.
When they left the club and walked toward the nearby open-air parking lot, a Tesla pulled up beside them. The window rolled down, and a handsome man in the driver's seat looked at them with a smile. "I thought I was seeing things for a sec. Didn't expect to bump into you here."
Aiden Thompson saw the guy in the car, did a double take, then smiled and said, "Jonny, when did you get back?"
"Just got back. Didn't expect to bump into you here."
Aiden Thompson asked, "Are you back for work or something?"
"Yeah, I'm planning to expand into the US market, so I'll be sticking around here for a while."
Aiden Thompson said, "If you're free, we should grab coffee sometime."
Jonny hesitated for a moment, then said, "Sorry, something came up. I'll hit you up later, and we'll catch up then."
"Alright."
After exchanging a few words, Jonny drove off.
Grace Li glanced at the car he was driving, a Tesla Model S, and asked curiously, "Was that guy also your classmate?"
Aiden Thompson replied, "Nah, he's a few years older than me. I met him when I was interning at a venture capital firm in the UK. My firm invested in his project, and we got along pretty well, so we became friends."
Grace Li nodded. "What does he do?"
"He works in AI."
"How come he started his company in the UK?"
"His partner's from the UK, and they started the company together." Aiden Thompson continued as they walked, "Their company's been growing fast. In just five years, it's gone from nothing to a $10 billion company."
**
As usual, Grace Li and Aiden Thompson arrived at the office early. Grace Li tidied up her desk, which was one of only four in the office, each separated by partitions. Yesterday, she had taken a photo and sent it to Olivia, asking which desk she liked. Olivia chose the one closest to Grace Li.
Aiden Thompson was messing around with their new coffee machine. Both of them loved coffee, and to save money from buying it every day, they decided to get a coffee machine. He was working the machine like a pro, even adding a little cinnamon powder to the froth—a trick he'd learned from a friend who used to be a barista in Seattle.
Once Grace Li finished tidying up, she followed the smell of coffee over to Aiden Thompson, who was busy frothing the milk.
"Didn't know you were this good at it."
"I'm no expert, but it's definitely drinkable. During my time in Seattle, I picked up a few tricks from some baristas," Aiden Thompson said, expertly pouring the frothed milk into the espresso and casually making a design on top. The latte was ready.
Aiden Thompson handed the coffee to Grace Li. "Try it."
Grace Li glanced at the casual latte art and chuckled, "Are you testing me?"
Aiden Thompson took a sip first, then handed it over. "I've already tested it."
Grace Li took the cup and sipped from the spot where Aiden Thompson had drunk, then commented, "Not bad. You could definitely sell this."
"Well, if we have some free time, maybe we could make a little side money. Maybe we could even set up a stall at the weekend farmer's market. I bet we'd get a good crowd."
Grace Li grinned, "You'd definitely sell a ton. With your good looks and coffee skills, you'd have all the young professionals coming back every day for a cup."
"Pretty confident, huh?"
"A handsome barista like you? Even if the coffee was bad, I'd still buy one just for the eye candy."
Aiden Thompson chuckled softly. "Guess I made it too sweet, huh? Now you're all sweet too."
"Hello!" A voice called from the door.
Grace Li turned to see Olivia walking in with a bunch of bags.
"Boss, I'm here!"
Grace Li smiled. "I've got your desk all set up. If anything's missing, just let me know."
"Thanks!" Olivia said with a grin.
Grace Li pointed to the coffee machine. "We just got a new one. Aiden's making coffee, come try it."
"Wow!" Olivia set her bags down and walked over. She saw Grace Li holding the cup. "This is Aiden's work, right?"
"Yep, fresh out of the machine."
Aiden Thompson made another cup and handed it to Olivia.
After tasting it, Olivia gave a thumbs up. "Delicious! Didn't know Aiden had these skills. Looks like we're gonna have some good coffee in the office from now on!"
After the coffee break, Grace Li caught Olivia up on the projects they were working on and gave her a few tasks. The workload wasn't too heavy yet, but as more projects came in, things were bound to get busier.