Chapter 2

Chapter 2

At the time, I was about to graduate.

I had started an internship at Hong Kong TV Station.

As luck would have it, a major conference was taking place.

The news team assigned me to secure an interview with Minister Zhou, one of the Mainland representatives attending the conference.

There were fewer than ten slots for interns to stay on at the station.

And the station director was the maternal uncle of the fellow intern competing against me.

It was never a fair contest.

And I had been handed an impossible assignment.

But I didn’t want to give up.

My stubborn refusal to admit defeat wouldn’t let me.

Emails, messages… I tried every possible avenue.

Naturally, they all disappeared into the void.

Then, by chance, I heard that Minister Zhou would be attending a banquet hosted by the Tan Family after the conference and would remain in Hong Kong for another two days.

So I staked out the Hong Kong Island Hotel, determined to make one last effort.

I arrived early and spent the entire day in the lobby, filling my stomach with coffee. The sun had already set, but Minister Zhou was still nowhere to be seen.

A staff member eventually came over to usher me out, looking faintly apologetic. “Miss, the hotel is closing early today.”

Hotels didn’t close.

The strange excuse immediately put me on alert.

I stalled by claiming I needed to use the restroom.

I dragged things out for as long as I could. Only after the staff member repeatedly urged me to leave did I finally head for the exit.

Just then, I saw a young man escorting Minister Zhou toward the elevators, surrounded by a swarm of bodyguards.

There wasn’t even the slightest opening for me to slip through.

Disheartened, I had no choice but to leave.

I was halfway down the road when I realized I’d left my bag in the lobby.

So I turned back.

The young man who had escorted Minister Zhou to the banquet was standing in a corner of the hotel lobby, speaking on the phone.

I only caught snatches of his conversation. His voice was mellow and refined, and he spoke the Mandarin I knew so well.

For some inexplicable reason, it made me feel a sense of kinship with him.

This string of coincidences felt like fate itself giving me a chance.

The voice telling me to retreat vanished from my mind, replaced by the pitch I had rehearsed until I knew it by heart, now playing on a loop.

I clutched the station’s business card tightly in my hand.

I was young then. Naive and fearless.

I stepped into his path.

Then I explained why I was there as quickly as I could.

Only after I finished did I dare look up at him.

He was strikingly handsome, with an austere air of privilege. His eyes were dark and lustrous as black glass, and they stared straight into mine.

I couldn’t withstand his gaze.

My confidence instantly shrank by half. “Mr. Secretary, if it’s inconvenient, then forget I asked.”

He smiled faintly. “You’ve been staking this place out since morning. I thought you were a terrorist.”

Then he plucked the business card from my hand.

On the bus ride back, my phone rang.

It was an unfamiliar number.

My heart skipped a beat, and I hurriedly answered.

The person on the other end got straight to the point. “Tomorrow at noon, at the Hong Kong Island Hotel. Minister Zhou has a two-hour window.”

I thanked him over and over. “Thank you, Mr. Secretary. Seriously, thank you so much.”

The man on the other end let out two low, amused chuckles.

After hanging up, I immediately relayed the news to the team.

No one had actually expected me to secure an interview with Minister Zhou.

Out of the entire editorial and production team, the only material we had was a rough outline I had written.

Heaven had placed a glittering yet perilous opportunity right before me.

Without the slightest hesitation, I stepped straight into it.

I asked, “Chief Editor, may I conduct the interview?”

A full day’s worth of coffee kept my mind razor-sharp. I worked from the moment I boarded the bus until two the next afternoon.

And still riding that feverish high, I boldly invited the man out afterward to thank him.

Having listened to the entire interview, he smiled and nodded in agreement.