After a period of dedicated practice at the shooting range, Erina was confident in using this deadly weapon. She had to admit that Henry was no different from a real coach.
After practicing in the room, he dragged her out into the sun, forcing her to practice the techniques of rolling, dragging, crawling, lying down, kneeling, and rolling over. He also simulated possible situations and taught her combat skills that left her whole body scratched.
Sometimes, she thought she was about to join the national security force. Hubert only told her to go to country B to look after the liquor distribution branch, but she felt like she was about to go to the battlefield.
Erina's eyes stared at the automatic target that was constantly moving in front of her. She liked this hidden and revealed target exercise, assuming the target was hiding and then revealing itself in a flash, forcing the shooter to concentrate highly and have good technique to hit the target within the three seconds it appeared.
Finishing the exercise, Erina quickly put down the gun and took off her earplugs and goggles. Hearing the sound of applause from behind, she turned her head, her lips smiling slightly.
“Young master, which of the shooting positions you taught me is the most perfect?”
“Erina, in every situation in life, there is no perfect shooting position. I teach you everything so that you can use your knowledge and skills and apply them at the right time when facing the enemy.”
Hearing Henry's gentle explanation, Erina nodded to show she understood. She helped him gather his things, put them in the warehouse, and left the shooting range.
The autumn afternoon gradually passes, and the wind gently blows the wings of birds scurrying to find their nests. The shimmering sunlight of the afternoon made the road covered with yellow leaves even more poetic. The sunlight penetrated through the canopy of the trees, falling on the hair of the couple walking together.
During this time, Erina was so busy that she forgot to take a moment to relax, so when Henry invited her to go for a walk, she immediately agreed. Looking at the scenery around her, she suddenly realized that autumn was already more than half over.
Temporarily forgetting all the worries, the two of them silently walked along the lakeside in the park, immersing themselves in the deep love song of the golden autumn.
Memories of the day she and Clement admired the scenery here suddenly came back, bringing with them a deep sadness that chilled her lonely heart.
The loving messages and calls every night could not fill the longing for him in her heart, she wanted to see him in person, even if she could only see him from afar.
“Erina, do you remember the girl who saved us at the New Square dance hall before?” Henry turned to her and asked gently.
“Yes, but so what?” She looked at him, looking surprised.
“Oh, she's a receptionist at the Kingdom restaurant now. Let's go there and have dinner.” He smiled and suggested.
Erina nodded slightly, thinking that she should thank the girl when she had the chance. After all, the fight started from her.
Seeing her nod in agreement, Henry was extremely happy. It had been so long since he had the chance to take her to a restaurant to eat. He didn't have any big dreams, he just wanted to go for a walk, eat, and watch movies with her every day like other normal couples.
When the two of them left the park, the streets outside were already brightly lit. At Henry's request, Venn drove straight to the Kingdom restaurant.
As soon as Isa saw Henry, her face lit up, but just a few seconds later, the smile on her lips quickly disappeared when she realized the girl was walking timidly behind him. However, she still left the counter and hurriedly went forward to greet the guests.
“Erina, this is our benefactor, her name is Isa.” Henry happily introduced.
“Hello, my name is Erina. Thank you very much, if it weren't for you, I don't know what would have happened.” Erina smiled politely.
“It happened a long time ago, moreover, Mr. Henry helped me find a good job. I've benefited a lot.”
As soon as Isa finished speaking, all three of them burst out laughing at the same time.
Seeing the beautiful girl, speaking gracefully and especially Henry being extremely friendly when communicating with her, suddenly a thought appeared in Erina's mind that if during the two years she was abroad, the two of them developed feelings, how wonderful it would be.
While secretly happy with the calculations, a call from behind made Erina startled and turned her face. Like her, Henry also turned his head at the same time.
“Mr. Charles, what a coincidence. Are you having dinner here?”
“Yes, me and your dad, Mei, and Clement too. Or you two eat with us, there are only family members, no customers.”
Charles said as he pulled Henry away. Henry reflexively grabbed Erina's hand and pulled her along with him. Three people entered the room in front of six surprised eyes.
“I went out to answer the phone and met them in the lobby, so I told them to eat with us.” Charles smiled and said.
“You two, sit down. Please order more food.” Hubert said softly and kindly.
Both of them said yes, quickly pulling chairs to sit down according to Charles's arrangement. On the other side, Hubert, Clement, and Henry were in a row, on this side were Charles, his daughter, and Erina.
Erina's heart has been pounding ever since she heard Charles announce that Clement was in the room and has not stopped until now. She felt like heaven had arranged for her wish by the lake in the afternoon to come true so she could see his face at such a close distance.
During the meal, despite Charles rambling on about Clement's countless achievements during his internship at the company, Henry remained silent. He only focused on eating and urged Erina to eat, even though he knew her eyes were looking at the man sitting next to him.
He read the review that Clement wrote about the company's wine products and saw that sales increased a lot thanks to that.
Mei felt uncomfortable for Henry and herself when she saw her father constantly praising Clement. Quickly swallowing the mouthful of water in her mouth, she lowered her voice.
“Dad, I think if the advertisement only talks about the benefits without mentioning the harmful effects of alcohol, it's no different from fraud.”
“Instead of calling it a scam, why don't you think of it as a typical example of marketing? Mei, everyone knows its harmful effects, so we just need to tell them about its benefits.”
Henry suddenly spoke up, surprising everyone. Erina was also surprised because he defended Clement. As for Mei, she was so angry that she wanted to cry. She was standing up for him, but why did he turn around and bite her like that?
“Dad, Mr. Charles, please allow me and Erina to go first, we still have a lot of unfinished homework.”
After saying that, Henry quickly stood up, Erina also hurriedly bowed and followed him. It seemed that this meal had Clement present, which brightened her eyes and darkened his.
The yellow light fell on the car window, the road leading home was deserted and lonely. From the time they got in the car until now, neither of them said a word to each other, Venn saw that and kept quiet, just driving.
When Henry walked up the stairs, Erina dared to speak up.
“Young master, Mei…”
“I'm not defending Clement, I'm just defending myself. Young Market company will belong to me in the future. You know that.”
Erina could only nod after hearing what he said. He was the heir to the Young Market company, no matter what, he still had to protect the products created by his company.
“Erina, do you know why everyone assumes that diamonds are the only gemstone used for marriage proposals?”
Henry's question made Erina extremely surprised. She knew that diamonds were often used by men to propose to the women they loved, but she was not sure why they chose them. She simply thought that they were a symbol of power, wealth, and love.
“I don't know.” She answered briefly.
Henry smiled, gently explaining little by little. He said the reason was because people had created an advertising campaign and successfully made men consider it the only gemstone that should be chosen when proposing, while women were convinced that the number of carats was proportional to the man's love for her, the bigger the diamond, the more love.
Putting the eternal value of love on the value of a diamond made people believe that a marriage without diamonds would not be complete even though it would still break, fade, and even melt like other minerals.
“So it can be called an excellent scam or a great marketing tactic.” Erina squinted at him and said softly.
“Erina, don't you realize that you understand me very well?”
After saying that, Henry smiled and slowly walked upstairs. Erina silently watched his back until it disappeared before returning to her room. She understood what he meant. In an era where lucrative contracts are signed on the table of alcohol, even if they clearly know that it is harmful, they will still use it.
Moreover, alcohol is also a way for them to relieve stress, and sadness, and boldly communicate and express themselves.
In general, it's because people believe that the benefits it brings are higher than its harms. Henry is a typical example, he always drinks when he is sad and lonely. He doesn't like it but he still drinks.