Chapter 69: TO MEET QUINN HERE OF ALL PLACES

He made it to Rhode Island Hotel at 9:58am.

Two minutes to spare.

He pulled into the hotel’s guest parking, killed the engine, took one breath, and got out.

The Rhode Island Hotel was exactly the kind of place that did not need to try.

Grand without being loud, the sort of establishment where the carpet alone cost more than most people’s monthly salary.

Celebrities passed through its revolving doors like it was a second home because for many of them it was.

Guiying adjusted his vest, checked that the wig was sitting properly, and walked in.

The TongShu team was already at the reserved table when he arrived, three of them, two designers and a representative who had the eager brightness of someone meeting a person they considered important for the first time.

They stood when he approached.

"Mr. Tang! We’re so glad you could make it."

"Apologies for the slight delay," Guiying said, settling into his seat with the composed ease of someone who had not just kicked out his driver twenty minutes ago. "Shall we begin?"

They began.

The meeting ran for the better part of two hours.

The TongShu team was good.

Better than he had expected, genuinely passionate about what they were building.

"We’ve been focusing on a more formal direction this season," one of the designers said. "But not strictly traditional."

"Not traditional how?" Guiying asked.

The second designer leaned forward slightly. "The base is still tailored. Clean lines. Structured pieces. But the styling breaks it."

They turned a tablet toward him.

The look on screen was a suit—precise, fitted—but the collar was open, the fabric softer than it should have been, the accessories slightly out of place in a way that felt deliberate.

"Fabric?" Guiying asked.

"Silk blends," the first designer said. "And some technical fibers. It holds shape, but it moves."

Guiying nodded once and looked back at the screen.

"We’re positioning it as a transition line," the representative added. "Between formal and casual."

Guiying glanced up. "So the structure stays," he said, "but the way it’s worn doesn’t."

There was a brief pause.

"Yes," the second designer said.

Then, the designers spoke about the collection with the particular conviction of people who believed in the work and not just the commercial opportunity.

This made Guiying listen carefully.

"And your expectations?" he asked at one point.

"Campaign modeling," the representative said. "And some input on styling, if you’re comfortable."

Guiying nodded. "I don’t have technical experience."

"We’re not looking for that," one of the designers said quickly.

"We want how it feels when you wear it," the other added.

Guiying glanced back at the tablet.

"If it’s about transition," he said, "it shouldn’t look finished."

They looked at him.

"If it looks styled perfectly," he added, "then it’s still formal."

There was a moment of silence.

Then one of them nodded. "...That makes sense."

The representative made a small note and continued.

Guiying asked questions that made the representative glance at her colleagues with the expression of someone realizing this meeting was going differently than they had prepared for.

By the time they reached the final stretch, the contract terms spread across the table between them, the atmosphere had shifted from a pitch into something that felt more like a conversation between people who were going to work together.

Guiying picked up the contract and read through the final clauses.

"Clause twelve," the representative said. "Exclusivity. Limited to direct competitors."

Guiying read, then asked, "If I take another project, how do we define conflict?"

"Case-by-case..." she said.

He nodded and turned the page.

"Clause fourteen?"

"Usage rights. Two-year term."

"Renewal?" Guiying asked.

A brief pause. "Negotiable."

Guiying looked at her for a moment, then back down at the page.

It was a good deal.

Not as good as it was going to be in five years, but good for now, and the terms were fair and the creative control was generous and he had no reason to walk away from it.

He reached for the pen.

"Mr. Tang."

The voice came from slightly behind him and to the left, and it had a particular quality to it, practiced warmth over something that was not warm at all.

Guiying’s hand stilled on the pen.

He knew that voice.

He turned.

Quinn was standing three tables away with two other Omegas, both of them dressed in the kind of effortful casual that cost considerably more than it looked.

He was looking at Guiying with the specific expression of someone who had recognized a person and was deciding how to use that information.

Guiying looked at him.

Quinn smiled and walked over.

"Tang XiaoYu.." he said. "What a coincidence. I didn’t know you had business here."

The TongShu representative looked between them with the polite uncertainty of someone who had not been briefed on this variable.

"Mr. Quinn.." Guiying said. His voice was entirely pleasant but he was incredibly annoyed on the inside. To meet Quinn here of all places "I didn’t know you came here."

"I come here often for work.." Quinn said. He looked at the table, at the contract, at the TongShu branding on the folder. Something moved behind his eyes. "TongShu. Interesting choice."

"I thought so," Guiying said.

Quinn’s friends had drifted closer, the way people drifted when they sensed a performance beginning and wanted front row.

"I heard you and Liu Liuxian are quite close," Quinn said, conversationally, with the particular tone of someone making conversation and also making a point.

"We’re partners...." Guiying said.

"Partners.." Quinn repeated. The smile stayed where it was. "He’s been hard to reach lately. I imagine that’s because of you."

The TongShu representative had gone very still.

Guiying set the pen down on the contract and looked at Quinn directly.

"I’m in the middle of a meeting," he said. Calm, clear, final in the way of someone who had closed a door and was not opening it again. "If you’ll excuse me."

Quinn looked at him for a moment.

Something shifted in his expression, subtle but present, the look of someone who had expected a different reaction and was recalculating.

"Of course," he said. "Enjoy your meeting."

He turned and walked back to his table.

His friends following.

Guiying picked up the pen.

He looked at the representative, who was clearly waiting to see if the atmosphere needed to be addressed.

"Where were we?" Guiying said.