The Imposter Princess

Yin XinYi walked in. The receptionist greeted her immediately when he saw her.

"Hello ma'am. Welcome to Summer Sky. How many in your party?" he asked respectfully.

Yin XinYi replied to him calmly, "Only one."

He nodded and instructed her, "Only yourself? Very well, please follow our server to your table."

A female server raised her hand to get Yin XinYi's attention. "Excuse me, ma'am. If you would follow me, I'll guide you to your table."

Yin XinYi nodded and followed the server through the restaurant. The restaurant was rather quiet except for the murmur of people talking and the sound of cutlery hitting against the plates.

Yin XinYi followed the woman down a long hallway. At the end of the long hallway was a set of stairs. Yin XinYi assumed that it led to private booths which had to be reserved. The main dining hall, where she was going to dine, required no reservation.

There were three entrances to the dining room area, all of them, a large open doorway and on the left side of the hallway. Between the entrances were benches or faux flowers.

Yin XinYi's server walked her to the farthest entrance, the one closest to the stairs at the end of the hallway.

The server led Yin XinYi to an empty table for two, next to the floor to ceiling windows.

Yin XinYi sat down and the server handed her a menu. "Hello. Welcome to Summer Sky. I am Tracy and I'll be your server for the night. Starting off, would you like anything to drink?"

"Lemon water," Yin XinYi replied. She was not planning on returning home intoxicated.

"Of course. I will be back with your drink soon. Please look over the menu and decide on your meal." Tracy walked away as Yin XinYi opened the menu.

Yin XinYi quickly scanned her eyes across the appetizers and the main courses. She was always a very decisive person, therefore, she had already planned her order before Tracy had come back with her drink.

Tracy returned with a tray upon her hands and gently placed the lemon water down on the tablecloth. Then she looked at Yin XinYi and asked her, "Are you ready to place your order or do you wish for more time?"

"I'll like to place my order now."

Tracy nodded and pulled a small notepad and a pen out. Her full focus was on Yin XinYi, waiting for her order.

"For my appetizer, I'll like a French onion soup, and the crab cakes."

"Mmm." Tracy acknowledged as she jotted down the appetizers. "Main course?" she asked.

"A Ribeye, medium, with sides of roasted potatoes and a house salad with honey mustard dressing," Yin XinYi told the server.

Tracy nodded and repeated Yin XinYi's order down as a confirmation. There were no errors, so Tracy left after informing Yin XinYi that her appetizers would be out soon.

Yin XinYi turned to face the windows. She seemed as if she was admiring the view but in reality, Yin XinYi was eavesdropping on conversations near her. How could she pass up on an opportunity to learn more information?

Yin XinYi heard bits and pieces of conversations. She learned more names and some personal information involving them. Soon, Yin XinYi heard footsteps heading towards her.

Yin XinYi turned around to see Tracy carrying a tray filled with her appetizers. Tracy placed the two plates carefully in front of Yin XinYi. "Your main course will be out soon, however, I will be back to receive your plates," she informed before leaving.

Yin XinYi placed the crab cakes in front of her first. Using the silverware already placed on the table, she picked the designated fork for appetizers, and penetrated the crab cake.

Right when she finished, Tracy came and took the empty plates away while putting Yin XinYi's main course on the table.

The steak was very fatty and paired well with the roasted potatoes while the salad was a refreshing contrast.

Yin XinYi finished her meal and declined dessert. She had enjoyed her meal and left a rather generous tip for Tracy.

Yin XinYi walked out of the restaurant and down the path which lead to the streets. Yin XinYi pulled her jacket closer together. It was extremely windy and cold.

As she was towards the exit, an older man entered the same path. His head was facing down, looking at the file in his hand.

Suddenly, a gust of wind caused his papers to scatter in the air. Out of politeness, Yin XinYi helped the elderly man retrieve his papers. She reached her hand in the air to grab some. She managed to grab around five while the elderly man had retrieve the rest.

Purely incidental, when she was sorting the papers neatly to return to the man, she managed to get a glimpse of the contents. Part of was in E1, while the rest was in the language F10. It was clearly a contract.

Yin XinYi tilted her lips downwards. The translation was between F10 and E1 was off and it wasn't a simple mistake either. The error was a rather major error since it directly changed the meaning of a clause in the contract. The error was clearly made deliberately since it was impossible to translate the part with the error wrong. Even beginners would not make such a mistake.

Yin XinYi internally debated on telling the elderly man. If he was the translator, then he had malicious intentions against Party B. The error gave an unfair advantage to Party A over Party B in the clause.

However, if he was the representative of Party B…

Yin XinYi handed the papers in her hand back to the old man. "Here you go," she said as she subtly studied him.

The elderly man in front of her was wearing a suit of high quality, however, Yin XinYi could not tell what brand. There was no logo. She glanced down at his dress shoes. Immediately, she could tell that it was genuine leather. There was a small logo placed near the sides of his shoes.

Yin XinYi recognized it as soon as she saw it.

That brand, it's extremely expensive. One of the best in the world. Looking at the design, I reckon that it's a limited edition. Assuming that he would wear such a loft brand, either he is a representative of Party B, and Party B is a large company. Either that or, he is an extremely well paid translator or he was bought out by Party A.

Yin XinYi assumed that he was part of Party B because, usually, the one with the contact in both languages was the second party since Party A is always the first party, or the one that initiates the contract.

"Thank you, Miss," he calmly replied. From his reply, Yin XinYi could tell that he was used to being in a position of authority. He had the air of a king but without the arrogance.

"Of course. Are all of the papers in your hand?"she asked him.

He flipped through the papers, silently counting them before replying to her, "Yes, all of them are here. It would have been quite an issue if any of my papers were lost here today. I'm on my way to have them signed. My companions are waiting for me in the restaurant. Excuse me."

He nodded to her and started to walk away. Yin XinYi had confirmed that he was a representative of Party B. Mostly, the signer of the contract will bring the contract to the meeting, not the translator.

"Of course," she muttered to a leaving backside. Speaking a little louder, she said, "Sir, I would recommend you to change your translator. And to retranslate your entire doc.u.ments again. At the very least, I would recommend you to retranslate page 24 with a translator that is not associated with your current one. I suggest you to heed my advice, or you'll lose quite a bit. Excuse me."

The elderly man whipped his head around. He was quite a bit away from the young woman who had helped him retrieve his papers. He only saw the young woman leaving the pathway of Summer Sky and turning the corner. Then she was gone.

The old man looked down at the papers in his hand, compensating the advice the young woman had given him. He would have never gotten to the position he was in if he was not careful. Such words from a stranger was indeed important to pay heed to, especially one that had no relation to him.

Double checking would do no harm, he concluded. Remembering her warning, he called up a translator that had no relation to his current one and had him retranslate page 24.