"Okay." Sheng Lei made a gesture of surrender. "I know you still like Qi Xiaoyan."
Yang Wei raised an eyebrow but didn't reply. Sheng Lei glanced at her and said, "After seeing so many scumbags, I think Qi Xiaoyan is actually not bad. Have you ever thought about remarrying him?"
Yang Wei was taken aback for a moment, then smiled slightly at her: "You're still taking on remarriage cases?"
Sheng Lei shrugged and said with a smile, "OK, I was just asking casually."
The two walked into the lobby. Sheng Lei took out her car keys from her bag and looked at Yang Wei, saying, "You wait for me here. I'll drive the car over, and we'll go somewhere else to eat."
"Okay." Yang Wei nodded and sat down on the sofa in the living room. Fang Chengran gently closed the door and frowned as he thought for a while.
He hadn't contacted Yang Wei since he kissed her last time, and today was a good opportunity to ease the awkwardness; he couldn't let it go to waste.
He looked up at Director Huang behind the computer.
Director Huang felt a chill run down his spine and instinctively shrank back into his chair: "What... what is it?"
Fang Chengran suddenly gave him a charming smile, placed his hands on the table, and leaned forward slightly: "Can you take your clothes off now?"
Director Huang: "..."
He could imagine the Yellow River flowing down from the sky, but he never imagined that the wealthy and eligible bachelor, Young Master Fang, would actually... like men!
He nervously hugged his chest, looking timidly at Fang Chengran: "W-what do you want to do?"
"I want you to take off your clothes." Fang Chengran smiled and moved closer to Director Huang. The overwhelming pressure brought Director Huang to the brink of collapse. He tearfully took off his suit jacket and handed it to Fang Chengran, who then looked him over again: "Take off your pants too."
Director Huang: "..."
Director Huang finally broke down completely.
When Fang Chengran emerged from the front office wearing Director Huang's suit, Yang Wei was still sitting on the sofa playing on her phone. Fang Chengran straightened his shirt collar, smiled, and walked towards Yang Wei.
"Yang Wei, what a coincidence?" His voice was clear and bright, like a flower quietly blooming in spring, carrying a warm and endearing quality. Yang Wei saw him and stood up from the sofa in surprise: "Fang Chengran, I didn't expect to actually run into you. Are you at work?"
"Hmm." Fang Chengran smiled, his lips curving into a perfect smile. "Is there anything I can help you with?"
Yang Wei said, "I came here to have dinner with a friend. She went to get her car."
"Oh, I see." Fang Chengran looked at her, just getting into the mood to ask her to go to the movies, when the front office manager rushed over in a panic.
"Director Huang, something bad has happened! The front desk and housekeeping staff are arguing upstairs again! Manager Xu asked me to come find you..." The supervisor slowly shut his mouth as he walked up to Fang Chengran, only a hint of surprise showing in his eyes—Holy crap, how come Director Huang has become so handsome in just one morning!
After glancing at Fang Chengran a few times, she recognized him as the chairman's young master and stood to the side, somewhat at a loss.
Yang Wei stood by and watched, while Fang Chengran maintained his smile, pretending to be nonchalant: "Don't rush, speak slowly."
The front desk manager opened his mouth several times but couldn't utter a sound. Yang Wei spoke first, asking, "Why does she call you Director Huang?"
...
Fang Chengran took a deep breath, turned to Yang Wei, and smiled, saying, "Her Mandarin isn't very standard; she meant to call me Director Fang." He then gave his supervisor a look, who immediately nodded vigorously, "Yes, yes, that's right, I meant to call you Director Fang!"
Fang Chengran smiled with satisfaction: "You just said that the front office and the housekeeping department had a fight. What happened?"
"Oh, right! The guest in room 1818 wants to have Western food at six in the morning. Room service says the front desk should deliver the food, but the front desk says room service should be done. They're arguing about it in Manager Xu's office right now!"
Fang Chengran's eyebrows twitched. The hotel did not serve Western food in the morning. Such a capricious guest must be a platinum member of the hotel.
He glanced at the supervisor and asked, "Isn't food delivery the responsibility of the Western restaurant's servers?"
The main person in charge said, "That's how it was supposed to be, but the Western restaurant hadn't started work yet at six o'clock. Manager Yao from the Western restaurant called a chef to prepare breakfast for that customer, but we were left to handle the delivery ourselves. Actually, this isn't the first time. Previously, our front desk staff would deliver the food. This time, they asked us to do it again, and everyone was unhappy, so we argued with them."
Fang Chengran said, "Since Manager Yao has already ordered a chef, there shouldn't be any problem ordering another waiter, right?"
The supervisor sighed: "The waiters in the Western restaurant don't want to come to work so early either. The catering department is the largest department in the hotel, and Manager Yao is very competitive. They are not willing to suffer any loss."
Fang Chengran frowned and thought for a moment, then said to the head of the department, "In the future, if this happens again, select the prettiest employee from the housekeeping and front office staff on duty to be in charge of delivering the food."
The supervisor blinked a few times and nodded to him: "I understand. I will go and convey your orders now."
The supervisor walked away in her high heels, and Yang Wei looked at Fang Chengran and said with a smile, "You're doing a good job as a supervisor. Even if you're assigned to work that isn't your responsibility, you'll still have a strange sense of honor."
Fang Chengran coughed affectedly and straightened his clothes: "We all work in the same hotel, so of course the different departments should cooperate. We can't just sweep the snow from our own doorstep and ignore the frost on other people's roofs."
Yang Wei chuckled: "Director Fang is truly a gifted writer."
Qi Xiaoyan knocked on the door of room 1817. The sound of high heels approached from afar. After the door opened, Aunt Zhao's face appeared behind the door.
"Aunt Zhao, I'm here to take you to the airport."
Aunt Zhao smiled and invited Qi Xiaoyan into the door, saying to him, "Wait a moment, I'll finish packing my things soon."
Qi Xiaoyan nodded and stood aside without saying anything. After Aunt Zhao packed everything into the suitcase, the phone on the table rang: "Hello. Not yet. Didn't we already agree on this? Okay, I understand."
She hung up the phone and looked at Qi Xiaoyan somewhat apologetically: "Things have changed a bit, I might have to stay for a couple more days. I'm sorry to have made you come all this way for nothing."
Qi Xiaoyan's expression remained unchanged, not even a flicker of her brow: "It's alright, do you need me to help you with the extension of your stay?"
Aunt Zhao shook her head and said, "No need, I can take care of it myself. You haven't had lunch yet, have you? I'll treat you to lunch as an apology."
Qi smiled and said, "Aunt Zhao, you don't need to be so polite. I won't have lunch; I still have to go back to school."
"Alright then." Aunt Zhao didn't try to stop him any further. Qi Xiaoyan said goodbye to her and left the room.
At that moment, the door to room 1818 across the street opened, and the two people inside froze at the doorway.
"Senior Qi?" Song Jin adjusted her large sunglasses, looking at him with some surprise. "What are you doing here?"
Qi Xiaoyan nodded to her and walked towards the elevator: "I'm bringing over a friend of my mother's."
"What a coincidence." Song Jin followed him into the elevator and smiled at him. "My house is being renovated, so I'm staying at this hotel for now. I should be able to move back in a couple of days, and I'll invite you over for dinner then."
Qi Xiaoyan didn't react, and Song Jin didn't know whether this counted as a yes or a no.
The elevator doors opened with a "ding," and the front desk manager, who was waiting outside, bowed politely and stepped aside to let them exit first. Song Jin pulled down the brim of her hat and stepped out of the elevator with Qi Xiaoyan. As soon as they reached the lobby, Qi Xiaoyan abruptly stopped. Song Jin glanced ahead in confusion and saw a man and a woman standing at the front desk, chatting and laughing.
The man had his back to her, so she couldn't see his face, but she remembered the girl—although she had changed her hairstyle, she was Qi Xiaoyan's ex-wife.
Yang Wei also spotted Qi Xiaoyan at that moment, and her smile froze on her face. The woman next to Qi Xiaoyan, though wearing sunglasses and a hat and dressed casually, was undoubtedly Song Jin!
Qi Xiaoyan paused for a moment, then walked silently to the front desk. Song Jin's eyes flickered, and she followed him. Fang Chengran turned around following Yang Wei's gaze, only to meet Qi Xiaoyan's eyes. A series of crackling sounds seemed to explode in the air.
"What are you doing here?" Qi Xiaoyan asked with a stern face, his voice instantly lowering the surrounding air pressure. The receptionist glanced at the four of them, then smiled and handed Fang Chengran a room key: "Your room is ready, room 1106. Here is your room key."
The temperature dropped several degrees again. Qi Xiaoyan glanced down at the room key, then looked up at Yang Wei and said, "You two are here to book a room?"
His expression was really not good, but Fang Chengran's heart was already pounding with excitement—Wow, how could he have such a clever employee! He has to give her a raise!
Receiving Fang Chengran's approving look, the receptionist's smile became even sweeter.
Yang Wei glanced at Song Jin standing next to Qi Xiaoyan and chuckled inwardly: "So what are you two doing here?"
Upon hearing this, the receptionist smiled and said to Qi Xiaoyan, "Sir, are you checking out? Please show me your room card and deposit slip."
Fang Chengran now really wants to promote her to front office manager.
Yang Wei chuckled this time: "Oh, you two are here to check out."
Qi Xiaoyan's lips twitched, and he finally couldn't help but grab Yang Wei and drag her out of the hotel without saying a word.
Author's Note: First update. Thank you for supporting the official version! —(づ￣3￣)づ╭??—
twenty three
Qi Xiaoyan's Audi was parked in front of the hotel. He opened the passenger door and threw Yang Wei inside. The whole process was smooth and seamless.
There was a small pink cushion on the passenger seat; it belonged to Yang Wei. Yang Wei stared at the cushion, slightly startled, when she heard Qi Xiaoyan slam the car door shut behind her. Yang Wei twitched her lips, placed the cushion on her lap, and fastened her seatbelt.
After getting into the car, Qi Xiaoyan's expression remained frighteningly grim. He drove off without uttering a word. Neither he nor Yang Wei spoke first. A short while later, her phone rang. Yang Wei took her phone out of her bag; it was Fang Chengran calling.
She glanced at Qi Xiaoyan beside her, hung up the phone, and sent a text message: "I'll contact you later."
The screen had just displayed "sent successfully" when the phone rang again. This time it was Sheng Lei: "Where are you?"
Yang Wei whispered, "I have something urgent to attend to. You can go ahead and don't wait for me."
Sheng Lei frowned on the other end of the phone: "What's the matter? Why are you in such a hurry?"
Yang Wei said, "I'll talk to you later." After she finished speaking, she hung up the phone and continued to stare silently out the window.
Qi Xiaoyan had dragged Yang Wei out in a fit of anger, and now, not knowing where to drive, he could only drive aimlessly in circles. After circling for the third time, Yang Wei finally couldn't help but ask, "Are you lost?"
Qi Xiaoyan's eyebrows twitched, but he didn't even glance at her out of the corner of his eye, continuing to circle the road. On his fifth lap, a traffic policeman in uniform stopped his car, knocked on the window, and asked, "Sir, are you lost?"
Qi Xiaoyan: "..."
"Pfft." Yang Wei couldn't stop laughing in the passenger seat. The traffic police checked Qi Xiaoyan's driver's license and vehicle registration before letting them go.
As the car drove off again, Qi Xiaoyan finally spoke, "What are you going to the hotel for?"
Yang Wei chuckled and said, "Mr. Qi, do you own that hotel? You're not even allowing people to go in and eat?"
Qi Xiaoyan countered, "Do we need to book a hotel room for dinner?"
"That wasn't a room I booked, go ask Fang Chengran."
Qi Xiaoyan's eyebrows twitched, and after a moment of silence, she said, "I'm Song Jin, a friend who came to pick up my mother.
Yang Wei curled her lip: "Do you think the reporter will believe it?"
I don't care whether the reporter believes it or not.
Qi Xiaoyan's voice was like shattered glass, scattering across the carriage floor. Yang Wei silently crumpled the cushion in her hands into various shapes, and Qi Xiaoyan's cool voice reached her ears again: "Why did you cut your hair?"
This question was like a knife, swiftly stabbing Yang Wei's heart. She glanced at Qi Xiaoyan with a mocking look and sneered, "What, you don't resemble your first love anymore, so Mr. Qi doesn't like you?"
Qi Xiaoyan's brows furrowed unexpectedly: "Do you know what you're saying?"
Yang Wei felt inexplicably irritated, and her attitude turned hostile: "Don't you know what I'm saying? Mr. Qi, you only married me because I resemble Song Jin, didn't you? And you said it was love at first sight? Don't think you can fool people just because you're smart!"
Qi Xiaoyan tightened his grip on the steering wheel, turned his head, and squinted at Yang Wei: "What formula did you use to arrive at this conclusion?"
Yang Wei instantly exploded: "Don't mention Goldbach to me! It's already been published in the magazine, and you're still trying to deny it?!"
Qi Xiaoyan pursed her lips, turned her head away, and said nothing more.
The two remained unusually silent for the rest of the journey. Qi Xiaoyan drove into the campus of Imperial University and finally stopped in front of his single dormitory building. Yang Wei got out of the car, frowned, and looked at the brick-red building in front of her: "Why did you bring me here?"
Qi Xiaoyan closed the car door and walked up to her expressionlessly: "Come with me."
"Why should I go up with you?" Yang Wei's rebellious streak kicked in, and she stood still, refusing to move. Qi Xiaoyan looked at her and asked calmly, "You're not coming, are you?"
"I'm not leaving!" Yang Wei's attitude was firm.