"Sigh, come up and pick it up tomorrow at noon. I'll have Secretary Zhao print some for you," Wen Qi sighed, then took out one of his own sheets from his pocket and handed it to Wen Cheng.
"Go quickly,"
Otherwise, things will get really messed up over there.
Wen Cheng nodded and quickly went over to Niannian before she could react, handing her a black business card with gold foil stamping. She then pulled Niannian a few meters away from the stall and whispered to her.
"If anything happens in the future, call the numbers on this page. You can borrow a teacher's phone at school or use your home landline, but don't contact strangers, okay?" Wen Cheng squatted down and said sincerely. Actually, he was a stranger to Nian Nian for the first time, but Nian Nian wasn't scared at all. She could feel Wen Cheng's kindness, and she felt comfortable being with him.
Niannian said thank you, then carefully slipped the business card into her backpack. Wen Cheng quickly checked his pockets again, thankful that he always kept some cash in his pocket. He didn't have much money, just exactly one thousand, and he gave it all to Niannian.
Niannian refused to accept it this time and kept pushing it back, but the other party was about to finish their conversation, so Wen Cheng used her adult strength to stuff it into Niannian's hand.
And very seriously, she said to Niannian, "Niannian, you absolutely mustn't let your aunt see this money. Tell them you're not looking and you've slipped it into their books. If your aunt keeps making things difficult for you, or even prevents you from going to school, call your brother. And whatever you do, don't listen to your aunt saying girls don't need to study so much—it's all... well, all bad stuff." Wen Cheng had almost sworn out in anger just moments before.
Tears welled up in Niannian's eyes. She realized there was another person in the world who cared about her so much. In her childish voice, she asked, "Then, brother, can I call you when I'm free?"
“Sure, either during lunch break or in the evening. The older brother’s voice might be a little cold the first time he answers the phone, so just tell him you’re Niannian and you’re looking for Wen Cheng.” Wen Cheng rubbed Niannian’s head.
"Niannian, come on, let's go home!" The aunt had finally managed to calm her son down, but her tone towards her niece was inevitably worse.
Then, seeing that Wen Cheng and the others hadn't left yet, he blurted out, "Why aren't you leaving? I paid the standard price this time, don't try to cheat me, it's just one."
The woman choked back her words halfway through, because she met Wen Qi's gaze, and an instinctive protective instinct made her shut up.
Even after Wen Qi and the others had completely left, the old woman still found it difficult to calm her inner fear and unease.
These past few days at work, Wen Cheng has devoted all his energy to investment plans. It's not his area of expertise, but ever since that night in the car when Qi Ge put him down, he immediately added the phone number of the person in charge of investment at Yao Xingwei's company. They've been communicating and discussing it every day, leaving him no time to teach his colleagues after finishing his own tasks.
The men in the IT department have been noticeably listless these past few days; everyone is hoping that Wen Cheng can finish her work soon.
Finally, after two weeks of tireless effort, the project was completed. Wen Cheng immediately took Qi Ge to review it during her lunch break.
As it happened, Qi Ge had an impromptu meeting at noon today, so Wen Cheng could only eat her lunch in the office while waiting for Qi Ge.
Today at noon, we had their signature braised duck feet. The braised duck feet were served on a thick layer of fried tofu skin, which soaked up all the broth. It was so delicious with rice! The slight disappointment I felt was instantly lifted by this delicious food, and I even wanted to enthusiastically invite Secretary Zhao to eat with me.
Secretary Zhao pushed up his glasses, his face clearly showing his refusal. If President Wen came back and saw them having dinner together, he might have to leave this beautiful company. His original plan was to work here until retirement.
"No need, Mr. Wen. My dad is waiting for me to come home for dinner and told me to invite you to come along when I have time. Oh, and by the way, please bring Mr. Wen too." Secretary Zhao couldn't help but praise himself for his meticulousness.
"Okay, okay!" Wen Cheng gave an OK sign, feeling quite pleased, because Secretary Zhao had also brought him an iced cola when she brought him lunch today! What a kind and approachable secretary!
After seeing Secretary Zhao off, Wen Cheng continued eating.
The duck feet were fried until they developed a tiger-skin pattern before being simmered. Every bite was bursting with broth, and there were also braised snails underneath. Wen Cheng was just about to grab the duck feet and simmer them all in one go!
Wen Yunyi hadn't been heard from for two weeks, and Wen Cheng was starting to panic. She wanted to find out what was going on, but Sister Yu Ning hadn't replied either. According to Secretary Zhao's reliable information, most of the employees in Wen Yunyi's department had already brought their own blankets to sleep at the company.
Indeed, as Wen Cheng later recalled, Wen Yunyi's autumn new product launch had shocked the entire cosmetics industry, propelling his fame internationally. However,
"Premier Wen, there's something I need to tell you,"
Wen Cheng glanced instinctively towards the door, and the two of them saw each other at the same time.
Wen Cheng: Oh wow, my ex-fiancé~
Qin Zhou: How dare you eat such strongly flavored food in Premier Wen's office?!
When the two met, they knew there was a distance between them, a distance of about ten million.
Finally, Wen Cheng broke the silence, "My brother's in a meeting, do you want to wait? Or maybe another day?"
"Another day" is out of the question. After finalizing this contract, Qin Zhou has to fly to the Italian branch for business. Being a domineering CEO isn't so easy.
"Let's wait a bit."
As Qin Zhou spoke, he calmly sat down opposite Wen Cheng.
Wen Cheng felt she had nothing to say to Qin Zhou, but not wanting to make the atmosphere too awkward, she asked, "Would you like to eat together?"
Qin Zhou's gaze fell on the large pot on the table. It was indeed not a portion that one person could finish, but...
"No need, I've already eaten."
"Oh," Wen Cheng lowered her head and continued to inhale rapidly.
Qin Zhou's mood suddenly became very complicated. He had thought that, according to tradition, he would be invited several more times. Wen Cheng seemed completely different from the Wen Cheng who had been so eager to get engaged to him back then. At least now, he was definitely not as good as the duck feet in front of Wen Cheng.
Warm orange: Dried bean curd sticks: Slurp slurp~
Rice soaked in broth: Smack smack~
Tiger-skin duck feet: Crunch, crunch!
Shiitake mushroom: Mmm, mmm~
Qin Zhou swallowed silently, feeling like he was being tortured here, and he had to say something to interrupt!
"Yiyi talked to me for a long time last night,"
Wen Cheng raised her head.
"Is he not busy anymore?"
Qin Zhou looked tired: "No, I fainted while working overtime at home last night and had to go to the hospital for an IV drip all night."
!!
Author's Note:
Thank you for your support, my darlings!
I'm a bit busy today, I'll update more tomorrow, muah~
Chapter 54 Keep flirting!
Wen Cheng stared in shock, her eyes wide, the duck feet in her mouth losing their original freshness.
"Why didn't he tell his family?" Although his family hadn't been paying much attention to Wen Yunyi lately, his parents and Qi-ge still cared. While some of Wen Yunyi's views were wrong, Wen Cheng could still see his inherent resilience.
Qin Zhou shook his head, his usual sharpness gone. "He refuses. He's changed a lot lately; I don't know how to describe it to you. Yi Yi even told me about you. I owe you an apology."
A look of shame flashed in Qin Zhou's eyes; clearly, Wen Yunyi had said quite a lot.
Wen Cheng quickly waved his hand. His current thought was simply to be a carefree, unambitious person and minimize his entanglements with the main characters.
"You've already paid, so we're even!" Wen Cheng reassured her.
Qin Zhou:
No feelings can be measured in money, and who can let go as completely as Wen Cheng? Unless Wen Cheng never liked me at all.
"Money is one thing, but I still want to sincerely apologize for my attitude towards you during our engagement, including my relationship with Yunyi during that time."
Seeing that the main characters were ready to make peace with him, a mere cannon fodder, Wen Cheng felt he had to return the favor. "Then I'll apologize to you too. I impulsively got engaged to you before, but I didn't have any feelings for you at all!"
That was indeed quite reckless, and Qin Zhou was genuinely angry. He even spent ten million on a breakup fee afterward.
Hmm,
Qin Zhou finally understood why Wen Yunyi had scolded him for being wasteful after drinking.
"Also, regarding Yunyi's matter, I hope you won't tell Uncle Wen and Aunt Wen yet. Yunyi said he needs to think about it some more, and I hope you can be patient with him," Qin Zhou's attitude was completely different from before.
Wen Cheng nodded in agreement, finished munching on the duck foot in her mouth, and then looked up carefully and asked, "Can I talk to Brother Qi first?"
Qin Zhou nodded hurriedly, "Of course!"
Wen Cheng realized that his ability to curry favor with powerful figures was truly impressive. The protagonist could be incredibly powerful, but he was definitely not more powerful than his Qi-ge. He had just vaguely sensed admiration for Qi-ge on Qin Zhou's face.
Curly hair is so proud!
One bowl of rice certainly couldn't satisfy Wen Cheng's large appetite, so to keep the rice hot, Secretary Zhao specially selected a thermos from Taobao, the same kind used in the cafeteria! Although it doesn't look very appealing, it can really hold a lot!
After finishing a bowl, Wen Cheng naturally went to the thermos to eat rice. At this moment, he looked at Qin Zhou again. He didn't believe that Qin Zhou wasn't tempted, after all, the braised duck feet smelled so good!
"Are you sure you don't want another bowl? There's no rule saying you can't have more after you've finished eating!" Mainly, Wen Cheng didn't want anyone watching him eat; it was too embarrassing.
Qin Zhou himself didn't want to do this, and just as he was hesitating, the office door opened.
Just as Wen Qi was quickly finishing his reminiscence, he entered the room and saw his crush with his ex-fiancé, who was even subtly serving him rice.
Wen Qi's eyes instantly turned cold.
Upon seeing this, Qin Zhou quickly stood up, picked up the documents beside him, and hurriedly explained his intentions, because he could vaguely sense the hostility emanating from Wen Qi.
That shouldn't be the case. Didn't President Wen already know about his relationship with Yunyi?
For some reason, Wen Cheng also felt a little guilty.
"Mr. Wen, I've revised the last clause of this contract. My flight is a bit urgent, so I came to see you at noon."
Wen Qi finally relaxed and gave a faint "hmm." He always treated others this way, including but not limited to his younger brother's girlfriend.
Wen Qi led Qin Zhou to his desk, a good five or six meters away from the coffee table. In truth, the document only required reading a few words.
Qin Zhou was puzzled.
Wen Cheng poked her head out from the sofa and looked at her older brother, who was intently reading the documents.
"Brother Qi, will it take long? Can I serve you some rice first?"
Wen Qi paused for a moment, then picked up the pen on the table and quickly wrote his name in the blank space.
"Sure." He handed the documents to Qin Zhou and extended his hand very politely, "It's a pleasure doing business with you."
"It's a pleasure doing business with you!" Qin Zhou put the documents into his briefcase. When he looked up, President Wen was gone. By the time he saw him again, President Wen had already returned to his original seat and was picking up his chopsticks to eat.
Is this still the same aloof and cold CEO Wen? Even Yi Yi has never been invited to his office for dinner, let alone something with such a strong smell!
Before Qin Zhou could even react, he heard Wen Cheng say, "Brother Qi, I want to eat braised pork intestines next time~"
!!
"Do you think this is appropriate?" Wen Qi retorted mercilessly.
After that rebuke, Qin Zhou felt the atmosphere become quite tense. He pursed his lips, deciding not to disturb President Wen's lecture to his younger brother any longer. He picked up his briefcase and headed for the door, though his steps were slightly hurried.
But just as I gripped the doorknob,
"Oh well, just remember to hire your auntie to come over and clean up the smell later."