The car stopped on a very lively street, brightly lit and bustling with activity. Some stalls were set up right outside their doors, with charcoal burning brightly on the barbecue grills, and sauces sizzling loudly as they were added.
Ni Jingxi's car is too eye-catching; people were watching it the whole way when it first drove in.
As soon as she got out of the driver's seat, the eyes of several young people not far away lit up instantly, and they started whistling.
Luxury cars and beautiful women, that's quite a sight to behold.
Huo Shenyan heard whistles behind him as he got out of the passenger seat. He turned around and glanced at them, his eyes flashing with cold light. Without saying a word, he immediately walked to Ni Jingxi's side and put his arm around her shoulder.
Ni Jingxi was slightly surprised by his embrace, while Huo Shenyan remained composed.
As the whistling grew louder and louder, Ni Jingxi finally guessed the reason for his actions. She chuckled softly; it turned out Mr. Huo was a jealous man.
Then she reached out and put her hand on his back, and the whistling behind them finally quieted down.
This area is a street full of snacks, with everything from barbecue and hot pot to crayfish. Ni Jingxi brought Huo Shenyan to the place, and the restaurant was already full, but there was one seat left in the outdoor tent.
When the boss greeted them, he looked at Huo Shenyan in his three-piece suit and hesitated for a moment before asking, "There's a table in the shed, do you mind?"
This question was directed at Huo Shenyan, because Ni Jingxi was dressed in the style of a modern office worker: a shirt and jeans.
On the contrary, Huo Shenyan seemed to be a noble young master experiencing the mundane world.
Ni Jingxi also turned her head to look at him. She and Huo Shenyan had never eaten at this kind of roadside stall before. His taste was light, which was definitely not the style here.
Huo Shenyan nodded, and the boss quickly smiled and led them inside.
The owner then brought out the menu. The menus at this roadside stall were simple and straightforward: an A4 sheet of paper with the ingredients listed at the front and a box for customers to fill in numbers at the back.
Ni Jingxi looked down and read carefully, muttering to herself, "One serving of clam and vermicelli soup, ten lamb skewers..."
She held the ballpoint pen between her slender, white fingers, scribbling and drawing on the paper as she muttered to herself. Huo Shenyan, on the other hand, stopped looking at the menu and slightly lifted his eyelids to look at her. The light in the shed wasn't very bright, and Ni Jingxi lowered her eyes slightly. Her extremely long eyelashes, due to their thickness, appeared fluffy, covering her eyelids.
It has a unique kind of cuteness.
When Ni Jingxi called the owner over to collect the menus, she casually asked, "Boss, is your wife's porridge shop still open?"
The owner glanced at him and thought, "Oh, a regular customer." He smiled and said, "We're open. What would you like to eat?"
“Him,” Ni Jingxi pointed to Huo Shenyan across from her, “the doctor advised that he can only eat light meals.”
The boss looked at Huo Shenyan with concern and asked, "Oh, what's wrong?"
“It’s been raining a lot in Shanghai these past few days, so the humidity is high and he’s having a bit of an allergic reaction.”
The boss immediately nodded: "How about some stomach-soothing and dampness-removing dishes? Does the gentleman prefer sweet or savory? For sweet, we have red bean and barley porridge; for savory, we can have pork rib and yam porridge."
Huo Shenyan actually has the same taste as Ni Jingxi, preferring sweets, so he ordered red bean and barley porridge.
After ordering, the boss looked at Ni Jingxi and smiled, "Girl, you're doing a really good job as a girlfriend."
Ni Jingxi and Huo Shenyan were both taken aback. When Huo Shenyan looked over, Ni Jingxi, who was opposite him, actually tilted her head slightly and looked at the boss, saying, "Boss, I am not his girlfriend."
The boss was taken aback, thinking to himself, "Oh no, I've flattered the wrong person."
To everyone's surprise, the girl raised her eyebrows and spoke in an exceptionally soft and sweet voice: "I am his wife."
The boss smiled; he couldn't help but notice the girl's unusual pride in her words.
Soon, the barbecue arrived.
Huo Shenyan's gaze had just fallen on the foil plate that had been served when Ni Jingxi, with lightning speed, pulled the foil plate towards herself and said, "These are all mine, you can't eat them."
Huo Shenyan: "..." He was just looking and didn't intend to take any action.
Fortunately, the porridge shop quickly brought over the porridge. The freshly cooked porridge was served in a dark-colored jar, exuding a rustic charm.
The two of them spoke very little during the meal, their table unusually quiet compared to the noisy and bustling surrounding tables. It was Huo Shenyan who looked around, then at the quiet Ni Jingxi across from him, and asked, "Did something happen today?"
Ni Jingxi was picking up vermicelli from the foil plate with her chopsticks. She had ordered the clam vermicelli with medium spice, which was indeed spicy enough. At this moment, not only were her cheeks flushed, but her lips were also red and luscious.
She hesitated for a moment, then asked, "If someone is already working at the company, but is planning to ruin their job, wouldn't that be going too far?"
Huo Shenyan gave her a serious look.
He said, "Whose livelihood are you planning to take away?"
Ni Jing looked at him in shock, clearly not expecting Huo Shenyan to guess her so quickly.
Before she could even ask, Huo Shenyan said directly, "You never discuss other people's rights and wrongs."
Ni Jingxi was just that kind of person. Even in a place like a newspaper where rumors and gossip were rampant, she wasn't the type to talk about others behind their backs. She almost never mentioned her colleagues at the company to Huo Shenyan, except for the occasional mention of Hua Zheng.
Today, Ni Jingxi went to that health product company, and especially when she saw all those elderly people with white hair coming and going, she couldn't bear it.
It's true that this company is a client of the newspaper, but she can't tolerate the possibility that her articles could increase the company's visibility and lead to more elderly people being deceived.
She chose journalism because she loves the profession, pursuing the truth and upholding the public good.
Perhaps these words are too grandiose, and countless predecessors have told her that the truth is not that important, and social justice cannot be upheld by her pen alone.
Perhaps in this era, money reigns supreme and interests are paramount, making ideals and responsibilities seem so laughable.
But if she can turn a blind eye to such things, then why did she choose to become a journalist in the first place?
Huo Shenyan noticed that she hadn't spoken and was clearly struggling with her inner turmoil.
The word "struggle" doesn't really suit Ni Jingxi. From the time he met her until now, he knows her personality: she has always been fearless and will do whatever is right.
Huo Shenyan: "If you feel conflicted, then listen carefully to your own inner thoughts and choose the outcome you definitely won't regret. As for the consequences..."
He paused slightly.
Ni Jingxi looked up and saw a bright light shining in his dark eyes: "Even if the sky falls, your husband will hold it up for you."
Author's Note: Today, Jingxi is the sweet and gentle girl, my husband's little pride.
People often say that Lord Ni is so cold to Shen Yan, but the truth is she's just too used to being independent and not relying on others. Only in front of Shen Yan does she become gentle.
Chapter 11
Huo Shenyan's words gave Ni Jingxi strength. Perhaps she was immature in her actions, but she couldn't turn a blind eye to such blatant deception of the elderly.
She had witnessed her grandmother's despair and didn't want to see that despair on other elderly people's faces.
Ni Jingxi is not a cold person; on the contrary, she has a very soft heart. She is just used to carrying everything on her own shoulders.
Huo Shenyan is calm, composed, and adept at understanding people's hearts. After all, as the company's CEO, aside from the usual meetings with senior executives, negotiating with competitors requires considerable thought.
The reason he speaks so little is also due to his father's teachings since childhood: too much talk leads to mistakes and errors.
Even his name fits this meaning.
Be careful with your words and actions.
But when he comforted people, the effect was immediate, to the point that Ni Jingxi started talking non-stop.
Ni Jingxi tilted her head and looked at him, then said softly, "What about you? Do you encounter any unpleasant things at work?"
Huo Shenyan was slightly taken aback. He was sitting on a plastic stool, his suit jacket buttons were already undone, his tie at the collar of his shirt was nowhere to be found, and the top button was also undone, revealing the long and handsome lines of his neck. His originally tight and restrained ascetic temperament seemed to have been subtly revealed with a slight gap, exuding a touch of carefree ease.
He chuckled softly: "Anytime."
Hengya Group is so large that it has investments in many parts of the world, resembling a giant aircraft carrier. Hengya directly employs more than 30,000 people worldwide.
Now he is at the helm of this giant aircraft carrier. Even someone as outstanding as him must put in unimaginable perseverance and effort to lead the carrier forward.
Because he carries the hopes of countless employees and shareholders on his shoulders, he also has to be responsible for so many families.
As for work-related problems, as he said, they can arise at any time.
They rarely discussed their work, as they were in completely different fields and seemed to have nothing in common. He was the CEO of a multinational corporation, while she was just a junior reporter at a newspaper in Shanghai.
But inside this greenhouse, they spoke gently and calmly about their work and the things that didn't go their way.
Even if the other party can't solve the problem, at least one person is willing to listen attentively.
Ni Jingxi seemed a little unsatisfied and slammed her hand on the table: "Boss, two cans of beer, please."
Huo Shenyan looked surprised, and Ni Jingxi stared at him and said, "You're not allowed to drink."
That's a pretty catchy line.
"Mind your own business? Hmm?" Huo Shenyan's eyes were filled with a gentle smile, and the last syllable of his voice was sweet and thick.
Ni Jingxi looked at him and blinked lightly; even his long, thick, curled eyelashes couldn't hide the light in his eyes.
"Of course, I have the right to tell you what to do."
It's only natural for a wife to manage her husband.
Huo Shenyan finally laughed loudly, his facial features all tilting upwards, and he nodded: "Yes, I'll only let you manage me."
Ni Jingxi lowered her eyes. Huo Shenyan rarely said such things.
But every time she talks about it, her heart races. All her imaginations about love are nothing compared to even a fraction of what this person in front of her gives her.
She whispered, "Then I'll have to take care of you for the rest of my life."
*
After a weekend of rest, instead of being full of energy at work, everyone seemed to have had their spirits drained, and they were all listless and dispirited when they sat at their desks early in the morning.
Fortunately, Ni Jingxi didn't do much over the weekend; she spent time with her grandmother and cooked at home with Huo Shenyan.
He has spent almost the entire month in Shanghai, which is quite rare as he hasn't been flying all over the world.
In the morning, everyone was a bit listless at work, but their enthusiasm for chatting remained undiminished. When Ni Jingxi went to the break room to get water, Wu Mengni was chatting with two female colleagues from another group.
Two female colleagues stood on either side of Wu Mengni, holding her wrists.
“This Cartier bracelet has four diamonds. I tried it on in Hong Kong before, and it cost over ten thousand dollars,” the female colleague on the left exclaimed, her eyes full of envy.
The colleague on the right clearly didn't know the price, and his voice changed upon hearing it: "It's so expensive? This bracelet costs over ten thousand?"
This colleague comes from an ordinary family and doesn't pay much attention to luxury goods, so naturally he didn't expect that a bracelet on his wrist would cost almost as much as a car.
"Sister Mengni, you have fair skin, this bracelet looks really good on you."
"Yes, yes, this kind of gold bracelet is only suitable for people with fair skin."
The two of them exchanged sighs and expressions of envy, and although Wu Mengni was trying to suppress a smile, she couldn't hide the smugness in her eyes.
Ni Jingxi, who was making tea, couldn't help but say proudly, "It's alright, my boyfriend is very kind to me. He bought it for me because he thinks I work hard."