"Alright, it's getting late. Chengcheng, do you want to talk to Wen Qi or come upstairs with us to order?" Gu Yuning stepped in to save the day.
Wen Qi appropriately withdrew his gaze.
Wen Cheng took one last, reluctant look at Wen Qi, before going inside with the trio.
Less than three minutes after leaving, Wen Qi received a text message and a red envelope containing 3,000 yuan from Wen Cheng, with a note saying "Dinner".
Wen Cheng: [Wait for me!]
Now, the smile in Wen Qi's eyes wouldn't fade away.
Despite his joy, Wen Qi still took out his phone and called President Yao.
"Hello, Uncle Yao, yes, it's me. I haven't had time until today, but it just so happens that I'm wondering if we have time to have a meal together?"
Yao Xingwei, who was ordering food, suddenly shivered. "Damn, the air conditioning isn't on. Why is it so cold all of a sudden?"
"Put on some clothes and you won't be so cold!" He Haobo didn't give him any face at all.
Yao Xingwei's fighting spirit was instantly ignited, and he immediately forgot about the chills he had just experienced.
"Chengcheng, you and your brother," Gu Yuning suddenly asked seriously.
Curly looked over nervously, his face betraying his wariness. "What happened to my brother?"
Gu Yuning smiled meaningfully. She asked the question mainly to tease this silly boy. Just now outside, she wasn't like the two blind men beside her. Wen Qi, ah, so an older man can be so impulsive when he's in love. Wait, she's about the same age as Wen Qi, and she doesn't even have a boyfriend. He's an older man, so what am I?!
Cough cough!
"It's nothing, I just think you and your brother have a really good relationship, I'm so envious of that kind of friendship."
Envy, this kind of feeling? In the book, Gu Yuning and Brother Qi got together, so wouldn't his situation be considered similar?
"You like Brother Qi?" Wen Cheng asked cautiously, much like a hamster holding a big sunflower seed in its arms. The sunflower seed is all his now, no, it can't be taken back!
"Cough cough cough cough!" Gu Yuning almost spat out her ginger tea without any decorum. She liked Wen Qi? Wasn't this playing with her future? And what was with Chengcheng's look? Was it a test from the legal wife?
"Don't worry, absolutely not. I don't like your brother's type."
Gu Yuning spoke with utmost seriousness, and Wen Cheng indicated that she could trust her. It wasn't good that Brother Qi was too outstanding; this so-called younger brother of hers had actually increased his business as the wife, and without even receiving a commission.
"Chengcheng! We're here!" Her colleagues arrived at that moment as well.
Wen Cheng and Gu Yuning's conversation came to an end. Gu Yuning couldn't help but sigh that it was too convenient for someone to arrive at this time. If they continued talking, she was afraid she wouldn't be able to hold back and would tell Wen Cheng the truth.
A group of people arrived and enthusiastically ordered what they wanted to eat.
At first, everyone was a little reserved around Gu Yuning, He Haobo, and Yao Xingwei, until Yan Luan appeared.
He wore a simple hoodie, one hand in his pocket, and despite being about to become a multi-millionaire, he showed no airs of wealth. His black backpack was bulging with items, and his handsome face betrayed little emotion.
However, his indifference was tempered by the petite princess beside him, who was only waist-high.
The little princess was wearing a pink dress, and her hair was in a simple ponytail that looked a little crooked. A large pink bow was tied to the ponytail, which was clearly her older brother's taste. However, he didn't seem to realize it at all. You could tell from the confidence in his eyes how satisfied he was with his sister's outfit.
The presence of this brother and sister instantly made the atmosphere at the dinner table more natural.
Chapter 99 Love Me, Love My Dog
"Brother Cheng, sorry I'm late," Yan Luan greeted everyone with an incredibly cool demeanor. All the colleagues present recognized Yan Luan; after all, with his naturally handsome face, he had become the second most attractive person at the company entrance after Wen Cheng, arguably even surpassing her in some ways.
"Brother Chengcheng." Yan Nian, who was standing next to Yan Luan, greeted him shyly, her soft voice instantly winning over the colleagues present.
Everyone welcomed the two of them.
Yan Luan chose the seat closest to Wen Cheng and sat down with Yan Nian. During this time, Yao Xingwei's gaze couldn't help but follow Yan Luan, and the entanglement in his eyes made even his best friend He Haobo feel jealous.
"Hey, you, tone it down a bit." He Haobo nudged Yao Xingwei's shoulder.
Yao Xingwei clicked his tongue in annoyance. Wen Cheng happened to be sitting opposite him at that moment, and Yan Luan was sitting next to him, so he could only look at him from afar. Unless he was made of rubber, he couldn't touch a single strand of Yan Luan's hair. He could only look at Yan Luan's face from a distance.
"Am I not restrained enough? If I were any more restrained, I could become a monk!" Yao Xingwei said angrily, taking a big gulp of wine.
Instead of showing any sympathy, He Haobo continued to mock, "Chengcheng's idea is that she can't wait for you to leave home for four years and then come back."
......
Hearing these words, Yao Xingwei was no longer as angry as before. It seemed that the boy had grown up a lot. "I take the time to see him now, because I'm afraid he won't have much of a chance to see him when he gets busy in the future."
He Haobo looked at Yao Xingwei incredulously: "You're serious?"
He remembered that his best friend had been so serious about pursuing the campus belle in college, but it only lasted for a year. He poured money and energy into it, and things were finally almost going well when he, the person involved, didn't want to continue. When asked, he said that he had been pursuing her for too long and had lost that initial feeling.
This time, although Yan Luan's pursuit hasn't lasted as long as that of the school beauty from university, this time, he's even more conservative and attentive than during their student days. Before, he wanted both the person and the heart of that school beauty, but now Yao Xingwei wants far more than that. The emotional investment and the money and effort he's put in are incomparable to what he did before. To put it bluntly, for them, money is the easiest thing to obtain.
Yao Xingwei didn't respond to He Haobo's words because Yan Luan glanced over out of the corner of his eye. Since Yao Xingwei's personality had fully developed, he hadn't shown such a friendly and innocent smile in a long time. Although Yan Luan didn't reciprocate with the same smile, he did nod at him as a polite greeting.
Yao Xingwei's expression clearly showed his satisfaction.
He Haobo took a big bite of fish slice and was certain that the kid was really hooked.
As the conversation gradually warmed up, the group was no longer constrained at the beginning. Shen Feimo even let loose and chatted with Wen Cheng about everything under the sun, just like they did at the beginning.
Gu Yuning had nothing to talk about with a group of grown men. Although the boys wanted to chat with their goddess, they were all science guys, the most clueless of all. They could only try to talk about their majors in front of the girl to make themselves seem very capable. Obviously, this behavior would only further reduce Gu Yuning's favorability.
Besides, the girls in other departments all have their own cliques, and the only person they all know is Wen Cheng. She knows the Wen Cheng that everyone else knows, and she also knows the Wen Cheng that others don't. She can't just reveal the parts she doesn't know.
Moreover, most of the female colleagues in the company whom I don't know well have a certain amount of respect for me, so in order to avoid making everyone feel awkward,
With nothing else to do, she turned her attention to Yan Nian.
Ignoring the outrageous hairstyle, the little girl is still very cute overall, comparable to child stars on TV. No wonder she's Yan Luan's sister; with such a handsome brother, how could the sister be anything less?
"Your name is Niannian, right? Did your brother tie your hair?" Gu Yuning was still very gentle with the child.
Yan Nian was initially a little timid when she saw the beautiful older sister, but Gu Yuning had high emotional intelligence and immediately mentioned her closest person. Yan Nian could say a lot about her brother.
"Mmm! My brother brought me a new dress as soon as he got back today, and he even did my hair up. Auntie praised him for being so caring. And, sister, I think you're so pretty~" Yan Nian's voice was soft and sweet, coupled with her sincere expression.
Gu Yuning was instantly overjoyed. Wasn't this more interesting than this group of grown men?
Gu Yuning reached out and touched Yan Nian's hair. It was so soft and gentle, a stark contrast to her brother's appearance.
"Niannian, can I braid your hair for you?" Gu Yuning genuinely wanted to salvage Yan Nian's appearance.
Yan Nian looked at her brother with some hesitation, while Yan Luan looked over with the same confusion, clearly unable to understand what was wrong with the hair she had braided.
Gu Yuning couldn't be too direct in front of the child, so she decided to leave it at that. If the child liked it, she didn't need to interfere.
"Yan Luan, just let Sister Yu Ning do it. You'll ruin the kids' aesthetic sense in the future," Geng Zhicheng suddenly interrupted Shen Feimo's conversation.
Yan Luan: ......
"Oh dear, Chengcheng, what are you doing?" Gu Yuning tried to salvage the situation.
But Wen Cheng was not affected by him at all.
Yan Luan lowered his head in deep thought for half a minute, just when Gu Yuning thought the two were about to start arguing...
Yan Luan raised his head seriously: "Brother Cheng, am I really that ugly?"
"It's ugly! It's dragging down Nian Nian's looks!" Wen Cheng replied with utmost seriousness.
"Alright then, thank you for your trouble, Sister Yu Ning." Yan Luan rolled up the sleeves of her hoodie, revealing a bunch of hair ties, and pulled them all off, handing them to Gu Yu Ning.
The girls sitting nearby were all deeply moved, exclaiming, "What an amazing guy!"
Gu Yuning gave Yan Luan a deep look, and she seemed to understand why Yao Xingwei, that rascal, was so devoted to Yan Luan.
After a satisfying meal, it was already nine o'clock in the evening. But that wasn't all; everyone was heading to the next event soon. Before that, Wen Cheng went out to call a car so that Yan Luan could take Yan Nian back first.
Gu Yuning also came back to see Yan Nian off. After spending two hours together, she had fallen in love with the little girl. She was sensible and strong, qualities that were rare at her age. Yan Luan, who trusted Nian Nian very much, even bought her a cell phone. Nian Nian's phone contacts now included a sister who cared about her a lot.
The traffic was a bit slow during rush hour, so the four of them sat on a bench, chatting intermittently.
Yan Nian looked at Yan Luan, then at Wen Cheng, and finally couldn't help but ask, "Brother Chengcheng, where's the other brother?"
"Huh? Which one?" Wen Cheng didn't react for a moment.
Yan Nian lowered her head and thought for a moment, "It's that one, the really powerful older brother who protected me along with my brother."
Perhaps it was because he loved Qi Ge so much that he was particularly happy to hear others speak well of him. "How amazing is he?" Wen Cheng asked knowingly.
Gu Yuning turned her face away, and Yan Luan also turned his face away in the other direction. You have to spread this dog food too!
As an innocent child, Yan Nian could only say what she wanted to say: "Big brother is very smart and calm. Although he doesn't like to talk, he is much better than some people who are good at talking but always say hurtful things. Moreover, he helped Nian Nian drive away the bad guys, making Nian Nian's life very happy. And big brother sends Nian Nian a gift every month when Nian Nian's exam results come out. So Nian Nian thinks big brother is a very amazing person."
Brother Qi, did you do these things too?
Wen Cheng was stunned. He had never told her this before, yet he had done these things so naturally, and done them far better than she had imagined.
"How about I bring my older brother to visit Niannian next time?" Wen Cheng promised.
This is undoubtedly great news for Yan Nian, since for a child, nothing is more joyful than having someone they really like play with them.
“Brother Cheng, President Wen is so busy, and he has already helped us a lot,” Yan Luan said. He could spoil his sister in every way, but this was based on the premise of not troubling others.
But Wen Cheng waved her hand, interrupting Yan Luan, "It's okay, with such a cute little sister like Niannian, we can always find the time!"
"Hehe, I think so too. Niannian, remember to keep in touch with your sister. I'll come to visit you whenever I have time~" Gu Yuning affectionately patted the ponytail she had braided for Yan Nian.
Yan Nian nodded happily, feeling that today was simply his lucky day!
&
On the way back, Wen Cheng couldn't help but promptly relay Yan Nian's praise.
Wen Cheng: [Brother Qi, Nian Nian praised you for being amazing.]
At that moment, Wen Qi had just finished his dinner with President Yao and returned to his car.
Wen Qi: [The child has good eyesight.]
Before Wen Cheng could even change the screen on her phone, Qi Ge replied. Wen Cheng felt a surge of joy; Qi Ge's prompt reply proved he wasn't in such a bad mood. She truly hoped she could bring Qi Ge to every event in the future and confidently introduce him to everyone as her boyfriend.
But this matter seems so distant now.
Wen Cheng immediately became frustrated.
Wen Cheng: [Brother Qi, there's probably another event later, but I want to see you right now.]
Even when Wen Cheng was writing a declarative sentence, she felt like she was being a little coquettish.
Wen Qi tapped Wen Cheng's message twice and replied: [Where to next? I'll wait for you outside. Come out to the absorption room when you feel like it.]