Chapter 365: Unmarried, Young Men Will Keep A Distance From Her
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
“It’s obvious that Miss Yao was in the wrong here, so I hope Miss Yao can perform her job nicely and honestly instead of creating trouble in the future. Qilin will fire any staff who uses their background to slack off at work or even threaten other colleagues. If Board Member Yao and Miss Yao think that being an assistant designer is a waste of talent, I won’t reject Miss Yao’s resignation. To be honest, Qilin isn’t lacking in outstanding people with great potential. Qilin doesn’t value one’s educational background; capability is the most important requirement here.” Qi Chenglin stared at Yao Qingzhi coldly.
Yao Jingfei’s expression darkened. She did not expect Manager Zou to complain to Qi Chenglin drastically and Qi Chenglin’s statement to be so harsh towards her.
Moreover, Qi Chenglin did not even glance at her during the entire conversation except for that one time when he stared at her coldly during Yao Qingzhi’s previous introduction.
“Besides, I instructed him personally to manage his department and subordinates as usual without the need to consider anyone’s background. Don’t ever come to me again for these sorts of small issues at work next time. Who do you think you are to complain about such a small issue to me? There are so many hardworking professional staffs in Qilin, so why should I allow someone to have special privilege to bypass his own superior and complain directly to me? Board Member Yao, you’re just a board member of this company with no authority on the company’s management, so there’s no need to put pressure on fellow managers of each department. I permitted all their decisions and I don’t want to hear any complaints regarding work difficulties from them. To be perfectly honest, I’ve given you special privilege by allowing Miss Yao to work in Qilin through unethical means. I won’t make you feel difficult if you’re unwilling about this.” Qi Chenglin’s cold gaze did not once waver as he glared at Yao Qingzhi.
Now, even Yao Qingzhi’s expression darkened. Qi Chenglin did not care about their reputations and even embarrassed them publicly.
Fortunately, they were alone here.
“Anything else?” Qi Chenglin cast a mere glance at Yao Qingzhi. His elegant hand was holding the doorknob, appearing impatient as though eager to accompany his girlfriend in his office.
“Nothing.” Yao Qingzhi’s face twitched and he almost answered Qi Chenglin through gritted teeth.
Qi Chenglin immediately pushed the door open and entered his office, ignoring the duo that was standing outside.
Yao Qingzhi and Yao Jingfei took a peek at the lady who was sleeping on the couch in his office in a short time when the door opened and closed. Still, they could not identify the lady due to her long hair covering her face with a blanket on her body.
The lady was able to take a nap on the couch in Qi Chenglin’s office without the slightest scruple, and Qi Chenglin did not even allow them to enter his office in fear that they would disturb her slumber. One could see how affectionate he was toward the lady.
Yao Jingfei felt uncomfortable deep down after taking all the information in.
It was undeniable that the best things in the world were those that were unavailable.
Yao Jingfei had this feeling deep down in her heart now. The image of Qi Chenglin’s tall and straight figure had etched itself deeply in her mind now and she could not wave it away no matter how hard she tried.
The more she put him on her mind, the more affectionate she became toward him. The affection was so strong that she was unable to let him go, like a disease spreading deep within her.
…
…
Qi Chenglin closed the door gently and saw Ruan Danchen was staring at him when he walked to the couch.
“Didn’t sleep at all?” He sat down beside her. He could not help leaning closer to her and smiled, caressing her hair and kissing her at the same time.
“I rested my eyes for a while, can’t really fall asleep to be honest,” answered Ruan Danchen as she sat up. She heard Yao Qingzhi and Yao Jingfei’s voice just now, guessing that they were here to make complaints.
However, she did not ask Qi Chenglin about it as she knew he would not treat them nicely.
She whispered after taking a peek at Qi Chenglin, “I’m going down now.”
“What’s the rush? I haven’t had fun with you yet,” Qi Chenglin voiced out his intention straight away before lifting her and putting her on his thighs. This was a rare occasion where they would have fun in broad daylight without Qi Youxuan as the third wheeler.
Ruan Danchen stared upon his serious expression, feeling his hand moving downwards on her body. She knew he was not joking around with her.
Ruan Danchen quickly held his wrist and avoided direct eye contact as his gaze was too hot and penetrating for her to handle. “Stop messing around, I still have to work later. How am I supposed to go back to the office afterward?”
Qi Chenglin rested his hand on her waist and yanked her into his embosom. He buried his face beside her neck and compressed her long hairs in the process as he said in a deep but pitiful voice, “But I’ve been thinking about it this whole morning.”
This man always chose to imagine all sorts of nonsense instead of working!
“Qi Chenglin…” Ruan Danchen felt a little helpless after she felt the intense heat he radiated.
She heard him sigh and the hot air he expelled passed through her hair strands and caressed her neck.
Qi Chenglin let her go after a while. Nonetheless, he remained immobile and gazed at her with an attitude as though demanding an appetizer if the main course was not served yet. He just held his face in an expression that appeared shameless no matter which angle she looked at and stared at her.
His lips curled slightly into a faint smile as he stared at her with his deep, abnormally firm gaze.
Ruan Danchen was impressed at Qi Chenglin’s adversaries at work due to the intense stress they must have experienced when he stared at them with such gaze.
Her scalp burned in embarrassment as he knew what Qi Chenglin was waiting for. After hesitating for a while, she leaned forward and kissed him on the lips. The moment her lips touched his, Qi Chenglin tightened his arms like a pair of strong vines encircling her firmly.
Ruan Danchen kept her eyes shut as she felt herself spun around and all of a sudden, he was on top of her on the couch. His kisses were fiery and demanding as his tongue delved inside her mouth in passion.
Ruan Danchen’s lips were getting numb from the kisses. She tried to push him away grudgingly, and to her surprise, Qi Chenglin actually released his grip and even sighed loudly.
For some explicable reason, she felt bad for him when she looked at his regretful expression. She lifted her head and kissed him before blurting out softly, “I’ll make it up to you tonight.”
There was a glimmer in Qi Chenglin’s eyes as he stared at her with a faint smile on his face. His face appeared as if his plan had succeeded and Ruan Danchen suddenly felt regret about her decision just now. Was it possible that Qi Chenglin anticipated that statement from her?
“You said it.” Qi Chenglin pinched her waist out of joy and kissed on her lips before letting her go.
“…” Ruan Danchen stood up and tidied her outfit, feeling nothing but regret right now.
Then, she rushed into the washroom and glanced at her reflection in the mirror. The only abnormalities she noticed were her rosy face and slightly swollen lips; her outfit was tidy and wrinkle-free otherwise.
She did not dare linger in his office any longer upon exiting the washroom and quickly bid goodbye to Qi Chenglin. He was unsure how to react when she ran out of his office as though escaping from danger.
It was fortunate that nobody noticed her exiting his office since there were lesser staff working on this floor level. Moreover, it was lunch hour now and some of the staff were surfing the internet in their respective offices.
Ruan Danchen quickly went back to the design department via the elevator.
Unlike the twenty-fifth floor, it was crowded in the design department. She could even hear some commotions going on inside even though she was unsure what were they gossiping about before she entered the department.
There was a pin-drop silence when Ruan Danchen entered the department as all eyes were now fixed on her.
Ruan Danchen walked back to her seat uncomfortably under all their gazes. She was worried that someone with keen eyes would notice any part of her body remained untidy.
Then, Senior Du called out to her just as she was about to sit down, “Danchen, come.”
Ruan Danchen noticed that all the staff was smiling and did not appear annoyed towards her, so she walked towards them and gazed upon the crowd curiously.
Chen Siyu pulled a chair and gestured Ruan Danchen to sit.
The staff would not try to cause trouble to Ruan Danchen due to her relationship with Song Yu and instead, they would want to be intimate with her.
They did not ask about her whereabouts during lunch since Song Yu came and looked for her personally this afternoon. They guessed she most likely had lunch with Mrs. Qi, and probably the director himself was there too.
“I had lunch with Xiao Ding and her gang from the finance department this afternoon, and guess what? She said Xiao Li from her department saw the general manager acted especially intimate with a woman, hugging and kissing her repeatedly when he parked his car in the underground parking lot this morning. The scenery was so sweet and he wasn’t the usual calm and steady general manager that we knew,” Zhang Lefei said.
Ruan Danchen felt nervous all of a sudden. Now she realized why it was so hectic in the department just now. They were discussing this issue!
“Yo, who’s the woman?” Senior Du asked. She was forty-three years old now and was the oldest in the department. Even Manager Zou was a year younger than her.
Even then, she joined in the gossip out of curiosity.
Once upon a time, there were two fossil-like bachelors in Qilin. There were no rumors of love affairs about them and even when there was a time when Qi Chenglin was engaged, all rumors went silent after the dissolution of engagement. There were no women who appeared alongside them except for the women in the Qi family.
Now, Qi Chenglin was the only bachelor left after Qi Chengzhi got married. Even though the female colleagues were not having any delusions or vain hopes, they could not help but started gossiping about the legendary fossil-like bachelor’s love life.
Ruan Danchen stared at Zhang Lefei anxiously but she just shook her head regretfully. “She said Xiao Li didn’t have much of a clear view. The parking lot was dim and all he could see was darkness from his viewing angle at that time, but it looked like a woman from the body shape. He couldn’t even get ahold of her outfit style. Plus, he’s a coward. He didn’t dare to get close to them too in fear that the general manager might see him, so he stood from afar and snapped a picture of them.”
Zhang Lefei shook her phone in her hand, flipping through the photos to find it and said, “I asked Xiao Ding to send it to me. All of them in the finance department acted like Sherlock Holmes today and everyone started investigating with this photo on their phones, but none of them found the answer yet.”
They gave a conclusion after taking a glance at the photo—it was totally useless. They could only visualize that it was a picture of a man and a woman’s backs. Otherwise, it was poorly pixelated with a lot of image noise in a dim environment. They would not be able to recognize that the man was indeed the general manager himself if they were not informed, so it was impossible to even guess the identity of the woman beside him.
“What are we supposed to see from this photo?” All of them felt extremely disappointed when Senior Du returned the phone to Zhang Lefei.
Zhang Lefei winked at Ruan Danchen and asked, “Danchen, since you’re so close with Mrs. Qi, did she divulge anything to you? For example, Qi Chenglin’s girlfriend or something similar?”
Ruan Danchen noticed that all the gazes remained fixed on her and it made her heart race anxiously. She had no choice but to answer, “She did mention something about this but I had forgotten about it because the memory was vague. We normally won’t chat issues regarding the Qi family. It’s hard to talk about them when they’re one of the great families.”
Senior Du and the rest nodded understandingly as the Qi family might misinterpret her intentions when she talked about them in public.
Chen Siyu waved her hands and said, “Forget about it, maybe we’ll see them again next time.”
They stopped the discussion regarding this topic and shifted their attention to Ruan Danchen again. “Danchen, is Xiao Zhang trying to court you?”
“Ah?” Ruan Danchen was puzzled due to the rapid change in topic, and besides—
“Which Xiao Zhang?”
“Playing the fool.” Zhang Lefei smiled and poked on Ruan Danchen’s arm, trying to be more intimate with her. “The Xiao Zhang from the design department who helped carried the box of office supplies for you this morning.”
Ruan Danchen then realized who were they referring to before Zhang Lefei continued. “There are rumors about him trying to court you. To be honest, Xiao Zhang is a really nice guy.”
“No, Manager Luo merely instructed him to help me with the office supplies,” Ruan Danchen quickly denied as she knew the consequences would be disastrous if this went to Qi Chenglin’s ears.
The crowd recalled Ruan Danchen’s relationship with Mrs. Qi after hearing her statement. It was natural that Manager Lou wanted to ingratiate her.
The sharp-eyed Senior Du noticed a ring on Ruan Danchen’s left middle finger and lifted her hand straight away. “Oh, you’re actually taken.”
Ruan Danchen’s face was flushed pink. She did not deny and simply said, “Yes.”
Fortunately, the ring Qi Chenglin gifted was quite low profile. It was not made from a famous brand but it was more expensive than those luxurious brands, and not a lot knew regarding the brand’s existence. The ring Qi Chengzhi used for the engagement between him and Song Yu was made from the exact same brand too.
The ring on Ruan Danchen’s finger was low profile and the diamond on it was miniature, so Senior Du and the rest did not take this matter seriously.
The chat and gossiping continued until the end of lunchtime and all of them went back to their seats afterward.
Yao Jingfei walked back to her seat too with her high-heels knocking loudly on the floor. She was not in a good mood after getting humiliated by Qi Chenglin so instead of returning to the office, she went to a nearby shopping mall and bought various new clothes. However, she did not place all the newly bought clothes in her car. Instead, she carried multiple bags of clothes in her hands as she walked into the office with a flaunting intention.
When she passed by Ruan Danchen’s seat, she rolled her eyes purposely and snorted.
Ruan Danchen was baffled but she chose to ignore Yao Jingfei.
…
…
Rumors about Xiao Zhang courting Ruan Danchen really traveled to Qi Chenglin’s ears for some reason, and he called out a meeting with all the managers from each department directly.
The managers lined up in front of his office desk like a class of obedient students.
Qi Chenglin inquired regarding Ruan Danchen’s working condition in the design department, which Manager Zou answered truthfully. He also thoroughly explained his punishment on Yao Jingfei just for Ruan Danchen so that Qi Chenglin knew about this beforehand and could support his back if Board Member Yao decided to take revenge on him.
Qi Chenglin nodded with great satisfaction. “You did well.”
Manager Zou was exhilarated.
Qi Chenglin added. “Danchen is too low profiled and she’ll always tolerate as much as possible when others bullied her. This concerns me, so Manager Zou—”
Manager Zou immediately focused his attention while Qi Chenglin continued. “You just need to bully them before they have the energy to bully Danchen, that’s it. Yao Qingzhi brought her daughter to me this afternoon. Don’t you worry, I informed him that I was the one who permitted your decisions. He wouldn’t dare to cause trouble to you, so you can do what you want unfettered.”
“…” Manager Zou felt that Qi Chenglin obviously wanted Yao Jingfei to suffer in agony without admitting his intentions.
“Danchen also told me this afternoon that Manager He, Manager Luo, and Manager Zou took care of her well.” It was a rare sight for Qi Chenglin to put on a friendly smile towards the managers whom he mentioned just now. The managers automatically categorized his smile into the ‘friendly’ category even though his smile was quite faint.
The three managers stood proud and straight, feeling their heights increased at least a centimeter due to the pride.
They had decided to treat General Manager Qi’s wife with more kindness after realizing that she really did mention it to the general manager himself.
The rest of the managers wanted to receive commendations from the general manager but unfortunately, they did not have the chance yet.
“However, when you want to help Danchen in the future, either you help her yourself or you instruct a female staff to assist. Don’t ever let a single, unmarried male staff aid her as it’ll lead to misunderstanding fairly easily,” said Qi Chenglin as he moved his left hand that was resting on the table. Then, his long fingers from his right hand rotated the ring in his left middle finger purposely, displaying its presence.
Manager Luo and the rest of the managers noticed it with their keen eyes. Luo Yushu himself was especially aware of the rumors that were flying thick in the company. He remained undefeated as a manager in this company as he would always get ahold of any new rumors beforehand.
Naturally, Luo Yushu was well aware of the rumor regarding Xiao Zhang trying to court Ruan Danchen.
Thus, he immediately understood what Qi Chenglin meant with that statement and action.
He quickly moved a step forward and stood at attention. “Don’t worry, General Manager. In the future, only the female staff will help General Manager Qi’s wife. Unmarried, young men will keep a distance from her.”
Qi Chenglin nodded with great satisfaction and said, “Go back to your work and keep it up.”
Thus, Manager Zou took more extreme care toward Ruan Danchen after returning to the design department in the evening. Whenever he rested from work, he would take a look outside his office through his office’s window, always getting prepared to rush out and stood by Ruan Danchen’s side firmly when Yao Jingfei caused trouble to her again.
Somehow, Yao Jingfei remained silent this whole evening.
…
…
It was time to go off work at night but most staff in the design department needed to work overtime. Inevitably, Yao Jingfei needed to work overtime too as Manager Zou took the lead and instructed the designers to throw all their chores to her.
Yao Jingfei’s current work volume was almost the sum of all the work her colleagues had, thus she might only be able to get off work much later than them.
Ruan Danchen glanced through the documents this whole day as there were not many projects in her hands now. She felt embarrassed to get off work alone when all her colleagues were busy as a beaver. Still, it was unwise for her to barge in other fellow designers’ projects too even though they were colleagues.
Yao Jingfei slammed the documents in her hands on the table heavily and criticized enigmatically. “Do you think it’s reasonable for you to leave first when the rest of the staff are still busy at work? To be honest, you didn’t even work at all this whole day.”
Today was Ruan Danchen’s first day of work; it was natural that she had no projects in her hands yet.
Ruan Danchen ignored her but had decided to stay and help. However, Manager Zou came out of nowhere and appeared in front of Ruan Danchen before she could say anything.
He took a glance at Yao Jingfei rather impatiently and said, “What’s wrong with you, Xiao Yao? This is just the first day of work and you’re insistent on being a troublemaker now. Can you even try to work in harmony with your fellow colleagues? Is there any problem with Danchen leaving first since she had done her work? She can’t help her colleagues in their works too. Will you allow others to see your design blueprints? Danchen is experienced so she knows this well. You, on the other hand, are inexperienced but you had a design major. From what I’ve heard, you graduated from a reputed university too, so how can you not know about this basic knowledge? You want Danchen to stay and help, but who? You? These are your work, why should she help you?”
Yao Jingfei’s expression paled with anger after Manager Zou threw a great pile of words on her.
She was the precious daughter of a board member. Even if Ruan Danchen had an intimate relationship with Mrs. Qi, why was there such a disparity?
Suddenly, Ruan Danchen’s phone rang. When she took her phone out, Manager Zou noticed the caller identity ‘Sweetheart’ on her screen, and his heart skipped a beat. The general manager had called to urge her to leave work now.
____________________________________________________________________________
Extra Mini-Scene:
Thus, Xia Wenna kept referring to Qi Chengzhi, who was still a baby at that time, as ‘Chengcheng’.
The nickname remained until Qi Chengzhi grew up and was able to understand normal conversations. One day, Xia Wenna took his favorite toy and showed it to him.
“Chengcheng, look! What’s this?”
Chapter 365: Unmarried, Young Men Will Keep A Distance From Her
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
“It’s obvious that Miss Yao was in the wrong here, so I hope Miss Yao can perform her job nicely and honestly instead of creating trouble in the future. Qilin will fire any staff who uses their background to slack off at work or even threaten other colleagues. If Board Member Yao and Miss Yao think that being an assistant designer is a waste of talent, I won’t reject Miss Yao’s resignation. To be honest, Qilin isn’t lacking in outstanding people with great potential. Qilin doesn’t value one’s educational background; capability is the most important requirement here.” Qi Chenglin stared at Yao Qingzhi coldly.
Yao Jingfei’s expression darkened. She did not expect Manager Zou to complain to Qi Chenglin drastically and Qi Chenglin’s statement to be so harsh towards her.
Moreover, Qi Chenglin did not even glance at her during the entire conversation except for that one time when he stared at her coldly during Yao Qingzhi’s previous introduction.
“Besides, I instructed him personally to manage his department and subordinates as usual without the need to consider anyone’s background. Don’t ever come to me again for these sorts of small issues at work next time. Who do you think you are to complain about such a small issue to me? There are so many hardworking professional staffs in Qilin, so why should I allow someone to have special privilege to bypass his own superior and complain directly to me? Board Member Yao, you’re just a board member of this company with no authority on the company’s management, so there’s no need to put pressure on fellow managers of each department. I permitted all their decisions and I don’t want to hear any complaints regarding work difficulties from them. To be perfectly honest, I’ve given you special privilege by allowing Miss Yao to work in Qilin through unethical means. I won’t make you feel difficult if you’re unwilling about this.” Qi Chenglin’s cold gaze did not once waver as he glared at Yao Qingzhi.
Now, even Yao Qingzhi’s expression darkened. Qi Chenglin did not care about their reputations and even embarrassed them publicly.
Fortunately, they were alone here.
“Anything else?” Qi Chenglin cast a mere glance at Yao Qingzhi. His elegant hand was holding the doorknob, appearing impatient as though eager to accompany his girlfriend in his office.
“Nothing.” Yao Qingzhi’s face twitched and he almost answered Qi Chenglin through gritted teeth.
Qi Chenglin immediately pushed the door open and entered his office, ignoring the duo that was standing outside.
Yao Qingzhi and Yao Jingfei took a peek at the lady who was sleeping on the couch in his office in a short time when the door opened and closed. Still, they could not identify the lady due to her long hair covering her face with a blanket on her body.
The lady was able to take a nap on the couch in Qi Chenglin’s office without the slightest scruple, and Qi Chenglin did not even allow them to enter his office in fear that they would disturb her slumber. One could see how affectionate he was toward the lady.
Yao Jingfei felt uncomfortable deep down after taking all the information in.
It was undeniable that the best things in the world were those that were unavailable.
Yao Jingfei had this feeling deep down in her heart now. The image of Qi Chenglin’s tall and straight figure had etched itself deeply in her mind now and she could not wave it away no matter how hard she tried.
The more she put him on her mind, the more affectionate she became toward him. The affection was so strong that she was unable to let him go, like a disease spreading deep within her.
…
…
Qi Chenglin closed the door gently and saw Ruan Danchen was staring at him when he walked to the couch.
“Didn’t sleep at all?” He sat down beside her. He could not help leaning closer to her and smiled, caressing her hair and kissing her at the same time.
“I rested my eyes for a while, can’t really fall asleep to be honest,” answered Ruan Danchen as she sat up. She heard Yao Qingzhi and Yao Jingfei’s voice just now, guessing that they were here to make complaints.
However, she did not ask Qi Chenglin about it as she knew he would not treat them nicely.
She whispered after taking a peek at Qi Chenglin, “I’m going down now.”
“What’s the rush? I haven’t had fun with you yet,” Qi Chenglin voiced out his intention straight away before lifting her and putting her on his thighs. This was a rare occasion where they would have fun in broad daylight without Qi Youxuan as the third wheeler.
Ruan Danchen stared upon his serious expression, feeling his hand moving downwards on her body. She knew he was not joking around with her.
Ruan Danchen quickly held his wrist and avoided direct eye contact as his gaze was too hot and penetrating for her to handle. “Stop messing around, I still have to work later. How am I supposed to go back to the office afterward?”
Qi Chenglin rested his hand on her waist and yanked her into his embosom. He buried his face beside her neck and compressed her long hairs in the process as he said in a deep but pitiful voice, “But I’ve been thinking about it this whole morning.”
This man always chose to imagine all sorts of nonsense instead of working!
“Qi Chenglin…” Ruan Danchen felt a little helpless after she felt the intense heat he radiated.
She heard him sigh and the hot air he expelled passed through her hair strands and caressed her neck.
Qi Chenglin let her go after a while. Nonetheless, he remained immobile and gazed at her with an attitude as though demanding an appetizer if the main course was not served yet. He just held his face in an expression that appeared shameless no matter which angle she looked at and stared at her.
His lips curled slightly into a faint smile as he stared at her with his deep, abnormally firm gaze.
Ruan Danchen was impressed at Qi Chenglin’s adversaries at work due to the intense stress they must have experienced when he stared at them with such gaze.
Her scalp burned in embarrassment as he knew what Qi Chenglin was waiting for. After hesitating for a while, she leaned forward and kissed him on the lips. The moment her lips touched his, Qi Chenglin tightened his arms like a pair of strong vines encircling her firmly.
Ruan Danchen kept her eyes shut as she felt herself spun around and all of a sudden, he was on top of her on the couch. His kisses were fiery and demanding as his tongue delved inside her mouth in passion.
Ruan Danchen’s lips were getting numb from the kisses. She tried to push him away grudgingly, and to her surprise, Qi Chenglin actually released his grip and even sighed loudly.
For some explicable reason, she felt bad for him when she looked at his regretful expression. She lifted her head and kissed him before blurting out softly, “I’ll make it up to you tonight.”
There was a glimmer in Qi Chenglin’s eyes as he stared at her with a faint smile on his face. His face appeared as if his plan had succeeded and Ruan Danchen suddenly felt regret about her decision just now. Was it possible that Qi Chenglin anticipated that statement from her?
“You said it.” Qi Chenglin pinched her waist out of joy and kissed on her lips before letting her go.
“…” Ruan Danchen stood up and tidied her outfit, feeling nothing but regret right now.
Then, she rushed into the washroom and glanced at her reflection in the mirror. The only abnormalities she noticed were her rosy face and slightly swollen lips; her outfit was tidy and wrinkle-free otherwise.
She did not dare linger in his office any longer upon exiting the washroom and quickly bid goodbye to Qi Chenglin. He was unsure how to react when she ran out of his office as though escaping from danger.
It was fortunate that nobody noticed her exiting his office since there were lesser staff working on this floor level. Moreover, it was lunch hour now and some of the staff were surfing the internet in their respective offices.
Ruan Danchen quickly went back to the design department via the elevator.
Unlike the twenty-fifth floor, it was crowded in the design department. She could even hear some commotions going on inside even though she was unsure what were they gossiping about before she entered the department.
There was a pin-drop silence when Ruan Danchen entered the department as all eyes were now fixed on her.
Ruan Danchen walked back to her seat uncomfortably under all their gazes. She was worried that someone with keen eyes would notice any part of her body remained untidy.
Then, Senior Du called out to her just as she was about to sit down, “Danchen, come.”
Ruan Danchen noticed that all the staff was smiling and did not appear annoyed towards her, so she walked towards them and gazed upon the crowd curiously.
Chen Siyu pulled a chair and gestured Ruan Danchen to sit.
The staff would not try to cause trouble to Ruan Danchen due to her relationship with Song Yu and instead, they would want to be intimate with her.
They did not ask about her whereabouts during lunch since Song Yu came and looked for her personally this afternoon. They guessed she most likely had lunch with Mrs. Qi, and probably the director himself was there too.
“I had lunch with Xiao Ding and her gang from the finance department this afternoon, and guess what? She said Xiao Li from her department saw the general manager acted especially intimate with a woman, hugging and kissing her repeatedly when he parked his car in the underground parking lot this morning. The scenery was so sweet and he wasn’t the usual calm and steady general manager that we knew,” Zhang Lefei said.
Ruan Danchen felt nervous all of a sudden. Now she realized why it was so hectic in the department just now. They were discussing this issue!
“Yo, who’s the woman?” Senior Du asked. She was forty-three years old now and was the oldest in the department. Even Manager Zou was a year younger than her.
Even then, she joined in the gossip out of curiosity.
Once upon a time, there were two fossil-like bachelors in Qilin. There were no rumors of love affairs about them and even when there was a time when Qi Chenglin was engaged, all rumors went silent after the dissolution of engagement. There were no women who appeared alongside them except for the women in the Qi family.
Now, Qi Chenglin was the only bachelor left after Qi Chengzhi got married. Even though the female colleagues were not having any delusions or vain hopes, they could not help but started gossiping about the legendary fossil-like bachelor’s love life.
Ruan Danchen stared at Zhang Lefei anxiously but she just shook her head regretfully. “She said Xiao Li didn’t have much of a clear view. The parking lot was dim and all he could see was darkness from his viewing angle at that time, but it looked like a woman from the body shape. He couldn’t even get ahold of her outfit style. Plus, he’s a coward. He didn’t dare to get close to them too in fear that the general manager might see him, so he stood from afar and snapped a picture of them.”
Zhang Lefei shook her phone in her hand, flipping through the photos to find it and said, “I asked Xiao Ding to send it to me. All of them in the finance department acted like Sherlock Holmes today and everyone started investigating with this photo on their phones, but none of them found the answer yet.”
They gave a conclusion after taking a glance at the photo—it was totally useless. They could only visualize that it was a picture of a man and a woman’s backs. Otherwise, it was poorly pixelated with a lot of image noise in a dim environment. They would not be able to recognize that the man was indeed the general manager himself if they were not informed, so it was impossible to even guess the identity of the woman beside him.
“What are we supposed to see from this photo?” All of them felt extremely disappointed when Senior Du returned the phone to Zhang Lefei.
Zhang Lefei winked at Ruan Danchen and asked, “Danchen, since you’re so close with Mrs. Qi, did she divulge anything to you? For example, Qi Chenglin’s girlfriend or something similar?”
Ruan Danchen noticed that all the gazes remained fixed on her and it made her heart race anxiously. She had no choice but to answer, “She did mention something about this but I had forgotten about it because the memory was vague. We normally won’t chat issues regarding the Qi family. It’s hard to talk about them when they’re one of the great families.”
Senior Du and the rest nodded understandingly as the Qi family might misinterpret her intentions when she talked about them in public.
Chen Siyu waved her hands and said, “Forget about it, maybe we’ll see them again next time.”
They stopped the discussion regarding this topic and shifted their attention to Ruan Danchen again. “Danchen, is Xiao Zhang trying to court you?”
“Ah?” Ruan Danchen was puzzled due to the rapid change in topic, and besides—
“Which Xiao Zhang?”
“Playing the fool.” Zhang Lefei smiled and poked on Ruan Danchen’s arm, trying to be more intimate with her. “The Xiao Zhang from the design department who helped carried the box of office supplies for you this morning.”
Ruan Danchen then realized who were they referring to before Zhang Lefei continued. “There are rumors about him trying to court you. To be honest, Xiao Zhang is a really nice guy.”
“No, Manager Luo merely instructed him to help me with the office supplies,” Ruan Danchen quickly denied as she knew the consequences would be disastrous if this went to Qi Chenglin’s ears.
The crowd recalled Ruan Danchen’s relationship with Mrs. Qi after hearing her statement. It was natural that Manager Lou wanted to ingratiate her.
The sharp-eyed Senior Du noticed a ring on Ruan Danchen’s left middle finger and lifted her hand straight away. “Oh, you’re actually taken.”
Ruan Danchen’s face was flushed pink. She did not deny and simply said, “Yes.”
Fortunately, the ring Qi Chenglin gifted was quite low profile. It was not made from a famous brand but it was more expensive than those luxurious brands, and not a lot knew regarding the brand’s existence. The ring Qi Chengzhi used for the engagement between him and Song Yu was made from the exact same brand too.
The ring on Ruan Danchen’s finger was low profile and the diamond on it was miniature, so Senior Du and the rest did not take this matter seriously.
The chat and gossiping continued until the end of lunchtime and all of them went back to their seats afterward.
Yao Jingfei walked back to her seat too with her high-heels knocking loudly on the floor. She was not in a good mood after getting humiliated by Qi Chenglin so instead of returning to the office, she went to a nearby shopping mall and bought various new clothes. However, she did not place all the newly bought clothes in her car. Instead, she carried multiple bags of clothes in her hands as she walked into the office with a flaunting intention.
When she passed by Ruan Danchen’s seat, she rolled her eyes purposely and snorted.
Ruan Danchen was baffled but she chose to ignore Yao Jingfei.
…
…
Rumors about Xiao Zhang courting Ruan Danchen really traveled to Qi Chenglin’s ears for some reason, and he called out a meeting with all the managers from each department directly.
The managers lined up in front of his office desk like a class of obedient students.
Qi Chenglin inquired regarding Ruan Danchen’s working condition in the design department, which Manager Zou answered truthfully. He also thoroughly explained his punishment on Yao Jingfei just for Ruan Danchen so that Qi Chenglin knew about this beforehand and could support his back if Board Member Yao decided to take revenge on him.
Qi Chenglin nodded with great satisfaction. “You did well.”
Manager Zou was exhilarated.
Qi Chenglin added. “Danchen is too low profiled and she’ll always tolerate as much as possible when others bullied her. This concerns me, so Manager Zou—”
Manager Zou immediately focused his attention while Qi Chenglin continued. “You just need to bully them before they have the energy to bully Danchen, that’s it. Yao Qingzhi brought her daughter to me this afternoon. Don’t you worry, I informed him that I was the one who permitted your decisions. He wouldn’t dare to cause trouble to you, so you can do what you want unfettered.”
“…” Manager Zou felt that Qi Chenglin obviously wanted Yao Jingfei to suffer in agony without admitting his intentions.
“Danchen also told me this afternoon that Manager He, Manager Luo, and Manager Zou took care of her well.” It was a rare sight for Qi Chenglin to put on a friendly smile towards the managers whom he mentioned just now. The managers automatically categorized his smile into the ‘friendly’ category even though his smile was quite faint.
The three managers stood proud and straight, feeling their heights increased at least a centimeter due to the pride.
They had decided to treat General Manager Qi’s wife with more kindness after realizing that she really did mention it to the general manager himself.
The rest of the managers wanted to receive commendations from the general manager but unfortunately, they did not have the chance yet.
“However, when you want to help Danchen in the future, either you help her yourself or you instruct a female staff to assist. Don’t ever let a single, unmarried male staff aid her as it’ll lead to misunderstanding fairly easily,” said Qi Chenglin as he moved his left hand that was resting on the table. Then, his long fingers from his right hand rotated the ring in his left middle finger purposely, displaying its presence.
Manager Luo and the rest of the managers noticed it with their keen eyes. Luo Yushu himself was especially aware of the rumors that were flying thick in the company. He remained undefeated as a manager in this company as he would always get ahold of any new rumors beforehand.
Naturally, Luo Yushu was well aware of the rumor regarding Xiao Zhang trying to court Ruan Danchen.
Thus, he immediately understood what Qi Chenglin meant with that statement and action.
He quickly moved a step forward and stood at attention. “Don’t worry, General Manager. In the future, only the female staff will help General Manager Qi’s wife. Unmarried, young men will keep a distance from her.”
Qi Chenglin nodded with great satisfaction and said, “Go back to your work and keep it up.”
Thus, Manager Zou took more extreme care toward Ruan Danchen after returning to the design department in the evening. Whenever he rested from work, he would take a look outside his office through his office’s window, always getting prepared to rush out and stood by Ruan Danchen’s side firmly when Yao Jingfei caused trouble to her again.
Somehow, Yao Jingfei remained silent this whole evening.
…
…
It was time to go off work at night but most staff in the design department needed to work overtime. Inevitably, Yao Jingfei needed to work overtime too as Manager Zou took the lead and instructed the designers to throw all their chores to her.
Yao Jingfei’s current work volume was almost the sum of all the work her colleagues had, thus she might only be able to get off work much later than them.
Ruan Danchen glanced through the documents this whole day as there were not many projects in her hands now. She felt embarrassed to get off work alone when all her colleagues were busy as a beaver. Still, it was unwise for her to barge in other fellow designers’ projects too even though they were colleagues.
Yao Jingfei slammed the documents in her hands on the table heavily and criticized enigmatically. “Do you think it’s reasonable for you to leave first when the rest of the staff are still busy at work? To be honest, you didn’t even work at all this whole day.”
Today was Ruan Danchen’s first day of work; it was natural that she had no projects in her hands yet.
Ruan Danchen ignored her but had decided to stay and help. However, Manager Zou came out of nowhere and appeared in front of Ruan Danchen before she could say anything.
He took a glance at Yao Jingfei rather impatiently and said, “What’s wrong with you, Xiao Yao? This is just the first day of work and you’re insistent on being a troublemaker now. Can you even try to work in harmony with your fellow colleagues? Is there any problem with Danchen leaving first since she had done her work? She can’t help her colleagues in their works too. Will you allow others to see your design blueprints? Danchen is experienced so she knows this well. You, on the other hand, are inexperienced but you had a design major. From what I’ve heard, you graduated from a reputed university too, so how can you not know about this basic knowledge? You want Danchen to stay and help, but who? You? These are your work, why should she help you?”
Yao Jingfei’s expression paled with anger after Manager Zou threw a great pile of words on her.
She was the precious daughter of a board member. Even if Ruan Danchen had an intimate relationship with Mrs. Qi, why was there such a disparity?
Suddenly, Ruan Danchen’s phone rang. When she took her phone out, Manager Zou noticed the caller identity ‘Sweetheart’ on her screen, and his heart skipped a beat. The general manager had called to urge her to leave work now.
____________________________________________________________________________
Extra Mini-Scene:
Thus, Xia Wenna kept referring to Qi Chengzhi, who was still a baby at that time, as ‘Chengcheng’.
The nickname remained until Qi Chengzhi grew up and was able to understand normal conversations. One day, Xia Wenna took his favorite toy and showed it to him.
“Chengcheng, look! What’s this?”
