Chapter 368: Don’t Rely On Me To Gain Any Benefits From The Qi Family
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Qi Chenglin seemed pretty satisfied with himself as he turned to Manager Zou and said. “Have some men follow me upstairs and organize the documents about the property, then bring it down with you. ”
Manager Zou noticed Qi Chenglin’s gaze shifted over to Ruan Danchen’s direction, with his quick thinking, he said. “Danchen, since you’ve just arrived and there’s not much work, why don’t you follow him upstairs.”
“…” Ruan Danchen was speechless as she stood up. She could only assume the both of them had a prior agreement.
Yao Jingfei was infuriated by Manager Zou as she had an unsatisfied expression on her face while she glared at Manager Zou. She thought to herself, just how blind this man was. He was unable to see that Qi Chenglin intended to have her go upstairs instead.
As Ruan Danchen was walking over to Qi Chenglin and as she reached her, Yao Jingfei stood up immediately and said all while she snorted in her heart. “Manager Zou, just let me as the personal assistant handle matters like this, so I’ll go instead.”
As she made her statement, Manager Zou simply glared at her furiously as he knew this lady was all bark and no bite. She was nothing but an empty arrogant vessel for her own stupidity! So why should he show her any mercy at all!
“Are you done with your current task already?” Manager Zou said as he annoyingly waved his hand.
“No, but…” Yao Jingfei tried to explain.
“If you’re not done then just stay here and complete your damn task, stop being so distracted! Everyone’s work is extremely urgent, so you should know better to delay, weren’t you so persistent in complaining about Ruan Danchen not doing anything yesterday, what are you so unsatisfied about now? She has work to do now and yet you want to take her work to your plate? What are you planning to do? Trying to show that you’re hardworking in front of the CEO?” Manager Zou snapped furiously at her.
Yao Jingfei instantly grew pale as she never expected Manager Zou to snap at her like this, she was upset at his outburst since she felt her apparent unfair treatment!
She intended to snap back at him, words were flooding her mind as she started to speak. However, before she could speak a syllable, she turned around, and felt her tears streaming down her cheeks as she sat down.
The other employees were shocked at Manager’s Zou’s outburst. He was always known to be patient and easy going. None of them had ever seen him like this. They could only wonder at what exactly Yao Jingfei did to push him over the edge.
Ruan Danchen felt bad at Yao Jingfei as she walked past her.
Qi Chenglin patted Manager’s Zou’s shoulders seemingly praising him as he brought Ruan Danchen upstairs alongside him.
…
…
Ruan Danchen followed Qi Chenglin into his office, the moment the door shuts behind them and before Ruan Danchen could even react, she was instantly pulled toward Qi Chenglin’s very warm embrace. Hugging her tightly.
“Still mad?” Qi Chenglin asked with a whisper. His current loving and warm attitude was completely different compared to when he was with his design department earlier.
“I knew you had other intentions when you wanted me to follow you into your office for work.” Ruan Danchen replied as she was not even offended or mad. Instead, it made her laugh.
After hearing her casual cheerful reply, Qi Chenglin breathed out a sigh of relief as he took Ruan Danchen by the hand, leading her to the couch, then proceed to scoop her up in the air and sitting her down on his lap. He said. “I can’t guarantee that in the future, I can rid myself of jealousy completely, but I will do my best to loosen its grip on me alright.”
Ruan Danchen’s mind was focused on the giant piles of documents her colleagues would eventually hand it to her downstairs and how she kept so many people waiting. Ironically, here she sat, in Qi Chenglin’s lap, cuddling with him. This thought made her blush a little.
While still deep in her thoughts, she was staring at the button on Qi Chenglin’s shirt as she unconsciously gave it a couple playful tugs. She said. “You know, on a much deeper thought, a man like you getting jealous over me, and how you mind so deeply about everything that has to do with me, makes me quite happy. Knowing just how much you value me, strengthens your place in my heart.”
“…” Qi Chenglin remained silent as he squeezed onto her waist tighter. “What are you doing?” Ruan Danchen said nervously.
“Alright, I was a little flirty okay, just do what you have to do, I’ll admit that I too was a little jealous.” Ruan Danchen replied anxiously.
“…” Qi Chenglin remained silent.
It was as if his morning grogginess had completely been purged by her words alone.
Ruan Danchen felt guilty as she let out an awkward chuckle while she pecked Qi Chenglin’s lips, giving him a light kiss. She said. “Don’t feel too bad okay, I’ll make it up to you when we get home alright. I’ll be going downstairs now.”
As Ruan Danchen got up, she was instantly pulled back down onto Qi Chenglin’s lap. She noticed he was quite annoyed. “Were you trying to coax Youxuan?” Qi Chenglin said frustratingly.
“…”Ruan Danchen said nothing as her face was blushing hard from embarrassment. Fighting through her embarrassment, she replied. “Weren’t there a group of people waiting for me downstairs? If I kept them waiting any longer, they would’ve seen through what I was up to through my face alone. That would not be nice at all.”
“Don’t be so difficult with me next time alright?” Qi Chenglin said with a monotone unhappy voice as his dark black eyes stared deeply into Ruan Danchen.
“Alright. I won’t” Ruan Danchen replied embarrassingly while she shook her head.
Seeing how well behaved she was, Qi Chenglin smirked as his heart melted into a warm puddle, he leaned in and gave Ruan Danchen a long passionate kiss. Apparently, he intended to only give her a soft and light kiss, however, he succumbed to temptation as he could no longer keep his primal instincts at bay.
She could not focus as her mind was on an emotional high, putting her in a trance after Qi Chenglin had sent Ruan Danchen off.
As Ruan Danchen walked out, she seemingly heard her name called by someone. It took her a good while to snap out of her trance like state. As she finally snapped out of her infatuation, she realized Jiangyuan was standing right in front of her, desperately trying to hold back his laugh, all with an awkward expression on Jianyuan’s face.
She looked at Qi Chenglin that was standing beside her with a blur. Qi Chenglin was calm and composed as he unknowingly reminded Ruan Danchen for a brief second.
“Ahem!” Jianyuang was desperately holding back his laughter as he raised his hand to his mouth to mask a cough. He handed 3 files to Ruan Danchen and said. “I have arranged everything here already just hand them over to Manager Zou on your way back alright.”
Ruan Danchen could not help but glance over to Qi Chenglin, although it was not work related when Qi Chenglin brought her up with him, and it was extremely obvious of his personal motives in the name of work, she did not expect him to be so thorough in covering up by having her documents neatly organized for her.
Ruan Danchen left the office after receiving her documents.
…
…
She noticed Yao Jingfei was in a horrible mood as she walked past her upon returning to the design department. Completely ignoring her, Ruan Danchen handed her documents over to Manager Zou.
Even though Manager Zou had completely destroyed Yao Jingfei publically earlier, Ruan Danchen could see though her intentions as clear as day. She knew this lady obviously had a crush on Qi Chenglin and all she wanted was a chance to get close to him and know him a little better. However, Ruan Danchen harbored zero ill thoughts for Yao Jingfei, in layman’s terms, she did not have the heart to get mad at Yao Jingfei.
It was noon and it was almost time for lunch, Ruan Danchen was notified that the reception had got a call earlier and a lady claiming to be her mother was waiting for her downstairs by the main entrance.
Ruan Danchen had no idea how Liu Ronghua managed to get hold of the information that she was in fact working in Qilin. She replied to the receptionist. “Just tell her that I will be working overtime tonight.”
She knew exactly what Liu Ronghua’s purpose was for reaching to her. If it was just a regular mother-daughter reunion, she would be more than happy to oblige. However, chances for that was close to none.
Her personal phone rang not long after she had hung up the call with the receptionist. Glancing at the screen, it was from none other than Liu Ronghua. This made Ruan Danchen feel extremely awful, as she felt her chest tighten around her and tears forming her eyes while her sinuses were stuffed. She felt the vice grip tighten harder around her chest causing her pain.
She sighed deeply and proceeded to walk out with her phone.
The very moment she answered the call, she could hear Liu Ronghua voice saying. “Danchen, were you so unwilling to greet me even once?”
“I’m busy right now, Qi Chenglin was just here earlier and being the new guy meant a huge pile of work.” Ruan Danchen replied as she sniffled while she desperately fought back the urge to cry.
“You don’t have to lie to me Danchen. You’re dating Qi Chenglin right now and you’re basically the unnamed co-owner of Qilin right now, not a single soul would dare make you work overtime. You don’t even need to lift a finger and all you need to do is to wait for your pay every month. No one would dare speak about it. I’m not blind to the fact that the main purpose of Qi Chenglin making you work in his company was none other than to spoil you rotten.” Liu Ronghua said with a soft gentle tone as usual. However, it takes a no brainer to note the mockery in her voice.
This very statement offended Ruan Danchen, as she was unsure if Liu Ronghua intended to offend her on purpose or not. However, every word she said was filled to the very brim with arrogance and mockery.
“I came into this company to work like regular people and I intend to work with all my heart. I do not wish to spur any drama in the company. Just like every employee of the company, I too was expected and required to work overtime, and my mistakes would be noted and critiqued just like everyone else.” Ruan Danchen replied coldly as she felt the tight grip around her chest had loosened. “I’ll need to get back to work, this is where our conversation ends and if you have anything to talk about, we’ll do it some other time.” Ruan Danchen added.
“Danchen!” Liu Ronghua frantically said before Ruan Danchen had the chance to hang up. She added frantically. “I am your mother, how could you not wish to even meet me once, how could you call yourself a daughter? I came by to see you and all I wanted was to have a meal with you, can’t you even do that? I know how much you hate my guts, at least give me the opportunity to make things right between us okay?”
Ruan Danchen noticed someone walking in her direction, she proceeded to take the phone call to the stairway at the end of the hallway.
Since there were people around her, she remained silent, this made Liu Ronghua misunderstood her silence to her ignorance. She added. “If you refuse to meet me, I will be waiting in Qilin as long as this company stands. I would not believe that you will not need to come down here at all.”
“If you refuse to meet me today, I will return tomorrow and the day after that until you relent. There will be a day where you don’t work overtime right? So I will be able to at least meet you once right?” Liu Ronghua added further as Ruan Danchen sighed.
As she spoke, Ruan Danchen could her Liu Ronghua’s desperate sobbing through the phone. “Danchen, you weren’t like this back then, do you plan to abandon your only mother? Do you wish everyone in your company to know that you were so heartless that you would refuse to meet your mother?” Liu Ronghua pleaded.
This painful plea by her mother made her very close to crying as she sighed deeply and took a deep breath, while her nose were stuffed and she was fighting back the strong urge to bawl her eyes out as she continued to listen to her mother’s unreasonable, embarrassing sobbing. She replied. “Fine, I’ll meet you downstairs.”
“Oh, good, alright. I’ll wait for you downstairs.” Liu Ronghua said as she was now happy.
As she walked out of the stairwell, she looked at the time and it was time for lunch break, and thus, she proceeded to call Qi Chenglin.
At this very moment, food was being served onto Qi Chenglin’s desk. At the same time, he received a phone call from Ruan Danchen, making him to be in an amazing mood. However, through the phone, he heard her say. “I might join you a little later.”
“What happened.” Qi Chenglin replied as he could not believe that Manager Zou actually wanted her to work overtime.
“My mom is here, she does not want to leave the main lobby as she was persistent in meeting me. I’ll meet up with her for a bit to find out what she actually wanted.” Ruan Danchen replied with a sigh. However, upon hearing Qi Chenglin’s voice, it relieved some of her awful feelings in her heart, seemingly giving her some support.
Hearing this made Qi Chenglin frown instantly. He never expected that the strong and stern warning to Liu Ronghua the other day at the temple was futile. She had zero morality as she would do anything for whatever little rewards the Shen family could promise her. Her own personal gain outweighs her moral compass.
“I’ll go with you.” Qi Chenglin said.
“No, I’ll go alone, I’ll see exactly what she wants. If you come along with me, she would not dare reveal her ulterior motives, this will make her keep coming back for me until she had said what she wanted to. As long as you’re here, she would not dare come by. She would only attempt to do whatever she planned to do in your absence.” Ruan Danchen said while walking to her office grabbing her bag as she walked out.
“If you’re planning to have lunch in a restaurant elsewhere, make sure you send the location to me alright.” Qi Chenglin replied after a slight pause.
“Alright.” Ruan Danchen replied.
Ruan Danchen proceeded to enter the elevator after hanging up the call.
Upon arriving at the ground floor, Ruan Danchen noticed her mother was sitting on a couch next to the main entrance all while presenting herself to look as elegant and wealthy as she could be. In any stranger’s eyes, by looking at her stance and how Liu Ronghua presented herself to be, would assume she was from a higher social status and that she had gotten herself married to a very wealthy family.
Liu Ronghua was focussed on the elevator doors, seeing Ruan Danchen walk out of it, she immediately stood up and welcomed her over to her side.
“Danchen!” Liu Ronghua said while holding onto Ruan Danchen’s hands, still with tears in her eyes, as she looked extremely depressed. She said. “How are you doing these days?”
From how she looked, it was as if she had gone through hell and back.
“Let’s go.” Ruan Danchen replied coldly as she calmly removed her hands from her mother’s grasp.
Ruan Danchen brought Liu Ronghua to a nearby cafe. This very cafe had a private room as an added perk. That room was known as the romantic room. The room was decked out to the brim with princess themed decorations and the style and layout of the room was very Europe inspired, the walls were painted pink, the shelves were filled with plush toys, no matter the age, this room alone was made to appeal to any girl of any age.
Ruan Danchen care very little about how the room was decorated as she only cared about the private room perk. This allowed them some privacy to talk. Not many were present in the cafe since it was noon and all were busy getting lunch.
The waiter came in with a menu, Ruan Danchen only ordered a glass of red tea, she does not like to drink coffee before lunch. Liu Ronghua ordered the same drink as her daughter as she too was not able to put her mind at ease and fully pay attention to the menu.
After a short while, the waiter brought 2 pots of red tea in the room. It was nothing too special about it. It tasted like regular store bought tea.
As Liu Ronghua remained silent, Ruan Danchen too never spoke a word. She thought to herself, it would be a blessing for her if Liu Ronghua’s mouth remained sealed due to her anxiety, she would not need to listen to any of it. She knew Liu Ronghua’s exact purpose for their meeting even without her speaking her mind. As long as Liu Ronghua stayed quiet, Ruan Danchen would play the oblivious one.
Liu Ronghua was expecting Ruan Danchen to ask her about her main purpose first. However, she was caught off guard by Ruan Danchen’s silence while she sipped her tea.
Finally breaking the silence as she could no longer keep it in, Liu Ronghua nervously asked. “Danchen, are you okay living with Qi Chenglin?”
Ruan Danchen never answered her question, she only gave her an impatient glance.
Perhaps her time spent with Qi Chenglin were long enough for her to pick up some of his habits. Her mocking, judgemental look was uncanny compared to Qi Chenglin.
Liu Ronghua was seemingly hurt by her daughter’s cold, emotionless expression, she placed her arm on the table while crossing her fingers bringing it close to her chest as she had a painfully hurt and depressed expression on her face. She said with a sad, almost pitiful tone in her voice. “I could tell he adores you and absolutely loves you to bits, I heard his family loves you very much as well.”
Ruan Danchen sighed, and stared into her cup of tea as she had no appetite to drink. She felt disgusted somehow. “What are you trying to say?” Ruan Danchen asked.
“Does his family… know about my matters?” Liu Ronghua asked as she felt excruciatingly difficult to speak her mind.
“What do you mean?” Ruan Danchen probed as she frowned.
“I mean… I have been living with zero status in the Shen family for so many years. Does his family know about it?” Even for Liu Ronghua, it was extremely difficult for her to even elaborate on that question. It took a lot of courage for her to say something so shamelessly.
Ruan Danchen remained silent as she continued to frown.
Seemingly able to read the situation, Liu Ronghua awkwardly said. “I’m pretty sure you never told them, since I know that I am as disgraceful as I could ever be. If they’d known about me, they would not accept you in their family right?”
“So, what exactly is your point?” Ruan Danchen asked.
“Danchen, your Uncle Shen knew about your matters, and he is fully on board with you dating Qi Chenglin, he do not wish to break the both of you up and to show his support in you marrying into the Qi’s family, he had decided to formally marry me, making it official and with that, giving me somewhat of a status at home.” Liu Ronghua explained with a soft whisper.
“Just name your damn terms.” Ruan Danchen continued to frown as she knew that Shen Jialiang would never in his lifetime be this generous and kind.
Liu Ronghua had what could only be described as a pitiful look on her face as she chuckled awkwardly. However, her self pity had no effect on Ruan Danchen as she was completely numbed by her facade.
She continued to listen to Liu Ronghua’s elaborate self pity. “Your Uncle Shen…”
At this point, Ruan Danchen was too lazy and tired to even stop Liu Ronghua’s formalities in addressing Shen Jialiang. She had told her countless times 7 years ago to stop addressing him as Uncle Shen.
However, as much as Ruan Danchen had told her, Liu Ronghua was stubborn and refused to listen. She assumed by closing the gap of both their relationship, she would be able to help her.
“Your Uncle Shen said, as long as he marries me, you will officially be his step daughter. Your wedding with Qi Chenglin requires both families to have a meal together around the same table and at least meet up right? However, if I’m the only one present, and truth be told, my identity and social status is no longer any secret now right, since Qi Chenglin’s own mother even knew who I was exactly. I ran into them the other day at the temple, judging by the way they look at me, I could tell they were looking down on me, they had no respect for me. If they found out that you were my daughter, I’m afraid they would be reluctant to accept you in their family. I know for a fact that the Qi family would not like anyone to say that the mother of their daughter in law was nothing more than a mere servant right?” Liu Ronghua elaborated further as she sighed deeply and drank some hot tea.
Ruan Danchen was completely baffled by the fact that this woman could feel no shame in making that statement. She was shocked by how Liu Ronghua could say that she as a servant was a job of shame and just how boldly she exclaimed that statement.
“However, if I could marry your Uncle Shen and become his official wife, it would not be so shameful when we eventually meet up with Qi Chenglin’s family. You will have class, even though you’re his step daughter, you still would be the star of Shen’s family, with that, you will be able to match Qi Chenglin’s status.” Liu Ronghua added. However, it just seemed like every word from this vile lady’s mouth was sugarcoated. Every sentence was masked with benefits to Ruan Danchen.
Ever since she was little, Ruan Danchen had never once knew what her mother’s natural motherly, warm scent was. Liu Ronghua had a habit of spraying heavy perfume onto herself, it does not matter if she had just showered, the scent of the perfume never left her body. Besides, Liu Ronghua had never once given her own daughter a hug.
Coaxing her to sleep would be in the realm of impossibility.
The scent of her perfume could be smelled at the moment. Although it was as thick, it was instead a well known branded perfume. However, Ruan Danchen was completely disgusted by the smell alone.
She had finally drank some tea, seemingly trying to suppress that disgusting scent, while she squeezed her nose tightly. She took a deep breath after that, and replied with an exhausted tone. “Just get to the damn point of your purpose of meeting me here today. The Shen family had always shunned me away, never loved me and had never once wanted anything to do with me, this is a fact the both of us knew deep down in our hearts. Shen Jialiang had always been clear with his intentions, what does this man want now? Since he’s so kind and generous to offer you a place in his family, and wanted me to be his step daughter.”
“The main goal is… Since you will be the golden child of Shen’s family then, this wedding would ultimately be both Qi and Shen’s family’s business, the entire relationship would naturally change. Your Uncle Shen wished for you to return and live in his house. This will help to mend both families relationship. This was all due to the incident that happened years ago that made Qi Chenglin and the entirety of the Shen family to be in horrible terms with each other. Qilin would not invest or partner with the Shen family. This made the entirety of the Shen family really difficult to expand in that business circle. As long as the both of them could salvage their broken relationship, it would be smooth sailing for the Shen family. With that, it would ultimately be a win-win situation for both us, don’t you think this is the best outcome ever?” Liu Ronghua shamelessly explained as she had an awkward smile on her face. Her body was slightly tilted forward facing Ruan Danchen.
Hearing her shameless statement made Ruan Qingsi laugh sarcastically, almost mocking her. She replied. “Shen Jialiang really is something, he had the audacity to request something of this magnitude after what he did to Qi Chenglin back then and how awful he treated me? There is no limit for this man’s shamelessness.”
Liu Ronghua looked stiff after hearing her daughter’s reply. Even though she was talking about Shen Jialiang, she could not help but feel as if Ruan Danchen was indirectly talking about her too.
“Danchen, this is for both our benefits, you don’t even need to change your last name…” Before Liu Ronghua could finish, Ruan Danchen interrupted her.
“Why would I even want to change my last name, I am just baffled at his evil intent and greed. He sure can scheme against Qi Chenglin, What right does he have to benefit from Qi Chenglin after making him call him father in law? I will absolutely never allow Qi Chenglin to be used like this.” Ruan Danchen exclaimed. “You’re done saying everything you came here to say right? I will be leaving now. You may tell Shen Jialiang that I will never set foot in his house, it doesn’t matter if he marries you or not, even if he did, I will never be his step daughter. He may keep dreaming about any benefits from the Qi family. He will receive nothing from them.” Ruan Danchen said sternly.
—
—
Mini Scene
Regarding About A Nickname 3
“Cheng Cheng, what do you think this is?” Xia Wenna asked Qi Chengzhi while showing him a toy by swaying it in front of him.
Qi Chengzhi initially was staring at the toy, however, upon hearing his nickname, Cheng Cheng being called, his entire face contorted as he cringed. He refused to answer.
After a couple more times, as long as Xia Wenna address him as Cheng Cheng, Qi Chengzhi would not respond.
Unable to get a reaction from him, Xia Wenna decided to test him out a couple more times. As long as she called him Qi Chengzhi, he would respond. However, with Cheng Cheng, would only be completely ignored by him as he pretended to not be aware of his nickname being called.
And so, this short lived nickname slowly faded away as it was never brought up again. Slowly but surely faded from the memories of everyone.
Until Qi Chenglin was born…
To know what happens next, stay tuned to the next chapter.
Qi Youxuan asked. “What’s my daddy’s nickname?”
“…” Qi Chenglin remained silent.
“We revealed our son’s nickname, for the sole purpose of gaining the monthly ticket.” Xia Wenna said.
Chapter 368: Don’t Rely On Me To Gain Any Benefits From The Qi Family
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Qi Chenglin seemed pretty satisfied with himself as he turned to Manager Zou and said. “Have some men follow me upstairs and organize the documents about the property, then bring it down with you. ”
Manager Zou noticed Qi Chenglin’s gaze shifted over to Ruan Danchen’s direction, with his quick thinking, he said. “Danchen, since you’ve just arrived and there’s not much work, why don’t you follow him upstairs.”
“…” Ruan Danchen was speechless as she stood up. She could only assume the both of them had a prior agreement.
Yao Jingfei was infuriated by Manager Zou as she had an unsatisfied expression on her face while she glared at Manager Zou. She thought to herself, just how blind this man was. He was unable to see that Qi Chenglin intended to have her go upstairs instead.
As Ruan Danchen was walking over to Qi Chenglin and as she reached her, Yao Jingfei stood up immediately and said all while she snorted in her heart. “Manager Zou, just let me as the personal assistant handle matters like this, so I’ll go instead.”
As she made her statement, Manager Zou simply glared at her furiously as he knew this lady was all bark and no bite. She was nothing but an empty arrogant vessel for her own stupidity! So why should he show her any mercy at all!
“Are you done with your current task already?” Manager Zou said as he annoyingly waved his hand.
“No, but…” Yao Jingfei tried to explain.
“If you’re not done then just stay here and complete your damn task, stop being so distracted! Everyone’s work is extremely urgent, so you should know better to delay, weren’t you so persistent in complaining about Ruan Danchen not doing anything yesterday, what are you so unsatisfied about now? She has work to do now and yet you want to take her work to your plate? What are you planning to do? Trying to show that you’re hardworking in front of the CEO?” Manager Zou snapped furiously at her.
Yao Jingfei instantly grew pale as she never expected Manager Zou to snap at her like this, she was upset at his outburst since she felt her apparent unfair treatment!
She intended to snap back at him, words were flooding her mind as she started to speak. However, before she could speak a syllable, she turned around, and felt her tears streaming down her cheeks as she sat down.
The other employees were shocked at Manager’s Zou’s outburst. He was always known to be patient and easy going. None of them had ever seen him like this. They could only wonder at what exactly Yao Jingfei did to push him over the edge.
Ruan Danchen felt bad at Yao Jingfei as she walked past her.
Qi Chenglin patted Manager’s Zou’s shoulders seemingly praising him as he brought Ruan Danchen upstairs alongside him.
…
…
Ruan Danchen followed Qi Chenglin into his office, the moment the door shuts behind them and before Ruan Danchen could even react, she was instantly pulled toward Qi Chenglin’s very warm embrace. Hugging her tightly.
“Still mad?” Qi Chenglin asked with a whisper. His current loving and warm attitude was completely different compared to when he was with his design department earlier.
“I knew you had other intentions when you wanted me to follow you into your office for work.” Ruan Danchen replied as she was not even offended or mad. Instead, it made her laugh.
After hearing her casual cheerful reply, Qi Chenglin breathed out a sigh of relief as he took Ruan Danchen by the hand, leading her to the couch, then proceed to scoop her up in the air and sitting her down on his lap. He said. “I can’t guarantee that in the future, I can rid myself of jealousy completely, but I will do my best to loosen its grip on me alright.”
Ruan Danchen’s mind was focused on the giant piles of documents her colleagues would eventually hand it to her downstairs and how she kept so many people waiting. Ironically, here she sat, in Qi Chenglin’s lap, cuddling with him. This thought made her blush a little.
While still deep in her thoughts, she was staring at the button on Qi Chenglin’s shirt as she unconsciously gave it a couple playful tugs. She said. “You know, on a much deeper thought, a man like you getting jealous over me, and how you mind so deeply about everything that has to do with me, makes me quite happy. Knowing just how much you value me, strengthens your place in my heart.”
“…” Qi Chenglin remained silent as he squeezed onto her waist tighter. “What are you doing?” Ruan Danchen said nervously.
“Alright, I was a little flirty okay, just do what you have to do, I’ll admit that I too was a little jealous.” Ruan Danchen replied anxiously.
“…” Qi Chenglin remained silent.
It was as if his morning grogginess had completely been purged by her words alone.
Ruan Danchen felt guilty as she let out an awkward chuckle while she pecked Qi Chenglin’s lips, giving him a light kiss. She said. “Don’t feel too bad okay, I’ll make it up to you when we get home alright. I’ll be going downstairs now.”
As Ruan Danchen got up, she was instantly pulled back down onto Qi Chenglin’s lap. She noticed he was quite annoyed. “Were you trying to coax Youxuan?” Qi Chenglin said frustratingly.
“…”Ruan Danchen said nothing as her face was blushing hard from embarrassment. Fighting through her embarrassment, she replied. “Weren’t there a group of people waiting for me downstairs? If I kept them waiting any longer, they would’ve seen through what I was up to through my face alone. That would not be nice at all.”
“Don’t be so difficult with me next time alright?” Qi Chenglin said with a monotone unhappy voice as his dark black eyes stared deeply into Ruan Danchen.
“Alright. I won’t” Ruan Danchen replied embarrassingly while she shook her head.
Seeing how well behaved she was, Qi Chenglin smirked as his heart melted into a warm puddle, he leaned in and gave Ruan Danchen a long passionate kiss. Apparently, he intended to only give her a soft and light kiss, however, he succumbed to temptation as he could no longer keep his primal instincts at bay.
She could not focus as her mind was on an emotional high, putting her in a trance after Qi Chenglin had sent Ruan Danchen off.
As Ruan Danchen walked out, she seemingly heard her name called by someone. It took her a good while to snap out of her trance like state. As she finally snapped out of her infatuation, she realized Jiangyuan was standing right in front of her, desperately trying to hold back his laugh, all with an awkward expression on Jianyuan’s face.
She looked at Qi Chenglin that was standing beside her with a blur. Qi Chenglin was calm and composed as he unknowingly reminded Ruan Danchen for a brief second.
“Ahem!” Jianyuang was desperately holding back his laughter as he raised his hand to his mouth to mask a cough. He handed 3 files to Ruan Danchen and said. “I have arranged everything here already just hand them over to Manager Zou on your way back alright.”
Ruan Danchen could not help but glance over to Qi Chenglin, although it was not work related when Qi Chenglin brought her up with him, and it was extremely obvious of his personal motives in the name of work, she did not expect him to be so thorough in covering up by having her documents neatly organized for her.
Ruan Danchen left the office after receiving her documents.
…
…
She noticed Yao Jingfei was in a horrible mood as she walked past her upon returning to the design department. Completely ignoring her, Ruan Danchen handed her documents over to Manager Zou.
Even though Manager Zou had completely destroyed Yao Jingfei publically earlier, Ruan Danchen could see though her intentions as clear as day. She knew this lady obviously had a crush on Qi Chenglin and all she wanted was a chance to get close to him and know him a little better. However, Ruan Danchen harbored zero ill thoughts for Yao Jingfei, in layman’s terms, she did not have the heart to get mad at Yao Jingfei.
It was noon and it was almost time for lunch, Ruan Danchen was notified that the reception had got a call earlier and a lady claiming to be her mother was waiting for her downstairs by the main entrance.
Ruan Danchen had no idea how Liu Ronghua managed to get hold of the information that she was in fact working in Qilin. She replied to the receptionist. “Just tell her that I will be working overtime tonight.”
She knew exactly what Liu Ronghua’s purpose was for reaching to her. If it was just a regular mother-daughter reunion, she would be more than happy to oblige. However, chances for that was close to none.
Her personal phone rang not long after she had hung up the call with the receptionist. Glancing at the screen, it was from none other than Liu Ronghua. This made Ruan Danchen feel extremely awful, as she felt her chest tighten around her and tears forming her eyes while her sinuses were stuffed. She felt the vice grip tighten harder around her chest causing her pain.
She sighed deeply and proceeded to walk out with her phone.
The very moment she answered the call, she could hear Liu Ronghua voice saying. “Danchen, were you so unwilling to greet me even once?”
“I’m busy right now, Qi Chenglin was just here earlier and being the new guy meant a huge pile of work.” Ruan Danchen replied as she sniffled while she desperately fought back the urge to cry.
“You don’t have to lie to me Danchen. You’re dating Qi Chenglin right now and you’re basically the unnamed co-owner of Qilin right now, not a single soul would dare make you work overtime. You don’t even need to lift a finger and all you need to do is to wait for your pay every month. No one would dare speak about it. I’m not blind to the fact that the main purpose of Qi Chenglin making you work in his company was none other than to spoil you rotten.” Liu Ronghua said with a soft gentle tone as usual. However, it takes a no brainer to note the mockery in her voice.
This very statement offended Ruan Danchen, as she was unsure if Liu Ronghua intended to offend her on purpose or not. However, every word she said was filled to the very brim with arrogance and mockery.
“I came into this company to work like regular people and I intend to work with all my heart. I do not wish to spur any drama in the company. Just like every employee of the company, I too was expected and required to work overtime, and my mistakes would be noted and critiqued just like everyone else.” Ruan Danchen replied coldly as she felt the tight grip around her chest had loosened. “I’ll need to get back to work, this is where our conversation ends and if you have anything to talk about, we’ll do it some other time.” Ruan Danchen added.
“Danchen!” Liu Ronghua frantically said before Ruan Danchen had the chance to hang up. She added frantically. “I am your mother, how could you not wish to even meet me once, how could you call yourself a daughter? I came by to see you and all I wanted was to have a meal with you, can’t you even do that? I know how much you hate my guts, at least give me the opportunity to make things right between us okay?”
Ruan Danchen noticed someone walking in her direction, she proceeded to take the phone call to the stairway at the end of the hallway.
Since there were people around her, she remained silent, this made Liu Ronghua misunderstood her silence to her ignorance. She added. “If you refuse to meet me, I will be waiting in Qilin as long as this company stands. I would not believe that you will not need to come down here at all.”
“If you refuse to meet me today, I will return tomorrow and the day after that until you relent. There will be a day where you don’t work overtime right? So I will be able to at least meet you once right?” Liu Ronghua added further as Ruan Danchen sighed.
As she spoke, Ruan Danchen could her Liu Ronghua’s desperate sobbing through the phone. “Danchen, you weren’t like this back then, do you plan to abandon your only mother? Do you wish everyone in your company to know that you were so heartless that you would refuse to meet your mother?” Liu Ronghua pleaded.
This painful plea by her mother made her very close to crying as she sighed deeply and took a deep breath, while her nose were stuffed and she was fighting back the strong urge to bawl her eyes out as she continued to listen to her mother’s unreasonable, embarrassing sobbing. She replied. “Fine, I’ll meet you downstairs.”
“Oh, good, alright. I’ll wait for you downstairs.” Liu Ronghua said as she was now happy.
As she walked out of the stairwell, she looked at the time and it was time for lunch break, and thus, she proceeded to call Qi Chenglin.
At this very moment, food was being served onto Qi Chenglin’s desk. At the same time, he received a phone call from Ruan Danchen, making him to be in an amazing mood. However, through the phone, he heard her say. “I might join you a little later.”
“What happened.” Qi Chenglin replied as he could not believe that Manager Zou actually wanted her to work overtime.
“My mom is here, she does not want to leave the main lobby as she was persistent in meeting me. I’ll meet up with her for a bit to find out what she actually wanted.” Ruan Danchen replied with a sigh. However, upon hearing Qi Chenglin’s voice, it relieved some of her awful feelings in her heart, seemingly giving her some support.
Hearing this made Qi Chenglin frown instantly. He never expected that the strong and stern warning to Liu Ronghua the other day at the temple was futile. She had zero morality as she would do anything for whatever little rewards the Shen family could promise her. Her own personal gain outweighs her moral compass.
“I’ll go with you.” Qi Chenglin said.
“No, I’ll go alone, I’ll see exactly what she wants. If you come along with me, she would not dare reveal her ulterior motives, this will make her keep coming back for me until she had said what she wanted to. As long as you’re here, she would not dare come by. She would only attempt to do whatever she planned to do in your absence.” Ruan Danchen said while walking to her office grabbing her bag as she walked out.
“If you’re planning to have lunch in a restaurant elsewhere, make sure you send the location to me alright.” Qi Chenglin replied after a slight pause.
“Alright.” Ruan Danchen replied.
Ruan Danchen proceeded to enter the elevator after hanging up the call.
Upon arriving at the ground floor, Ruan Danchen noticed her mother was sitting on a couch next to the main entrance all while presenting herself to look as elegant and wealthy as she could be. In any stranger’s eyes, by looking at her stance and how Liu Ronghua presented herself to be, would assume she was from a higher social status and that she had gotten herself married to a very wealthy family.
Liu Ronghua was focussed on the elevator doors, seeing Ruan Danchen walk out of it, she immediately stood up and welcomed her over to her side.
“Danchen!” Liu Ronghua said while holding onto Ruan Danchen’s hands, still with tears in her eyes, as she looked extremely depressed. She said. “How are you doing these days?”
From how she looked, it was as if she had gone through hell and back.
“Let’s go.” Ruan Danchen replied coldly as she calmly removed her hands from her mother’s grasp.
Ruan Danchen brought Liu Ronghua to a nearby cafe. This very cafe had a private room as an added perk. That room was known as the romantic room. The room was decked out to the brim with princess themed decorations and the style and layout of the room was very Europe inspired, the walls were painted pink, the shelves were filled with plush toys, no matter the age, this room alone was made to appeal to any girl of any age.
Ruan Danchen care very little about how the room was decorated as she only cared about the private room perk. This allowed them some privacy to talk. Not many were present in the cafe since it was noon and all were busy getting lunch.
The waiter came in with a menu, Ruan Danchen only ordered a glass of red tea, she does not like to drink coffee before lunch. Liu Ronghua ordered the same drink as her daughter as she too was not able to put her mind at ease and fully pay attention to the menu.
After a short while, the waiter brought 2 pots of red tea in the room. It was nothing too special about it. It tasted like regular store bought tea.
As Liu Ronghua remained silent, Ruan Danchen too never spoke a word. She thought to herself, it would be a blessing for her if Liu Ronghua’s mouth remained sealed due to her anxiety, she would not need to listen to any of it. She knew Liu Ronghua’s exact purpose for their meeting even without her speaking her mind. As long as Liu Ronghua stayed quiet, Ruan Danchen would play the oblivious one.
Liu Ronghua was expecting Ruan Danchen to ask her about her main purpose first. However, she was caught off guard by Ruan Danchen’s silence while she sipped her tea.
Finally breaking the silence as she could no longer keep it in, Liu Ronghua nervously asked. “Danchen, are you okay living with Qi Chenglin?”
Ruan Danchen never answered her question, she only gave her an impatient glance.
Perhaps her time spent with Qi Chenglin were long enough for her to pick up some of his habits. Her mocking, judgemental look was uncanny compared to Qi Chenglin.
Liu Ronghua was seemingly hurt by her daughter’s cold, emotionless expression, she placed her arm on the table while crossing her fingers bringing it close to her chest as she had a painfully hurt and depressed expression on her face. She said with a sad, almost pitiful tone in her voice. “I could tell he adores you and absolutely loves you to bits, I heard his family loves you very much as well.”
Ruan Danchen sighed, and stared into her cup of tea as she had no appetite to drink. She felt disgusted somehow. “What are you trying to say?” Ruan Danchen asked.
“Does his family… know about my matters?” Liu Ronghua asked as she felt excruciatingly difficult to speak her mind.
“What do you mean?” Ruan Danchen probed as she frowned.
“I mean… I have been living with zero status in the Shen family for so many years. Does his family know about it?” Even for Liu Ronghua, it was extremely difficult for her to even elaborate on that question. It took a lot of courage for her to say something so shamelessly.
Ruan Danchen remained silent as she continued to frown.
Seemingly able to read the situation, Liu Ronghua awkwardly said. “I’m pretty sure you never told them, since I know that I am as disgraceful as I could ever be. If they’d known about me, they would not accept you in their family right?”
“So, what exactly is your point?” Ruan Danchen asked.
“Danchen, your Uncle Shen knew about your matters, and he is fully on board with you dating Qi Chenglin, he do not wish to break the both of you up and to show his support in you marrying into the Qi’s family, he had decided to formally marry me, making it official and with that, giving me somewhat of a status at home.” Liu Ronghua explained with a soft whisper.
“Just name your damn terms.” Ruan Danchen continued to frown as she knew that Shen Jialiang would never in his lifetime be this generous and kind.
Liu Ronghua had what could only be described as a pitiful look on her face as she chuckled awkwardly. However, her self pity had no effect on Ruan Danchen as she was completely numbed by her facade.
She continued to listen to Liu Ronghua’s elaborate self pity. “Your Uncle Shen…”
At this point, Ruan Danchen was too lazy and tired to even stop Liu Ronghua’s formalities in addressing Shen Jialiang. She had told her countless times 7 years ago to stop addressing him as Uncle Shen.
However, as much as Ruan Danchen had told her, Liu Ronghua was stubborn and refused to listen. She assumed by closing the gap of both their relationship, she would be able to help her.
“Your Uncle Shen said, as long as he marries me, you will officially be his step daughter. Your wedding with Qi Chenglin requires both families to have a meal together around the same table and at least meet up right? However, if I’m the only one present, and truth be told, my identity and social status is no longer any secret now right, since Qi Chenglin’s own mother even knew who I was exactly. I ran into them the other day at the temple, judging by the way they look at me, I could tell they were looking down on me, they had no respect for me. If they found out that you were my daughter, I’m afraid they would be reluctant to accept you in their family. I know for a fact that the Qi family would not like anyone to say that the mother of their daughter in law was nothing more than a mere servant right?” Liu Ronghua elaborated further as she sighed deeply and drank some hot tea.
Ruan Danchen was completely baffled by the fact that this woman could feel no shame in making that statement. She was shocked by how Liu Ronghua could say that she as a servant was a job of shame and just how boldly she exclaimed that statement.
“However, if I could marry your Uncle Shen and become his official wife, it would not be so shameful when we eventually meet up with Qi Chenglin’s family. You will have class, even though you’re his step daughter, you still would be the star of Shen’s family, with that, you will be able to match Qi Chenglin’s status.” Liu Ronghua added. However, it just seemed like every word from this vile lady’s mouth was sugarcoated. Every sentence was masked with benefits to Ruan Danchen.
Ever since she was little, Ruan Danchen had never once knew what her mother’s natural motherly, warm scent was. Liu Ronghua had a habit of spraying heavy perfume onto herself, it does not matter if she had just showered, the scent of the perfume never left her body. Besides, Liu Ronghua had never once given her own daughter a hug.
Coaxing her to sleep would be in the realm of impossibility.
The scent of her perfume could be smelled at the moment. Although it was as thick, it was instead a well known branded perfume. However, Ruan Danchen was completely disgusted by the smell alone.
She had finally drank some tea, seemingly trying to suppress that disgusting scent, while she squeezed her nose tightly. She took a deep breath after that, and replied with an exhausted tone. “Just get to the damn point of your purpose of meeting me here today. The Shen family had always shunned me away, never loved me and had never once wanted anything to do with me, this is a fact the both of us knew deep down in our hearts. Shen Jialiang had always been clear with his intentions, what does this man want now? Since he’s so kind and generous to offer you a place in his family, and wanted me to be his step daughter.”
“The main goal is… Since you will be the golden child of Shen’s family then, this wedding would ultimately be both Qi and Shen’s family’s business, the entire relationship would naturally change. Your Uncle Shen wished for you to return and live in his house. This will help to mend both families relationship. This was all due to the incident that happened years ago that made Qi Chenglin and the entirety of the Shen family to be in horrible terms with each other. Qilin would not invest or partner with the Shen family. This made the entirety of the Shen family really difficult to expand in that business circle. As long as the both of them could salvage their broken relationship, it would be smooth sailing for the Shen family. With that, it would ultimately be a win-win situation for both us, don’t you think this is the best outcome ever?” Liu Ronghua shamelessly explained as she had an awkward smile on her face. Her body was slightly tilted forward facing Ruan Danchen.
Hearing her shameless statement made Ruan Qingsi laugh sarcastically, almost mocking her. She replied. “Shen Jialiang really is something, he had the audacity to request something of this magnitude after what he did to Qi Chenglin back then and how awful he treated me? There is no limit for this man’s shamelessness.”
Liu Ronghua looked stiff after hearing her daughter’s reply. Even though she was talking about Shen Jialiang, she could not help but feel as if Ruan Danchen was indirectly talking about her too.
“Danchen, this is for both our benefits, you don’t even need to change your last name…” Before Liu Ronghua could finish, Ruan Danchen interrupted her.
“Why would I even want to change my last name, I am just baffled at his evil intent and greed. He sure can scheme against Qi Chenglin, What right does he have to benefit from Qi Chenglin after making him call him father in law? I will absolutely never allow Qi Chenglin to be used like this.” Ruan Danchen exclaimed. “You’re done saying everything you came here to say right? I will be leaving now. You may tell Shen Jialiang that I will never set foot in his house, it doesn’t matter if he marries you or not, even if he did, I will never be his step daughter. He may keep dreaming about any benefits from the Qi family. He will receive nothing from them.” Ruan Danchen said sternly.
—
—
Mini Scene
Regarding About A Nickname 3
“Cheng Cheng, what do you think this is?” Xia Wenna asked Qi Chengzhi while showing him a toy by swaying it in front of him.
Qi Chengzhi initially was staring at the toy, however, upon hearing his nickname, Cheng Cheng being called, his entire face contorted as he cringed. He refused to answer.
After a couple more times, as long as Xia Wenna address him as Cheng Cheng, Qi Chengzhi would not respond.
Unable to get a reaction from him, Xia Wenna decided to test him out a couple more times. As long as she called him Qi Chengzhi, he would respond. However, with Cheng Cheng, would only be completely ignored by him as he pretended to not be aware of his nickname being called.
And so, this short lived nickname slowly faded away as it was never brought up again. Slowly but surely faded from the memories of everyone.
Until Qi Chenglin was born…
To know what happens next, stay tuned to the next chapter.
Qi Youxuan asked. “What’s my daddy’s nickname?”
“…” Qi Chenglin remained silent.
“We revealed our son’s nickname, for the sole purpose of gaining the monthly ticket.” Xia Wenna said.
