Chapter 337 - You’re Willing To Do So With Others, But Why Not With Me? (1/2)
Chapter 337: You’re Willing To Do So With Others, But Why Not With Me?
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Qi Youxuan sat opposite Qi Chenglin, and the duo stared at each other at the dining table.
Ruan Danchen turned off the lights in the living room, the room swallowed by the encroaching darkness. She returned to the kitchen and lit the candles on the birthday cake before serving it to Qi Chenglin.
“Youxuan and I made this together. I baked the cake and Youxuan decorated it with creamy designs and fruits,” Ruan Danchen explained and sat beside Qi Youxuan. The duo stared at Qi Chenglin with anticipation and anxiety.
Qi Chenglin took a glance at the two of them, admiring the similarity in their facial features. The candlelight accentuated the innocence and honesty in Qi Youxuan’s big, round eyes, all too identical to Ruan Danchen’s.
Warmth coursed through his heart. He closed his eyes as though making a wish and blew out the candlelights.
Ruan Danchen then turned on the lights and served the dishes. Sitting back down, she spoke sheepishly, “It may not be a grand celebration with no special surprises, but this is the first time I’m celebrating birthdays with you and Youxuan. I want us to celebrate birthdays at home, it’s cozy and warm that way.”
“This is good enough. To be honest, it’s been a long time since I last celebrated birthdays. I don’t need any surprises, this is good enough for me.” Qi Chenglin’s gaze on Ruan Danchen was soft and gentle.
Guan Liya probably felt unnecessary to celebrate Qi Chenglin’s birthday as he became more mature. Moreover, he really did not bother about birthdays.
He only wished that Ruan Danchen would remember every occasion related to him as they now shared a special relationship. He did not need a grand or special celebration—it was more than enough if she could just remember his own birthday.
He truly felt that the three of them celebrating birthdays cozily at home was better than the most grand celebration in the world.
Being the birthday boy, Qi Chenglin made the first cut on the cake before cutting out a small piece to Qi Youxuan.
Surprisingly, Qi Youxuan did not gobbled down the piece of cake even though he appeared gluttonous at that moment.
Qi Chenglin served another piece of cake to Ruan Danchen before cutting a small piece for himself. Eyes filled with anticipation and nervousness, Qi Youxuan stared at him. “Dad, have a taste.”
Even though Qi Youxuan merely placed all the ingredients and decorative items pre-prepared by Ruan Danchen on the cake, he felt that at least he had his fair share as if he baked the cake himself.
Qi Chenglin nodded after tasting the cake. “Delicious.”
Qi Youxuan let out a sigh of relief. He relaxed and started munching on the food.
Qi Chenglin felt Qi Youxuan was not his usual self after staying with Ruan Danchen.
Even though he was cheerful all these while, his attitude seemed to have changed for the better.
…
…
The designing and refurbishment of Qi Chenglin and Qi Youxuan’s bedrooms along with the kid’s toy room in Prestige Residences took approximately two months time. The entire process finished in October, and what was left now was the elimination of paint smell. The best guess was that they could move back in during November.
Song Yu reported back to work at Chengshi after her maternity leave in October. Surprisingly, Yang Yunshu did not cause troubles to Ruan Danchen this month, probably due to Song Yu’s presence.
They would just ignore each other’s presence, not greeting despite passing by each other. However, Ruan Danchen did not bother about this—at least she felt happy to be able to chat with Song Yu during work.
Qi Chenglin and Qi Youxuan would accompany her when she returned home after work. If Qi Chenglin’s identity was disregarded, this was the life Ruan Danchen desired the most.
However, Song Yu quit her job after one month and stayed at home, waiting for the birth of her baby.
Qi Chenglin came to fetch Ruan Danchen back to Chengshi after her lunch with Song Yu.
Ruan Danchen returned to her office and took a peek at the table beside hers unconsciously. Song Yu packed up all her personal belongings so the table was empty, and the desktop was turned off too.
Yang Yunshu just came out of the resting area. This time she was unsure to whom she gossiped with again.
She took a glance at Song Yu’s now-empty workplace and smiled coldly. “Are you feeling upset now since you lost all possible support in the company after Song Yu quit her job?”
Ruan Danchen did not feel like arguing with her, so she inhaled deeply and replied with a flat tone, “Find someone else to play with if you’re bored. I don’t have spare time for you.”
Ruan Danchen then sat down and started working on her desktop, ignoring Yang Yunshu.
Yang Yunshu mocked and her lips curled into a cold smile. Surprisingly, she did not argue with Ruan Danchen and went back to her seat, continuing her work.
…
…
The first week was uneventful, peaceful and quiet. On the second week, Ruan Danchen had an appointment with Xu Haode, a financial manager from Huanghua Property.
Huanghua Property was bidding on a land for the establishment of commercial housings. The land itself was decently sized, thus the scale of the compound would be limited—around ten high-rise residential buildings in total. Even though the bidding result was not announced yet, there had been rumors that Huanghua Property was quite certain that this land would be theirs. They were just standing on ceremony with the bidding process since they were using a closed bidding system this time.
Thus, Huanghua Property seized every minute and made every minute count. They started discussing with every possible design company instead of waiting patiently for the bidding result. They would choose the company which provided the best design and refurbishment proposal.
Naturally, Ruan Danchen participated in the competition to try and seize the opportunity. Even though the compound was not huge, it was still a business opportunity. Back in the day, she would have passed on this kind of small-scale projects without hesitation.
She had an appointment with Xu Haode at Shengyue. Whenever she had a business discussion with a male client, she would always book a place at the dining hall to avert any calamity. She could not be too careful even when the other person involved was only planning for a simple business discussion—that way she could avoid any potential rumors from spreading.
However, Xu Haode insisted for the discussion to be held in a private dining room with the reason of noisy environment in the dining hall. Ruan Danchen tried to reject his suggestion indirectly but this induced annoyance in Xu Haode. He reasoned that it would be fine if she gave up on this job opportunity as it was a simple job discussion, but if she insisted on causing trouble, did she mean that she did not trust his personality?
If this issue was made public and Xu Haode lost his reputation, how was he going to continue on his work?
Ruan Danchen could not disagree with his suggestion as she really wanted to seize this job opportunity. After all, Huanghua Property was one of the few companies who was willing to give her a chance to prove herself.
The waiter led Ruan Danchen to the private dining room when she arrived at Shengyue and waited patiently for Xu Haode who would be reaching shortly after her.
The door to the private dining room opened a quarter-hour later. A man in his forties with an average build and well-shaped facial features stood at the doorstep. Overall, there was nothing special about this man who just walked into the room.
Ruan Danchen stood up and greeted politely, “Manager Xu.”
“Ha ha. Let’s not stand on ceremony here, Miss Ruan. Come, let’s have a seat,” Xu Haode walked over with a smile. There was a big, round table in the center of the private dining room, and he chose to sit beside Ruan Danchen.
“Manager Xu, I had collaboration with your company before, I—” Xu Haode then interrupted Ruan Danchen’s statement.
“Miss Ruan, let’s order for food first before continuing our talk in business,” Xu Haode interjected with a smile. He ordered quite a number of dishes and wanted to order alcoholic beverage too. “Miss Ruan, which kind of alcohol do you prefer? I suggest wine for ladies, will that be alright for you?”