Chapter 397 - A Blind Date in Disguise (1/2)
Chapter 397: A Blind Date in Disguise
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Ah, was this man trying to keep her within his sight twenty-four seven?
“I’d love to have you tethered to me all the time.” Qi Chenglin nodded solemnly. “Sigh, aren’t I just trying to pay the bill for you all?”
“Please don’t add pressure to my colleagues; it wasn’t easy for them to finally treat me like a normal colleague. I enjoy being able to laugh and joke with them,” Ruan Danchen revealed.
Judging from her tone, Qi Chenglin felt like Ruan Danchen was complaining about him. Melancholically, he grumbled, “Fine, I won’t bug you anymore.”
Ruan Danchen could not help but chuckle. “Good boy!”
“…”
Qi Chenglin hung up as he did not know what to reply. He was quite confused about how he felt about it too. Although he knew that her ‘good boy’ was just to tease him, somehow, he still felt a little downhearted.
Ruan Danchen opened her chat with Chen Siyu and asked her where they were going for lunch.
[Chen Siyu: You’re not eating with General Manager today?]
[Ruan Danchen: He has a client to entertain today. You guys must take me in today. If you leave me alone here, I’ll be so lonely.]
[Chen Siyu: Alright, alright, stop acting so pitiful. You can join up for lunch.]
Ruan Danchen closed the chat with a smile. When lunchtime arrived, Ruan Danchen followed Chen Siyu and the others to lunch. When they reached the restaurant, Ruan Danchen read the restaurant’s name and her lips twitched. “We’re eating here?”
“Yeah. I spent quite a lot of money when I treated my clients to lunch here, so the restaurant gave me a hundred yuan voucher, expiring in two days. We can all save a ton of money by eating here,” Chen Siyu explained. She grabbed Ruan Danchen’s arm. “Come on, let’s go.”
Ruan Danchen nodded and kept silent. She followed Chen Siyu and the others into the restaurant.
Due to its location being right across Qilin, many employees chose to eat there. Business was exceptionally well during lunchtime.
Chen Siyu found a table at a corner of the restaurant, an area that was relatively private. Even so, Ruan Danchen was quite anxious that they would run into Qi Chenglin. She was worried that Qi Chenglin would think she was here because she could not bear being apart from him, even though she told him she would not come here; that would be a huge misunderstanding. It would inflate his ego by many folds.
Luckily, Qi Chenglin had come earlier and was already in a private room so she did not run into him.
It was just the four girls so they merely ordered four dishes and a soup.
Halfway through lunch, Ruan Danchen went to the restroom. On the way there, she heard someone calling from behind. “Danchen?”
Ruan Danchen was staggered. She turned around to see Chang Jingqiu striding toward her.
She was wearing brown ankle boots and light blue stretchy skinny jeans, making her legs look exceedingly long and slender. Additionally, the loosely-fitted cape-style sweater she wore also made her look remarkably slim.
Chang Jingqiu was not tall, standing at only a hundred and sixty centimeters; she was a lot shorter than Ruan Danchen.
However, Ruan Danchen typically wore flats, so Chang Jingqiu looked like she was at Ruan Danchen’s height when she strode over in her heeled ankle boots.
Ruan Danchen watched her approach her with an impassive expression. Chang Jingqiu was the kind of woman who could dress herself up in a way that made her petite build look tall and slender. Although she was a hundred and sixty centimeters tall, her clothes made her look like she was a hundred and seventy centimeters in height.
From the way she walked, it was clear that she was a precious daughter from a high-status family. Her proud struts attracted a lot of attention.
“I saw you from behind just now, but I wasn’t sure if it were you.” Chang Jingqiu approached her, smiling. Ruan Danchen glanced at the corridor she came from; there were a few private rooms along that corridor. Chang Jingqiu continued, “I just came out to use the washroom. I didn’t expect I’ll run into you.”
After hearing that, Ruan Danchen entered the washroom with her.
“Lately, we seem to be running into each other a lot. Must be fate,” Cheng Jingqiu pointed out, giggling.
“It is quite a coincidence,” Ruan Danchen stated coldly. She did not know her well, so she did not have much to say to her.
Moreover, when it came to Chang Jingqiu, she was not interested in engaging in any kind of conversation with her, even if it were just to be polite.
“Hehe,” Chang Jingqiu chuckled. “What brings you here? Are you meeting a client?”
“My company is just around the corner,” Ruan Danchen answered.
“Huh? I heard that you are working in Chengshi. Did you switch companies?” Cheng Jingqiu inquired curiously.
“Yeah, Qilin,” Ruan Danchen stated simply. She was not interested in knowing more about Chang Jingqiu’s life and did not want her to pry into her life either.
“Qilin?” Chang Jingqiu widened her eyes in astonishment. She grinned from ear-to-ear.
Ruan Danchen had always felt that Chang Jingqiu did not like her much, so she was utterly confused by why Chang Jingqiu was so delighted to hear that.
“Wow, you are amazing. I heard that it’s awfully tough to get into Qilin as the whole company is full of elites. I heard that if anyone who has worked at Qilin for a few years decides to find another job, every company would be scrambling to hire them. Your value doubles instantly,” Chang Jingqiu bubbled, her eyes sparkled with joy. Ruan Danchen truly could not wrap her head around why she was so exhilarated. Chang Jingqiu even seemed proud and honored.
Ruan Danchen did not have the guts to tell her that she entered the company through a backdoor. Thus, she did not dare to boast about it but merely nodded and smiled.
After entering the washroom, Ruan Danchen went into a stall. Chang Jingqiu was there to touch up her makeup.
When Ruan Danchen came out, she was still staring in the mirror, putting on lipstick.
Ruan Danchen went to wash her hands. Standing beside Chang Jingqiu, she asked out of courtesy, “What about you? Are you here on a job?”
“No.” Chang Jingqiu’s face lit up as if she had been waiting all day for Ruan Danchen to ask that question. “My uncle is here to discuss business with a man and in the meantime, asked me to tag along to introduce me to him.”
Ruan Danchen understood what she was implying. “Oh, a blind date.”
This was clearly a blind date in disguise. The aim was not explicitly stated to avoid awkwardness between the two parties. It was also used when one was afraid the other would reject a blind date, and so used a business meeting as an excuse to introduce the two to each other.
Ruan Danchen noticed that Chang Jingqiu was already blushing. Evidently, she did not feel awkward about the blind date at all. On the contrary, she could barely hide her delight. Thus, Ruan Danchen pointed out, “You sure seem to be pleased with the guy.”
“It’s quite rare to come across guys as good as him nowadays.” Chang Jingqiu kept her lipstick in her bag and headed out.
Ruan Danchen suddenly felt that something was wrong, but she could not put her finger on it and the feeling faded away quickly. While her mind was still pondering on that ominous feeling, she did not notice Chang Jingqiu smiling at her radiantly.
“This is my stop.” Chang Jingqiu stopped in front of a private room, pointing at it. “I’ll head in first. I’ll call you out for lunch one day.”
Ruan Danchen agreed out of politeness; she knew that Chang Jingqiu only said that out of politeness too.
Nowadays, saying ‘I’ll call you out for lunch one day’ was no different than saying ‘goodbye’.
Chang Jingqiu opened the door and entered. Subconsciously, Ruan Danchen peeked inside. She saw a middle-aged man sitting in the position facing the door—it must be her uncle. There was another man facing away from her though Ruan Danchen could not see his face.
However, just from his back, Ruan Danchen knew exactly who it was. She squinted her eyes and her lips twitched. Even so, she did not say a word. When leaving, she caught a glance of Chang Jingqiu sitting down beside her uncle.
Ruan Danchen returned to her seat and continued eating. She was not the least bit upset—that was how much she trusted him.
…
Chang Jingqiu returned to her seat. Chang Zhiyuan was laughing as he revealed, “I love to collaborate with straightforward people like you the most, General Manager Qi. We’ve always worked so well together—I hope we can continue working together happily in the future.”
Qi Chenglin put on a faint smile but did not show any kind of expression.
Chang Jingqiu turned to look at his indifferent expression. His devilishly attractive face made her heart race.
She had always thought such perfect men only existed in novels, but after seeing Qi Chenglin, that was the adjective that first appeared in her mind. Nothing else described him as well as that.