Just as Jiang Ran had anticipated, there were not many people in the restaurant at this hour. She picked a relatively quiet corner to sit down, scanned the QR code to order a light meal, and asked Lin Yanbei, who was sitting opposite her, “Would you like something to eat as well?”
Lin Yanbei shook her head. The feeling of choking still seemed to linger in her throat; she didn’t feel like eating anything at all right now.
Jiang Ran nodded in understanding. “Then I’ll order a glass of orange juice for you.”
Lin Yanbei kept her head lowered and silently shook it again.
Yet she heard Jiang Ran speak: “You seem… very afraid of me?”
“Me?” Lin Yanbei raised her head and collided with Jiang Ran’s probing gaze. Remembering her own actions time after time, she truly had acted like a total coward. Attempting to salvage her image, she hurriedly denied it.
“It’s not fear, it’s… awe and reverence?”
“Awe and reverence?” Jiang Ran was amused by her response. The smile softened her distant, light-colored eyes, instantly bridging the distance between them.
Goodness, Jiang Ran isn’t some sort of ghost or deity; why on earth did I use the phrase ‘awe and reverence’ to describe her? Realizing how ridiculous her choice of words was, Lin Yanbei frantically began adding endless footnotes to her inappropriate phrasing.
“What I meant to say was, I hold you in high regard, respect you, honor you… Forget it… fine.”
The more she tried to explain, the more it sounded like bootlicking. She shut her mouth tightly. Jiang Ran had mentioned before that she disliked flatterers.
“Fine?” Jiang Ran looked at her rapidly changing facial expressions, her smile deepening even more.
“Well… just, fine. Orange juice, thank you.” Glancing up at Jiang Ran’s smiling face, Lin Yanbei simply gave up on explaining. When a jar is broken, one might as well smash it completely.
With the corners of her lips curved upward, Jiang Ran operated her phone to place the order.
The lunch items arrived very quickly. A server brought over a tuna salad along with a bottle of sparkling water. Knowing Jiang Ran well, he placed them in front of her without asking, and then set a bottle of orange juice in front of Lin Yanbei.
“Please enjoy your meal.” The server turned and stepped back.
Jiang Ran finally let her smile subside. She picked up the sparkling water, her fingertips tracing the bottle cap as if verifying that it hadn’t been opened yet. Then, applying force with her knuckles, she unscrewed the cap, swept the stray wisps of hair around her neck behind her shoulder, and took a small sip. Every movement was effortless and elegant.
Lin Yanbei’s eyes couldn’t help but follow her actions. Only then did she notice a tiny mole on Jiang Ran’s slightly tilted neck. It sat right on the sternocleidomastoid muscle on the side of her neck, lightly dancing across her fair skin along with the motion of her tilted neck as she swallowed.
“What are you thinking about?” Jiang Ran asked, catching her staring blankly.
Lin Yanbei retracted her gaze, twisted open the cap, and took a sip of orange juice. “I was thinking of thanking you for saving me just now.” Even now, swallowing brought back lingering panic.
“It was my fault for accidentally scaring you. I should be the one apologizing to you.” Jiang Ran paused thoughtfully for a moment and added, “Also, about yesterday’s matter, I’m sorry.”
Lin Yanbei raised her eyes in surprise. She had never expected to hear an apology coming from a superior. Lord have mercy, how many bosses ever apologize? In her short professional career, such a thing was completely unheard of. Moreover, after learning the context of what happened yesterday, Jiang Ran indeed had a valid reason to lose her temper.
“Yesterday was my fault. I shouldn’t have entered your office without permission, let alone touched your cup on my own initiative,” Lin Yanbei said sincerely.
“Mm,” Jiang Ran raised her eyebrows. “Then shall we call it even? Otherwise, if you keep holding me in ‘awe and reverence,’ it’s going to be quite difficult to carry out our work later on.” Her tone was lighthearted, placing a teasing emphasis on the words awe and reverence.
Looking at the relaxed expression between Jiang Ran’s eyebrows and eyes, the string that had been pulled taut inside Lin Yanbei’s heart began to unwind. The atmosphere grew easygoing, and her embarrassment melted away along with it.
The person across from her was like an experienced, veteran proctor; with just a couple of sentences, she had put the student at ease during the most nerve-wracking moment of a thesis defense.
Lin Yanbei nodded obediently and let out a relaxed smile as well.
Jiang Ran continued, “I have a second-round presentation meeting for a project this afternoon. Would you like to sit in and listen?”
Her eyes were still pale and calm, her chin still slightly raised with that authoritative gaze from above.
However, the curve of her lips and the subtle sense of closeness were unique to today. Lin Yanbei didn’t quite understand what was going on, but that didn’t stop her mood from perking up along with it.
She nodded obediently and said, “Okay.”
After lunch, Jiang Ran sent her a set of preliminary design documents for a commercial chain mall project so she could familiarize herself in advance and avoid being lost during the meeting.
After the noon break, Jiang Ran brought her to the conference room. The project manager presided over the meeting, while colleagues from the structural and electromechanical departments attended.
Jiang Ran spent most of the time listening, offering explanations only on key design points. Since this was the final refinement before the initial drawings were finalized, everyone raised very detailed questions.
The meeting stretched past 7:00 PM. The project manager ordered pizza for everyone so they could grab a quick bite inside the conference room for dinner.
Lin Yanbei’s phone vibrated quietly. Sitting in the back row of the conference room, she took a quick glance. It was a WeChat message from Sister Lion.
Asking her: 【What are you busy with?】
Lin Yanbei picked up her phone, carefully avoided any sensitive information, quietly took a photo of the scene, and sent it over.
Replied: 【In a meeting.】
Sister Lion: 【Ahhhhhhh! Is that my idol? So gorgeous!】
【Puppy licking screen gif】
Lin Yanbei looked at the photo again. It happened to capture Jiang Ran standing in front of the conference table with her arms crossed, discussing structural issues with a colleague from the structural department.
She recalled the image and replied: 【Moral degeneracy.】
Sister Lion: 【Why did you recall it! I didn’t even have time to save it!】
Lin Yanbei: 【Guarding against you.】
Sister Lion: 【Stingy. Let me interview you. Are you feeling happy right now?】
Lin Yanbei: 【Working overtime, how could I possibly be happy?】
【Workhorse jpg】
Sister Lion: 【How happy it must be to work overtime alongside Jiang Ran~ Tell me, how can she be so professionally competent, so good-looking, AND be the exact cool, aloof boss-lady type I love the most? I’d be willing to work overtime with her every day. I’d even be willing to live at the office and sell my soul to the company.】
Lin Yanbei: 【No unfair competition allowed.】
Sister Lion: 【Please cling tightly to the goddess’s thigh! When I go to Jingdu to visit you, bring me to see her; even just a single glance will do!】
Lin Yanbei: 【The last person who made you this crazy was a male idol. Did you switch your preferences?】
Sister Lion: 【I’m attracted to pure beauty! Poor me, right now there isn’t a single decent-looking person in our design department. Don’t men do any body management these days? They’re all balding with beer bellies.】
“That’s about enough, shall we continue?” The project manager stood up, cleared away the empty pizza boxes from the table, and prepared to resume the meeting.
Lin Yanbei: 【Gotta work now, talk later.】 She put away her phone and continued listening.
The meeting didn’t last much longer and wrapped up before 8:00 PM. Everyone gathered their respective materials and notebooks and left the conference room one after another.
Jiang Ran walked over to Lin Yanbei’s side and asked, “You live at Century Garden, right? I can give you a ride since it’s on my way.”
Hearing this, the remaining colleagues stole quiet glances at Lin Yanbei before quickly departing.
“Ah, I can just head back on my own. At this hour, the tunnel express bus is still running.” Lin Yanbei lingered a couple of steps behind, not wanting to draw too much attention to herself. Avoiding her colleagues, she dropped to the very back.
Jiang Ran asked, “Won’t it be too late?”
“It’s fine. Back when I was an intern, I used to stay even later than this. Coming home after midnight was a regular thing.”
“At Yangcheng Courtyard?” Jiang Ran asked.
Lin Yanbei gave a faint, bitter smile and answered, “Yes.”
Jiang Ran’s eyes rested on the bitter smile at the corner of her lips. “There’s a new project next week that requires an on-site survey. I originally planned to take you along so you could get familiar with the workflow from the very beginning. However…”
“Hmm?” Lin Yanbei, sensitive to the shift in tone, caught the implication in Jiang Ran’s words. “I can go! Why aren’t you taking me anymore?”
Jiang Ran glanced at her sideways and said, “Because you look like you really don’t want to go back to Yangcheng.”
“Yangcheng!” Lin Yanbei’s eyes lit up instantly.
Jiang Ran gave a calm nod. “It’s expected to take two days, with an overnight stay. Are you going?”
“Yes, yes, I’m going!” Lin Yanbei hadn’t expected to return to Yangcheng so soon, and on a business trip at that. Staying overnight meant she could go back to visit her grandmother, or stay over at her grandparents’ place. Having eaten far too many group-discounted delivery meals lately, she missed home-cooked food terribly.
Seeing Lin Yanbei’s eyes clear up and shine, completely wiping away her fatigue, Jiang Ran’s eyes crinkled at the corners, finding it quite amusing. She realized she really enjoyed watching this subordinate’s rich array of facial expressions, so much so that she always felt an urge to tease her a little.