With a mood akin to going on a date, Qiao Mengdi felt that even the ordinary sights flashing past the car window had become adorable.
She allowed herself to fall into a romantic mindset ahead of schedule, letting a frivolous, self-woven happiness blossom into genuine joy upon her beautiful, fair, and rosy face.
She couldn’t help but softy sing, “I’m getting married to you tomorrow, I’m getting married to you tomorrow… If it weren’t for the right moment, you making my heart skip a beat… (A)”
“Yo! The young lady is getting married!” The driver, hearing her singing, couldn’t resist asking a question.
“That’s right, I’m getting married very soon.” Qiao Mengdi was in an excellent mood. She felt that Yao Chiyue was a fairy sent from heaven; just the thought of seeing her soon could keep her happy for a very, very long time.
“You’re going to see your sweetheart now, right?”
“Yes! I don’t even want to go home; I just want to see my favorite person in the world right now.”
“Hahaha… Oh my, my old heart is stirred just by hearing you talk.” The driver glanced at the rearview mirror. The girl in the back seat was truly a great beauty. “Fine then, after I drop you off, I’m going back to find my wife. Seeing how happy you are, I’ve lost the heart to work; I only want to go on a date now, too.”
“Mhm, go on a date. Buy some flowers, take your wife out for a good meal, she’ll be happy.”
Would Yao Chiyue be happy if she gave her flowers? Qiao Mengdi didn’t know.
After the car pulled up in front of the Blue Heron Biopharmaceutical Group building, she detoured to a nearby florist and bought a bouquet. It consisted of white Eustoma, accented with light blue hydrangeas and lovely eucalyptus leaves.
When she returned to the building cradling the freshly bought flowers, she saw Yao Chiyue standing quietly in front of the entrance. She was dressed in a deep blue suit; the top was cinched at the waist with various blue geometric clips, and the skirt flared out at the bottom. Standing tall and straight, she looked exceptionally noble.
Watching her from a distance, Qiao Mengdi could no longer restrain her heartbeat. Ah, Sister Yao is truly a peerless beauty. Today, her hair was styled in soft waves, making her usually cold aura seem much softer.
Seeing that Yao Chiyue had noticed her, Qiao Mengdi couldn’t help but stand on her tiptoes and wave her left hand high. The frequency of her wave made her joy obvious to anyone watching.
Yao Chiyue, like a celestial being, simply stood there quietly, waiting for her to approach.
All the way to her, Qiao Mengdi’s face beamed with a brilliant smile. She had to exercise great restraint to keep her excitement from overflowing. “Sister Yao, did you come out to pick me up?”
Yao Chiyue didn’t give a definite answer; instead, her gaze fell upon the bouquet in Qiao Mengdi’s arms.
“Oh, these are for you.” Qiao Mengdi held the flowers out with both hands, pushing them toward Yao Chiyue.
Yao Chiyue’s brows knitted slightly, and her phoenix-like eyes narrowed. The faint smile that had appeared on her aloof face vanished in an instant.
She reached out her right hand and took the flowers from Qiao Mengdi. “Silly.”
Yes, silly, but quite cute.
Qiao Mengdi didn’t mind the teasing. Thinking that since Yao Chiyue had accepted the flowers, winning her over was only a matter of time. Happiness made her confidence soar a bit too high.
Yao Chiyue turned her head slightly toward the entrance and then turned around. Qiao Mengdi followed her, asking, “Sister Yao, didn’t you say we’d have lunch together?”
“Didn’t I say something else before that?”
Qiao Mengdi recalled—before “lunch together,” there was indeed a phrase “come to my company.” “So, you mean we’re eating at the company?”
“Yes.”
Oh, well, alright.
Entering the lobby, Qiao Mengdi noticed more and more eyes turning toward them, so she stopped talking.
Whenever they encountered employees, they would stop to pay their respects to Yao Chiyue. Then, their gazes would invariably land on the young girl beside her. In her shimmering silver dress, Qiao Mengdi was impossible to ignore.
As soon as Yao Chiyue and Qiao Mengdi passed by, a wave of whispering broke out.
As they crossed the bright lobby, the gossip intensified:
“Wow, giving flowers! Our President Yao’s fiancée is so romantic!”
“The two of them really match perfectly! Sigh, now that I’ve seen her in person, I can rest easy.”
“I told you yesterday, President Yao’s fiancée is a beauty that could topple nations. Do you believe me now?”
“Sigh, I believe it! Before this girl appeared, I didn’t believe anyone in this world was worthy of our noble President Yao. Today, seeing how elegant she is, I believe it. You have to see it to believe it!”
“What a shame, the world just lost two peerless single beauties at once!”
“Shame your head! Even if President Yao and her little darling were still single, don’t dream you’d have a chance! Look at yourself, are you worthy?”
“Hey! Why the personal attack? Does it have anything to do with me having a chance? Even if I don’t have a chance, if they were single, I can still think about it, can’t I?”
“No!” the two female colleagues beside him said in unison. “Thinking about it won’t do; even thinking about it is a sin! If you dare to fantasize about our President Yao, are you tired of living?”
“Exactly, to have the guts to say it in front of us! On behalf of the ‘Blue Yue Light’ group leader, I order you to write a three-thousand-word self-reflection!”
“Blue Yue Light” was a gossip group for the young employees of Blue Heron Biopharmaceutical Group. The topics ranged from work and life, but the hottest subject was always Yao Chiyue’s clothing, hairstyle, lip color, love life, and peripheral news.
“Sigh, they gave out huge red envelopes just for the engagement. Do you think the red envelopes will be even bigger when they get married?”
“Isn’t that obvious? Our President Yao is the Goddess of Wealth herself. When has she ever been stingy?”
“I don’t want a red envelope. I just want a chance to attend their wedding. Watching the happiness of them being together is something no amount of money can buy.”
Waiting for the elevator, Yao Chiyue and Qiao Mengdi were unaware that everyone was gossiping about them.
“Sister Yao, does everyone in your company already know about our engagement?” Qiao Mengdi felt like every pair of eyes looking at them was glowing.
“They knew the day before yesterday.”
“I see, no wonder.”
“When we got engaged, the company’s stock price went up.”
“Our engagement can do that?”
“Of course. Don’t you know how much social influence your father has?”
To be honest, I don’t, Qiao Mengdi thought. I only know that to make his daughter marry you, he put her under house arrest.
Qiao Mengdi suddenly felt that perhaps all of this was specifically arranged by the novel’s plot.
“So, is this what they call a marriage of interest?”
“What else would it be?”
The elevator arrived. Seeing Yao Chiyue at the elevator, everyone else instinctively kept their distance.
It was the same on the way up. Every time the elevator stopped, people outside saw Yao Chiyue standing inside and instinctively froze, letting them pass.
“It seems everyone is afraid of Sister Yao,” Qiao Mengdi teased. “Sister is such a beauty! Shouldn’t everyone be trying to get close instead?”
“They don’t dare, because they are too ordinary.”
Hah, what an arrogant woman!
Qiao Mengdi felt insulted by the implication and felt a bit disgruntled. “But, I am also very ordinary, yet I don’t find you scary.”
“That’s because,” Yao Chiyue turned slightly and continued calmly, “the way you and I know each other is different from the way they know me.”
“Really?” Qiao Mengdi looked at the floor indicator; they had reached the 36th floor.
Ding! The elevator stopped, and the doors slid open.
Before stepping out, Yao Chiyue added one more sentence: “You are not ordinary.”
Qiao Mengdi froze for a moment. What did she mean by that?
In Qiao Mengdi’s own self-perception, while her appearance and figure were indeed eye-catching, that was merely a gift from her parents. She didn’t feel it was something that made her superior to others.
As for talent, she was like most people; she finished her studies after graduating from university. Once, her father, Qiao Leyuan, hoped she would continue her education—ideally to a PhD—and find a stable job at a university like him to live a steady life. At the time, she only said she would consider it, but never took action.
“What are you thinking about? Aren’t you coming out?”
Yao Chiyue, already outside, turned back and held the “up” button for the elevator.
“Oh, oh!” Qiao Mengdi snapped out of it and hurried out.
She followed Yao Chiyue toward the eastern side of the floor.
The CEO’s office consisted of an inner and an outer room. Since the outer room was so spacious, she could imagine the inner one would be even larger.
In the outer office, there were three workstations, but only one professional woman in her late twenties was currently at her desk. She stood up immediately upon seeing them enter.
“President Yao, lunch is ready.” Her speech was concise and sharp.
“Mhm, get back to work.” Yao Chiyue continued walking.
Seeing the woman nod to her in greeting, Qiao Mengdi smiled back.
“By the way, these flowers,” Yao Chiyue turned back and held the bouquet toward the woman, “find a vase for them.”
The woman hurried over, took the flowers from Yao Chiyue, and then looked at Qiao Mengdi with a friendly and admiring smile, as if saying, Sending flowers, well done.
Qiao Mengdi smiled at her again and hurried to catch up with Yao Chiyue, who had already entered the inner office.
As expected, the inner room was even more transparent and bright. Although the decor was minimalist, it gave off an extraordinary vibe. The desks and chairs had the distinct coldness of high-tech materials.
Lunch was already set on the coffee table in the office.
“It’s just a temporary working meal, make do with it.” After saying this, Yao Chiyue sat down.
“Actually, I’m not that hungry,” Qiao Mengdi said as she sat down. “I just had a sandwich before I messaged you. By the way, I was with Sister Weiwei.”
“Weiwei?” Yao Chiyue, who was wiping her hands with a towel, stopped her movement and looked at Qiao Mengdi.
“Yes, I happened to run into her in front of a pastry shop.”
“You didn’t say so earlier.”
“I wanted to come see you, Sister Yao,” Qiao Mengdi said honestly. She also wiped her hands with a wet towel. The towel was still warm, evidently freshly prepared.
“Didn’t we see each other yesterday and the day before?”
Yao Chiyue raised her phoenix eyes, as if confirming just how clingy Qiao Mengdi was.
“But we haven’t seen each other today!” Realizing the other party already knew she liked her, Qiao Mengdi had given up on hiding it.
“Then look all you want.”
Though she spoke with an air of indifference, Qiao Mengdi felt she was intentionally or unintentionally flirting.
“Can I really look all I want?” Since it’s impolite not to reciprocate, Qiao Mengdi not only accepted the challenge but threw it back.
“When have I ever told a lie?”
Damn it! Qiao Mengdi was immediately unable to hold her ground. She feared Yao Chiyue’s serious tone and gaze the most; it made it impossible for her to continue being frivolous.
“Never.”
The two of them picked up their chopsticks simultaneously. Although it was called a “working meal,” it was actually quite sumptuous. The meat and vegetables were well-balanced, and the dishes were exquisite: beef brisket, fried hairtail fish, stir-fried green beans, braised eggplant, bok choy, and the crab meat soup looked very sophisticated.
“Are you sure about going to France?”
Qiao Mengdi knew Yao Chiyue was talking about the wedding photos. “We only have three days; is there enough time?”
She was somewhat worried; the schedule was too tight.
“It’s about enough.”
Qiao Mengdi felt that if Yao Chiyue said it was enough, it was enough. She trusted her.
“By the way, Sister Yao, there’s an idiom whose meaning I don’t quite understand.”
Yao Chiyue’s chopsticks paused over a dish. She looked up at Qiao Mengdi, signaling for her to speak.
“It’s ‘Shen Hun Dian Dao’ infatuated/head over heels,” Qiao Mengdi had intended to be very calm and believed she could handle this little flirtation. Unexpectedly, before she even finished, Yao Chiyue’s gaze made her face heat up uncontrollably. However, she managed to finish her sentence. “Exactly what kind of state can be described as ‘Shen Hun Dian Dao’?”