Ji Qingtang: “…”
She rubbed her temples and walked out. The man was sitting on the small sofa in the lounge, casually flipping through a magazine from the table.
Seeing her come out, he raised an eyebrow. “Let’s go.”
“Go where?”
“To eat, obviously,” he said, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
Ji Qingtang shook her head. Shen Qian said unhurriedly, “Have you ever been to Ximi’s?”
Without waiting for her to answer, he continued, “I hear their sweet and sour ribs, spicy diced chicken, and spicy rabbit head are amazing. Oh, and their spicy fish is really famous too.”
Ji Qingtang’s feet turned around, and she put on a smile. “Let’s go.”
If it’s not as good as you say, you’re dead.
Shen Qian looked triumphant. In truth, even if Ji Qingtang had refused again, he had plenty of other ways to get her to eat.
On the way, Ji Qingtang asked casually, ”How did you get my WeChat?”
Shen Qian glanced over at her, his gaze flat, as if to say, are you an idiot?
They were business partners—getting her WeChat was perfectly normal.
Ji Qingtang said nothing more and sat obediently in her seat, waiting to arrive at the restaurant.
The car pulled up smoothly in front of the restaurant. The attendant at the door took Shen Qian’s keys. Shen Qian got out, walked around to the other side of the car, and stopped at the front of it.
Ji Qingtang got out and walked over. Seeing his gesture, she raised an eyebrow. “Let’s go.”
At the table that had been reserved in advance, Shen Qian very “gentlemanly” pulled out a chair, gesturing for Ji Qingtang to sit.
Ji Qingtang pretended not to see it and walked right past, sitting down in a chair on the other side.
Shen Qian nodded and sat down across from her.
Ji Qingtang was holding back laughter.
Shen Qian had already had the food ordered ahead of time before leaving work, so as soon as they arrived, the dishes could be served right away.
Ji Qingtang looked at the table full of food. “Why did you order so much?”
“Don’t talk. Just eat.”
Ji Qingtang looked over the dishes—every single one was something she liked. After a moment’s thought, she decisively started eating.
No talking, no paying, just eating—how could she pass up a deal like that?
Watching Ji Qingtang with her cheeks stuffed like a hamster’s, a smile gradually crept into Shen Qian’s eyes.
After the meal, Shen Qian went to the restroom. Ji Qingtang idly gazed at the table, picked clean like after a storm. Shen Qian had barely eaten anything—she’d eaten it all.
She felt a little embarrassed.
Her gaze drifted over the dishes one by one—sweet and sour ribs, spicy fish, chicken stewed with mushrooms—and her slightly upturned mouth slowly flattened.
Every one of these dishes was something she loved.
In all her years with Lu Xingye, he had never once ordered a dish she liked. Every time they ate out, it was always according to his taste.
She loved Lu Xingye, and she had been willing to change her own tastes for him. Over time, she had almost forgotten her own original preferences and habits.
He didn’t know what she liked to eat, didn’t know her style of dress. All he knew was that she loved him—loved him enough that he could trample on her without restraint.
Ji Qingtang sighed, thinking about how utterly foolish she used to be.
When Shen Qian came back, he saw the girl slumped dejectedly over the table. Walking over, he asked softly, “What’s wrong?”
Ji Qingtang stood up. “I’m done eating. Let’s go over the proposal.”
Shen Qian: …I want to talk about feelings, but you want to talk about work.
Shen Qian clicked his tongue, casually pulled over a chair right next to Ji Qingtang, sat down, and crossed his legs.
“Go ahead, then.”
Shen Qian watched, wide-eyed, as Ji Qingtang pulled an iPad out of a bag smaller than his hand.
Ji Qingtang pulled up the proposal she’d uploaded at noon. She had originally planned to fine-tune it during her lunch break.
Actually, it was already mostly done with no real issues left, so she was quite confident showing it to Shen Qian now.
“Take a look.” She handed over the tablet.
Shen Qian looked at her hands—so fair and slender—then shifted his gaze to the tablet and took it.
He read very carefully, his brow relaxing and furrowing by turns. Ji Qingtang stayed silent, afraid of disturbing him.
After a good while, Shen Qian finished reading. As he closed the document and returned to the home screen, his brow furrowed.
The tablet’s wallpaper was a photo of Ji Qingtang and Lu Xingye together.
The girl leaned on the boy’s shoulder, her smile bright as a flower.
What an eyesore.
“How is it?” Ji Qingtang asked, full of confidence.
Shen Qian stood up. “Not great.”
Ji Qingtang: “?”
He had already walked out of the restaurant. Ji Qingtang stuffed the tablet into her bag and hurried after him. “What’s the problem?”
Shen Qian thought for a moment and listed a few issues.
Ji Qingtang frowned. These were all tiny issues—ones that could hardly even be called issues. He was just nitpicking.
“Get in the car. I’ll take you back to the office.”
Ji Qingtang obediently got in the car and glanced sideways at Shen Qian. He seemed to be in a bad mood—it looked like it had started right after he read her proposal.
Could her proposal really be that hard to look at?
Tch. Or was President Shen just being nitpicky? Capitalists were all perfectionists.
Neither of them said a word on the way back.
Back at her desk, Ji Qingtang skipped her lunch break entirely and immediately started revising the proposal.
When she opened the tablet, she frowned, feeling that something was off.
Staring at the lush green wallpaper, Ji Qingtang fell deep into thought.
Her previous wallpaper had been a photo of her and Lu Xingye. Back then, Lu Xingye had unexpectedly agreed to be with her, and she’d been overjoyed beyond words.
They’d taken that photo, and it became her phone wallpaper, her computer wallpaper, and this tablet’s wallpaper.
Even though they’d taken plenty of photos afterward, this one was always her favorite.
The breakup had come without warning, and she hadn’t had time to erase all the traces Lu Xingye had left in her life.
So he wasn’t dissatisfied with the proposal—he was dissatisfied with her tablet wallpaper? And he’d gone ahead and changed it without asking?!
Fine, he changed it—but what was the deal with replacing it with something so green?!
She took out her phone and sent Shen Qian a WeChat message.
“Did you change my tablet wallpaper?”
The reply came quickly. “Yes.”
Then another message followed right after. “It was an eyesore, so I changed it. Got a problem with that?”
Ji Qingtang typed back through gritted teeth. “…Fine. Very satisfied.”
Then she immediately changed the wallpaper.