Wen Zhilu: “…”
——
The following day.
Yan Yunning and her assistant arrived at Wen Zhilu’s office with documents in hand. Before they even went in, they heard Wen Zhilu growl, “Mu Zhizhi! You’re fired!!!”
Mu Zhizhi’s voice trembled with softness. “Director Wen, I… I’ll get you a new cup. Please don’t fire me. If you fire me, what will my starving brother do?”
The assistant who had led Yan Yunning to the president’s office twitched at the corners of her mouth and muttered quietly, “Every time you go around asking Director Wen to dock your pay, you never stop to think about your brother who can’t afford to eat.”
Yan Yunning asked with amusement, “Why does she voluntarily ask for her pay to be docked?”
“Director Yan, you don’t know — Mu Zhizhi’s actual work ability is beyond reproach, but her social intelligence just isn’t there. She always ends up making Director Wen angry, so then she asks him to dock her pay. But Director Wen has never actually docked it even once. If it weren’t for her strong work performance, Director Wen would have fired her long ago.”
Yan Yunning gave a nod to show she understood.
Hearing the office go quiet, the assistant knocked on the door, and upon receiving Wen Zhilu’s permission, pushed it open for Yan Yunning.
Inside the office, Mu Zhizhi was holding a cat, gripping Wen Zhilu’s coffee mug in her hand, and apologizing pitifully.
She had lain awake half the night thinking it over — she couldn’t let Senior Wen think she was just making things up and deliberately alluding to him. So first thing that morning, she had gone to a pet shop, bought a little kitten, and brought it to the office to prove that she hadn’t been lying and hadn’t been pointing fingers at him on purpose.
She just hadn’t known that this little kitten would do its business inside Senior Wen’s coffee mug.
She had actually thought they were coffee beans.
Wen Zhilu, furious enough to yank at his tie, said, “Get out.”
“Director Wen, please don’t be angry. I’ll return the kitten right away… no, I mean send it back. And I’ll replace your coffee mug with a new one.”
With that, Mu Zhizhi turned around, holding the cat. Spotting Yan Yunning, she called out “Sister!” and trotted out of the office.
Yan Yunning shook her head with a smile. She hadn’t expected Mu Heng’s little sister to be this entertaining.
“Very funny?” Wen Zhilu walked over to the water dispenser with a sour expression and poured Yan Yunning a cup of water.
Yan Yunning told the truth. “Very funny.”
“Yan Yunning?”
Yan Yunning smiled, her eyes curving. “I wasn’t laughing at you. I’m just feeling like smiling today.”
Wen Zhilu: “…”
“Lulu.” Yan Yunning took the water from his hand and asked with a smile, “Are you really going to fire Zhizhi?”
Wen Zhilu’s eyes shifted slightly. “Out of consideration for her brother’s face, she can stay for now.”
“Oh~” Yan Yunning drew out the syllable. “Out of consideration for her brother’s face~”
“What else?” Knowing Yan Yunning was coming today, Wen Zhilu handed her the breakfast he had prepared in advance.
“Her brother went out of his way to seek a partnership with me just so his sister could work as my assistant. If I turn around and kick her out now, how would that look on me?”
Yan Yunning nodded with a grin. “I understand, I understand.”
Wen Zhilu rolled his eyes at her, took the documents from her hands, and signed his name without even looking at them.
“Aren’t you afraid that I…”
Wen Zhilu cut her off without ceremony. “Be quiet.”
Yan Yunning: “…”
“Is there anything else on the work schedule?” Wen Zhilu handed her the signed contract.
“Yes, one more contract to finalize and then I’ll head back.”
Wen Zhilu nodded. “Then until next time.”
Yan Yunning’s bright eyes curved slightly. “Lulu, I think Zhizhi is quite nice…”
Wen Zhilu moved to show her the door. “Out.”
“…” Yan Yunning took a sip of the red date soy milk Wen Zhilu had handed her earlier, then said earnestly, “What I meant to say is, next time there’s a gathering, bring her along. I like her very much.”
“And stop making excuses about being busy with work.”
Wen Zhilu looked up at her. “Understood.”
Yan Yunning raised the soy milk in her hand. “Very good. Until next time.”
“Mm.”
——
Walking out of the building, Yan Yunning turned and looked up at the towering structure before her. Inside the office, Wen Zhilu stood at the floor-to-ceiling window, watching her small figure at the base of the tall building.
“Mrs. Xuan, what are you looking at?” A man bent close to Yan Yunning’s ear, his voice low and soft.
Yan Yunning spun around and, seeing Xuan Yanyu — whom she hadn’t seen all day — flung herself at him like a kangaroo. “Hubby, what brought you here?”
She had already tried to shorten her schedule as much as possible. She hadn’t expected Xuan Xixi to come find her.
Xuan Yanyu held her and walked toward the car, lazily saying, “Without you by my side, I don’t feel very safe. So I finished a few days’ worth of work early and came to see you.”
Yan Yunning giggled. “How are you not safe?”
She would shorten her trip and get home to see him sooner.
And he had finished his work early to come find her.
Xuan Yanyu, with a flair for the dramatic, recounted what had happened at the Jueye Club the previous night. Yan Yunning listened with a furrowed brow, then questioned, “Hubby, are you sure someone dared to splash wine on you???”
She could believe the part about someone using their hair to brush against the back of his hand while he wasn’t paying attention, and folding his suit jacket. But a frantic, desperate splash of wine aimed at him? She didn’t believe that for one second.
Who would dare?
Xuan Yanyu kissed her lips lightly. “Never mind whether they dared or not. The point is I really did suffer a great deal, and it was all because you weren’t by my side.”
Yan Yunning: “…”
Reaching the car, Xuan Yanyu lifted Yan Yunning into the passenger seat, then flicked a finger against her pert little nose. “Tonight, comfort me properly, and I’ll be able to forget last night’s grievances.”
Yan Yunning: “…”
It was confirmed — he was talking nonsense!!!
Once Xuan Yanyu arrived, Yan Yunning’s remaining work arrangements were all handed off to Ye Jian.
After that, Xuan Yanyu took Yan Yunning and the two of them began to play around everywhere.
The first day, they went together to a DIY bakery, made a handcrafted cake, and went to an archery hall where Xuan Yanyu patiently taught Yan Yunning to shoot.
The second day, they went to an amusement park for go-karting, rode the Ferris wheel, and had couple photos taken.
The third day, they picked up seashells by the sea, watched the sunrise and sunset, and attended a concert.
On the last day, Yan Yunning was once again dragged, pulled, and carried by Xuan Yanyu into a haunted house.
Yan Yunning had never had much courage. Throughout the whole experience she was like a plush keychain dangling from a bag, unable to move even an inch away from Xuan Yanyu’s side.
After coming out of the haunted house, she was fine during the day — but the moment night fell and she closed her eyes, the memories of the haunted house came flooding back. As a result, with Xuan Yanyu not by her side, she simply could not fall asleep.
So once darkness settled in, Yan Yunning became exceptionally clingy.
Xuan Yanyu’s mouth said he would never take her again, but the amusement in his expression didn’t fade in the slightest — or rather, the delight welling up inside him was impossible to suppress.
Yan Yunning suspected he had deliberately coaxed her into the haunted house, precisely for this purpose.
The little plush-keychain Ningning squinted her eyes at the scheming Yanyu and voiced the suspicion in her heart.
The man looked at her with perfect innocence. “Wife, how could I? I just never went as a child and wanted to see what it was like.”
He had made arrangements in advance — the haunted house’s actors had been thinned out considerably, and the costumes and props had been swapped. He wanted her to rely on him, but he hadn’t meant to genuinely frighten her.
Yan Yunning didn’t believe him for a second. “How could you not have? Xuan Xixi, you absolutely did it on purpose.”