A small candy

Chapter 22 Do You Mean to Reject Me?
Was Cheng Zhixu drunk and out of his mind, or was she obsessed with him day and night? This was Jian Ling's first thought.

She rubbed her eyes and read the sentence over and over again.

"If I become your boyfriend, can I not quit my job?"

Especially this sentence, she repeated it silently several times. Cheng Zhixu wanted to be her boyfriend?

He already has someone he likes, and he still wants to be her boyfriend? There must be something wrong with his brain. He doesn't look like a two-timing scumbag, so how could he have such a shameless mindset?

Jian Ling did not reply. Even though her cheeks were burning and her heart was beating like a drum, she was not fooled by his sweet words.

It was getting late. If she didn't sleep, she would be late again tomorrow. Thinking of this, Jian Ling decisively put down her phone, closed her eyes, and tried to clear her mind of chaotic thoughts.

However, things went against her wishes, and she couldn't help but think about Cheng Zhixu's words.

He was a nuisance. Not only did he make her self-indulgent, but he also caused her to suffer from insomnia, irritability, and unbearable mania.

On the other side, Cheng Zhixu was so eager to reveal his thoughts to her, but in return he was met with a long silence. He waited for half an hour, but there was no movement from the other side.

She had said she liked him and wanted to pursue him, even giving up her life as a young lady to become an intern at his company, and had even made a detailed plan to pursue him. Now that he had taken the initiative to confess his feelings to her, she remained indifferent. He couldn't figure out what had gone wrong.

Could it be that she fell in love with the blind date?
Ye Guizhou's words lingered in his ears. He said that when Jian Ling was little, she said she wanted to marry a doctor when she grew up. Thinking of this, it was not impossible for her to fall in love with Doctor Chen.

Cheng Zhixu pressed his finger knuckles against his brow, feeling a little depressed.

That night, neither the person who confessed his love nor the one who was confessed to had a good sleep.

-

After staying awake until 2:30 AM the previous night, Jian Ling woke up early the next morning, a rare occurrence. She was late just yesterday and felt embarrassed to be late again.

The morning air is very fresh, and the golden sunlight shines through the gaps between the branches and leaves and falls to the ground, covering the lush low green plants along the main road.

After Jian Ling had breakfast, she passed under a tree and heard the chirping of birds. She looked up and kicked the stones under her feet as she walked forward.

She didn't ask the family driver to take her there. She walked out of the villa gate and took a taxi to the company.

I arrived too early, and the cleaning staff in the lobby on the first floor of the company were still cleaning. The floor was wiped as smooth and bright as a mirror, and I was reluctant to take off my high heels.

Jian Ling had run into Cheng Zhixu in the lobby downstairs several times before. She subconsciously looked towards the president's exclusive elevator, only to see a bright yellow plastic sign in front of the elevator door that read "Under Maintenance."

Jian Ling withdrew her gaze and pressed the ordinary employee elevator.

After a while, the elevator came down and the door opened. She stepped in, her high heels clicking. There were two staggered footsteps behind her, and someone followed in. When Jian Ling turned around, she realized that the people behind her were Cheng Zhixu and his assistant.

Unexpectedly, her eyes met Cheng Zhixu's in mid-air.

Jian Ling was flustered and looked away hurriedly. She pressed the 26th floor, thought for a moment, and out of courtesy helped Cheng Zhixu press the 48th floor.

Minglang noticed her and greeted her with a smile: "Good morning, Miss Jian."

Normally, he was the president's special assistant, and Jian Ling was a small intern in the planning department, so he shouldn't call her "Miss Jian" in the company. The reason he called her that was 100% for Cheng Zhixu's sake.

Jian Ling hid in the corner, avoiding his sight, and said with her red lips: "Good morning."

The elevator was so small that even though Jian Ling was slender and hid far away, she was still within Cheng Zhixu's sight. He lowered his eyes slightly and could see the top of her hair.

Jian Ling's body stiffened, and the words of confession that had troubled her the entire evening emerged in her mind. She opened her mouth, wanting to ask something, but because Minglang was there, she didn't dare to say it.

Cheng Zhixu looked at her with complicated eyes for a while, and when he saw that she had no reaction, he looked away.

The elevator went up quietly and reached the 26th floor first. Jian Ling breathed a sigh of relief and walked out without looking back, but she knew someone was watching her.

We don't have eyes on the back of our heads, but we can sense where people are looking at us. This must be another amazing thing about humans.

There was no one in the Planning Department's office. Jian Ling sat down, leaning her head back in the chair, feeling a strong sense of sleepiness. She wanted to make a cup of coffee to relieve her sleepiness, but when she remembered that she was still taking medicine, she had to give up the idea.

About twenty minutes later, the office gradually became lively. Everyone sat in their own cubicles and chatted about some meaningless topics.

"Did you watch that guy's live broadcast last night? I grabbed a lot of skin care products, they're cheaper than those sold in the store." It was Qiu Shuang's voice.

"Is it reliable? Don't buy fakes." It was the voice of Lin Xiaoran who was working at the workstation next to Qiu Shuang.

“It should be true.”

"Hey, speaking of last night, my boyfriend and I spent some money for once and had dinner at a revolving restaurant. Guess who I met?" Lin Xiaoran smiled mysteriously, deliberately keeping the other person in suspense.

Several female colleagues who were drinking coffee together shook their heads and said they couldn't guess.

Lin Xiaoran leaned her hips against the edge of the table, put her hands to her mouth and said in a low voice, "The one on the top floor."

"You said...Mr. Cheng?" Qiu Shuang exclaimed.

Jian Ling was almost asleep, but she suddenly woke up when she heard the words "Mr. Cheng". She squinted her eyes to look at the group of people over there, and pricked up her ears to listen.

Lin Xiaoran said, "Yes! Mr. Cheng had an appointment there to discuss work. He was sitting by the window, quite far from where we were. He probably didn't see me, and even if he did, he probably wouldn't have recognized me. I saw that he seemed to have drunk quite a bit, and when the meeting was over, he was helped out by Special Assistant Ming."

"Oh, even big bosses can't escape this trick when entertaining people." Someone sighed.

The topic quickly shifted to other places. Someone asked where the revolving restaurant was located, what the environment was like, what the dishes were like, and whether it was cost-effective.

Lin Xiaoran's voice was filled with a hint of boasting. "It's French food. The restaurant is truly beautiful, with floor-to-ceiling windows on three sides overlooking most of the city. I'm a bit afraid of heights, so I didn't dare look down. Looking up and seeing the starry sky was quite romantic. The dishes were just average. The foie gras, which cost four hundred yuan a plate, wasn't very tasty, if I may be frank. And the soup, I couldn't even tell what it was made of..."

The others either agreed or remained silent, with a hint of contempt in their hearts.

Jian Ling didn't hear what she said next. Her mind was full of Cheng Zhixu being drunk and relying on Special Assistant Ming to support him when he walked out of the restaurant.

He was drunk, no wonder... no wonder he said that. Fortunately, she didn't agree to his request on impulse last night, otherwise she really didn't know how it would end.

They had just run into each other in the elevator, and Cheng Zhixu hadn't said a word, perhaps because he was overwhelmed with regret and couldn't face her. After all, that WeChat message couldn't be retracted after a certain time had passed, and every time he clicked on it, it was glaringly visible, making him incredibly embarrassed.

Jian Ling patted her cheeks to sober herself up.

-

Ever since learning that Jian Ling was about to resign, Dai Wangchu felt reluctant and tried every way to persuade her to stay, but Jian Ling remained unmoved.

"Chu Chu, I know you can't bear to leave me, but I've made up my mind." Jian Ling swallowed the pills one by one and took the time to talk to her, "We can still make an appointment to go shopping together in the future when we're not busy."

Dai Wangchu sighed, unable to persuade her.

Jian Ling finished her pre-meal medicine and looked at the time. It was time for lunch. She hadn't rested well last night, so she hadn't had much energy all morning. She didn't feel like moving at the moment. "Let's order takeout. What do you want?"

Dai Wangchu: "I don't care."

Jian Ling pushed the water cup aside, fumbled for her phone, opened the food delivery app, and picked and chose from the dazzling array of food, muttering to herself, "I want to eat maocai. I wonder if I can order it without the spicy sauce."

Dai Wangchu dragged his chair over to watch: "Without the chili, it has no soul."

"Oh, right. I'd rather have the braised pork ribs rice." Jian Ling nodded and looked at her. "Which one do you want? Don't tell me it's up to you. The restaurant doesn't have this dish."

Dai Wangchu was amused: "I want teriyaki chicken rice, plus a bowl of tomato soup."

"Then I'll have another bowl of soup too." Jian Ling muttered and added two servings of tomato and egg soup.

She had just placed the order when she heard Dai Wangchu ask her how much it cost. She transferred the money to him, and then two messages popped up on the top of her phone.

One is a reminder that the order was successfully placed, and the other is a WeChat message.

Cheng Zhixu: "Come up."

Those two concise words made Jian Ling's heart skip a beat. Her movements froze and she almost dropped the phone.

Dai Wangchu slid his universal wheelchair to his workstation, reached for his cell phone, and asked again how much the teriyaki chicken rice with tomato soup cost.

No one answered her.

Dai Wangchu looked up in confusion, only to see Jian Ling looking distracted. She waved her hand in front of her eyes, hoping it would bring her back to her senses, but she still didn't react.

Dai Wangchu then pushed her arm and said, "What are you thinking about? I asked you how much money it was and I transferred it to you. I asked you several times but you didn't hear me."

"Wait a moment." Jian Ling stood up. "I have something to do, so I have to go out first."

Before Dai Wangchu could ask what was going on, Jian Ling ran away.

It was the 48th floor again. Jian Ling thought, if she came a few more times, she would be able to count the tiles in the corridor. She walked all the way to the CEO's office with her head tilted.

After knocking on the door once, she heard Cheng Zhixu's voice from inside: "Come in."

Jian Ling pushed open the door and looked around. There was no one else in the office except him, which made her feel relieved.

"Mr. Cheng, you're looking for me."

Cheng Zhixu was not sitting at his desk, but at a long white table on the other side. There were several lunch boxes on the table, with steam rising and the air filled with fragrance. It seemed that it was the lunch that had just been delivered.

What made Jian Ling feel strange was that there was a set of bowls and chopsticks and a glass of bright yellow orange juice on the seat opposite Cheng Zhixu.

Cheng Zhixu leaned back in his chair and looked at her from a distance: "Come and sit."

Jian Ling couldn't help but let out an "ah" in a rising tone, extremely unconvinced that the seat was reserved for her.

Cheng Zhixu repeated: "Come and sit across from me."

Jian Ling was a little confused, and her steps became slower and slower. Finally, she reached the dining table, adjusted her skirt, sat down in the empty seat opposite, and looked at him in confusion.

Cheng Zhixu picked up the chopsticks, picked up a piece of chicken and put it in her bowl: "Eat it."

Jian Ling watched him while holding her chopsticks and eating the chicken nuggets he picked up. Because she had doubts in her mind, she couldn't taste what the food in her mouth was like.

Cheng Zhixu lowered his eyes, knowing she was looking at him, and reminded her: "Don't let your mind wander while eating, it will cause indigestion."

Jian Ling blushed, buried her head in eating, and accidentally choked.

Cheng Zhixu raised his head: "Did you choke? Drink some water."

Jian Ling looked at the glass of orange juice. One of the medicines she was taking conflicted with oranges. Chen Xulin had warned her not to eat oranges, and of course not to drink orange juice, so she didn't touch it.

Cheng Zhixu didn't care and picked up some more food for her.

Jian Ling became increasingly confused: "Mr. Cheng, I..."

"Mr. Cheng?" Cheng Zhixu paused his chopsticks in mid-air, his eyes deep. He had originally planned to talk to her after they finished eating, but now it seemed that she wouldn't be able to concentrate on eating unless he finished first. "Don't you know what the message I sent you last night meant? Or do you not like me?"

With a snap, the chopsticks in Jian Ling's hand fell on the table. Her eyes flickered slightly, and she was at a loss.

Cheng Zhixu looked at her with a forced smile on his face, and asked her word by word, "You received the message, right? Then why didn't you reply to my message last night?" He paused, then restrained his smile and asked seriously, "Does not replying mean you are rejecting me?"

　What does it mean? Don't you have any idea?
　　Cheng Zhixu: ...No, I don’t understand.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)