A small candy

Chapter 25 I Misunderstood Again

The scene was in chaos, and Jian Ling ultimately failed to snatch the card back. Fan Yijun turned his back, pushed aside several of the onlookers, and stood three steps away, reading aloud: "To Jian Ling—Wishing you peace, happiness, and all the best! P.S. Giving roses is a man's thing. Signed: CZX."

While everyone was stunned, Jian Ling snatched the card, took a look at it, carefully closed it, put it back into the rose, and looked at others nervously.

The result was unexpected, no one seemed to guess who sent the flowers.

"CZX? Who is that? Not from our department, right?" Qiu Shuang plugged in the names of several unmarried male colleagues in the planning department, but found that the first letters didn't match.

Fan Yijun looked a little surprised. She glanced at the supervisor's office nearby and thought...

Dai Wangchu knew the inside story. The moment the card was flipped open, her heart, like Jian Ling's, leaped. As far as she knew, Jian Ling didn't want to publicly announce her relationship with Mr. Cheng. Not to mention the fact that he was the head of a group, even if he was just an ordinary person, it wouldn't be possible for a relationship to become public knowledge in less than a day.

Fortunately, fortunately Mr. Cheng’s identity is sensitive enough.

Even though everyone in the company knew the name "Cheng Zhixu", no one at this moment associated it with that person because it was too outrageous.

As Jian Ling breathed a sigh of relief, her expression turned grim. She looked through the people in front of her and stared at Fan Yijun behind her.

"Don't you ever learn to respect other people's privacy?" Jian Ling said coldly. This time, she was really annoyed. She disregarded the friendship between colleagues and showed no mercy. "Last time, they took a video without my permission and posted it to the company group. It's been so long now. Whenever I go to other departments to do work, people will ask me what's going on in the video. It's quite annoying. Just now, it was the same. That was a card someone wrote to me. It's my personal property. Did you ask for my permission before taking it and looking at it? Not only did you look at it, but you also read it out loud in public. Why are you so annoying?"

Fan Yijun's face changed, turning red and white.

Just as she was about to argue, Jian Ling attacked again: "Next time, when someone else's package arrives, will you open it first? Didn't your teacher teach you not to touch other people's personal belongings when you were in school?"

Fan Yijun's lips trembled, his face flushed with anger, and he took a step forward: "You are making a big deal out of nothing! Who wants to touch you..."

"Not interested?" Jian Ling snorted coldly, "Was it the puppy who touched my things just now?"

Seeing the supervisor's gaze sweeping over, everyone scattered like birds and beasts.

Fan Yijun glared at Jian Ling, didn't argue with her anymore, and returned to his workstation.

-

Jian Ling was busy until seven o'clock in the evening before she got off work. She turned off the computer, stood up and stretched, her eyes fell on the roses placed in the corner of the table, she stretched out her index finger to poke the petals, feeling happy.

She picked up the roses and remembered that she had not yet told Cheng Zhixu that she had received them, so she took out her cell phone from her bag and turned on the screen as she walked.

Suddenly, Jian Ling stopped in her tracks and saw that Cheng Zhixu had sent her a WeChat message half an hour ago. Perhaps she was too busy with work and didn't hear the notification tone.

Cheng Zhixu: "What time do you get off work?"

Jian Ling quickly replied: "I was busy and didn't pay attention, so I just saw the message. I just got off work and was about to go home."

Immediately afterwards, Jian Ling sent another message: "...Received your roses."

Cheng Zhixu: "Go to the underground parking lot, I'll take you back."

Jian Ling: "You haven't left yet?"

Cheng Zhixu: "Isn't this waiting for you?"

Jian Ling put away her phone, hid her face behind the roses, lowered her head and smiled, her eyes full of tenderness and affection. She was truly more beautiful than flowers.

In the underground parking lot, the familiar car turned on its hazard lights. Jian Ling trotted over in her high heels, opened the back door, put the roses in her arms inside, and then went around to sit in the passenger seat.

"You don't need to use your hazard lights. I know your car and your parking space." Jian Ling tilted her head, pulled out her seat belt, buckled it, and sat upright. "You're too conspicuous like this. Someone will find you."

Cheng Zhixu supported the steering wheel with one hand, glanced at her sideways, nodded in understanding, and teased, "No wonder you saw me 'kissing' with another woman in the car. It turns out you are so familiar with my car."

Jian Ling was frustrated: "Don't mention it again, I know I misunderstood you."

Cheng Zhixu hummed softly, started the car, turned the steering wheel with one hand, and backed the car out of the parking space in a few seconds, driving out of the underground parking lot smoothly and quickly.

"What do you think?" Cheng Zhixu lowered the car window halfway, letting in the cool breeze. "You don't want to make our relationship public?"

Jian Ling turned and looked at him: "Is it okay?"

The neon lights on the roadside gradually lit up, and the night scene was prosperous and dazzling. Cheng Zhixu looked straight ahead: "It depends on your opinion. I don't care."

Just now, in the parking lot, he was sitting in the driver's seat when he saw her emerge from the elevator. She poked her head out, glanced furtively around, and then made sure no one was around before stepping out. Then, seeing his car with its hazard lights on, she freaked out and trotted over, clutching her bag, like a thief. It made him both angry and amused. Was he really that shameful?
Jian Ling hesitated for a moment, holding onto the car window to enjoy the breeze. Her voice drifted into his ears along with the wind: "Does the company have a rule prohibiting employees from having romantic relationships?"

"No." Cheng Zhixu glanced at her and reminded her, "Pull your head back and don't lean on the car window."

Jian Ling was startled and quickly retracted her head to sit down, secretly glancing at him. The tone of his voice was exactly the same as when her father scolded her.

Cheng Zhixu: "It doesn't matter even if there is such a rule. The boss is not among the employees."

Jian Ling choked. He sounded so confident. She lowered her head, fiddling with the bag on her lap. She wrapped the chain around her fingertips, round and round. After a long moment of thought, she looked up and said, "Can we keep this a secret for now? I'm still an intern, and it's too weird to be the boss's girlfriend and not be able to do anything."

The relationship between colleagues was already a mess, and with the title of "Mr. Cheng's girlfriend", it would probably be even worse.

Cheng Zhixu respected her decision: "Okay, since you think so, then don't make it public. Remember to tell me if you have anything to say. You can call me anytime."

Jian Ling nodded solemnly: "Okay!"

While chatting idly, Jian Ling looked up at one moment and saw the huge green road sign above the road ahead. She realized the problem: "This is not the way home!"

"Why not?" Cheng Zhixu was startled by her sudden surprise and immediately checked the navigation map to make sure he was on the right road. "It's only about 600 meters away."

Jian Ling followed the navigation and quickly realized that they were communicating on the wrong channel. She stroked her forehead and said, "I've been staying at home recently, not in your apartment."

Cheng Zhixu was stunned: "Then this..." Jian Ling: "Forget it, I'll call my mom and won't go home tonight."

Cheng Zhixu didn't say anything else. He drove all the way and parked the car in an open-air parking space in front of a large supermarket 300 meters away from the community. He unbuckled his seat belt and reminded Jian Ling: "Get out of the car."

Jian Ling peered out the car window. The supermarket entrance was ablaze with lights, still bustling with people even at night. In the small square nearby, local dance music played, and colorful lights flashed non-stop. An elderly man walking his dog skirted the path around the stone pillars and headed toward the square.

"You want to buy something?"

Cheng Zhixu tapped her forehead: "Have you eaten?"

"No."

"Can you cook?"

"will not."

"I can." Cheng Zhixu stepped forward and unbuckled her seatbelt. "Why don't you get off quickly? Are you planning on getting takeout tonight?"

Jian Ling followed Cheng Zhixu around the supermarket. Later, she realized what he meant. She picked up an eggplant and looked at him in surprise: "You want to cook for me?"

Cheng Zhixu took the eggplant from her hand and casually threw a head of lettuce into the shopping cart: "Isn't this what you meant when you liked my WeChat Moments?"

Jian Ling slowed down his pace, thinking as he walked, he must be talking about...she liked the New Year's Eve dinner post he sent?
"I didn't mean to ask you to cook for me." She explained weakly.

"Oh, I misunderstood again." Cheng Zhixu saw that she was walking slower and slower, so he simply stopped to wait for her. There were children running around nearby, and it was easy for them to bump into people. He pulled her arm and asked her to walk on the other side of the shopping cart.

Cheng Zhixu was responsible for reading out the ingredients, and Jian Ling was responsible for picking them from the shelves.

"Mr. Cheng, do you think you have a bit of a dry sense of humor?" Jian Ling waved a bag of mushrooms in front of him. He confirmed that they were okay and nodded, and she put them in the shopping cart.

However, Cheng Zhixu did not comment on her evaluation.

Jian Ling was afraid he didn't understand, so she explained in more detail, "It was just a serious joke. What you just said, 'I misunderstood again,' was quite funny."

"You have a low sense of humor." Cheng Zhixu took her hand, placed it on the shopping cart's armrest, let her push the cart, and he turned to pick out local chickens.

Jian Ling stretched her neck to watch him pick and choose among a pile of processed chickens, and finally selected a medium-sized one and put it in the shopping cart.

"Is there any particularity in choosing this?" She, who was lazy and didn't know the difference between grains, expressed her curiosity.

"There are different varieties. Some are suitable for stir-frying, some are suitable for blanching, and some are suitable for stewing soup." Cheng Zhixu said.

"Oh." Jian Ling looked at the shopping cart piled high and thought about how many dishes it could make. "That's enough. The two of us can't eat that much."

Cheng Zhixu took a look and felt that it was about time, so he took her to check out and drove back to the apartment carrying the bags.

The house originally belonged to Cheng Zhixu, so he was naturally familiar with the place. Without needing Jian Ling's instructions, he bent down and pulled out slippers from the shoe cabinet. Without wasting any time, he took off his suit, unbuttoned his cuffs, and rolled up his sleeves, revealing a toned, flowing forearm. He also took off his watch and tossed it on the wooden cabinet.

"Play in the living room by yourself. I'll go cook."

After saying that, Cheng Zhixu calmly walked into the kitchen, found an apron and put it on, and started cooking the chicken vigorously, then washed the vegetables and cut them with a knife.

Jian Ling went upstairs and changed into a comfortable home outfit. She tied her long hair into a bun, went downstairs, and called Ye Xianxin with her cell phone in her hand.

"It's a bit late to finish overtime, so I won't go home and stay in the apartment." She said in a low voice, touching her nose guiltily.

"Why are you working overtime again? You're moving out just as you're feeling better. You're really... a worry." Ye Xian muttered, "Then how are you going to handle dinner? Should I ask Auntie to come over and cook for you now?"

"No, no, that's not necessary." Jian Ling glanced into the kitchen, closed her eyes, and continued to lie, "I'll finish eating outside before going back. Don't worry, I won't starve myself. That's all, bye."

Hearing the ping-pong sounds in the kitchen, Jian Ling couldn't sit still in the living room. An idea came to her mind, so she quietly got up and walked over, leaning on the door frame to look inside.

The chicken they bought was already being stewed in a white casserole, and Cheng Zhixu was chopping lettuce.

The tall man stood in front of the kitchen counter, his head slightly lowered, and cut the bamboo shoots one by one. A long row of bamboo shoots were neatly arranged on the chopping board, which was extremely pleasing to the eye.

Jian Ling instantly transformed into a little fangirl, staring at him intently. She was used to seeing him strategizing in the office, so this was completely unfamiliar to her, and all the more appealing.

Cheng Zhixu seemed to have eyes on his back and said without turning his head, "Come here."

Jian Ling straightened her back and walked into the kitchen in slippers. She rolled up the sleeves of her loose sweatshirt and tilted her head to look at the sliced bamboo shoots on the chopping board, then at the few mushrooms next to them. "Is there anything I can help you with? I'm embarrassed to let you do the labor alone. I can wash the vegetables..."

There was no need to wash the vegetables. Cheng Zhixu pinched her waist and pulled her over, holding her between his arms and the sink, with his palms resting on the edge of the sink.

His movement was so sudden that Jian Ling couldn't keep up and one of her slippers fell off.

Her body was forced to rise, and her bare foot rested weakly on the ground. Her white instep was stretched straight, enduring his urgent and somewhat forceful kiss.

Different from the brief and gentle exploration in the office at noon, at this moment, it was as if a gust of wind blew through Jian Ling's mind, and in the blink of an eye, nothing was left.

It's like the crashing waves against the rocks on the shore, the sudden spring rain falling in the woods, the muffled thunder in midsummer suddenly ringing in the middle of the night, and my heart tightens.

Gradually, Jian Ling could no longer stand and her body slid down. Cheng Zhixu noticed it and his eyelids fluttered. He slipped his arm under her armpit, lifted her up a little, hugged her tightly, tilted her head, and kissed her more deeply.

"Thanks for your labor." Cheng Zhixu said after a long time.

　Cheng Zhixu: Dry humor? Haha, you don't know me well enough.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)