A small candy

Chapter 28 I thought I had you
Cheng Zhixu's words successfully made Jian Ling stay, but she didn't want to put herself at a disadvantage, so she crossed her arms and raised her chin slightly, looking like she was ready to accuse someone.

"Tell me, do you have any secrets that I don't know?"

Cheng Zhixu's gaze shifted upwards, landing on her face. Her expression was arrogant, hinting at curiosity. She clearly wanted to know, yet she was trying to feign indifference. Her acting was quite poor.

"I told you not to be angry." Cheng Zhixu leaned slightly to the side, supported his chin with his fingers, and had a faint smile on his lips, as if he was teasing a cat.

Jian Ling wouldn't fall for his trick: "You tell me first, then I'll decide whether to be angry or not."

Cheng Zhixu narrowed his eyes and thought for a while. As a man, he should give her some leeway. So he nodded and agreed, "Okay."

After waiting for a long time, Jian Ling didn't hear him utter a single word. She couldn't help but push him and said, "Why don't you say something?"

Cheng Zhixu scratched his brow with his fingertips, looking distressed: "I don't know where to start."

Jian Ling: “…”

So, how many secrets have you been hiding that you don’t even know where to begin?
Jian Ling was not only curious now, but also a little nervous. She had a strong premonition that what he said would not be a good thing.

Cheng Zhixu picked out the most important thing and said, "Do you know when you confessed to me?"

"I confessed to you?" Jian Ling felt her mind was severely shocked and dumbfounded. "You, you are mistaken, weren't you the one who confessed to me first? That night..."

"Before this, you got drunk the night I treated you to dinner." Cheng Zhixu interrupted her. "The next day you asked me if you got drunk and went crazy, and I said you didn't remember. Actually, that night, you told me you liked me and fell in love with me at first sight."

He nodded, indicating that he had not lied to her, and added: "You also said that the reason you came to work at Cheng Group was to pursue me."

Jian Ling: “…”

If time could go back, Jian Ling would definitely not stay to listen to his secrets out of curiosity. Is this a secret? This is a public execution!

Jian Ling covered her ears, her expression on the verge of collapse, but her tone was weak: "You are lying, I definitely didn't do it."

Cheng Zhixu laughed. "My driver was there when you made your drunken confession. Why don't you call him up and ask him? I won't say anything, so you can interrogate him yourself."

Without questioning the driver, Jian Ling was already certain that what he said was true. After all, the next morning after getting drunk, she had doubted what she had said; otherwise, Cheng Zhixu's response wouldn't have been so strange. Furthermore, if she hadn't spoken the truth while drunk, Cheng Zhixu wouldn't have known that she had fallen in love with him at first sight!
Cheng Zhixu changed his posture, propped his hand on his forehead and tilted his head to look at her: "Do you still want to know?"

Jian Ling, feeling ashamed but unable to control her inner curiosity, stared at him with a flushed face. Cheng Zhixu grasped her wrists and removed her hands from covering her ears.

"There's one more thing I'm not sure if I should tell you." Cheng Zhixu carefully observed her expression and said in a low voice, "I've read the plan you wrote to pursue someone."

Before her pupils could tremble, Cheng Zhixu said sincerely, "I saw it accidentally. I didn't go through your things on purpose."

This was what truly frightened Jane Ling. She couldn't recover for a long time, her mouth opening and closing as she automatically asked, "When...?"

"When I took you to meet an Italian client, you went to the bathroom and your notebook fell out of your bag. I accidentally took a look at it when I picked it up for you."

Jian Ling's brain was deprived of oxygen, her breathing stopped, and she completely lost her soul.

That is to say, he knew that everything she did before, such as asking him to help button the back of her skirt, was a show, but he did not expose her and was willing to play along with her.

At this moment, Jian Ling did not taste the sweetness in it. She only felt extremely embarrassed and ashamed. The temperature on her face rose sharply, and even an egg falling on it would be roasted.

"...Stop talking, I don't want to hear it anymore."

Enough, really enough, she didn't want to review the stupid things she had done and replay them again, she would lose face.

Cheng Zhixu tightly grasped her arm, pulled her closer, and whispered, "Actually, I'm quite curious. Because of the special circumstances at the time, I only read the first page. What plans do you have for pursuing me later..."

Jian Ling covered her mouth. Her aura didn't seem to be telling her to shut up, but rather to suffocate her: "I've already told you not to mention it again."

Cheng Zhixu blinked his exposed eyes, his dark pupils reflecting her angry face, making her unable to bear to look him in the eye. After a long moment, she loosened her hand and warned him, "Stop talking."

Cheng Zhixu raised his eyebrows and had to shut up.

However, after less than two minutes of silence, Cheng Zhixu couldn't contain his curiosity: "I want to know, who taught you those plans?"

Jian Ling: “…”

Can't this topic be brought to a close?

Seeing that she could hardly lift her head, Cheng Zhixu stopped, stood up, held her soft cheeks, asked her to look at him, and said slowly: "I want to tell you, if I didn't like you, it would be basically impossible for you to catch up with me with those stupid methods." After that, he flicked her forehead.

Jian Ling leaned her head against his chest and grumbled quietly, "I thought I had finally gotten you. You know what? Your words shattered my fantasy."

Cheng Zhixu smiled and touched the back of her head: "Are you still going?"

Jian Ling pushed him away, hugged the documents in her arms tightly, and smiled mechanically: "Mr. Cheng, you are busy, I'll leave first." As soon as she finished speaking, she ran out of the office without any joke.

Cheng Zhixu was surprised for a moment, then lowered his head and chuckled softly. He sat back at his desk in a good mood and continued to deal with his affairs.

-

Jian Ling reached the 26th floor and pinched her cheeks hard, convinced that Cheng Zhixu had spoken those words. He had clearly said, "I like you," and she felt truly conscious that he had hidden all her bitter, clumsy thoughts. Even though she felt a little annoyed and shy, she couldn't bring herself to be truly angry with him.

Taking a deep breath, she adjusted her mood and knocked on the door of her supervisor's office.

Yuan Xiao had finished his meal and was typing on the computer with a serious expression. He was pulled out of his work mood when he heard a knock on the door. He said "Come in", and then the door opened and Jian Ling walked in.

Yuan Xiao looked at Jian Ling and inevitably thought of the scene he witnessed in the president's office. His expression suddenly became unnatural and he coughed softly.

Perhaps he didn't know that Jian Ling was equally uncomfortable seeing him. She placed the document gently on the table and reported as usual, "Mr. Cheng has already signed it."

Yuan Xiao exclaimed "Ah", flipped it open to confirm, and fell silent after finding that there was no problem.

Jian Ling was speechless. She scratched her hair and managed to say, "Well, if you don't have anything else to do, I'll leave first."

Yuan Xiao nodded: "Okay."

Jian Ling twisted her index fingers together and walked out slowly. Suddenly, Yuan Xiao spoke from behind her: "What is your relationship with Mr. Cheng?"

Finally asked!

Yuan Xiao still couldn't pretend that nothing had happened, nor could he accept that his boss's girlfriend was an intern under him. He didn't know how to face her at all!
Jian Ling touched her forehead, knowing she couldn't avoid it. She slowly turned around and gave him an awkward smile. The words she wanted to say were already stuck in her throat, but she suddenly had an idea and turned them into another sentence: "It's like this, Mr. Cheng is a friend of a relative of mine, and he's looking out for me a little. You don't have to feel any psychological burden. Just treat me as you should. Don't make any special arrangements, otherwise I won't be able to do my job properly."

Cheng Zhixu and her uncle were indeed good friends. Although she might have been avoiding the main point by saying this, she was not wrong. She hoped Cheng Zhixu would not blame her. Yuan Xiao suddenly realized: "So that's how it is."

Jian Ling smiled awkwardly and left the office.

-

The second course of medicine was almost finished, so Jian Ling took time to go to the hospital for a follow-up visit.

She hadn't seen Chen Xulin for over half a month, and he seemed unchanged. Dressed in a white coat, he sat in the clinic bathed in the setting sun. His face was handsome and clean, his smile warm, just like the first time she had met him. He greeted her gently, felt her pulse, and then asked about her recent health.

Chen Xulin pulled up her two previous prescriptions on the computer, looked at them carefully for a moment, and made a diagnosis: "The situation is very good. You can reduce the medication. The next follow-up visit will be in a month."

Jian Ling was in a good mood: "Thank you, Dr. Chen!"

Chen Xulin rested his elbows on the table and gave her a faint smile. "You're welcome. It's my duty." Then he began typing a new prescription on the computer and casually said, "The temperature will drop in a few days. Remember to keep warm."

"Ah."

The prescription was printed out quickly, and Chen Xulin explained to her in detail how to use the medicine and what foods to avoid. Jian Ling said goodbye to him and went to the pharmacy to get the medicine.

As soon as she walked out of the hospital, she received news about Cheng Zhixu.

Orange Juice: "How's the situation?"

In order to reciprocate, Jian Ling also gave Cheng Zhixu a nickname - the homonym of the first two characters of his name.

Even so, she still felt it was not enough and could not compete with the four words "pig round and jade smooth", but she had no better ideas.

Zhu Yuanyurun: "The doctor said my condition has improved a lot, so he reduced my medication. Finally, I don't have to take a bunch of pills with every meal."

Orange Juice: "What about the foods you avoid?"

Jian Ling held up her phone to the prescription and took a picture of it and sent it to him: "That's all."

Orange Juice: "Okay, tell Minglang to avoid it when he orders food later."

Jian Ling couldn't control her excitement. She jumped up and down as she walked, happily jumping out of the hospital with a bag of medicine in her hand. The cell phone in her hand rang again.

Orange Juice: "Will you come back to the apartment tonight? I'm not busy, I can cook for you."

Zhu Yuanyurun: "What a pity! My mom asked me to go home for dinner." Ye Xianxin knew that she was coming to the hospital for a follow-up visit today, and specifically told her to go home after seeing the doctor.

Orange Juice: “Next time.”

Jian Ling took a taxi home and arrived just in time for dinner. Ye Xianxin helped her aunt serve the dishes on the table. At the table, she asked about Jian Ling's health. She answered all her questions, which reassured Ye Xianxin, who then chatted about other topics.

"I recently met a lady at that flower arranging club and got along really well. She's pretty and her personality matches mine. We seemed to have met so late, and we've arranged to have afternoon tea together in a few days..."

Hearing her say something irrelevant, Jian Ling immediately entered a level one combat readiness state: "Don't tell me this aunt has a very outstanding son and ask me to go on a blind date or something like that. I just want to have a good meal."

Ye Xianxin poked her forehead with the end of her chopsticks, causing her head to tilt to the side. "Who told you I was going to say that?"

Jian Ling breathed a sigh of relief: "That's good."

Ye Xianxin was distracted by her and kept asking about the follow-up between her and Chen Xulin: "Is there really no possibility for you and Xiao Chen to develop a relationship? I quite like him. He is so handsome and has a good character. Sigh——"

"No." Jian Ling picked up a piece of bamboo shoots with chopsticks and put it in her mouth. All she could think about was that Cheng Zhixu had also cooked this dish for her. She originally had the chance to taste Chef Cheng's cooking skills again tonight, but unfortunately she missed it.

Ye Xianxin shook her head dejectedly, muttering to herself that she didn't know what type of man Jian Ling liked. She was not even satisfied with such an excellent doctor like Chen.

Jian Ling wanted to say something several times but stopped herself and finally shut her mouth.

Let’s wait for a while, until her relationship with Cheng Zhixu is more stable.

-

A few days ago, Chen Xulin reminded Jian Ling to keep warm as the temperature dropped, but she never had the habit of checking the weather forecast in advance. In the morning, she went to the company wearing a short-sleeved knitted skirt and a thin windbreaker.

Not long after arriving at the company, the sky was covered with dark clouds. The wind blew the remaining clouds past. In the blink of an eye, the sky outside the glass window became dark, swallowing up the last ray of sunlight bit by bit.

As an autumn rain fell, the temperature suddenly dropped several degrees, reaching single digits.

Jian Ling felt cold all over in the company, but she didn't pay much attention to it at the time. When she returned to the apartment after get off work in the evening and slept for a while, she woke up the next morning and felt uncomfortable all over. Her head was dizzy and her feet were light-headed. She raised the back of her hand and touched her forehead, which was burning hot. She knew she had a fever without using a thermometer to measure it.

She got up and went to the bathroom. She saw her haggard appearance in the bathroom mirror. She shivered from time to time, and her eyes were sore and dry that she couldn't open them. It was impossible for her to go to work while she was sick.

Jian Ling didn't dare delay and took out her phone to call Yuan Xiao to ask for leave. Her voice was hoarse, and her throat felt dry and itchy when she spoke. She coughed several times in a row and couldn't stop.

Yuan Xiao approved her leave and asked her to find someone to handle the leave application on her behalf. He would need to sign and stamp it before it would take effect. Otherwise, if she didn't have the necessary paperwork, it would be counted as absenteeism.

Jian Ling said "thank you" and called Dai Wangchu again, asking her to do him a favor. Dai Wangchu agreed without hesitation: "I just arrived at the company. I'll help you with the paperwork once someone from the HR department arrives. Jian Ling, take good care of yourself and get enough rest. I'll keep an eye on anything that comes your way."

Dai Wangchu hung up the phone and got into the elevator. Suddenly, a strange male voice came from behind him: "Hello, what happened to Miss Jian?"

Dai Wangchu turned her head and saw that it was Minglang, the special assistant to Mr. Cheng. She had never dealt with him before and only knew him because of his special identity.

Thinking that he might be asking on behalf of Cheng Zhixu, Dai Wangchu did not hide it: "Jian Ling is sick, with a fever and cough, and asked me to help her apply for leave."

Minglang nodded at her thoughtfully: "Is that so? Thank you."

There was no one else in the elevator except them. Dai Wangchu asked, "Are you going to tell Mr. Cheng?"

Minglang thought he was the only one in the company who knew about the relationship between his boss and Jian Ling. He looked at her with a surprised expression: "You know about Mr. Cheng and Miss Jian..."

"I know." Dai Wangchu said, "Jian Ling and I are good friends."

"Oh." Minglang smiled and told the truth, "If I didn't know about Miss Jian's illness, it would be fine. But now that I happened to hear about it, I must tell Mr. Cheng. After all, she is his girlfriend."

Dai Wangchu laughed and secretly complained that Special Assistant Ming was really a shrewd person.

　Special Assistant Ming: It's not easy to be an assistant these days! You have to be smart!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)