Cohabitation With The Maniacally Gorgeous CEO - Chapter 25
Chapter 25
An Yiqing had never imagined that such an embarrassing thing would happen to her.
Mistakenly thinking someone wanted to be her sugar daddy/mommy? How dare she?
In the embarrassing scene last night, anyone would want to find a hole in the ground to crawl into and never come out to face anyone.
An Yiqing also felt her scalp tingle, and her body was stiff, like she had just emerged from spending a day in an ice cellar.
Her hands and feet were numb, and everything her eyes saw was capital-E Embarrassment.
She didn’t know where to look. In short, she didn’t dare look at Xu Lingyin; she didn’t even want her peripheral vision to include the stunned woman.
An Yiqing wanted to pinch the palm of her hand, but her fingers were stiff. She wanted to quickly escape the terrace, but a pair of invisible hands on the ground held her tightly, making it difficult to move.
She heard the wind howling in her ears, the sound of Xu Lingyin’s breathing creating a melody, and the helpless beating of her own heart.
She didn’t know how long passed before a sudden musical sound rang out.
It was Xu Lingyin’s phone.
An Yiqing woke up as if from a dream, and her eyes could finally move.
With her mind clearing up slightly, she quietly hid her hands behind her back and forcefully scratched her palms.
Her nails dug into the soft flesh, sending a sharp, stinging pain through her.
The pain woke up her frozen brain.
She secretly took a breath, steadied her breath which was humble to the point of meekness, and lowered her eyes.
She planned to sneak away while Xu Lingyin was on the phone.
Catching sight of Xu Lingyin taking out her phone, An Yiqing silently moved her steps.
Beep—
The call was hung up.
An Yiqing’s steps instantly stopped. Without a second thought, she turned a corner, circled the table, and gave Xu Lingyin a bow.
“I apologize deeply for misunderstanding you so greatly. I will go back and reflect properly.”
Her expression was like a windless water surface, extremely calm.
It was as if the embarrassment hadn’t come from her.
Her emotional fluctuations were usually small, so even when her emotions were running high, her expression wouldn’t be overly dramatic.
Under her deliberate restraint, she looked even more composed.
Perhaps Xu Lingyin was shocked by her calmness and didn’t speak for a moment.
She wasn’t angry because of the misunderstanding, nor did she look like she did during their first meeting, ready to fight or kill.
Her gaze on An Yiqing was quite complex.
An Yiqing looked up at her, struggled to suppress the surging waves in her heart, dropped a quick “Get some rest soon,” and quickly ran back to her room.
…
Sitting in the office now, recalling that experience, she wished she could erase her memory.
Calm? Encountering a situation where her toes could build a castle, she truly couldn’t maintain her usual composure.
Raising a hand to her forehead, An Yiqing was afraid her expression was too strained and might scare Huang Qian.
Huang Qian was sitting beside her and had been observing her for a long time.
Seeing her covering her face one moment and looking helpless and restless the next, Huang Qian didn’t know what had happened.
“Teacher An, is there something good going on today? You’ve seemed quite high-spirited all morning,” Huang Qian asked.
An Yiqing: …
High-spirited? She was having an embarrassment attack.
Rubbing her face, An Yiqing shook her head: “I didn’t sleep well last night.”
“Then you should quickly rest for a bit,” Huang Qian stood up. “I’m going to class anyway, so I won’t disturb your rest.”
After Huang Qian left, An Yiqing was the only one left in the office.
Her upright shoulders slumped, and she leaned back in the chair, looking utterly defeated.
She felt like life was unbearable.
Having not slept all night, she wasn’t sleepy at all.
As soon as she closed her eyes, all she saw was Xu Lingyin’s complex gaze.
She had fled in a panic last night, so what should she do today?
Should she hide and avoid seeing her?
That would completely go against her original intention.
For the first time, An Yiqing wished time would pass slower. As long as it wasn’t after work, she wouldn’t have to see Xu Lingyin.
The embarrassment from last night wouldn’t fester.
While her thoughts were in turmoil, a WeChat notification sounded.
An Yiqing took out her phone.
Glancing at the name of the sender, she immediately held her breath.
Was Xu Lingyin going to scold her?
She was probably the only person who was this self-important.
How could the young miss stand it?
Her finger hovered over the WeChat button for a few minutes. An Yiqing let out a long breath and, with a look of resignation, pressed it.
Xu Lingyin: Are you still taking the part-time job?
Xu Lingyin: If so, come over at six.
…
After work, An Yiqing went grocery shopping.
Besides spare ribs and sea bass, she unusually took the initiative to buy some seafood.
To appeal to her taste.
This was a method she learned from a video sharing site.
Her online friends, the “Cloud Foodies,” heard that she had made a mistake and needed to apologize to someone.
They were all very proactive in giving her advice.
Crawl darkly and whisper in her ear that you did it on purpose
Slide-kneel right in front of her, desperately kowtowing for forgiveness
…
Among the comments from the “Crazy Group,” she saw one sincere suggestion.
If the person is interested in food, you can cook something delicious for her
An Yiqing thought that made sense.
So, she prepared Xu Lingyin’s favorite seafood.
It had been a long time since Xu Lingyin last ate seafood, so it shouldn’t affect her health.
An Yiqing set up her camera as usual, filming a video while she cooked.
Steamed seafood and sea bass, and braised spare ribs.
While cooking, she tried her best to recall her mother’s method, hoping it would be as delicious as her mother’s so that Xu Lingyin would remember it fondly.
After making one vegetable dish, An Yiqing packed all the food.
She didn’t eat first today, planning to eat with Xu Lingyin.
Regardless of the embarrassment, since the person had extended an olive branch again, there was no need for her to be so affected.
Finding a beautiful bag, An Yiqing carried the food and left.
She drove out of the courtyard and had just reached the gate when the security guard suddenly stopped her car.
The security guard handed her a bouquet of flowers.
The flowers were off-white, 27 stems of ‘Snow Mountain’ roses, interspersed with a few jasmine blossoms.
As An Yiqing held the bouquet, a fresh and elegant fragrance lingered around her nose.
She reached for the card hidden among the flowers, but a horn sounded behind her.
Her car was blocking the way.
She put down the bouquet and drove out of the community to let others pass.
She didn’t know who sent the flowers.
She hadn’t had a chance to look just now, but it wasn’t worth stopping for.
Her curiosity wasn’t that strong.
An Yiqing drove all the way to Zhihua Tower.
Upon reaching her destination, she finally had time to look at the bouquet.
Turning on the car light, An Yiqing picked up the elegant bouquet.
There were quite a few flowers, and it took her a while to find the card.
She took out the card and looked closely under the light.
It was actually an exquisite small envelope.
A golden Snow Mountain rose was embossed on the red envelope.
So thoughtful? Who could it be?
An Yiqing didn’t think the flowers delivered to the community gate were from any of her pursuers.
Thinking of this, An Yiqing’s eyelashes trembled slightly.
She put down the bouquet, held the miniature envelope, and carefully opened it.
On the red card, a line of beautiful regular script calligraphy came into view.
An Yiqing, happy working day—Xu
Xu Lingyin?
An Yiqing thought she had read it wrong and let her gaze fall back onto the card.
The “Xu” was unlikely to be anyone else.
That domineering person could actually write such graceful regular script.
It was said that a person’s handwriting reflects their character.
Based on their interactions, Xu Lingyin’s handwriting and her personality seemed to be opposites.
The flowing strokes on the paper, paired with the elegant floral scent, successfully dispersed An Yiqing’s embarrassment.
An Yiqing was engrossed when the car window tapped.
Glancing at the item in her hand, Mo Zhi smiled: “Miss An, do you like the flowers?”
Nodding, An Yiqing said: “I like them very much.”
She just didn’t know what Xu Lingyin’s purpose was for sending the flowers.
As if knowing her thoughts, Mo Zhi smiled: “Mr. Xu sent them, hoping you start this job in a beautiful mood.”
Xu Lingyin was this romantic?
Rubbing the card in her hand, An Yiqing lifted her eyelids, put it away, and carefully tucked it into her pocket.
Carrying the food, An Yiqing got out of the car and followed Mo Zhi.
An Yiqing reached into her pocket and felt the card.
Such an exquisite envelope looked like it was carefully crafted.
Xu Lingyin was quite busy with work; did she have time to make these things?
An Yiqing casually asked: “Do all new hires receive flowers?”
“Pretty much,” Mo Zhi nodded.
Well, she was clearly overthinking it.
Qingdu Yao was about to launch a new event; Xu Lingyin couldn’t possibly waste time on such things.
That handwritten card was probably done by the staff at the flower shop.
An Yiqing smoothed her hair, a hint of disappointment in her eyes, and stepped into the elevator.
Xu Lingyin’s office was as cozy as ever.
The desk was piled with documents, and the computer completely obscured Xu Lingyin’s figure.
They opened the door and walked in.
Mo Zhi briefly explained the situation and then went to make coffee.
“Extra sugar,” Xu Lingyin said without looking up, constantly reading documents.
After Mo Zhi left, Xu Lingyin told her to sit down for a while.
This woman, who had shown such an expression last night, clearly minded the misunderstanding a great deal.
Yet today, she hadn’t mentioned the embarrassing incident once.
It was as if nothing had happened.
An Yiqing was completely relieved.
She walked over to the floor-to-ceiling window and placed the food on the table.
Xu Lingyin didn’t show any intention of coming over to eat, so An Yiqing didn’t take out the meal boxes.
She sat at the table and waited quietly for her.
Mo Zhi delivered the coffee and left.
An Yiqing took a sip; it was sweet and comforting.
About twenty minutes passed in a flash. An Yiqing had finished her coffee and roughly edited her video once, but Xu Lingyin was still busy.
An Yiqing didn’t mind waiting, but she was worried about the food getting cold.
People with poor stomachs should avoid cold food.
After much thought, she tentatively asked: “Do you want to eat before you get busy? Eating cold food is unhealthy.”
“No need.”
Xu Lingyin replied with two succinct words.
Realizing something, she added: “There’s a hot plate on the bookshelf; take it out.”
After saying that, she buried herself in her work again.
An Yiqing retrieved the item and placed the dishes on it. It was indeed much better.
An Yiqing had finished her tasks and had nothing to do.
She pointed to the bookshelf and asked if she could look at the books and merchandise.
Xu Lingyin hummed: “Feel free to look.”
An Yiqing stood up, walked to the bookshelf, and casually picked up the notebook on the far right of the third shelf.
The notebook was very plain, with the Little Fish Fairy on the cover.
Seeing the most familiar character, An Yiqing held it dearly and opened the hard cover.
A line of handwriting was on the flyleaf.
Before she could read it clearly, Xu Lingyin suddenly called out to her.
An Yiqing turned around, looking at her in confusion.
“I forgot to mention just now, this notebook belongs to someone else. It’s not very appropriate to look at it,” Xu Lingyin stood up and quickly walked over.
She took the notebook from An Yiqing’s hand, quickly closed it, and put it into the desk drawer.
An Yiqing didn’t have a habit of prying into private matters, but she was a little disappointed.
That line of text just now looked very beautiful.
It was a pity she couldn’t appreciate it.
Xu Lingyin was about to sit back down. An Yiqing glanced at the time; it was almost eight o’clock.
Eating so late would not be good for her stomach.
She returned to the table and took out all the dishes.
“Xu Lingyin, let’s eat.”
Xu Lingyin was about to sit down but, seeing the food laid out, didn’t insist otherwise.
She washed her hands and came back to sit across from An Yiqing.
There were two servings of rice on the table. Xu Lingyin was stunned for a moment and frowned: “You haven’t eaten?”
“Waiting for you,” An Yiqing said faintly.
Xu Lingyin looked up at An Yiqing, clearly displeased: “Next time, eat properly before leaving home. You’re here for a part-time job, not to ruin your stomach.”
“Then please eat on time,” An Yiqing met her gaze, her tone firm.