The Crazy Villain Wants Me to Love Her - Chapter 13
Chapter 13: The Gift
“I’m heading back right now.”
“You’ve arrived home?” Jiang Chilou sent two consecutive messages.
Gu Wan raised her hand and replied: “Just arrived home.”
After replying, Gu Wan looked at Butler Lin: “Did she go out alone or did she take a driver?”
Butler Lin bowed her head: “The Madam went out alone.”
Hearing this, Gu Wan’s tone softened slightly: “From now on, when she goes out, try to inquire about what she’s doing and privately inform me.”
“Yes, Madam.”
On the other side.
Jiang Chilou had no idea that in the time it took to exchange a few messages, Butler Lin had already been instructed by Gu Wan to monitor her movements.
As a result, later, when Butler Lin would indirectly ask her what she was doing, where she was going, and with whom she was going, Jiang Chilou simply assumed Butler Lin was concerned about her. She told her everything, not realizing that this was all due to Gu Wan’s instructions, and that Gu Wan was thus well-informed about all her activities…
Currently, Jiang Chilou was seeing off the renovation company staff with the coffee shop manager.
After they left, Jiang Chilou casually scanned the employees in the shop, then looked at the young female manager in front of her, and gently asked: “Did you tell them what I mentioned to you last time?”
The manager nodded: “I told them. They said they want a few days to seriously consider whether to leave or stay.”
“Could you give them five days to think about it before giving an answer?”
Jiang Chilou smiled, appearing very easygoing: “Of course. There’s still a month left anyway.”
“I told everyone in advance because I want them to be mentally prepared and consider it carefully.”
“Okay, thank you, Boss.”
Jiang Chilou looked at her and asked: “Do you also need some time to consider?”
Hearing this, the manager hesitated for a moment, then slowly shook her head, saying apologetically: “Boss, I plan to resign when you close the shop for renovation.”
Jiang Chilou nodded: “Okay. Then once others reply to you, let me know so I can start recruiting new people.”
“As for your salary, I will settle it on the day you leave and give you a compensation payment. The process will be the same if anyone else leaves.”
“Okay, I’ll talk to the others about this later.”
Jiang Chilou hummed, and then remembered that she had arranged for another renovation company to visit the day after tomorrow. She couldn’t help but say: “The day after tomorrow afternoon, people from another renovation company will come here. If they arrive before me, please help me greet them first.”
The manager nodded: “Yes, Boss.”
Seeing this, Jiang Chilou didn’t linger and turned to leave the coffee shop.
As twilight darkened and a crescent moon began to emerge, Jiang Chilou barely managed to get home.
As she walked into the living room, she saw Gu Wan looking up at her.
Compared to the morning, the other person’s clothes had already been changed into an everyday long dress.
Perhaps she has showered?
Thinking this, Jiang Chilou asked: “You’ve showered?”
“Mm,” Gu Wan replied. She lowered her eyes and pressed her phone. The time 19:32 on the lock screen was strikingly visible.
One hour and fifteen minutes had passed since their chat ended.
Gu Wan put down her phone. She looked at Jiang Chilou and asked with a slight smile: “Why are you home so late?”
Jiang Chilou rubbed her nose: “There was some traffic, plus I drive slowly, so I got back late.”
She walked closer to Gu Wan, flashing her a smile, her eyes curved: “Were you waiting for me?”
Gu Wan hummed: “Waiting for you to eat together.”
Hearing this, Jiang Chilou glanced at the wall clock and suddenly felt a bit embarrassed.
“Sorry, I’ll definitely come back earlier next time.”
“Next time?” Gu Wan looked meaningfully at the speaker.
Jiang Chilou didn’t think much of it, only saying: “I have to go to the coffee shop again the day after tomorrow.”
“You didn’t finish dealing with it today?” Gu Wan asked.
“No, I only met with one renovation company at the coffee shop for a detailed discussion this afternoon. The other one is scheduled for two days from now.”
“Why didn’t you schedule both companies on the same day?” It was only to compare their proposals. Wouldn’t handling it on the same day be more efficient?
Jiang Chilou pursed her lips and gave an embarrassed smile: “Well, I don’t want to deal with so many people at once. Also, I prefer to go out in the afternoon, and if both were scheduled for the afternoon, there might not be enough time, so I separated the appointments.”
As for scheduling both companies on the same day, one in the morning and one in the afternoon, she never even considered it because she was too lazy to go out in the morning.
After hearing Jiang Chilou’s explanation, Gu Wan was silent for a moment. A few seconds later, she curved her lips and looked at her: “You’re quite interesting.”
Gu Wan’s comment was vague, but Jiang Chilou was too lazy to delve into whether she thought she was lazy or just genuinely interesting, so she just smiled cheerfully: “It’s alright.”
After speaking, she rubbed her stomach, her eyes curved: “Let’s go eat.”
“I’m hungry.”
Jiang Chilou made a move to take Gu Wan’s hand, but Gu Wan stood up just as her hand was raised.
“Let’s go,” Gu Wan said.
After dinner, Gu Wan went to the terrace for some fresh air. Jiang Chilou had something to ask her, so she followed.
She sat down next to Gu Wan, with a small table separating them. On the table was a plate of neatly stacked orange mandarins.
Jiang Chilou reached for a mandarin, and before peeling it, she asked Gu Wan: “Do you want one?”
Gu Wan glanced at her and shook her head: “No, thanks.”
“Okay.” Jiang Chilou lowered her head to peel the mandarin. As she peeled, she glanced at Gu Wan and whispered: “Gu Wan.”
Gu Wan: “Mm?”
Jiang Chilou’s peeling motion slowed: “What do you think about me opening a Tarot coffee shop?”
Gu Wan looked at her: “Tell me the details.”
Jiang Chilou stopped peeling the mandarin and looked back at Gu Wan: “I want to open a Tarot coffee shop, hire one or two Tarot readers, and primarily promote divination packages. I’ll also design a Tarot coffee area and a regular coffee area, and then collaborate with some short-video platform influencers for marketing to attract a wave of customers.”
“Do you think it’s feasible?”
“It’s quite unique,” Gu Wan commented objectively. “However, the customer base you attract will mostly be young people.”
“The coffee shop’s popularity might spike temporarily, but it will gradually drop later. However, if you launch another unique coffee offering alongside the divination packages, you should have no problem maintaining basic profitability.”
Jiang Chilou listened carefully to Gu Wan’s words. Hearing her suggest that getting rich quickly was unlikely but that small profits were possible, she felt her anxiety ease.
She hadn’t planned to overhaul the coffee shop to make a huge profit. She simply wanted the original owner’s coffee shop to stay open, not to operate at a loss and be ruined in her hands.
For her, as long as it was profitable and better than the current situation, it was fine.
She smiled: “Okay. I’ll research the specialty coffee idea further. Thank you.”
Jiang Chilou broke open the orange mandarin peel, took out half of the peeled fruit, and handed the unpeeled half to Gu Wan.
“Here, this half is for you.”
Gu Wan didn’t take it. She just looked down at the half-mandarin and suddenly said: “Is this… your thank-you gift this time?”
Jiang Chilou was momentarily confused, unsure of what she meant.
Until Gu Wan spoke: “Last time it was grapes; this time it’s mandarins.”
“Jiang Chilou,” Gu Wan slowly curved her lips, staring at the person opposite her and chuckling softly: “Your thank-you gifts are always exceptionally unique.”
“Ah, this, this,” Jiang Chilou was unusually tongue-tied. After a moment, she retracted her hand, placing the half-mandarin on the table, and began to explain herself: “This is definitely not a thank-you gift. This is just my way of expressing gratitude.”
“I mean, I just wanted to do something for you. Since I happen to have something tasty, I wanted to share it with you.”
“As for the thank-you gift, I actually bought a gift for you when I went out today, but since it’s customized, I haven’t received it yet. I’ll give it to you once I get it.”
“Is that okay?”
Gu Wan: “Oh?”
“What gift did you buy?”
Jiang Chilou blinked. Actually, she hadn’t bought anything yet, but she couldn’t say that to Gu Wan, so she smiled and kept her guessing: “You’ll know in a couple of days.”
Gu Wan looked into her eyes and couldn’t help but let out a soft laugh. She said in a low voice: “I’ll look forward to your gift.”
“Okay, I definitely won’t disappoint you.” Jiang Chilou pressed her palms together against the bridge of her nose, quickly opening and closing her eyes. Her intention was to secretly peek at Gu Wan’s expression, but she inadvertently gave her a wink.
Caught off guard by the wink, Gu Wan froze slightly.
Jiang Chilou didn’t notice Gu Wan’s expression. She just glanced at the time and pretended to be anxious: “It’s getting late. I’m going to take a shower.”
“Bye-bye.” Before her words even landed, Jiang Chilou had already grabbed the half-mandarin she had peeled for herself and swiftly slipped away.
Gu Wan turned to watch her retreating back. A moment later, she withdrew her gaze, letting it settle on the half-mandarin forgotten on the table.
She was silent for a few seconds. With a slight lift of her slender, fair hand, she picked up the half-mandarin.
Jiang Chilou,
Truly interesting.
Late at night, the air was still, and the moon and stars were sparse.
Jiang Chilou couldn’t fall asleep because she was thinking about what gift to give Gu Wan.
She turned over, facing Gu Wan’s side.
In the dark environment, Jiang Chilou could only vaguely make out Gu Wan’s silhouette. Staring at the slender figure in the darkness, she inexplicably recalled something Doctor Song had mentioned when removing her gauze earlier that day.
She has been Gu Wan’s personal doctor since Gu Wan was little…
Jiang Chilou was quite curious why Gu Wan had a dedicated private doctor prepared so early in her childhood. Unfortunately, as soon as she tried to ask, Doctor Song immediately sealed her lips as if realizing she had misspoke, refusing to say a single extra word.
Jiang Chilou thought more and more, and the thoughts in her head gradually became a jumbled mess.
Before long, she moved closer to Gu Wan and quietly asked: “Gu Wan, are you asleep?”
Gu Wan had already opened her eyes when she sensed movement next to her: “What is it?”
“Have you and Doctor Song known each other for a long time?” Jiang Chilou asked softly.
“I suppose so.”
“Why do you ask?”
“I,” Jiang Chilou paused, the rest of her words strangely difficult to utter.
She pursed her lips and gave a slight smile: “Nothing, I just felt that she’s very familiar with you, so I just asked.”
“It’s getting late. Go to sleep.”
“Goodnight.” After speaking, Jiang Chilou lay straight and closed her eyes.
She decided it was better not to be so curious.
After hearing Jiang Chilou’s words and realizing that the person next to her hadn’t moved back to her original spot, Gu Wan’s eyes darkened slightly: “Goodnight.”
The next morning.
When Gu Wan woke up, she turned her head and saw Jiang Chilou facing her, sleeping soundly.
A lock of hair from her bangs fell onto her cheek. Gu Wan stared at that strand of hair for a moment, instinctively wanting to reach out, but as soon as her hand stretched out, she immediately paused.