Chapter Ten
In the afternoon when An Xiao Li appeared at her work cafeteria, she felt that she was the focus of her co-workers’ pair of eyes. The reason was since she started working, it was the third time she ate at her work cafeteria. The first time she ate at the cafeteria was before Chen Yu Bai took over the IT company. The second time he was in one of his moods, he asked her to go to the cafeteria and select lunch meals for them to eat in his office.
Wherever there were females, then there’d be little groups of women huddled together. Whether it was going shopping or going to the bathroom, females travelled in groups. At work was no exception. In the cafeteria there were many tables where similar types of females sat in a group together at their unspoken designated table. When An Xiao Li’s female co-workers saw her carrying a tray of food, they stopped gossiping and stared with contempt at their CEO’s alleged lover.
An Xiao Li thought the reason why she ostracized by her female co-workers was all the wicked ice glacier’s fault. She was a friendly and loveable female – for her eating alone was too pitiful.
‘Little sister Xiao Li!’ a deep voice called.
When An Xiao Li considered being thick skinned to join Lisa’s group for lunch, she heard a familiar male’s voice called her. It was w.a.n.g Qi, he was waving at her from the table he sat at near a window.
An Xiao Li felt deeply grateful and didn’t know what to do. She hesitated for a while then she stepped toward w.a.n.g Qi’s table. The table was full of smiling men from the Design and Programming Department.
‘Hi everyone,’ An Xiao Li greeted warmly.
The men at w.a.n.g Qi’s table reciprocated An Xiao Li’s warm greeting. She lowered her head to act shy. Inside her heart she was silently laughing happily up at the sky – ‘hehe… this is what’s called living out young days beautifully. It’s a world where each day is joyful!’
But whilst eating An Xiao Li’s refreshing lunch break was tainted, because she remembered what happened before lunch. At her work desk the intercom flashed and she professionally answered the call. Chen Yu Bai also used a professional tone. ‘An Xiao Li, come into my office.’
An Xiao Li wasn’t scared. She stood straight, held her chin up and walked into Chen Yu Bai’s office.
Inside Chen Yu Bai’s office, An Xiao Li saw him sat at his work desk with his arms crossed and he coldly looked at her. On his work desk was an unopened lunch box. If she dismissed his cold aura, he looked like a kid who was throwing a tantrum and refused to eat lunch.
‘Where are you going?’ Chen Yu Bai asked too calmly.
An Xiao Li memorised all of Chen Yu Bai’s distinct cold tones, when he spoke too calmly it meant he was about to have an angry outburst.
An Xiao Li stayed standing straight. ‘Eating lunch.’
Chen Yu Bai’s stormy eyes gradually calmed and he spoke in a gentler tone of voice. ‘Why aren’t you eating lunch with me?’
‘I want to avoid any further scandals about you and me in the office so I decided in the future I’ll not eat with you anymore,’ An Xiao Li said in a serious tone.
Chen Yu Bai put the lunch box aside and smiled coldly. ‘I don’t agree.’
‘I’m not asking for your opinion,’ An Xiao Li said coldly too.
‘An Xiao Li, you need to know your limits,’ Chen Yu Bai said. He tossed the lunch box accurately in the bin. ‘Don’t think you can climb over me and sit on top of my head.’
‘I have no interest with your head,’ An Xiao Li said. She lifted her chin and pretended she wasn’t scared. ‘But if you don’t like the lunch box from that store then tomorrow I’ll order a lunch box from another store.’
Work ended half an hour ago but An Xiao Li stayed back and slowly tidied her work desk whilst listening to any sounds from Chen Yu Bai’s office.
An Xiao Li was worried that in the morning Chen Yu Bai didn’t eat much, he threw his lunch box in the bin and she didn’t see him come out of his office after lunch. She was worried about his stomach… her heart mumbled to let him deal with the consequences of his actions for a thousand years, but she couldn’t stop worrying unless she went into his office to check on him.
Inside Chen Yu Bai’s office, he sat in front of his work desk and looked at An Xiao Li like she was an uninvited guest that intruded his office. An Xiao Li gripped the appointment book in her hands and was glad she was prepared before entering his office. ‘CEO Chen, I need to go home, this is your work schedule for tomorrow.’
An Xiao Li put the appointment book on Chen Yu Bai’s work desk.
Chen Yu Bai lifted his chin and smiled teasingly. ‘When did you start caring about me to this extent?’
An Xiao Li wasn’t happy. She pressed a hand down on the appointment book. ‘I just came inside your office to see if you died yet. Are you satisfied?’
Chen Yu Bai leaned back on his chair. He looked into An Xiao Li’s eyes and he felt disconcerted. ‘You’re worried about me?’
‘You have a rich imagination,’ An Xiao Li said and turned around to leave his office.
Behind An Xiao Li’s back she heard a banging sound. She turned back around. She saw Chen Yu Bai hunched over his work desk, one hand propped himself on his work desk and the other hand pressed against his stomach. He looked like he was in pain.
An Xiao Li’s heart tightened. She knew Chen Yu Bai’s stomach wasn’t good, the erratic weather changes didn’t help, she’d seen him often scrunched his face to endure the pain then he’d swallow painkillers… she was frustrated with herself for running back into his office.
An Xiao Li helped steady Chen Yu Bai to sit on his chair and in her panicked state she called him by his pet name, which revealed their closeness. ‘Little Bai?’
Chen Yu Bai heard An Xiao Li called him by her pet name for him and even though he was in pain it didn’t stop the smugness from shining brightly in his eyes.
An Xiao Li was confused whether Chen Yu Bai smiled because he was scared she was worried about him or he was pretending he was in pain and smiled to mock her that he fooled her.
Chen Yu Bai looked down at An Xiao Li who knelt below his chair to steady him to sit on his chair. There was a rare strange look in his eyes and he spoke in a rare tender tone of voice. ‘An Xiao Li, you’re worried about me.’
An Xiao Li felt furious.
But before An Xiao Li made a sound, Chen Yu Bai held the back of her neck with one hand and gently pulled their heads closer together. He gently kissed her lips. In the past when they were affectionate, he’d never been gentle with her to that extent.
If it was last week – An Xiao Li would have been intoxicated and captivated by Chen Yu Bai’s gentleness.
Unfortunately that ‘if’ didn’t happen last week so An Xiao Li used her strength to push away Chen Yu Bai who kissed her gently in an intoxicating way.
An Xiao Li rubbed her sore bottom. She used her strength to push Chen Yu Bai away because she knew she could easily succ.u.mb to his power of persuasion. She pointed at his tensed body sitting on the chair and scolded loudly. ‘Don’t think that you can use your handsome looks to seduce me every time!’
Chen Yu Bai laughed coldly. ‘Last night I let you eat too full, right?’
An Xiao Li was choked with anger. She stood, turned around and strode to the door. Chen Yu Bai chased after her and pulled her arm back.
‘Let go!’ An Xiao Li ordered.
‘Not letting go,’ Chen Yu Bai said calmly. ‘The woman that Chen Yu Bai has his eye on, for him there’s no such thing as letting go of her.’
An Xiao Li struggled to get out of Chen Yu Bai’s hold. He held her against his cold chest and adamantly held onto her tight.
‘Don’t be noisy,’ Chen Yu Bai said. Finally he was able to secure An Xiao Li against his chest. He used one hand to hit her not too hard and not too light on her bottom. ‘Be good for me.’
An Xiao Li’s bottom was. .h.i.t but she didn’t understand why. Suddenly she could only smell Chen Yu Bai’s body and she slowly stopped struggling against his chest.
‘What you want to hear… I can’t say it,’ Chen Yu Bai said gently. He bent his head and rubbed his cheek against An Xiao Li’s cheek. ‘Because I’m not certain that’s why I need time to think about it and be decisive. I can only say… right now and for a long time in the future, I need you to be beside me.’
At that moment An Xiao Li didn’t know that the ice glacier of Liang’s company was infamous for his heartless cold blood and he never gave into anyone else before.
‘Mmm… how long?’ An Xiao Li asked suspiciously.
Chen Yu Bai comfortably rested his chin on An Xiao Li’s shoulder and continued to rub his cheek against her cheek. All his anger was trivial in that moment. ‘I don’t know… you just need to be good and stay by my side.’
An Xiao Li’s heart interpreted everything Chen Yu Bai said to her word by word – ‘He doesn’t know if he loves you. He needs time to think about whether he loves you or not. During this time, perhaps it could be as long as ten years but until he doesn’t need you anymore he wants you to stay by his side.’
An Xiao asked her heart to elaborate – ‘Then what happens after time pa.s.ses? If at that time he realises everything he felt in the past was just an illusion, will I become someone who is tossed aside?’
An Xiao Li’s heart ached – ‘No, unless he loved you before he tossed you aside, you didn’t have any claim on his heart and that’s the fate you need to accept.’
Chen Yu Bai was enjoying holding An Xiao Li quietly against his chest, suddenly she pushed him hard. He stumbled back against his work desk and stared at her in disbelief. ‘An-Xiao-Li!’
An Xiao Li’s eyes stung but she forced herself to smile. ‘Chen Yu Bai, you’re truly the definition of a b.a.s.t.a.r.d!’
Chen Yu Bai’s eyes became icy. He pressed a hand on his stomach and he felt his body slowly weakened. He couldn’t hold back the pain on his face.
‘Didn’t you hear the story about the boy who cried wolf, right? Can you not use the same trick over and over again to fool me?’ An Xiao Li asked.
An Xiao Li gave Chen Yu Bai a condescending look for continuing to fake a stomach ache. She turned around and left his office without looking back.
The moment Chen Yu Bai heard his office door was closed, his face turned pale and he kept staring at the spot she stood before she left and slowly his body fell down onto the floor.
The following morning, An Xiao Li woke up early to shower and brushed her teeth. She changed into a casual outfit and happily walked downstairs to change her shoes. On her way to the door she saw Qin Sang laid on the sofa. ‘Let’s go outside to eat, I’m hungry.’
‘No. I don’t want to eat, I want to sleep,’ Qin Sang declined.
An Xiao Li blinked at Qin Sang’s rare state of laziness then she gave Qin Sang a shady look. ‘What did you do last night? Didn’t you sleep?’
‘Last night?’ Qin Sang asked. ‘I sat on a sofa of a hospital room for a few hours.’
An Xiao Li was surprised. She knew Qin Sang was aggressive in bed… but was Qin Sang that aggressive in bed to the extent Li Wei Ran was taken to the hospital for exhaustion? ‘What? What happened to your nine tailed fox prince?’
Qin Sang saw through An Xiao Li’s dirty thoughts. She smiled happily at the sight of someone who was about to be troubled. ‘My Li Wei Ran is ok but your lover boy isn’t ok.’
An Xiao Li’s head conjured up an image of Chen Yu Bai’s bleached white face and her heart got a bad feeling. ‘What’s… wrong with him?’
Qin Sang stretched her hands to the coffee table and poured herself a gla.s.s of water. Then she sat up and leaned back on the sofa. She covered her body with a bed sheet and leisurely sipped the water. Then she smiled innocently at An Xiao Li. ‘Who?’
‘I… Chen Yu Bai,’ An Xiao Li said.
‘Oh? Chen Yu Bai’s your lover boy?’ Qin Sang teased.
An Xiao Li bit her tongue and denied. ‘Of course he isn’t!’
Qin Sang stood and walked toward the bathroom to shower. ‘Then you don’t need to worry about whether he lives or dies.’
An Xiao Li stood frozen at the front door with her pair of shoes in her hand. She didn’t know what to do. Qin Sang suddenly opened the bathroom door and stuck her head out and gave An Xiao Li the hospital address and hospital room number that Chen Yu Bai was staying in.
‘Why did you tell me that for?’ An Xiao Li asked even though she knew why.
‘If you’re too free go visit him. Even if he’s not your lover you can still visit him under the guise of an employee visiting their sick boss,’ Qin Sang said.
End of Chapter Ten