After finished speaking, Lin Yuwen immediately left the office and did not give Cheng Ziming a second glance.
The 15th of October was Lin Chu"s birthday. Yan Beicheng especially moved forward the dinner party at night to the afternoon, leaving the night free to spend her birthday alone with her.
In the afternoon, Lin Chu and Zheng Yuntong came out of the company. Dai Huimin was seen carrying a food container and waiting by the doorway as she kept looking inside.
She smiled with embarra.s.sment once she saw Lin Chu.
Seeing Lin Chu walking towards her, Dai Huimin handed the food container to her. "I know it"s your birthday today and your uncle even made a few dishes. I don"t know whether it suits your liking or not. You can let me know what kind of dish you like and what dish you dislike when you have time. I know that you certainly will spend your birthday together with your family, that"s why I came to see you in the afternoon. There"s also a bowl of noodles inside. Because I was afraid that the noodle soup will bind together and become a paste, the alkaline noodles I made have been blanched. (TN: Alkaline noodle is a variation of Chinese pasta in which a much higher than usual quant.i.ty of an alkaline component is part of the fabrication process. If interested, you can read more at en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alkaline_pasta) The refres.h.i.+ng cold noodle that"s mixed with is the long life noodle we made for you. (TN: Long Life Noodles, or Longevity Noodles, represent a long unbroken life. They"re a must-have at joyous events in Chinese culture, like the Chinese New Year and, more importantly, at birthday celebrations. You can read more at killingthyme.net/2017/06/21/long-life-noodles-yi-mein/) I intentionally made a lot so you and your colleagues can eat together!"
Lin Chu did not refuse what she gave, receiving it. "Since you came here, you"ll eat it with us."
"No, no." Dai Huimin waved her hand quickly. She was pleasantly surprised that Lin Chu was willing to eat it. "I have to quickly return to help as the afternoon is a busy time now or else the staff in the shop will have their hands full."
The small business of their home did not hire anyone. They decided that they would forgo outside help. They would be slightly tired but all the money earned would belong to them.
Both of them were not very business-minded and did not consider expanding the business. They thought that it was great to watch over a business with small capital and hard work.
"Is Xu Jiaojiao alright lately?" Lin Chu asked.
Dai Huimin"s smile grew wider and nodded rapidly. "That child has really become open. After going through all that, she"s grown more thoughtful and always helps out at the restaurant. Since her mind is quick, she"s responsible for being the cas.h.i.+er. The occasional promotional events in the restaurant are all based on her calculation of the production costs and the business is doing a lot better than the past. We actually wanted to let her go out and find a job according to her specialized knowledge that she learned but she said that she"ll help in the restaurant from now on."
"Oh? This is also not bad," Lin Chu said while nodding.
"Yep! I originally didn"t want to waste her certificate yet she quoted your words and said that she wants to excel in her career. If she goes out and works for someone else, she doesn"t know how long she has to work in order to show results. It"s better to take care of the family business as she can call the shots on how she wants to deal with her business, and there"s more room for developing ideas as well. She also mentioned that a lot of students with outstanding grades and even professors set up stalls by themselves. There were people selling jianbing and fruits. (TN: Jianbing literally means "fried pancake" and it is a traditional Chinese street food similar to crepes. If interested, do read more at en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jianbing) She is already much better than them, seeing that she can now manage the small restaurant."
"It"s indeed true," Lin Chu said.
Hearing that Lin Chu said as such, Dai Huimin instantly felt relieved. "I only felt pity for her certificate at first but we will support her since she plans to be like this herself. I now feel that as long as she"s willing to be steadfast and doesn"t think about nonsense again, I"ll support her regardless of what she does. Maybe she"ll really earn some achievements upon running the business. Young people have many ideas and their brains are nimble so they are stronger than both of us."
"No matter which industry she works in, she will definitely have results, so long as she"s willing to be committed while working. Who knows, your small restaurant may become a huge restaurant and even open a restaurant chain later on. Xu Jiaojiao will then truly become a successful career woman." Lin Chu smiled as she spoke.
Dai Huimin herself became happy as well. "Hey, hha. It"s enough to think about such a good thing. People will laugh if they hear this. That being said, we"ll be content if she can make the business slightly better."
After Dai Huimin finished speaking, she quickly urged Lin Chu, "You quickly go have lunch with your young lady colleagues. It won"t be good if the dishes get cold. I"m going now."
Lin Chu nodded as Dai Huimin walked towards the subway station merrily.
Lin Chu and Zheng Yuntong then simply went to the canteen while holding the food container. The canteen did not belong to Lin Yi; it was provided by the office building itself instead. Many companies used the canteen together.
The food of the canteen was mediocre. The majority of the office workers only chose the canteen not only because they did not have time to eat out due to working overtime and being too busy, but also because the takeouts of the restaurants outside were delivered very slowly during the peak hours. At this time, it was actually a superb spot for them to have a meal.
Though the smell of the canteen was not particularly appetizing for people, Lin Chu thought that she was not a very unreasonable individual, so much so that she could not smell the food of the canteen. Speaking of bad smells, the canteens of the university and driving school was truly nasty. What hit their face once anyone stepped inside was a stifling smell that made people suffocate.
Ever since she came to Lin Yi, she rarely ate at the canteen. The number of times she came to eat could be counted with five fingers but she did not go as far as to loathe the place.
Lin Chu furrowed her eyebrows, pus.h.i.+ng down the sensation of revulsion that was bubbling up to her chest with force. She looked around for a free dining table, at least she did not need to be so close to the kitchen.
Opening the food container, she did not expect that they were pretty appetizing sweet and sour foods. When Xu Dongguo was cooking the dishes, Dai Huimin thought that B City was still rather hot although it was October and the air quality was unpleasant. Lin Chu perhaps would not have much spirit, strength, and appet.i.te since it was also oppressive indoors and she had been working for the entire morning, so Dai Huimin had Xu Dongguo to make more sweet and sour food.
Sweet and sour pork with pineapples, stir-fried green beans and sweet and sour Mandarin fish that were shaped like a squirrel. Because it was not ideal to put the entire fish inside the food container, the fish bones were removed and the meat was sliced after it was cooked. Small pieces of fish were then placed inside the thermal lunch box. The blanched choy sum was drizzled with a bit of oyster sauce and the big bowl of cold noodles was tart, spicy and refres.h.i.+ng. They thought of everything and it was all enough for both Zheng Yuntong and her to eat.
The smell of the canteen made her feel uncomfortable but the more sweet and sour pork with pineapples she ate, the more appet.i.te she regained. Especially the pineapple inside the dish, it was sour and sweet which Lin Chu really loved eating.
The exception was the sweet and sour squirrel-shaped Mandarin fish. Lin Chu did not know why, but she could not really eat it.
Zheng Yuntong ate a piece, even closed her eyes and groaned in pleasure because of how delicious it was. "I didn"t expect that their craftsmans.h.i.+p was really amazing. It"s honestly such a great pity that they only opened a small restaurant. It"s indeed good if Xu Jiaojiao is really able to expand the scale of her family"s restaurant. This sweet and sour Mandarin fish is truly one of the most delicious I"ve eaten from a small number of restaurants. It isn"t worse than the restaurant Su Yuan at all. Even though the sweet and sour sauce is drizzled, it"s still crispy inside, the flesh is even thin and tender and it doesn"t taste fishy in any way."
"Is that so?" Lin Chu wondered why it did not taste like how Zheng Yuntong described when she put it in her mouth and ate it.
It was indeed crispy and refres.h.i.+ng. The fish was soft and smooth but she thought that the taste of the oil was too greasy as if she ate a mouthful of grease when she was chewing it.
Lin Chu then just ate the pineapples of the sweet and sour pork with her chopsticks. She occasionally ate some green beans, feeling that it was less oily because it was stir-fried.
Having a meal comfortably, she also ate some of the sour, spicy and refres.h.i.+ng noodles that were served with several sauces.
Zheng Yuntong was a carefree and lively young woman; she did not notice that her belly had swelled from the food. Both of them returned to the office after they packed up the food containers.
Still chatting, they had only returned for a short while when a delivery man holding a box which was the size of a s...o...b..x came in and glanced at the express delivery order. "May I ask where is Lin Chu seated?"
"That"s me." Lin Chu stood up and signed the express delivery receipt.
Because the receptionist had not returned yet, the delivery man came inside directly by himself.
Lin Chu glanced strangely at the blurry express delivery order. "I didn"t shop online recently."
"Where was it delivered from?" Zheng Yuntong popped up and asked with curiosity.
Lin Chu shook her head. "Now that the express delivery has become easier, the information of the sender doesn"t really need to be written. You"re good to go after leaving your phone number, that"s why this doesn"t have any name or address. It only has a bunch of phone numbers that can"t be seen very clearly."
"Since today is your birthday, is it a present given to you by Yan Beicheng that he wants to surprise you?" Zheng Yuntong guessed.
Lin Chu was slightly skeptical for a short while but she immediately denied. "It can"t be, right? When he left in the morning, he told me that he"ll celebrate my birthday for me so it"s unnecessary for him to be superfluous and send over a present at this moment."
"This is called "affection"!" Zheng Yuntong said as she hit the table. She gazed at Lin Chu with an impatient look, as if she was discontented that Lin Chu failed to meet her expectations. She was startled that she did not even have any romantic sense.
Lin Chu shook her head, always thinking that it was not that reason.
She did not have the nerve to tell Zheng Yuntong that although Yan Beicheng looked like someone who was profound and whom emotions would not show on his face, he actually did not act like that at home.
If he really had a surprise for her, he would already be exultant in a smug manner earlier with a look that said "I have a secret and I"m not telling you but you"ll know about it sooner or later. I won"t tell you even if you ask me."
In front of her, Yan Beicheng really could not keep anything secret.
Not only that, Lin Chu had a hunch that it was not given by Yan Beicheng.
It was not because of other reasons; it would be considered as having an intuitive understanding between the two of them.
She, hence, took out a utility knife from the pen holder and cut open the adhesive tape on the express delivery box. Once she opened it, it was the name of a Taobao shop but its name seemed to be equivocal, sounding like some sort of s.e.x toy shop. (TN: Taobao is a Chinese online shopping website, headquartered in Hangzhou, and owned by Alibaba. If interested, you can read more at en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taobao)
Lin Chu furrowed her eyebrows and looked around. Her colleagues were not back yet.
Zheng Yuntong also sensed that something was wrong and said, "You quickly take out and have a look. I"ll look around for you. If you think it"s abnormal, you put it back in."
Lin Chu nodded and it turned out to actually be an imitation of the man"s genitals when she opened and looked.
Lin Chu"s face flushed angrily on the spot. Yan Beicheng definitely would not give this. How was it possible that Yan Beicheng could give her this!
Zheng Yuntong also saw it and knew that it was impossible that this was from Yan Beicheng. If it was really a present given to the wife, even as a birthday gift, this was simply the grounds of wanting to get a divorce.
When Lin Chu wanted to cover the box with the lid, Zheng Yuntong stopped her. "Hold on first!"
She looked around her, suppressed the disgust she felt and took out a piece of card inside the box. She only then let Lin Chu close the box hurriedly.
The object was truly too disgusting. It was such a great imitation, complete with veins.
Lin Chu took the card offered by her and saw the words written on it. "If Yan Beicheng can"t satisfy you, you use this first."
Lin Chu was so angry that her eyes became wide open and red. She did not hesitate and just tore the card apart. She was afraid that people would see it, especially Yan Beicheng"s name. She even used the scissors to cut it into teeny tiny snippets that she could not cut it anymore.
"Who"s so sickening!" Zheng Yuntong asked with fury.
Lin Chu pursed her lips tightly until the color of flesh was no more in both of her pursed lips. The sour greeting of humiliation could not help but emerge in her eyes.
"I know who it is." Quite a while later, Lin Chu exhaled a heavy sigh and then said coldly, "If I"m not guessing wrongly, it probably is Lu Zhenghang. He told me something virtually similar before."
Zheng Yuntong gasped in surprise. "How can he be so disgusting? What did you do at that time?"
"I took a pesticide and sprayed it onto his eyes. I even used the golf club to beat him up for a while." Talking about what happened made Lin Chu feel slightly better.
"How are you going to deal with this thing? I"m afraid that there will be trouble if people see it," whispered Zheng Yuntong.
If it was someone ordinary, people would look at them with a strange gaze at most but if it was Lin Chu, it was unknown what sort of unpleasant scandal would unnecessarily happen.
As she frowned, Lin Chu was also thinking about how to deal with this. She could not just take it out and throw it into the garbage bin. She was not being narcissistic but she did not know how many pairs of eyes were watching her every move now. She also did not know whether there was any paparazzi following her secretly or not.
She could sneakily discard it at one moment but someone else might stealthily fish it out in the next.
If she waited until she carried it home, it had to stay in the building for one entire afternoon. What would happen when someone saw it?
There was a young woman in their department who they knew from the beginning. Although she would not exactly take something without asking, she would not be courteous with them at all. If she wanted to have a look, she would take it and open it straight away without uttering a word.
Two days ago, Zheng Yuntong had just bought a pair of shoes online, placing the s...o...b..x underneath the office desk. That young woman got curious upon seeing the box while saying, "Quickly let me have a look at what type have you bought."
She immediately moved and took the s...o...b..x out by herself. Zheng Yuntong could not even stop her in time when she already opened the s...o...b..x.
Luckily, she really did not try the shoes on shamelessly.
Lin Chu, therefore, truly did not dare to leave such an object at the office. If that young lady saw it, she was unwilling to picture the aftermath of the young woman taking it out without asking her regardless of whether she was present or not.