Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation  Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Oddly enough though, Ruan Danchen was not intimidated by Qi Chenglin anymore. She used to get extremely fl.u.s.tered but now she was no longer scared. Perhaps it was because she now knew why he was angry earlier, or perhaps it might be because their relations.h.i.+p had just changed.

"That happened on an afternoon a while back when you came to show me the report," Ruan Danchen said while blus.h.i.+ng.

Qi Chenglin"s expression turned unusually gentle. His mood took a turn for the better after recalling the time he dropped her off and remembered the allure of her face at the time.

Ruan Danchen glared at him and could already imagine what would happen if Yang Yunshu walked in. If Yang Yunshu saw her with Qi Chenglin, she would presume that Ruan Danchen was trying seducing him even if she was nowhere near him.

The faint laughter from outside drew closer, but Qi Chenglin was still latched onto her. Growing more and more frantic, Ruan Danchen begged her, "Please let me down this once. I beg you."

He pursed his thin, handsome lips and looked at her with those enigmatic eyes.

Ruan Danchen felt uneasy from his stares. She did not want to hide the relations.h.i.+p, but at that moment, she had no intention of letting Yang Yunshu have reason to gossip.

Yang Yunshu and Wu Min continued their chit-chat and opened the meeting room door. They immediately saw Qi Chenglin and Ruan Danchen standing beside the conference table. Ruan Danchen was blocked by Qi Chenglin, so they could not see her clearly.

All they heard was, "Young Master Lin, let me escort you out."

Qi Chenglin narrowed his eyes at her and snickered. "Young Master Lin? Really?"

Ruan Danchen felt a wave of guilt and felt her head throb just from looking at him. She looked pitiful and apologetic, making it hard for Qi Chenglin to blame her for anything.

He twitched his lip and looked strangely at her as if to tease her. It took him quite a bit of effort to nod and answer unhappily, "Mm."

Ruan Danchen breathed out a sigh and followed Qi Chenglin out. She lowered her head, so her hair covered her face as she walked out. She especially did not enjoy letting Yang Yunshu see her, especially since Ruan Danchen herself had no idea whether she looked disheveled at the time.

She let out a relieved sigh once she was out of the meeting room. Having sent Qi Chenglin to the design department"s entrance, she made a show of saying, "Young Master Lin, take care."

Qi Chenglin stopped and stared at Ruan Danchen. He c.o.c.ked his thick brow and asked, "Aren"t you going to send me off?"

Ruan Danchen was stunned. She blushed but mustered the courage to move her fingers over. She was just about to touch his hand when she heard the clacking of high heels nearing from behind.

Ruan Danchen pulled her hand back immediately and said in a clear voice, "Don"t worry, Young Master Lin, I"ll draw up a few designs as fast as possible so you can choose from them. I"ll get to it right away."

Qi Chenglin glanced at the approaching Yang Yunshu and twitched his lip coldly. Giving Ruan Danchen a little snicker, he left the design department.

His last glance made Ruan Danchen feel numb in the head.

She turned around to see Yang Yunshu"s sarcastic-looking face. Ruan Danchen glanced at her coldly and ignored her before going back to her own seat. She grabbed her bag and decided to go to a nearby convenience store to get a sandwich. It was far too late to go for a full meal at a restaurant.

Yang Yunshu then began speaking in a mocking tone, "Ruan Danchen, how shameless can you be? Now you"ve even seduced a client on company grounds, completely unaware of your surroundings. Were you really just about to get it on in the meeting room?"

Ruan Danchen grabbed her bag and turned around, frowning. "Yang Yunshu. Is it that hard for you to come to work every day without criticizing others? Why do you always have indecent thoughts?"

"Me? Indecent?" Yang Yunshu cackled coldly. "Even if I"m thinking lewd thoughts, it"ll never be worse than your lewd actions. It makes me feel disgusted! Do you think you can become the next Song Yu just by seducing Qi Chenglin? You think you can just sit around like her without doing anything and have Director Zhao afraid to take action on you? Who do you think you are? Do you really think you could be part of the Qi family? Please, just stop embarra.s.sing yourself!"

"What is it? What"s going on? What are you arguing about?" Wu Min came out of the meeting room after hearing the conversation. She immediately saw Yang Yunshu confronting Ruan Danchen in a heated argument.

"Don"t talk nonsense, Yang Yunshu! You should know who attempted to use unethical means to advance her career. I had a proper work-related discussion with Young Master Lin in the meeting room, that"s all. Don"t you dare start a rumor and make wild accusations!" Ruan Danchen felt slightly guilty when saying that.

Yan Yunshu huffed icily and threw a pocket mirror to Ruan Danchen"s table. "Nothing, you say? Why don"t you take a look in the mirror!"

Ruan Danchen frowned and took the mirror. She looked at her reflection and noticed that it was much better than expected.

Her hair, however, was slightly messy because of Qi Chenglin cupping her face in his hands. From her hair alone, it did look she had been given a bit of loving earlier.

Her lips were not that swollen, but her lipstick was all devoured by Qi Chenglin. The blush in her cheek had not fully disappeared yet and was still rosy, which reinforced the accusation that she had been intimate with Qi Chenglin.

She may be blus.h.i.+ng, but she threw the mirror onto the table and said, "Yang Yunshu, do you have any proof of what you"re accusing me of? Have you seen anything with your own two eyes? Don"t start your b.l.o.o.d.y rumors if you have no proof and didn"t even see anything. I hate and despise people who are unethical when trying to land a project. I swear on the future of my career that I have never and will never use filthy means just to obtain a project. Do you dare swear the same? Do you dare swear that you never made a false accusation toward me? That you weren"t trying to start rumors to taint my reputation? Do you dare to or not?"

Yang Yunshu stood blankly as her face turned green. She was unable to speak.

She kept quiet not because of superst.i.tion, but because her stubbornness might lead to a problem in the future.

"You don"t dare to? Then you"d better shut your d.a.m.n mouth and stop being so atrocious with all your accusations. Don"t even greet me from now on. You disgust me!" Ruan Danchen said without a care in the world.

Yang Yunshu"s repeated fault-finding gave Ruan Danchen no reason to be kind toward her.

Ruan Danchen pursed her lips, threw a piercing glare at Yang Yunshu, then grabbed her bag and left the design department.

"What was it that caused such a big argument? What if Director Zhao came back and saw everything?" Wu Min tugged on Yang Yunshu"s s.h.i.+rt and both of them went back into the meeting room.

"Didn"t you see her l.u.s.tful face in the meeting room just now? I have no idea what she did to seduce Qi Chenglin! It was obvious that she did something inappropriate, yet she still refuses to admit it. Instead, she pretended to be the victim and blamed me instead. Isn"t that sickening?" Yang Yunshu said unhappily. She entered the meeting room and sat down with a plop. Then, she began tossing the bowl of salad that she had not eaten yet.

"Who knows what secret potion she poured into their drinks. Even Manager Xu is so protective of her all the time. Since she"s good friends with Song Yu, Director Zhao still lets her stay around even though her workload is so small. She"s barely bringing in any profit for the company. Hasn"t it crossed Director Zhao"s mind that the Qi family wouldn"t treat Chengs.h.i.+ any better just because of her and her relations.h.i.+p with Song Yu?" Yang Yunshu lashed out.

Wu Min sat there in silence, having no desire to be involved in squabbles between colleagues.

Besides, Ruan Danchen was a pleasant character, and Wu Min did not believe that Ruan Danchen was that kind of person. Though Wu Min knew of Yang Yunshu"s character, it was the latter who went up to her and suggested that they slim down and have lunch together. She deemed it would be impolite to decline, so all she did was make sure that she watched her words whenever they spoke.

Ruan Danchen stormed out of the office in anger. Her stomach ached from hunger, but she had no appet.i.te because of what happened with Yang Yunshu.

Nevertheless, the last thing on her mind was to go back to the office and see Yang Yunshu"s face again. As she walked to the elevator and was wondering where to go, she received a call from Qi Chenglin.

Simply looking at his name on the screen made her heart thump wildly. The anger and annoyance caused by Yang Yunshu disappeared immediately, and she felt her cheek heat up.

Having picked up the call, she heard Qi Chenglin"s rich voice resounding from the phone. "Come down."

Ruan Danchen"s heartbeat quickened. Ever since they had the big talk that officially began their relations.h.i.+p, it was an entirely different feeling hearing his voice then, as if there was a new layer of intimacy between them.

"You haven"t left?" Ruan Danchen asked in shock.

He hung up without replying.

Stunned, she looked at her phone and mumbled in an irritated fas.h.i.+on, "You and your temper."

The elevator came, and she stepped into it with a degree of resentment.

Her anger at Yang Yunshu had been diffused after his call, but her mood soon reverted back to annoyance because of his temper.

Once the elevator reached the ground floor, she walked out and saw his black Benz right by the building entrance. It was parked at the exact same spot and had not been moved since he last came down.

She walked toward the car, and when she was about a step away, the car door swung open.

Ruan Danchen scanned her surroundings frantically. Lucky for her, many people were still out having lunch and so no one was around. Ruan Danchen immediately got into the car.

It was not the first time she sat in the front pa.s.senger seat, but the feeling was very different this time.

She never expected that she would be together with a man she met just once seven years ago who was also the respected second young master of the Qi family.

Nerves were getting to her as she sat beside him. Even her breathing was getting increasingly heavier. When she entered the car, however, the first thing she smelled was that of food.

She turned to look at him and noticed that his suit jacket had been taken off. It was thrown onto the back seat and he was left wearing only his dress s.h.i.+rt. The sleeves were not rolled up, and he looked just as professional dressed like that, although it was slightly more casual than when he donned a full suit.

Since the dress s.h.i.+rt was the only thing covering him, it was easy for her to spot the muscles on his arms and chest. The clothes were not stretched out, they actually fitted him quite well. It made one wonder how strong and st.u.r.dy the muscles underneath his s.h.i.+rt were.

Ruan Danchen blushed simply from looking at him, more so when she imagined being in his embrace. The solidity of his chest was very attractive indeed.

There did not seem to be anything unusual about Qi Chenglin. He looked at her in a teasing manner, making her feel a bit glum as she thought to herself, "Am I really in a relations.h.i.+p with him? He"s always looking at me so coldly."

He kept quiet and stretched his long arms to his back seat. The motion pulled his s.h.i.+rt taut, revealing the shape of his strong chest muscles while also inadvertently s.h.i.+fting him closer to her.

Ruan Danchen froze on the spot, and even her breathing became stifled.

He then retracted his hand, and what he had was a container, held in his clean, beautiful hands. The joints of his thumb were slender and prominent.

"Eat up. This is your lunch." Ruan Danchen heard his sonorous voice.

Feeling surprised, she took it from him and saw that his other hand was holding a container as well. Qi Chenglin then explained, "You didn"t have lunch, so I went to a nearby restaurant to get some."

Though she was slightly angry at him earlier for hanging up on her, that quickly disappeared and was replaced by warmth in her heart. She said softly, "Thank you."

Qi Chenglin was in a good mood. His lips curled and he said, "Don"t mention it. Lift your head a bit."

Still in a daze due to being alone with him in the tight confines of his car, she lifted her head obediently without thinking too much.

Almost immediately, a shadow loomed over her head. Qi Chenglin"s handsome face leaned closer as soon as she looked up. Before she could react, he caught her off guard and planted a kiss on her lips.

It was not a long kiss, for he broke free of her lips after giving her a peck.

Even so, Ruan Danchen felt extra shy. She could sense her head and cheeks heating up.

Qi Chenglin"s seemed to have quite the appet.i.te after kissing her. He wolfed down his food in a primal manner. Ruan Danchen would never have thought that such a well-dressed and proud man would eat his takeout in such an uncivilized way within the cover of his car.

Most of the shops nearby Chengs.h.i.+ were not well-known and could hardly compare to places like Dynasty, yet Qi Chenglin still ate them quite contentedly.

Ruan Danchen began eating too. She heard Qi Chenglin say, "I"m working overtime tonight. Xiao Yang will pick Youxuan from kindergarten before coming here to pick you. If you don"t mind, you can bring Youxuan home. I"ll come over when I"m done."

"I don"t mind," Ruan Danchen replied instantly. She was bubbling with excitement because that was exactly what she wanted.

Qi Chenglin smiled and finished his food before Ruan Danchen. She was a bit slower, so he waited until she finished before he took the empty container from her.

Seeing how spotless it was inside with not even a single grain of rice left, Qi Chenglin chuckled. "You were hungry?"

Ruan Danchen felt slightly embarra.s.sed. She was rather famished after being cooped up in the meeting room with him on an empty stomach.

She said shyly, "I don"t usually eat that much."

"I didn"t say anything." Qi Chenglin placed both containers into the plastic bag, stepped out of the car, and threw everything into a nearby rubbish bin.

"I"ll go up now," said Ruan Danchen once Qi Chenglin came back. As Qi Chenglin seemed to have no objections, she turned to open the door.

"Come here," Qi Chenglin"s rich voice rang from behind her.

Ruan Danchen could only turn around and let Qi Chenglin caress her.

The moment his hands came into contact with her waist, Ruan Danchen trembled and said, "Lunch break is over. I"m gonna be late."

"Did anyone gossip just now?" Qi Chenglin"s lips approached her own, and it was only when he was an inch away that he spoke with his mesmeric voice.

Ruan Danchen"s lips trembled and she said softly, "It"s just conflict between colleagues. Nothing much."

Qi Chenglin looked at her with a serious expression, but he did not say a word. He kissed her once more before letting her go. "You can go up now."

Their new relations.h.i.+p was still something that Ruan Danchen was unaccustomed to. When she left the car, she did so in a daze.

At around ten minutes past four in the evening, Ruan Danchen received a call from Xiao Yang saying that he had picked Youxuan up and was on his way to Chengs.h.i.+. He estimated that he would arrive at about five-thirty.

Ruan Danchen looked at her colleagues, got up, then rushed out of the office. She went to the staircase and said softly, "Xiao Yang, can you park a bit further away when you arrive?"

Xiao Yang did not ask why and happily complied, "Would it be okay if I park at the intersection before Chengs.h.i.+?"

"That would be fine, thank you," Ruan Danchen replied.

Ruan Danchen was not particularly bothered with what her colleagues think—her main concern was that her relations.h.i.+p with Qi Chenglin would be spread around by those blabbermouths and somehow make its way to the Shen family"s ears. If they knew she was with Qi Chenglin, they would certainly come looking for her.