Cheng Jinlan was unable to sleep in the first half of the night, and had one dream after another in the second half. In each dream, a big black dog kept barking at her. When she woke up the next day, the dark circles under her eyes were so heavy that even thick makeup could not cover them.
Cheng LiQi's eyes were half-closed as she looked up at her mother's face and asked, "Mom, did you not sleep well?"
Cheng Jinlan rubbed some fragrant cream on her face, then gently patted her daughter's chubby cheeks twice before answering her question, "A little."
Cheng LiQi opened her eyes wide. "Did you have a nightmare?"
"Yes."
"What did you dream about, Mom? Was a big tiger chasing you?"
"No, it was a big black dog."
"Ah~" Cheng LiQi stroked her mother's head to comfort her, "Don't be afraid, Mom. Dogs aren't that scary. White puppies are very cute, and some big dogs can be cute too. Not all big dogs are frightening. The big dog in Mom's dream must have been adorable."
Cheng Jinlan picked up a comb and started brushing her hair. "How does little LiQi know the dog in Mom's dream was cute? Did you sneak into Mom's dream?"
Cheng LiQi tilted her head and thought for a moment before replying to her mom, "Because Mom is the best mom in the world, the prettiest mom, the cutest mom. So that big dog must have chased Mom because he liked Mom. A dog who likes Mom must be very cute, just like me."
Cheng Jinlan had originally woken up in a terrible mood after a poor night's sleep. But now she cupped her daughter's chubby face in her hands and kissed her hard several times in a row. What was she to do with this little sweetie who was her daughter? Was she planning to melt her mom's heart first thing in the morning?
"No one is as cute as our little sweetheart. Our little sweetie is the cutest baby."
The corners of Cheng LiQi's mouth turned up. "Then please give your cutest little sweetheart, me, the cutest little braids."
Cheng Jinlan did more than just the cutest little braids. She styled Cheng LiQi's hair into a flower bun. Cheng LiQi spun around in front of the mirror several times and then happily went out the door holding her mom's hand.
As soon as she opened the door, she saw a huge bouquet of roses placed next to it.
"Wow~~ Mom, who left these beautiful flowers at our door? They're so pretty!"
The bouquet was too big for Cheng LiQi to hold, so she could only squat down and lean in to smell the roses, then look up at her mom. "They smell so nice, Mom. Was it brought by a fairy?"
Cheng Jinlan had seen the flowers in the back seat when she parked her car last night.
During their relationship, he had given her all kinds of gifts - the newest jewelry, bags, clothes. It was convenient and perfunctory. Sometimes she was too lazy to even open them and look. But he had never given her flowers before. It wasn't that she particularly liked flowers, she just couldn't imagine what it would be like if he appeared with a bouquet. It really wasn't his style, just as she had never imagined that the word "woof" would come out of his mouth.
Did he think that by barking "woof" he would get the dogs to recognize him as one of their own?
Cheng Jinlan plucked a rose, snapped off the stem, and tucked it behind Cheng LiQi's ear. She held her daughter's chin and examined her carefully. "I feel like I'm looking at a beautiful little fairy."
Cheng LiQi touched the rose on her ear. She jumped up happily. "I've become a little flower fairy!"
Cheng Jinlan bent down to pick her up. "Our little LiQi has become a little flower fairy. Does she still want breakfast?"
Cheng LiQi put her arms around her mother's neck. "I do. Little flower fairies need to eat a lot to grow into even prettier fairies." She rubbed her little nose. "I can already smell the breakfast Grandma Qu is making."
Cheng Jinlan carried her little flower fairy through the small door in the wall. The wind blew over the roses blooming on top of the wall, and their fragrance filled the June air.
Summer had arrived before they knew it.
It was Saturday today. Cheng Jinlan hadn't gone to the hotel yesterday, so she needed to go over this morning to deal with some backlogged work. The hotel was also hosting two important conferences this weekend that she wanted to oversee.
When she parked her car in the underground garage, she habitually took out her phone to check her messages. The red dots on WeChat had piled up. The liveliest was the conference group led by Chang Yunqiong and Miao. The conference was taking place tomorrow, and they were doing a rehearsal today.
Zhou An spoke for the first time in the group. He @Cheng Jinlan, then @Shao Chengze: [After the meeting ends tomorrow, we three companies should get together. First, we've mostly just been in contact online recently, so we should have a "net friends meetup" to match names to faces and build a good foundation for our next collaboration. Second, to celebrate the successful and smooth conclusion of our conference. I'll play host and we can eat and drink to our heart's content, not leaving until we're drunk. What do you think?]
Below, the other people in the group responded enthusiastically, agreeing that Boss Zhou had a great idea.
The two people he @ had not yet responded.
Cheng Jinlan typed in the chat box: [Boss Zhou is right, we should get together. But Boss Zhou shouldn't have to play host. Boss Zhou has taken care of Meishui and Lanchen's business, he shouldn't have to spend more on treating us to a meal. I want to take this opportunity to sincerely thank Boss Zhou's team and Qiongmiao's team for their care and coordination with Meishui's work, as well as everyone's hard work recently.]
Right after Cheng Jinlan hit send, another message appeared in the chat at the same time. Hers was on top, the other below. The sender of the other message was Shao Chengze.
The content was: [Boss Zhou is right, we should get together. But Boss Zhou shouldn't have to play host. Qiongmiao is leading this conference, and Boss Zhou and his team have given Qiongmiao a lot of support and help. Boss Zhou shouldn't have to spend more on treating us to a meal. I want to take this opportunity to sincerely thank Boss Zhou's team and Boss Cheng's team for fully cooperating with Qiongmiao's work and everyone's hard work recently.]
The others in the group looked at the messages above and below. For a moment they thought there was something wrong with their eyes. How could these two messages be so similar? Were they really written by two different people?
Zhou An replied first: [You two are so in sync?!]
But he recalled it in less than a second, immediately following up with: [No matter who's treating, dinner is set! I'll definitely be there tomorrow, you two who offered to host better not find an excuse to duck out on me.]
Boss Zhou recalled his message quickly, but some had faster eyes.
Wu Tongtong was one of those with fast eyes.
She looked at Boss Shao's message, then Boss Cheng from Meishui's message.
She covered her mouth with both hands. She felt like she had found the person who could give her boss lifelong happiness, the one Boss Alex had mentioned. Could it be... Boss Cheng from Meishui???
However, Boss Shao, who never changed his profile pic, when did he change it? Next to the domineering German Shepherd was a cute little white dog nestled up to it. That domineering German Shepherd did look a lot like her boss, but this little white dog was far too cute, completely inconsistent with her boss's image. Since when did her boss like such adorable creatures?
Wu Tongtong didn't know whether to be more surprised that her boss liked such cute animals, that her boss actually knew how to change his profile picture, or the subtle relationship between her boss and... Boss Cheng from Meishui??!!!
Cheng Jinlan looked at the message, wanted to recall it, but felt that recalling it would seem more evasive. She simply threw her phone in her bag and stopped thinking about being in sync or what his profile picture was, or if he was trying to compete with dogs or something.
Shao Chengze stared at the two messages for a while. The corners of his mouth turned up slightly. Then he took a screenshot.
Cheng Jinchuan, who walked over from across the street, pushed his sunglasses further down his nose. He was seeing ghosts in broad daylight. This guy actually knew how to smile?
Cheng Jinchuan had come to attend an industry conference held in the city. He knew Shao's company was also attending, he just didn't expect to run smack into them at the entrance. What a small world.
Shao Chengze also saw Cheng Jinchuan.
Cheng Jinchuan pushed his sunglasses back over his eyes. Anyway, the entrance was only so big. He would not give way. He could give way to anyone, but in front of the Shao family, the Cheng family did not have the word "give way" in their vocabulary. Not even a millimeter would they give way, and Shao thought he could discuss the land in Nancheng with him? What a joke.
Shao Chengze signaled for the people behind him to take a step back, then said to Cheng Jinchuan, "Boss Cheng, please go ahead."
He was showing a great deal of humility.
Cheng Jinchuan's subordinates recognized Shao Chengze and were shocked. Since when were the Shao family's people so polite? Not to mention old man Shao, even Shao Zhangting and his son looked down on people like they were garbage. Moreover, this was the Cheng family they were facing. Not much was known about this new head of the Shao family who hadn't grown up in the Shao household, but in the end he had the Shao blood in him. How could he be any different?
Cheng Jinchuan was also stunned by Shao Chengze's show of deference. He shook out his sleeves and gave a cold humph before going through the door first.
The more he thought about it afterwards, the more he felt something was off. For Shao Chengze to show such humility, he must be seeking something. And what he sought was naturally his Cheng family's treasure. Why did he go along with Shao's "after you" just now and let him gain the upper hand in a tactical retreat?
As soon as Cheng Jinchuan returned home, he picked up his little niece who came running at him and gave her a big hug. "Little LiQi, your big uncle lost a step in the game today."
Cheng LiQi took the sunglasses off her granduncle's nose bridge and put them on her own head. "It's okay, granduncle. If we've taken a wrong turn, we can just go back and start again. Even if we've lost this round of the game, we can just start a new round. How did grandpa put it again?" She cleared her throat and lowered her voice to mimic her grandpa's, "Defeat is temporary, and so is victory. You must overcome arrogance and impatience to find the eternal path."
Cheng Jinchuan's bad mood all afternoon was dispelled by his dear little niece. She was right - no matter how humbly Shao ChengZe acted, it wouldn't get past her stern grandfather Cheng Shanhe. The treasures of the Cheng family were not so easily obtained by just anyone.
"Granduncle, Hu Grandpa's family has moved someone into their home," Cheng LiQi shared the latest news.
The Hu couple had moved abroad with their son last year but kept their house.
Cheng Jinchuan asked, "How do you know?"
"I saw people moving things into their home when I came back from my ballet class," Cheng LiQi replied.
"That's good news. You'll have new neighbors and potentially a new little friend to play with if they have kids too."
Cheng LiQi smiled happily. "I haven't seen them yet, but I feel like they do have a kid, a super cute little girl."
"Wow, you're a little psychic aren't you, a tiny fortune teller! Come tell granduncle how you know."
Cheng LiQi shifted the sunglasses down to her eyes and put on a mystifying expression. "Because a lot of the stuff they moved in are things us girls like. With such an obvious clue even I could guess it without being psychic."
Cheng Jinchuan was amazed by his precious little niece. He would have to protect this adorable psychic gem well and not let her be tricked away by ill-intentioned people.
