First thing on Monday morning, Shao Corporation was thrown into chaos. The Board of Directors received Shao Chengze's resignation letter, but he didn't come to work and his phone was unreachable. All calls were forwarded to Kong Yichuan.
Kong Yichuan took a sip of water, took a deep breath, and gave the same explanation for the 101st time to the person on the other end of the line, "I also don't know the specifics. I can't reach President Shao either."
Shao Zhangting was woken up by the barrage of phone calls amidst the embrace of a beauty. He scrolled through the pile of messages on WeChat, then leaned into the beauty's arms again to hurriedly call his mother back, "Mom, what's going on? Shao Chengze resigned? Have you made a move? Wow mom, you're too amazing. If you weren't going to make a move, then don't, but once you do, you silently got rid of that brat. What do you need me and Jingyun to do now?"
Wu Jingyao impatiently interrupted him, "He resigned on his own initiative."
"Huh? Why would he resign, is he sick?" Shao Zhangting had just woken up and his mind wasn't very clear yet. The words slipped out before he could stop them. He had been scheming and plotting his whole life to obtain something he could never get, yet Shao Chengze could just say he didn't want it anymore.
Wu Jingyao didn't want to listen to his nonsense. "Tell Jingyun to go to the company immediately. Your dad is already on the way there to hold a board meeting."
Shao Zhangting had the beauty hold his phone while he got dressed. "Mom, what about Shao Chengze? Is he participating too?"
"Who knows? No one can find him now. He's not answering his phone and there's no one at his home. No idea where he ran off to. Hurry up, you and Jingyun have to get there before your dad." Wu Jingyao hung up after saying her piece, then took out another phone to make another call.
While some were in deep water, others were enjoying peace.
Yuan Zhongzhou walked out with a head of bedhair and exclaimed "F*ck" when he smelled the fragrance coming from the kitchen. "The company's exploding right now with everyone looking for you, yet here you are making me breakfast." He looked at the dining table, then the pots on the stove, cursing again. "What kind of blessed life did I have in my last life to deserve chicken soup for breakfast? What time did you get up?"
Shao Chengze didn't even spare him a glance.
Yuan Zhongzhou sat down, content to wait for the food. "Boss Shao, what's our plan now? It's so hot out, want to go on vacation somewhere? You just got a new private island right, let's go there?"
Shao Chengze turned off the stove. "Where I go for vacation is my business. You go wash up and get to work."
"Why do I still need to work when everyone knows I'm your man? If you're gone, what's the point of me staying there?" Yuan Zhongzhou complained.
Shao Chengze retorted, "Firstly, you're not my man. Secondly, I resigned, you didn't."
Yuan Zhongzhou deflated. He thought he could take advantage of this to go on a nice long vacation since the weather was too hot for work.
"And why are you packing food? I'll go to the company after eating. With the chaos today, it'd just be walking into an ambush if I went early." Yuan Zhongzhou watched Shao Chengze packing the cooked food into lunchboxes.
Shao Chengze glanced at him. "Did I say this was for you? If you want to eat, there's a restaurant downstairs and a cafeteria at the company."
Yuan Zhongzhou was dumbfounded. Then who was he bustling around cooking for?
Cheng Jinlan drank a cup of coffee first thing upon entering her office. She wasn't feeling well today after a poor night of sleep, and her upset stomach prevented her from eating much breakfast either.
The phone rang but she was too lazy to answer it. Yet she couldn't ignore it completely since she had come to work, and she couldn't be lazy about work matters. Her back straightened, but upon seeing the name on the screen, all her energy deflated again.
"What do you want?" She answered apathetically.
"I'm downstairs at Lan Chuan Tower." Shao Chengze leaned against the car with one hand in his pocket, head tilted back to look up at the building.
Cheng Jinlan got up and walked to the floor-to-ceiling window, looking down at the ant-sized people and cars below. Yet she felt like she could sense which one was him.
"Why are you here instead of at the company at this time?"
"To deliver breakfast/lunch. Are you busy? Should I come up or you come down?"
"I already ate breakfast, not hungry yet." Cheng Jinlan turned away from the window and returned to her desk, typing "Shao Corporation" into the search bar. Rows of the latest news relating to Shao Corporation popped up and she skimmed through them briefly.
Over the phone, Shao Chengze replied, "It won't fill you up, I simmered some chicken soup. Isn't there a saying that simmering chicken soup best tests a chef's skills? I'm working hard to improve my cooking so I can become a good husband. I want you to try my chicken soup and tell me how it is."
"So you're aiming to become a good husband now?" Cheng Jinlan paced around slowly, heading for the exit.
Shao Chengze laughed. "That's a good direction to work towards. I'll strive towards it. But there's one key question, who would be my wife?" He paused before continuing slowly, "How about you?"
Cheng Jinlan rejected bluntly, "No."
Shao Chengze's laughter deepened. "Coming down?"
"No, why would I? I already said I ate breakfast."
"I heard the door open," he called out her lie. "See, you're always contradicting yourself like this. Should I just take whatever you say as the opposite from now on? No means yes, don't like means..."
Cheng Jinlan briskly hung up.
Shao Chengze listened to the lifeless beeps, regretting that he had been too forward and should have used a more tactful way to expose her lie. After waiting for a while without anyone coming out, she had likely stormed off in embarrassment, refusing to see him.
Couldn't see the person, but at least had to deliver the soup. He scrolled to find Tang Yicheng's number, finger hovering over the screen as his eyes fixed on the figure walking out of the revolving doors not far away, lips curving up slowly.
Cheng Jinlan wore all black today - wide leg pants on bottom, linen blazer up top. To improve her sickly complexion, she had applied a matte, true red lipstick. Though she wore flats, her aura seemed even stronger than usual.
Shao Chengze leaned against the car without moving, waiting for her to approach step by step until she stopped half a meter away, meeting his gaze.
Shao Chengze straightened and closed the distance by a step, greeting her, "Morning, President Cheng."
Cheng Jinlan's expressionless face reddened slightly at his words, reminded of certain moments when he had addressed her like that, albeit in a deeper, raspier voice.
"Don't call me that anymore." She didn't want to hear that title from him again, regardless of when.
"Why not?" Shao Chengze feigned ignorance, but the laughter in his eyes gave him away.
The two were too eye-catching. Passersby would inevitably glance their way. Shao Chengze opened the passenger door. "Let's talk in the car. Cheng--" Meeting her glare, he smiled and corrected himself. "Miaomiao."
Cheng Jinlan threw him an icy look. She bent down to get in the car and Shao Chengze also bent down, leaning inside. Cheng Jinlan pressed back against the seat warily, watching him. "What are you trying to do?"
Shao Chengze hadn't originally planned anything, but hearing her say that made him feel obligated to do something. He leaned closer. "What do you want me to do?"
Cheng Jinlan pushed him. "We're under my company building."
There was a "click" as the seatbelt fastened. Only then did Cheng Jinlan realize her mistake in misunderstanding him. But why buckle up?
Shao Chengze answered her unspoken question. "I'm not trying anything. Since we can't stay under your company building, we should find a quiet place to talk."
Cheng Jinlan lifted her leg to kick him.
Shao Chengze pressed down her leg, rubbing her hair gently while soothing in a tone used for placating a temperamental child, "Be good, no rush." His actions made Cheng Jinlan want to kick him even more.
He held her hand, occasionally glancing over with a smile. With the morning rush hour past, traffic wasn't too congested and the car rode steadily. Her heart inexplicably sped up and even her palms grew damp, giving her the mistaken feeling that they were eloping to do something naughty.
The car finally stopped in a small alley. The dense sycamore trees on both sides of the road covered the alley, forming a natural shade. There was no one on the road, but a dog from someone's yard kept barking. The barking, along with the constant cicadas chirping in the sycamore trees, made it anything but quiet.
Shao ChengZe reached back and took out a bag. With a serious look, he said, "What did you think I was going to do? Didn't I say I was going to treat you to chicken soup? I couldn't possibly let your employees see their boss come out to slack off during work hours. That wouldn't look good."
Cheng Jinlan felt like she had been tricked and wanted to pour the chicken soup over his head.
However, the soup smelled delicious. She didn't have much of an appetite originally, but when he opened the thermos, Cheng Jinlan felt like drinking a bowl wouldn't be so bad. He had brought along bowls and spoons. Cheng Jinlan took them and drank a spoonful. The soft, soothing soup slid down her throat and warmed her stomach. She temporarily forgave him for his earlier behavior.
"How is it?" he asked, looking at her expression.
Cheng Jinlan replied, "It's terrible."
Her mouth said it was terrible, but her hand lifted the spoon for two more sips.
Shao ChengZe reached out to gather her stray hair behind her back. "If it's so terrible, drink more. With soup this bad, no one else would drink it except to give me face."
Cheng Jinlan glared at him, then drank another spoonful. "Did you get kicked off the board of directors by your grandfather?"
"I resigned voluntarily."
"What's the difference?"
"My version sounds better."
Cheng Jinlan: ...
She could never get a straightforward word out of his mouth.
Shao ChengZe moved closer to her. "Worried about me?"
Cheng Jinlan didn't deny it. "Didn't you say you wanted to reclaim what belonged to your grandmother? How will you do that after getting kicked off the board?"
Shao ChengZe leaned in closer. "Guess what I'm best at?"
Looking into his deep eyes, Cheng Jinlan replied, "I guess the only thing you're best at is being a scoundrel."
Shao ChengZe broke into a smile, his nose brushing against hers. "You're so clever, that's the right guess."
Hooking her chin with his hand, his lips came down on hers. Cheng Jinlan was holding a bowl and couldn't push him away. She worried the soup would spill on the car, and worried someone might walk by. But before long, those worries were tossed aside as all her nerves and senses followed his tongue.
Suddenly, his tongue stopped moving and retreated from her lips. He just lightly sucked on her lip line, breathing out her name between breaths, calling her "Cheng Miaomiao" over and over.
Cheng Jinlan felt a burning thirst in her throat. She reached out with the tip of her tongue. When it touched his softness, a bright gleam flashed through Shao ChengZe's dark eyes. Pressing the back of her head, he entered again, conquering and plundering.
In the end, the surging tides receded back to still waters.
Cheng Jinlan looked at him with swollen lips and dewy eyes. He fed her a spoonful of chicken soup, saying, "See, besides being a scoundrel, I'm also best at strategic retreat. So don't worry about me. What's meant to be mine, I'll get in the end."
Whether he could get it in the end was uncertain. But she wouldn't let him take advantage again in the meantime. He went back on her blacklist, both his numbers blocked. Shao ChengZe could only call his daughter.
Cheng LiQi held up her smartwatch phone, chatting excitedly with Dad about what happened at kindergarten. Shao ChengZe listened attentively to his daughter and to any sounds from the other end of the call. But he didn't hear another voice.
He asked, "Where's Mom?"
"Mom's packing. She's going on a business trip tomorrow."
"Where is she going?"
Cheng LiQi thought for a moment but couldn't remember the name of the city. "I think it's where Mom went to college. Mom said she'll bring back tasty treats for me, and lots of gifts too."
After Cheng LiQi finished, her tone became a little solemn. "Dad, you haven't been dating Mom seriously, have you?"
"Why do you say that?"
"Otherwise you wouldn't not know about such an important trip. You haven't been paying attention to Mom, have you?"
Shao ChengZe explained, "Dad has been dating Mom very seriously. But Dad upset Mom, so that's why she didn't tell Dad about the business trip."
Cheng LiQi couldn't accept this explanation. "If you were seriously dating Mom, how could you still upset her?"
Shao ChengZe: ...!
