Chapter 39 This is similar to what you wrote in "The Domineering CEO's Lightheartedness"...

When Zhou Shilin agreed to be the baby's godfather, Wu Junnan admitted that he was somewhat envious of his newborn daughter.

If given a choice, who wouldn't want a godfather like Mr. Zhou? :)

In order not to disturb Pupu and the baby's rest, Chen Ci and Zhou Shilin did not stay at the hospital for too long. When they left, Chen Ci said that she would come to see the baby again in a few days with gifts.

Pupu looked at the gift bags piled up on the table and said to her, "No need, you've already given out a lot today."

"Well, we just got a goddaughter, and it's my first time being a godmother, so I have to do something special."

Wu Junnan said, "No need for that. Just give me a red envelope."

"……OK."

Walking side by side with Zhou Shilin down the hospital corridor, Chen Ci glanced at the time on her phone; it was already past seven.

No wonder she was so hungry.

"Hungry?" Zhou Shilin, who was beside her, asked as if he knew what she was thinking. "What would you like to eat? It's on me."

"Mr. Zhou is treating?" Chen Ci's eyes brightened immediately. "Then anything is fine, Mr. Zhou's choices are never bad."

Zhou Shilin was already used to her flattery. He thought for a moment and asked her, "Would you like to eat Chinese food?"

"Sure, the place you took me to last time was really good!" Last time, PW2 Zhou Shilin suddenly came over, and everyone was caught off guard, but even in that situation, Assistant Tian was able to find a good Chinese restaurant right away.

If you don't know what to eat in the future, just ask Assistant Tian.

...Never mind, the restaurants he chose all have too high an average cost per person.

"That place is too far, let's go to Tianxiaju today."

"Okay, I knew I'd be living the high life with Boss Zhou."

"Eating spicy food is fine, but drinking spicy food is not recommended, since some people have a very poor alcohol tolerance and behavior when drunk."

Chen Ci: "..."

The memory of Zhou Shilin taking her home that night flooded back into her mind. She thought about it carefully and realized that she had behaved very well when drunk; otherwise, Zhou Shilin would never have left her house fully clothed.

Zhou Shilin and Shen Ci went to dinner, and Tian Xu didn't follow them, going straight home after work. As the driver carried them on the road, he couldn't help but miss Tian Xu.

Last time, when Assistant Tian wasn't around, Miss Shen said a lot of shocking things, which almost left him with psychological trauma.

Chen Ci was very quiet today, keeping her head down and looking at something on her phone.

"What are you looking at?" Zhou Shilin asked, turning his head to the side.

Chen Ci handed him her phone and said, "I'm looking at baby products."

Zhou Shilin looked at her phone screen and saw that it was indeed full of posts recommending baby products, including baby comfort toys, pure cotton onesies, and baby blankets, all of which looked very cute.

Zhou Shilin said, "Didn't we say we'd just give out red envelopes?"

"That's true, but I still want to buy something for the baby."

Zhou Shilin chuckled lightly: "You're quite the devoted godmother."

"……Thanks."

“Tian Xu bought all of these things you bought.” Zhou Shilin looked away from her phone screen. “But children grow up very quickly. You can wait until she’s a little older before buying more.”

After thinking about it, Chen Ci felt that what he said made a lot of sense: "That way, the baby will always have clothes to wear."

"..." Don't make it sound like her parents don't buy her clothes.

"What brand did Assistant Tian buy? I'll buy the same one." Tian Xu carefully selects, so it can't be bad either.

Zhou Shilin said, "It's a maternal and infant brand invested in by Shijie Investment. It's safe and reliable."

“…Okay.” Shijie’s business scope is indeed very wide.

Upon arriving at Tianxiaju, Chen Ci and Zhou Shilin got out of the car and walked inside side by side. Although Tian Xu had finished work, he had reserved a private room for them in advance, ordered a pot of good tea, and a snack.

Chen Ci had eaten at Tianxiaju before. When she was a child, her parents brought her there. After she started working, she mainly relied on Mr. Wu to reimburse her expenses.

The greeter led them to the private room before turning away. Chen Ci and Zhou Shilin went inside, and the waiter in charge of the room poured them tea.

This isn't a place specifically for tea tasting, so it's naturally not as refined as the teahouse Zhou Shilin took Chen Ci to before. After the waiter poured them some tea, he took the menu and asked them what dishes they wanted to order.

"What would you like to eat?" Zhou Shilin handed the menu to Chen Ci. In addition to the regular menu, Tianxiaju also has seasonal dishes. Chen Ci ordered two seasonal dishes and returned the menu to Zhou Shilin: "You can order a few more."

"Okay." Based on Zhou Shilin's understanding of Shen Ci's tastes over this period, he figured she probably liked spicy food, so he ordered Mapo Tofu. "And another fish, how about squirrel-shaped mandarin fish?"

"eat!"

"That's all for now." Zhou Shilin handed the menu to the waitress and said, "I'd also like a baked sweet potato with cheese."

Shen Ci was stunned when she heard this. No, she had just glanced at the dish a couple of times, and Zhou Shilin had noticed that?

"What's wrong?" Zhou Shilin looked at her. Chen Ci awkwardly raised her hand to brush her hair aside and coughed softly, "I just didn't expect that President Zhou would like to eat this kind of thing."

Zhou Shilin subtly curled the corners of his lips, his gaze on her carrying a hint of mockery: "Didn't you want to eat it?"

"I didn't," Chen Ci stubbornly insisted.

Zhou Shilin didn't follow her train of thought: "If you want to eat it, why not order it? Do you feel like you're losing out by eating sweet potatoes at Tianxiaju?"

"..." That's exactly what she thought. Since she had finally come to Tianxiaju, she naturally wanted to eat something good.

“But this dish isn’t cheap at Tianxiaju either. Just like fried rice with eggs, the price there is also much higher.” Zhou Shilin picked up his cup and took a sip of tea. “Don’t worry, it’s worth it.”

"..." Help! She was even more embarrassed!

The waiter put away the menu, bowed slightly, and asked Zhou Shilin, "Mr. Zhou, you didn't order soup. Would you like to order some?"

Zhou Shilin nodded and asked Chen Ci, who was still feeling awkward, "What kind of soup would you like to drink?"

"Uh." Chen Ci recalled the soup she had just seen, "Let's make mushroom soup."

"Okay," the waiter replied, taking the menu and leaving the private room.

While waiting for the food to be served, Chen Ci finally realized how thoughtful Assistant Tian was—the snack he had ordered for them in advance was a lifesaver! If it weren't for this snack, she would have asked the waiter to bring her a bowl of white rice and a plate of kimchi to fill her stomach.

"I must say, Assistant Tian is truly thoughtful and meticulous in her work." Chen Ci picked up a half-eaten brown sugar glutinous rice cake with her chopsticks and sincerely thanked Tian Xu.

Zhou Shilin neither confirmed nor denied her praise: "If it weren't for that, he wouldn't be my assistant."

When Zhou Shilin usually comes to eat alone or to meet with other bosses, Tian Xu will order the dishes in advance. Tonight, however, he only ordered a snack to give Chen Ci the choice.

"But don't eat too many snacks, or you won't be able to finish the main dishes later," Zhou Shilin reminded Chen Ci, glancing at the half-eaten brown sugar glutinous rice cakes on the plate.

Chen Ci thought what he said made a lot of sense. If she ate her fill of brown sugar glutinous rice cakes at Tianxiaju, she would have lost a hundred million: "This is my last piece."

Zhou Shilin smiled and looked at her with interest, asking, "In your novel 'The Domineering CEO's Pampering,' the female lead was always embarrassed to order anything too expensive when she went out to eat with the male lead, afraid that he would spend too much. Why did you do the opposite?"

Chen Ci: "..."

No way, Mr. Zhou, you didn't have to go to such lengths just to get her to eat less glutinous rice cake!

"Pfft, cough cough." She choked on the glutinous rice cake in her mouth, quickly put down her chopsticks, picked up the cup beside her, and took a sip of tea. After catching her breath, she looked at Zhou Shilin incredulously: "Mr. Zhou, you didn't actually read the novel I wrote, did you?"

And they looked at it very closely!

Zhou Shilin nodded without changing his expression: "I did read it, thinking of learning what domineering CEOs do to pamper their children."

Chen Ci: "..."

Mr. Zhou, your thirst for knowledge is incredible! No wonder you were able to go to university at sixteen!

"However, after reading it, I felt it had no reference value."

Chen Ci: "..."

This is something you should have known when you saw the title!

"Ahem, is that so?" Chen Ci looked at Zhou Shilin sitting opposite her and gave him an elegant yet polite smile. "When I wrote this article, I had just started college. My thinking was not mature at that time, and it was just something I wrote to pass the time, so it didn't have much value to begin with."

Zhou Shilin thought for a moment and said, "No, at least it's quite funny."

"……"thank you.

Chen Ci cleared her throat and continued, "Now that I'm working, my thinking has naturally changed. You know, the male lead is so rich, does he need the female lead to save him money? He doesn't. But the female lead really does need it."

"..." Zhou Shilin paused for a moment, then couldn't help but lower his eyes and chuckle softly.

This was the first time Chen Ci had ever seen Zhou Shilin laugh so unabashedly; even his shoulders were trembling slightly.

“I see that Mr. Wu is paying you a decent salary, so you shouldn’t be starving.” After laughing for a while, Zhou Shilin returned to his usual expressionless demeanor, though a hint of amusement could still be seen in his eyes.

Chen Ci said, "The salary Mr. Wu pays is indeed not low, but it still hurts me to spend my own salary on eating and drinking at Tianxiaju. What's more, I still have to pay you back 10,000 yuan every month."

After finishing speaking, Chen Ci immediately added, "I'm not saying this to renege on my debt."

Zhou Shilin nodded: "After all, we signed a contract, so it's not so easy for you to renege on your promise."

"..." Yes, that's right.

Just as Chen Ci was about to pick up the piece of brown sugar glutinous rice cake she hadn't finished eating, the waiter brought in Mapo Tofu. The golden tofu pieces were soaked in a thick sauce, and a fragrant aroma wafted out as soon as it was placed on the table.

"Let's eat." Zhou Shilin reached out and turned the Mapo Tofu in front of Chen Ci. "Since you're missing this, eat more."

Chen Ci: "..."

She picked up a spoon, scooped up a spoonful of Mapo Tofu, and blew on it to cool it down. Once she felt it wasn't too hot, she opened her mouth and took a bite. The tofu was so soft it melted in her mouth, the sauce was savory, spicy, and flavorful, and the fried minced beef was crispy yet tender. Combined with the soft tofu, the texture was incredibly rich.

"Delicious, no wonder it's called Tianxiaju." She took a moment to praise it, then scooped up another large spoonful of tofu.

Zhou Shilin has eaten with her several times. Whether it's "Shen Feifei" or her, she always eats with great relish. Eating with her makes him feel more hungry.

"Aren't you going to eat?" Seeing that Zhou Shilin hadn't touched his chopsticks, Chen Ci turned the Mapo Tofu in front of him back to him. "You must be hungry too."

"Mm," Zhou Shilin responded, picking up the spoon in front of him.

The dishes were served one after another, and the unfinished brown sugar glutinous rice cakes were completely forgotten. Chen Ci was busy with her work when she suddenly received a message on her phone.

She had only glanced at it casually at first, but after the screen unlocked, Chen Yun's name appeared on it.

Chen Ci picked up her phone with her left hand and opened WeChat.

This WeChat account was added many years ago when they were still in school. Because they hadn't been in contact for so long, she almost deleted it.

Chen Yun: Chen Ci, are you still using this WeChat?

Sinking porcelain: In ~

Chen Yun: That's great! I didn't even have a chance to ask for your contact information today. Luckily, you're still using this number.

Chen Yun: Are you free to have lunch together tomorrow?

Tomorrow is Saturday, and Chen Ci originally wanted to sleep, but she had already refused Chen Yun once today, and refusing again would make her seem a bit heartless.

Chen Ci: Is it okay, just the two of us? Or should we invite a few more classmates?

Chen Yun: I'll make the appointment.

Sinking porcelain: Good

After sending that message, Chen Ci put down her phone. As she reached for some food, she suddenly met Zhou Shilin's gaze. That look inexplicably made her feel guilty, even though she hadn't done anything!

"What's wrong?" She unconsciously withdrew her hand, which had reached for some food. Zhou Shilin, seeing that she had just tried to pick up the squirrel-shaped mandarin fish, picked up the serving chopsticks and put some mandarin fish on her plate. "Did something happen at work?"

He asked casually, as if he genuinely cared about Chen Ci's work. Chen Ci took the piece of fish he put on her plate, put it back on the table, and laughed twice: "No, it's... Chen Yun."

"Oh, your high school classmate." Zhou Shilin nodded casually. "He asked you out to dinner again?"

"...Yeah, haha, but it's not just the two of us, there are other classmates too."

"Excuse me." The waiter walked in from outside the private room and brought out the last dish, baked sweet potato with cheese. The warm light in the room perfectly illuminated the golden-brown rim of the porcelain plate, making it look incredibly appetizing. Chen Ci didn't pick up a spoon, but scooped up a spoonful. The smooth sweet potato puree wrapped in cheese could be stretched into strings.

"Mmm, this is so delicious, I'm so glad I ordered it." Chen Ci sincerely recommended the baked sweet potato with cheese to Zhou Shilin. "It's soft and sweet, the sweet potato is steamed perfectly without any hard center, and the cheese is not too salty or greasy. It's especially delicious!"

Zhou Shilin nodded and turned the cheese-baked sweet potato a little towards him: "Where are you planning to eat? Your classmate just came back from abroad and probably isn't very familiar with the restaurants in City A. How about I recommend a few?"

"..." Shen Ci didn't expect that even food couldn't shut Zhou Shilin up.

She thought she had already changed the subject!

"Haha, no need, no need, it's just a classmate reunion, we can just have something casual."

As soon as Chen Ci finished speaking, Chen Yun sent her a location: "Let's eat here tomorrow."

Chen Ci stared at the prominent words "Tianxiaju" on the screen and fell into deep thought.