Chapter 21

She was a newcomer with zero experience, and all she did was running errands and doing odd jobs. She couldn't understand the overly professional things, so she simply sat in the back to reduce her presence.

This was Ciheng's first formal meeting with the President's Office since returning to Beijing. The meeting was primarily to develop new procedures to better assist him in his work.

The meeting was long and boring. Wen Zhenni was bored and drew circles on her notebook again and again.

In addition, she didn't take a nap at noon, so she kept feeling sleepy. She was worried about looking bad, so she could only yawn with her hand covering her mouth.

Wen Zhenni tried to open her eyes wide, pretending to understand and nodding in agreement, but unexpectedly, this attracted Ciheng's attention instead.

The look in his eyes was intriguing. I wonder if he had already noticed that she was daydreaming, or if it was just a coincidence.

His fingertips tapped the tabletop intermittently, his angular jaw slightly raised, and his originally calm eyes behind the glasses became even colder, fixed on her face, with no intention of restraining himself.

What are you looking at? I've never seen employees dozing off in a meeting!

Wen Zhenni felt uncomfortable when he looked at her, so she lowered her eyes and looked away. Her fingertips subconsciously reached for the phone in her pocket, but accidentally touched a candy.

It's the mint that Xingxing gave me.

She pinched the candy between her fingertips, twisted the candy wrapper, then raised her hand as if she was sleepy, covered her mouth with her hands and yawned as a cover, and quickly stuffed the mint candy into her mouth.

The next second, a refreshing sensation suddenly rushed to her head, and the tip of her tongue was violently awakened by the stimulating taste. She had no time to react, her whole face wrinkled in pain, and natural tears suddenly welled up.

The meeting lasted until six o'clock. When the meeting was adjourned, Lu Fangyang informed everyone.

The resort project has officially started, and all senior executives will attend the groundbreaking ceremony tomorrow.

"Everyone has been working hard these past few days, let's share the workload. Li Wei will go with me tomorrow."

Li Wei had been in a bad mood these days because her easy job in the president's office was taken away from her. After hearing this, she finally smiled.

The functions of the President's Office have changed this time, and new tasks have been assigned, so we will be busy next week.

Although Wen Zhenni's work content has not changed much, it is detailed and tedious, and requires a lot of time and effort to follow up.

Back in the office, she packed her things, grabbed her bag, and took the elevator down to the parking lot.

During the rush hour after get off work, there are a lot of people picking up their cars.

She took out her car keys, found where she parked her car, and when she got closer she saw two figures standing quietly next to the Panamera.

"Madam." Lu Fangyang saw her, raised his signature smile, and greeted her in a low voice.

He stepped aside, and a spot of scarlet flickered in the dim light.

Ciheng held a cigarette between his fingers and leaned casually against the front of the car, his dark gray suit jacket draped over his arm and his tie loosened, hanging in front of his shirt.

He tilted his head and blew out smoke rings, but paused for a moment when he saw her, and his Adam's apple rolled slowly as he swallowed.

He's handsome, rich, and his smoking aura is a natural one. Even if he's pretending, he has the capital to do so.

But he just walked around with this face on and stood in front of her car. Was he afraid that others would think too much?

Wen Zhenni kept her eyes on him and her nose on her heart, not daring to look at him for too long. She was afraid that if she glanced at him for a few more times, shocking gossip would spread all over the company tomorrow.

She opened the driver's door and leaned over to get in when a warm hand suddenly grabbed her wrist. Ciheng said in a low voice, "I'll do it."

Lu Fangyang, who was standing by, knew it was time for him to leave, so he tactfully said, "Boss Ci, tomorrow's schedule and key points have been synchronized to your email and calendar system. If there are no other instructions, I'll be leaving get off work now."

"Yeah." Ciheng nodded and crushed the cigarette butt in the cigarette butt recycler.

Wen Zhenni in the passenger seat watched Lu Fangyang walk away, then retracted her gaze and turned to look at Ciheng who was leaning over to get into the car.

"Why are you smoking?" She didn't like the smell of tobacco, no matter how expensive the cigarettes were.

Ciheng said "hmm" lightly, his eyes fell on the plush decoration inside the car, without explaining.

He leaned over and stroked her wrist with his calloused thumb. "I was in a hurry this morning and forgot to tell you. I'm sorry."

Looking closely, the fatigue on his face is particularly obvious. He must have been busy with projects these days and hasn't gotten enough sleep.

Seeing how hard he worked, Wen Zhenni couldn't bear to care about these trivial matters. "I've forgotten about it. I don't take it to heart."

Small works please the mood, while big works hurt feelings. She still has a sense of propriety.

Ci Heng raised the corners of his lips, and his gaze from behind his glasses passed over the corners of her eyes. "Isn't the candy in the meeting more delicious?"

He finally saw it.

Wen Zhenni didn't respond to whether the food was delicious or not, but only complained softly, "But your meetings are really boring."

"Who's having fun in meetings?" the man next to him asked with a smile.

"You think you're in school, and we have to take care of your feelings, coax you to attend class and do your homework seriously."

It’s not impossible to coax her to go to work.

Wen Zhenni pursed her lips, realizing he had no idea where to start with the plush decoration on the steering wheel. Her bright eyes flashed, "I decorated it a little bit."

He had no intention of commenting on the girl's preferences, so he put the car in reverse gear and backed it out of the parking space.

After the car merged into the traffic flow, Ciheng gripped the steering wheel, looked ahead, and casually asked, "Do you want to go to the construction site at the resort with me tomorrow?"

What's the point of going to the groundbreaking ceremony?

Wen Zhenni didn't want to go and refused bluntly, "No, I want to go home to see my dad."

The old man acted out a sad drama with her every day, saying that she would forget her parents' home once she got married, and that she and her brother were like unbridled horses that would disappear if released back into the grassland.

If I don't go back and show up this week, my old father will repeat the same old things over and over again for the hundredth time.

So, on Saturday morning, after sending Ciheng out, she drove home by herself.

Jin Xiao is now semi-retired, leaving the company's affairs largely to the vice presidents. On his free days, he either hikes or goes fishing with old friends.

Moreover, he doesn't like to go to fishing grounds. He prefers fishing in the wild, such as in reservoirs and ditches.

As soon as Wen Zhenni returned home, her old father asked her to work as a laborer, responsible for driving him and carrying fishing gear.

The weather is good today, and the old man suddenly had a whim and said he wanted to go fishing and barbecue, and insisted on taking her with him.

Fortunately, Uncle Qiu, who was invited by the appointment, also came with his little daughter Jia Jia, who was on vacation for the weekend.

It’s also nice to have a lively girl to chat with and help with the decorations.

Out of curiosity, Jia Jia asked her about some entertainment gossip and rumors, and Wen Zhenni answered a few harmless questions to satisfy her curiosity.

"Sister Zhenni, I'm so excited to know you're working with my brother." The little girl's eyes sparkled. "If dad hadn't reminded me, I would have immediately started supporting you right there, worried that Brother Ciheng wouldn't mind."

The little girl has a simple personality and says whatever she wants, but she's not annoying.

Wen Zhenni added charcoal to the oven and lit the fire. She had already taken out the packaged ingredients and arranged them.

The RV driven by the Qiu family father and daughter did not need to set up a tent, so she and Jia Jia put out the folding chairs and started barbecuing.

Jia Jia brought some snacks from home. The two of them grilled, ate snacks, chatted about gossip they had heard, and took happy photos together.

Jia Jia wanted to share the photos on the platform account, so she specifically asked for her opinion.

Wen Zhenni agreed and gave her the first like.

After a round of barbecue, there was finally some movement by the lake.

"I'm lucky today."

Jin Xiao put away his fishing rod, his chubby face squeezed out two curved eyes, and he waved to Wen Zhenni from a distance under the awning, "Ni Ni, look, Daddy caught a big fish."

A crucian carp weighing two kilograms.

Jinxiao used a fish knife to cut open the fish's belly and cleaned out the internal organs.

“How do you cook this fish?”

Wen Zhenni had never done this kind of work before, and she looked clumsy in front of the little girl.

The girl seemed to be very experienced. She applied the marinade neatly and stuffed the dish with ginger slices and green onion segments.

"Sister Zhenni, let me show you my skills."

Jia Jia volunteered to make a charcoal grilled fish dish.

You know what, the fish skin was roasted to a golden brown, the meat was tender but not mushy, and it tasted really good.

The two old men only enjoyed the fun of fishing and were not interested in eating the fish, so Wen Zhenni and Jia Jia shared the whole fish.

When the sun went down and they had eaten and drunk their fill, Uncle Qiu caught another big tilapia.

When he pulled the fish out of the water, Jin Xiao put his hands on his hips and laughed even more happily than when he had caught a big fish himself, "Old Qiu, you are really lucky."

Wen Zhenni also applauded, "Uncle Qiu is really amazing, my dad has never caught a fish like this."

Uncle Qiu put away his fishing gear with satisfaction and came ashore carrying a bucket of water.

"It's worth my sitting here for half a day."

He supported his lower back with his hands and cried out that his waist was about to break.

Jin Xiao smiled and patted his old friend on the back, "How old are you? Why are you still trying so hard?"

"You're talking without any worries. I'd be relieved if my rebellious son could be as worry-free as your daughter and son-in-law."

His son Qiu Sicheng is busy in the entertainment industry and refuses to go back to the company to help, so he has to worry about everything in the company.

Jin Xiao didn't think there was anything wrong with it. "We old antiques can't keep up with the pace of the times. Let the young people decide for themselves."

"Besides, Sicheng is so young and has already won all the awards. What's wrong with that? I think you, an old man, are just showing off to me in various ways."

"Who's showing off?" Uncle Qiu sighed and took off his gloves. "I heard that after Ciheng returned to China, he focused Taihua's development on artificial intelligence and entertainment and leisure."

Wen Zhenni, who was collecting trash, smiled and replied, "Yes, Uncle Qiu, the third-generation companion robots developed by the Tianxing Research Institute are about to be released. Moreover, the technology in this area is becoming more and more mature, and it will soon be widely used in medical treatment and rescue."

"I know, I know that one," Jia Jia interrupted excitedly. "It's the robot in your Weibo photo, right?"

"Yes, Xiaoyu gave it to me." Wen Zhenni had saved many photos and videos of stars on her phone and showed them to her, "It's called a star."

"Wow, it's so cute." Jia Jia fell in love with it as soon as she saw it. She turned around and shouted to her father, "Dad, this robot is on the market now. Buy me one too."