Fifty-two stars

The next day, when Feng Chibai woke up, Lin Tang was still asleep. At some point during the night, she had unconsciously turned toward him again, now curled up in a ball, peaceful and still.

After washing up, he went to the kitchen and prepared two simple breakfasts.

Because I don’t like having outsiders at home, I only let my aunt come over when it is necessary.

After breakfast was ready, the man in the room still didn't make any movement, so he sat on the sofa and took care of business matters first.

After about half an hour, Lin Tang came out of the room leisurely. She had put on an eye mask from somewhere and flipped up a corner of it with one hand to see the road more clearly.

She sat down next to Feng Chibai and poured herself a cup of hot water.

Feng Chibai saw what was on her face and asked, "Why are you wearing this?"

Lin Tang held the water cup and said unmovedly: "I will take it off after my eyes are swollen."

Feng Chibai was about to speak when his cell phone suddenly rang. He glanced at the caller ID and went to the study to answer a call, but he returned shortly afterwards. He reminded him, "Eat breakfast early. The old man asked me to come back to the old house for lunch at noon."

Lin Tang said "oh", thinking that it had been a while since he had returned to the old house, so he didn't find it strange.

It was almost noon when the two returned to the old house. There were many people sitting in the living room, including Wen Jin and Wen Wen.

As soon as she saw Lin Tang, Wen Wen immediately broke free from Wen Jin's arms and ran over to be hugged by Lin Tang.

Because of the incident with the Jin family brat pushing her into the water, Wenwen was easily frightened and became less sociable. It was only after she saw a psychologist a few times that her condition gradually improved, but she remained somewhat withdrawn.

Lin Tang picked up Wen Wen and greeted the old man first.

The old man smiled and nodded, saying kindly, "I haven't seen Xiao Tang for a long time. I wanted to invite you back for dinner a few days ago, but I called Xiao Chi and he said you were busy in Beijing."

Lin Tang subconsciously glanced at Feng Chibai and responded with a smile: "Well, there is indeed something that needs to be resolved."

The old man glanced around, stood up and said, "Everyone is here, let's eat first."

With a shout, everyone followed him into the restaurant.

The food on the table was very rich. I don’t know what kind of auspicious day it was today, but it was rare for Lin Tang to see the old man smiling all the time.

Everyone was sitting in their respective seats eating quietly. Suddenly remembering something, Wen Jin looked at Lin Tang and Feng Chibai and asked, "Hey, Chibai hasn't had the wedding yet, right?"

Before the two of them could answer, the old man said yes first.

Wen Jin smiled and said, "I was wondering why I didn't remember attending. I thought they forgot to send me an invitation."

Just mentioning this, the old man also began to ask: "It's been more than a year, why haven't you started planning the wedding yet? I think the sixth day of July is a pretty good day."

Feng Chibai put down his chopsticks and explained, "Grandpa, we don't have any plans for a wedding yet. Lin Tang is quite busy with work right now, so she might not have much time."

This time, before waiting for the old man's reply, Feng Siru smiled and asked, "You've never been free. So when will Third Brother make plans? A year from now?"

She emphasized the last three words.

Everyone knew that a year later, the old man had already announced his successor. He had been delaying the decision so that he could divorce after the announcement. By then, few people would know about their marriage, making things much easier.

Feng Chibai looked at her coldly and was about to retort: ​​"It's not that I'm delaying it, it's just..."

But before she could finish her words, Lin Tang interrupted her with a sullen expression. She looked at the old man, a forced smile on her face. "Grandpa, don't you know that we returned to Jingluo a few days ago? Do you know what we were doing? It was my grandmother's funeral. Do you really want me to hold a grand wedding so soon after my grandmother passed away?"

Her voice was calm, as if she was narrating something insignificant, but the corners of her eyes began to turn red again.

"I'm sorry, I can't do such a disrespectful thing." She said this to Feng Siru.

Because of her words, the scene fell silent for a moment. Perhaps because she was so normal when she came, no one would have thought that she had just experienced a life-or-death separation two days ago.

Old Master Feng knew how it felt to lose someone important. His expression suddenly grew heavy as he soothed her, "Grandpa didn't know what had happened to your family, and the wedding wasn't supposed to happen right away. Your grandmother just passed away, and I know you're feeling bad. It wouldn't be a bad idea to talk about this later when you've calmed down and have some free time."

Lin Tang nodded obediently and said, "Thank you, Grandpa, for your understanding."

After the meal, no one mentioned the matter again.

After dinner, the old man called Feng Chibai to the study.

He sat on the cushioned chair in front of the desk. As soon as the door closed, he immediately asked, "Why didn't you tell Grandpa about this in advance?"

Feng Chibai calmly explained, "This is her private matter. Without her consent, I can't disclose it to others."

The old man nodded, which was considered as his approval, and asked, "How has she been doing recently?"

Feng Chibai was silent for a moment, then replied frankly, "Today is the day she's been the most emotionally stable in recent days. Perhaps she's trying to suppress it in front of you."

The old man frowned, roughly understanding the situation. He took a deep breath, asked him a few more questions about the company, and then let him go.

The living room was deserted, and Lin Tang wasn't there. I asked Housekeeper Wang where she'd been, and learned she'd gone for a walk in the garden with Wen Jin, so I headed in that direction.

From a distance, he saw the two of them talking and laughing.

The person on the other end seemed to notice him as well, and changed direction and walked towards him.

The closer they got, the more distinct their voices became. He heard Wen Jin say to Lin Tang, "Chi Bai is here."

When they were only an arm's length apart, Feng Chibai curled his lips into a proper smile: "Sorry to bother you."

Wen Jin was in a good mood and laughed while covering his mouth: "Don't bother me, I just asked Lin Tang to chat with me for a while, and now I'm returning your wife to you."

After all, Wenwen would occasionally make a noise when she was away from her for a long time, so she went back to the living room first.

Suddenly, only two people were left on the cobblestone path. Every time the old man called Feng Chibai to talk, she would always feel an inexplicable worry. Because she had seen the old man scolding him in the study, she would always unconsciously think in that direction. So she asked, "Did Grandpa scold you?"

Feng Chibai shook his head: "With you here, he won't scold me."

Lin Tang muttered, "That's hard to say."

After all, she had beaten him to a pulp in front of her last time.

"just…"

"Oh, you helped me before, I owe you a favor, so I should help you back."

But as soon as the words came out of his mouth, Lin Tang was suddenly a little stunned. He clearly hadn't finished speaking, but he inexplicably continued.

Fortunately, he didn't misunderstand. Feng Chibai lowered his eyes and said, "Actually, we don't need to talk about debts between us."

Lin Tang's eyes trembled, "Then just think of it as me wanting to help you."

She looked away and said with a smile: "I won't talk to you anymore. Sister Wen Jin also said she wanted to teach me how to make a cake. I'll go over first."

*

Because he had taken a full week off, Lin Tang had been spending most of the last few days in the research institute trying to catch up with the original plan.

She doesn't let her emotions affect her work, and her thinking is very clear. The test data obtained in recent times are very good. There is hope that the project can be completed before the expected time, and everyone is in a good mood.

At lunch, Milson sat down opposite her.

Lin Tang was surprised for a moment, but said nothing. After greeting him, he buried his head in eating.

Suddenly, Milson spoke up, his tone full of joy: "It's hard to imagine that we can complete two-thirds of the project in such a short time. With Lin's ability, I believe we can deliver the project within the expected time."

Lin Tang curled his lips politely. Although his emotions were not as excited as his, he could still hear a smile: "I am also very confident."

But Milson suddenly changed the subject, lowering his voice as if afraid to be heard. "But it's still hard to believe that someone like Lin isn't even a director. If this were in our country, Lin would definitely be in a higher position."

There was regret in his words, and a hint of temptation.

However, Lin Tang didn't think much about it and quickly reached out to stop him: "That's a joke. I don't think position is everything. Since you have chosen to embark on the path of scientific research, shouldn't you focus more on research?"

Milson didn't confirm her words, but smiled and said, "I just feel sorry for Lin."

Lin Tang replied firmly: "But I don't think it's a pity."

The meal was not a quiet one. Milson shared a lot with Lin Tang, mostly about Country M. Out of courtesy, Lin Tang did not interrupt and listened quietly, as if he was just listening to a story.

Back in the office, it was still lunchtime. She didn't sit down immediately, but picked up a pack of biscuits, leaned on the edge of the table, and chewed with a dull look in her eyes.

Before he had even finished a piece, Ying Yu pushed the door open and came in. Seeing him coming, Lin Tang said nothing and handed him the few biscuits that were still in the bag.

Ying took a piece out of consideration and couldn't help asking, "Didn't you just have lunch?"

Lin Tang opened his mouth and said: "It consumes carbon quickly, so I need to replenish it more."

This left Ying Yu speechless. He walked to the door and quietly locked it.

Seeing this, Lin Tang frowned in confusion and asked, "Why are you locking the door? Are you planning to do something bad?"

"Just in case." After finishing everything, he walked back, and lowered his voice for fear of being overheard. "Boss, why did he suddenly have lunch with you at noon? I was too embarrassed to sit over there."

This was a new thing for both of them. Before, they would only see Milson talking to her on the street, but now he sat directly opposite her and asked to join the dinner.

But Lin Tang thought about it and decided it wasn't that strange. After all, they'd been seeing each other so often lately that they were practically familiar with the researchers from Country M. A meal with them didn't seem like a big deal, so he replied, "Isn't this perfectly normal?"

But Ying Yu didn't think so. "Is that normal? At first, they would always refute you in meetings to show off their wisdom, but now they're fawning over you. You snobbish American people."

When saying the latter sentence, Ying Yuhen grinned and emphasized his tone.

Seeing that he was about to get angry, Lin Tang laughed and reminded him, "Be careful with your words and actions."

Ying Yu immediately covered his mouth and threatened her awkwardly, "Boss, don't expose me, or you'll lose a capable person."

He was just joking; he knew Lin Tang wouldn't do that, nor was he interested in doing so. He naturally pulled up a chair and sat down, resting his face on his palms. Thinking of something, he asked, "But aren't they going back to Country M in a few days?"

Lin Tang hummed and explained, "I'm just going back to report on the project. I should be back soon."

Hearing the word "go back", Ying Yu unconsciously thought of her last leave. "I'm quite curious, what did you do when you went back before? I saw that the background of every time you connected was in the stairwell."

Even though Lin Tang's emotions were hidden, they were easily visible. If she was in a bad mood, it was easy for others to notice, so Ying Yu didn't dare to ask at the time. But after seeing her slowly returning to her normal self, he finally boldly brought up the topic again.

Lin Tang said seriously, "I went to rob someone and was chased, so I hid in the stairwell."

Ying Yu choked and said, "Boss, you should also be careful with your words and actions."

He knew she was joking. Having known her for so long, he knew her personality to some extent; she never minced words to hide what she wanted to say. Knowing she didn't really want to talk about this, he didn't ask any further.

Because there was a very important meeting to be held in the afternoon, Ying Yu did not stay here for long and went back to his office to prepare materials.