Chapter 135 Love is ordained by fate, but success depends on human effort.
"Waaaaah..."
I made the promise myself, there's no going back on it.
A spring tide overnight.
It wasn't until the next morning that Anmi had time to rub her aching back and tell Tang Cai about it.
"I knew it! Mr. Xiao really likes you!"
Tang Cai blushed: "That's not what they said..."
"Hey!" Anmi clipped the phone to her ear.
"That's just a matter of time! It all depends on how you two eat tonight! Hey, what are you planning to wear tonight? Do you want Qiuqiu and me to help you put something together? Wow, I'm suddenly feeling really nervous!"
Tang Cai was also made nervous by her words.
"What should I do, Mizi? I'm so scared. Why don't you and Qiuqiu come with me?"
"Huh? Who goes on a date with their best friend? That won't do!"
"But I'm really nervous... Why don't you two pretend to be someone else and hide next door?"
Anmi was actually quite curious about what it would be like for the two of them to get along, and after hearing what she said, she felt that it wasn't a bad idea.
"Then I'll tell Qiuqiu that we'll meet at the restaurant we booked tonight."
"Okay!"
…
7 PM, Duoyun Western Restaurant, East District.
Tang Cai glanced at the two baby frogs selling their young on the next seat and sighed silently in her heart.
Girls, I asked you to dress up, not to become eye-catching bags!
And don't you think it's weird to show up at a Western restaurant dressed like that?
"What's wrong?" Xiao Qingyun looked away from the menu.
She hurriedly tried to cover it up: "It's nothing!"
But the other person had already noticed her expression.
Xiao Qingnian: "Are you nervous?"
"No..." Tang Cai said shamelessly.
"What do I have to be nervous about?"
"It's good that you're not nervous." The man closed the menu.
"It's after get off work hours now, you don't need to give me that office look."
What expression is that in the office?
She couldn't help but purse her lips: "Mr. Xiao, are you saying I'm stupid?"
Xiao Qingyun raised an eyebrow: "I thought you wouldn't be able to tell."
Tang Cai: "?"
No, this attitude doesn't mean he's interested in her at all.
This is clearly the lane for confrontation!
They were truly bewitched by beauty, eagerly inviting humiliation upon themselves!
She simply gave up and said, "Sorry, I'm a bit slow..."
Xiao Qingnian: "I understand."
Tang Cai: "???"
Who needs your understanding?!
She took a deep breath and said gently, "Mr. Xiao, I'm here to have a meal, not to argue with you..."
Xiao Qingnian: "You still want to argue with me?"
"?"
What kind of ineffective communication is this?
Tang Cai felt a lump in her throat, unable to breathe, and was on the verge of going crazy.
Is this guy trying to make fun of her?
Just then, Xiao Qingnian suddenly pulled a cigarette case out of his pocket: "If you don't mind, may I go have a smoke?"
"..."
Going to smoke at this crucial moment...
She suppressed her temper and said, "Please do as you please."
Xiao Qingnian didn't stand on ceremony with her.
Excuse me.
The chair creaked open, and the man stood up with an air of elegance, took a cigarette, and walked away.
He had just left when two sounds came from the chair next to him.
"How is it? How is it?"
"What did you say?"
Two baby frogs surrounded her from the left and right.
Tang Cai sighed: "I think you must have misunderstood. President Xiao not only doesn't like me, on the contrary, I think he really hates me."
Late Autumn: "Huh?"
Anmi: "Why do you say that?"
She said angrily, "Every word he just said was an insult to me! Not only did he insult me, but he also left me speechless! Tell me, what is this if not annoying?"
Both frogs were stunned, their already shocked expressions turning even more astonished.
Anmi: "Impossible, right?"
Late Autumn: "He doesn't seem like someone of such low quality."
Tang Cai said seriously, "You've all been fooled by his appearance! He's actually quite sharp-tongued!"
"Really? Tell me, how am I being sarcastic?"
A very familiar voice suddenly rang out behind me.
All three of them were taken aback.
"Boss...!"
The man had returned at some point and was now standing behind the three of them.
The two baby frogs, taking advantage of the inflatable clothing for cover, quickly slipped back to the next room.
Tang Cai was left standing there, dumbfounded, unsure whether to sit or stand, awkwardly awaiting her fate.
Xiao Qingnian sat back down opposite him: "Tang Cai, so this is how you see me?"
Tang Cai was filled with regret.
A subordinate was caught cricketing behind his boss's back; what an unlucky experience!
She tried to explain, "Mr. Xiao, that's not what I meant. I meant you're a rather... rather..."
She racked her brains and came up with one word: "Strict!"
The man's smile was slightly cold: "How severe?"
Tang Cai: "What do you think?"
Xiao Qingnian: "I don't know."
Tang Cai: "..."
Fortunately, the waiter came over to serve the food, which eased the awkward atmosphere.
Xiao Qingnian glanced at the empty table next to her: "Don't your two best friends need to eat?"
Tang Cai was originally planning to pretend and ask about her best friend, but then she heard him say to the waiter, "Give one of these to those two big toads next door as well."
Tang Cai: "?"
A... a giant toad??
The waiter glanced at the next table and said, "Okay, sir."
"Two portions of the giant frog steak for table number 16."
Tang Cai: "..."
Now I really wish I could disappear into the ground.
"Let's eat first." After everyone left, Xiao Qingnian picked up her knife and fork.
Tang Cai was completely unable to eat: "Mr. Xiao, I asked them to come and keep me company because I was too scared to come see you alone. Please don't be angry..."
The man cut his steak and said slowly, "Why wouldn't you dare?"
She paused for a moment, then said, "Because I'm scared."
"What are you afraid of?"
That's a good question. What is she afraid of?
"I'm afraid I'll back out at the last minute," she said slowly.
Xiao Qingnian's expression remained unchanged. He stopped cutting his steak and asked, "What kind of man-eating monster do you see me as?"
Tang Cai remained silent for a moment, then said earnestly, "Mr. Xiao, may I ask you a question?"
The man did not refuse.
"Go ahead and ask."
Tang Cai: "I'd like to know why you agreed to have this meal with me?"
Xiao Qingnan: "What do you think?"
Tang Cai: "I don't know."
"Heh..." He suddenly laughed.
"You learned that phrase quite quickly."
Tang Cai paused for a moment, then remembered that he had just used those four words to answer her, even the same question.
"Mr. Xiao, I really don't know."
Xiao Qingnian put down her fork: "Because I do have those kinds of thoughts about you."
The tone of the question was so serious that she wondered if she had misheard it.
"What did you say?"
Xiao Qingnian's gaze held a hint of self-mockery: "I know you're curious why, and actually, I'm curious myself..."
He said slowly and deliberately, "When I first met you at the company, I thought you were a bit slow-witted. All you did was nod and say 'uh-huh,' and you needed to do things at least twice before you became familiar with them. You weren't very smart, and you were even a little slow..."
Tang Cai: "..."
"Until one day, I saw that potted green ivy from the break room that had been abandoned for so long on your desk..."
"It was just an ordinary potted plant. Nobody would care if it was alive or dead. They'd just throw it away when the water dried up. Everyone was used to it. But you actually picked it out of the trash and took good care of it..."
"No one in the entire company would do this kind of thing except you."
"Perhaps that's why I've started to be curious about you and have been paying more attention to you than before."
"Gradually, I discovered that you weren't just nodding; you would also voice your own thoughts from the sidelines, but no one noticed..."
"You don't learn a job you're not familiar with by doing it twice, but by doing it many times... In order to get rid of the word 'stupid,' you actually made a lot of quiet efforts."
"In my heart, you're starting to become a hardworking employee, an emotionally stable and determined young woman..."
"I got to know you better one night when I passed by your workstation and happened to see your WeChat message, 'Don't worry, I'll take care of the rent.' That's when I realized why you often volunteered to work overtime... It turns out you're a giver."
"Later, when I took you on business trips, you always prepared breakfast for me in advance. Although it wasn't within your job scope, you still did it. You said you were just used to thinking of others..."
"Tang Cai..."
After saying this, his expression softened.
"I can't say exactly what I like about you. Maybe it's your innocent and harmless qualities, or maybe it's not."
"Most of the time, I just feel that someone like me needs someone like you, that's all."
"If that's what you think too, we can give it a try."
Tang Cai listened to these words in a daze.
This was the first time she had heard Xiao Qingnian say so much to her, and the first time she had realized that he had been silently observing her for so long.
Why didn't she ever notice?
"I'm not actually as good as you say!" she stammered, reflecting on herself.
"I have more flaws than strengths. I... I have a lot of little quirks, and they're the kind that would get me so badly criticized online that I'd become depressed!"
"Those who understand you will choose to see your strengths, rather than criticize your imperfections."
Tang Cai: "?"
That unexpected sentence instantly chased away all her anxiety.
"Mr. Xiao..."
Xiao Qingnian looked at her: "So, do you want to give it a try with me?"
Tang Cai's face began to burn.
This was the first time in her life she had received a confession from a man, and the man was so outstanding.
She hesitated for a moment: "I...can I ask my best friend?"
Xiao Qingnian: "?"
Tang Cai: "You, you mustn't misunderstand, I just..."
Oh no, what is she saying?!
Why would you think of asking your best friend at this time?
Waaaaah, I'm rambling incoherently!
Xiao Qingnian: "Okay."
Tang Cai: "Hmm?"
Xiao Qingnian: "Go."
She was stunned: "So I'm really going?"
Xiao Qingnian: "I was just kidding, you can't go."
Tang Cai: "???"
The man opposite her suddenly stood up and pulled her up from her seat.
Tang Cai: "Where to?"
Xiao Qingnian: "Since we can't make a decision here, let's go somewhere else and start over."
Tang Cai: "Huh?"
What kind of tactic is this?
Xiao Qingnian: "You don't want to?"
Tang Cai: "I..."
"If you don't want to, I'll let go..." He made a gesture as if to let go.
"Hey hey..."
With her palms enveloped by rough knuckles, Tang Cai lowered her head, her ears turning red, and said, "I'm willing."
…
Inside the restaurant, the two frogs left, who were selling their babies, looked at each other in bewilderment.
Anmi asked Wanqiu, "Why did you leave?"
"I don't know, should we go after them?"
"No, let's not. They seemed quite intimate just now."
"Ambiguous? Are they going to a hotel?"
"ah?"
"Huh??"
Ding-a-ling ding-a-ling~~~
Suddenly, someone's cell phone rang.
Anmi: "Whose phone is it?"
Late Autumn: "My..."
She answered the phone: "Hello? Um...yes! Duoyun, come on over, I'm at table 16."
Anmi: "Who is it?"
"He Xiao".
After hanging up the phone, Wanqiu's eyes sparkled: "He came to find me. I'm sorry, Honey, I have to leave you first. Please forgive me!"
"Why!"
Before she could finish speaking, Wanqiu ran off in her frog costume.
Only a string of baby frogs she had forgotten remained on the seat.
Anmi sighed as she looked at the steak on the table.
Unexpectedly, out of the three, she, being married, ended up being the only one left single.
With no other option, she waved to the waiter to pack up the two untouched steaks, then carried the takeout box and two skewers of frogs out of the restaurant.
The Mid-Autumn Festival is approaching, and many shops on the street have put up promotional posters.
Anmi was walking down the road carrying the baby frog when children behind her kept calling out, "Ribbit! Big frog!"
As she waved to them, a sudden thought struck her: it would be such a waste to take so many froglets home, why not just sell them on the spot!
Without hesitation, she tied the two strings of baby frogs together.
Just as they were about to shout out their wares.
"Wife." A familiar voice suddenly came from behind.
Anmi turned around. The man must have just finished work. He was wearing a long trench coat and a pair of elegant glasses on his nose.
She looks warm and fuzzy all over.
"Honey! What brings you here?"
Unexpectedly, he appeared here, and Anmi excitedly rushed over to hug him.
As a result, the frog costume's head was too big, and it was impossible to hug it.
Yan Jinnian took the frog and the takeout box from her: "President Xiao said you were here and asked me to pick you up and take you home."
"Frog~" she happily shook the frog's head.
"Qiuqiu has been taken away by He Xiao. She left all her babies with me. I was just about to sell her babies and then use the money to buy each of us a cup of milk tea."
Yan Jinnian took her frog-like hand in his: "Then I'll sell with you."
"Yay!"
As He Xiao's car turned the corner, Yan Wanqiu happened to see her older brother and sister-in-law selling their child by the roadside.
"Hey! Isn't that my baby? How could they sell my baby!" She angrily rushed downstairs to confront the couple.
He Xiao stopped her: "Princess, we're traveling, don't do anything reckless. Besides, we're always careful, where did you get this child from?"
"I'm talking about my baby frog!"
She patted her frog belly: "Poor me, I went through so much trouble to give birth to you, and now I'm going to be sold off like this, boohoo... It's all your fault! You're such a useless frog dad!"
He Xiao, who was driving and inexplicably became the frog's father: "?"
"Never mind, it seems we are not meant to be."
After the person in the passenger seat finished acting, Meimei sprawled out in her seat like Ge You: "Drive! I'm hungry. I was so busy eating melons that I didn't eat anything."
He Xiao, steering the wheel, said, "Okay, Princess~"
You should say "The Frog Princess"!
"Alright, Frog Princess~"
"Croak!"
Traffic was heavy and crowds were dense.
Everyone had a great time on the last day off before the Mid-Autumn Festival!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com