Chapter 42 The Fierce Pursuit.
Zhou Shilin felt a weight on his shoulder as the large rabbit settled firmly on him. Chen Ci patted the rabbit's leg and took the five plush toys back from Zhou Shilin's arms: "You helped me catch five small plush toys, and I'll give you back one big one. I didn't take advantage of you, did I?"
"..." Zhou Shilin straightened up, supporting the rabbit on his shoulder. "Why don't you just take advantage of me?"
Chen Ci's eyes lit up, and she winked at him, "But you're the one who asked me to take advantage of you."
"..." Sometimes, it's really helpless to be alone with Shen Ci. "I'm not talking about the kind of cheapness you're thinking of."
How did you know what I was thinking?
"Because it's all written on your face." Zhou Shilin said, trying to take the doll off his shoulder, but Chen Ci held the rabbit down, preventing him from succeeding.
"This is for you; you have to take it home."
"...It doesn't match the style of my home decor."
"Nonsense, my doll is versatile."
"..."
In the end, Zhou Shilin actually took the doll home and placed it on the sofa in his living room. His living room sofa was black, and putting a pink rabbit doll on it... actually made it look somewhat stylish.
To prove to Chen Ci that the doll hadn't been thrown away, Zhou Shilin took a picture of it and sent it to her as requested.
Chenci: Wow~ The black and pink color scheme is really beautiful. I knew this rabbit was versatile!
Chenci: [Image] I've put all the plush toys you got for me on my bedside table, they're so cute!
The bedside table of Chenci is specially designed with a shelf for small items. Five dolls are neatly arranged on it, which is really cute.
Chen Ci: Does this count as us exchanging tokens of our love?
Zhou Shilin: "..."
He deleted the words he had typed in the dialog box one by one and retyped a new line: "Go to sleep early."
Chen Ci: ? It's not even dark yet.
Zhou Shilin: When we were in the car, didn't you say that you hadn't slept enough in the morning and needed to go home to catch up on sleep?
Chen Ci: After returning home, I miraculously found myself no longer sleepy.
Zhou Shilin: Then go to work. I heard from Miao Duo that there are still many things to do at the Science and Technology Expo.
Chen Ci: ...How amazing, I suddenly feel sleepy again, I'm going to sleep, goodnight.
Zhou Shilin silently curled his lips, and just as he was about to put down his phone, the screen lit up again.
This time it was his father who called.
Thinking it was something that needed to be done at the company, Zhou Shilin immediately answered the phone: "Dad, what's up?"
His tone was so serious that Mr. Zhou on the other end of the phone paused for a second before regaining his composure: "It's like this, Mr. Shen from Yuefeng just called me and asked if you and his niece are dating?"
"..." Zhou Shilin recalled the CEO of Yuefeng for a moment before asking his father, "What's his niece's name?"
Mr. Zhou said, "Sinking porcelain."
“…Oh.” Zhou Shilin responded, then asked, “Who told President Shen about this?”
"President Shen's younger brother, who is also Shen Ci's father."
"..."
"Is what they said true?" Mr. Zhou pressed on the other end of the phone. "The girl you told us about last time, is that Chen Ci?"
"...It's her, but we haven't officially started dating yet, so strictly speaking, we're not in a relationship."
"Is this the kind of situation you were telling us about last time?" Mr. Zhou scoffed on the other end of the phone. "I heard that she has other suitors as well."
Zhou Shilin said, "There is nothing to fear."
"..."
Before Mr. Zhou could figure out how to respond, Mrs. Zhou snatched the phone away: "Hey, son? Now that both families know about this, why don't you invite Chen Ci over for a casual meal? We haven't met her yet."
"..." Zhou Shilin raised his hand and pinched the bridge of his nose, then said to his mother, "When the time is right, I will invite her to our house for dinner."
"What do you mean by 'the right time'? Are you always this ambiguous at the company?"
"Mom, there's no use in worrying about this. I told you I have my own pace..."
"Yes, yes, you're a rhythm master." Zhou's mother rolled her eyes and handed the phone back to Zhou Shilin's father. Zhou's father took the phone, cleared his throat, and then said to Zhou Shilin, "You can't blame your mother for being anxious. You really should take this matter seriously. Just let me and Mom know when you've decided on the meal time. Bye."
Zhou Shilin: "..."
He sighed, walked to the table, poured himself a glass of water, took a few sips, then picked up his phone again and texted Chen Ci: "Are you asleep?"
Chen Ci: Are you entrapping someone?
Zhou Shilin curled his lips and asked her, "Did you tell your father today that we're dating?"
Sinking porcelain: ? ? ? ? ?
Chen Ci sprang up in bed: "I didn't say that! He just made it up in his head! He didn't go looking for you, did he???"
Although her father didn't have much say in the company, he was still a member of the Shen family, and it wasn't impossible for him to go to the president of Shijie for her sake.
Zhou Shilin: No, it's just that your uncle called my dad.
Sinking porcelain: ...
It's not much better!
Zhou Shilin: Now my family all think we're dating and they want me to bring you home for dinner.
Sinking porcelain:…………
Zhou Shilin: Since things have come to this, when you have some free time, come to my house for a casual meal.
Chen Ci stared at his message in a daze. Wait, does this mean he's meeting the parents? Have he and Zhou Shilin already progressed to this point? Did they skip the most important step?
Who will make up for her kisses and hugs!
She angrily scrolled through her phone contacts to her father and dialed his number. As soon as the call was answered, Chen Ci launched into a tirade: "Dad, did you send Uncle to find Zhou Shilin's father? I've already told you we're not dating! Aren't you being a bit too forward?!"
Shen Ci's father was initially happy to see her call, but he didn't expect her to be asking about this. He breathed a sigh of relief and said to Shen Ci on the other end of the phone, "You said he likes you, but he's not dating you. Isn't that a bit presumptuous of him?"
Chen Ci: "..."
"We haven't progressed to that stage yet!" Chen Ci suddenly felt a generation gap with her father. "You don't understand things that happen to us young people!"
Chenci's father: "..."
Who hasn't been young? Who hasn't been young once? :)
"I don't understand?" Chen Ci's father scoffed, trying to justify himself. "When your mother and I were dating, you weren't even born yet!"
Chen Ci: "..."
That's true.
"In short, don't bother them anymore. They're busy all day."
"Did he tell you that I was harassing him?"
"...No, he didn't say that! Don't make things up again! He even invited me to his house for dinner!"
"His house? Just the two of you?"
"No, there are also his parents!"
"Oh..." Chen Ci's father thought for a moment, "Then isn't this what dating is all about?"
Chen Ci: "..."
What a perfect closed loop!
"Never mind, I can't explain it to you. Goodbye." Just as Chen Ci was about to hang up, she heard her father call out from the other end, "Wait a minute, is there anything else?"
Chen Ci's father said, "I heard from Li Linrui that you will be officially promoted to director next month?"
Chen Ci really had no idea how many surprises her father had in store for her: "You even went to see Li Linrui?"
“Since you’re angry right now, I can only ask Li Linrui for information.” Li Linrui was close to Shen Ci when they were in school and knew about Shen Ci’s condition, so he always had Li Linrui’s contact information and could find out about Shen Ci’s situation from her if necessary. “A promotion is a good thing. I must say, your company is developing quite fast. Your senior brother Wu is quite capable.”
"Then you haven't seen how he is in front of President Zhou."
Chen Ci's father paused for a moment: "Don't underestimate Zhou Shilin just because he's young. Many people act like that in front of him."
They didn't even say what it looked like, but everyone knew what the other meant.
"In short, now that you're a director, you need to act like one. You can't always take the subway, right? So your mom and I discussed it and decided to buy you a car so you can drive yourself to work or for social events."
When Shen Ci was promoted to manager last time, her father bought her a very expensive bag, which later played a crucial role in helping her pay off Zhou Shilin's debts. Now that she's been promoted to director, it's not surprising that her father wanted to give her another gift, but this time, he gave her a car, which still surprised her.
"I don't need a car, I don't even have a driver's license." She only had a motorcycle license, after all, she never thought she would own a car so soon.
Chen Ci's father said, "You can take your time to get a driver's license. Having a car first will give you more motivation to take the test."
"...That seems to make some sense."
"That definitely makes sense. Choose one you like, and if you have time, it would be even better to go to the dealership in person to take a look."
"Hmm, let me see. I'm quite busy these days, so I probably won't be able to spare much time."
Chen Ci's father exclaimed, "No wonder he's a director now, he's really different."
"...I'm telling the truth." There's only one month left until the opening of the Science and Technology Expo. Their joint preparation with Shijie is in a tight schedule. She has to personally follow up on many procedures and communicate with the factory herself. Otherwise, she wouldn't be able to cut in line and work overtime for them.
On Monday, Chen Ci personally went to the factory, agreed on the latest delivery time with them, and returned to the company with the contract. As soon as she entered the company, the receptionist stopped her: "President Chen, this bouquet of flowers is for you."
"Flowers?" Chen Ci stopped and looked towards the counter. There was indeed a bouquet of roses on the counter; she hadn't noticed it in her haste. "Who sent them?"
"The flowers were delivered by the florist's staff. You weren't here, so they left them at the front desk." The receptionist picked up the flowers and handed them to Chen Ci.
"Thank you." Chen Ci took the flowers, glanced at them, and saw a small card tucked inside. She held the flowers in one arm and picked up the card with the other, then walked towards the elevator.
【Chen Ci, I'm so sorry about what happened last time. I hope you can forgive me. —Chen Yun】
Chen Ci clicked her tongue. Just then, the elevator doors opened, and Wu Junnan, standing inside, saw that Chen Ci was holding a bouquet of roses. He immediately became gossipy: "Oh, who sent you these flowers?"
"..." Chen Ci didn't expect to run into Wu Junnan in the elevator. This company is still too small. "Nobody here. You're off work already?"
“Yes, I went to the hospital to keep Pupu company.” Wu Junnan said, glancing at the card Chen Ci was holding. “Wasn’t it from President Zhou?”
"..." Chen Ci put the card away, hugged the flowers and walked into the elevator. "Excuse me."
Wu Junnan was pushed aside by her and watched as the elevator doors closed again in front of him.
"This is clearly a sign of guilt," Wu Junnan mused, staring at the closing elevator doors. "Could it be that President Zhou has encountered a rival in love?"
He took out his phone and found Zhou Shilin's WeChat—he had added Zhou Shilin as a friend after joining the work group last time. He originally thought he could like Zhou's posts on WeChat Moments from time to time to make his presence known, but a week had passed and Zhou hadn't posted a single post.
But it's alright, he can still communicate with President Zhou about the enemy situation.
Wu Junnan: Mr. Zhou, I'm sorry to bother you, but I have a personal matter that I feel I should tell you.
Wu Junnan: Someone delivered a bouquet of roses to Chen Ci's company today. I just checked, and it seems their surname is Chen.
Zhou Shilin was about to go to the conference room for a meeting when he saw Wu Junnan's message. He frowned slightly and replied, "Thank you."
Wu Junnan: You're too kind. After all, you're my daughter's godfather, so I'm definitely on your side.
Zhou Shilin: I'll visit her another day when I have time.
After replying to the message, Zhou Shilin put his phone away again. Tian Xu, who was standing next to him, had also felt a pang of anxiety when she saw him frown: "President, is something wrong?"
"It's nothing." Zhou Shilin took two steps toward the conference room, then stopped and instructed Tian Xu, "Buy me a bouquet of flowers and send it to Pupu Paradise."
"Huh?" Tian Xu had followed Zhou Shilin around, helping him choose all sorts of gifts, but this was the first time she had heard him say he wanted to send flowers. "For whom?"
Zhou Shilin countered, "What do you think?"
“…I think it must be Ms. Chen Ci, hahaha.” Tian Xu took out his phone and said to Zhou Shilin, “I’ll go order flowers now.”
Zhou Shilin thought for a moment and then added, "Send a different bouquet every day this week."
"Okay." Tian Xu's hand holding the phone trembled slightly. Was the CEO finally about to launch a fierce pursuit of Shen Ci?
Chen Ci distributed the bouquet of flowers to the other employees before she even arrived at the office, one bouquet for each person. Unexpectedly, not long after, the receptionist called again to say that someone had delivered flowers to her again.
This time, the receptionist brought the flowers up for her. When Yang Shuang saw her carrying a large bouquet, she asked in surprise, "What day is it today? Why are so many people bringing flowers? Who are these for?"
The receptionist glanced in the direction of Chen Ci's office and said with a smile, "It's still for President Chen."
Yang Shuang also looked towards Chen Ci's office: "Wait, today isn't our CEO Chen's birthday, so why are so many people giving her flowers?"
A colleague next to her put his arm around her shoulder and shook his head with a look of exasperation: "Xiao Yang, no wonder you're single. Do you only give flowers on your birthday?"
Yang Shuang covered her mouth in surprise: "You mean, someone is pursuing our CEO Shen?"
The other person held up their index and middle fingers: "Still two."
Yang Shuang's eyes widened even more. Their CEO Shen was truly a man of few words, but when he spoke, he was astonishing!
"But that's not right. I always thought she was pursuing President Zhou!"
"...Uh, actually I think so too." After all, the time when President Shen sent President Zhou's emoji in the work group was really shocking.
"What are you talking about?" Chen Ci suddenly opened the office door and looked in their direction. The office area immediately became much quieter. Chen Ci saw the receptionist holding flowers, walked over and picked them up: "Thank you, it's so kind of you to come all this way."
"No trouble at all, Mr. Shen, I'll head down now." The receptionist said and left, while Shen Ci carried the flowers back to her office.
This time, no small card was included with the bouquet.
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Author's Note: Happy Mid-Autumn Festival everyone!! [Sprinkling flowers][Sprinkling flowers][Sprinkling flowers]
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