Chapter 42 - Your female companion needs the confidence and poise of a wife...
Although Fu Qingli said that, Zou Song dared not really treat Lin Xi as an ordinary employee.
Before leaving, he finally mustered up the courage to risk public condemnation and asked to add Linxi on WeChat: "Sister-in-law, let's add each other's contact information. In the future, if there are any decisions that need to be made at the company, I can ask you directly without having to go through Brother Fu."
"..." Lin Xi hurriedly took out her phone. "No, no, I don't know anything except design. I can only do my job well. Just tell me what to do."
Even after all this time, Lin Xi still wasn't used to Zou Song being so polite to her. Whenever he spoke to her, she would habitually lower her status and start using honorifics.
Fu Qingli, standing to the side, turned cold, frowning and glancing sideways at Zhe Zou Song.
Zou Song felt a chill run down his spine and didn't dare look at Fu Qingli. He quickly grabbed his phone to scan the QR code.
He thought he could handle anything, but when he saw Lin Xi's business card pop up, he couldn't help but exclaim "Holy crap!"
Lin Xi was somewhat traumatized by his sudden outbursts, and her heart was in her throat as she nervously awaited his next words.
As a result, Zou Song gave Fu Qingli a thumbs up: "Brother Fu, when it comes to showing affection, you're the best! I'm truly in awe!"
After saying that, before Fu Qingli could react, he threw out a sentence, "Sister-in-law, remember to add me," and rushed out the door like the wind.
"What is he saying?" Lin Xi looked at Fu Qingli in confusion.
It's just adding friends, how did it turn into showing off your relationship?
Fu Qingli shrugged innocently: "I don't know, maybe he suddenly had a brain fart."
In the elevator, Zhou Qi asked Zou Song the same question.
Zou Song clicked his tongue and asked her in a pretentious manner, "What's your WeChat name, sister-in-law?"
"Murmure?"
"What about Brother Fu?"
Zhou Qi frowned, feeling that he had asked a pointless question: "Isn't Brother Fu always referred to as F? It's the first letter of his surname."
It's always the same, regardless of the account. I only add a few special characters to avoid repeating them.
"They changed it a few days ago! They changed it to Ting!" Zou Song couldn't help but click his tongue again. "I was wondering why they suddenly changed their names, but now I finally understand!"
Zhou Qi: "No, what happened to Ting?"
Unable to tolerate her slowness, Ji Jiali asked, "What does murmure mean?"
"A babbling brook, murmuring softly?" Zhou Qi still didn't understand.
Zou Song was exasperated: "What do those two nicknames mean when put together? 'Listen to the babbling brook!' Isn't this just showing off their affection?!"
-
Thanks to Zou Song's efforts, the Haicheng project has finally signed a formal contract and is ready for personnel to enter the site at any time.
Before booking a hotel for the staff, Zou Song, considering the relationship between Fu Qingli and Lin Xi, asked Fu Qingli in advance if she was prepared to announce their marriage publicly.
Unable to make a decision on her own, Fu Qingli took the opportunity during dinner to ask Lin Xi, "Song Jia's colleague will be coming to Haicheng in a couple of days, and HR is arranging accommodation. Zou Song asked us if it would be okay to arrange a hotel here? If so, our relationship will have to be made public."
Upon hearing this, Lin Xi paused in her eating, lowered her head as if deep in thought, and remained silent for a long while.
Fu Qingli couldn't see her expression clearly, but she could sense that her aura was somewhat troubled.
But he didn't want to put her in a difficult position. Their marriage was real, and whether it was public or not wouldn't affect their relationship. It was just his possessiveness that made him want others to know that she was already taken.
However, this is not an important matter.
"If you don't want to go public for now, we won't. Just let him arrange another hotel."
“It’s not that I’m unwilling,” Lin Xi said, at that time she was just thinking about how to express her true feelings without making him misunderstand. “It’s just that I feel that I’ve only been with Songjia for two months, and if I go public with our relationship now, people might think I’m a nepotism hire. Although my team members are all very nice to me and they certainly won’t say anything to my face, I still feel a little uncomfortable.”
Moreover, she took the deputy group position as soon as she arrived, so there's no guarantee that people won't say anything about her.
Considering Fu Qingli's feelings, she added, "I never thought about having a secret marriage, but I want to wait until my job is more stable."
Fu Qingli carefully considered her suggestion: "Then... let's let nature take its course, neither deliberately making it public nor intentionally hiding it."
"Can."
After listening, Lin Xi nodded, her obedient manner softening one's heart.
Fu Qingli couldn't help but reach across the table and pat her fluffy head: "Actually, you don't need to explain so much to me. Whatever you want to do, I will support you."
His eyes were full of sincerity; he wasn't joking at all. He genuinely wanted to tell her that everything between them could be done the way she wanted, without having to worry too much.
Touched by the doting tone in his words, Lin Xi grew bolder and less cautious: "However, do you sometimes need a female companion for social occasions? If so, I can..."
Lin Xi overheard this incident by chance the day before yesterday.
These days, Fu Qingli and his team's efforts have finally made a breakthrough. Zhaohui has agreed to act as a go-between and invite them to an exchange dinner with local businesses.
At that time, Zou Song will bring his secretaries, while Ji Jiali will bring Zhou Qi as his female companion.
Only Fu Qingli, as always, prepared to go alone.
Zou Song was genuinely anxious and blurted out, "Brother Fu, why don't you ask your wife? If she's not willing to go to this kind of event, you can bring my assistant along. He's very clever; it's just for show, nothing serious..."
Upon hearing "playing along," Fu Qingli looked at him coldly, swallowing the rest of his words and daring not to say anything more.
After a moment, he swallowed hard and changed his words, "The main thing is that it's impolite not to bring a female companion to that kind of occasion. You should talk to your sister-in-law properly. I think she's a sensible person and will agree to go. To be honest, she'll get used to that kind of occasion sooner or later if she's with you."
“No need,” Fu Qingli refused decisively. “She doesn’t need to get used to this kind of occasion, and I won’t bring any other women. There’s no need to discuss it anymore.”
These past two days, Fu Qingli mentioned going to a banquet to her, but didn't ask if she wanted to go with him.
The seemingly insignificant matter reminded Lin Xi of the past concerning Fu Qingli's parents.
Shen Yu and Fu Wenxun are university alumni. They met during a club activity.
Fu Wenxun fell in love at first sight with Shen Yu, who had a gentle appearance and a mild personality, and began to pursue her passionately.
Fu Wenxun is handsome and knows how to charm people. The naive Shen Yu quickly falls for him, and the two fall in love and have a very high-profile relationship.
However, the two families are of vastly different social standing.
Both Mr. and Mrs. Shen came from poor families, but they succeeded through their own efforts and became teachers at Beicheng University.
However, the Fu family of Beicheng has been a prominent family in Beicheng for several generations.
The difference is simply insurmountable.
The Fu family elders did not object to this, but the Shen couple thought that Shen Yu was too naive and that love could not overcome such a huge gap.
But young love is often intense and passionate, and it can lead to differences in values and perspectives.
Shen Yu went her own way, and not long after graduation, Fu Wenxun proposed to her at Ziyun, and the two had a high-profile wedding.
But the imagined happy days did not last long.
In order to be a good Mrs. Fu, Shen Yu gave up her career and returned to her family to be a wife and mother.
But social engagements and currying favors were not her forte, nor was they the life she wanted. Her days revolving around the Fu family left her exhausted.
After Fu Qingli was born, she lost all interest in dealing with these things.
At first, Fu Wenxun attended various social events with his secretary's assistant. Later, he gradually began to be surrounded by all sorts of women, not just at banquets and parties, but also at hotels and clubs.
By the time the news reached Shen Yu's ears, rumors and gossip were already rampant outside.
But she still chose to believe Fu Wenxun's statement that "there was nothing between us, it was just a social act to appease them."
This self-deception was eventually shattered by the ambition of those women. The women who followed Fu Wenxun all thought they could squeeze out Shen Yu and take the position of "Mrs. Fu".
When presented with evidence of infidelity, Fu Wenxun remained completely indifferent.
He felt that Shen Yu was making a mountain out of a molehill: "Isn't this a very normal thing? Look at any man, he has several women outside! I can promise you that no matter how many times I've slept with those women, I'm just playing around with them and I won't have any feelings for them. The person I love is you, and you will only ever be Mrs. Fu in this life. You don't need to listen to those people gossiping about you. You need to have the confidence and magnanimity of a legal wife."
Shen Yu couldn't believe that such words would come from the mouth of the man she loved with all her heart.
Unable to bear the betrayal, she filed for divorce in a fit of rage.
However, Fu Wenxun refused, believing that she was just confused for a moment and that after calming down, she would realize that as the wife of the Fu family, these were all trivial matters.
But Shen Yu was more persistent than he thought, and remained calm for several years.
However, the two tacitly presented a peaceful picture to Xiao Fu Qingli, creating a warm family environment.
When Fu Qingli turned seven, Fu Wenxun's childhood sweetheart came early to help set up the birthday banquet venue.
She "accidentally" projected a video of herself and Fu Wenxun's rendezvous from her phone onto the living room TV, staging a live sex show in front of Fu Qingli.
This finally shattered all the illusions and falsehoods of those years.
It was from that moment that Fu Qingli completely gave up any expectations of the person who called her "father".
However, blood ties cannot be severed.
Also, his childhood environment and friends.
Zou Song suggested that he bring his assistant to the dinner party.
It wasn't that he had any ulterior motives; it was just that they grew up in such an environment and were used to this kind of arrangement.
Fu Qingli didn't agree this time, but what about next time? And the time after that?
Just as Zou Song said, it's impolite. Will Fu Qingli one day have to compromise and accept this arrangement?
If that's the case, will they also end up like Shen Yu and Fu Wenxun...?
Lin Xi dared not gamble!
So even the thought of socializing with strangers makes her feel incredibly tired.
But she still wanted to force herself to keep up with Fu Qingli's pace.
You can't!
His unthinking rejection was a blow to Lin Xi. She was about to argue that although she had never been to such an event before and didn't know how to deal with those kinds of people, she would get used to it and learn to communicate.
Fu Qingli didn't give her much time to overthink. "Xiaoxi, you don't need to make any compromises. What you need to do now is take care of your emotions, make yourself happy, and don't force yourself to do anything that makes you unhappy. This period is special, and once things stabilize, I won't go to these kinds of events anymore. But don't worry, there won't be any other women by my side, not even temporary female companions!"
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