Chapter 38 Becoming Your Confidence
The old house is surrounded by villas, and my aunt asked around the neighborhood, and everyone said no cats had been lost.
And so, the family officially gained a new member.
However, having never owned a cat before, Lin Ke had to buy the cat house, litter, and cat food on short notice, and she didn't know how the kitten was doing. Lin Ke planned to have Aunt Chen take it for a check-up and vaccinations tomorrow.
So the kitten had to stay in the cage that night.
Si Xiaotie and Qin Mancheng were so engrossed in their work that they could no longer move, and they squatted in front of the cage, staring intently at it.
The hungry and cold kitten, having eaten and drunk its fill and been cleaned, curled up comfortably in its soft cat bed, its body rising and falling gently with its breathing. Its four pink paws occasionally opened and closed unconsciously, and it was sleeping soundly.
The two children were talking intermittently:
"Brother, it's a little small."
"Yes, I can lift it with one hand."
"Me too! It was right there, all wet, and it was meowing at me, so I just grabbed it!"
Si Xiaotie asked again, "Brother, how big is it?"
Qin Mancheng: "I don't know, one year old?"
"Would I be this big when I'm one year old?"
“We are human, it is a cat, we are different.”
"All right."
After a while, the sleeping cat woke up, stretched lazily, and walked over slowly when it saw people. It meowed twice, and Si Xiaotie immediately turned around and shouted, "Mom, the cat is hungry, where is its food?"
Lin Ke said, "It just ate something and needs to digest it, so we can't feed it anymore." She added a reminder, "The kitten's belly is still very small, so Xiao Tie and Manman can't just feed it too much, otherwise the kitten will get sick."
"Hmm!" Si Xiaotie turned back, wanting to touch it, but he didn't dare. His little hands were no longer the same little hands that used to catch crabs, eels, and earthworms. He was afraid and pulled back.
"Brother, should we give it a name?"
"What do you want?"
"Hmm..." The dinosaur spider's little head has now turned into a kitten's little head, but Si Xiaotie thought about it seriously for a long time but still couldn't figure it out. "Brother, take it."
Qin Mancheng said, "We can call it Lele, because Xiao Tie picked it up."
"Yay!" Si Xiaotie was very satisfied with the name, and then turned to his mother and said, "Mom, the kitten has a name now, it's called Lele."
"OK."
Si Yuming returned around 8 o'clock. When he entered the house, Qin Mancheng had already gone to take a shower and do her homework, but the little girl was still in front of the cat cage. She was probably tired of squatting, so she found a small stool from somewhere and sat down.
Hearing the noise, she turned around, ran over, and jumped into her father's arms, eagerly sharing, "Daddy, I found a kitten, it's so cute! Its name is Lele!"
Si Yuming had already noticed the extra cage in the house. He picked up his daughter and walked over. The kitten was asleep again, curled up with its little body, its breathing steady and even.
He asked first, "Does Mom know?"
"Yes, I know. Mom even helps Lele take a bath."
That's fine.
Si Yuming accompanied her to see the kitten. The little girl chattered on and on about how she found the cat. He listened patiently for a while, and when she finally took a break, he asked, "Where did Mommy go?"
"Mom's taking a shower." Si Xiaotie turned the man's face, which was looking up at the building, to his own. "Dad!"
"Hmm?" Si Yuming turned around.
"You're not paying attention." Si Xiaotie's face fell, but he grinned again after only two seconds. "Mom said Grandma Chen is taking Lele to get her vaccination tomorrow, and then she can stay with us~"
"Hmm, Mom, how are you feeling on your first day back at work?"
"I'm in a great mood." Si Xiaotie hadn't finished speaking yet, "Then after Lele gets her shot, it can come out to play. My brother said it's only one year old now, and it still needs to grow bigger. When it grows up, it will become very big."
“Okay, let it grow up.” Si Yuming put his daughter down. “I’m going to check on Mom.”
After saying that, he turned and went upstairs. Si Xiaotie looked at his father's large body, frowned, and humphed, "Stinky dad."
But in the blink of an eye, she saw Lele's pretty brows instantly relax, and she leaned closer to the cage to speak, "Lele baby, go to sleep quietly, okay? I'm going to go to sleep too. My mom said she'd tell me a penguin story. Goodnight~"
Upstairs, when Si Yuming opened the door, he heard the sound of water in the bathroom. He went to the dressing room to change his clothes first.
After changing and waiting a while, the bathroom door opened, and steam drifted out. The woman in the bathrobe stood in front of the mirror, wiping her face and preparing to blow-dry her hair.
He leaned closer. "How was work today?"
"fine."
It felt a bit mysterious. She was twenty-eight or twenty-nine years old, her child was four years old, and she had worked for two years. But when she walked into that office building today, Lin Ke felt like a newcomer. Everyone sitting inside was a senior. She needed to be careful to get to know everyone, to humbly ask for advice and learn, and to integrate into this new world step by step.
"Have you encountered any difficulties?"
Lin Ke glanced at him, amused. "It's only my first day on the job, what difficulties could I possibly encounter?"
"Are your colleagues easy to get along with?"
"That's good too. I even ran into one of my college classmates. I hadn't seen her in a long time. I didn't even know she used to work in the translation department."
"What's your leader's name?"
"..." Lin Ke wouldn't tell him, "Of all those leaders, which one are you asking about?"
"The biggest one."
"Foreign Minister? You can just search it online."
Seeing the playful smile on her lips, Si Yuming felt relieved. "If there's anything you can't solve, you can tell me."
After applying face cream, Lin Ke looked over and said seriously, "If I come to you every time I have a problem I can't solve, what kind of person am I?"
Si Yuming certainly didn't mean that. "That's not what I meant. I just wanted to give you confidence. Also, sometimes things are too complicated to control just because you want to. You need to be more careful in your work."
The atmosphere suddenly became serious. Lin Ke pursed her lips and nodded, "I know."
She's not in the company anymore. Before, if she made a mistake, the worst that could happen was financial loss. Now it's different. Although she's still just a low-level employee, she has responsibilities now, and the relationships are indeed complicated.
She said, "I will learn slowly, and I can handle it myself."
"good."
Lin Ke opened the drawer to get a hair dryer, then suddenly remembered something, turned her head and smiled, "Si Yuming, do you think I might one day become your source of confidence?"
The man listened, a smile playing on his lips, but it quickly faded.
Lin Ke also remembered something.
After her parents passed away, the old man no longer allowed the Si family to participate in politics. Although she could not compare with the Si family parents, she had already stepped into politics with one foot in the door.
Si Yuming smiled again, stepped forward to hug her, and said gently, "I'm waiting for you to become my source of strength."
......
After joining the company, there is a week-long training program held at the district party school. The training content covers ideological and political education, laws and regulations, confidentiality system, and various other courses.
The training sessions were from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. every day. Lin Ke felt like she was back in school, with the teacher lecturing and her listening, and she would occasionally doze off.
Fortunately, the training was semi-closed, so she could go home to live; otherwise, living at the Party School for a week would have been really exhausting.
The lecturer for the last half-day was Yun Zheng, who mainly taught emergency management and handling of emergencies.
Lin Ke was seated in the middle of the second row, and could almost see the man on the stage directly with just a glance.
Yun Zheng was wearing a common black jacket today, looking serious and old-fashioned, and his expression was still unsmiling. However, the lecture content was solid, the case studies were rich, and his voice was not bad, so it didn't make people sleepy. Lin Ke even took a lot of notes while listening.
During a break in class, Lin Ke took out her phone to check it.
Si Xiaotie sent her several more messages at some point, including one from Zhang Man.
She went outside, listened to the little girl's enthusiastic sharing, and replied: "Mommy should be home around six o'clock today. Does Xiaotie want anything to eat?"
Let's look at Zhang Man's news again:
Zhang Man: [Honey, how's the training?]
Zhang Man: [Is your boss still single?]
The key point is this last sentence. Lin Ke smiled and typed: "[I heard you're single.]"
On her first day at work, Mo Xiwen revealed the inside story of Yun Zheng, the most sought-after person in their translation department. She said that Yun Zheng had been single since he joined the company, had no scandals, and no bad habits. Several girls in the department liked him.
Lin Ke found it a bit unbelievable, after all, he was a successful person in the conventional sense, yet he had been single for so many years? But she wasn't too curious, what did it matter to her whether he was single or not.
Zhang Man replied: 【Okay.】
She sent that message and then stopped. Lin Ke put her phone in her pocket and prepared to go back to the classroom.
Turning around, I was so startled that I took half a step back.
"Director Yun..."
The man seemed to have come out for some fresh air; he glanced at her indifferently and walked to the flowerbed.
Lin Ke hadn't intended to say much to him, but then she suddenly remembered something and asked with concern, "How did Yuanyuan's surgery go?"
"Everything went smoothly. With proper rest, she'll be able to speak normally again."
Lin Ke was genuinely happy for Yuanyuan. "That's wonderful."
"Um."
Having said no more, Lin Ke bid farewell and returned to the classroom.
Yun Zheng turned around, his gaze falling on the slightly thin figure for a few seconds before looking away.
get out of class ended promptly at 5:30. Lin Ke packed up her stationery and belongings from the past few days and left.
Zhang Man texted right on cue: 【Come out, I'll take you home.】
Lin Ke couldn't help but laugh. So this person put down his phone and came over after chatting with her? But that's perfect, Si Yuming gave her a ride this morning, so now she doesn't have to take a taxi.
Parking is not allowed in front of the school, so Zhang Man waited outside early. As soon as they met, her true intentions were not what they seemed: "Is your leader here? Is there a chance for me to run into him?"
As fate would have it, Yun Zheng drove out, and after waiting for a short while, Zhang Man recognized him and waved wildly.
Lin Ke was so embarrassed that she wanted to turn around and pretend she didn't know him...
Yun Zheng rolled down the car window, somewhat puzzled.
Zhang Man forced a perfectly standard smile. "Director Yun, would it be convenient for you to give us a ride? We're just heading to the shopping mall up ahead."
Yun Zheng glanced at the woman who was looking down and avoiding eye contact, and nodded: "Convenient."
The drive to the mall took six or seven minutes. Along the way, Zhang Man kept talking, introducing herself intentionally or unintentionally, and subtly trying to find out information about others.
Yun Zheng didn't say much, but he was still quite polite.
Before getting out of the car, Zhang Man took out her phone and asked very frankly, "Director Yun, may I add you on WeChat?"
It wasn't a convenient parking spot. Yun Zheng glanced at the car in the rearview mirror and said, "Lin Ke can add me in the work group."
"Okay."
Having achieved her goal, Zhang Man quickly pulled the person off the bus.
Once the car was out of sight, he immediately urged, "Quick, quick, add him, and then send me his business card."
Lin Ke said helplessly, "Manman, is this really okay?"
Zhang Man's smile faded, but she wasn't entirely serious either. "Although your boss is handsome, arrogant, and charming, I'm also clear-headed. If I can make him mine, I'll just consider it a stroke of luck. If not, he's still a connection. I'll need to latch onto his coattails for everything I do in the future."
"You really are..."
"Why? I did it openly and honestly, and they agreed openly and honestly. We didn't break the law, did we?"
"Okay, okay, I'll join." Lin Ke opened the large group she had joined in the last two days, found Yun Zheng's WeChat account, and sent him an application message.
"I remember, he approved it and you recommended it to me."
"Okay."
Lin Ke made a last-minute appointment with Zhang Man and couldn't go back on time. Before going home, Lin Ke bought Si Xiaotie and Qin Mancheng their favorite strawberry cake at the mall.
When we got home, the little girl was already asleep. Next to the princess bed was little Lele, who was also sleeping soundly, her relaxed sleeping posture exactly the same as her little owner's.
Lin Ke tucked Si Xiaotie's little feet under the covers, kissed her forehead, said goodnight, and went back to her room.
Si Yuming had also taken a shower early and was working at his small desk in the bedroom. He asked gently, "Have you eaten?"
She had eaten, but after a day of training, she was starving. In the evening, she and Zhang Man had eaten fancy but impractical Japanese food. As soon as he mentioned it, her stomach, which had just finished digesting, quietly growled twice.
He seemed to hear him, and a smile appeared on his lips: "Auntie is probably resting. Shall I cook you a simple bowl of noodles?"
Lin Ke's eyes lit up. "Okay, thank you."
After I finished washing up, he had just finished cooking the noodles and brought them to the table. "Ready."
"I'm here." Lin Ke finished applying her face paint and sat down at her desk.
Seeing that her hair was still wet, Si Yuming went to the bathroom to get a hairdryer and stood behind the chair to dry her hair.
Lin Ke's hair is soft, just like Si Xiaotie's; it feels light when you hold it in your hand.
He turned the volume down to the lowest setting so it wouldn't interfere with their conversation.
Is today the last day?
The woman hummed between bites, "Mmm, finally it's over, I'm exhausted."
"What kind of training was provided?"
"It's all sorts of things, some classes even collect cell phones, it's pretty serious anyway." Lin Ke took a couple of bites of noodles and a sip of soup, and casually said, "But it's mostly big shots who come to train, some of them I've even seen on the news, like that one... never mind, you probably don't know."
Si Yuming: "..."
"I heard from my colleagues today that there will be a monthly exam in two weeks. The monthly exam in the company is quite difficult. We are new employees, and failing will affect our chances of being hired permanently. So I expect to be quite busy in the coming weeks."
"Also, a list of overseas posts will be released next month. They said everyone will take turns coming, and whether your name is on it or not is up to fate."
"I'm starting work next week, and I don't know what kind of schedule I'll be given. I heard the company is quite busy lately, with a lot of meetings."
The woman spoke a few words, and Si Yuming had no chance to interject; it was another world he had never experienced.
She took a couple more bites, then turned her head and casually asked, "Where's my phone?"
Si Yuming turned off the hairdryer and went to the bedside table to get her phone.
When he picked it up, the screen lit up, and he saw a message on the lock screen.
[Yun Zheng has accepted your friend request.]
Yun Zheng, if I remember correctly, was the man who came to her house that day; he was her boss.
Si Yuming held his phone in his hand, remaining silent for a while before moving away.
Lin Ke unlocked the phone, opened WeChat, and typed away rapidly, replying to several messages.
The noodles on the table were gradually cooling down when he called out to her, "Lin Ke?"
There was no response, so he asked again in frustration, "Wife?"
After a short while, the woman turned around and asked, "Hmm? You called me?"
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Author's note: Good morning~ Little red envelope~
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