Chapter 118 Pack it up and take it home for a late-night snack
"You're welcome, Mr. Yan." Su Yingxue smiled and nodded, then turned and left. As she walked out of the office, she heard Yan Yixi open his lunchbox behind her, followed by a faint sigh of satisfaction.
In the office, everyone sat together, enjoying their meal while enthusiastically discussing the plan. The crispness of the hot and sour shredded potatoes, the sweet and sour flavor of the pork ribs, and the refreshing cabbage soup made every bite appetizing, seemingly sweeping away all fatigue.
"Boss, this sweet and sour pork ribs is amazing!" Xiao Li said, his mouth full of ribs, his words muffled. "If you opened a restaurant, I'd come here every day!"
"Yeah, yeah, this is a hundred times better than takeout!" Xiao Zhao said, giving a thumbs up as he sipped his soup. "This late-night snack tonight was totally worth it!"
Seeing everyone's happy faces warmed Su Yingxue's heart. She knew that this late-night snack had not only filled their stomachs but also ignited the team's enthusiasm. On this brightly lit night, they would work together to give their all for this important project.
I finished working overtime; it was already 10 PM.
Ada's knuckles turned white as he gripped the takeout box. As the elevator numbers slowly ticked from "1," sweat soaked through his shirt collar. His phone vibrated for the third time in his pocket, the screen displaying Luo Qianqian's last message: "You'd better have a reasonable explanation, or you'll never set foot in my house again." The accompanying emojis were of a cold hotpot and a broken wine glass.
"bite--"
The motion-activated light on the 18th floor turned on in response, and a gust of night wind blew in as Ada kicked open the door. The white candle on the dining table had burned down to a short stub, the melted wax forming amber-colored streaks in the glass bottle. The broth in the hot pot had long since solidified, the sliced beef clinging to the bottom of the plate, glistening with oil, and the once bright red chili oil now resembled dried blood.
"Qianqian?" he called tentatively, his voice bouncing off the closed bedroom door. His iPhone was still plugged into the charger next to the shoe cabinet; the screen showed 10:49 PM, and a red missed call icon appeared next to the charging icon.
The bedroom door suddenly flung open, and Luo Qianqian rushed out, wrapped in a silk quilt, a few tufts of hair still sticking up. Her eyes were red-rimmed as she glared at Ada, her pajamas askew, revealing half a shoulder. "You still know how to come back?!" her voice trembled with a sob. "I specially took the day off and left work two hours early, bought your favorite marbled beef, and even boiled the broth three times..."
Ada placed the takeout box on the coffee table, the clatter of the plastic lunchboxes echoing clearly in the quiet living room. "Honey, I'm home!" He forced a smile that looked more like a grimace, kneeling by the bed and grabbing Qianqian's nightgown. "I brought sweet and sour pork ribs... really!" He pulled a plastic lunchbox from his pocket. "President Su specially saved these for me, saying you'd be happy if you ate them..."
"President Su?" Luo Qianqian's anger suddenly faltered as she stared at the lunchbox bearing the "Tengyue Advertising" logo. A memory flashed back to last week's class reunion, where the class beauty, who always stole her thunder, boasted about how luxurious her boyfriend's company cafeteria was, and she had subtly mocked, "Only nouveau riche eat takeout."
Ada deftly unpacked the package, and the aroma of sweet and sour pork ribs instantly filled the room. The amber sauce coated the ribs, glistening with oil, and garnished with scallions and sesame seeds; the sweet and sour scent wafted straight to the nose. "Try it!" he said, picking up a piece and blowing on it. "I watched Mr. Su make it myself; it's absolutely fresh..."
Luo Qianqian's chopsticks hesitated in mid-air, but ultimately succumbed to the aroma and fell. Her eyes widened with the first bite; the tender ribs separated easily from her teeth, and the sweet and sour sauce exploded on her tongue, even her usually picky taste buds surrendered. "Mmm...it's really delicious!" she mumbled indistinctly, picking up another piece. "Is this really made by your company? Or is it takeout?"
"I'll be a dog if I lie to you!" Ada took the opportunity to pull her onto the sofa, took out his phone and flipped through the photos. "Look at the photos I took of the kitchen. President Su and the others were busy until after ten o'clock. Xiao Yu even helped me pack up the leftovers..." The screen showed the busy scene in the kitchen, Su Yingxue's back as she tossed the wok with a blue apron, and a candid shot of Xiao Qi secretly stuffing throat lozenges into his bag.
Luo Qianqian mumbled an "Mmm" while chewing on a rib, her eyes darting around. She suddenly remembered the sign she'd seen last month when passing by an office building—the three large, gilded characters of "Tengyue Advertising" gleaming in the sunlight. At the time, she'd scoffed, "What big deals could such a small company possibly take?" Now, looking at the almost completely devoured lunchbox, that suspicion hadn't dissipated; instead, it had grown wildly like weeds in spring.
"Wife?" Ada reached for a tissue to wipe her mouth, but Qianqian deftly dodged it. She stared down at the remaining sauce at the bottom of the lunchbox, then suddenly looked up and smiled, "Honey, do you think... I could come to your company tomorrow?" Her fingers unconsciously twirled around the end of her hair. "I just... wanted to bring you a coffee and, while I'm at it, see the place that makes such delicious lunchboxes!"
Ada was stuffing the last piece of pork rib into his mouth when he heard this and almost choked. He quickly swallowed it down and patted his chest to assure him, "Sure! I'll show you the way tomorrow! President Su also said she'd treat you to her white fungus soup!"
He regretted it the moment the words left his mouth—if Su Yingxue knew that he had brought his girlfriend to the company without permission, she would definitely frown and accuse him of not separating public and private matters.
But Luo Qianqian had already smiled, her eyes crinkling, as if her anger from just moments before had never existed. She leaned close to Ada's ear and whispered, "It's a deal then. Tomorrow I want to see with my own eyes which company's kitchen could feed my husband so much fat~" Her voice trailed off with a sly smile, but her fingertips secretly noted down the blurry address information on the lunchbox.
A night breeze lifted a corner of the curtain, and moonlight spilled onto the coffee table. The lunchbox, licked clean, reflected a faint light, like a small mirror, showing Ada's uneasy expression and Luo Qianqian's restless thoughts hidden beneath her smile.
Su Yingxue never expected that this boxed lunch had such a story behind it.
The next morning, Luo Qianqian deliberately left home half an hour early. Standing below the office building, she looked up at the glass curtain wall, sunlight refracting through the metal frames in dappled patterns. The location Ada had sent last night indicated that "Tengyue Advertising" was on the 18th floor. Clutching her two carefully chosen cups of coffee, she pondered how she would "bump into" the legendary CEO Su.
She was wearing the latest coat and her most expensive shoes. I expected to see a very beautiful and powerful woman, but instead, I saw Su Yingxue chopping vegetables.
She was focused intently on cooking, her expression meticulous. It was as if she weren't chopping vegetables, but rather repairing a high-tech precision instrument. Luo Qianqian understood the moment she saw Su Yingxue. This was truly delicious.
Her eyes lit up. Her company was a bakery. It seemed her supervisor had mentioned doing some promotion a few days ago, and now she could offer her services.
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