29. How do I like you?
Yu Chuanbei took small steps after her and explained to her patiently: "She used to be in the same department as me, but later on, she did always approach me in very inappropriate ways, so I applied to my superior to transfer her to another department. Today, the two new boys were supposed to invite me to have dinner in their shared apartment. Our company has a mentorship system, and I am considered their mentor after joining the company. But I didn't expect Liu Bingqian to show up, let alone think that everything that followed would be so difficult. With the company's juniors around, I don't want to embarrass her." "I think President Yu has been so powerful in the workplace for so many years, and his performance today was definitely well-handled. Soft and sticky ice cream is really not a treat for ordinary people. I think that woman is quite suitable for you, and you can marry you and have children very quickly." Ling Ling walked with his back straight, looking heroic, and his words were full of sarcasm. "Yeah, that's true. And maybe she's pregnant right now." Yu Chuanbei's mood shifted from impatience to a relaxed one. He took in her casual outfit: pale yellow suede wide-leg pants, paired with a large, dirty pink hoodie. A few strands of hair were scattered from her casually pulled-up bun, and he felt like smoothing it down. "Your outfit looks a lot like that strawberry ice cream I just had." Ling Ling, surprised that he would dare to tease her, glared at him fiercely and said, "With your teeth, Mr. Yu, I'll either choke you or kill you with this." She stepped onto the elevator and, to quickly get rid of him, picked up the cart and walked down the conveyor belt. Yu Chuanbei watched in horror, afraid she might fall without paying attention, and hurried forward to protect her. Ling Ling stopped and turned away, casually browsing the shops on the next floor. After getting off the elevator, he was in the mood to tease her again, asking her, "I'm only three years older than you. Do I look that old to you?" "No, you can eat popcorn without breaking a tooth. You're still quite strong. Your pants are soaked, yet you're still running like a whirlwind. You look like a veteran. That woman is like an octopus. One hand can't even touch you." Ling Ling searched her mind for every possible insult to him and offered it all. "So you want to chop off her claws?" "Won't they grow back after I cut them off? I just want to tie her cute little claws into a beautiful bow, preferably in an S shape, with the grooves filled with gold, and give it to you as a wedding present." Yu Chuanbei couldn't help but laugh as he watched these words tumble out of her beautiful petals. "So—are you jealous?" After asking this, he saw...
Yu Chuanbei trotted after her, patiently explaining, "She used to be in the same department as me, but she kept approaching me in inappropriate ways, so I asked my supervisor to transfer her to another department. Those two new guys were supposed to invite me to dinner at their shared apartment today. Our company has a mentorship system, and I'm their mentor since they joined. But I didn't expect Liu Bingqian to show up, and I didn't expect everything that followed to be so difficult. With younger employees around, I didn't want to embarrass her."
"I think Mr. Yu has been so powerful in the workplace for so many years, so he definitely handled the situation well today. The soft and sticky ice cream is really a treat for everyone. I think that woman is quite suitable for you, and you can marry her and have children with her as quickly as possible." Ling Ling straightened his back, walked with a heroic demeanor, and spoke with sarcasm.
"Yeah, that's true, and maybe she's pregnant right now." Yu Chuanbei's mood changed from being impatient to being relaxed. He glanced at her casual outfit: light yellow velvet wide-leg pants, paired with a dirty pink loose hoodie, and a few strands of hair scattered in her casually tied-up bun. He wanted to help her straighten it out.
"Your outfit looks quite similar to the strawberry ice cream I just had."
Ling Ling didn't expect him to actually tease her. She glared at him fiercely and said, "With your teeth, Mr. Yu, I'll either beat you to death or choke you to death."
She stepped onto the descending elevator and, in order to get rid of him as quickly as possible, picked up the cart and walked down along the conveyor belt.
Yu Chuanbei was horrified, fearing that she would fall if she wasn't careful, so he quickly stepped forward to protect her.
Ling Ling had no choice but to stop and turned her head away to casually browse the shops on the next floor.
After getting off the elevator, he was in the mood to tease her again and continued to ask her: "I'm only three years older than you, do I look that old in your eyes?"
"No, you didn't even lose your teeth while eating popcorn, and you look quite strong and powerful; your pants were wet, but you still ran vigorously, and you can tell at a glance that you've been through many battles. That woman is really like an octopus, one hand can't touch you enough." Ling Ling searched her mind for all the words that could be used to insult him, and offered them all.
"So you're going to chop her claws off?"
"Won't they grow back if I cut them off? I just want to tie her cute little claws tightly into a beautiful bow, preferably in an S shape, with the grooves filled with gold beads, and give it to you as a wedding present."
Yu Chuanbei couldn't help laughing as he watched the series of words coming out of her beautiful petal-shaped lips.
"So - are you jealous?" After he asked this question, he saw Ling Ling suddenly stop and looked at him with a fierce look, and he immediately realized that he had said the wrong thing.
Ling Ling wanted to curse: "Are you jealous? Fuck you!" But she patiently persuaded herself not to be impulsive. We are not close enough to swear at each other, and we cannot break the rules.
She took a deep breath and began to silently recite a Buddhist scripture that she had listened to for 600 yuan in Mount Wutai.
Then she saw the bus stop ahead and strode over.
"You're carrying so many things, let me take you home." Yu Chuanbei said, still following behind her.
Ling Ling didn't intend to pay any more attention to him.
Yu Chuanbei still refused to give up and said, "My car is in the parking lot next to us. I'll drive over right away. Please wait here for me."
He had just walked a few steps when he saw Ling Ling immediately board the bus that had just arrived at the station. She boarded so casually that she didn't even look at the road sign on the bus.
Yu Chuanbei hurriedly wrote down the bus's license plate number and ran to his car. He drove after her bus while calling her.
The first call was hung up; the second call was the same; finally, on the third call, she picked up the phone, but didn't say anything.
He then spoke first, "Don't you live near Sanyuan Bridge? This No. 474 bus you're on is not on your way at all."
"None of your business." She was still sulking.
His car drove to the window right in front of where she was sitting. He continued, "It's my fault that you got on the wrong bus. I can't just ignore it. So I'll stay right beside you. When the bus reaches the terminal at Grand View Garden, you'll have to get off."
Ling Ling caught a glimpse of him in the silver SUV.
She was carrying baskets and racks of various sizes, and was already despised by the elderly men and women on the bus. The conductor on the bus kept looking at her, as if looking for an opportunity to ask her to pay for the ticket for the cart.
The bus stopped at a new stop. She bit her lip and squeezed off the bus.
She stood dejectedly at the bus stop, her bun even more disheveled. Her mind replayed Liu Bingqian's alluring figure and her minimal yet fashionable outfit. She hated her own dishevelment, and the smile on Yu Chuanbei's face as he parked his car and sauntered toward her made her feel even more humiliated.
He gently pulled away the cart and basket she was holding and put them in the trunk. But she grabbed the wooden man again, as if guarding her last bit of dignity.
He opened the passenger door for her, but she stubbornly sat in the back seat farthest away from him.
The car started, and there was a low pressure in the car.
Yu Chuanbei saw Ling Ling in the rearview mirror, her expression icy, clutching a wooden figure. He took the initiative to break the silence and asked, "What are you going to do with this wooden figure?" Ling Ling replied coldly, "Paint it with watercolors and dress it up as a human." "Can you sell it as art? I'd like to buy it." "No. I need to keep it to poke figurines with when I'm feeling down." "Who are you going to paint it like? Me?" "None of your business!" Ling Ling began to refuse to talk. But Yu Chuanbei paused and asked, "Are you going home directly?" "Yeah, what else?" Ling Ling believed that the answer "what else" usually meant the other party would tactfully stop the conversation. But Yu Chuanbei said excitedly, "Why don't we go out for dinner? I didn't have a full lunch." "I was quite full, but I'm still nauseous," Ling Ling continued to challenge him.
She still felt awkward, not wanting to confirm his claim of jealousy. She simply hoped she was upset because today's IKEA shopping, restaurant meals, and movie were terrible.
But she also realized that her aggressive attitude towards him was indeed suspicious of jealousy. She fiddled with the wooden doll in confusion, and actually imagined the possibility of painting it to look like him.
When they arrived at the door of her building, Yu Chuanbei looked at her with eyes still full of retention and invitation, but Ling Ling ignored him, opened the car door and was about to leave.
He had no choice but to get out of the car with her and return the things that had been torn apart along the way and were almost scratched off to her.
"I have this kind of storage rack at home too. It seems that we have the same taste." Yu Chuanbei said to her with a smile.
But in Ling Ling's eyes, that smile concealed a smugness that had made her jealous, which was irritating. So she continued to retort, "IKEA sells one to eight hundred thousand of these storage racks every year. It seems Mr. Yu also likes common goods."
"So what if I like you too?"
His sudden confession did not move Ling Ling. She could only curse him as a scumbag in her heart.
"That means that although you are a scumbag, you have good taste. But - I don't like you at all." Ling Ling finally forced out a perfunctory professional smile and prepared to leave.
He suddenly grabbed her sleeve and she was stunned for a moment, thinking he was going to do something, but she didn't expect him to just brush off the white dust that had gotten on his sleeves.
—Wait a minute, what did she think he was going to do?
I dare not think about it.
He smiled as he watched her awkwardly pull back her sleeves, push the ironware with a clanging sound, and clumsily carry it up the steps to the door. He sincerely thought that this girl was really smart and cute.
*~*~*~*~*~*~
Yu Chuanbei often thought that on the night of Ningshi's press conference, if he had not listened to Ling Ling, but instead hugged her tightly when she was most vulnerable, would they be able to be close to each other now, instead of being like this.
Although they hadn't seen each other since their last disagreement, Yu Chuanbei couldn't help but hear about Ling Ling. He and Luo Hao would meet every five days and every ten days, essentially exchanging information: Yu Chuanbei would tell Luo Hao about Yu Jinnan's journey, and Luo Hao would tell Yu Chuanbei everything he knew about Ling Ling.
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