55. Our Commitment to Eternity
Ling Ling choked back a thought. She didn't know if Mei Xiao truly cared about the details of her conversation with Mr. Fang, or if he was confident his close relationship with Mr. Fang meant he'd tell her everything, or if he didn't want to appear distant from Mr. Fang in front of his subordinates and was deliberately avoiding the question. But given that, Ling Ling didn't need to say anything more; she simply fulfilled her duty. She agreed to go to the company cafeteria on the B1 floor for lunch. As soon as she sat down, Bai Yihan sat down across from her with a plate in hand, smiling broadly, and asked, "What did Mr. Fang say to you today? Any shocking inside information?" Ling Ling couldn't understand this woman. Where did she get the confidence to think that, given their relationship, she'd tell her even if there was something shocking? Or perhaps, this kind of person simply relied on lowering their standards to try to win the bid, believing that if they won, they'd win. "Mr. Fang talked to me about the new system. After all, I didn't attend the results presentation last week," Ling Ling said perfunctorily. "Oh - I see." Bai Yihan noticed Ling Ling's indifference towards her while she was eating, and wanted to ease the atmosphere so that he could continue to ask questions. "I see that you have been getting close to Gu Chuqi recently. You know she is the one, right?" "Which one?" Ling Ling raised her head and asked confusedly. "Lala!" Bai Yihan lowered his voice, but he could not hide his excitement of gloating. Ling Ling frowned, feeling that this answer was harsh, and her attitude was particularly annoying. "That's her own business." She buried her head even lower while eating. "How can it be her own business? Going to the bathroom with her, I feel uncomfortable just thinking about sharing a cubicle." Bai Yihan was chewing the seasonal vegetables with a crunching sound, and Ling Ling suppressed the urge to stuff the whole broccoli into her mouth. Unexpectedly, Gu Chuqi took the seat next to her and, out of nowhere, asked, "What were you talking about?" Bai Yihan grumbled, but Ling Ling said with interest, "Your question is very risky. What if we were talking about you?" Chuqi paused, scanning Ling Ling and Bai Yihan's faces. Bai Yihan suddenly felt awkward. He uncomfortably picked up his plate and stood up, saying, "I'm done," before walking away. Ling Ling snorted, and Gu Chuqi simply found her behavior endearing. "So, what were you talking about me?" Chuqi asked, tilting her head. She caught a whiff of her perfume, a scent that seemed like sea salt, a refreshing mix of sea mist and minerals, a scent she had only ever smelled on Ling Ling. "Do you really want to know?" Ling Ling asked, looking at her with a complicated look. Chuqi paused, thinking...
Ling Ling was choked back. She didn't know whether Mei Xiao really didn't care about what she and Mr. Fang had said in detail, or was confident in his close relationship with Mr. Fang and that the other party would explain everything to Mei Xiao, or did not want to appear distant from Mr. Fang in front of his subordinates and deliberately avoided asking.
But since that was the case, Ling Ling didn't need to say anything more. She just fulfilled her duty. She agreed to go to the company cafeteria on the B1 floor to eat.
As soon as she sat down, Bai Yihan came over with a plate of food and sat down across from her. With a big smile on his face, he asked, "What did Mr. Fang say to you today? Any shocking secrets?"
Ling Ling really couldn't understand this woman. Where did she get her confidence from? She thought that given their relationship, she would tell her if there was a shocking inside story? Or maybe this kind of person just relied on lowering their shame to try to win the bid. If they won the bid, they would make money.
"Mr. Fang talked to me about the new system. After all, I didn't attend the results exhibition last week." Ling Ling said perfunctorily.
"Oh—I see." Bai Yihan noticed Ling Ling's indifference towards her as she was eating, and tried to lighten the mood so she could continue her conversation. "I see you've been getting pretty close to Gu Chuqi lately. You know she's the one, right?"
"Which one?" Ling Ling raised her head and asked confusedly.
"Lala!" Bai Yihan lowered his voice, but could not hide his excitement of gloating.
Ling Ling frowned, feeling that this answer was harsh and her attitude was particularly annoying. "That's her own business." She lowered her head even lower while eating.
"How can that be her business? I feel uncomfortable even thinking about sharing a toilet stall with her."
Bai Yihan was crunching the seasonal vegetables, while Ling Ling suppressed the urge to stuff the whole broccoli into her mouth.
Unexpectedly, Gu Chuqi sat down next to her and asked, "What were you talking about?"
Bai Yihan was embarrassed, but Ling Ling said with interest: "Your question is very risky. What if we are talking about you?"
Chu Qi was stunned for a moment, and glanced at Ling Ling and Bai Yihuan's faces. Bai Yihuan suddenly felt very uneasy, picked up the plate unhappily and stood up, saying "I'm done" before walking away.
Ling Ling snorted coldly, and Gu Chuqi just felt that her behavior was very pleasing to her.
"So what are you talking about me?" Chu Qi asked her with her head tilted. She smelled the perfume on her body, which seemed to be the scent of sea salt, like the fresh smell of sea mist mixed with minerals. She had only smelled it on Ling Ling.
"Do you really want to know?" Ling Ling looked at her with complicated eyes and asked.
Chu Qi thought about it blankly, shook his head and said, "Forget it then."
After they ate in silence for two minutes, Chu Qi tilted his head and asked her, "What did Mr. Fang say to you?"
"He probably just wants me to talk about Gu Chaoqun and help him make a decision." Ling Ling didn't want to hide it from her.
"Then what did you say?" As soon as Ling Ling was called away by the boss this afternoon, everyone in the office was curious, and Gu Chuqi was no exception.
"You should say what you think normally. Gu Chaoqun is not worth me being hypocritical for him." Ling Ling did not hide anything from her.
Gu Chuqi was inexplicably worried about her. "You've been so blunt in your comments about Gu Chaoqun to Mr. Fang. Aren't you afraid that Mr. Fang will become wary of you in the future, and that one day you'll criticize him in the same way?"
"So he has to perform well." Ling Ling chuckled playfully, which also amused Chu Qi.
Gu Chuqi didn't expect Ling Ling to be so frank with her. "You told me this, aren't you afraid that I will spread it?"
"Why are you doing this? You are Gu Chuqi."
*~*~*~*~*~*~
After a tiring day, the most comforting thing was the WeChat message from Yu Chuanbei in the evening.
"Have you finished work? I'll be waiting for you downstairs at your company. Don't worry if you haven't finished yet. I'm very happy to be waiting for you here now."
Ling Ling saw his message and a sweet smile spread across her face. She checked the time on her phone. It was already past eight o'clock, and she was the only one in Group A still working overtime. She stretched greedily, trying to perk herself back up.
"I'm going downstairs now!" she replied to him.
As soon as she got out of the elevator on the first floor, Ling Ling saw Yu Chuanbei waiting outside the glass revolving door. They smiled at each other, and she ran towards him eagerly and threw herself into his arms.
"I was scolded by the director early this morning." Ling Ling buried her head in his arms and poured out her grievances.
Yu Chuanbei rubbed her cheeks with his hands and said, "Oh, you look so aggrieved." He was like coaxing a child.
"You've been standing for so long, don't your legs hurt?" She was a little worried about him when she saw that he didn't even use his crutches.
"We haven't seen each other for a whole day. I missed you so much that I forgot the pain." Yu Chuanbei pecked her forehead lightly.
Ling Ling glanced at him and mocked him, "I didn't know Yu Chuanbei was so smooth-talking."
"I always have. Do you want to try my real skill of smooth talk?" He pressed his lips against hers, and the tip of his tongue gently probed between her teeth. She stood on tiptoe and let him kiss her.
"Hey, what's going on?" An excited man's voice interrupted their lovemaking.
Ling Ling turned around and met Luo Hao's excited gaze. She was so scared that she quickly shrank back into Yu Chuanbei's arms.
Yu Chuanbei pulled up his windbreaker to cover Ling Ling's face, "What are you doing!" He hugged Ling Ling and took two steps back, scolding Luo Hao who was coming at him aggressively.
"Nothing special, just came to see the fruits of my victory. You two have done it, but you didn't even inform and thank me, the matchmaker?" His eyes swept over the two of them proudly.
"What's it got to do with you?" Yu Chuanbei was still protecting Ling Ling, who was too embarrassed to show her head in his arms, and he was backing away, trying to escape.
Luo Hao still refused to give in, "Hey, you two can't cross the river and burn the bridge."
"What kind of bridge are you? At most, you're just a donkey that's been discarded!" Yu Chuanbei scolded him away with a rogue smile, turned around, hid Ling Ling under his armpit, and took her into the car.
Ling Ling sat in the passenger seat, and Yu Chuanbei sat in the driver's seat from the other end. Seeing that she was still covering her face, he pulled her hands away and saw her blushing cheeks, which he thought was extremely cute.
"Okay, now it's just the two of us." He stroked her slightly hot cheek with his thumb.
Ling Ling was still immersed in the shame of being caught by Luo Hao. "Oh my God, my boyfriend and I were kissing, and a male colleague saw us. This is too embarrassing!"
"No, Luo Hao is not a stranger. I have seen him naked." Yu Chuanbei tried to cheer her up.
Ling Ling rolled her eyes at him in annoyance and reached back to grab the seat belt, but missed after two attempts.
Yu Chuanbei stood up to help her pull out the seat belt, slanted it across her chest, and buckled it for her. A crisp "click" sounded, like a sexy switch flicking on in the closed car.
Ling Ling raised her head, and Yu Chuanbei's face was suddenly so close to her. She could feel his breath coming hard, and his hot breath on her lips. Their fervent eyes locked, and he kissed her deeply. She felt as if her body was sinking into thick leather, and she felt a little dizzy.
"Come home with me, okay?" He whispered in her ear between passionate kisses.
Ling Ling was a little flustered, "I... I'm not ready yet." Although she didn't know what to prepare for, nor did she know what level of preparation meant, she was feeling conflicted now.
Yu Chuanbei's lips moved from her lips to her earlobe, then his chin rested on her neck as he calmed his breathing.
He no longer felt so hot, so he moved away from her body, swallowed, and couldn't help laughing.
Ling Ling cleared her throat awkwardly to make herself appear more sophisticated.
Yu Chuanbei started the car and said to her, "Let me take you somewhere."
"Isn't this a hotel?" His pretended mature demeanor was instantly ruined by her surprised question.
Yu Chuanbei laughed a few times, "Am I such an unromantic person? I'll take you to eat something delicious."
After driving for over half an hour, Yu Chuanbei brought Ling Ling to a flower-house restaurant called "Qiyu." It was past dinner time, reservations were no longer necessary, and the restaurant was mostly empty. They chose a corner seat by the window.
The restaurant was filled with green plants and bouquets of various colors, and the moist fragrance made people feel relaxed. The seats by the window were all swing-style. She took his arm, sat close together, and swung leisurely on the swing.
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