Chapter 64: The Smile Frozen
Shi Yanchen studied very hard, but his hand movements were still unfamiliar.
The dough in his hands changed into all kinds of strange shapes, some like a crooked half moon, and some like a wrinkled boat.
"Cousin, are you making dumplings or origami?" Su Mi couldn't help but tease.
Shi Yanchen glanced at him calmly: "If you have the guts, don't eat it."
"That won't do," Su Mi said with a grin, "My cousin made it himself, even if it's a mess, I have to try it."
Pei Song secretly observed Shi Yanchen from the side.
The president who usually has a strong aura is now struggling awkwardly with his face, his brows slightly furrowed, and his focused look is unexpectedly cute.
"What are you laughing at?" Shi Yanchen suddenly looked up and met Pei Song's smiling eyes.
"Nothing." Pei Song quickly lowered his head and continued making dumplings, but he couldn't suppress the curve at the corners of his mouth.
"It seems that Manager Pei is very dissatisfied with my cooking skills." Shi Yanchen's voice did not reveal any emotion.
"I dare not." Pei Song deliberately frowned, "I just feel that Mr. Shi really has no talent in this area."
Su Mi laughed so hard that she couldn't straighten her back: "Hahaha, Song Song is too polite. If you serve these dumplings to your cousin, I'm afraid they will scare a three-year-old child to tears."
Just then, Pei Song's phone started vibrating again.
He took a look and saw that it was a message from Grandma Pei: "Don't force me to block you at the entrance of your company!"
The smile on Pei Song's face froze.
Shi Yanchen noticed his abnormality and glanced at his phone screen inconspicuously.
"Xiao Mi," Su Mi's mother said at the right time, "go get the chives from the refrigerator."
"Oh, okay." Su Mi stood up and walked towards the food preparation area.
"Xiao Mi, I'll go with you." Pei Song also wanted to take the opportunity to escape from this awkward atmosphere, but Shi Yanchen grabbed his wrist.
"Teach me this before you leave." Shi Yanchen said, picking up another piece of dough, "I haven't learned it yet."
Pei Song had no choice but to sit down again: "Well, flatten the dough first, don't use too much force..."
As he spoke and demonstrated, he found that Shi Yanchen's attention was not on the dumplings at all. Instead, he was looking at him calmly.
"Do you understand what I said?" Pei Song asked.
"Well," Shi Yanchen nodded thoughtfully, "I understood one thing."
"What"
"Who are you hiding from?"
Pei Song remained silent for a long time before asking: "What should we do if someone goes downstairs to cause trouble?"
Shi Yanchen paused and looked at Pei Song's tense face: "I won't let things get to this point."
He paused, his voice low and firm:
"SNK is the leading company in the Asia-Pacific region. Anyone who wants to stir up trouble here must first consider their own weight. Besides, my employees are not someone that anyone can bully."
Pei Song lowered his head and continued making dumplings, saying softly, "Okay, I understand."
"Why do you suddenly ask this?" Shi Yanchen asked casually.
"Nothing, just asking." Pei Song adjusted the folds of the dumplings, "Yours is crooked again..."
Shi Yanchen raised his eyebrows and did not ask any further questions.
After lunch, Pei Song looked at the time and said, "Auntie, Xiao Mi, I have to go. My mother is alone in the suburbs, and I haven't visited her for a long time."
"Then take some dumplings with you." Su Mi's mother said enthusiastically, "These you made are enough for your mother to eat for several meals."
"Okay, thank you, Auntie." Pei Song took the incubator and turned to Shi Yanchen, "Then I'll go first."
Shi Yanchen nodded: "Be careful."
After watching Pei Song leave, Shi Yanchen took out his cell phone and called the SNK front desk: "If anyone comes to the company to look for Pei Song recently, no matter who the other party is, you must notify me as soon as possible."
"Yes, Mr. Shi." The receptionist responded respectfully.
He called the security department again: "Starting today, we will strengthen the patrols in the lobby on the first floor. If anyone stays near the company for more than ten minutes, report to me immediately."
Pei Song walked into the courtyard carrying the insulated box. There was a new rattan chair and coffee table under the camphor tree in the courtyard. It seemed that his mother often sketched here recently.
"Mom." He pushed open the door and found that Pei's mother was video chatting with someone.
"Okay, thank you for your guidance, Professor. I will send you my new work on Friday." Mother Pei ended the call. "Songsong is here! Come and see my new work."
She excitedly took Pei Song to the studio and pointed to the unfinished oil painting on the easel: "My instructor suggested that I try to incorporate traditional ink elements into Western oil painting techniques. What do you think?"
"It's very special," Pei Song examined the painting carefully, "The composition has a very oriental artistic conception."
"Is that so? I have learned a lot of new things from my tutor recently." Mother Pei's eyes sparkled. "By the way, what did you bring?"
"We made these dumplings together, made by Su Mi's mother." Pei Song handed over the thermal box.
"I'll go heat it up." Mother Pei took the incubator and suddenly remembered something. "By the way, your grandma kept calling me today and said you didn't answer her calls."
Pei Song's heart tightened: "Don't worry about her."
"I know." Pei's mother sighed, "She is like that. She always wants to control other people's lives."
After dinner, Pei Song helped his mother clean up the dishes.
Mother Pei made tea while observing her son: "Songsong, are you hiding something from me?"
"Nothing...nothing." Pei Song lowered his head and wiped the dishes attentively.
"I'm your mother," Pei's mother said softly, "You've always lowered your head like this when you were worried since you were a child."
Pei Song sighed and told what happened today.
When he mentioned that Grandma Pei threatened to cause trouble at the company, he clearly felt his mother's hand pause.
"Stay here tonight," said Pei's mother. "I've already prepared your room for you."
Pei Song nodded: "Well, then I will go to work directly from here tomorrow."
"By the way, Mom," Pei Song took out a bank card from his bag, "This is my salary card, and the password is your birthday."
"No need," Pei's mother quickly declined, "Your father gave me a lot of money, and my expenses are not that high."
"Keep it then." Pei Song insisted on putting the card into his mother's hand. "Didn't you say you wanted to buy some new painting supplies? Good paints and canvases are quite expensive. Besides, you are going to study at M University, so you need to prepare tuition and living expenses."
Mother Pei felt a pang of sadness when she looked at her son Qingjun's face.
The little boy who needed her care back then now feels sorry for her.
"You have to spend money yourself," Pei's mother said softly, "Working at SNK is so stressful, you have to buy yourself some nice things."
"I'm doing well in the company," Pei Song said with a smile, "and the salary is very high, so you can take it without worry."
Pei's mother patted her son's head, just like she did many years ago: "Okay, then mom will keep it. When I become an artist in the future and make money from selling paintings, I will return it to you."
"You," Pei Song smiled helplessly, "are you joking?"