Decisive strike
Lin Tingyue has been looking radiant lately, and of course, everyone else in the office understands what's going on.
Chi Zhuo's red envelope won over everyone's hearts.
"Sister Yue, this is today's meeting schedule."
The assistant placed the documents on the table, his eyes shining.
Lin Tingyue nodded, "Okay."
Then, the assistant inquired from the side, "Sister Yue, you seem to be in a good mood today."
Lin Tingyue looked at her with a smile, "Our performance has been consistently improving lately, how could I not be happy? By the way, it's almost the New Year, have you finalized the list of staff on duty this year?"
The assistant seemed thoughtful. "Sister Yue, this hasn't been decided yet."
Lin Tingyue nodded, "Okay, let me know when it's settled, and I'll make other arrangements."
"good."
-
Lin Tingyue took Xia Xiaoran out shopping for a day.
Xia Xiaoran moved her to tears last time, so she's prepared to be extravagant this time too.
"Ranran, pick whatever catches your eye. It's on me today!"
"Then I won't hold back!" Xia Xiaoran rubbed her hands together, looking like she was about to make Lin Tingyue bleed a lot.
The two plunged into the dazzling array of goods in the shopping mall, but in the end Xia Xiaoran only picked out a few suitable wool dresses and didn't even buy a single luxury item.
Lin Tingyue saw this and felt even more sorry for her.
"Just these few? Aren't you going to look at bags, shoes, or something?" Lin Tingyue asked deliberately.
"Oh, these points are good enough! Don't marry into a wealthy family now and end up with money to burn. I'm telling you, you have to be careful with your money."
Lin Tingyue shook her head, "No, no, no! This isn't Chi Zhuo's money. I earned it myself, so it's perfectly fine for you to spend it."
"That's even more unacceptable. Your money doesn't grow on trees." Xia Xiaoran, carrying the bag, pulled Lin Tingyue towards the restaurant. "Alright, Miss Lin, I know you're making money as a boss, but I'm hungry. Can we go have a big meal first?"
"Of course, no problem! My dear Miss Xia!"
"Hahaha, Lin Tingyue, stop mimicking other people's speech like that, okay?"
"I don't want to! I want to learn like this! What are you going to do about it?"
The two chatted and laughed as they chose a relatively quiet restaurant.
Xia Xiaoran finally couldn't suppress her burning gossip spirit and leaned closer, "You've been looking radiant lately, are you and Chi Zhuo getting along better and better?"
Lin Tingyue couldn't hide the smile on her lips, and her cheeks were slightly flushed.
She didn't answer directly, her eyes shining with a sweet and slightly smug light: "I only found out recently that he's had a crush on me all along."
Xia Xiaoran's eyes widened instantly, and she grabbed Lin Tingyue's hand: "What?! A crush?! When did this happen? Tell me quickly! I want to hear the details!"
Lin Tingyue smiled, her fingertips gently stirring the straw in her drink: "When I went back to the old house a while ago, I accidentally found my high school photos in his drawer."
"My God!" Xia Xiaoran was so excited she almost knocked over her water glass. "So Chi Zhuo liked you back then?"
Lin Tingyue was a little unsure. "This... he didn't say. I asked him if he fell in love with me at first sight, but he didn't say, and I didn't press him for an answer."
"Oh dear, why didn't you ask?"
Xia Xiaoran suddenly realized, "Hey, Yueyue, didn't you say that was the first time you met him abroad? You've met him before?"
"No, I don't think so." Lin Tingyue thought carefully. "I don't remember seeing him before, otherwise I wouldn't have..."
If she had seen it before and still threw money at people, wouldn't that be blatant humiliation?
However, she then thought that she had never seen anyone feel humiliated by doing this before.
"Did Chi Zhuo say when he started liking you?"
Lin Tingyue shook her head. "It seems...not."
"Well..." Xia Xiaoran hesitated, "What kind of unrequited love is this? At most, I have an impression of you."
"But in the apartment we live in now, there are notes I wrote in high school complaining about him on his room."
"I was in high school, I was only 16 back then, and now I'm 23, almost 24. It's been so long, what else could this be but a crush?"
"Complaints..." Xia Xiaoran was a little surprised. "Either, like you said, he likes you. Or, he's just holding a grudge."
"..."
At this moment, Lin Tingyue's illusions shattered.
She became depressed and then shifted her focus.
"Hey, by the way, how's your little boy doing? Any progress between you two?"
Xia Xiaoran finally wailed, "Don't even mention it."
"What's wrong?"
"You wouldn't believe it, before, he was so cute and approachable, coming to play with me every day, going to movies and eating out, making me so happy. But recently, I don't know what happened, he suddenly disappeared, which made me so angry. How come this kid changes every day? He's so troublesome."
"You care about him that much?"
Lin Tingyue's casual remark directly exposed Xia Xiaoran's thoughts.
Xia Xiaoran quickly explained.
"Hahaha... Don't be silly, why would I care about him?"
Lin Tingyue saw this, smiled, and then stopped.
"I haven't said who it is yet."
Xia Xiaoran's smile vanished.
"It's over, Yueyue, I'm doomed!"
"What's his name? Which school does he go to?"
"Qin Yuchen, a freshman in the Philosophy Department of Jingbei University, is 18 years old this year. I... Oh dear, Yueyue, should I just cut my losses and move on?"
"Isn't this an adult now?"
Xia Xiaoran's eyes widened when she heard Lin Tingyue's words.
"What? What do you mean? Are you encouraging me?"
"No. I mean, what are you worrying about? He's an adult, and it's consensual, so what's wrong with that? As you said, he's young and handsome, a student from Beijing, a top student, so if you like him, you won't lose out."
"..."
Xia Xiaoran somewhat agreed with Lin Tingyue's explanation.
She suddenly realized that Lin Tingyue had changed a bit.
"Hey, Yueyue, it's only been a few months, and you've become so bold! Didn't you always say that love is painful?"
Lin Tingyue took a small sip of her drink, then smiled and said, "That depends on the time of day. I felt miserable before because I hadn't met the right person, but now I feel quite happy and joyful. So, if you like someone, just go for it!"
Xia Xiaoran was taken aback by Lin Tingyue's words, then slammed her hand on the table: "Well done, Lin Tingyue, getting married has finally made you see the light!"
She took out her phone, hovered her finger over the screen for a long time, and then put it down dejectedly: "But he hasn't contacted me for three days... It would be too embarrassing for me to contact him first."
"I have a plan, do you want to hear it?"
"explain!"
"Here's the thing, after New Year's Day, our company is going to participate in an art museum project, and I happen to have some tickets on hand. Why don't you invite him to go to the exhibition together?"
Xia Xiaoran's eyes lit up, then wilted again: "But I can't just ask him out directly..."
“Are you stupid? Just post it on WeChat Moments, visible only to him.” Lin Tingyue blinked. “Just post a picture of an art museum ticket with the caption ‘I want to go, but unfortunately I have no one to go with.’”
"My God, Yueyue, when did you become so good at this?" Xia Xiaoran exclaimed in shock.
Lin Tingyue shook her head smugly: "One who stays near vermilion gets stained red, and one who stays near ink gets stained black."
Xia Xiaoran poked at the food on her plate with a worried look on her face. "If he pretends not to see it, how embarrassing will that be for me?"
Lin Tingyue put down her drink, her face full of confidence: "Don't worry, as you said, he was so proactive before, but now he's suddenly cold. He's probably feeling like he hasn't gotten a response from you, so he's just being stubborn. If you give him a way out, he'll definitely take it. The worst-case scenario is that he really doesn't react at all, then you don't need to worry about it anymore. It just confirms your relationship, doesn't it?"
After Lin Tingyue's analysis, Xia Xiaoran immediately felt more confident.
"That's true, it saves me from overthinking."
-
These past two days, Chi Zhuo has been busy with something and has rarely sent messages to Lin Tingyue.
Lin Tingyue had no choice but to focus on her work.
This time, the national-level art museum specially invited Lin Tingyue's "Creation" studio to participate in this intangible cultural heritage art exhibition.
The top ten companies in the art exhibition will sign a six-month free publicity cooperation agreement with the art museum.
With New Year's Day approaching, the art museum project was urgent, and Lin Tingyue and her team were working overtime.
She noticed that although Chi Zhuo rarely replied to her messages, he would pick her up from get off work on time every night, and there was always hot soup and snacks in the back seat of his car.
What have you been busy with lately?
Chi Zhuo lowered his eyes and said in a low voice, "It's about work, just a small matter."
"Oh." Lin Tingyue said happily while drinking her soup, "By the way, my studio was invited to participate in the art exhibition at the city art museum this time, and we will also be collaborating with the top ten."
"Good luck!"
Hearing Chi Zhuo's encouragement, Lin Tingyue felt a little worried, "But... Qiao Wei will also be participating this time..."
Chi Zhuo turned his head to look at her, "Are you worried that you can't compare to her?"
"No, not at all." Lin Tingyue shook her head. "I was just surprised."
"Don't be surprised, eat your food, and we'll have the results in a couple of days."
"good."
Due to the tight schedule, the studio has been working overtime recently. However, one employee has taken leave due to family matters.
Lin Tingyue granted the leave without saying much, but her assistant felt a little heartbroken.
"Sister Yue, he ran off when things were busy. Isn't that... slacking off?"
"Maybe something really happened to him at home."
The assistant frowned. "But, Sister Yue, if we do that, the other people will have complaints."
Lin Tingyue thought for a moment, then took out her phone. "Here's what we'll do: go downstairs to the milk tea shop and order some milk tea. Just say I'm treating everyone to milk tea. That way, everyone will feel more comfortable."
"Oh well."
The assistant nodded and quickly left.
On New Year's Day, the art museum was packed with people.
Lin Tingyue was busy setting up the exhibition when her assistant suddenly rushed over, "Sister Yue, there's a problem with the exhibits that Xiao Zhang was in charge of! The descriptions are full of typos, and the layout is all messed up!"
Lin Tingyue's heart sank. Xiao Zhang was the employee who had taken leave a few days ago.
"Quickly, get Xiao Zhang to make the changes!" she said hastily.
"I can't get in touch with Sister Yue, her phone is off!" The assistant stamped her foot anxiously.
She gritted her teeth and said, "Let's turn on his computer first and try to make the changes."
Turning on the computer led to something even worse.
Several core design drawings saved on Xiao Zhang's computer were deleted!
"This...how is this possible?" the assistant exclaimed in disbelief.
Lin Tingyue's face turned pale, but she forced herself to remain calm. "Don't panic, I have a backup in my office."
Just as she turned to get the backup, Qiao Wei walked over with a few people, all smiles.
"Miss Lin, I heard you've run into some trouble here?" Qiao Wei asked with concern, but her eyes held a hint of schadenfreude. "Do you need any help?"
Lin Tingyue forced a smile, "No need, it's a small problem."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
