Chapter 60 Have we been kissing less lately?
Wen Chu walked out of the computer room, only to find Lu Ming already waiting for her at the door.
She had just grinned, ready to brag to someone, when she saw the other person looking at her with a resentful gaze, as if about to interrogate her. So her smile vanished instantly.
Oh no, this guy must know her family is in the competition now...
She pretended not to understand, rubbed her wrists, and complained, "I'm so tired from writing this, I've lost a lot of brain cells. I need to go back and ask Aunt Sun to make me something good to replenish my energy."
Instead of directly questioning her, Lu Ming said in a low voice, "You've worked hard."
Wen Chu was inwardly puzzled by the person's reaction, but calmly asked, "Why don't you ask me how I feel?"
"How do you feel?" Lu Ming asked cooperatively.
Wen Chu chuckled: "Not bad."
Lu Ming asked calmly, "Did you encounter any difficulties later?"
"I guess so. The last question was a bit tricky; it was about AI-powered emotional memory algorithms. I don't know much about them, actually."
Lu Ming nodded, not showing much concern, and simply said, "Just do your best."
Seeing that he wasn't mocking her but instead so considerate and gentle, Wen Chu found it even more surprising. She leaned closer and looked him up and down, saying, "Wow, the sun has risen in the west! I thought you were going to coldly say, 'If we don't get a valid ranking, our agreement is null and void!'"
Lu Ming pushed her away a little and suddenly said, "Your parents' and your brother's lounge is right across from ours."
Wen Chu's smile came to an abrupt end.
"Do you want to come back to the lounge with me and wait an hour for the results before talking to them, or do you want to go now?"
The beautiful facade of mutual respect shattered instantly, and Wen Chu forced a smile: "Ah... please don't..."
Lu Ming glanced in that direction deliberately and said, "Oh, they don't seem to be in the lounge right now. You'll have to come back with me now and talk to me first."
As the man spoke, he reached out his hand towards her. Wen Chu instinctively shrank her neck, thinking he was going to strangle her, and said timidly, "You really have to let me explain about this!"
Unexpectedly, the man simply put his hand on her shoulder, gave her a little push, and urged her to hurry up. It would be awkward if she bumped into the three people returning later.
Back in the lounge, Yang Binshi and Jiang Xing gave them space and left. Lu Ming first poured her a glass of water, then looked at her with an expressionless expression: "Is this what you told me, that you've already taken care of everything? They don't seem to know you'd be attending."
"It was all an accident!" Wen Chu took the water glass and argued, "My dad clearly said he wasn't going, I really asked him! Who knows why he changed his mind and didn't even tell me..."
Lu Ming suddenly asked, "Did he not notify you, or did you not notify him?"
Wen Chu almost choked: "Cough...more or less. He didn't tell me, and I didn't think it was necessary to tell him either. It's better to avoid trouble."
"So do you feel like there's less work now?"
It was indeed surprising that a company like Kemin, which already had a great reputation in the industry, would participate in a competition that offered little in the way of substantial rewards and only served to enhance its brand image. He had originally expected that Kemin would not participate, since they weren't particularly interested in projects that even involved closing down.
But they did come, and not only Wen Heng came, but Chairman Wen also came.
Something seemed amiss. Lu Ming wondered if the other party had known something beforehand, and if there were other hidden motives behind this competition.
But that's a matter for later. The current issue is that if Wen Shiyang takes this competition seriously enough, then it's fine if Wen Chu doesn't get first place. But if he does get first place, then it'll be difficult to handle being caught in the middle.
Moreover, judging from Wen Heng's attitude just now, the other party was clearly a little unhappy with what they had done.
Putting aside the fact that Wen Shiyang's impression of him will probably be even worse, Wen Chu will definitely be scolded.
"Oh well, let's wait for the results. My dad's not going to eat me. What's done is done, there's no point in saying more!" Wen Chu took another sip of water to calm herself down.
"So you're not going to care whether I live or die?" Lu Ming looked at her resentfully. "What if your dad retaliates against me?"
Seeing the man's dark face, Wen Chu chuckled, amused. "So you're afraid of something too?"
Lu Ming glanced at her, as if giving her a disdainful look.
“That’s easy.” Wen Chu walked over, lifted the man’s chin, and teased him with a smile, “If you agree to be my Wen family’s son-in-law, he definitely won’t make things difficult for you. He might even help you out. You’ll definitely have a much easier time than you do now.”
Lu Ming slapped her hand away and said seriously, "Let's see the results first."
Wen Chu snorted, "I don't think my dad would be that stingy, but my brother... well, that's hard to say..." That guy is a real schemer in real life.
An hour later, the host's microphone buzzed again. Lu Ming and Wen Chu, who were playing Nova, stopped and looked at the electronic screen, only to receive a message that the results announcement had been delayed until 3 p.m.
In the spirit of fairness, impartiality, rigor, and responsibility, the experts will conduct further discussions on the responses from certain companies, and asked everyone to wait patiently.
"Huh? It'll take this long? I'm so hungry. I thought we could go back to eat as soon as we were done." Wen Chu immediately deflated like a balloon.
"If you're hungry, let's go to the restaurant for a meal," Lu Ming said, putting down his phone.
Wen Chu shook her head vigorously, "No, no, no, I'm afraid of running into my dad and the others if I go out." She leaned on the sofa, swaying from side to side, her chin resting on her hand, looking worried. "And I'm a little worried that the delay in the results is because of me. I'm afraid they won't accept the ideas I wrote. Sigh, what if we lose..."
In contrast, Lu Ming seemed much more composed: "As long as you beat Xie Rui, you'll have lived up to your boast."
Wen Chu pursed her lips; clearly, this was not the outcome she wanted.
She was still wondering if the system would trigger a hidden reward if she got first place; in any case, it was worth the effort.
Seeing that the man was still not in high spirits, Lu Ming asked gently, "What do you want to eat? I'll go buy it. You can just stay here and be your coward."
Wen Chu immediately said, "I want to eat five catties of thirteen-spice crayfish, plus a pork rib and corn soup, and I also want to eat stir-fried pork liver with scallions, oh, and Mapo tofu, and it would be even better if you added some braised dishes."
Lu Ming: “…”
This person has such a good appetite; they don't seem unhappy.
Lu Ming quickly bought the items from the menu provided by the newspaper, and also ordered two cups of milk tea.
Wen Chu took the milk tea with a delighted surprise: "Wow, how thoughtful! This is a new product; I was saying I wanted to order it yesterday!"
Lu Ming silently opened all the packaging boxes, and the business-style lounge was instantly filled with the aroma of food, turning it into a street food stall.
He took off his coat, sat down, and handed the chopsticks to Wen Chu. Wen Chu looked at the fragrant crayfish in front of her, took a sip of milk tea, and her eyes lit up. The whole cup of milk tea was indeed delicious, and her mood soared.
She tilted her head to look at Lu Ming's profile and found him quite handsome. A thought flashed through her mind, and an idea came to her.
"Thank you, boss!" She leaned forward, intending to catch him off guard and kiss him on the cheek, but unexpectedly Lu Ming turned around to talk to her, so the kiss landed squarely on his lips.
This startled both of them.
"Um. I wanted to kiss your cheek." Wen Chu pushed him away, pursed her lips, and said somewhat shyly.
"Tie on your apron, don't get splashed with oil, we have to go out again this afternoon." Lu Ming glanced at her and then turned back to her, putting on plastic gloves and starting to peel shrimp. He clearly thought her explanation was unnecessary. Had they not been kissing each other much lately?
"oh."
After eating and drinking her fill, Wen Chu lay on the sofa, covered with Lu Ming's coat, and took a short nap.
When Lu Ming woke her up again, she heard the host's voice: "After three hours of discussion and evaluation by our judging panel, the final results of this corporate technology exchange competition will soon be announced and displayed on our big screen. Please move to your seats in the conference hall. After the results are announced, we will invite representatives from the top five companies to come up on stage to give their acceptance speeches. Stay tuned!"
"Finally out!" Wen Chu sat up abruptly, bouncing around a couple of times. "What to do, what to do, I'm so nervous! So nervous!"
Lu Ming said calmly, "I never realized you had such an ambitious side."
"I've always been very ambitious about you."
Lu Ming's eyes flickered slightly. How could this woman so readily utter sweet words?
He composed himself and said in a low voice, "Let's go to the conference hall."
"Wait a minute, come with me to the restroom first, I drank too much milk tea and I need to pee!"
They were quite a bit late; the host had already started warming up the audience. Coincidentally, as soon as they entered, they heard the host say, "Now let's reveal the final result!"
Immediately afterwards, the top ten companies appeared on the big screen.
The words "Baiyue Group" on the first line caught Wen Chu's eye without warning, causing her to freeze and almost not realize she had won.
She and Lu Ming were both stunned for two seconds. After two seconds, Wen Chu's expression changed from stunned to ecstatic. She grabbed Lu Ming's arm and shook it hard: "Look, wow, I'm number one! Isn't that amazing!" After she finished speaking, she jumped up excitedly and hugged him.
The moment the woman hugged him, Lu Ming instinctively wrapped his arms around her waist, lowered his head slightly, and buried his head in her neck and shoulder.
He continued to stare at the large screen, his eyes sparkling, much to his surprise.
Realizing that the other person had actually done this for him, Lu Ming lowered his eyes and unconsciously tightened his arms around him.
The shadow that had always lingered in his eyes gradually dissipated, replaced by tenderness and love that spread subtly.
I never expected that after fighting alone for so long, someone would barge in like a bandit, saying they wanted to fight alongside him, and do it so well.
System: "Congratulations, host, on completing the third main quest—participating in the competition as a representative of Baiyue technology! You have obtained an S-rank item: Sleep Card!"
"Sleep Card: Let him fall asleep when he shouldn't be awake! Target: Unlimited. How to use: While in close contact with the other person, silently recite the card name. The card will take effect within one minute!"
"Ding—The host has achieved outstanding results in the competition and exceeded the mission requirements. You have been awarded an additional hidden SS-level reward item: Truth Card."
"Truth Card: Want to know his truest thoughts deep inside, when all distractions are gone? Then use this card! Target: Unlimited. How to use: While the other person is unconscious, silently recite this card and the target's name. After the card takes effect, the first three sentences the target speaks will be the truth!"
Hearing the voice from the system in her head, Wen Chu was even happier.
Yes! I knew it!
She was so engrossed in the joy of obtaining two powerful items that she didn't notice the subtle changes in the person she was holding.
"What kind of behavior is it to stand here without going in!" Wen Shiyang's voice rang out like a bolt from the blue. Wen Chu was so startled that she almost broke into a breakdance on the spot and quickly let go of his hand.
Her father and brother stood behind them, having seen the whole scene clearly. Her older brother even squinted, with a sullen expression on his face.
Lu Ming couldn't hide his embarrassment either. He silently withdrew his hand, stepped aside to make way for the two of them, and greeted them, "Chairman Wen, President Wen."
A subtle atmosphere filled the air. Wen Heng nodded briefly, clearly not wanting to say much to him in public, but simply said to Wen Chu, "Tell me honestly, did you bribe the judges? I considered everyone, but I never thought you would win." His face was full of confusion.
Wen Chu proudly raised her chin: "Admitting that I'm better than you isn't that hard. I'm just that smart, beautiful and capable!"
"Oh my, are you some kind of tyrant? You're not surprised at all, but once you are, you run away to who knows where. Is there no place for you in such a big place as Kemin?"
Wen Shiyang interrupted them, his expression neither good nor bad. "Alright! We'll talk about it after the meeting!" He glared at Wen Chu silently, then walked between the two of them. The wind he created as he walked made Lu Ming's hair flutter slightly, as if he were being slapped in the face.
Lu Ming stood to the side with his head down, completely lacking the cold and aloof aura he exuded at the company. He looked more like a junior who had offended an elder and was at a loss for what to do.
Wen Heng walked up to Wen Chu and tapped her forehead, squeezing out the words through clenched teeth: "Cherish the time you spend with your little lover. Once the meeting is over, you can expect to get a beating from me and Dad when you get home!"
Wen Chu wanted to resist, but Lu Ming pulled her back. Wen Heng didn't give her a chance either, glancing at her sideways before walking away.
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Author's Note: I've changed my name again. Hope you recognize it, but please don't remove it from my collection! [doge emoji with rose in hand]
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