Chapter 69: “I decided to reluctantly be with her.”

Cheng Yao thus braced herself and shared lunch with these three devils.

After a brief silence, a new round of survival challenges began.

Madam Qian took a sip of red wine and looked at Qian Heng and Cheng Yao. She smiled amiably. “You two—who chased whom?”

…

Cheng Yao immediately shot a pleading look toward Qian Heng with her peripheral vision.

Qian Heng glanced at her, then said calmly and composedly, “Oh, she chased me.”

“…”

Fine, Cheng Yao thought. Today is your home ground. Even if it’s to retaliate against me for blackening you last time by saying I was a reformed fallen woman, I can only grit my teeth and accept it.

“Oh?” Madam Qian said playfully. “I couldn’t tell Xiao Cheng was so brave. So how long did she chase you? How exactly did she confess?”

Qian Heng said with noble aloofness, “She must have secretly liked me for quite a while, but never confessed. So when she did confess, I wasn’t psychologically prepared at all.”

Madam Qian nodded, looking eager to hear the details.

Qian Heng took a sip of tea. “So there weren’t any grand chasing actions. Maybe my excellence put some pressure on her. She adopted the strategy of subtle influence, hoping feelings would grow over time.”

Madam Qian cupped her face. “Sounds very romantic. So how did she subtly influence and silently nourish?”

“She prepared breakfast bento for me in the morning, cooked dinner for me in the evening, and usually could also unclog pipes and be a designated driver—available at a moment’s notice, convenient and fast.”

Wait… wait, this doesn’t sound romantic at all…

“My stomach isn’t good, so she cooked stomach-nourishing congee for me, and when I was on business trips she also took various care to make sure I ate on time.”

Mm… this one sounds a bit better…

“Everyone else thinks I’m the toxic tumor of the industry. Only she doesn’t think so.”

“She took me to play games and made me fall in love with Whac-A-Mole.”

“She has a lot of twisted logic, but every time she still cares about me combining work and rest; she protects me in every situation.”

“We have common hobbies, like the same games and music, and have a lot of topics to talk about.”

…

Qian Heng’s eloquence was simply too good. Just by laying it out so flatly, Madam Qian was already intoxicated by the touching love of the young people. Even Cheng Yao, the person involved herself, was almost made to suddenly feel that she really had been secretly in love with Qian Heng for a long time and had already been carefully preparing to boil the frog with warm water.

“Then what about the confession? Who confessed? Still Xiao Cheng?”

“Mm.” This time Qian Heng finally lightly swept a glance at Cheng Yao, then turned his head away. “It was her.”

Cheng Yao thought, This awkward, tsundere manner, this perfected acting, this story without any loopholes—I didn’t expect Qian Heng could make it up so convincingly.

“How did she confess?”

Cheng Yao commented internally, Not only does Madam Qian want to ask—even I want to ask Qian Heng. According to the development of this story plot, how exactly should I have confessed to get a happy ending?

Qian Heng glanced at Cheng Yao again. “On her birthday she sent me a box of gifts to confess.”

High, truly high. For a story to be convincing, the key is mixing truth with falsehood so that the false can pass as real. Qian Heng is really a talent for screenwriting. Taking the real detail of sending a birthday gift and adding a false confession—it was completely orderly and convincing.

This time Madam Qian didn’t press further, yet Qian Heng paused, then continued.

“She confessed to me inside the gift box. She said she wanted to have a child with me.”

Cheng Yao steadied herself just in time to keep from throwing the teacup in her hand. Fine, the retaliation has finally arrived. But pay attention to the character setting, okay? How did the me who was scheming enough to subtly play the pig to eat the tiger suddenly become so wild? And have a child? Cheng Yao was almost laughing from anger. She had no idea how Qian Heng came up with this. What kind of third-rate romance novel lines were these that he was pinning on her.

She felt it was time to salvage her image a little. “I also sent other gifts.”

“Mm.” Qian Heng acknowledged her statement. “That’s right.”

He gave Cheng Yao a meaningful look, then a nearly invisible red crept onto his ears, yet his voice remained as calm as always. “She also sent me a bottle of wine.”

Cheng Yao thought, Oh. So there was wine in the gift box.

“A bottle of 1982 Lafite.”

Oh… eh??? Wait??? 1982 Lafite… Hang on???? Cheng Yao suddenly had an ominous premonition…

Qian Heng, however, didn’t notice Cheng Yao’s panic. He deliberately stressed every syllable. “And some other things.”

…

Other things… was it that box of condoms…

Cheng Yao no longer had any attention left to pursue the expressions on Mr. and Madam Qian’s faces. Her heart felt like it housed a startled squirrel, ready to scurry up a tree and hide at any moment.

1982 Lafite…

Even if she were an idiot, she would have realized by now.

Qian Heng wasn’t making up a story right now! The reason he spoke so orderly and with such real details was because this was originally true!

The gift box that the factory had shipped wrong! That gift box the rich woman had spent a fortune on to confess to a young guy—she had sent it to Qian Heng as a gift!

He had probably truly believed she had made such a wild confession! He had probably truly believed she was coveting him! He had probably truly believed she was secretly in love with him!

This was fucking going to cost her life!

Just as Cheng Yao’s entire person was almost scared into a daze, she heard Qian Heng continue—

“At first I refused.” His voice was still cold, but it carried an unnatural dryness, as if he was trying hard to maintain emotionless composure, yet that faint subtlety still leaked out from the ends of his tone.

He cleared his throat and glanced lightly at Cheng Yao like a dragonfly touching water. “But even when I cold-processed it, she didn’t retreat. She endured the sadness in her heart and the awkwardness of being rejected, and continued to stay by my side.”

…

No! No!! It’s not like that!!! Cheng Yao waved her hands frantically in her heart. Boss!! This kind of thinking of yours is really dangerous!!!

But it still wasn’t over. Just as Cheng Yao was already very chaotic, Qian Heng delivered the fatal blow—

“So in the end, I was moved by her persistence and her lack of concern for status.” Qian Heng recovered his noble aloofness. He quickly looked toward Cheng Yao, then quickly looked away, and then gazed steadily out the window not far away. “I decided to reluctantly get together with her.”

His tone made Cheng Yao vaguely want to ask whether, at this very moment, she should kneel and thank him for his great favor.

Only… only this development! Fucking wrong!

Cheng Yao’s mind was a complete mess. What exactly was going on? Could her gift box really have been sent wrong? Were the things Qian Heng said falsehoods to deal with his parents, or true?

In the rest of the meal, Cheng Yao was basically a complete wreck. She almost knocked over the red wine, nearly lost her grip on the knife while cutting steak, and during dessert even smeared some onto her clothes, occasionally looking at Qian Heng with subtle and complicated expressions…

It was simply unbearable to watch.

Yet toward Cheng Yao’s endless chain of mistakes and making a fool of herself, Qian Heng was especially tolerant today.

Of course he had to be tolerant. What woman could still remain calm and self-possessed in the face of a hint that he had agreed to date?

By rights, that Cheng Yao could still perform at this level was already rare and precious.

Qian Heng elegantly cut his steak while thinking with full satisfaction that his plan was truly perfect.

Wu Jun was right. After he cold-processed Cheng Yao, as long as he used a suitable opportunity to give her a little hint, she would get so excited she couldn’t find north and reignite her motivation to pursue him. Now, by using this opportunity of her pretending to be his girlfriend, he had both gained non-work intimate interaction with Cheng Yao and used the chance to side-step and go with the flow to hint at his acceptance of her.

This way he didn’t need to take the initiative, yet still gave Cheng Yao the signal that she could continue trying hard and keep chasing him.

Simply clever.

And Cheng Yao was indeed as he had thought—during the second half of the meal she was already so agitated that she was muddle-headed, tense to the point that her hands and feet were uncoordinated.

Qian Heng thought with full confidence that once this meal ended, Cheng Yao would definitely pull him aside to seek confirmation whether his words meant what she thought. At that time…

Hmph.

Cheng Yao endured the enormous unease, heart-pounding, and anxiety in her heart until the meal ended.

Almost the moment Mr. and Madam Qian left, she grabbed Qian Heng.

“Bo… Boss…”

Qian Heng smiled at her with understanding. “Whatever you want to ask, just ask.”

“Was there really 1982 Lafite in my gift box? Did you… did you drink it?”

Qian Heng smiled primly. “I haven’t drunk it yet. If you want to drink it together, it’s not impossible.”

“Then, when you said that… ‘reluctantly getting together with me’ was…” Cheng Yao said uneasily, “just to deal with your parents, right?”

Qian Heng didn’t wait for Cheng Yao to finish. He interrupted her with great mercy. “No. It’s exactly the way you’ve always dreamed of.”

He looked at Cheng Yao primly. “Although the girlfriend was fake, you also heard it—your gift confession to me, including your usual secret liking for me, are all facts. I was indeed very moved, so I decided to give you a second chance to prove yourself. If you continue working hard and hold yourself to high standards in every aspect, and pass the evaluation, it’s not impossible for you to take the post and become my real girlfriend.”

“…”

Cheng Yao was shocked. Cheng Yao was confused. Cheng Yao felt her brain was broken…

Qian Heng? What was Qian Heng saying? Why did she feel that every single word she could understand, but when connected together, she only felt her mind was a complete blank…

“But I…”

“There is no but.” Qian Heng said firmly. “Giving you a trial period and then allowing you to take the post is already the greatest accommodation I’m making for you. Even if you say you’re so anxious you can’t wait a single day, it’s still not allowed. After all, office romance—I still feel it’s not quite appropriate. I still need to do some psychological construction.”

“Trial period of one month.”

“No…”

“Three weeks.” Qian Heng glared at Cheng Yao fiercely. “Even if you cry, it can’t be any lower. Just considering the matter of dating has already affected my work. After dating, my revenue generation might also decrease, so I need to consider it very carefully.”

“I…”

“Two weeks.”

“Boss! This is a misunderstanding!!!” Cheng Yao finally found the opportunity and interjected the words like seizing a gap.

Qian Heng was stunned for a long time before frowning and looking as if he was demanding an explanation. “What misunderstanding? You’re given two weeks and you still want to climb the pole?”

Cheng Yao braced herself. “That… this gift box is a misunderstanding.” She wiped away some sweat and explained the factory shipping error from Qin Qin’s side in full detail.

Qian Heng’s expression was terrifying. And as Cheng Yao explained, his expression grew more and more terrifying.

Only after Cheng Yao finished speaking did he darkly glare at her and say word by word, “So, you didn’t confess?”

Cheng Yao nodded. “Really! I’ll go complain to that factory that shipped the wrong goods today! I can call the person over to confront you on the spot! This is really a misunderstanding! I didn’t! I absolutely do not have improper thoughts about you, Boss!”

“So all my previous emotions were wasted?”

Cheng Yao immediately nodded and guaranteed, “Boss, you don’t need to reluctantly struggle left and right, don’t need to tangle over the problem of office romance being inappropriate, and don’t need to let considering dating affect your work revenue! And you don’t need to evaluate me either! Don’t care about my feelings! Because I’m fine! I didn’t get dumped! I also didn’t suffer a devastating blow from a failed confession! Don’t worry! I’ll continue working wholeheartedly without distraction! Struggle for the construction of socialism!”

“…”

Actually, encountering this situation, Cheng Yao’s brain still hadn’t turned the corner. Her entire person was very chaotic. Qian Heng’s gaze made her heart flustered and disordered. Qian Heng’s words made her feel even more irritated, uneasy, and tense. She explained incoherently, subconsciously wanting to restore this currently uncontrollable scene back to the original balance. She thought dazedly that if everything returned to normal, it would be fine. Her abnormality could also improve.

Cheng Yao rattled off a whole pile, analyzing her innocence from both subjective and objective evidence, and worked hard to perfect the logic, fusing the subjective and objective into an evidence chain to strengthen the persuasive power proving she truly had no evil intentions toward Qian Heng.

“Boss, please don’t feel that I’m pitiable for bitterly loving you and then reluctantly say you’ll give me a chance out of pity! I didn’t! I really didn’t!”

For some reason, the more Qian Heng listened, the more silent he became, and the worse his expression grew. By the time Cheng Yao finished speaking, he actually stood up and walked off by himself! Walked off! Off!

Not long after, Cheng Yao received a WeChat message.

“Suddenly remembered I have very important work requiring overtime. Go back by yourself. I’ll reimburse the taxi fare.”

Accompanying this WeChat message was a 200-yuan red envelope transfer.

…

What is all this, Cheng Yao thought. And what overtime could there be recently? In order to deal with his parents today, hadn’t Qian Heng claimed he had already arranged all his time?

But whether by coincidence or not, the moment Qian Heng left, Cheng Yao received a call from Xue Ming.

“Yaoyao, where are you? I happen to be in City A on business again today. Want to grab a meal together?”

“Eh?” Cheng Yao felt a bit embarrassed. “I just finished eating. How about I keep you company while you eat, then we have some afternoon tea or something?”

Xue Ming readily agreed. The two of them settled it, and since Xue Ming really wanted to try the small restaurants on City A’s specialty snack street, they arranged to meet there.

Cheng Yao didn’t know what kind of luck she was having today. The moment Xue Ming’s call ended, Bao Rui called. All at once it made Cheng Yao float a little with the feeling that she was a busy person with countless affairs every day.

“Cheng Yao, we made a card game appointment this afternoon. Come to my place to play Guandan! Tan Ying, Li Minglei, and Wang Lu are all coming. We’re just short of you! I had my wife make a whole table of desserts. Didn’t you always say her cooking is delicious? Hurry over and eat.”

Cheng Yao refused. “Thank Sister-in-law for me! But I’ve already made plans with someone! Next time for sure!”

“Made plans with someone?!” Bao Rui’s gossip radar immediately went online. He asked Cheng Yao a whole pile of questions left and right, and also earnestly reminded her of a pile of dating dos and don’ts before hanging up.

Cheng Yao quickly arrived at the specialty snack street.

This counted as one of City A’s characteristic preserved districts. Tourists always came to stroll. Many of the small restaurants were old brands of more than ten years with excellent flavors. Only because the district was too old and had some leftover problems, there were many tourists and also a lot of trash, so the environment in this area was a bit dirty, messy, and poor.

Xue Ming and she didn’t care, but if it were someone like Qian Heng, he would probably be frowning, holding his breath, and not knowing where was clean enough to place his noble feet.

Cheng Yao shook her head. Somehow she thought of Qian Heng again. It must be because she had been poisoned too deeply usually!

Fortunately Xue Ming also arrived quickly. The two of them soon selected a small Sichuan restaurant and prepared to go in and feast.

“Come, Yaoyao, try this boiled beef. It’s very flavorful.”

The dishes came quickly. Xue Ming had just enthusiastically picked up a piece of boiled beef and was about to put it into Cheng Yao’s bowl when he was abruptly interrupted.

“For better health and hygiene, separate serving has become popular abroad. Still picking food back and forth here—if you have Helicobacter pylori, wouldn’t this just transmit it to her?”

Just as Cheng Yao was about to open her mouth to thank him, Qian Heng’s cold voice suddenly rang above her head.

And this Cheng Yaojin who had half-way killed his way in clearly ignored the puzzled and shocked gazes of Xue Ming and Cheng Yao. He brazenly pulled over a chair from the empty table next to them. The chair, however, had a few old oil stains on it. Qian Heng frowned, and with a face like heroically going to his death, carefully sat on one corner of the chair, barely avoiding those few oil stains…

“Do you understand Helicobacter pylori?” Qian Heng coldly snorted. Even though this sitting posture should have been quite uncomfortable, he still maintained a noble, elegant, and restrained manner, his butt as steady as if sitting in his expensive boss’s chair. “Helicobacter pylori infection increases the risk of gastric cancer by 2.7 to 12 times.”

“…”

Xue Ming’s extended chopsticks were stuck in an awkward position in mid-air, neither continuing nor withdrawing.

He subconsciously explained, “I don’t have Helicobacter pylori.”

Qian Heng glanced at Xue Ming and coldly snorted. “We lawyers emphasize evidence the most. Empty words without proof. Wait until you provide your physical examination report to prove it before speaking.”

“…”

Cheng Yao was full of sweat. She turned her head and looked at Qian Heng. “Boss, why did you come over again?”

Qian Heng’s expression was displeased. “Is this street your family’s? Why can’t I come over?”

“Didn’t you… didn’t you just say you had important overtime work?”

Qian Heng said righteously, “I remembered wrong. Halfway through driving I discovered there was no need to work overtime.”

“…”

“Then how did you know we were here?”

“Bao Rui reported it to me when he invited me to play cards.” At this point Qian Heng gave a cold smile. “I didn’t expect that the moment I left, you had already made plans right after.”

Cheng Yao: ???

What did she do wrong? Cheng Yao didn’t understand. After Qian Heng left, did she still have to stand by at any time? This was the fucking weekend! Why did Qian Heng’s tone sound exactly like he was saying her body wasn’t even cold yet, accusing Cheng Yao the widow of being so eager to hook up with someone the moment her husband died…