Chapter 37: Don’t Be So Fierce

From the moment Fu Huaizhou said, “She doesn’t understand,” Ruan Li began paying close attention to the conversation between the two men. When she heard Shi Mu’s question, she responded without thinking.

“I’m his goddaughter, isn’t that obvious?” Ruan Li almost seemed like she was about to write the words “big age gap” on her forehead.

Shi Mu was amused by her. He had only ever heard that the Ruan family had a daughter who got along well with several prominent families, but he had never heard anything about her being connected to Fu Huaizhou.

He turned to look at Fu Huaizhou, who indeed looked displeased. Fu Huaizhou pressed the intercom button and called his assistant.

“Bring in some snacks so a certain someone can stay quiet.”

Ruan Li scoffed and stopped paying attention to him. A man who can’t take a joke so boring.

Others might not understand Fu Huaizhou, but Shi Mu knew him well. Fu Huaizhou rarely got close to anyone or joked around. He certainly wasn’t like those young playboys who kept a few mistresses around. This situation was unusual.

“Let’s get back to business,” Fu Huaizhou interrupted, stopping Shi Mu from teasing him further.

Ruan Li took small bites of the cake. She always swore that she’d control her eating before starting a project, but the desserts made by Fu’s chefs were simply too delicious.

The chef was thoughtful enough to make everything low-sugar and low-fat. A small indulgence wouldn’t hurt.

By the time Ruan Li finished her cake, the two men had finished their discussion. Fu Huaizhou stood up to see Shi Mu out.

“Let the second brother stay longer in finance. Otherwise, he won’t shape up.”

Ruan Li couldn’t help but chuckle. She thought Fu Huaizhou and Shi Xun were such good friends, but here he was, dumping him in that department. It turned out that his older brother had a hand in it.

Indeed, it’s the ones with smiling faces who are the most ruthless.

When Fu Huaizhou turned back, he saw Ruan Li sitting on the sofa, still nibbling on her fork with a bit of cream stuck to her mouth, her eyes focused on the now-absent Shi Mu.

“Like him?” Fu Huaizhou asked coldly.

The sweetness of the cream lingered on her tongue, and Ruan Li, caught off guard, nodded slowly with an innocent face. “Yeah, I like it.”

As soon as she spoke, Fu Huaizhou strode over to her, standing tall and looking down at her with a harsh expression.

“If you like him so much, why didn’t you follow him out?”

Ruan Li looked at him as if he were an idiot. Why would she follow him when there was cake to finish? Though chasing after the chef wasn’t a bad idea.

Realizing he was referring to Shi Mu, she burst out laughing. “I was talking about the cake.”

The air went still for a moment. Fu Huaizhou rubbed his nose, tired from the pressure of his glasses. “I’ll have the chef transferred to Yuyuan,” he said, grabbing a box of tissues and handing them to her. His tone softened with a trace of a smile, “How can you get food all over your face?”

Only then did Ruan Li realize. She quickly grabbed a few tissues and wiped her mouth. After all, she was a good student of her etiquette teacher never one to make mistakes at the dining table.

Fu Huaizhou’s gaze fell on her right hand. Her delicate fingers, adorned with tiny diamonds, shimmered beautifully under the light. She clearly enjoyed it. As for how he knew? His back still remembered the painful scratches.

But now, her once long and elegant fingernail on her index finger was broken, making it look rather alarming. He sat next to her, gently taking her hand. “What happened?”

As soon as he touched her, Ruan Li winced in pain and quickly cried out.

“Be gentler…” she frowned. She had thought the pain had subsided, but when Fu Huaizhou lifted her hand, she realized it hadn’t healed at all.

“What happened?” Fu Huaizhou finally understood why she had taken so long delivering the USB. He had thought she was just taking some time to learn from the design department.

He had let her go freely, not sweating the small stuff.

Ruan Li, who was never one to hold back, immediately began babbling about what had happened. She even feared Fu Huaizhou wouldn’t believe her, so she pulled out her phone to show him the live stream.

“Look! That stupid USB! I tried to catch it and ran into something.” Ruan Li shoved the phone into his hand. “And the most annoying part is that Ruan Shu deliberately tripped me, and your precious nephew made sure I couldn’t have a peaceful day. Ugh, they’re unbearable.”

Fu Huaizhou took the phone and glanced at the footage, only to see the part where Ruan Li was confronting Fu Xingchuan. He set the phone down and gently held Ruan Li’s wrist, which was already swollen.

“Why did you even go for that USB?” Fu Huaizhou asked, his fingers lightly touching her injured wrist, a faint sense of unease creeping over him.

Ruan Li had endured the judgment of many downstairs without much care, but now, talking to Fu Huaizhou, her heart felt heavy.

She lowered her voice. “That project is really important, isn’t it? Besides, I can’t have people thinking I’m not doing my job properly.”

Teasing her boss was one thing, but she couldn’t afford to mess up when it came to serious matters. After all, from a young age, her father had warned her: mistakes could be forgiven, but causing him financial loss would have severe consequences.

Fu Huaizhou frowned lightly. “No matter how important the project is, it shouldn’t rely on a junior employee like you to protect it. There are plenty of senior executives who can handle it.”

He looked down at her, as if she were a guilty student caught making a mistake.

Sighing softly, he added, “And even if the worst happened, I always have a backup plan.”

Ruan Li nodded gently. She wasn’t someone with a lot of power, so she didn’t really understand the complexity of the situation. She hadn’t thought too deeply about it at the time.

“Let’s go to the hospital.” Fu Huaizhou put on his coat. “I’ll send someone to retrieve the surveillance footage later.”

Ruan Li was stunned. “Is that really necessary? I just used my hand to grab a fork earlier.”

While she admitted she could be a bit pampered when it came to material things, like her love for jewelry and fine living, she wasn’t normally bothered by physical injuries. She often got hurt on set or during family training and rarely paid attention to it.

Fu Huaizhou thought about how she had managed to get cream all over her face while eating, likely because of her wrist injury. His expression grew serious. “Designers need to draw. Do you still want your hand?”

Ruan Li, taken aback by his stern tone, felt a sudden surge of fear and unease. Though she was now an actress, she truly loved drawing and designing.

“Of course, I want it…” she muttered. His fierce demeanor was intimidating. She sidled up to him, tugging on his coat with her left hand. “Don’t be so scary.”

Fu Huaizhou glanced down at her, seeing her delicate eyes pleading with him, and his heart softened.

“Ruan Li, I’m not mad at you,” he said, his voice gentler now.

“Then what are you mad about?” she asked, looking up at him curiously.