Chapter 28: Eating Melon

Cen Wan was limp and soft, slumped in Lu Beixun’s arms. She felt that Lu Beixun had changed. Before, she was the one trying to take advantage of him, and she never succeeded.

Now, he was the one pinning her down and kissing her forcefully.

But she liked it.

She leaned against him for a while before getting up, “I’m going to work.”

Lu Beixun held her hand and gently rubbed her back, “Mm”ed.

He Yi was waiting outside the office. When he saw Cen Wan go out, his gaze lingered on her face for a second. He awkwardly coughed.

Cen Wan’s lips were slightly swollen. She looked at He Yi in confusion, not realizing what the problem was.

He Yi was a little embarrassed and took the initiative to speak, “I’ll take you down.”

She didn’t ask any more questions and followed He Yi into the elevator. He Yi took her downstairs and left. She returned to her desk and asked Chang Ning what she should do.

Chang Ning put down her work and looked at her. She was stunned, “What happened to your mouth?”

“Ah?”  Cen Wan finally realized. No wonder He Yi had looked at her with that kind of gaze.

Chang Ning handed her a small round mirror. She took it and looked at herself in the mirror. Her cheeks flushed. She silently cursed Lu Beixun in her heart.

Really, he didn’t even remind her after doing something bad. Didn’t he know that girls are thin-skinned?

She looked at Chang Ning. Chang Ning’s expression was normal. She clearly hadn’t thought about it that way. That was good. She said, “My cousin gave me a bag of spicy strips. They were very spicy, and then this happened.”

Chang Ning handed her a glass of water and placed it on the table, “Drink some water. Speaking of which, why does your cousin carry spicy strips to work?”

She had just taken a sip of water. She never expected Chang Ning to ask that. She almost choked on the water. She coughed a few times, coughing until her eyes were red.

She quickly thought, “My cousin’s way of de-stressing is to eat spicy strips. You know, working next to the CEO is always low pressure. I’m saying this, you should understand.”

Chang Ning nodded, looking like she understood.

In the morning, Chang Ning took her to familiarize herself with the work process. She gave her simple tasks. Cen Wan was quick to learn the basics. But when the tasks became a little more difficult, her efficiency slowed down.

Chang Ning comforted her, “That’s how it is for new employees. You’ll get used to it slowly.”

Cen Wan didn’t think there was anything wrong with that. She was content as long as she wasn’t causing trouble.

Chang Ning took extra care of her. At lunchtime, Chang Ning took her to the company cafeteria and recommended a few good dishes.

When Cen Wan was getting food, she noticed that the dishes were all her favorites. Chang Ning whispered beside her, “Why is the food so abundant today?”

Cen Wan replied, “What do you mean?”

Chang Ning explained while getting food, “I’m not saying that the food is bad usually. It’s good, but it’s especially good today.”

Cen Wan seemed to understand. She pursed her lips and smiled. Her heart felt sweet.

She and Chang Ning found a seat to sit down. Chang Ning was a chatterbox. She talked about company gossip while eating. Cen Wan listened with great interest. When she was curious, she would ask about the follow-up.

The two of them felt like they had met their soulmate.

Chang Ning was very excited to have someone to listen to her. She talked more and more enthusiastically. Then, Cen Wan ate melon about Lu Beixun.

“I’ll tell you a shocking piece of gossip.”  Chang Ning: “The last manager of the sales department was a woman. She was sitting in the manager’s position, but she didn’t want to work hard and be down-to-earth. She wanted to take shortcuts. She dressed up like a flower.”

“You won’t believe who she was trying to seduce.”

Cen Wan: “Who?”

She stopped eating and was eager to hear the gossip.

“The CEO.”

Cen Wan wasn’t very surprised. When Chang Ning said it was shocking gossip, she had already guessed. “Then what?”

Chang Ning continued, “Then one day, she went to the CEO’s office under the pretense of reporting work. No one knows what happened during that time, but she was thrown out by He Yi. Xiang Ba Pi happened to see it when he went to report work. She was so embarrassed.”

“Later, she was fired.”

“This happened during the CEO’s engagement to the Cen family’s daughter.”

Cen Wan pursed her lips and said nothing. If she had been there, she would have torn that woman apart for daring to seduce her husband. She would have beaten her until her parents didn’t recognize her.

Chang Ning thought of something, “It’s quite a coincidence that you also have the surname Cen.”

Cen Wan gave a dry laugh, “It is quite a coincidence.”

Chang Ning pulled her into the administrative department’s work group and then pulled her into the company’s gossip group.

Chang Ning said, “You can speak freely. There are no high-level leaders. This group is all employees.”

Cen Wan nodded. As soon as she joined the group, several people popped up to welcome her.

She replied with a “Thank you everyone” emoji.

“The workplace isn’t as cutthroat as you think.”  Chang Ning: “Of course, you can’t say that absolutely. It might be because we’re in the administrative department. There isn’t much competition. The sales department is different.”

Cen Wan understood. If there was no competition, everyone could get along peacefully. But once there was competition, even good friends could turn against each other. It’s true that there are no friends in the workplace.

But she wasn’t trying to fight for anything. She came to work just to see Lu Beixun more often.

After dinner, He Yi brought over dessert. Everyone got one.

Chang Ning couldn’t help but sigh, “What a good day!”

Cen Wan looked at the strawberry-flavored dessert in front of her. The corners of her lips slightly rose. After the dessert was distributed, He Yi left and nodded slightly at her.

He was telling her that Lu Beixun had arranged for the dessert.

She knew. She knew everything. Lu Beixun’s kindness to her was never expressed in words.

She took out her phone and took a picture of the dessert. She sent it to Lu Beixun with a “Love you” emoji.

Lu Beixun: [Is work going smoothly?]

Cen Wan: [Not particularly smooth, but at least I haven’t caused any trouble.]

Lu Beixun: [If you don’t understand, you can come to me.]

Cen Wan: [Wouldn’t that be a waste of your talent?]

Lu Beixun: [It wouldn’t.]

Cen Wan couldn’t help but laugh. Chang Ning curiously asked, “Who are you chatting with?”

Cen Wan didn’t even think. She said directly, “My husband.”

Chang Ning was shocked, “You’re married?”

Cen Wan showed her the ring on her right ring finger, “I’m married.”

Chang Ning was heartbroken, “Someone who’s 22 is already married, and someone who’s 25 is still single.”

She chuckled and comforted Chang Ning, “Getting married is for happiness. Not getting married is also for happiness. It doesn’t matter. Just be comfortable.”

That’s what Cen Wan had always thought. If it hadn’t been for the changes in the Cen family, getting married before the age of 30 wouldn’t have been in her plans.

Chang Ning was just complaining. Some things can’t be forced. When the time is right, a boyfriend will naturally come along.

They didn’t start working until 2 pm. Chang Ning took Cen Wan to the break room. The break room and the tea room were together. Chang Ning made her a cup of coffee.

The work atmosphere was completely different from what she had imagined. She thought that Lu Beixun would be like other bosses and exploit his employees. She asked Chang Ning, “Is this always the work atmosphere?”

“Mm.”  Chang Ning said, “Rest when you need to rest, and work when you need to work.”

“That’s pretty good.”