Don’t Rely On Me To Gain Any Benefits From The Qi Family
Don’t Rely On Me To Gain Any Benefits From The Qi Family
Manager Zou noticed Qi Chenglin's gaze shifting over to Ruan Danchen.With his quick thinking, he said, "Danchen, since you've just arrived and there's not much work, why don't you follow him upstairs?"
Ruan Danchen was speechless as she stood up. She could only assume the both of them had a prior agreement.
Yao Jingfei was infuriated by Manager Zou. She thought to herself just how blind this man was. He was unable to see that Qi Chenglin intended to have her go upstairs instead.
As Ruan Danchen was walking over to Qi Chenglin, and as she reached her, Yao Jingfei stood up and said, "Manager Zou, just let me, as the personal assistant, handle matters like this. I'll go instead."
As she made her statement, Manager Zou simply glared at her furiously as he knew this lady was all bark and no bite. She was nothing but an empty, arrogant vessel for her own stupidity! So why should he show her any mercy at all?
"Are you done with your current task already?" Manager Zou said as he annoyingly waved his hand.
"No, but-" Yao Jingfei tried to explain.
"If you're not done, then just stay here and complete your damn task; stop being so distracted! Everyone's work is extremely urgent, so you should know better than to delay! Weren't you so persistent in complaining about Ruan Danchen not doing anything yesterday? What are you so unsatisfied about now? She has work to do, and yet you want to take her work to your plate? What are you planning to do? Trying to show that you're hardworking in front of the CEO?" Manager Zou snapped furiously at her.
Yao Jingfei instantly grew pale as she never expected Manager Zou to snap at her like this. What unfair treatment!
She intended to snap back at him--words were flooding her mind as she began to speak. However, before she could utter a syllable, she turned around, and felt tears streaming down her cheeks as she sat down.
The other employees were shocked at Manager's Zou's outburst. He was always known to be patient and easygoing. None of them had ever seen him like this. They could only wonder at what exactly Yao Jingfei had done to push him over the edge.
Ruan Danchen felt bad for Yao Jingfei as she walked past her.
Qi Chenglin patted Manager's Zou's shoulders, seemingly praising him, as he brought Ruan Danchen upstairs alongside him.
…
…
Ruan Danchen followed Qi Chenglin into his office. The moment the door had shut behind them, Qi Chenglin dragged her into his very warm embrace.
"Still mad?" Qi Chenglin asked with a whisper. His current loving and warm attitude was completely different compared to when he had been with his design department earlier.
"I knew you had other intentions when you wanted me to follow you into your office for work," Ruan Danchen replied as she was not even offended or mad. Instead, it made her laugh.
After hearing her casual cheerful reply, Qi Chenglin breathed out a sigh of relief as he took Ruan Danchen by the hand, leading her to the couch. He then proceed to scoop her up and sit her down on his lap. He said, "I can't guarantee that, in the future, I can rid myself of jealousy completely, but I will do my best to loosen its grip on me, alright?"
Ruan Danchen's mind was focused on the giant piles of documents her colleagues would eventually hand to her downstairs and how she was keeping so many people waiting. Ironically, here she sat, in Qi Chenglin's lap, cuddling with him. This thought made her blush a little.
While still deep in thought, she stared at the button on Qi Chenglin's shirt as she unconsciously gave it a couple of playful tugs. She said, "You know, on a much deeper thought, a man like you getting jealous over me… Showing how you care so deeply about everything that has to do with me... makes me quite happy. Knowing just how much you value me strengthens your place in my heart."
Qi Chenglin remained silent as he squeezed her waist tighter. "What are you doing?" Ruan Danchen asked nervously.
"Alright, I was a little flirty, okay? Just do what you have to do. I'll admit that I, too, was a little jealous." Ruan Danchen replied anxiously.
Qi Chenglin remained silent.
It was as if his morning grogginess had completely been purged by her words alone.
Ruan Danchen felt guilty as she let out an awkward chuckle as she pecked at Qi Chenglin's lips, giving him a light kiss. She said, "Don't feel too bad, okay? I'll make it up to you when we get home, alright? I'll be going downstairs now."
As Ruan Danchen got up, she was instantly pulled back down onto Qi Chenglin's lap. She noticed he was quite annoyed. "Were you trying to coax Youxuan?" Qi Chenglin said frustratingly.
Ruan Danchen said nothing as her face was blushing hard from embarrassment. Fighting through her embarrassment, she replied, "Wasn't there a group of people waiting for me downstairs? If I keep them waiting any longer, they'll see what I was up to through my face alone. That would not be nice at all."
"Don't be so difficult with me next time, alright?" Qi Chenglin said in a monotonous, unhappy voice as his dark black eyes stared deeply into Ruan Danchen's.
"Alright. I won't" Ruan Danchen replied while she shook her head.
Seeing how well behaved she was, Qi Chenglin smirked. He leaned in and gave Ruan Danchen a long passionate kiss. Initially, he had intended to only give her a soft and light kiss, but he succumbed to temptation as he could no longer keep his primal instincts at bay.
She could not focus as her mind was on an emotional high, putting her in a trance after Qi Chenglin had sent her off.
As Ruan Danchen walked out, she heard her name being called by someone. It took her a good while to snap out of her reverie. Jiangyuan was standing right in front of her, desperately trying to hold back his laughter, all with an awkward expression.
She looked at Qi Chenglin who was standing beside her in a blur. Qi Chenglin was calm and composed.
"Ahem!" Jianyuang was desperately holding back his laughter as he raised his hand to his mouth to mask a chuckle. He handed three files to Ruan Danchen and said, "I have arranged everything here already, just hand them over to Manager Zou on your way back."
Ruan Danchen could not help but glance over to Qi Chenglin. Although it was had not been work related when Qi Chenglin brought her up with him, and it was extremely obvious that it was not so, she did not expect him to be so thorough in covering up by having her documents neatly organized for her.
Ruan Danchen left the office after receiving her documents.
…
…
She noticed that Yao Jingfei was in a horrible mood as she walked past her upon returning to the design department. Completely ignoring her, Ruan Danchen handed her documents over to Manager Zou.
Even though Manager Zou had completely destroyed Yao Jingfei publically earlier, Ruan Danchen could see her intentions as clear as day. She knew that this lady obviously had a crush on Qi Chenglin and all she wanted was a chance to get close to him. However, Ruan Danchen harbored zero ill thoughts for Yao Jingfei--in layman's terms, she did not have the heart to get mad at Yao Jingfei.
It was noon and it was almost time for lunch. Ruan Danchen was notified that the reception had received a call earlier, and a lady claiming to be her mother was waiting for her downstairs by the main entrance.
Ruan Danchen had no idea how Liu Ronghua had managed to get hold of the information that she was working in Qilin. She replied to the receptionist, "Just tell her that I will be working overtime tonight."
She knew exactly what Liu Ronghua's purpose was for reaching out to her. If it was just a regular mother-daughter reunion, she would be more than happy to oblige. However, chances for that were close to none.
Her personal phone rang not long after she had hung up the call with the receptionist. Glancing at the screen told her it was none other than Liu Ronghua. This made Ruan Danchen feel awful, and her chest tightened as tears formed in her eyes.
She sighed deeply and proceeded to walk out with her phone.
The very moment she answered the call, Liu Ronghua said, "Danchen, why are you so unwilling to greet me even once?"
"I'm busy right now. Qi Chenglin was just here earlier, and being the new guy meant a huge pile of work." Ruan Danchen replied as she sniffled while desperately fighting back the urge to cry.
"You don't have to lie to me, Danchen. You're dating Qi Chenglin right now and you're basically the unnamed co-owner of Qilin right now; not a single soul would dare make you work overtime. You don't even need to lift a finger and you can just wait for your pay every month. No one would dare speak out about it. I'm not blind to the fact that the main purpose of Qi Chenglin making you work in his company is none other than to spoil you rotten," Liu Ronghua said in a soft, gentle tone as usual. The mockery, however, was unhidden.
This very claim offended Ruan Danchen, and she was unsure if Liu Ronghua intended that or not. However, every word she said was filled to the brim with arrogance and dismissal.
"I came into this company to work like a regular person, and I intend to work with all my heart. I do not wish to spur any drama in the company. Just like every employee of the company, I, too, am expected and required to work overtime, and my mistakes would be noted and critiqued just like everyone else," Ruan Danchen replied coldly as she felt the tight grip around her chest loosen. "I need to get back to work. This is where our conversation ends and if you have anything to talk about, we'll do it some other time," Ruan Danchen added.
"Danchen!" Liu Ronghua frantically cried before Ruan Danchen had the chance to hang up. She protested, "I am your mother, how could you not wish to even meet me once? How can you call yourself a daughter? I came by to see you, and all I wanted was to have a meal with you! Can't you even do that? I know how much you hate me, but at least give me the opportunity to make things right between us, okay?"
Ruan Danchen noticed someone walking in her direction, and she proceeded to take the phone call to the stairway at the end of the hall.
Since there were people around her, she remained silent, and this made Liu Ronghua misunderstand her silence as flippancy. She added, "If you refuse to meet me, I will be waiting in Qilin as long as this company stands. You'll have to come down eventually.
"If you refuse to meet me today, I will return tomorrow and the day after that until you relent. There will be a day where you don't work overtime, right? So I will be able to at least meet you once, right?" Liu Ronghua pressed further as Ruan Danchen sighed.
As she spoke, Ruan Danchen could hear Liu Ronghua's desperate sobbing through the phone. "Danchen, you weren't like this back then; do you plan to abandon your only mother? Do you wish everyone in your company to know that you were so heartless that you would refuse to meet your mother?" Liu Ronghua pleaded.
This painful plea by her mother made her come very close to crying as she sighed deeply and took a deep breath. She continued to listen to her mother's unreasonable, embarrassing sobbing. She replied, "Fine, I'll meet you downstairs."
"Oh, good, alright. I'll wait for you downstairs." Liu Ronghua said, now happy.
As she walked out of the stairwell, she looked at the time. It was time for her lunch break, so she proceeded to call Qi Chenglin.
At that very moment, food was being served onto Qi Chenglin's desk. At the same time, he received a phone call from Ruan Danchen,improving his mood exponentially. However, through the phone, he heard her say, "I might join you a little later."
"What happened?" Qi Chenglin replied as he could not believe that Manager Zou had actually wanted her to work overtime.
"My mom is here. She does not want to leave the main lobby as she was persistent in meeting me. I'll meet up with her for a bit to find out what she actually wants." Ruan Danchen replied with a sigh. However, upon hearing Qi Chenglin's voice, it relieved some of the awful feelings in her heart, giving her some support.
Hearing this made Qi Chenglin frown instantly. He never expected that the strong and stern warning to Liu Ronghua the other day at the temple was futile. She had zero morality as she would do anything for whatever little reward the Shen family could promise her. Her own personal gain outweighed her moral compass.
"I'll go with you." Qi Chenglin said.
"No, I'll go alone, I'll see exactly what she wants. If you come along with me, she will not dare reveal her ulterior motives. She'll keep coming back for me until she has said what she wants to. As long as you're here, she would not dare come by. She would only attempt to do whatever she planned to do in your absence," Ruan Danchen said while walking to her office grabbing her bag as she walked out.
"If you're planning to have lunch in a restaurant elsewhere, make sure you send the location to me, alright?" Qi Chenglin replied after a slight pause.
"Alright." Ruan Danchen replied.
Ruan Danchen proceeded to enter the elevator after hanging up the call.
Upon arriving at the ground floor, Ruan Danchen noticed her mother sitting on a couch next to the main entrance, all while presenting herself to look as elegant and wealthy as she could be. In any stranger's eyes, by looking at her stance, she looked like she was from a higher social status and that she had gotten herself married to a very wealthy family.
Liu Ronghua was focussed on the elevator doors. Seeing Ruan Danchen walk out of it, she immediately stood up and welcomed her over to her side.
"Danchen!" Liu Ronghua said while holding onto Ruan Danchen's hands, still with tears in her eyes. She asked, "How are you doing these days?"
From how she looked, it was as if she had gone through hell and back.
"Let's go." Ruan Danchen replied coldly as she calmly removed her hands from her mother's grasp.
Ruan Danchen brought Liu Ronghua to a nearby cafe. This very cafe had a private room as an added perk. That room was known as the romantic room. The room was decked out in princess themed decorations, and its style and layout was very European. The walls were painted pink, the shelves were filled with plush toys; no matter the age, this room was made to appeal to any girl.
Ruan Danchen cared very little about how the room was decorated as she only cared about the private room perk. This allowed them some privacy to talk. Not many were present in the cafe since it was noon, and they were all busy getting lunch.
The waiter came in with a menu. Ruan Danchen only ordered a glass of red tea, she does not like to drink coffee before lunch. Liu Ronghua ordered the same drink as her daughter, as she was not able to put her mind at ease and fully pay attention to the menu.
After a short while, the waiter brought two pots of red tea into the room. There was nothing special about it. It tasted like regular store bought tea.
As Liu Ronghua remained silent, Ruan Danchen, too, did not say a word. She thought to herself that it would be a blessing for her if Liu Ronghua's mouth remained sealed due to her anxiety, she would not need to listen to any of it. She knew Liu Ronghua's exact purpose for their meeting even without her speaking her mind. As long as Liu Ronghua stayed quiet, Ruan Danchen would play the oblivious one.
Liu Ronghua was expecting Ruan Danchen to ask her about her main purpose first. However, she was caught off guard by Ruan Danchen's silence while she sipped her tea.
Finally breaking the silence as she could no longer keep it in, Liu Ronghua nervously asked, "Danchen, are you okay living with Qi Chenglin?"
Ruan Danchen never answered her question, she only gave her an impatient glare.
Perhaps her time spent with Qi Chenglin had been long enough for her to pick up some of his habits. Her mocking, judgemental look was uncannily similar to Qi Chenglin's.
Liu Ronghua was hurt by her daughter's cold, emotionless expression, and she placed her arm on the table while crossing her fingers, bringing it close to her chest as she wore a hurt and depressed expression on her face. She said in a sad, pitiful voice, "I could tell he adores you and absolutely loves you to bits. I heard his family loves you very much as well."
Ruan Danchen sighed, and stared into her cup of tea. She had no appetite to drink it. She felt disgusted somehow. "What are you trying to say?" Ruan Danchen asked.
"Does his family… know about my matters?" Liu Ronghua asked as she felt it excruciatingly difficult to speak her mind.
"What do you mean?" Ruan Danchen probed, frowning.
"I mean... I have been living with zero status in the Shen family for so many years. Does his family know about that?" Even for Liu Ronghua, it was extremely difficult to even elaborate on that question. It took a lot of courage for her to say something so shamelessly.
Ruan Danchen remained silent and continued to frown.
Seemingly able to read the situation, Liu Ronghua awkwardly said, "I'm pretty sure you never told them, since I know that I am as disgraceful as I could ever be. If they'd known about me, they would not accept you in their family right?"
"So, what exactly is your point?" Ruan Danchen asked.
"Danchen, your Uncle Shen knew about your matters, and he is fully on board with you dating Qi Chenglin. He does not wish to break the both of you up, and, to show his support of you marrying into the Qi's family, he has decided to formally marry me, giving me somewhat of a status at home." Liu Ronghua explained in a soft whisper.
"Just name your damn terms." Ruan Danchen continued to frown as she knew that Shen Jialiang would never, in his lifetime, be this generous and kind.
Liu Ronghua had what could only be described as a pathetic look on her face as she chuckled awkwardly. However, her self pity had no effect on Ruan Danchen, as she was completely numb to her facade.
She continued to listen to Liu Ronghua's elaborate story. "Your Uncle Shen…"
At this point, Ruan Danchen was too lazy and tired to even stop Liu Ronghua's formalities in addressing Shen Jialiang. She had told her countless times, seven years ago, to stop addressing him as "Uncle Shen".
As much as Ruan Danchen had told her, Liu Ronghua was stubborn and refused to listen. She assumed, by closing the gap in both their relationships, she would be able to help her.
"Your Uncle Shen said as long as he marries me, you will officially be his step-daughter. Your wedding with Qi Chenglin requires both families to have a meal together around the same table and at least meet up, right? However, truth be told, my identity and social status is no longer any secret now, since even Qi Chenglin's own mother knew exactly who I was. I ran into them the other day at the temple. Judging by the way they looked at me, I could tell they were looking down on me; they had no respect for me. If they found out that you are my daughter, I'm afraid they would be reluctant to accept you into their family. I know for a fact that the Qi family would not like anyone to say that the mother of their daughter-in-law was nothing more than a mere servant right?" Liu Ronghua elaborated further as she sighed deeply and drank some hot tea.
Ruan Danchen was completely baffled by the fact that this woman could feel no shame in making that statement. She was shocked by how Liu Ronghua could say that she, as a servant, was of no class, and by just how boldly she had spoken those words.
"However, if I could marry your Uncle Shen and become his official wife, it would not be so shameful when we eventually meet up with Qi Chenglin's family. You will have class; even though you're his step-daughter, you still would be the star of the Shen family. With that, you will be able to match Qi Chenglin's status," Liu Ronghua finished. However, it just seemed like every word from this vile woman's mouth was honeyed. Every sentence was masked with benefits to Ruan Danchen.
Ever since she was little, Ruan Danchen had never once knew what her mother's natural motherly, warm scent was. Liu Ronghua had a habit of spraying heavy perfume onto herself; it did not matter if she had just showered, the scent of the perfume never left her body. Besides that, Liu Ronghua had never once given her own daughter a hug.
Coaxing her to sleep was in the realm of impossibility.
The scent of her perfume could be smelled at the moment. Although it was as thick and cloying, it was a well known branded perfume. Ruan Danchen was completely disgusted by it.
She had finally drunk some tea, seemingly trying to suppress that disgusting scent, while she squeezed her nose tightly. She took a deep breath after that, and replied in an exhausted tone, "Just get to the damn point of your purpose for meeting me here today. The Shen family has always shunned me away, never loved me, and has never once wanted anything to do with me. This is a fact the both of us know deep down in our hearts. Shen Jialiang has always been clear with his intentions, what does this man want now? Since he's so kind and generous to offer you a place in his family, and wants me to be his step daughter."
"The main goal is… Since you will be the golden child of Shen's family, then, this wedding will ultimately be both the Qi and Shen's family's business. The entire relationship will naturally change. Your Uncle Shen wishes for you to return and live in his house. This will help mend both families' relationship. This was all due to the incident that happened years ago that made Qi Chenglin and the entirety of the Shen family to be in horrible terms with each other. Qilin would not invest or partner with the Shen family. This made it so the entire Shen family found it really difficult to expand in that business circle. As long as the both of them can salvage their broken relationship, it will be smooth sailing for the Shen family. With that, it would ultimately be a win-win situation for both us. Don't you think this is the best outcome ever?" Liu Ronghua shamelessly explained with an awkward smile on her face. Her body was slightly tilted forward, facing Ruan Danchen.
Hearing her shameless statement made Ruan Danchen laugh sarcastically. She replied, "Shen Jialiang really is something! He has the audacity to request something of this magnitude after what he did to Qi Chenglin back then and how awfully he treated me? There is no limit for this man's shamelessness."
Liu Ronghua looked stiff after hearing her daughter's reply. Even though she was talking about Shen Jialiang, she could not help but feel as if Ruan Danchen was indirectly talking about her, too.
"Danchen, this is for both our benefits. You don't even need to change your last name-" Before Liu Ronghua could finish, Ruan Danchen interrupted her.
"Why would I even want to change my last name? I am just baffled at his evil intent and greed. He sure can scheme against Qi Chenglin! What right does he have to benefit from Qi Chenglin after making him call him father-in-law? I will absolutely never allow Qi Chenglin to be used like this!" Ruan Danchen exclaimed. "You're done saying everything you came here to say, right? I will be leaving now. You may tell Shen Jialiang that I will never set foot in his house; it doesn't matter if he marries you or not. Even if he did, I will never be his step-daughter. He may keep dreaming about any benefits from the Qi family. He will receive nothing from them." Ruan Danchen said sternly.
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Mini Scene
Regarding About A Nickname 3
"Cheng Cheng, what do you think this is?" Xia Wenna asked Qi Chengzhi while showing him a toy by swaying it in front of him.
Qi Chengzhi, initially, was staring at the toy, however, upon hearing his nickname, "Cheng Cheng" being called, his entire face contorted as he cringed. He refused to answer.
As long as Xia Wenna address him as Cheng Cheng, Qi Chengzhi would not respond.
Unable to get a reaction from him, Xia Wenna decided to test him out a couple more times. As long as she called him Qi Chengzhi, he would respond. However, with Cheng Cheng, she would only be completely ignored by him as he pretended to not be aware of his nickname being called.
And so, this short lived nickname slowly faded away until it was never brought up again. Slowly but surely fading from the memories of everyone.
Until Qi Chenglin was born…
To know what happens next, stay tuned to the next chapter.
Qi Youxuan asked, "What's my daddy's nickname?"
Qi Chenglin remained silent.
"We revealed our son's nickname for the sole purpose of gaining the monthly ticket," Xia Wenna said.