novelHandsomeness Is The Root Of All Troubles
| ← Ch.360 | Ch.362 → |
Chapter 361: Handsomeness Is The Root Of All Troubles
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Ruan Danchen retrieved her hand which was holding Qi Chenglin's arm unconsciously when she kissed him just now, but he grabbed her wrist immediately and pulled her into his embosom. He leaned forward and slammed his lips on hers with precise accuracy, pressing his tongue to the seam of her lips forcefully and delved inside her mouth deeply.
The way he held her and made her head leaned backwards induced palpitations and rosiness on her cheeks. Her body was even leaning helplessly but feeling secure in his embosom.
He let her go after a while but Ruan Danchen still feeling dizzy from the kiss just now.
Qi Chenglin glanced at her adorkable look and his lips curled into a sweet smile of affection. He pampered her with kisses on her lips again before reminding her in a good mood."Didn't you want to leave two steps earlier than me?"
Ruan Danchen blinked as if she was not fully conscious, finally reacted to his question after a while as she stared at him in slight annoyance. The underground parking lot was dimmer compared to the above ground parking lot.
His eyes were deep and crystal clear, his lips curled into a faint smile, and his face appeared handsome and elegant. One would describe him as peerless in elegance and talent.
The calm temperament he radiated would induce admiration in others.
Ruan Danchen thought to herself."Handsomeness is the root of all troubles."
She had lost her sense of direction after their lips danced together and now she had forgotten her nervousness. She looked around her surroundings before getting out of the car, which was clear as their parking slot was quite covert as compared to others.
Ruan Danchen got off the car with a reddened face, then she heard the sound of car door closing and locking from behind after she walked for two steps.
She turned around in curiosity and saw Qi Chenglin putting his car key with his elegant, long fingers into his pocket. He walked two steps further and stopped when he saw her standing still.
"Didn't I ask you to walk two steps slower than me?" Ruan Danchen had nothing to worry about since they were alone and asked him directly.
Qi Chenglin took his hand out after inserting his phone into his pocket and raised his eyebrows, then he scanned the distance between his and Ruan Danchen's toes without saying a word.
Then he said, "I thought you wanted me to walk two steps behind you?"
"..." Ruan Danchen was at a loss for words and estimated the distance between them, which was approximately two steps away based on his gait. This man held onto grudges and was unwilling to follow her instructions.
Ruan Danchen was unsure how to react to his question so she chose to walk back to him instead. Then, she slipped her soft hand into his warm palm and stroke the hair on his arm."Alright, I'll just walk with you then."
"You're not scared to let others know about this?" Qi Chenglin raised his eyebrows and mocked, but deep down he was happy like a child.
"Not going to publicize deliberately, not going to conceal deliberately, " Ruan Danchen spoke like it was a kind of slogan.
Qi Chenglin smiled and his expression appeared warm."You're making a poem now."
Ruan Danchen smiled in embarrassment and her reddened face appeared especially pretty and cute to him.
Qi Chenglin put on a faint smile and brought her to the entrance leading to Qilin's lobby before releasing his grip.
Ruan Danchen turned towards him in doubt. Qi Chenglin raised his eyebrows and said, "I thought you wanted to be low profile?"
"..." Ruan Danchen felt sorry for him as she felt she treated him unfairly, and stared at him with a sense of guilt.
Qi Chenglin broke into laughter and pinched on her face."What kind of expression is this, it's not like you're running away from home."
Ruan Danchen then took the initiative and held his hand again."Thank you for tolerating me and agreeing to my wilful request."
"You're not wilful, and besides, it's natural for a man to do his very best to satisfy a woman's needs. Your request isn't beyond measure and it's not something that I can't do, " Qi Chenglin's lips curled up faintly but gently as he stared at her affectionately.
Qi Chenglin's statement softened and warmed Ruan Danchen's heart and she felt so touched now until she did not know how to respond to him. There was no one who would pamper her, made her a priority and more important than himself like Qi Chenglin did since young.
Ruan Danchen's eyes started to become misty and her nose became snotty. She swallowed and sighed. This man was treating her extremely well, and her guilt grew stronger as she felt sorry for him.
Ruan Danchen blinked in embarrassment before she tiptoed and kissed him quickly.
Qi Chenglin was taken aback as he did not expect her to kiss him in public. He squeezed her hand after collecting his thoughts and said, "Come to my office for lunch later."
It would be inconvenient to go out for lunch since she wanted to stay low profile, and he usually was not very particular regarding his eating habits, so he decided to order delivery from Dynasty and have lunch with Ruan Danchen together in the office in future.
"Alright, " Ruan Danchen agreed softly, feeling especially happy that she was able to meet with him in the company from now on. She would not be bothered even if someone, who did not realize her identity, caused troubles to her. Now, all her anxiety due to first day of work had disappeared into thin air because of him.
She thought she was independent and would not cling onto anyone since young. She despised it if she became a woman who was completely dependent on a man after what had happened to Liu Ronghua. She did not mean to be extremely strong-willed which would induce discomfort to others but at least she would not simply accept a man's kindness or help.
During the period when Ruan Danchen went back to study after giving birth to Youxuan, there were boys in school who would express their affections towards her and confessed to her. After she graduated and started her job in Chengshi, and since her work required her to visit clients' companies, inevitably she had to communicate with the staff or met them coincidentally at the client's company. They wanted to court her but she did not have any intention to start a relationship at that time.
She never attempted to find someone to rely on and endured even the hardest moment all these while all by herself.
However, she could not help but always depended on Qi Chenglin whenever she faced him. She could feel at ease and ignored everything, knowing that he would be there to support her even if the sky collapsed on her.
Qi Chenglin leaned forward and kissed her before gesturing her to go ahead. Ruan Danchen then walked ahead of Qi Chenglin.
However, Qi Chenglin followed behind with only around two to three steps distance between them. He did not want to stay further from her as if could not bear the thought of her not being in his field of vision.
Thus the duo entered Qilin one after another, keeping a few steps of distance between them. The general staff did not notice anything peculiar about them and greeted Qi Chenglin politely."General manager."
Qi Chenglin nodded lightly and entered the private elevator which was owned by Qi Chengzhi and him.
He turned around to look for Ruan Danchen standing in front of the elevator among the crowd after pressing the 'Up' button.
The crowd in front of the elevator was not big, consisting of approximately seven or eight people, but it was difficult locating Ruan Danchen who was standing right in the middle of the crowd. However, Qi Chenglin could always locate her in an instance no matter how huge the crowd was.
The elevator that general staff used was on the seventh floor now but the door to the private elevator opened, and Qi Chenglin took a peek at Ruan Danchen again.
Luo Yushu was wearing a down coat when he entered Qilin. He was already fat and now, he looked like a bear with his coat on. It was warm inside Qilin so he took his scarf and leather gloves off as he walked towards the elevator, and coincidentally, Qi Chenglin looked at his direction which made him stunned.
He greeted quickly."General manager, good morning."
Qi Chenglin then managed to shift his gaze from Ruan Danchen to him and responded lightly."Morning."
Even though Qi Chenglin did not display any special expressions such as a smile, Luo Yushu felt that he was in a good mood now because his facial features appeared soft and gentle.
Luo Yushu was overwhelmed by surprise and wondered why all of a sudden the general manager was being well-mannered towards him.
He looked around his surroundings before Qi Chenglin entered the private elevator.
"Good morning, Manager Luo, " After the private elevator that Qi Chenglin took closed and started to go up, the staff around Luo Yushu greeted him. Ruan Danchen did not want to act differently than the others, and besides, she met Luo Yushu for quite a few times before.
"Good morning, Manager Luo, " Ruan Danchen turned around and greeted him with a smile on her face. Even though she greeted him based on Qi Chenglin's prestige, at least Luo Yushu really took care of her well.
Shivers went down Luo Yushu's spine as he realized what Qi Chenglin was staring at just now.
He recalled Qi Chenglin once informed him that Ruan Danchen wanted to stay low profile, so he quickly responded with a smile and said, "Good morning, Miss Ruan. Oh, that's right, today's your first day of work."
"..." Ruan Danchen looked around her in embarrassment, and true enough, all other staff was looking at her full of surprises. They did not understand why Luo Yushu was being respectful to her like he was treating Mrs. Qi.
Did this young lady had some kind of background too?
Ruan Danchen did not know how to respond appropriately so she just smiled and nodded.
Luo Yushu then said quickly, "Come and find me if you encounter any issues."
Ruan Danchen was dumbfounded now and Luo Yushu blushed after finishing his statement. There was no need for her to report to him as she was General Manager Qi's wife, she would report directly to the general manager if she encountered any issues.
However, come to think of it, it was beneficial to express his loyalty and standpoint.
The elevator reached the ground floor at this moment and the door opened momentarily. Naturally, the staff would make way for the leader to enter first, so Ruan Danchen took half a step backwards and gestured Luo Yushu to enter first without saying a word.
Luo Yushu was a smart man. He knew not to make it too obvious so he entered the elevator first but with a guilty conscience because General Manager Qi's wife just gave precedence to him out of courtesy.
Ruan Danchen's design department was at the eighth floor but Luo Yushu would exit the elevator at the seventh floor.
Luo Yushu was thinking long and hard in the elevator. If he made it appeared too obvious and exposed the fact that Ruan Danchen was General Manager Qi's wife, the general manager himself would be happy about it. However, the general manager would still punish him if Ruan Danchen was unhappy about her identity being revealed publicly and complaint to Qi Chenglin.
After racking his brain for quite some time, he found a solution. When the door opened after the elevator reached the seventh floor and before he stepped out of it, he greeted all the staff in the elevator with kindness and warmth before saying goodbye to Ruan Danchen with cordialness and enthusiasm.
Luo Yushu silently praised himself for his quick-witted actions after exiting the elevator and walked back to his office with a happy mood.
The staff who remained in the elevator were curious about Ruan Danchen's true identity but it would be impolite to ask openly.
Thus, all of them could only contained their curiosities and planned to inquire about it from Luo Yushu next time.
Furthermore, there was not enough time for them to ask Ruan Danchen as the elevator reached the eighth floor in mere seconds. Ruan Danchen gave them a faint smile and nodded before exiting the elevator.
However, to her surprise, she saw Manager Zou from design department waiting at the doorstep of the department which was just around the corner.
Manager Zou did not wait for Ruan Danchen at the elevator because it would attract unwanted attention.
Manager Zou was still asleep when his phone rang in the morning, and his first impression was that it was a harassing phone call because he did not recognize the caller's phone number. He picked up the call nonetheless, and it was his habit to remain silent and let the caller spoke first. If it was some kind of advertisement or harassment call, he need not spoke as well and would just hung up the call.
However, the caller remained silent too after he accepted the call.
Manager Zou started to feel annoyed. The most difficult task in the morning was to get up from bed and get as much sleep as possible. He was still drowsy after awakened by the phone call and with an annoyed and sleepy voice, he said, "Hi."
"It's me, " Qi Chenglin responded lightly. He called Manager Zuo stealthily in the washroom on the first floor with the door locked when Ruan Danchen was getting changed in her bedroom, and it made him feel like he was a thief.
The tone and pitch of the voice was altered by the phone itself and the space within the washroom, plus Manager Zou had not regained his consciousness at that moment. He did not recognize the voice and his annoyance grew stronger as he asked, "Who are you?"
"Qi Chenglin, " Qi Chenglin remained expressionless as he answered with a deep voice.
Shivers ran down Manager Zou's spine and he jolted awake in an instance, soaked in cold sweats. The shock sent him tumbling down the bed and Qi Chenglin could even hear a slight "Bang" on the other end of the phone.
"General... general manager, so... sorry, I didn't know it was you who called... I thought it was some kind of harassing phone call... Ah! No, I didn't mean that you're harassing me..." Manager Zou stammered. He was so surprised until his clothes were soaked in sweat and he even ignored the pain from falling onto the ground as he did not expect that it was Qi Chenglin who called him. Jiang Yuan usually was the middleman if any matter arose, so naturally he would not save Qi Chenglin's contact number in his cell phone.
Manager Zou was annoyed at himself and slapped his mouth because his explanation seemed to make things worse.
To be honest, Qi Chenglin was not angry. He merely put on a stern and cold expression to outsiders, with Ruan Danchen as an exception who he would be extremely gentle and affectionate towards her.
He interrupted Manager Zou's messy explanation and said, "Danchen will reach the office earlier today to familiarize herself with the new environment."
Manager Zou snapped out of drowsiness and became clear-minded now. He got up from the floor immediately after hearing the statement and there was no need for Qi Chenglin to explain any further."I'm going to the company now and wait for Madam. I'll arrive earlier than Madam."
Qi Chenglin was satisfied with Manager Zou's statement. Meanwhile, he took a glance at the mirror and tidied up his tie in the washroom before asking calmly, "Did I disturb your rest?"
"..." Manager Zou was helpless.
Qi Chenglin was not angry, but he sure was narrow-minded!
"No, no, I'm about to wake up now, " Manager Zou hurried to the wardrobe and flipped through it to look for his office outfit before saying goodbye to Qi Chenglin and hung up the call.
He did not dare to prolong the call with Qi Chenglin, or else Qi Chenglin would continue to find trouble for him.
Manager Zou finished tidying up himself and got dressed before exiting the bedroom. He went to the kitchen to check if breakfast was ready, and his appearance surprised Mrs. Zou who was preparing breakfast for her husband and their daughter who was studying in junior high school."Why are you up so early today?"
Manager Zou stopped recalling the memory as it brought tears and sadness if he continued going down the memory lane. Now, he faced Ruan Danchen with respect.
Ruan Danchen recognized Manager Zou as he was one of the interviewers who interviewed her, so she greeted him."Good morning, Manager Zou."
Manager Zou put on a wide smile immediately which made his face appeared wrinkled."Ha ha, Miss Ruan, you're here early."
"..." Ruan Danchen felt that Manager Zou had exactly the same expression as Luo Yushu. She could not help but wondered if Qi Chenglin instructed Manager Zou to take care of her as well?
Ruan Danchen felt curious but she did not inquire about it directly and said, "Yes, I want to familiarize myself with the environment. Manager Zou, you can just call me Xiao Ruan. Miss Ruan seems a bit too much, I'll feel stress about that title."
"Ha ha, alright, " Manager Zou nodded and took a peek at the watch."It's still early now, I can't introduce you to the staff now as not all of them are present yet. How about this, I'll bring you to the human resources department and complete your employment registration procedure. All the staff in the design department should arrive by the time your registration is completed."
"Alright, I'm sorry to trouble you, Manager Zou, " Ruan Danchen said. She knew the location of human resources department as she left her contact number the last time she came for interview.
She just did not reject Manager Zou's offer because she wanted to know if he had realized her true identity or not.
"Don't worry, it's not troublesome at all, " Manager Zou smiled and acted especially kind towards her. He appeared benign and uncontentious, unlike how the staff in design department referred him as the "Deadly Comet Reminder Zou".
Manager Zou brought Ruan Danchen to the human resources department. The manager had not arrived yet but there was staff working already.
There were not many staff in the human resources department - one manager and two staff only. However, this kind of work did not require a lot of staff to work on it.
Manager Zou noticed that the manager of human resources department had not arrived yet but he did not bother much about it, at least human resources department manager would not fawn over General Manager Qi's wife. Thus, he asked the female staff who had arrived to start working on Ruan Danchen's employment registration procedure.
Ruan Danchen brought her graduation and bachelor's degree certificate for the registration, and while the female staff was working on it, Manager He from human resources department arrived. She wore a neat office outfit with a bag in her hand when she entered the department.
She noticed Manager Zou standing alongside a woman inside the department, whom she did not recognize initially because she only saw the woman's side view. After she walked towards them and had a closer look at the woman, she rushed forward with her high heels making loud 'click' sounds and said with surprise, "This must be general... Miss Ruan, right?"
Ruan Danchen stared at the human resources department manager who was in her thirties and confirmed her suspicions. Manager He and Manager Zou knew her true identity as Manager He accidentally slipped the information out of her mouth just now.
Ruan Danchen felt awkward right now. She suspected that it was Qi Chenglin who instructed them to take care of her behind her back.
She did not know how to respond to Qi Chenglin's actions now. Initially, he promised her to remain low profile but informed Manager He and Manager Zou silently without telling her.
Ruan Danchen guessed that man, whose efficiency was his code, called a meeting with the cadres from middle to upper management levels and told them everything. Perhaps all of Qilin's cadres from middle to upper management levels knew Ruan Danchen's true identity now.
It was undeniable that despite the fact that Ruan Danchen and Qi Chenglin were not married yet, they possessed tacit understanding like a husband and wife now. Her guess about Qi Chenglin's possible actions was all correct.
Come to think of it, did Qi Chenglin purposely added in extra working position in the design department for Ruan Danchen unlike what Yao Jingfei mentioned last time stating that it was prepared especially for her by Yao Qingzhi?
She had that suspicion last time but she did not give it further thoughts after it was interrupted by Qi Chenglin.
The initial suspicion plus Manager He and Manager Zou's reactions made Ruan Danchen feel like this was the truth. She could not describe her current feelings now. She felt a little funny but at the same time, she felt touched at his actions.
That man feared that she would not want to accept his help so he did all these behind her back and with absolute care and cautious. He wanted to pamper and ingratiate her, but he had to do these without letting her know.
He was a stern and calm man who usually reacted lightly to others, but he racked his brain just for her and even pampered her directly and indirectly. The very thought of his actions warmed and softened her heart.
Qi Chenglin's handsome and elegant face appeared in Ruan Danchen's mind and she could not wave the image away.
Now that Ruan Danchen worked together with Qi Chenglin in the same building in the same company, and he was currently at the twenty-fifth floor, she fought the urge to go up and meet him to give him a kiss for what he did.
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Extra Mini-Scene:
<<Qi Chenglin's Arts and Crafts Workbook 5>>
Qi Chenglin held up the two lumps to chest level and let the whole class witnessed his artworks.
He then introduced his works."The <<Animal Planet>> was explaining about dung beetles pushing dung balls last night, so I made a replica out of it. These two lumps were dung balls rolled by the dung beetles. The big lump was rolled by a bigger dung beetle and the smaller lump was rolled by a smaller dung beetle."
"..." The teacher and all the students were left speechless.
The teacher did not know how to respond to him. He somehow knew he could never have high hopes for the Qi family's siblings to perform their arts and crafts work properly. She recalled that Qi Chengzhi plucked a piece of lotus leaf out of the pond in his parent's housing area and said that he made an umbrella out of this last time! An umbrella!
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