Liu Jinfei was a bit startled by it. Had Shen Lingqing dozed off from exhaustion?
The small window in the kitchen finally allowed some light to stream inside once the dark cloud pa.s.sed the moon. With the soft glow of the moonlight on Shen Lingqing’s face, Liu Jinfei found her asleep, not budging from her seat.
Up close, he noticed how smooth and fair her skin was. No, she was not pale, as that was not good for a person; Shen Lingqing had a healthy glow, after all. Her thick eyelashes touched the smooth skin of her slightly flushed cheeks while she exhaled a warm breath from her slightly parted lips.
Liu Jinfei didn’t have the heart to disturb her, but if Shen Lingqing wasn’t bothered at all with their sudden situation, he supposed that she trusted Qiao Lian that much. He checked the time on his wrist.w.a.tch and saw that it was already past quarter to one in the morning.
If Shen Lingqing was right, Qiao Lian should notice that she was missing in the next hour. This left them no other choice but to wait for Qiao Lian’s return.
Only the sound of Shen Lingqing’s slow breathing could be heard between them, while Liu Jinfei remained silent, watching after her. He was then briefly reminded of Yang Fangjin’s question: if he was attracted to Shen Lingqing.
Liu Jinfei wasn’t sure if he had an answer to that. While it was true that Shen Lingqing was beautiful, she was more than that.
He hadn’t met any woman nor a person who was willing to go to such an extent to help him with his predicament. Moreover, even if she tended to be overbearing at times, Shen Lingqing only wanted to lessen the mistakes they would need to deal with just in case.
Since it was true that their Director Shen was a beautiful and outstanding woman, wasn’t that a given already? He didn’t think any decent and sane man wouldn’t find Shen Lingqing attractive. They must be blind if they thought otherwise.
Unlike the other heiresses he had met in the past, Shen Lingqing’s interest was not spending her parents’ money, but making her own. That set her apart from other pompous young misses of the other wealthy families. Liu Jinfei noticed that she was an introvert and rarely talked to anyone unless it was needed.
Twenty minutes had pa.s.sed, but there was still no Qiao Lian who came to rescue them. Shen Lingqing hadn’t moved—even an inch—from where she was seated, while Liu Jinfei remained silent, not daring to disturb her.
If it wasn’t for the sound he heard at the front door of the restaurant, Liu Jinfei wouldn’t rush silently outside to see if it was Qiao Lian.
“Miss Qiao, is that you?” He asked when he heard someone fiddling on the lock of the steel sliding shutter outside.
“Chef Liu? Oh, my G.o.d! I’m so sorry! I didn’t know you were still there. Is Qingqing with you?” Liu Jinfei heard Qiao Lian’s panicking voice outside. “Hurry, Chef Yang. We can’t let them freeze to death inside!”
Ah, so she dragged Yang Fangjin to help her. Liu Jinfei realized.
“It’s okay, Miss Qiao. There’s a power outage, but Director Shen a.s.sured me the backup generator would be up soon.
“Yes, that’s right.” Qiao Lian agreed with him.
“Is she alright?” She asked again. It was clear she wouldn’t be able to calm down until she saw Shen Lingqing with her own eyes.
“En. She dozed off, though, but she’s fine.”
“Miss Qiao, can you please give me a hand here?” He heard Yang Fangjin outside. “I need a little push to force the sliding shutter up.
“Of course,” Qiao Lian replied and rushed to hold the other end of the steel shutter. She managed to push it up with Yang Fangjin’s help.
Liu Jinfei then saw the two standing outside, already s.h.i.+vering in their sleepwear and with their coats protecting them from the cold.
Qiao Lian then hurriedly slid the key into the lock of the front door and pushed it open.
“Where is she?” She demanded.
“She’s seated right there.” Liu Jinfei pointed her in the direction where he left Shen Lingqing.
“Something happened?” Yang Fangjin gave him that same teasing look.
“No.” Liu Jinfei turned around to follow Qiao Lian. “You are thinking too much.”
“Am I?” The younger chef asked in return. “There’s no need to deny it. I’m sure everyone would understand. She’s a likable person if one could see past her cold persona.”
Liu Jinfei had no response for that. Instead, his eyes remained on Shen Lingqing who finally woke up from her short slumber when Qiao Lian tapped her shoulder.
“Whether I like Director Shen or not, it’s none of your business,” he finally replied, catching the younger man off-guard.
So what if he liked Shen Lingqing? So what if he was smitten by a devil? How could he not like Shen Lingqing when she managed to get under his skin without him noticing it?
Yang Fangjin recovered from his shock and smirked at Liu Jinfei. Oh, well, it’s not nice teasing him anymore if Liu Jinfei was like this.
Shen Lingqing stood up with the help of Qiao Lian as she tried to blink away her sleepiness.
“Why didn’t you tell me you aren’t feeling good? Are you trying to scare me to death, Qingqing?” Qiao Lian scowled at Shen Lingqing once she realized that the latter had a slight fever.
“It will go away, Lian. Come on. Let’s go.” Shen Lingqing nudged her to move.
“Director Shen, are you sick?” Liu Jinfei asked in surprise. How come he didn’t realize that Shen Lingqing was running a fever earlier?
“Urgh, can you all stop nagging me? It’s not like it’s serious.” Shen Lingqing rubbed her temple and allowed her a.s.sistant to lead her outside. She s.h.i.+vered from the coldness that hit her, only to find Liu Jinfei putting his own coat on her to keep her warm.