Lin Chu could not help laughing and thought that this was not very kind of her. She chuckled once more as she glanced at Yan Beicheng and went to apologize to Xu Moyan.
Yan Beicheng had nothing else to do, so he sat in the living room and watched television. He did not change the channel but continued watching the variety show that Xu Moyan was watching.
After a while, Lin Chu came out. She probably had managed to cajole Xu Moyan. Yan Beicheng noticed Xu Moyan sneaking into the bathroom to wash her face and hid inside her bedroom after that.
Lin Chu was really embarra.s.sed. "Next time, you"re not allowed to come in if Moyan is at home. It"s really inconvenient. Moyan now does not dare to even come out now."
Yan Beicheng wanted to tell her it would not be awkward if she followed him to Ding City to stay. However, he thought about the words Lin Chu had said the other day and kept quiet.
About half an hour later, Yan Beicheng went towards the balcony and looked down. Lin Chu followed suit. Not long after, a sports car drove in.
The car door opened some time after it was parked. Lin Yuwen got out of her car and walked towards Cheng Ziming. They could only hear what they were talking about when Lin Yuwen got agitated and raised her voice. Otherwise, they could not tell what it was about. Judging by what they were seeing, both of them were in an argument.
Not long after, Lin Yuwen"s voiced softened under Cheng Ziming"s coaxing. Cheng Ziming was rubbing her tummy as he did so. It looked like they had made up. Both of them then boarded Lin Yuwen"t sportscar and drove off.
Lin Chu was not at all curious about how Cheng Ziming managed to calm her down. He must be spoiling her with something.
Yan Beicheng left after the both of them were gone.
The next day, when Lin Chu work up for work, Cheng Ziming"s car was gone. It must have been towed away last night.
Yan Hui and Yi Lin"s collaboration went smoothly. The end of the year loomed ahead. Companies were already making preparations for their annual meetings. After that, it would be time for employees to go on holiday.
Lin Yi might not a particularly big company but its annual meeting has always been done very well. Wei Zilin was very generous. He would reward his employees every year-end, which was why Lin Yi"s employees were always antic.i.p.ating the annual meetings.
During the day, the Operations Department had sent out a group email confirming that every employee would be going to Hainan to attend this year"s annual meeting. It would also give them their travel benefits along with this trip.
Zheng Yuntong had been excited since receiving the email. She invited Lin Chu out to the mall after lunch to shop for swimsuits.
The mall was near Lin Yi, around ten minutes away from the company. The last time Lin Chu owned a swimsuit was when she was in elementary school. The school had swimming cla.s.ses and had also used a unified design for swimsuits. She had long since outgrown it.
Besides, B City was a city located inland, so there was no sea nearby. If one wanted to keep fit by swimming, they would have to go to the natatorium. Lin Chu was not an active person. When she was dating Cheng Ziming, she would visit the Cheng family whenever she had the time to. After they broke up, she stayed at home most of the time. Now that she was with Yan Beicheng, there was even less time for herself, so there was no opportunity for her to buy a swimsuit.
After some consideration, she thought it was time to get a new one. So, she had a simple lunch with Zheng Yuntong in the afternoon and headed to the mall after.
Zheng Yuntong"s choice of swimsuit was quite cute. It was a two-piece ensemble. The bottom part was a little skirt with ruffles. The skirt was not too long, so you could still see the pants part of it. The top part of her ensemble had ruffles as well. It was not conservative, but it was not overly revealing either.
Lin Chu did not pick a one-piece ensemble. She was not that conservative until she could not accept a bikini either. In the end, she chose a bandeau style swimsuit. The slit for the bottom part was not too high and looked safe. Bandeau style might not be s.e.xy, but it was not dull either.
After some thought, she picked a half-transparent smock with the length up to her thigh. She would feel more comfortable if she wore that at the seaside.
When Yan Beicheng picked up Lin Chu after work at night, he spotted the shopping bag with the mall"s logo in her hands when she got into the car. He casually asked, "What did you buy?"
Lin Chu placed the shopping bag at the back of the car and buckled up as she replied, "Our company"s annual meeting will be held at Hainan this year. I went to the mall with my colleague this afternoon to buy a set of swimsuit and a smock."
Yan Beicheng did not say anything but sneaked a look to the back from the corner of his eye. He really wanted to see it.
"How about wearing it and taking a picture for me when you get back later?" Yan Beicheng said with antic.i.p.ation.
When he stopped at a red light, he could not help seizing Lin Chu up. He did not bother to be discreet about it. "What style did you pick?"
Lin Chu went numb in the head at his antics. "It"s… It"s ordinary. It"s not really revealing. I"ll take a picture for you at the seaside when I"m at Hainan."
"I"d like to see it in person." Yan Beicheng reached out to hold her hand. He was itching to open the bag to take a look.
"In person… We can talk about it in the future!" Lin Chu said. She did not plan to wear it specifically for him to see.
It was embarra.s.sing to even let him see her in it via a screen, let alone a picture.
Lin Chu was about to reach into her shopping bag after they arrived at her house that night when Yan Beicheng"s long arms reached out as well. His actions were not too quick. He was rather calm and elegant about it, but he still had his hands on the shopping bag before her since his arms were longer.
His perfectly slender fingers pinched the bag. Lin Chu felt nervous for no reason and felt her face burning.
Yan Beicheng"s nice-looking dark eyes glanced at her. "If you"re not wearing it for me, at least let me take a look at the swimsuit."
Lin Chu"s face continued to burn. She was not able to stop him and could only watch as he reached into the shopping bag to take out the swimsuit. Both the top and bottom were held between Yan Beicheng"s slender fingers. It felt like he was pinching her bra and underwear, which made Lin Chu too embarra.s.sed to even look at them.
She closed her eyes and s.n.a.t.c.hed them back. She threw them into the shopping bag and hugged it in her arms.
Yan Beicheng looked soulfully at her. "You"re planning to wear this?"
"It"s… It"s pretty okay," Lin Chu said with guilt.
She had really thought that this swimsuit looked normal. A travel hotspot like Hainan was not the only location where girls were audacious with their swimsuits, they were even wearing them this way in ordinary natatoriums. Not many people wore one-piece suits anymore, not even children.
When she went swimsuit shopping with Zheng Yuntong this afternoon, she even supported Zheng Yuntong who said her niece had quite a few sets of bikinis.
Yan Beicheng did not feel good about it. Many men"s eyeb.a.l.l.s would be taking advantage of this ensemble.
He spared Lin Chu a glance "If there was an opportunity, would you wear it for me?"
Lin Chu felt that there was some hidden meaning in his words. She hesitated before nodding. "Okay."
The company had booked an entire flight for the day they were leaving for Hainan. Lin Yi"s employees were told to gather at the airport.
Zheng Yuntong was especially excited because when the Operations Department was arranging the hotel, they had placed Zheng Yuntong and Lin Chu into the same room. This had made Zheng Yuntong look forward to the trip even more.
She felt that she got along well with Lin Chu.
After Lin Chu checked-in her luggage, she spotted Zheng Yuntong carrying a big bag.
Zheng Yuntong explained as Lin Chu gave her a doubtful look. "It"s a long flight to Hainan. I have to bring along my neck pillow, blanket, and any other essentials so I can sleep comfortably on the plane."
Lin Chu did not have much experience with traveling. The Lin family never took her along for holidays, and her university days were spent working part-time for her school fees and living costs. She did not have the money for a holiday.
To be honest, it was her first time taking a plane, so she did not bring anything as Yuntong did.
However, she was someone who took things as they came. She was able to adapt to any condition, so she did not worry much.
On the plane, the moment she and Zheng Yuntong found their seats, Zheng Yuntong had already taken out her equipment and snuggled in comfortably under her blanket and neck pillow.
It did look comfortable to Lin Chu.
"Urm… Lin Chu." A male voice sounded from above her. It was not especially familiar.
Lin Chu looked up to see a colleague from the Operations Department. She remembered his name was Luo Jinfeng. She had been in Lin Yi for a while now and had remembered most of the names of her colleagues in the company.
"Brother Luo," Lin Chu called out politely. There were many people walking about on the plane and her colleagues are still boarding the plane. It was not convenient for her to stand up.
Any colleague older than one in the company was politely referred to as "brother" or "sister" in addition to their names. Everyone had called him this, so Lin Chu followed suit.
"I see that you didn"t prepare anything for yourself. It"s going to be a long plane ride. You can have mine." Luo Jinfeng said. Lin Chu saw him take out a bag that has not been opened yet. There were four items for travel.
Blanket, earplugs neck pillow, and an eye mask.
"I haven"t used them before. They"re all new and haven"t been opened. They"re clean." Luo Jinfeng was worried that Lin Chu would not want it and quickly explained.
Lin Chu was taken aback as she looked at Luo Jinfeng. She did not know him well. All she knew was that Luo Jinfeng was two or three years older than her. They would occasionally chat, but never for too long.
She did not have to be narcissistic or slow to guess that Luo Jinfeng might have a crush on her. She did not want him to have any expectations of her, so Lin Chu shook her head. "I"m okay. I don"t feel uncomfortable. Besides, it won"t be nice of me to hog something you bought. Do keep them for your own use, Brother Luo."
Luo Jinfeng blushed. "I"m a man, I can make do. We… We"re colleagues. There"s no need to stand on ceremony with me."
His words made Lin Chu even more reluctant to accept it. She was thinking about how to reject him without embarra.s.sing him when Shen Zongyi came over with another male colleague.
This male colleague had a big box with him. There were boxes of the four essential travel items. Shen Zongyi took out a box for Lin Chu. Although Zheng Yuntong had brought hers along, these were purchased according to the number of employees on the plane, so Shen Zongyi gave Zheng Yuntong her box as well.
"This is given out by the company for everyone to use during the journey," Shen Zongyi said as he glanced at Luo Jinfeng without a smile. Luo Jinfeng placed his things away in embarra.s.sment. It was quite awkward to continue standing there.
Lin Chu quickly said, "Thanks, Brother Luo. I"ve already got mine. You can keep yours for yourself."
Luo Jinfeng could only nod and take back his things.
Lin Chu saw Shen Zongyi looking over. There may not be an expression on his face but Lin Chu could almost see the words "You"re welcome" imprinted on his face.
Lin Chu remained silent.
After Luo Jinfeng left, Zheng Yuntong leaned over to her secretly and made a face. "Is he wooing you?"
Lin Chu was a little embarra.s.sed. "Maybe. But I"ve never really had much contact with him."
"He seems nice. Quite good looking too." Zheng Yuntong covered her mouth as she laughed.
"I"ve already got a boyfriend," Lin Chu told her honestly without giving any excuses.
"Really? Wow, you"re good. I"ve never heard you mention anything about it." Zheng Yuntong"s eyes lit up with excitement as she poked her a few times.
"Well, no one asked me. There"s no reason for me to announce, right? It would be so annoying to do so." Lin Chu smiled.
Zheng Yuntong was very curious. "What does your boyfriend look like? Is there a picture of him?"
This made Lin Chu realize that she had never taken a picture with Yan Beicheng before. She shook her head honestly. "I don"t have one."
Zheng Yuntong did not seem to believe her, so Lin Chu pushed her phone into Zheng Yuntong"s hands. "You can search my phone if you don"t believe me."
Zheng Yuntong quickly returned the phone to her. "I believe you, I do."
As for what Lin Chu"s boyfriend worked as and how his family was like, Zheng Yuntong did not ask in detail. It would be uncomfortable to ask too many personal questions. Besides, Lin Chu was still new to Lin Yi, no one had the opportunity to find out about each other"s private lives.
Luo Jinfeng had returned to his seat. His colleagues patted his shoulder to console him. "It"s okay. There will always be another chance."
Lin Chu was not aware of what had happened with Luo Jinfeng then. She heard her phone vibrated and turned it on. There were a few new messages in WeChat.
She clicked into the application and saw that the 8x8 is 64 group chat was in a heated discussion.
This was the group that she was pulled into after meeting Yan Beicheng"s friends and exchanging numbers with them.
She went into the group and saw that the first message was posted by Wei Zilin. "Yan Beicheng, Yan Beicheng, there"s a young man in our company trying to go after Lin Chu."
Lin Chu was speechless.
Yan Beicheng then replied, "Add in a rule for your company to ban office romances."
Wei Zilin did not know what to say.
Lin Chu was thinking about how someone as mature and calm as Wei Zilin could turn out to be a gossip.
However, Wei Zilin was seated in business cla.s.s, so she could not see him anyway.
As she was thinking about this, her phone rang.
Lin Chu looked down and saw that the call was from Yan Beicheng. There was still time before the plane departed, so Lin Chu headed towards where the air stewardesses took their rest behind.
The flight was entirely booked. One plane was not enough to fit all of Lin Yi"s employees, and they needed three planes. Not every plane was full. The back of the plane was empty and none of the employees sat there.
Lin Chu picked up her call at the back of the plane in relief. Yan Beicheng"s rich and deep voice could be heard from the other end. "Why didn"t you mention anything about someone wooing you in the company?"
"I"ve only just found out today. I rarely spoke to him and I didn"t act too familiar with him. Besides, he could"ve just been kind." Lin Chu lowered her head and said quietly. She could not help but scratch the table in front of her.
She heard Yan Beicheng snort in disbelief.
"This is such a small matter. You actually thought it"s worth a phone call," Lin Chu blushed as she said.
Lin Chu"s mouth curved up in a smile at how nervous he was.
"Someone is after my future wife," Yan Beicheng said in a matter-of-fact tone that made Lin Chu"s face burn furiously.
"Aren"t you busy?" Lin Chu did not know how to reply to him so she quickly changed the topic.
She heard Yan Beicheng"s laugh lightly. It sounded deep and hoa.r.s.e, melodious as usual. His light laugh was never loud. It sounded like jade pearls falling on a jade plate, bouncing in the plate lightly and elegantly. The crisp and melodious sound stuck to the plate. One could only hear it if they listened to it next to their ear. It was a nice sound but a small one as well. The smaller the sound, the more one would like to hear. It seduced you slowly by pulling on your heartstrings.
His light laugh which pulls on one"s heartstrings could be heard over the phone. It stuck to her ear and was ticking it until it went red.
"Today"s not too bad. I"m not that busy," Yan Beicheng said from his car. Shao Huai was driving while Zuo Qiu was in the pa.s.senger seat.
Yan Beicheng looked out the window. The airport was just some distance away in front.
He rolled down the window and let the wind blew in. He spoke into the wind, "Will you miss me while you"re away these few days?"
Lin Chu moved to the furthest seat she could find next to the window. She looked around and made sure there was no one before replying quietly, "I"ll be fine with it."
She could not hear Yan Beicheng"s voice after that. Lin Chu felt a little guilty and said slowly, "Are you still there?"
"Nope," Yan Beicheng replied coldly. He was not happy.
Lin Chu remained silent.
"Are you mad?" Lin Chu tested the waters with the question, her head resting against the window.
"Nope. I"m hanging up if there"s nothing else," Yan Beicheng replied coldly and hung up.
Lin Chu was taken aback. She could not believe that he actually hung up so decisively. This was the first time he had hung up first.
All this time, he had insisted that she hang up before he did. It had been like this every day.
Lin Chu looked at her phone, feeling a little angry. She pouted and mumbled, "That"s so petty of him!"
However, she thought about Yan Beicheng"s silence just now and decided to hold her temper and call back.
She had no idea how other couples were in their relations.h.i.+p. At the very least, they would not be like her where the tables seemed to be turned!
It was Yan Beicheng who was the petty one every single time, and she always had to be the one to coax him.
Yan Beicheng regretted the moment he hung up in a temper. He had promised her not so long ago that he would not do this and yet here he did it again.
He pressed his thin lips together. He wanted to call her back, but he had just clicked into his contacts when Lin Chu called him back.
Yan Beicheng"s lips curved upwards bit by bit. His gloomy mood had brightened at once.
Yan Beicheng picked up the call and said before Lin Chu had a chance to say anything, "I was wrong."
Lin Chu was stunned. She called to coax him, right? How come he was the one apologizing? "What?"
"I"m sorry for losing my temper at you. I wasn"t happy because you won"t listen to me." Yan Beicheng tried his best to get as close to the window as possible so his voice would disappear with the wind. This way, Zuo Qiu and Shao Huai would not be able to hear him.
Lin Chu"s temper melted away. She realized that this man was very meticulous when it came to anything that had to do with their relations.h.i.+p.
"I was only playing around with you," Lin Chu said quietly. Her ears burned red and quivered because she was too nervous.
Her head was almost buried into the corner between the seat and window. "I would be sure, very sure to miss you."
She heard Yan Biecheng"s light laughter as he said, "If there are any young men trying to get close to you, don"t be nice to them."
"I know," Lin Chu replied red-faced. How popular did he really think she was?
She thought she heard low laughter coming from Yan Beicheng"s end, but it was not Yan Beicheng"s voice. "There"s someone next to you?"
"Yup, I"m in the car with Shao Huai and Zuo Qiu," said Yan Beicheng.
Lin Chu was embarra.s.sed. Those two had heard what she said!
"The plane is about to depart. I… I"m turning off the phone. I"m hanging up." Lin Chu was so embarra.s.sed that her hands were shaking.
"Wait. Give me a call when you get off the plane," Yan Beicheng said.
He seemed to have thought about something then. "Forget it, I won"t be able to pick up at that time. Remember to send me a message or WeChat me."