Chapter 210 - Cats And Dogs

"Whoa! This rain is so heavy!"

Fan jie and Risa were standing by the window to look at the traffic down below them.

Risa had both of her arms folded in front of her chest and she scowled at the weather. On the other side, Fan jie had one hand leaned on the window as she tried to peek through the heavy drops. Her face was so close; her nose tips was almost touching the glass.

"Hopefully it will be cleared by tomorrow, else, we will not have any guest attending," she continued mumbling before sighing heavily.

.....

"Miss Yamaguchi, I still can't believe that both you and Xiao Yan are cousins!"

Risa glanced at her, before she scrunched her eyebrows together. With her eyes squinted, she drawled, "What do you mean? Are you saying it because she is pretty and I am not?"

Fan jie raised both hands and waved in front of her in fluster, "N-No.. no no! That's definitely not what I thought about," she hurriedly explained her words, "I mean, it really feels like a small world, that's all."

"And what do you mean you're not pretty? Now that I know both of you are cousins, I can see the resemblance! Two pretty ladies, of course," Fan jie said as she raised both thumbs towards Risa while sending her a wide grin on her face.

Risa nodded, "Yes, that is the right answer. That's good."

Fan jie secretly sighed a relief in her heart. When Risa glared at her just now, she felt that her lifespan had been shaved off by a couple more years.

Touching her forehead to wipe the imaginary sweat, Fan jie lamented the gloomy weather outside. She just wanted to go home to her cats and snuggled around with those cuties.

.·´¯`(>▂<)´¯`·.

"And also," Risa continued to say; startling Fan jie who was still thinking about cuddling with her two cats at home.

"You can just call me Risa. You don't have to keep calling me Miss Yamaguchi," she said before she winked at Fan jie; feeling amused after teasing her.

.....

Their meal arrived around one hour after uncle Huo made the call.

The drenched delivery boy started to take the boxes of pizza, chicken wings and other side orders out of his carrier. Upon smelling the fresh-baked dough scent, the hungry people immediately paused whatever they were doing and began to surround the table. They were getting ready to attack the food.

When the boy was done, he took out the receipt and handed it over to uncle Huo.

When he took it, uncle Huo accidentally touched his fingers and was surprised to find that the boy's fingers were cold.

"Wow! Is it really that cold outside? Boy, join us for a meal here before you set out. The food is more than enough for all of us, and the rain is horrible anyway, " uncle Huo said while putting down his signature on the receipt.

The delivery boy was about to reply, when he suddenly turned around, bent over and sneezed.

"I'm sorry for that," he said after he got back up, "yes, it is that cold. And thank you for the offer, but I have to go back soon. My mother will need me to help with the other orders."

After he said that, the delivery boy quickly excused himself, before he walked briskly towards the elevator.

Suddenly, one of the hungry people started to say, "Alright, alright, let's dig in, everyone!"

One by one, people began to take a paper plate and fill it with food. Shao Yan raised her head to look at the hungry wolves surrounding the table of food. She smiled to herself before burying her head back to typing furiously on her keyboard.

.....

The whole team stayed back until around ten o'clock at night. When Shao Yan returned from the restroom, she saw some of her co-workers were still all gung-ho while talking about tomorrow's event; while others had lost their focus and were playing games with their phones instead.

She glanced at her wrist and was surprised at the time.

"Team, I think that's all for today," and then she turned her head to look at the weather outside.

She was really worried the whole night if this rain would keep pouring until the morning.

Putting on a poker face, she hid all her concerns, and continued, "Everyone can go home now," and then she turned to her left and addressed a small team next to her.

"Morning shift, I will see you back here at eight in the morning. Breakfast team, don't forget your task for tomorrow. It is super important that you do not miss bringing breakfast or you will face the wrath of everyone."

In the midst of everyone's laughter, Shao Yan continued, "The weather is really bad, so use your own judgement. To drive or to not drive, please assess carefully. There are several lounges in the building, so feel free to use them to rest if you decide to wait it out."

"Whoever you send your prayers to, let us all hope that the rain will stop tomorrow, and we will have a sunny day for our event. Good night, everyone!"

.....

Shao Yan went back to her desk to gather all of her stuff, when her phone beeped to alert an incoming message.

She glanced at the name, and saw that it was Li Xiqing.

Shao Yan paused her action, and with her fingers, she started to unlock her phone to read the message.

'It's raining cats and dogs out there. Stay put and don't drive home. It's dangerous.'

Shao Yan read it twice before she picked up the phone and called him.

"Where are you now? Are you also staying back at the office?"

Li Xiqing leaned back on his chair while massaging the bridge of his nose, "Yes, I think I will do that," he turned his head around and looking at the blurry view in front of him.

His hoarse voice rang through her ears, "It's basically a storm out there. Have you eaten?"

Shao Yan nodded unconsciously at his question, "I have. The team ordered some pizza and chicken wings just now. What about you?"

"You sounded so hoarse, don't forget to keep drinking water," she started to nag.

Li Xiqing chuckled with his low voice, he started to say, "I have eaten, and I drink a lot of water, don't worry. Keep warm, alright, don't catch a cold."

Shao Yan went back to sit on her chair, her hand reflexively ran through the wool cardigan that she was wearing. This cardigan was a gift from Li Xiqing before they started dating. It only felt like yesterday where the two of them were still sharing an office building.

"En," she replied, her fingers were brushing the edge of the wool material, "you gave me a cardigan before, remember? I have it here at my desk."

His lips slowly curved into a smile. "Of course I remember," he said as he leaned back to his chair; slightly slouching and leaned his head on the headrest.

Li Xiqing still vividly remembered that day when he began to notice that Shao Yan had always worked over time in the cold office. He was worried that she would get sick. So, Li Xiqing had decided to go to the mall next door, and gotten a jacket for her.

Even then he had known that he wanted to take care of this woman with all his heart.