CH 63

“Who usually stays here?” Ning Xi opened the fridge. It was filled to the brim, and the milk that she usually drank was stacked neatly in a row.

“Sometimes I’ll stay here. Every week, a part-time cleaner will come and housekeep the place.” Chang Shi Gui took off his blazer, then folded the sleeves of his shirt and said, “I’ll cook. You can rest there for a while.”

“Ning Xi saw the dark shadows under his eyes, and followed him into the kitchen. When Chang Shi Gui saw her enter, he put on his apron and smiled at her. “It’ll be ready soon. If you are bored, you can watch some TV.”

The man, dressed in a white shirt and long pants, looked incredibly sexier with the apron on. Ning Xi walked to the sink and started pulling apart a bunch of vegetables. “Let’s do it together.”

Chang Shi Gui glanced at the hand that was holding the vegetables. This hand was white and smooth, and even the leafy greens in her hands looked extremely fresh. The water droplets slid down the back of her hand, and he suddenly felt his throat tighten. “Sure.”

Chang Shi Gui’s heart trembled the moment he spoke. He had never known that his voice could sound so …. Weird.

Ning Xi did not notice anything unusual about him. She expertly picked out the good vegetables and washed them. “Weren’t you on a business trip? How did you manage to return so quickly?”

After washing the rice grains and adding the water, Chang Shi Gui placed the pot of rice into the rice cooker and pressed the start button. “The discussion went smoothly, so I managed to bring forward my return.”

He had just closed his discussion when he heard that there were people slandering Ning Xi online. Immediately, he got his secretary to book a return flight, and rushed back overnight.

It was only when he saw that Ning Xi was well and was accompanied by the crew on set, seemingly not affected by the comments, that he could finally relax.

“Did anyone tell you that if you do anything for your lover, you must tell her, or you'll be at a disadvantage?” Ning Xi placed the washed greens into a basket, then turned and looked at Chang Shi Gui, who was looking down at the ginger that he was slicing. “If you don't tell me, how would I know how much you gave up for me?”

Chang Shi Gui was skillful with the knife; the ginger was evenly sliced. He wasn’t aware that Ning Xi was looking at him from behind. "I want to treat you well, but it’s not because I want you to repay me for it. So why would it matter whether you know it or not? Besides, I didn’t manage to do anything for you.”

“You silly man.”

A pair of warm and soft arms encircled his waist. He could feel Ning Xi’s face leaning onto his back. The chopping motions stopped suddenly, and the ginger suddenly had some unevenly-cut slices

“You’re the strong President that can shake the financial world, but why are you so silly during such moments?” Ning Xi wanted to laugh, but she could feel tears well up in her eyes, rendering her silent.

The man she was leaning on didn’t have a habit of using cologne, so his clothes only had a faint detergent scent. However, Ning Xi felt that this smell calmed her down.

Chang Shi Gui put down his knife. He wanted to hold the hand that was on his waist, but he worried that her hand would be stained with the ginger juice too, so he could only awkwardly put his hand down.

“Shi Gui, thank you.” Ning Xi said in a low voice. “It’s really great to have you in my life.”

The grip around his waist tightened. Chang Shi Gui could not hold himself back anymore; he turned and pulled Ning Xi into a tight embrace.

She might not know this, but to him, having the opportunity to meet her again was the greatest surprise of his life. He looked at the lady in his arms, then lowered his head and kissed her soft lips.

The temperature in the kitchen rose, as the air was increasingly filled with an amorous scent.

After two in the afternoon, Ning Xi and Chang Shi Gui finally placed their lunch on the table. Chang Shi Gui was a good cook, and even though the dishes were simple and homely ones, they tasted good.

After their meal, Ning Xi got up to wash the dishes, but was stopped by Chang Shi Gui. “Washing the dishes will hurt your hands. I’ll take care of these things.”

He might not know the difference between the various types of female cosmetics, but he had at least heard of a saying that a woman’s hands were their second face.

Ning Xi looked at her own hands, then looked at Chang Shi Gui, who had already started picking up the bowls and cutlery. She smiled lightly, “Shi Gui, let me tell you a secret.”

Chang Shi Gui looked at Ning Xi curiously, the bowls still in his hands.

Ning Xi said, “I must have saved the world in my past life.”

Chang Shi Gui was puzzled.

It was said that three years would be sufficient to form a generation gap. It turned out that the generation gap between Ning Xi and himself was so wide that he didn’t understand what she meant at all.

Looking at his lost expression, Ning Xi didn’t explain further. She simply smiled widely and pushed him into the kitchen, saying, “Go wash the dishes, then take a rest after that.”

She leaned by the doorframe and watched as Chang Shi Gui did the dishes, taking in the sight of him from top to toe.

A handsome man would look good no matter what he was doing. Even if he was standing by the sink washing a pile of oily bowls, he still looked exceptionally charming and sexy.

After he was done with the dishes and had cleaned up the kitchen, Chang Shi Gui cleaned his hands. Turning around, he saw Ning Xi smiling at him, and he started to feel around his face in doubt. “Is there anything wrong?”

Ning Xi shook her head, then said, “Show me around the house.”

It was only then that Chang Shi Gui realized that he hadn’t even shown Ning Xi to her room. He hastily removed his apron, and brought Ning Xi upstairs.

Even though this was a bungalow, it didn’t have an especially large surface area; the lawn outside actually took up half the space. On the second floor, there were a total of four rooms - two bedrooms, a study, and a gym.

"I didn’t know what kind of design you'd like your room to be, so I got them to just replace the bedsheets and curtains.” Chang Shi Gui opened up the room beside the master bedroom. The interior was furnished simply. There was a vase by the corner of the room, with a bouquet of Casa Blancas placed in it.

“It’s beautiful.” She stepped on the soft carpet and smiled. “I like it a lot.”

“I’m happy to hear that.” Chang Shi Gui then handed over the car keys, door cards, room cards, and the computer passwords to Ning Xi. “I hope that you’ll treat yourself as the owner of this place.”

Ning Xi smiled and looked at Chang Shi Gui, then said after a pause, “I will.” She turned and looked at the blossoming flowers, then massaged her temples. “I’m quite sleepy, so I’ll take a nap first. You should also take a rest.”

Seeing that Ning Xi was tired, Chang Shi Gui couldn’t bear to disturb her further. “You can nap first. I’ll just be next door, so you can call me anytime.”

Ning Xi nodded, then pushed him out of the room. “Rest well, I’ll see you tonight.”

In actual fact, when he was on the way back, he had thought about bringing Ning Xi back to his family home. However, when he thought about how Ning Xi hadn’t met his mother before, he became worried that she might feel uncomfortable, hence he brought her here.

This house was actually the final gift from his father before he passed away. Even though he didn’t stay here everyday, he would at least spend some days here each month.

There were many properties under his name. Yet, he felt that if he brought Ning Xi elsewhere, it would be an insult to her. Only this place, or his family home, was worthy of her.

==========

In the Chang family home, Tao Huixue was having afternoon tea under the wisteria tree. When she heard from the butler that her son would temporarily be staying at the house in Dongyang Road, she was startled for a moment, but quickly recovered and smiled. “That’s a suitable place.”

She looked at the jewelry pamphlet in her hands, then sighed as she placed her teacup on the table. It appears that she won’t be able to meet her son’s beloved today.

==========

Wei Donglai had been presented with an unprecedented crisis. Within a few hours, his partners all over the country had called to terminate their contracts with him. Even a portion of his regular clients had also expressed their intention to end their working relationship.

After numerous calls, Wei Donglai tiredly downed a shot of bitter coffee into his mouth. He asked his secretary in a hoarse voice, “Li Hao, what happened?”

Li Hao placed another termination order on his table, then pushed his spectacles up his nose. “Boss, you should take a look at what happened online.”

Wei Donglai saw the uneasy expression on Li Hao’s face, and just when he got online, a notification on the bottom right of his screen popped up.

After reading the notification, Wei Donglai’s hand, which was still on the mouse, trembled. He took a while to swallow the raging emotions within, as he said, “Immediately contact someone from Ning Xi’s side. No matter the cost, Ning Xi has to forgive Siqi.”

“Boss, I can’t get in touch with Ning Xi’s manager now. The PR department in Jiuji has been evasive; it’s clear that they don’t want to let us contact Miss Ning.” Li Hao replied flatly, as if the one who was in trouble wasn’t his boss’ family.

Wei Donglai was extremely anxious about the situation, so he didn’t notice how unusual Li Hao’s reaction had been. “What does Ning Xi’s side want?”

Li Hao placed his resignation letter in front of Wei Donglai, “Boss, thanks for your help over the years.”

“What do you mean by this?” Wei Donglai didn’t expect that his assistant would suddenly quit. He looked at Li Hao in bewilderment, trying to extract an answer out of him.

“Boss, you might not know this, but I have a younger sister. She has been innocent and cute since young, but because she was ostracized and bullied in school, she fell into depression.” Li Hao lowered his face, hiding his emotions. “Three years ago, she started having suicidal thoughts. The family didn’t know of it at first, and if it weren’t for Miss Ning, who had found the comments she made online, and persuaded her against it in time, I might have lost this sister already.”

Wei Donglai looked at Li Hao in shock, then said slowly. “No wonder when Siqi was making trouble on the set, your attitude had been so weird.”

“Everyone has a baseline. Miss Ning is the benefactor of my entire family, so I can’t convince myself to stay on in this company.” Li Hao bowed towards Wei Donglai and said, “I’m really sorry, boss.”

“I understand …”

Wei Donglai took the resignation letter and signed his name on it.

After Li Hao received his letter, he turned back to Wei Donglai on the way out. “Boss, if you don’t rein in Miss Wei, your whole family might be in trouble. Miss Ning is currently attached to Chang Shi Gui."

Chang Shi Gui?!

The colour drained from Wei Donglai’s face. No wonder there were so many people who wanted to terminate their partnership. This was exactly the reason.

Chang Enterprises. This was Chang Enterprises they were talking about. What did their family have that they could use to compete with Chang Enterprises?

He remained motionless for a while, then slowly picked up his phone and dialed his sister’s number. No matter what, Siqi needed to apologize publicly to Ning Xi, or their family wouldn’t be able to bear the aftermath.

What Wei Donglai was unaware of, was that at this very moment, his good younger sister had already dropped another bomb online.

Qiqi: Ning Xi doesn’t truly like you, she’s just making use of your feelings! @Chang Shi Gui