Chapter 392: Chapter 354: Just Come to My House and See
After Gu Qili finished speaking, Mu Shuoqian was the first to gently clap, and the others immediately followed with thunderous applause.
He was busy, and she didn’t want to bother him, but to her surprise, he had still been paying attention to her amidst his busy schedule.
Gu Qili sneakily glanced at Mu Shuoqian several times, her lips perpetually curved in a smile.
Just then, Mu Shuoqian was also looking at her. Their gazes collided mid-air, and she shyly used lip language to say to him, "Thank you."
Mu Shuoqian tilted the corner of his mouth and walked straight over, pulling her to a secluded place.
"Mu Shuoqian, what are you doing? I’m still busy."
"Just a verbal thank you?" Mu Shuoqian dominantly pushed her against the wall, his solid frame pressing against her and his enchanting gaze making her cheeks burn red. She couldn’t help but look around, the conference hall was bustling and anyone might see them.
"Let’s talk tonight." Reynolds’ first task for her was desensitization treatment. That experience was truly agonizing; daily injections, breaking out in rashes with each attempt, it took almost half a year of treatment before her alcohol allergy gradually improved. Now, she no longer had allergic reactions to alcohol, as A.V. said, a person that can’t taste wine will never understand it.
"Miss Gu, what is this wine?" He licked her lips and asked with interest.
Gu Qili didn’t want to engage with him and pushed him slightly: "I won’t tell you."
Mu Shuoqian chuckled softly twice and didn’t continue to tease her, "Let’s go, I’ll go with you."
Back in the hall, Mu Shuoqian looked around, "Where is Nan Zhan?"
"Don’t know." Zhuo Yanbei was bored, munching on the pastry in his hand, "Brother, shall we go for a couple of rounds later?"
"Day after tomorrow. This pastry is quite tasty, later I’ll ask Qili who made it."
"Why is Bai Chengxi also not here?"
Zhuo Yanbei’s mouth was full: "Went to make a call."
Bai Chengxi stood by the vineyard outside, looking at the neat grape trellises in front of him, leaning on the wooden railing behind him as he spoke.
"What time do you finish work today?"
"Might have to work overtime..." Zhuo Yuqing paused after saying that, his breathing steady, yet making her feel a bit guilty, "I’ll try to finish as quickly as possible."
"Hmm, try to come home early."
"Got it." Zhuo Yuqing hung up the phone, staring blankly as the screen went dark. Since registering their marriage with Bai Chengxi, he had moved her into his villa, yet they live in separate rooms, he comes back very late at night, and when she leaves for work in the morning he’s still not awake, so in reality, they don’t see each other that often.
Today, he took the initiative to call her to come home early, and she felt somewhat unaccustomed. To be precise, she didn’t know how to interact with him.
"Sister Liu." Zhuo Yuqing found the work in front of her wasn’t progressing at all, she moved her chair to the side, leaning over to the next desk: "Do you know how to cook?"
"Yes." Sister Liu said with a smile, "Want to learn cooking?"
"Nothing too difficult, just a few home-cooked dishes will do." Zhuo Yuqing thought since she was already married to Bai Chengxi, they were supposed to live together. Though there were no feelings now, they couldn’t act like they weren’t married.
Zhuo Yuqing learned a few dishes from Sister Liu and carefully noted them down.
After work, she completed a few urgent tasks and then went home. Bai Chengxi’s villa was not far from the magazine company, and it only took her half an hour to commute by bus.
There was a maid at home who had been working there for six years, Zhuo Yuqing called her Aunt Tian.
"Madam, you came back quite early today." Aunt Tian chuckled as she took her bag.
"Hmm, has Bai Chengxi not returned yet?" Zhuo Yuqing peered into the house, thinking he would have arrived before her.
"Master isn’t back yet, Madam, what would you like for dinner? I’ll go make it."
"Aunt Tian, let me cook tonight." Zhuo Yuqing walked to the refrigerator, "Do we have tomatoes and eggs?"
"Yes, we do." Aunt Tian asked with a smile, "Madam, are you planning to cook personally for master?"
Zhuo Yuqing was embarrassed by Aunt Tian’s question, her cheeks flushing with a hint of red. She had always been pampered from childhood, never having to lift a finger, and she honestly wasn’t too confident in her cooking skills.
"Aunt Tian, please guide me a bit more."
"Of course." Aunt Tian helped take out the ingredients and was about to wash them when Zhuo Yuqing quickly said, "Aunt Tian, I can wash them myself."
It was her first time cooking a meal by herself, and she wanted to be involved in every step.
Aunt Tian laughed as she put the tomatoes into the sink: "Sir will definitely be delighted if he knows that the lady is cooking personally."
Aunt Tian had been working here for six years and had never seen Bai Chengxi bring any woman home. The large villa was always cold and deserted. The Bai Family had only this son; not to mention how worried Mrs. Bai was, even she, as a housemaid, fretted endlessly. Unfortunately, Bai Chengxi never cared about marriage, and was even too lazy to find a girlfriend, which often lead Mrs. Bai to bring a rope over, making a scene by crying, creating a fuss, or threatening to hang herself.
Aunt Tian didn’t know whether Bai Chengxi was forced by his family to find a wife reluctantly, or if he had genuinely developed feelings for Miss Zhuo, but seeing Miss Zhuo care for him so sincerely, Aunt Tian naturally felt happy too.
Zhuo Yuqing was really untalented when it came to cooking—either forgetting this or that. Sister Liu said that scrambled eggs with tomatoes is the simplest dish, yet she couldn’t even handle the simplest.
After bustling around for quite a while, and getting herself covered in the smell of grease, not to mention scalding the back of her hand with splashing oil and forming a blister.
Aunt Tian hurriedly went to get some ointment for her, applying it while feeling pity: "If sir sees this, he definitely won’t let the lady into the kitchen again."
Zhuo Yuqing laughed it off: "This injury isn’t a big deal, Aunt Tian, how about this time?"
Aunt Tian looked into the pan, while the appearance wasn’t so appealing, the smell was quite good; it was the best dish she had made that evening.
"Not bad."
"Then I’ll dish it out."
Zhuo Yuqing dished out the food joyfully and then proceeded to make a cold dish.
After setting the table, she went to the cupboard to pick a bottle of wine, hesitating over which one to choose, she eventually had to ask Aunt Tian for help: "Aunt Tian, what kind of wine does Bai Chengxi like?"
"Sir likes strong liquor."
"How about this bottle?"
"It’s fine."
After everything was ready, Zhuo Yuqing checked the time; it was already past seven, Bai Chengxi should be coming home soon. Bored, she then went to watch television in the living room.
Soon, her phone rang, Bai Chengxi’s number showed up, so she put down the orange in her hand and answered.
"Hello."
"Are you home yet?" Bai Chengxi was somewhere noisy, with a lot of people talking in the background.
"What?" Zhuo Yuqing didn’t catch that.
He moved to a quieter spot before saying again: "Are you home yet?"
"Yes, I’m back."
"I might be a bit late. I’m playing a few rounds of Mahjong with friends, no need to wait for me."
Hearing him say this, Zhuo Yuqing suddenly felt a bit let down. She had spent the whole evening preparing two dishes just to wait for him to dinner and yet he wasn’t coming back. However, Zhuo Yuqing didn’t express any displeasure openly and just lightly acknowledged: "I understand."
After hanging up, Luo Shangqing, who was behind him, called out: "Old Bai, why are you always on the phone? What about the money you lost just now?"
Luo Shangqing, having finally won a game, was not about to let him off.
Bai Chengxi walked over and sat down, tossing the lost money in front of Luo Shangqing, "For disaster relief, take it."
After speaking, he took a cigarette from the pack, lit it, and started dealing the cards while smoking.
"Old Bai, last time Leng Shaoqing said you took a girl to Xiangshan for dinner, is that true?" Nan Zhan still remembered the excited tone Leng Shaoqing had over the phone that day, as if he had never seen a woman in his life.
"It’s true." Bai Chengxi didn’t hide it: "I got married."
It was like someone had thrown a bomb into calm water; everyone exploded in shock, the news was too explosive.
Gu Qili and Mu Shuoqian were sitting on the side watching them play cards. Hearing this, Qili’s gossip instincts kicked in: "Bai Chengxi, what kind of girl is she? What does she look like, what’s her name, where is her family from?"
She bombarded him with a series of questions, Bai Chengxi laughed: "Qili, are you a curious baby?"
"Just tell us, you’re killing me with the suspense." Gu Qili was so anxious she was hopping.
"If you really want to know, why not visit my house one day?"
"Damn, you already live together so soon." Leng Shaoqing, now losing interest in Mahjong, coaxed everyone: "Why not today? How about going to see her tonight?"