WSIDIILMBOCIR Chapter 32
by VolareChapter 32: Borrowing Her Auspicious Words
Because the morning meeting was quite special, involving some high-level government decisions, Li Chongge didn’t bring his phone into the venue.
After the meeting, the first thing Li Chongge did upon getting his phone was to open his chat window with Qin Yuanging. As expected, there was a message from Qin Yuanging from a little after nine in the morning, asking if his journey was smooth.
Lin Xiwen watched Li Chongge hurry out of the venue all the way and thought he had something important to deal with. She followed him out, only to see him quickly replying to a message on his phone.
His deep, stern eyebrows and eyes were rarely tinged with an almost imperceptible gentleness.
Whether it was the Lin family or Lin Xiwen herself, they all agreed that Li Chongge was a very good marriage prospect, but Li Chongge clearly didn’t accept this marriage alliance that was beneficial to both sides.
Lin Xiwen wasn’t exactly heartbroken about this, just a little confused.
The internal struggles within the Lin family were exceptionally severe. As a woman, Lin Xiwen was able to secure a place for herself in the Lin family because she had always adhered to the principle of prioritizing profit above all else since she was young, never making a losing deal.
So even though she knew that with Li Chongge’s status, he didn’t need to use marriage to gain anything, in her view, no one would refuse greater benefits.
Therefore, she really couldn’t understand Li Chongge’s decisive refusal of the marriage alliance.
But now, Lin Xiwen seemed to have found the answer from Li Chongge.
It was just that Li Chongge had hidden it really well; the Li family hadn’t even let out a peep.
After replying to the work messages one by one, Li Chongge casually opened the series of messages sent by Qiao Gongyu. Instantly, the shallow smile that was already on his face completely disappeared.
Lin Xiwen walked out from behind Li Chongge carrying her laptop and, looking at her delicate wristwatch, suggested, “There’s only an hour left until the afternoon meeting, shall we go eat first?”
“You go ahead, I still have something to deal with.”
Li Chongge dialed a number, nodded to Lin Xiwen, and went to the stairwell.
Qin Yuanging had just parted ways with Qiao Gongyu when he received a call from Li Chongge.
“Today’s meeting is confidential; phones aren’t allowed inside the venue. I just finished the meeting now.”
“Then doesn’t that mean you haven’t eaten yet?”
With half an hour left before work, Qin Yuanging wasn’t in a hurry to go back. He found a cafe to sit down and lowered his voice.
“The break in the middle was very short; there wasn’t enough time.”
“Just eat something convenient to tide you over, otherwise your stomach won’t be able to take it. If you don’t have time, have Secretary Liu go?”
“I didn’t bring her. It’s okay, it’s just a few days, it doesn’t matter.”
Qin Yuanging stirred the ice cubes in his cup, a little worried about Li Chongge, and not in the mood to care about the sourness that had just sprung up from the bottom of his heart.
“How many days will this meeting last?”
“Three days, I guess. After three days, I’ll be busy with other work.”
In the height of summer, Qin Yuanging could vaguely hear the noisy chirping of cicadas from the receiver, from which he could deduce that Li Chongge wasn’t in a cool environment at the moment.
“Is it this intense every day?”
“Probably. Have you eaten?”
Qin Yuanging stared at the blinding sunlight outside the window, a little absent-minded.
“Yes, I ate with Yu ge.”
“Okay, then I’ll hang up first. I still have work to deal with.”
Qin Yuanging listened to the busy tone on the phone, hesitated for half a minute, and then called back.
“Li Chongge, aren’t you going to eat lunch?”
Li Chongge held his phone and curved his lips.
“No, I’m too tired and don’t have much of an appetite. I’ll just have a cup of coffee later.”
“Li Chongge, where are you on this business trip?”
This time, Li Chongge didn’t avoid the topic. He said, “I’m in Jiang City.”
While Li Chongge was on the phone, Secretary Fang was waiting for him at the stairwell.
“Li, the meal has been ordered. Shall we go now?”
Li Chongge put away his phone and shook his head.
“I’m not going. Bring me a cup of coffee. There’s nothing else for me here, you can go back to Jing City.”
Li Chongge has three secretaries. Because Secretary Fang is male, Li Chongge takes him along more often when he goes on business trips.
“Okay.”
Even though Li Chongge’s series of arrangements didn’t seem that reasonable to Secretary Fang, he didn’t raise any objections.
He was brought up by Secretary Liu. Secretary Liu told him on his first day of work that the first rule for staying by Li Chongge’s side was not to be nosy.
“Oh, right, as you instructed, I’ve declined all of your dinner invitations for today.”
“Okay.”
Half an hour later, Li Chongge picked up his phone and took a photo of the iced Americano, the ice in which had already melted halfway.
“I feel more energetic after drinking coffee. I’m going into the venue now. If you need anything, send me a message. I’ll reply as soon as I finish the meeting.”
Lin Xiwen was very surprised to see Li Chongge actually taking a photo of a cup of coffee, but the next moment, she saw him sending the picture out and understood.
She had also been in love. Young couples, even trivial matters have the enthusiasm to share.
It was just that she found it hard to believe that a person like Li Chongge would be no different from ordinary men when in love.
“Is Li in love?”
Lin Xiwen knew that people in the throes of love wouldn’t reject this topic.
Li Chongge closed the chat window with Qin Yuanging, raised his head, and looked at Lin Xiwen.
“Not in love, just chatting with someone I like.”
Lin Xiwen raised her slender eyebrows.
“Then I wish Li all the best.”
Li Chongge was in a pretty good mood.
“Borrowing your auspicious words.”
Li Chongge rarely sends pictures other than those related to work. Qin Yuanging held his phone, zooming in and out, not finding any information he thought was useful from the background of the picture.
So he entrusted Bai Xiaobai to contact Secretary Liu, trying to find out from her where exactly Li Chongge was holding the meeting, and what time the meeting would end.
Secretary Liu is a very professional secretary. No matter who asks, she won’t reveal her boss’s schedule.
Unless the boss himself has instructed otherwise.
After work, Bai Xiaobai got the information Qin Yuanging wanted from Secretary Liu.
“Secretary Liu said that Li’s meeting place is at the Ronghui Building in the city center of Jiang City. The first day’s meeting schedule is quite tight and will end at 8 PM.”
Bai Xiaobai muttered in passing, “This meeting is really long enough.”
Who says it isn’t?
Qin Yuanging calculated the time. If he left at five after work, he’d arrive just in time.
Qin Yuanging casually pulled out a piece of A4 paper, picked up a fountain pen, and quickly wrote down a few common ingredients and seasonings.
“Buy these for me and put them in the car.”
Qin Yuanging’s work wasn’t easy. In the four hours from one PM to five PM, he barely had a moment’s rest. As soon as he got off work, he took his car keys and walked out.
“Xiaoyuan, do you want to come home for dinner tonight?”
In the garage, Qin Haoting ran into Qin Yuanging, who was preparing to leave.
“Dad, I have an appointment tonight. I’ll go back later, or I’ll go back to keep you company on the weekend.”
Qin Haoting nodded cheerfully.
“Which friend is it? Li Chongge?”
Even though Qin Haoting was just asking casually, Qin Yuanging felt inexplicably embarrassed.
“Yes, it’s him. Dad, I’m leaving first.”
Qin Haoting understood his son pretty well. Seeing his unnatural expression, he was a little puzzled and muttered to himself.
“This kid, could he be in love?”