novelraw Chapter 347 A Moment of Heartbeat (1st Update)
Chapter 347 A Moment of Heartbeat (1st Update)
President Ji was very frustrated and, at the same time, quite defeated.Think about it, what man would send flowers to the woman he likes, only to have her return the money?
At that moment, he forgot to react and just stared at her blankly, while that "generous" woman threw the money down and, without saying another word, turned around and stormed out again!
It was the first time President Ji had sent flowers, yet it ended in failure.
What did she mean? Was she refusing his flowers, or worse, treating him like a mere flower delivery boy?
At the thought of this possibility, the corner of President Ji’s mouth twitched involuntarily.
When he came to his senses, he found the bright red bills in front of him particularly glaring!
Ji Rui furrowed his brows, staring at those bills for a moment before reaching out to pick them up. Using a key, he opened the second drawer, where besides a neatly arranged pile of seals and confidential documents, there was also a penny!
That penny was the "tip" Le Tong had couriered to him the night she fled R City several months ago for a special "service"!
Ji Rui, with a profound gaze, gently smoothed out the 880 yuan Le Tong generously threw down just now with his fingertips, and then stacked them atop that penny. Silently, he closed the drawer and locked it.
Meanwhile, after leaving, Le Tong sat at her desk. She opened a file intending to start working but sneezed several times due to the overpowering fragrance of the roses.
It seems that although flowers are beautiful, not everyone can afford their allure.
Just like President Ji’s affection, Le Tong couldn’t afford it either.
Le Tong grabbed a tissue, rubbing her nose as she looked at the luscious red roses, feeling a pang of regret for those eight hundred plus yuan.
Originally, she didn’t like these visually appealing but practically useless things. Probably, it’s a common affliction of those who’ve lived through hard times, always instinctively associating equivalent amounts of money with practical items.
For instance, right now, Le Tong thought that if she used these eight hundred plus yuan to buy food for Baobao, she could get a lot of delicious treats.
However, more than regretting this amount equivalent to her two days’ salary, Le Tong was reluctant to accept the sentiment behind the giver’s bouquet.
Yet not accepting is one thing; she couldn’t exactly pick up the bouquet and throw it back at him. She’s not heartless. Saying no once was already enough. She didn’t want to constantly remind him that she didn’t like him and for him not to bother her, as it would be both pretentious and hurtful.
After all, even though she and he can’t develop a certain special relationship, the superior-subordinate relationship is temporarily unchangeable, and being parents to Baobao is an identity that will never change.
Based on these two unchangeable relationships, she couldn’t make things too tense between the two of them.
Le Tong rubbed her nose for a good while before finally getting used to the floral scent and settling down to work.
When Yang Sheng, holding a file, went up to find Ji Rui and noticed the roses on Le Tong’s desk, he immediately put on a knowing expression but still feigned surprise, exclaiming,
"Wow, the flowers are beautiful, who sent them?"
Le Tong looked up and gave him a side-eye, grumbling, "I bought them myself!"
Yang Sheng naturally didn’t believe her, and with an ambiguous smile, pushed open the President’s office door.
"Rui, since when did you become so romantic? You actually know how to give beauty to flowers!"
However, Ji Rui didn’t show the slightest sign of the high-spirited appearance he expected; on the contrary, he merely cast him a sideways glance with a sour face and grunted.
"Spit it out if you have something to say!"
Yang Sheng became even more interested, placing the file on the desk, settling down on the desk, and leaning close to Ji Rui, "You better not tell me those flowers were given to Tongtong by another man!"
Ji Rui ignored him, pulling out the top document from the pile Yang Sheng had just put down and opened it, displaying a very diligent work posture.
Yang Sheng’s originally certain thoughts began to waver, staring at Ji Rui’s dark head, probing, "Could it be that the flowers were sent by the second young master of the Luo Family?"
Ji Rui showed no reaction as if he were deaf, so Yang Sheng paused, "Or maybe that Director with the surname Zhong?"
Seeing that Ji Rui still ignored him, Yang Sheng tried another name, "Could it be that playboy Zhuo Jiarui?"
Ji Rui looked up, glaring at him, his tone carrying a chill.
"You sure know a lot!"
Ji Rui was originally feeling quite frustrated, and having Yang Sheng list out one, two, three potential rivals was just adding to his annoyance!?
Or rather, was this guy here just to rub salt in the wound?!
Yang Sheng shook his head, "Wrong, I don’t know much, but don’t blame me for not reminding you. As far as I know, the handsome guys that my mentor intends to introduce to Tongtong, at least, number around a dozen."
Ji Rui glared at him, "Does that include you?"
Being stared at made Yang Sheng uneasy, though he was supposed to nod, he started shaking his head like a rattle drum.
"No, absolutely not! You know I’m planning to have something with Tongtong, it would’ve happened a long time ago, hasn’t it?"
Joking aside!
You couldn’t make him say that, from a few years ago until now, his professor kept mentioning how great Tongtong was, praising her at every opportunity. In his professor’s eyes, all the good qualities of every girl in the world were concentrated in Le Tong.
Because of that, when Yang Sheng first met Le Tong, he didn’t feel any sense of unfamiliarity. Conversely, it was probably the same situation for Le Tong.
That’s why the two of them could hit it off at first sight.
The professor naturally wanted to match them up, but it seemed neither of them felt that way about the other; they both felt very close, but not in a romantic way.
Ji Rui squinted his eyes, appraising Yang Sheng for a while, as if considering whether to believe him.
"Rui, if you don’t trust anyone else, you can trust me, right? If I really wanted something with Tongtong, I would’ve acted on it long ago, having had so many opportunities. In short, while I have a good relationship with Tongtong, there’s no spark between us."
Ji Rui didn’t really doubt Yang Sheng. If there’s anyone in the world he trusts besides Baobao, it would be Yang Sheng, and no one else.
However, he’s now trapped by emotional troubles, finally understanding that emotions are not logical at all.
Otherwise, given how he used to treat Le Tong, being mad at her and suspecting her, logically, it should’ve been because he disliked her.
Who would have thought it was because he cared about her that he’d get inexplicably angry whenever he saw her interacting with other men? And when he suspected she approached him for ulterior motives rather than genuine feelings, he’d explode in fury!
At this moment, Ji Rui was incredibly annoyed!
Once, he was closer to her than any other man!
It turned out he was late to realize that his heart fluttered, probably at that moment when she, drunk and soft, leaned into his embrace!