novelraw Chapter 468 - 467: Like an Old Married Couple
Chapter 468 - 467: Like an Old Married Couple
Ji Rui and Le Tong’s relationship is steadily warming up. Although it doesn’t have the intense and thrilling love seen in soap operas, it has the warmth and stability of an old married couple.For Ji Rui, who is thirty-one and has long lacked family warmth, this warmth and stability are precisely what he has yearned for all these years but couldn’t achieve.
Previously, going to and from work was just a change of location for him. Therefore, he never felt the urge to rush home like other office workers.
But now, he has unexpectedly caught this office worker’s sickness, eagerly awaiting the end of work every afternoon.
The root cause is that only when he finishes work and returns home, can Le Tong truly belong to him. Even if this belonging is shared equally with Baobao, it’s still better than with the Ji Family. At the Ji Family, Le Tong is completely absorbed in work, and it is as hard as climbing a mountain for Ji Rui to get her to look at him properly.
Logically, since Le Tong is his secretary and they both work on the top floor, they should have plenty of time to meet.
However, since Le Tong took over Yang Sheng’s work, her time working on the top floor has decreased significantly.
Handling external affairs, socializing, attending meetings with the Ji Family employees to discuss work, and other tasks that used to belong to Yang Sheng are now mostly taken up by her, even if not entirely, she’s doing about seventy to eighty percent, juggling two roles, which shows how busy she is.
This busyness has directly impacted Ji Rui’s quality of life at the Ji Family. Not to mention losing the pot of aromatic coffee in the morning, even lunch often has to be eaten alone or ordered by Lin Ling or other staff to send up.
After days of this routine, President Ji felt like a husband abandoned by his wife.
He had once forbidden Le Tong from cooking, but at some point, this decree became a mere formality, now void in practice.
The reason, besides Baobao’s relentless pestering, also lies in his own stomach, which Le Tong spoiled, constantly clamoring for Chef Le’s homemade dishes.
"Aunt Guan, did Le Tong say she would be back by six-thirty?"
Ji Rui, eager to return home, promptly left work to pick up Baobao. They sat cross-legged on the carpet playing chess. The board had been set up a few times as Le Tong, who promised to be back on time, was still nowhere to be seen, causing both father and son to grow anxious.
"Yes, Miss Le asked me to make the soup first. The dishes and meat will be cooked when she’s back."
It wasn’t that Aunt Guan was lazy, but the father and son, who had finally gained some weight thanks to Le Tong’s cooking, were starting to lose it again without her food.
Le Tong noticed this and felt a pang in her heart. She went from secretly sneaking in to help cook one or two dishes to openly nestling in the kitchen, reclaiming her role as head chef.
Ji Rui’s stomach had been mistreated for a while, leaving it without the toughness to hold on.
"Xiao Li, where are you now?"
Ji Rui worried that Le Tong might have encountered difficulties at work and was held up, recalling her nature of reporting good news but not bad, Ji Rui simply called Xiao Li, who had driven her out.
"President, I’m at Zhaotian Mall."
The mall was just a few minutes’ drive from their home.
"What are you doing there? At this hour?" Ji Rui frowned with displeasure.
"President, I won’t say more, we’re heading back now!"
Ji Rui vaguely heard Le Tong’s voice over the phone. Xiao Li seemed a bit flustered, and then quickly hung up.
Ji Rui checked the clock — it was almost seven. It seemed that Le Tong should be back by seven o’clock sharp.
When the doorbell rang, Ji Rui saw the wall clock pointing to exactly seven.
"Why so late?"
Ji Rui got up to greet her, and saw Le Tong leaning against the wall, changing her shoes. Behind her, Xiao Li was juggling an armfull of shopping bags.
"President..." Xiao Li’s face appeared from between the shopping bags.
Ji Rui’s recently relaxed brows furrowed again, feeling a growing annoyance.
So, she was late because she was out shopping like crazy?
He didn’t mind her shopping spree, but considering the timing is still important, right? Leaving a big and small man hungry at home waiting for her, is that appropriate?
"Are you hungry? I’ll cook!"
Le Tong, having changed her shoes, seemingly didn’t notice Ji Rui’s expression, eagerly entered the living room, tossed her bag and jacket on the sofa, kissed the baby running over to greet her, and dashed into the kitchen.
Ji Rui felt utterly ignored and even more simmering with anger.
Not bothering with Xiao Li, he turned and walked straight into the living room with a tense posture.
Xiao Li, having been with Ji Rui for many years, knew Ji Rui was in a foul mood, but the reason for it was beyond his guessing scope.
"President, where should I put these things?" Xiao Li asked cautiously.
"Anywhere!"
Ji Rui plopped down on the sofa, took his laptop, and prepared to check work emails, calming his inner fury.
Xiao Li glanced at Ji Rui’s stern face, nervously placed the shopping bags on the single sofa, and bowed to say goodbye.
Ji Rui silently waved him away, while Baobao excitedly led Uncle Xiao Li to the door.
Baobao, bouncing back into the living room, curiously leaned on the single sofa, dumping all the items from the shopping bags onto the carpet.
"Wow, this down jacket looks so cool!"
Ji Rui, of course, heard the little one’s exclamation but felt it wasn’t related to him, so he indifferently continued browsing the emails.
"Daddy, Daddy, look, look, don’t I look cool in this?"
Ji Rui reluctantly lifted his eyes to glance at Baobao, who was wearing an obviously oversized coat. The dark brown furry coat hung loosely on Baobao, and seeing Ji Rui looking over, the little one swung the long sleeves vigorously, appearing ridiculously cute like a little clown.
"Pfft!" Ji Rui laughed despite himself.
He wasn’t sure whether he was amused by Baobao or by his own thoughts.
The coat on Baobao was obviously his, Ji Rui’s.
So, she went shopping and actually bought something for him too?
"Is it cool, is it?" Baobao tilted his head, swinging the sleeves and spinning around playfully.
Ji Rui closed the laptop, went over and scooped up Baobao.
"Sweetie, this is Daddy’s, don’t ruin it!" Ji Rui said, feeling pained seeing the coat getting messed up.
Sitting cross-legged on the floor with Baobao, he examined the heap of items on the floor, realizing they were all sweaters, coats, and gloves. The styles and colors indicated they were men’s clothing, with both adult and children’s sizes. There was no doubt, these were clothes for him and Baobao.
"Ji Rui, you and Baobao try those clothes, if they don’t fit, I’ll exchange them tomorrow."
Le Tong peeked out and called to Ji Rui from the other side.
Ji Rui felt ashamed of his earlier suspicions, "Did you come back so late just to buy these?"
"Yes, the weather forecast said the temperature will drop in the next two days. I checked your wardrobe and Baobao’s last night. There weren’t many warm clothes, so I hurried to get some more. Just wear these for now, and we can go back to the main house to fetch more when there’s free time."