After Becoming a Full-Time Employee, I Signed a Romance Contract with My Ice-Cold Boss - Chapter 17

Family Dinner

Xu Que took the initiative to suggest, “I’ll take care of the marriage certificates.”

Jiang Fengyi started the car. “As you wish.”

The weather today was exceptionally clear; the sunlight was warm and gentle, and the breeze was just right. Xu Que carefully placed the two marriage certificates into a certificate box she had prepared early that morning.

Turning her head to look, she saw Jiang Fengyi sitting right beside her.

Xu Que’s lips curled up in a happy smile.

Jiang Fengyi reminded her coldly, “Fasten your seatbelt.”

“O-okay.”

Jiang Fengyi remained just as she was before they registered—taciturn and composed. Whether they had that marriage certificate or not didn’t seem to matter to her personally.

After all, her original intention for registering was simply to appease her family.

At that thought, the corners of Xu Que’s mouth slowly flattened. She turned her head to gaze out the car window. Today’s sun was truly scorching, leaving the flowers in the green belts drooping and listless.

Because of this, she failed to notice that Jiang Fengyi—who was accustomed to driving herself to work—had forgotten to fasten her own seatbelt for the first time.

That voiced reminder was for Xu Que, but it was also a reminder for herself.

Her hands gripped the steering wheel with a slight force. Only Jiang Fengyi knew that from the moment Xu Que had leaned toward her timidly to take the photo, her palms had begun to sweat continuously.

The distance had been too close.

She could clearly smell the unique scent on the other woman, a dryness like sunlight shining on sunflowers; to be near her was to be near warmth.

But Jiang Fengyi did not dare get too close. The incident where she had accidentally smelled this scent and lost control of her pheromones was still vivid in her mind, and she did not want to repeat the mistake.

Inside the quiet car cabin, only the sound of their light, shallow breathing remained.

“Uhm…”

“Tonight…”

Xu Que turned to look at Jiang Fengyi. “You go first.”

“Tonight, after we go to my mother’s house, try your best to stay by my side. Do not leave alone.”

“I’ll definitely stick right to you.”

“Right, what did you want to say just now?”

“I wanted to ask if we could stop at the bakery up ahead. I want to eat cake.”

In truth, Xu Que simply wanted to buy a small cake to commemorate today—the first day of her marriage to Jiang Fengyi.

The car pulled over to the curb, and Xu Que opened the door and stepped out.

After she left, Jiang Fengyi’s eyes followed her until she entered the shop, only then shifting her gaze away.

When Xu Que came out carrying the small cake, a parking ticket was already tucked under Jiang Fengyi’s windshield wiper.

“Illegal parking?”

Her celebratory mood was quickly replaced by chagrin. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know we couldn’t park here.”

“It’s fine. I didn’t know either.”

Jiang Fengyi knew, but she had wanted to see Xu Que get the cake she desired even more.

Looking at the “overpriced” cake in her hands, Xu Que thought fiercely to herself that once they got home, she would eat the whole thing without leaving a single bite.

In the garden of a villa in the city center.

Jiang Xuan sat under the shade of a tree. A white pet cat lay lazily across her knees, squinting its eyes as it enjoyed its mistress’s stroking.

“Auntie Zheng, make a few extra dishes tonight. Jiang Fengyi is bringing someone back for dinner.”

Auntie Zheng had worked for the Jiang family for many years and had practically watched Jiang Fengyi grow up. Upon hearing the news of her return for dinner, a smile from the bottom of her heart appeared on her kind face.

“Is she bringing a girlfriend home?” she asked with a beaming smile. “Then I must show off my best skills.”

“No,” Jiang Xuan denied coldly. “Just a common friend.”

Her fingers, lined with fine wrinkles, slid down the white cat’s spine as she repeated herself.

“She can only be a common friend.”

Her voice was so soft it seemed as if she were speaking only to herself.

As the sun set, ten thousand rays of rosy light filled the sky.

Xu Que walked beside Jiang Fengyi as they entered her mother’s home. Their figures were bathed in the afterglow of the setting sun, which pulled two long, thin shadows behind them.

“Follow me, don’t get separated, okay?”

Jiang Fengyi reminded her once more.

Xu Que promised her, “I will definitely follow you every step of the way.”

The two had already entered the Jiang residence. Jiang Xuan, holding the white cat, happened to overhear their conversation and let out a sneer.

“Are you treating my place like a dragon’s den or a tiger’s lair?”

She looked Xu Que up and down once. Her gaze lingered on Xu Que, but her words were directed at Jiang Fengyi.

“Rest assured, this little girlfriend of yours isn’t worth my move.”

“That would be for the best.”

Jiang Fengyi pulled Xu Que directly toward the dining room.

“Auntie Zheng, when can we eat?”

Xu Que didn’t see the woman Jiang Fengyi called Auntie Zheng, but she heard her voice drifting out from the kitchen along with the sound of a spatula flipping in a pan.

“Dinner’s ready! The last dish is coming out of the pot right now!”

And so, Jiang Fengyi pulled Xu Que down to sit.

The two dining chairs were very close together. With the slightest movement of her arm, Xu Que could touch Jiang Fengyi beside her. She sat stiffly in her chair, not daring to move recklessly.

Before being certain of the other person’s feelings, too much physical contact might cause annoyance.

Sensing Xu Que’s unease, Jiang Fengyi lightly patted the back of her hand. “Don’t be nervous. I’m here.”

“Mm.”

Xu Que lowered her eyes, thinking that she could enjoy Jiang Fengyi’s concern just like this, so she swallowed her words of explanation.

“I’m glad you’re here.”

The secret joy hidden beneath her long lashes was known only to herself.

Jiang Xuan had already put down the cat and pulled out a chair to sit across from them. Ignoring the two, she began to dine quietly.

Auntie Zheng’s cooking was excellent, but Xu Que found it hard to swallow. The atmosphere at the table was simply too strange, strictly adhering to the rule of “no talking while eating or sleeping.”

Xu Que was practically sitting on pins and needles. Finally, the long dinner came to an end, and Jiang Xuan was the first to speak.

“The Zhao family’s birthday banquet next month—you must attend.”

She sighed in a tone of compromise.

“If you go, I will transfer the remaining 10% of the shares to you.”

Jiang Fengyi’s expression remained unchanged. “Mother is as friendly as ever toward the Zhao family, close for ten years as if it were a single day.”

The lights above the dining room fell upon the faces of the mother and daughter; the cool white light held not a shred of warmth. At opposite ends of the table, each occupied their own side.

In this moment, the dining chairs had turned into a negotiation table. They were no longer family related by blood, but cold and ruthless capitalists.

“When that batch of goods had issues back then, it was the Zhao family who stepped forward to help me.”

“Mother, I have heard you say that sentence for over twenty years.”

“If there was a problem with the goods, that was indeed our problem. The company would have recalled the defective products and given consumers corresponding compensation. Besides, you had the Jiang family behind you.”

“The Zhao family has been fawning over the powerful for more than a day or two; they only acted because of the Jiang family behind you.”

“You don’t know how big the media outcry was then. If the Zhao family hadn’t helped destroy the evidence, those blood-sucking media outlets would have stayed latched onto the Jiang family forever.”

“That is nothing more than the Zhao family’s one-sided story to you. Destroying the goods was the move that truly harmed Jingjiang and the Jiang family. It turned a smudge that could have been cleaned into a brand permanently seared onto the body.”

“Enough!”

“I saw that incident twenty years ago more clearly than you!”

The two naturally parted on bad terms. Jiang Fengyi pulled Xu Que back to the bedroom, and the door slammed shut.

“Are… are you okay?”

Xu Que looked at Jiang Fengyi with a worried expression. “If you’re in a bad mood, I can…”

“I’m fine.”

Jiang Fengyi gave Xu Que a reassuring look.

“This is just how she and I get along. I’m used to it.”

She walked over to the sofa and sat down comfortably. Seeing Xu Que still standing there in a daze, she pulled her down to sit as well.

“I saw you didn’t eat much just now. Are you not full?”

Xu Que nodded honestly.

In that oppressive atmosphere, it was hard for Xu Que to be thick-skinned enough to remain unaffected and fill her stomach.

For the first time since arriving at the Jiang house, Jiang Fengyi showed a hint of a smile.

“I’m not full either. I’ll have Auntie Zheng prepare a midnight snack for us.”

While waiting for the food, Jiang Fengyi was the first to receive Jiang Xuan’s share transfer contract.

She flipped through it and laughed with a half-mocking tone.

“You’ll need to accompany me to the Zhao house next month.”

“To attend Old Lady Zhao’s birthday banquet.”