Online Love, Based on the Real Object - Chapter 51

When Qi Ning returned to the office, Chu Yunjing was in the middle of her meal. Seeing her arrive, Chu Yunjing quickly set down her chopsticks.

“Where did you go?”

 

“I went to Sister Shu’s shop!” Qi Ning trotted over happily, holding two cups of fruit tea. “I even managed to snag two drinks.”

 

“Right.” Chu Yunjing sat up straight. “I still need to thank her for the factory incident. I mentioned taking her out to dinner last time, but she said she didn’t have the time.”

 

At this, Chu Yunjing looked a bit troubled. She understood the underlying message, but a debt of gratitude like this had to be repaid somehow.

 

“Any suggestions?” she turned to ask Qi Ning.

 

Qi Ning initially thought about the scene at the cafe, but she reconsidered. Even if Sister Shu claimed she didn’t care about gains or losses, they couldn’t just act as if nothing had happened.

 

“Let me see.” She lowered her head and began scrolling through Shu Mingyao’s social media feed, trying to find a hook in her recent life.

 

By the time Chu Yunjing finished her meal, Qi Ning was still deep in research. Chu Yunjing couldn’t help but ask, “Figured anything out yet?”

 

“Hiss.” Qi Ning raised a hand and rubbed her chin, mulling it over for a good while before saying, “No.”

 

Chu Yunjing: “…”

 

“I think we should just transfer some money or buy her a gift,” Chu Yunjing suggested.

 

“She definitely wouldn’t accept that,” Qi Ning said with certainty.

 

“…”

 

They were at a stalemate again.

 

“Wait.” Qi Ning scrolled to a post from a while back showing Shu Mingyao out at sea with friends.

 

After studying the photos, she glanced at Chu Yunjing and suddenly broke into a smile.

 

“What?”

 

“Jingjing.” Qi Ning looked at her. “Have you been tired lately?”

 

“Just say what’s on your mind.”

 

Qi Ning showed her the phone. It was a profile shot of Shu Mingyao standing on the deck of a boat, her long blue dress nearly merging with the blue sky, white clouds, and the sea behind her.

 

It was quite beautiful.

 

Qi Ning had never tried going out to sea on a yacht. Her previous experience on a speedboat had left her feeling miserably seasick, but seeing Shu Mingyao’s post sparked a bit of envy.

 

“You want to go?” Chu Yunjing saw right through her.

 

Before Qi Ning could answer, Chu Yunjing looked at the photo again and said, “Then let’s go.”

 

Her decisiveness caught Qi Ning off guard, making her blink in confusion.

 

“You’ve worked hard during this period,” Chu Yunjing said solemnly. If not for Qi Ning’s connection, she never would have thought of reaching out to Shu Mingyao, considering the depth of their acquaintance.

 

However, since they were currently busy with the aftermath of the Double Eleven event, going now was impossible. They could only plan for it toward the end of the month.

 

A screen hung on the wall of Chu Yunjing’s office, displaying a string of numbers that Qi Ning had noticed a while ago. The numbers hadn’t stopped increasing all night.

 

“What’s this?” Qi Ning circled the office and finally stopped in front of the screen, looking up.

 

Chu Yunjing glanced over. “It’s the total completed revenue for this month.”

 

“…” Qi Ning counted the digits. “Forty million?!”

 

Chu Yunjing gave a calm hum of affirmation. “A lot of it is just deposits. Once people pay their final balances after midnight, it will increase even more.”

 

“Your sixty million goal is honestly too low,” Qi Ning marveled with envy.

 

Chu Yunjing fell silent for a moment. “If the factory hadn’t lost so much money, the profit would have been even higher.”

 

Mentioning the factory incident left Qi Ning with lingering fears. “We really have to be more careful when hiring temporary workers in the future.”

 

Chu Yunjing nodded. “We’ve already installed security gates and issued a notice. From now on, employee entry and exit will be strictly controlled.” She finally understood why some large factories used metal detectors and other troublesome procedures.

 

Fortunately, the factory’s morale hadn’t been affected by the incident, and operations returned to normal quickly after restarting. However, the investigation into the mastermind behind the scenes hit a dead end after Wang Daba went to jail. It made sense; anyone capable of playing such underhanded tricks wouldn’t be easy to catch.

 

By 11:30 PM, Qi Ning, who was sitting on the sofa doing a final check of her shopping cart, was starting to get sleepy. Her head was beginning to droop.

 

“Do you want to go back and sleep?” Chu Yunjing walked over with a freshly brewed cup of coffee and took a light sip.

 

She was destined to pull an all-nighter. Whether the company could break its previous record depended entirely on tonight, so she needed something to keep her alert.

 

“I’m not going back. I haven’t placed my orders yet.” Qi Ning yawned and sat up straight. “Besides, I don’t have work tomorrow. Going back alone would be boring anyway; I’d rather stay here.”

 

“Alright.” Chu Yunjing didn’t press further. Driving home alone in that state would be dangerous, and the office sofa was large enough for a person to sleep on. “I’m going downstairs to check on things. You sleep here.”

 

“I want to go too! I want to go too!” Qi Ning scrambled off the sofa. The leather was so soft that she lost her footing and tipped forward.

 

Luckily, Chu Yunjing was quick enough to catch her, though the coffee in her hand nearly spilled.

 

Qi Ning braced her hands against Chu Yunjing’s shoulders and looked down at her. She could feel the other woman’s hand resting firmly on her waist.

 

In the moment their eyes met, the atmosphere became subtly charged due to the slightly ambiguous posture.

 

“…” Qi Ning’s eyes flickered. When she saw the beauty mark, it was as if she remembered something, and she quickly looked away.

 

“What’s the rush? It’s not like it’s going anywhere.” Chu Yunjing let go and took a step back, her expression unchanged.

 

Qi Ning followed Chu Yunjing downstairs, first visiting the technical department. They confirmed several times with the programmers that the brand’s official website and the online store’s backend were running normally, ensuring the system wouldn’t crash from the midnight traffic surge.

 

Next, they went to the online sales department. The event was about to start, and inquiries were flooding in. The sound of keyboards clicking filled the room. He Hao was talking to the department head, likely giving a pep talk.

 

When the staff saw the boss arrive, they worked even harder. The online sales department usually worked in two shifts, but they only pulled all-nighters for big events. Everyone had dark circles under their eyes, but they forced themselves to stay alert to serve the customers.

 

“The company promised that if we hit the performance goal this month, the year-end bonuses will be doubled.” Chu Yunjing paused. “It’s late, and I know everyone is exhausted. After the event, the team-building budget for the department will be increased by twenty thousand. This money will be managed by your lead.”

 

“But as for how it’s spent,” Chu Yunjing looked at the department head, giving him a subtle warning, “since it’s meant for employee welfare, we should naturally collect everyone’s opinions.”

 

The supervisor nodded quickly. “Understood, thank you, Boss!”

 

Qi Ning stood to the side, observing Chu Yunjing. Just standing there, she carried an air of effortless authority that was completely different from how she acted when they were alone.

 

It was quite impressive.

 

Sensing Qi Ning’s gaze, Chu Yunjing suddenly turned her head. In the split second their eyes met, Chu Yunjing raised an eyebrow at her.

 

She quickly turned back to continue speaking. Her cold, professional expression made it seem as though the person who had just winked at her wasn’t her at all.

 

When they returned to the office, it was five minutes to midnight.

 

Even though she knew hitting the sixty million goal was a given, Chu Yunjing was still nervous. She wanted to know where the company’s ceiling was at its current level.

 

Could they break a hundred million?

 

The coffee on the desk had gone cold. Chu Yunjing took a sip, her movements a bit hurried, betraying her anxiety.

 

“Are you nervous?” Qi Ning felt her mood and turned to smile at her.

 

“Am I?” Chu Yunjing asked back, her face remaining calm on the surface.

 

Qi Ning didn’t say anything. She leaned in, grabbed Chu Yunjing’s wrist to tilt the cup, and took a sip of the coffee.

 

“So bitter,” Qi Ning grimaced.

 

“It’s black coffee. If you want some, you can brew a cup with milk.”

 

“I can’t handle bitterness,” Qi Ning said out of nowhere. Looking at Chu Yunjing, she added, “But you can.”

 

“Isn’t there a saying: ‘Only those who can taste the bitterest of bitters can become the best of the best’? So you’ll definitely be at the top!” After speaking, she gave her a brilliant, wide grin.

 

Qi Ning led her to stand in front of the performance screen. There was one minute left until midnight. She pointed at the numbers on the screen. “It’s at forty-five million right now.”

 

“If you hit sixty million within an hour, you buy me a midnight snack. If it breaks a hundred million, I’ll buy you the snack.”

 

Chu Yunjing bit her lip and smiled. “I’ve bought you so many snacks; I’d quite like to see you spend some money for once.”

 

Midnight arrived. The display screen let out a beep, and Qi Ning stared intently at the numbers.

 

The string of numbers rolled noticeably faster than before, jumping so quickly it almost made her dizzy. The first digit soon broke past five.

 

Qi Ning’s expression was tense with effort. In her nervousness, she grabbed Chu Yunjing’s hand, squeezing as if she could make the numbers jump faster.

 

Her hand was being squeezed painfully, but Chu Yunjing didn’t mind at all. She turned her head slightly to look at Qi Ning’s profile. Finding the expression on that face quite amusing, she let out a silent laugh.

 

Having someone be nervous on her behalf seemed to help her own emotions relax.

 

“Ahhh! Sixty million!!!” Qi Ning began to scream. In her excitement, she jumped straight onto Chu Yunjing, shaking her shoulders and yelling, “Sixty million! The goal is met! Incredible! Ahhh!!!”

 

As she finished, she planted a massive, loud kiss on Chu Yunjing’s cheek. Based on her reaction, one would think she was the one whose performance was on the line.

 

“President Ch—” He Hao knocked twice and pushed the door open, only to freeze at the scene inside the office.

 

Qi Ning was hanging entirely off Chu Yunjing, her legs wrapped around her waist like a snake. To keep her from falling, Chu Yunjing held her with one hand while supporting her back with the other.

 

The posture was quite intimate.

 

“Sorry to disturb you.” He Hao reacted instantly, as if he had walked into something he shouldn’t have seen. He whispered the words and silently started to close the door to leave.

 

“Get back here!” Qi Ning saw that he had misunderstood and immediately called him back. “Where is your mind going!”

 

“Oh.” He Hao pushed the door open again, looking at Qi Ning and then at his calm-faced boss. It seemed he really had overthought it.

 

Knowing He Hao was there for business, Chu Yunjing set Qi Ning down. “Get down.”

 

Qi Ning quickly regained her composure. After getting off, she cleared her throat and said to He Hao with an air of self-importance, “I was just too happy, so I was celebrating with your President Chu.”

 

He Hao immediately noticed the faint pink lipstick mark on Chu Yunjing’s cheek. He inadvertently met Chu Yunjing’s gaze and quickly looked away.

 

Qi Ning also saw the lipstick mark and finally remembered what she had done in her excitement. Even though it was a faint mark on such fair skin, it was quite obvious if one looked closely.

 

Obvious enough that it couldn’t be ignored.

 

“…” Qi Ning suddenly felt her face heating up. She hurriedly walked to a lounge chair on the balcony and sat down, ignoring the two people talking business inside.

 

After all that commotion, she had almost forgotten to empty her shopping cart. She whipped out her phone and started browsing. After placing orders for everything, an earring in the recommendations caught her eye.

 

She clicked in and saw that the brand’s event discount was quite significant. There were several colors, each using a different stone. Qi Ning liked the black onyx version: the center was black onyx, surrounded by a ring of rose gold set with tiny pavé diamonds. It was very pretty.

 

Supposedly, black onyx could attract wealth and bring good luck.

 

Bought!

 

After placing the order, Qi Ning checked her list one last time to ensure nothing was missing. She looked more serious staring at her phone than a student taking an exam.

 

“What did you buy?” Another voice suddenly spoke on the balcony. Qi Ning looked up to see Chu Yunjing standing beside her.

 

Chu Yunjing was backlit, making her face hard to see, yet their eyes met directly.

 

“I bought a lot,” Qi Ning said, instinctively exiting the order screen. she craned her neck to look into the room; He Hao was long gone.

 

Chu Yunjing sat down opposite her. Qi Ning stared at her face for a long time, until Chu Yunjing began to wonder if there was something on her face.

 

“What are you looking at?” Chu Yunjing couldn’t help but touch her own face. There was nothing there.

 

“Uh.” Qi Ning cleared her throat. It seemed she hadn’t noticed yet. “Um, move your face a bit closer.”

 

Chu Yunjing leaned forward, bringing her face nearer.

 

“There’s a bit of dirt on your face,” Qi Ning said. She reached out and used her thumb to gently wipe away the lipstick mark. She couldn’t exactly tell her that she had gotten overexcited and smacked a kiss onto her.

 

Chu Yunjing had been puzzled about when she could have gotten something on her face, but feeling the sensation of the thumb against her cheek and seeing the awkward look in Qi Ning’s eyes, she understood.

 

No wonder He Hao had been staring at her.

 

Fortunately, it wasn’t much. Qi Ning wiped it away with a few strokes, but her thumb lingered near the side of the face. Her eyelids lifted.

 

That beauty mark fell into her sight once again.

 

Driven by an impulse, Qi Ning moved her thumb up and, without warning, covered the beauty mark.

 

Because the touch was so close to her eye, Chu Yunjing couldn’t help but blink. Seeing Qi Ning’s somewhat dazed expression, she reached up and caught her wrist.

 

The corner of her mouth quirked up, revealing a playful expression.

 

“You seem to really like my beauty mark.”

 

“Do you want it?”